Standard-Speaker, PA
April 21 2006

PBS effort to bridge controversy creates more
Presented with programs on Armenian genocide, stations react
differently
Armenian refugees in Ottoman Turkey are shown in a picture featured
in the recent documentary “The Armenian Genocide.”

Public television’s attempt to illuminate a dark period of European
history is demonstrating that in the world of documentaries, few
topics are black and white.
`The Armenian Genocide’ began airing this week on dozens of PBS
stations, including nine in the nation’s top TV markets. Through
tattered photos, letters and celebrity voiceovers, the documentary
created by New York-based filmmaker Andrew Goldberg depicts a Turkish
campaign of expulsion, rape, and murder that led to the deaths of an
estimated 1.5 million ethnic Armenians between 1915 and 1920.
To the filmmaker and most historians, the documentary covers settled
history, although Turkey continues to deny that it committed what
many consider the first genocide of the 20th century.
PBS said it accepted Goldberg’s film based on the `recognition that
the overwhelming majority of historians have concluded that a
genocide took place.’ But to appease a small contingent of critics,
the network commissioned Oregon Public Broadcasting, a partner on the
film, to produce a panel discussion comprising two historians who
back the film’s premise and two who dispute it.
Three stations, three approaches
PBS affiliates, which make their own programming decisions, took
different approaches with the programs, in some cases creating even
more unhappiness on both sides.
One of the nation’s premier PBS stations, WGBH in Boston, aired
Goldberg’s film but declined to show the panel.
`We chose to air `The Armenian Genocide’ based on its merits and
because we felt it was balanced and presented both sides of the
story,’ said Lucy Sholley, the station’s director of media relations.
`We felt the documentary stood on its own.’
KCTS in Seattle aired the film and the panel discussion. Program
manager Eric Maki said in a statement that the station wanted to give
viewers as much information as possible to `make an informed
decision’ and `better understand the world around them.’
KCET in Los Angeles, home to about two-thirds of the country’s 1.5
million Armenian Americans, declined to show both programs. A
spokeswoman said the station is airing programs on Armenian issues
throughout April and had earlier decided to show a French documentary
called `Le Génocide Arménien.’
On Monday, the day the French film aired, Goldberg screened his
documentary at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre before an audience
estimated at 1,000.
`I didn’t want this story to not have a chance to be shown to the
Armenians in Los Angeles,’ he said. `It’s a story that many of them
had taken part in, through their involvement or just being connected
with it.’
Panel adds to controversy
The PBS decision to host a panel featuring genocide skeptics has
angered Armenian activists.
`We commend PBS for airing the Goldberg piece. It’s a good
opportunity to educate their viewers with regards to the Armenian
genocide. But we felt that the panel that followed it in some areas
was completely unnecessary,’ said Elizabeth Chouldjian, spokeswoman
for the Armenian National Committee of America. `It was misleading.
Essentially, it presented the issue of the genocide not as a fact,
but as a debate.’
Chouldjian’s organization and others waged a letter-writing campaign
that flooded PBS and congressional offices with requests that the
network drop the panel.
The network stood its ground, however, saying the program’s `intent
is to examine the question of how historians can come to such
radically divergent conclusions about these events. An important part
of the mission of public television is to engender responsible
discussion and illuminate complex issues.’
More to the story?
The Turkish government and some historians maintain that Armenians
who died during the violent last throes of the Ottoman Empire where
victims of a civil war, not genocide.
Goldberg’s film presents a slanted historical account, according to
some viewers who wrote into PBS stations and a scholar who
participated in the panel discussion.
`If you only take one side and report their deaths, it seems like
genocide. But of course it wasn’t that,’ said Justin McCarthy, a
professor of history at the University of Louisville.
McCarthy, who acknowledges holding a minority view, believes
Goldberg’s film takes a selective snapshot of history and fails to
address the deaths of many Turks at the hands of Armenian militants.
“It was an inhuman, bestial time,’ he said. `There were wide-scale,
mutual massacres across eastern and other areas of (the Ottoman
Empire) – a mutual-extermination kind of war.’
PBS said it accepted Goldberg’s film based on the `recognition that
the overwhelming majority of historians have concluded that a
genocide took place.’ But to appease a small contingent of critics,
the network commissioned Oregon Public Broadcasting, a partner on the
film, to produce a panel discussion comprising two historians who
back the film’s premise and two who dispute it.
Three stations, three approaches
PBS affiliates, which make their own programming decisions, took
different approaches with the programs, in some cases creating even
more unhappiness on both sides.
One of the nation’s premier PBS stations, WGBH in Boston, aired
Goldberg’s film but declined to show the panel.
`We chose to air `The Armenian Genocide’ based on its merits and
because we felt it was balanced and presented both sides of the
story,’ said Lucy Sholley, the station’s director of media relations.
`We felt the documentary stood on its own.’
KCTS in Seattle aired the film and the panel discussion. Program
manager Eric Maki said in a statement that the station wanted to give
viewers as much information as possible to `make an informed
decision’ and `better understand the world around them.’
KCET in Los Angeles, home to about two-thirds of the country’s 1.5
million Armenian Americans, declined to show both programs. A
spokeswoman said the station is airing programs on Armenian issues
throughout April and had earlier decided to show a French documentary
called `Le Génocide Arménien.’
On Monday, the day the French film aired, Goldberg screened his
documentary at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre before an audience
estimated at 1,000.
`I didn’t want this story to not have a chance to be shown to the
Armenians in Los Angeles,’ he said. `It’s a story that many of them
had taken part in, through their involvement or just being connected
with it.’
Panel adds to controversy
The PBS decision to host a panel featuring genocide skeptics has
angered Armenian activists.
`We commend PBS for airing the Goldberg piece. It’s a good
opportunity to educate their viewers with regards to the Armenian
genocide. But we felt that the panel that followed it in some areas
was completely unnecessary,’ said Elizabeth Chouldjian, spokeswoman
for the Armenian National Committee of America. `It was misleading.
Essentially, it presented the issue of the genocide not as a fact,
but as a debate.’
Chouldjian’s organization and others waged a letter-writing campaign
that flooded PBS and congressional offices with requests that the
network drop the panel.
The network stood its ground, however, saying the program’s `intent
is to examine the question of how historians can come to such
radically divergent conclusions about these events. An important part
of the mission of public television is to engender responsible
discussion and illuminate complex issues.’
More to the story?
The Turkish government and some historians maintain that Armenians
who died during the violent last throes of the Ottoman Empire where
victims of a civil war, not genocide.
Goldberg’s film presents a slanted historical account, according to
some viewers who wrote into PBS stations and a scholar who
participated in the panel discussion.
`If you only take one side and report their deaths, it seems like
genocide. But of course it wasn’t that,’ said Justin McCarthy, a
professor of history at the University of Louisville.
McCarthy, who acknowledges holding a minority view, believes
Goldberg’s film takes a selective snapshot of history and fails to
address the deaths of many Turks at the hands of Armenian militants.
“It was an inhuman, bestial time,’ he said. `There were wide-scale,
mutual massacres across eastern and other areas of (the Ottoman
Empire) – a mutual-extermination kind of war.’
But among the holdouts for Turkey today are the U.S. and U.K., which
have strong economic and military ties to the nation.
Under recent Republican and Democratic administrations, the U.S. has
avoided using the `G-word,’ instead calling the Armenian deaths a
`tragedy’ or `atrocity.’
As they come of age, a growing number of Armenian Americans are
demanding the government recognize their ancestors’ deaths as
genocide. Filmmakers and Grammy-nominated bands with Armenian roots,
such as System of a Down, have staged benefits calling attention to
the issue. The band and other activists are scheduled to meet with
members of Congress next week to again press their case.
Is change near? Another look at history casts doubt: Nearly every
year federal legislation is introduced. All of the measures have
either died in committees or languished in the Senate.
© 2006 MSNBC Interactive

PRESS RELEASE
Senator Barbara Boxer
Washington D.C.
112 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3553
Dear Friend:
I would like to share with you my recent comments, which were
printed in the Congressional Record, commemorating the 91st
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
Sincerely,
Barbara Boxer
United States Senator
IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 91ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Mrs. Boxer. Mr. President, I take this opportunity to
commemorate the 91st Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on
April 24th. This anniversary offers an opportunity for us to
renew our efforts to achieve — finally — genocide recognition
for the Armenian people.
Ninety-one years ago, the Ottoman Turks began their systematic
effort to eradicate the Armenian people. From 1915 until 1923,
1.5 million Armenians were tortured and killed; men were
separated from their families and murdered; women and children
were forced to march across the Syrian desert without water,
food or possessions; many died of hunger or thirst or were
killed when they lagged behind during the forced marches into
the desert.
The brutality of the genocide was atrocious. But the
inhumanity continues today because the Turkish government
refuses to acknowledge the massacre as genocide. The wounds
cannot heal until the Armenian people receive recognition.
The Armenian Genocide was the first genocide of the 20th
Century. But as we have seen, it was not the last. As we
know, if we ignore injustice, we are likely to see it repeated.
In his justification for the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler said,
`Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the
Armenians?’ And today, we see ongoing atrocities in the Darfur
region of Sudan, with innocent civilians being murdered. In
the 108th Congress, I cosponsored a resolution declaring that
the atrocities in Darfur constitute genocide.
I am currently a co-sponsor of a resolution calling the
President to ensure that the foreign policy of the United
States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity
concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing,
and genocide documented in the United States record relating to
the Armenian Genocide and the consequences of the failure to
realize a just resolution. And I have signed onto a letter
urging President Bush to honor the United States’ historic
leadership in defending human rights and to properly
characterize the atrocities against the Armenian people as
genocide in his April 24th statement.
Every year, we move closer to recognition of the Armenian
Genocide. But every year we wonder how long it will take the
government of Turkey to acknowledge the genocide.
We need genocide recognition to honor those 1.5 million
Armenians who lost their lives and to honor the survivors who
are still with us today. We need recognition to send a message
to the 8-10 million Armenians worldwide that they have not been
forgotten. We need genocide recognition to remind the world
that crimes against humanity are crimes against us all. We
need genocide recognition because it is the right thing to do.
By acknowledging this genocide for what it is, I hope that we
are able to help create a more just and humane world.
Thank you. I yield the floor.
========================================== =======
For more information on Senator Boxer’s record and other
information, please go to:
To respond to this message, please click on the following link:
ck.cfm . This link
will take you to a webpage where you can respond to messages
that you receive from Senator Boxer’s office.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
April 21 2006

Armenian Patriarch: Blaming Only the Turks Unethical in Armenian Issue
By Kemalettin CANIM
KAYSERI (JTW) Istanbul Armenian Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan II said the
dilemma facing Turkish-Armenian relations can only be overcome by
dialogue and mutual respect, and no one should blame only the one
side. According to Mutafyan II, both Armenians and Turks had
responsibility in the tragedy of 1915 and before.
The Armenian Patriarch Mutafyan II also argued that the both sides
are repeating the same arguments and it is the time to break the
vicious circles. `We need a new perspective’ he added.
Reflecting the true nature of reality requires courage, said
Mutafyan. “In the unfortunate conclusion reached, it is unethical
attitude for both parties to ignore each other’s responsibility or to
completely put it on the other side.”
Both nations must be able to look at each other’s history without
prejudice, he added. “We have to change the mentality of degrading
the other.”
On Thursday, the Patriarch made a speech at the opening ceremony of a
symposium titled “The Art of Co-Existence in Ottoman Society: The
Case of Turkish-Armenian Relations” organized by Erciyes University
in the Turkish city of Kayseri.
Both countries have achieved important successes in historic social
and cultural fields; the respect of Armenians and Turks for each
other’s national and religious symbols is increasing, according to
Mutafyan.
Mutafyan said the incidents that occur during representative
independence celebrations are outdated, and maintained they sow seeds
of enmity.
“Instead of publishing books presenting the Turkish and Armenian
theses in different ways memorized by everyone, Turkish and English
translations of Armenian works that can make important contributions
in Turkish-Armenian relationships must be realized,” Mutafyan said.
Mutafyan, highlighting Turks and Armenians are people of the same
territory, said the expression, “The Turks and Kurds are essential
elements,” is discriminatory.
Calling himself a Republican child, Patriarch criticized the
understanding of secularism.
“The practice of ‘Jacobean secularism’ in our country sometimes
prevents Islam’s ethical dimensions and spiritual richness of meaning
from being adding to the analyses,” Mutafyan said.
The Armenian Patriarch called on Turks and Armenians to abandon the
narrow horizon of nationalism and said, “Replacing nationalism and
racism with hospitality is more appropriate to our ethical values.”
The symposium, where 125 academics from more than 40 universities
within and outside Turkey participated, will continue today as well.
Kemalettin CANIM
JTW, Hurriyet and Zaman

Indian Students Seek Justice in Vain
Hetq Online
[April 21, 2006]
I happened upon a huge crowd of Indian students walking up the
Baghramyan Street. I thought it was one of their national holidays; they
are always accompanied by processions and music. Well, I thought, the
procession would be a great part of a new project, Indians in Armenia,
that Hetq photographer Onnik Krikorian and I have launched recently.
But as soon as I approached, it became clear that the crowd gathering at
the National Assembly building was not celebrating a festival at all; it
looked more like a demonstration.
`What’s the gathering about?’ I asked one of the students, expecting to
hear some common Armenian university problem.
His answer was beyond all my expectations. It was something horrible.
Later in the several hours that I spent with them at the National
Assembly others added their stories to his tale, and gradually the whole
picture emerged.
Today (April 20, 2006) at around 13:00 pm, a third year student at the
Medical University, 21- year-old Prashant Anchalia fell out of a sixth
floor window in Building #7 of the Zeytun Student Dormitory. How and why
he fell are not yet clear. The students who rushed to him found him
lying on the ground covered with blood, screaming in pain. They called
an ambulance and their dean’s office.
Dean Anna Sarkisyan arrived fifteen minutes later. Although she is a
doctor, she made no attempt to provide emergency aid to the student, and
even forbade the other students to touch him or take him to hospital in
a taxi, rather than wait for the ambulance, which was slow to arrive.
Instead, she ordered them to wait for the police to get there.
The Police arrived and took some witnesses to the Kanaker Police Station
for questioning.
The ambulance arrived some 45-50 minutes after the call. According to
the students, it was in very poor condition and had no medical
equipment, not even an oxygen mask.
On the way to the hospital, Prashant Anchalia died.
The students went to the Medical University and asked to meet with the
rector, seeking an explanation for why their friend had been treated so
negligently. The response of the newly- appointed rector, Gohar Kialyan,
came as a shock. Out of the blue, she referred to Indian girls as
prostitutes, and showed the students the middle fingers of both her
hands, a gesture whose meaning is well known to even five-year old
kids.
Astonished by her behavior, the students decided to seek help in higher
places.
Several hundred students marched to the National Assembly, shouting,
`Help, President!’ and `We Want Justice!’ They were immediately
surrounded by the police, who forbade the students to move to the
Presidential Palace, faces frozen in dumb indifference.
`Man, I was supposed to go get my tooth fixed today,’ one of them
yawned, as he glanced significantly at the pavement. All the police
cared about was not letting the people cross the line between the
pavement and the street. I tried to find compassion in anybody’s eyes,
but in vain.
`What you want exactly? Tell me,’ said a policeman, apparently of some
high rank, not even bothering to wipe the ironical expression off his
face.
`We demand that the rector resign.’
`Justice.’
`Let them act like human beings, not like nationalists.’
`If it had been an Armenian lying there, would he have been treated the
same way?’
I heard it from all sides. They would ask and answer this question a
hundred times within several hours, to the politicians who appeared from
time to time, to the journalists, among whom there was no one from the
National TV.
`We will stay here until we get the rector’s resignation. We will
boycott our classes; we will go back to our country. Let her at least be
worried about losing the money she makes from 800 Indian students,’ the
Indian students said.
An elderly passer-by read their posters, which said in Armenian, `We do
not need her apology, we need justice!’ `Shame on the rector!’ `The
rector must resign!’ Learning the story behind them, she said, `My
dears, what you are doing makes no sense. She won’t go’don’t you know
who her husband is?’
A young man shrugged his shoulders and said, `Guys, this kind of thing
happens all the time. You’re not going to accomplish anything.’
The students formed a group of four representatives and sent them to the
National Assembly to meet with the vice-speaker, Tigran Torosyan.
Some time later, the vice-rector of the Medical University, Victor
Sahakyan, and the second secretary of the Indian Embassy arrived.
`Let them come to the University and speak there. We don’t solve our
problems on the street,’ he said.
Told that they had already been to the university, where they had been
insulted by the rector, Sahakyan explained, `They aren’t representing it
to you correctly. They did not interpret it the right way.’ He was
immediately interrupted by the Indians, who wanted to know how else the
gesture could be interpreted.
Earlier a policeman had told the students, `Guys, don’t worry about it.
She’s a woman. Maybe she didn’t know the meaning of the gesture.’
The Embassy representative, Mr. Bali, advised the students to disperse
and let them settle the matter the diplomatic way.
The Embassy told the parents of the dead boy that he had committed
suicide, without even waiting for the investigation to be concluded.
The students do not believe it was suicide.
`He was a balanced person. He had many plans for the future. He could
not have killed himself,’ they said.
The four-person delegation came back from the meeting with Tigran
Torosyan and said that Torosyan had asked them for two days to get
acquainted with the matter and decide what to do.
After that, Torosyan met with the Indian ambassador, Rina Pandei.
Ara Avetisyan, the deputy minister of Science and Education came to meet
the Indian students. In his view, the National Assembly was not the
right place for a protest, and oral demands were not the best method. He
advised the students to produce their demands in written form. The most
ridiculous thing was that no one could tell them who to write to.
And everybody kept saying that the students had to go back to the
university to speak to the rector and get her apology if she had done
something wrong. Completely ignoring the fact that that was not what the
students were after.
Red berets appeared at the building of the Parliament, surrounding the
crowd that was already surrounded by the police. As if the Indian
students there were dangerous criminals.
A man in civilian clothes standing with the police looked at the crowd
with frank surprise and asked, `There are more than a billion of them
now, right? What they are fighting for, one more, one less?’
The one cause for optimism in the whole situation was that there were
also few compassionate Armenians there ` two young girls, two students
from YSU who were with the Indians all that time and an old woman who,
when she heard story, knelt down to the Indian girls, hugged them, and
began to cry.
Some students brought lighted candles with them. During these hours I
managed to talk to most of them. The students would come up to me and
ask if I was tired, if I needed anything to eat.
`Look at this girl standing with the Chechen separatist,’ muttered a
young Policeman. The man I was talking to, the `Chechen separatist’, was
a Sikh who while living here had to remove his turban and cut his beard
(Sikhism does not allow to cut hair and shave off their beard), because
the core of Armenian society, the ` rabiz mass’ or `real Armenian guys’
as they prefer to be called, do not tolerate any other haircut but their
own crop, no style of dress but their black trousers and shirts. The
Indian students have problems with these Armenian guys all the time.
At around 10 o’clock in the evening the Ambassador, accompanied by
Tigran Torosyan, came out of the parliament building and took the
students to the Medical University. There, they had a private meeting
with Rector Gohar Kialyan. Off course the meeting yielded no results.
`She said she was sorry,’ one of the students said. `She said it without
any expression, any feeling. Then she suggested we arrange a delegation
to meet our dean and talk¦’
Friday morning the Indian students went to the First Hospital to pay
their respects to their friend. Iranian, Syrian and other foreign
students joined them. No Armenians were there.
Hasmik Hovhannisian
Photos by Onnik Krikorian

SOLEMN EVENT DEDICATED TO 40th ANNIVERSARY OF UNITED NATIONAL PARTY TO
BE ORGANIZED ON APRIL 24
YEREVAN, APRIL 21, NOYAN TAPAN. The 40th anniversary of foundation of
the United National Party will be marked on April 24 this year. In
this connection a solemn event will be organized at the Arno
Babajanian concert hall. Paruyr Hayrikian, Chairman of the National
Self-Determination Union, informed about it at April 21 press
conference. According to him, it is supposed that after getting
acquainted with some episodes of the history of the United National
Party founded in 1966 the participants of the event will adopt a
message in which they will call for posthumously giving the title of
the National Hero to UNP founder Haykaz Khachatrian and burying him in
the Pantheon after Komitas. Hayrikian said that starting 1965, April
24 has become a day of national awakening. According to the United
National Party’s program-regulations adopted in 1974, on April 24 the
UNP members kept the fast from morning to evening. And after the
sunset they marked the birth of the United National Party.
This year the UNP will start the series of events dedicated to April
24 from the Surb Sargis church, then the party members will visit the
Memorial to the Armenian Genocide victims, then will leave for
Echmiadzin for a liturgy, after which will visit the graves of Komitas
and Haykaz Khachatrian and will be present at the evening liturgy in
the Surb Grigor Lusavorich church.

VERZHINE SVAZLIAN AND EDGAR HILSENRATH RECEIVE RA PRESIDENT’S PRIZE
FOR CONSIDERABLE CONTRIBUTION TO RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
YEREVAN, APRIL 21, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. On April 15, RA
President Robert Kocharian signed a decree on giving prizes to persons
who have made a considerable contribution to the issue of recognition
of the Armenian Genocide in 2005. As Noyan Tapan was informed from RA
President’s Press Service, Verzhine Svazlian was given President’s
prize for her monograph “The Armenian Genocide and the Historical
Memory of the People” and Edgar Hilsenrath (Germany) for his novel
“The Tale of the Last Thought.”

UNKNOWN PERSONS IN MASKS ATTACK MEMBERS OF GUARD OF NOR ZHAMANAKNER
PARTY’S CHAIRMAN AND KIDNAP THEM
YEREVAN, APRIL 21, NOYAN TAPAN. At about 12:55 of April 21, near the
Erebuni region’s police station, 12 unknown persons in masks attacked
two official cars of Nor Zhamanakner (New Times) party chairman. Those
attacking were armed with pistols and sub-machine-guns. As Noyan Tapan
correspondent was informed from the party’s Press Service, they
rudely, with shouts and threats laid down the members of the party
chairman’s guard and inflicted a corporal injury to the driver. Then,
leaving Aram Karapetian in the street, the armed persons took away the
members of the guard and the drivers by the official cars of the party
in an unknown direction. The unknown persons in masks took the attack
by several cameras. According to preliminary data revealed by the Nor
Zhamanakner party’s Press Service, the armed persons were from the
subdivisions of RA National Security Service. The party qualified the
incident as “purely an Armenian manifestation of the political
brigandage”.

From: [email protected]
Subject: Lithuania President Heads 2-day Delegation to Armenia April 25
DELEGATION HEADED BY PRESIDENT OF LITHUANIA TO PAY TWO-DAYS OFFICIAL
VISIT TO ARMENIA ON APRIL 25
YEREVAN, APRIL 21, NOYAN TAPAN. At RA President Robert Kocharian’s
invitation, the delegation headed Valdas Adamkus, the President of the
Republic of Lithuania will pay a two-days official visit to Armenia on
April 25-26. As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA President’s Press
Office, the main goal of the visit is to stregthen interstate ties, to
point out the primary tasks and directions of the economic cooperation
between the two countries as well as to stimulate scientific-educational
and cultural ties giving a new quality and contents to the Armenian
and Lithuanian peoples’ traditional friendship. The solemn ceremony of
meeting the President of Lithuania will take place at the RA
President’s residence on April 25. Presidents Robert Kocharian’s and
Valdas Adamkus’ private conversation will follow the ceremony. Then a
meeting with the enlarged staff of the official delegations will take
place, then an agreement on encouraging investments and mutual
protection will be signed between the Governments of the two
countries. The two countries’ Presidents will hold a joint
press-conference. During the visit to Armenia, the President of
Lithuania will have meetings with Prime Minister Andranik Margarian,
Deputy Speaker of National Assembly Tigran Torosian. Karekin II
Catholicos of All Armenians will also receive Valdas Adamkus. The
President of Lithuania will have a meeting with the professors’ and
lecturers’ staff and students at the Yerevan State University. Valdas
Adamkus will also visit the Armenian Genocide memorial complex, the
Armenian Genocide Institute-Museum. The delegation headed by the
President of Lithuania will visit the Matenadaran (Armenian repository
of ancient manuscripts) and the Sergey Parajanov Museum.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS TO BE HELD IN 4 REGIONS IN MAY
YEREVAN, APRIL 21, NOYAN TAPAN. Local self-government elections are
envisaged in 4 Armenian regions – in Shirak, Syunik, Vayots Dzor and
Tavush, in May. As Noyan Tapan correspondent was informed by Tsovinar
Khachatrian, Spokeswoman of RA Central Electoral Commission, on May 7,
special elections of councillors are envisaged in the village
communities of Vardakar and Gusanagyugh, Shirak region. On May 21,
regular elections of councillors and community head will be held in
the village communities of Torunik, Vardanidzor, Lehvaz, Nyuvadi,
Yegheg of Syunik region, in village communities of Yeghegis, Zedea,
Hermon of Vayots Dzor, elections of councillors in the village
community of Goghtanik of Vayots Dzor, elections of community head in
the town community of Goris and village communities of Aldara, Soflu
of Syunik region. On May 28, elections of village head and councillors
will be held in the village communities of Aghavnavank, Khachardzan,
Hovk, Debedavan, Zorakan of Tavush region, village head elections in
the village community of Karaberd and councillors elections in the
village community of Bagravan and Musayelian, Shirak region. And the
coming local self-government elections will be held on April 23 in the
village community of Hatsavan, Kotayk region, and Pokrashen, Shirak
region. The residents of the latters will elect the head of their
community.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

VAHAN HOVHANNISIAN: BEST APPRECIATION OF MEMORY OF TATUL KRPEYAN AND
HIS COMPANIONS-IN-ARMS WILL BE LIBERATED GETASHEN
YEREVAN, APRIL 21, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. A memorial event
dedicated to the 41th birthday of Tatul Krpeyan, National Hero of
Armenia, student of the history department of Yerevan State University
(YSU), was organized by the ARF student union “Nikol Aghbalian”. “Look
at Kars, look at Ani, look at Akhurian’s other side. This is Tutul’s
behest,” lecturer of YSU history department Artavazd Darbinian
said. “It was just impossible to stop him carrying out his decision to
go to Artsakh and teach there together with struggling. He was a
brother, friend and teacher for everybody. He was struggling with a
pen at night, and with a weapon in the daytime. He did not leave
Getashen at the hardest moment and on April 30, 1991, the 26-year-old
ARF member died a death of hero in Getashen,” A. Darbinian stated. In
his speech, political representative of the ARF Bureau, Vice Speaker
of the RA National Assembly Vahan Hovhannisian noted that the idea of
Homeland was deeply rooted in Tatul Krpeyan’s heart. “The key element
of the national ideology is the youth that perceives the idea of
Homeland in a more sensitive way,” he underlined. In his words, Tatul
Krpeyan solved two main problems in the Artsakh freedom war: “When
self-defence began in Artsakh, the problem of accumulating weapons
there was a definite and inevitable one for the ARF. The ARF started
forming self-defence units in Shahumian. We surrendered two Armenian
villages north of Getashen – Azat and Kamo. There was no unity in the
villages, each villager thought in the same way as before the genocide
– to save one’s own life. Tatul created that unity and succeeded in
explaining to the local population that it was necessary for them to
defend themselves. The foundations of the national army were laid by
Tatul and guys like him.” The second problem, according to
V. Hovhannisian, was one of resistance of Getashen and Martunashen
under a 9-month continous blockade. The resistance was organized
thanks to Tatul and other ARF-member freedom fighters. “But for the
insidious Soviet operation “Koltso” (“Circle”), these regions would
have now been part of the NKR,” ARF Bureau member noted. “The best
appreciation of memory of Tatul and his companions-in-arms will be
liberated Getashen,” Vahan Hovhannisian concluded. Tutul’s sister
Ruzan Krpeyan and the dean of YSU history department Hayk Avetisian
also made speeches at the event. Famous singers performed folk songs
during this memorial event.