“WE WON’T PUT OUR HANDS DOWN UNTIL TURKEY RECOGNIZES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE,” URFA ARMENIANS DECLARE
Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Sept 27 2005
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 27, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. On September
23-25, events dedicated to the 90th anniversary of Urfa heroic
struggle were held in Armenia on the initiative of RA National Academy
of Sciences and Urfa Compatriot Union. Urfa Armenians that arrived
from South America, the US, Lebanon, Syria on those days visited the
Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex to victims of Armenian Genocide,
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, as well as participated in the
opening of the S.Astvatsatsin church founded by Mihran Safarian’s
family and the reservoir built by Vazgen Gasparian’s benefaction in
the settlement of Nor Yedesia of Aragatsotn region.
Urfa Compatriot Union was founded in 1975 in the US and Lebanon. As
Karpis Gazanchian, Chairman of Urfa Compatriot Union of US, noted
in his interview to Noyan Tapan’s correspondent, the Union also has
branches in Syria and South America.
Armenians lived in Urfa since ancient times. For centuries Urfa
has been a center of trade and communication. The trade of Turkey’s
internal provinces was carried out through Urfa. Before the First
World War the population of the town of Urfa was nearly 55 thousand
people. Armenians, Turks, Kurds, Arabs, Jews lived there. The number
of Armenians living in the town fluctuated from 12 to 20 thousand
people. They were engaged in small trade, crafts and agriculture.
There were three Armenian churches and three Armenian schools in the
town. In the period of Abdul Hamid’s reign the Urfa Armenians felt
the consequences of the destructive policy carried on by Turkey on
their back. In 1895 Urfa like other regions of the Ottoman Empire
populated with Armenians became a place of slaughter. Cruelly killing
many Armenians, the Turks robbed their property, destroyed their houses
and cultural centers. After 1895 a great migration of Armenians started
in the Ottoman Empire. But the Urfa Armenians didn’t abandon their
houses and managed to have the 1915 heroic struggle with joint efforts.
After the 1915 massacres the Urfa Armenians spread all over the
world, they also repatriated to Soviet Armenia where they founded the
settlement of Nor Yedesia. According to K.Gazanchian, by approximate
calculations, at present 15 thousand former residents of Urfa live in
different countries of the world, 3.5 thousand of them live in Lebanon.
K.Gazanchian noted that today Urfa Armenians living in Spyurk want to
make friends with the residents of the village of Yedesia, as well as
try to assist the village. “Nor Yedesia seems to be the native land
of our parents to us. We want our children to visit this settlement
frequently so that they will know their past and history as the more
they stick to their roots the more Armenian they will remain,” Karpis
Gazanchian mentioned.
Touching upon preservation of the Armenian nation, he mentioned
that the number of those speaking Armenian reduces year by year in
Spyurk, as well as marriages of Armenians with foreigners have become
frequent. “The new generation is assimilated with different nations
and we can’t oblige our children to marry only Armenians as starting
from school they mix with representatives of different nations.”
Speaking about the Armenian-Turkish relations, Mihran Safarian,
member of Urfa Compatriot Union of South America, gave assurance
that the Turkish government must condemn the Armenian Genocide: “We
demand justice. We won’t put our hands down until Turkey recognizes
the Armenian Genocide.”
According to M.Safarian, today Turkey spends enormous sums on
anti-propaganda and Turkish ambassadors and intellectuals try to
deny the crime committed by their grandfathers at the beginning of
the 20th century. “If there hasn’t been a genocide, from where have
the Armenians spread all over the world come? Nearly 2-3 thousand
Armenians lived in South America before 1915 and after 1915 their
number reached 200-300 thousand,” he highlighted.

ARMENIAN CULTURE DAYS IN POLAND
Pan Armenian News
27.09.2005 02:59
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ September 21-22 Armenian Culture Days were held in
Pruj Gdansk, Poland. These marked the Independence Day of Armenia
and the 1600th anniversary of Armenian written language. The event
was organized by the Pruj Gdansk administration, Armenian national
cultural autonomy of Kaliningrad region and artist Gagik Parsamyan,
who lives in Poland. Within the framework of the Armenian Culture
Days exhibition of Gagik Parsamyan’s works, facsimile copies of
Armenian ancient manuscripts and icons from Matenadaran depository
was organized. A large concert program of creative groups of the
Armenian community of Kaliningrad and tasting of Armenian national
meals were also arranged. September 22 an Armenian Apostolic Church
service was held at St. Jacek church. It was offered by archimandrite
of Armenian Diocese of Germany Serop Isahanyan, who had arrived from
Frankfurt am Mein specially for the celebration. The province governor,
Armenian Ambassador to Poland Ashot Hayrapetyan, head of the Polish
Catholic Church of Gdansk, MPs, representatives of national minority
communities, prominent public figures and creative intelligentsia
took part in the holiday.
Armenians and Poles gathered at a friendship party at the end of the
festivities. Local authorities have organized a large trip program
for the Kaliningrad guests, reported the Nairi Kaliningrad newspaper.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

KOCHARIAN: “WE CONSIDER PRESENCE OF RUSSIAN FULCRUM IN ARMENIA AS A COMPONENT OF OUR SAFETY”
Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Sept 27 2005
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 27, NOYAN TAPAN. “We have no problem of widening
the Russian military fulcrum in Armenia, but the one, what there is,
is settled in legal way, envisaged by the conception of the safety
of Armenia,” RA President Robert Kocharian stated at the September
27 press-conference.
The President interpreted that the Russian military fulcrum in Armenia
is placed based on mutual agreement. Armenia was also interested in
having that military fulcrum, as, according to Robert Kocharian, the
impression created by some publications of the press that placing
of the fulcrum is imposed is wrong. “We are in rather difficult
region where relations among countries are still in the process of
settlement, and we consider the presence of that fulcrum in Armenia
as one of components of safety,” the RA President emphasized.

THE “MODEL” OF THE STATE
Aram Abrahamian
Aravot (Morning), Armenia
Sept 27 2005
Nobody will be beaten in the coming parliamentary and presidential
elections, the activists of the opposition won’t be taken to
Police, ballot boxes will be filled a little and numbers won’t be
drawn. At the same time those elections will be too far from European
standards. Violence against the voters is in the second plan in modern
Armenian “technologies”. Power and administrative levers came to the
first plan and certainly money.
In that case elections held in the Kentron aren’t specific. Here
the DPA chose a wrong strategy from the beginning not nominating a
person who has experience of economic and administrative activities but
chose our colleague Rusan Khachaturian who yields the current district
ruler by objective showings. Beglarian’s victory was natural that is
he would win without using the above-mentioned levers and without
bribing the voters. And it doesn’t have reasonable explanation why
it did in the Kentron somewhere.
The “model” of our state was seen more clearly in the elections of
Arabkir. Both candidates Hovhannes Shahinian and David Gyulumian could
work theoretically as a district ruler. But ULP party which was for
D. Gyulumian refused of the fight before the elections. It happened
so as Serge Sargsian and Alraghaci Lyov assisted H.
Shahinian and on the other hand the criminals of the community,
“district authorities”. The ULP leader Gurgen Arsenian is a big
businessman consequently he has something to loose from both sides.
On the one hand the authority can examine his business in the way that
if it isn’t closed it will loose. On the other hand the hooligan of
the district may explode his cars, for example.
And what about the people? A white microbus 67ss653 by numbers stopped
in front of my building. Young people “with convincing appearance”
came out from the car with the lists in their cars. My neighbors sat
into that microbus, in particularly old people. They went for voting
after which the same bus gave them back.
Here in this way, without any violence, with flower branches in
their hands our voters would go and say, “yes” to the constitutional
amendments and then they will give their votes to the candidates of
the authority in the parliamentary and presidential elections.

THE MAYOR IS ACCUSED OF MURDER
Naira Mamikonian
Aravot (Morning), Armenia
Sept 27 2005
Economic and “pre-election” versions of the murder.
The mayor of New Hachn city of Kotayk region 1966 year born Armen
Keshishian fired 7 shots by his factory weapon of “Winking” MR-446
production 9mm caliber, 0244601675 series the director of Arzni branch
of “Power circuit” 1967 year born Ashot Mkhitarian in the crossroad
of Haroutiunian-Torozian streets of New Hachn city of Kotayk region
on Saturday, 24 of September at 10:20. A. Mkhitarian was sent to
the hospital of Abovian with body injuries where he died in half an
hour. The mayor is arrested, a criminal case is brought against him,
which carries on the prosecutory of Kotayk region. By the way the
weapon by which the murder was done is Andranik Margarian’s personal
present to the mayor A. Keshishian. Yesterday the press secretary of
the RA Prime Minister Marry Haroutiunian affirmed this fact. There
are two hypothesis round the incident one of which the assistant of
Eghvard prosecutor Albert Mkrtchian in his interview to “Azatutiun”
b/s. According to him the mayor with some of his officials tried to
prevent A. Mkhitarian’s illegal construction.
They began quarrel as the result and the mayor killed A. Mkhitarian.
According to the next hypothesis the quarrel between the killer and
killed person has had “pre-election” pretext. The point is that the
elections of Mayor will be held in New Hachn on 9 of November. The
current mayor Armen Keshishian and the member of the RA NA deputy
Manuk Gasparian’s party Babken Margarian have nominated their
candidacy. According to our information the killed Ashot Mkhitarian
also wanted to be nominated but he was “asked” not to nominate. A.
Mkhitarian had to not nominate but he assisted the mayor’s rival B.
Margarian round his possibilities what became the reason of the
quarrel with the mayor. By the way the chairman of Eghvard regional
committee Gnel Ghalumian in the interview to “Azatutiun” b/s. By his
words the killed A. Mkhitarian also wanted to nominate his candidacy
in the coming elections but then changed his mind. According to the
chairman Armen Keshishian might have a serious rival in that case and
“discrepancies between them began from that time”.
But other sources say that something came between A. Mkhitarian
and Armen Keshishian before the elections. According to one of the
inhabitants of New Hachn they were friends of childhood. And more
according to the inhabitants of the city A. Keshishian was elected as
a district ruler three years ago with A. Mkhitarian’s assistance. By
the way the latter was accused of the murder one of the citizens in
1990’s but it seemed it wasn’t proved. The relations between A.
Keshishian and A. Mkhitarian become strained and on the threshold
of the elections of Local self-governing when A. Mkhitarian didn’t
allowed to be nominated he began mocking at him everywhere. By other
sources he was simply criticizing the mayor for bad work. As regards
the coming elections of New Hachn mayor the current mayor A.
Keshishian can take part in it unless court decree is brought.
Irrespective of all hypothesizes a murder took place and the killer
must be punished.

THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AND THE ASSYRIAN FACTOR
By Nora Vosbigian
Assyrian International News Agency
Sept 27 2005
British historian, Ara Sarafian (Gomidas Institute, London), was one of
the main speakers at a recent commemoration of the Assyrian Genocide
(or Seyfo) of 1915 (AINA, 9-22-2005). The event was at Aula Magna,
Stockholm University on 24 September and was organised by the Assyrian
Youth Federation in Sweden, who asked Sarafian to give a lecture on
the 1916 British Parliamentary report, The Treatment of Armenian in
the Ottoman Empire 1915-16.
One of the central questions in Sarafian’s paper dealt with the
relative absence of the destruction of Assyrian Christians in the
British report. Was it an oversight or was the report prejudiced?
This question arose in more forceful terms at the conference, when a
member of the audience suggested that there was a 200 page Assyrian
section to the blue book which was stolen by Armenians and was never
published as a consequence.
Sarafian pointed out that the British blue book covered the Assyrian
issue within the context of what happened in North-West Persia, but
it missed the core of the Assyrian experience because there were no
key communicants and witnesses in the key Assyrian populated areas
of Mardin-Midiyat in Ottoman Turkey. Elsewhere, the destruction of
Assyrians was subsumed in descriptions of the destruction of the much
more numerous Armenian communities.
This lack of information about Assyrians was mainly because the
accounts informing the British about events in the Ottoman Empire
were communicated by United States consuls and missionaries. Since
there were no United States consulates near the main Assyrian regions
of the Ottoman Empire, there were no ready channels of open to the
outside world. Furthermore, the few American missionaries in Mardin
and Diyarbekir who might also have reported on the destruction of
Assyrians were expelled from these regions in the Spring of 1915.
Consequently, there was little information available about the
destruction of Assyrian communities to the British in 1916, except
from North-Western Persia, where American missionaries bore witness
to the carnage that took place.
Sarafian related some accounts of the destruction of Assyrians he had
read, such as the memoirs of Raphael de Nogales describing what he
saw in Siirt, or the private letters of Dr. Floyd Smith in Diyarbekir
describing Assyrian victims of a massacre at Karabash he treated in
Diyarbekir in May 1915.
Sarafian pointed out that since 1915 there has been a lot of
information about the Assyrian issue, but mainstream Armenian
historians have generally ignored the destruction of Assyrians due to
poor scholarship, chauvinism, or both. Consequently, many Armenians
today remain ignorant of the destruction of Assyrian Christians in
Ottoman Turkey in 1915. This is clearly wrong and should be changed
with education he argued.
However, it should be added that not all Armenian historians have
avoided the destruction of Assyrian Christians in Ottoman Turkey.
Only three years ago, the French Armenian Revue d’histoire armenienne
contemporaine published a special issue, “Mardin 1915: Anatomie
pathologique d’une destruction” (edited by Yves Ternon).

TEAM REPORTING PROJECT
International Journalist’s Network
Sept 27 2005
Oct 01, 2005 – Oct 10, 2005
Training
In Yerevan, Armenia. Organized by the Media Diversity Institute
(MDI). MDI says it will select eight applicants for the program,
four each from Armenia and Georgia. Their base will be Yerevan during
the program, as the journalists will travel around the country to do
their reporting. The journalists will produce their programs together
and make them available for free to stations in their home countries.
Interested radio journalists should send their CV and letter of
interest to their local MDI country coordinator. Armenian journalists
should contact Artur Papyan at [email protected],
telephone +374 (1) 53 00 67, or visit 9B Ghazar Parpetsi str., 375003,
Yerevan. Georgian journalists should contact Elena Aladashvili at
[email protected] or visit 10 Chovelidze St.,
Room No. 304, Tbilisi.

CYPRIOT ARMENIANS SUBMIT CANDIDACIES FOR BY-ELECTION
Financial Mirror, Cyprus
Sept 27 2005
Three members of the Armenian religious group have submitted their
candidacies today for the post of new representative of the Armenian
religious group to the House of Representatives that will take place
9 October 2005.
The new representative will succeed Bedros Kalaydjian, who passed
away on 1st September at the age of 71.
Vahakn Atamyan, Antranig Ashdjian and Parsegh Zartarian submitted their
candidacies to Chief Returning Officer Lazaros Savvides who said that
around 1,950 Armenians are eligible to vote in the by-election.
He also said that four voting centers will operate, two at the
Armenian elementary school “Narek” in Nicosia, one at Larnaca District
Administration and another at Limassol District Administration. The
new representative will be declared at the Interior Ministry around
1930 local time on 9 October.
In statements, Ashdjian said he submitted his candidacy, with the
main concern to preserve the national identity, language and culture
of the Armenian community.
Ashdjian further said he feels he can get the Armenians out of the
deadlock which they are now in, noting that one of the issues which
they are facing is the future of the Armenian Melkonian Institute.
The Melkonian school closed this year but Armenians have been
campaigning to prevent the land from being sold off. The government
has declared 60% of the land as national heritage, while suits are
still ongoing for the remaining 40%.
On his part, Atamyan said that if he is elected, “I will try to do
everything to find a solution to the problems which the Armenian
community is facing”.
One of his priorities, he added, would be to save the Melkonian
Institute, to end the destruction and restore the historical and
religious monuments of the community in the Turkish occupied north of
Cyprus and continue the legacy of brothers Aram and Bedros Kalaydjian
to further develop relations with Armenian political forces.
Zartarian said that the Armenian community has matured and now is
the time for an independent candidate to win the elections.
He also said that he has the ideas and abilities to work with the
Armenians to solve the problems, which they are facing.
The three religious groups, belonging to the Greek Cypriot community,
Latins, Armenians and Maronites, elect a representative each to the
House, who does not take up one of the 56 parliamentary seats.

SYSTEM OF A DOWN TURNS POLITICAL FOR HOUSE BILL
By Lisa Friedman, Washington Bureau
Los Angeles Daily News
Sept 27 2005
WASHINGTON – A San Fernando Valley-based rock band plans to rally
today in front of House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s Illinois office
in the hope of pressuring Congress to pass a politically sensitive
resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide.
Serj Tankian, lead singer of System of a Down, said he and fellow
band members – all of Armenian descent – hope to “get attention for
the cause” and encourage Hastert to bring the bill to House vote.
The resolution sponsored by Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, would
have Congress formally declare that the Ottoman Empire engaged in
genocide against 1.5 million Armenians after World War I. The House
International Relations Committee passed it 35-11.
The State Department opposes the resolution, arguing that its passage
would undermine U.S. relations with Turkey, which continues to deny
that a genocide took place.
Hastert and other GOP leaders have vowed to prevent a full House vote.
Hastert officials referred questions on the genocide bill to Majority
Leader Tom DeLay. A DeLay spokesman said the resolution is not
scheduled for a vote because Gulf Coast hurricane legislation is
Congress’ top priority.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

VLADIMIR NAUMOV TO TAKE PART IN MEETING OF CIS COUNCIL OF INTERIOR MINISTERS IN YEREVAN ON SEPTEMBER 29-30
National Legal Internet Portal, Belarus
Sept 27 2005
Issues on the fight against corruption in the CIS member-states will
be considered on September 29-30 in the Armenian capital Yerevan at
a meeting of the CIS council of interior ministers. Head of the law
enforcement bodies of this republic Vladimir Naumov will take part
in the meeting as well, BelTA was informed in the information and
public relations department of the interior ministry of Belarus.
The participants of the meeting will discuss intensification of
the cooperation between the CIS law enforcement bodies in combating
illegal migration and will analyze the course of implementation of
the plan of the CIS council of interior ministers on counteracting
terrorism for 2005. They will also consider possible creation of a
periodical of the council.
Within the framework of the sitting in Yerevan Belarus and Armenia
plan to sign a bilateral protocol on cooperation between the interior
ministry of the Republic of Belarus and the police of the Republic
of Armenia for 2006-2007.