Gorkhapatra, Nepal
Sept 21 2005
His Majesty extends felicitations [2005-09-21]
KATHMANDU, Sept. 21: His Majesty the King has felicitated President
of the Republic of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, on the occasion of the
National Day of Armenia.
In a message to President Kocharyan, His Majesty the King has, on
behalf of the people and the government of Nepal and on His
Majesty’s own, extended felicitations and best wishes to the
Armenian President for his personal health and happiness and for the
progress and prosperity of the people of Armenia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PALESTINIANS JOIN ISRAELIS IN BEAUTY PAGEANT
By Jonathan Saul
Reuters
09/21/05 11:08 ET
JERUSALEM, Sept 21 (Reuters) – In skimpy swimsuits and high heels,
Israeli, Palestinian and Armenian women came together in a Jewish
settlement for a beauty pageant billed by its Israeli organiser as
a bid to cross Middle East barriers.
It was staged on Tuesday night in Gilo, which Israel calls part of
Jerusalem but which is deemed a settlement under international law.
The venue — on land captured in a 1967 war and annexed in a move
only Israel recognises — failed to impress Palestinian officials and
most Palestinian women, required by Muslim piety to dress modestly,
would shun any scantily clad pageant.
Last year, eight Palestinians from nearby Bethlehem and Beit Jala in
the West Bank dropped out of a similar pageant in Gilo after receiving
death threats from Palestinian militants.
But this time, two Palestinian girls from Beit Jala, a centre of
the minority Christian community in the mainly Muslim Palestinian
population, took part along with 17 Israelis and an Armenian from
Jerusalem’s walled Old City.
The winner was an Israeli, Shira Fadida, and Mary Farah, a Palestinian
from Beit Jala, was runner-up.
“We need peace and we really need to stop killing each other,”
Farah, 19, told Reuters. “This event is not really about beauty of
the body, but a way to bring out the beauty between us (Israelis
and Palestinians).”
“I hope next year more Palestinians will take part. This is really
about forging co-existence,” said organiser Azi Nagar.
A Gilo businessman, he has promoted other projects with Palestinian
participation such as football tournaments and public discussions.
GAZA PULLOUT
Last month, Israel withdrew all settlers from the Gaza Strip and
pulled out military forces last week in a step diplomats hope will
improve the atmosphere for Middle East peace talks.
Gilo came under fire from militants from the nearby West Bank town of
Beit Jala in the early part of a Palestinian uprising that erupted
in 2000. But the area has been largely calm for three years and a
ceasefire took effect in February.
“What better place to foster peace than Gilo,” Nagar said.
But Israel continues to expand larger settlements in the West Bank,
a policy Palestinians say is destroying peace prospects.
The pageant, called “Miss Seam Line”, was named after Israel’s
controversial barrier being built inside the West Bank.
Israel bills the barrier as a security bulwark against suicide bombers
reaching its cities. Palestinians call the barrier a land grab as
it is being routed to take in settlements, particularly those around
Jerusalem, that Israel intends to keep under any future peace treaty.
“Next time, if they really want to have a beauty pageant and talk
about equality (of contestants), they should have it in a place where
Palestinians and Israelis are genuinely treated as equals and not
on occupied territory,” said Diana Buttu, an adviser to Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas.
“To call it a ‘seam line pageant’ seems like a bid to legitimise this
barrier. It’s not a seam line since Gilo is clearly a settlement,
where Israel is trying to create border on occupied land that should
be part of a Palestinian state.”
Israelis taking part in the beauty contest live in what they call
“seam line communities” encompassed by the barrier, including Gilo,
that are considered settlements abroad.
An Israeli Arab musical troupe, Sounds of Peace, played at the pageant
and one of its members said Israel’s handover of Gaza, which it also
captured in 1967, to Palestinian rule was a positive step towards
peace.
“Everyone must clear out their hearts. We want to live out our
days quietly,” said musician Shaban Nasser, 35, a Palestinian from
Jerusalem’s Old City.
(Writing by Jonathan Saul and Mark Heinrich)

TEHRAN’S AMBASSADOR TO IRELAND ARRESTED IN IRAN
Reuters
09/21/05 11:53 ET
TEHRAN, Sept 21 (Reuters) – Tehran’s ambassador to Ireland has been
arrested in Iran on charges of financial mismanagement, Iranian
judicial and foreign ministry sources said on Wednesday.
Judiciary Minister Jamal Karimirad told reporters on Monday an Iranian
envoy had been arrested and was in jail after failing to meet bail.
Foreign Ministry sources on Wednesday named the man as Hamid Reza
Nikkar, ambassador to Ireland. There was no indication of how Nikkar
pleaded.
“One of our ambassadors has been arrested for financial mismanagement,”
Karimirad said on Monday. “Ten percent of a 16-million euro ($19.5
million) deal has been mismanaged,” he added.
It was unclear whether the charge, which one source said involved a
construction project, related to a crime committed in Iran or abroad.
Nikkar took up his posting in Dublin in June and foreign ministry
sources said the charges were likely to relate to an alleged offence
before his arrival in Ireland.
Press reports at the time of Nikkar’s appointment said he had served
as ambassador to Armenia and mayor of the central city of Isfahan
before taking up his Dublin post.
The Irish ambassador in Tehran declined to comment on the case.
(Additional reporting by Paul Hoskins in Dublin)

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT CONGRATULATES ARMENIAN LEADER ON INDEPENDENCE DAY
The Associated Press
09/21/05 10:46 EDT
MOSCOW (AP) – President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday congratulated
Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian on his country’s independence
day, underlying Russia’s strong ties with its staunch ally in the
volatile Caucasus region.
“It is good that Russian-Armenian relations, which are dynamic and
wide-ranging, have become a major factor of stability and security in
the region,” Putin told Kocharian in a letter posted on the Kremlin
Web site.
While many other ex-Soviet nations are looking increasingly toward
closer integration into Western structures, Armenia has remained
loyal to Russia. It hosts a Russian military base, which has become
even more important for Moscow after neighboring Georgia pushed for
the withdrawal of Russian troops.
Russia’s energy monopoly Unified Energy Systems controls Armenia’s
only nuclear plant and manages Armenia’s national grid company.
Armenia also depends on Russia for natural gas supplies.
Armenia, an impoverished landlocked nation of about 5 million, gained
independence after the Soviet collapse in 1991.

PRESS RELEASE
THE HERITAGE PARTY
7 Vazgen Sargsian Street
Yerevan 375010, Armenia
Tel: (+374 – 10) 580.877
Fax: (+374 – 10) 543.897
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
September 20, 2005
The Heritage Party Position on Draft Constitutional Amendments
No.
The Constitution is the fundamental law of the land and its citizens. The
most authoritative source of rights, it defines and guarantees the
structure of state, its political system, and civil liberties and
obligations. Its legitimacy and force of example turn on its acceptance as
the fruit of political consensus and civic confidence.
The Constitution is not a game. It is not a means or excuse to cling to a
political seat or to clarify private relationships. It is not a veneer to
gloss over cracks in the republican home and to hide societal sicknesses.
Our home is cracked, divided, and under pressure. The first decade and a
half of our rediscovered independence have borne witness to an impressive
array of legal and human rights violations committed, in large measure,
under the very cover of cunning constitutional and legislative references.
Testifying to the subjugation of the absolute benchmark of the national
interest to layers of personal gain, our Homeland has been usurped, our
voice and vote have been grabbed away, millions of individual destinies have
been torn asunder, and the assets and inheritance that belong to the
generations have been stolen or sold off together with any remnant sense of
honor.
And then wonderful talk about national interests and security, the rule of
law, rights and freedoms, civil society, democracy, Constitution.
We have already crossed the final frontier of forging and being forged,
deceiving and self-deceiving. The world is not dumb, and Armenia is not a
gaming hall.
Against this light, the Heritage Party finds that:
· The sovereignty of the people, as the sole carrier of authority
under the Constitution, together with the factor of its decisive empowerment
have long remained latent in real life. This has found its simple
reflection in all functions of critical import for our statehood, and has
been expressed through the doubtful level of legality of virtually every
Armenian administration and thus even of the laws each has enacted.
· The official version of constitutional amendments, by virtue of
several provisions and standards set forth therein, represents a relative
step forward in comparison with the existing Constitution.
· The crown of illegitimacy earned by our country’s authorities
beginning ten years ago and cresting in 2003 is not commensurate even with
the lowest threshold required to posit constitutional amendments for an
accountable public vote.
· If in the present conditions that document is put to referendum,
the most compelling priority will become not its small substantive
advantage, but the imperative of democracy through the conduct of a free,
fair, and truly participatory electoral procedure. Any breach or falsehood,
whether during the campaign, on election day or in the counting, will strike
a blow to the Republic of Armenia, its esteem and future, its every citizen.
Our heritage as witness, that shall be the final shame of modern Armenian
history.
Heritage, a national liberal party, will stand at full capacity for the
democratic integrity of the process and a democratic result on the merits.
Considering that the instant draft of the Constitution, as much as it
betokens a textual improvement, is in essence a collection of half-measures
born of unhealthy circumstances, the party is now preparing and will soon
make public its own alternative Armenian Constitution. Our firm expectation
is that, among other things ruling out any prejudicial propensity toward the
undemocratic reproduction of authority, it will become one of the
cornerstones of our forthcoming political quest and with its inclusive
vitality will guide Armenia through the 21st Century, permanently offering
sound answers and comprehensive solutions to the national challenges of our
times.
20 September 2005
Yerevan

Middle East Times, Egypt
Sept 21 2005
Beauty to the fore at Israeli-Palestinian pageant in East Jerusalem
September 21, 2005

Photo: BEAUTIES: Israeli and Palestinian girls participate in the
‘Miss Seam Line’ beauty pageant in the Israeli neighborhood of Gilo
near Jerusalem on September 20. The contest is meant to bring
together girls from both sides of the controversial Israeli barriers
buffer zone.
(REUTERS)

JERUSALEM — A Palestinian teenager walked off with the tiara at a
groundbreaking Israeli-Palestinian beauty pageant held in East
Jerusalem on Tuesday.
The pageant, with 20 young women and girls taking part, was being
held for the second straight year. It is the brainchild of Adi Nadar,
a resident of the Jewish settlement of Gilo in annexed East
Jerusalem.
The area is frequently the target of automatic arms fire from the
neighboring Palestinian town of Beit Jallah in the West Bank.
“We were looking for a way to forget our mutual suffering and our
distrust, by avoiding sport and politics, and we thought about beauty
and women were the best way to bring us closer together,” said Nadar,
who heads a Jerusalem residents association for peace.
The five judges considered the competing merits of 17 young Israelis,
an East Jerusalem Palestinian of Armenian origin and two other
Palestinians from Beit Jallah.
It was one of these last two, Shira Marie Farah, a 17-year-old with
chestnut brown hair, who was declared the winner following the parade
of evening dresses and swimsuits in a Gilo school, accompanied by the
music of Abdel Hakim Hafez, one of the biggest stars of Arab music.
In a rare show of Middle East harmony the Israeli contestants draped
themselves in the Palestinian flag, and vice-versa.
The winner received an air ticket to Paris and invitations from
several major fashion houses.
“It was wonderful to see these young girls together, like a family
… Before the pageant they went together to the Dead Sea and to the
Ramat Rahel kibbutz,” in the Jerusalem area, said makeup artist
Claire Skafie.
“Of course, I entered the contest hoping to be crowned the winner,”
said 19-year-old Eliane, another Palestinian contestant who works in
an East Jerusalem hairdressers. “But for me the important thing is to
meet up with my Israeli friends.”
“What I won tonight was that our neighbors in Gilo have become our
friends,” said fellow Palestinian hopeful Christine, aged just 14.
There was the same enthusiasm among the Israeli girls.
“This contest allows me to get to know my neighbors, and I like them
a lot,” said Tali Cohen, 17.
“I hope to become a professional model but in any case, this contest
allows us to discover each other,” echoed 15-year-old Hodaya Mizrahi.
Several Israeli Labor deputies, including Danny Yatom and Colette
Avital, attended the event.
Israeli singer Koby Shai was also in the enthusiastic crowd.
“I hope that next year I might be able to sing in the Arab world,” he
said.

ARMINFO News Agency
September 20, 2005
SHARZHA EMIR LAYS A WREATH TO MEMORIAL OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS
YEREVAN,SEPTEMBER 20. ARMINFO. Member of the Supreme Council of the
United Arab Emirates, Emir of Sharzha, Sheikh Dc. Sultan Ben Mohammad
al-Kasimi laid a wreath to Tsitsernakaberd, the Memorial of Armenian
Genocide victims.
Al-Kasimi also visited the Museum of Armenian Genocide and left notes
in the Book of honorary guests.
Answering the question of ARMINFO’s reporter Director of the Heritage
Maintenance Association of Sharzha Musalam stated that the tragedy of
Armenian people had happened because of the absence of mutual
respect. “It is necessary to learn to respect and bearing so not to
make enemies, it is necessary to live in peace”, he noted denying to
comment on measures Turkey must take on Armenian Genocide issue,
referring that the issue is of diplomatic meaning. Speaking about the
acquaintance with NKR he noted that it has been limited for the Arab
world only by Armenia so far. However, the trip to Armenia gave an
opportunity to know more about Karabakh and other regions.

PRESS RELEASE
St. Garabed Armenian Church of Louisiana
6208 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA 70806
Tel: 225-248-0627
Fax: 225-248-0628
Email: [email protected]
2005-09-18
Contact: Tamar Meguerditchian ~ Tel: (504) 723-2906

LOUISIANA’S ARMENIANS DEVASTATED BY HURRICANE KATRINA

Twenty-six Armenian Families Face an Unforeseeable Future

New Orleans, LA – Twenty-six Armenian families’ homes and businesses
were severely destroyed and damaged by Hurricane Katrina and its
devastating aftermath. During this period of reconstruction and
recovery, many of these families are faced with an unforeseeable
future.

The Armenian community of Louisiana is a unique community – unique in
size and spirit. The first Armenians settled here over thirty years
ago hailing from Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Armenia and Iran. In 1984, a
few community leaders gathered and decided the community needed to
start a parish and hold church services in Armenian. In an attempt to
foster growth in the community, Fr. Nersess Jebejian was appointed by
the Primate, Archbishop Torkom Manoogian of the Eastern Diocese of the
Armenian Church, as the mission parish priest to hold services in
churches in both New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The name St. Garabed
Armenian Church of Louisiana was given to the mission parish.

In January 2005, after months of fundraising, planning and
construction, St. Garabed Armenian Church of Louisiana opened its
doors as the first Armenian Church in Louisiana. This debut was a big
step for this community, which has progressed slowly over the years,
but nonetheless progressed.

Now many of the Armenians living in the New Orleans Metropolitan area
have been devastated, as many of their homes and businesses have been
damaged. The Armenian community in both LaPlace and Baton Rouge has
reached out to the affected community members by opening their homes
to them, providing them comfort and consolation. Many of the
community’s students – elementary, high school and college/university
students – have been displaced and are either registered elsewhere or
absent this semester. Faced with the daunting task of rebuilding their
homes and businesses, as well as the shocking sights in the area, it
will be a long time before some will be able to move back home. It
will be months before they sense or establish normalcy; and, even when
these families are able to move back home and businesses are repaired
and reopened, the uncertain economy will still create obstacles and
challenges.

Hurricane Katrina uprooted more than trees, homes and buildings, it
uprooted lives and divided families. It has, most definitely, divided
the Armenian community. Armenians nationwide have reached out to the
community, sending donations to the affected community members. The
Diocese of the Armenian Church, under the leadership of the Primate,
Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, has sent money to the affected community
members. Numerous other donations have arrived from individuals and
organizations around the country as well. As Times-Picayune columnist
Chris Rose wrote, `…We thank you. For your money, your water, your
food, your prayers, your boats and buses and the men and women of your
National Guards, fire departments, hospitals and everyone else who has
come to our rescue.’

If you would like to help, please send monetary donations only, as so
many are unaware as to where and when they will have a permanent
address. Donations may be sent to: St. Garabed Armenian Church of
Louisiana, 6208 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA 70806. Any questions or
comments should be directed to Fr. Nersess Jebejian, the pastor, at
(727) 545-0380 or Parish Council Chairman Vasken Kaltakdjian at (225)
413-4620. You can also e-mail the Parish Council at
[email protected].

Soon, these `Cajun Armenians’ will celebrate Mardi Gras, host their
crawfish boils, and cheer on the Saints, but until then faith and
community will prevail. `When you meet us now and you look into our
eyes, you will see the saddest story ever told. Our hearts are broken
into a thousand pieces. But don’t pity us. We’re gonna make it. We’re
resilient. After all, we’ve been rooting for the Saints for 35
years. That’s got to count for something,’ Rose wrote.

-30-

PRESS RELEASE
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Address: Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
Contact: Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
Tel: (374 10) 517 163
Fax: (374 10) 517 301
E-Mail: [email protected]
September 21, 2005
CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS KAREKIN II
CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS
ON THE OCCASION OF ARMENIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY
September 21, 2005
We extend greetings and blessings from the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin to
all our sons and daughters in Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora,
congratulating them on the festive occasion of Independence Day of the
Republic of Armenia.
A new page opened in our history on September 21, 1991 – a day blessed by
God, whose great sacred mystery will be celebrated and commemorated by our
succeeding generations.
Our people did not yield to the difficulties and sacrifices of the
liberation struggle for Artsakh, the earthquake and the blockade; rather
with one heart and one will defended the right to live free without
hesitation. We have passed through a difficult yet ascending pathway on the
journey to create our new life and new statehood, a course which will become
broader and brighter through the united efforts, faith, devotion and love of
our people.
We shall nurture each day of free Armenia, for the sake of the development
and prosperity of our Motherland, in the name of the unified and glorious
future for all Armenians.
We offer prayers and wishes to heaven, that the Lord protect the Republic of
Armenia under His Fatherly Right Hand, and keep our people filled with grace
and reinforced with faith, to live and work for the love and glory of our
homeland.
May the grace, love and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us and will
all.

Azeri official rules out Ukraine-style revolution
By Lada Yevgrashina
BAKU, Sept 20 (Reuters) – The speaker of Azerbaijan’s parliament told
opposition parties on Tuesday they were wasting their time if they
hoped to turn the ex-Soviet state’s Nov. 6 parliamentary election into
a Ukraine-style revolution.
Opponents of President Ilham Aliyev say if the vote is rigged, huge
crowds of protesters will come out on the streets in an uprising like
the “Orange Revolution” that forced out Ukraine’s ruling elite a year
ago.
Mimicking their Ukrainian counterparts, Azeri opposition parties have
adopted orange as their colour and flew in a pro-democracy activist
from Ukraine to share his experience. He was deported at the weekend.
But Aliyev’s supporters — and many analysts — say a Ukrainian
scenario is unlikely in this Muslim nation of 8 million on the Caspian
Sea.
The ruling elite is buoyed by the petrodollars from its offshore oil
fields while its opponents are divided.
“Our opposition need not bother travelling to Ukraine and bringing
back activists, orange flags and T-shirts,” said parliamentary speaker
and Aliyev supporter Murtuz Aleskerov.
“They need to respect their own Azeri people and the laws of
Azerbaijan,” he said.
The U.S. military is considering setting up temporary bases in
Azerbaijan, which borders Iran and Russia.
BP has invested billions of dollars in Azeri reserves and is
weeks away from loading the first crude from a pipeline that stretches
from Baku to the Turkish Mediterranean coast.
Azerbaijan — ruled for three decades until 2003 by Aliyev’s late
father, Heydar — has yet to stage a vote deemed fair by Western
monitors.
But the Nov. 6 election is under unprecedented international scrutiny
after disputed votes brought thousands onto the streets and propelled
the opposition to power in Ukraine and also ex-Soviet Georgia and
Kyrgyzstan.
“We want to see fundamental changes in the country and if that does
not happen through transparent elections we will do it via peaceful
revolution,” said Namik Seidiyev, a leader of the “New Thinking” youth
group.
His radical group is a clone of Ukraine’s Pora movement that
spearheaded the “Orange Revolution.”
ORANGE TINGE
The mainstream opposition do not openly advocate revolution, but they
too look to Ukraine for inspiration.
At an opposition rally in Baku this month, party leaders wore orange
T-shirts. Days later, police seized a store of tents from one
opposition party office. A protesters’ tent city was a feature of
Ukraine’s revolt.
However, Aliyev supporters say all that is just window dressing to
mask opposition weakness.
For many voters, the main opposition leaders are tainted by having
served in a 1992-1993 government marked by economic chaos and
disastrous setbacks in a war with neighbouring Armenia.
And they are not united. There are two big opposition blocs running in
the election, each made up of several parties. No one has emerged as a
clear leader.
A few thousand people, claiming electoral fraud, demonstrated after
Ilham Aliyev’s victory in a 2003 presidential vote. But the protest
melted away after riot police violently dispersed the crowd and
arrested activists.
“Lacking any worthwhile ideas of its own, (the opposition) is copying
Ukraine’s example,” said Siyavush Novruzov, deputy head of the New
Azerbaijan ruling party. “There are none of the preconditions for that
sort of revolution here,” he said.
09/20/05 13:29 ET