Reuters, UK
April 26 2005

Turkey must push reforms ahead of entry talks-EU

LUXEMBOURG, Apr 25 (Reuters) Turkey must do more to push through
political reforms ahead of its planned membership talks with the
European Union later this year, EU foreign ministers agreed today
ahead of talks with their Turkish counterpart.

The ministers, meeting in Luxembourg, expressed concern about the
lack of progress on religious freedom and minority rights, and called
on the Ankara government to ensure full civilian control of Turkey’s
powerful military.

They also called for an early signing of an agreement extending
Turkey’s customs union with the EU to all new member states, saying
it would be ”an important step towards normalisation of the
relations between Turkey and all EU member states, including the
Republic of Cyprus”.

EU leaders agreed last December to open talks with Turkey on Oct.

3, but also set firm conditions for starting negotiations, saying
Turkey had to see through reforms to ensure it met the bloc’s
standards on democracy, rule of law and civil liberties.

”It is a very clear message that Turkey has to move on many fronts
and on many issues,” Cypriot Foreign Minister George Iacovou told
Reuters.

”A lot of the laws that have been enacted are an empty letter for
the time being, because they have not been put into effect, this is
in particular in respect for human rights, the rights of minorities
and so on,” he said.

EU and Turkish ministers will hold regular talks tomorrow to discuss
Ankara’s progress towards membership of the 25-nation bloc.

French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said he and his Dutch
colleague had also requested that EU president Luxembourg urge Ankara
to ”reassess its past concerning the Armenian genocide”.

Armenia wants Turkey to admit that the killing of up to 1.5 million
Armenians 90 years ago in Ottoman Turkey was genocide.

Turkey denies this, saying the numbers were smaller and Armenians
were among many victims of a partisan war that also claimed many
Muslim Turkish lives.

Turkey’s planned EU entry talks has moved the dispute up the
political agenda. France, home to an influential, 400,000-strong
Armenian community, has promised to seek a Turkish admission of
genocide, although Barnier said this would arise at some point in a
long negotiating process, not as a prior condition.

In a paper outlining what Turkey needs to do, the EU expressed
”serious concerns” about cases of torture still occurring and
called on Prime Minister Tayip Erdogan’s government to enforce a
zero-tolerance policy to eradicate ill-treatment.

The EU also expressed concern about a lack of freedom of expression
and said more should be done to boost the rights of Turkey’s Kurdish
and Roma minorities.

The ministers said the Turkish army continued to exercise influence
in politics through ”informal mechanisms”, adding that Erdogan had
to do more to control the military.

”He has to decide whether he really controls the military or he
doesn’t,” Iacovou said.

The EU paper also urged Turkey to carry out unfulfilled commitments
including enforcing intellectual property rights, removing
discriminatory laws, reducing state aid to industry and allowing
Cypriot vessels to dock in Turkish ports.

Armenian Assembly of America
122 C Street, NW, Suite 350
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:

PRESS RELEASE
April 25, 2005
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
Email: [email protected]

PRESIDENT BUSH FAILS TO PROPERLY CHARACTERIZE THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
White House Ignores Congressional, Community Calls to Instead Appease Turkey

WASHINGTON – While the Armenian Assembly today expressed appreciation
for President Bush’s commitment to seek a “deeper partnership” with
Yerevan, organizational leaders were disappointed the President did
not properly characterize the Armenian Genocide in his statement of
remembrance. In remarks issued yesterday, Bush labeled the Genocide
of 1915 as the “Great Calamity.”

Earlier this month, in a strong showing of bipartisan support, a
record number of 210 Members of the U.S. Senate and House of
Representatives urged President Bush to properly acknowledge the
Armenian Genocide in his statement of remembrance. Their calls were
bolstered by 37 American states that are also on record as affirming
the Genocide as well as 16 countries around the world.

“The Assembly is extremely dissatisfied with the President’s
characterization of the attempted annihilation of our people by
Ottoman Turkey,” said Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny.
“This was a missed opportunity by the President to speak the truth
plainly, to once and for all avoid using evasive terminology which
only serves to support Turkey’s state-sponsored denial campaign.”

“April 24 is not only a solemn day for Armenians but for all victims
of genocide and other crimes against humanity,” Ardouny continued.
“The U.S. must take a firm stand to squarely reaffirm its own
historical record, which includes U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman
Empire Henry Morgenthau’s description of those events as a ‘campaign
of race extermination.'”

While the President’s choice of words were in effect a textbook
definition of the crime, the statement this year again fell short of
his 2000 statement when Bush said, “Armenians were subjected to a
genocidal campaign that defies comprehension.”

Similarly, in a letter to the Armenian Assembly that same year, Bush
said, “Armenians were subjected to a genocidal campaign that defies
comprehension. Their travails should lead all decent people to
remember and acknowledge the facts and lessons of an awful crime in a
century of bloody crimes against humanity. If elected president, I
would ensure that our nation properly recognizes the tragic suffering
of the Armenian people.”

In his statement this year, the President also encouraged recent calls
by Ankara for a joint Turkish-Armenian study of the crimes. “The
historical record is clear and does not require a review,” Ardouny
said. “Such an initiative should not have been encouraged by the
Administration.”

President Robert Kocharian and his administration have publicly stated
that periodic calls by Turkey for a historical debate simply delay the
process of reconciling with the truth, since that accounting has
already been done. In 2000, for example, more than 120 Genocide and
Holocaust scholars from the U.S., Europe and Israel signed a statement
affirming the WWI Armenian Genocide as an incontestable historical
fact and urged the governments of Western democracies to likewise
recognize it as such. Further, at a September 2000 conference
co-sponsored by the Library of Congress and the Armenian National
Institute in cooperation with the United State Holocaust Memorial
Museum, entitled the “The American Response to the Armenian Genocide,”
a spokesperson for the Library of Congress stated that “the evidence
of genocide is incontrovertible.”

In his statement the President also says that the U.S. is grateful for
Armenia’s contributions to the war on terror and that America is
committed to supporting the country’s historic reforms and a peaceful
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness
of Armenian issues. It is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership
organization.
###

NR# 2005-045

Editor’s Note: April 24, 2005 Statement from President George W. Bush
is attached.

The White House

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary

April 24, 2005

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

On Armenian Remembrance Day, we remember the forced exile and mass
killings of as many as 1.5 million Armenians during the last days of
the Ottoman Empire. This terrible event is what many Armenian people
have come to call the “Great Calamity.” I join my fellow Americans and
Armenian people around the world in expressing my deepest condolences
for this horrible loss of life. Today, as we commemorate the 90th
anniversary of this human tragedy and reflect on the suffering of the
Armenian people, we also look toward a promising future for an
independent Armenian state.

The United States is grateful for Armenia’s contributions to the war
on terror and to efforts to build a democratic and peaceful Iraq. We
remain committed to supporting the historic reforms Armenia has
pursued for over a decade. We call on the Government of Armenia to
advance democratic freedoms that will further advance the aspirations
of the Armenian people. We remain committed to a lasting and peaceful
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We also seek a deeper
partnership with Armenia that includes security cooperation and is
rooted in the shared values of democratic and market economic
freedoms.

I applaud individuals in Armenia and Turkey who have sought to examine
the historical events of the early 20th century with honesty and
sensitivity. The recent analysis by the International Center for
Transitional Justice did not provide the final word, yet marked a
significant step toward reconciliation and restoration of the spirit
of tolerance and cultural richness that has connected the people of
the Caucasus and Anatolia for centuries. We look to a future of
freedom, peace, and prosperity in Armenia and Turkey and hope that
Prime Minister Erdogan’s recent proposal for a joint Turkish-Armenian
commission can help advance these processes.

Millions of Americans proudly trace their ancestry to Armenia. Their
faith, traditions, and patriotism enrich the cultural, political, and
economic life of the United States. I appreciate all individuals who
work to promote peace, tolerance, and reconciliation. On this solemn
day of remembrance, I send my best wishes and expressions of
solidarity to Armenian people around the world.

-END-

Orange County Register, California
April 25 2005

Tran objects to welcome for communists
Garden Grove assemblyman fled Saigon 30 years ago.

By JOHN GITTELSOHN
The Orange County Register

The Legislature honored visitors from Armenia and Hungary on
Thursday, but Assemblyman Van Tran, R-Garden Grove, was outraged when
a delegation from Vietnam received a courtesy introduction on the
floor of the Assembly.

“I find it personally offensive,” said Tran, who fled Saigon 30 years
ago this month when South Vietnam fell to the communist North. “I
find it offensive that the majority (Democrats) would honor the same
folks who chased out me and my family and who stand for nothing we
do.”

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez posed for photos with the guests, but
under floor rules barred Tran from voicing his outrage until after
the Vietnamese left.

“Today you honored – you personally applauded – a representative of a
regime that enslaved and murdered countless thousands of my former
countrymen,” Tran, the first Vietnamese-American elected to
California’s Legislature, wrote to the speaker.

Tran called for a review of Assembly rules that allow recognition
ofvisitors from communist states or totalitarian dictatorships. As a
member of the Garden Grove City Council last year, he sponsored an
ordinance that required visitors from the Vietnamese government to
give two weeks notice before coming to town.

Armenians commemorate genocide

ANP
April 25, 2005

YEREVAN (ANP, AP, Reuters) – More than a million people in the Armenian
capital Yerevan commemorated that ninety years ago the massacres on
Armenians took place. This happened to the dissatisfaction of Turkey, which
does not recognize the murders as genocide.

The commemoration was opened by the Armenian president Robert Kocharian who
layed a wreath at the monument for the victims. After laying the wreath,
hundreds of thousands of Armenians, among whom many Armenians from the U.S.,
France and Russia, with flags and flowers, marched up the hill where the
memorial stands.

The head of the Armenian Christian Church led an emotional service. At 7
o’clock in the evening a minute of silence was observed throughout all of
Armenia.

On April 24, 1915, officials of the Ottoman Empire, predecessor of modern
Turkey, ordered the arrest of Armenian leaders. They had apparently rebelled
against Turkish domination and were considered traitors.

This formed the instigation of a period of organized massacres. Men were
killed and women and children forced to walk under wretched conditions from
West-Turkey to the desert in Syria. Many died of exhaustion or were killed
on their way.

According to historians almost one and a half million Armenians died from
the systematic attempts to drive them away. Turkey, which does not recognize
the murders as genocide, says 300 thousand victims. Ankara also emphasizes
that many Turkish victims fell in those years.

Various European countries, including France and Russia, consider the
killings as genocide. They have urged the Turkish government to give the
murders a place in their own history. Continuing the denial could decrease
Turkey’s chances for accession to the European Union.

In the Netherlands approximately five-hundred Armenians commemorated the
massacre with flowers and speeches. This took place near the Armenian
memorial in cemetery De Boskamp in Assen. In 2001, the unveiling of the
memorial caused much anger among Turks in the Netherlands.

Ha’aretz, Israel
April 25 2005

90 years on, Armenian recalls the ordeal

By Amiram Barkat

Events were held around the world and in Israel on Sunday and
yesterday to commemorate the Armenian genocide 90 years ago. Between
1 million and 1.5 million Armenians perished in 1915-1916, around a
third of the Armenian people. Some died of hunger, thirst and disease
during the expulsion from their communities in Turkey to Aleppo in
Syria. Others were murdered by Turkish soldiers or bandits.

The last of the genocide survivors in Israel says she forgives the
Turks and does not bear a grudge.

Beatrice Kaplanian recalls the summer day in 1915 when an official
poster appeared in her hometown of Nevshehir, in the Cappadocia
region in central Turkey. The poster announced that all Armenians
must leave their homes immediately. Along with her parents, little
sister, and thousands of Armenian residents, Kaplanian set out on
foot for the long journey to the Syrian city of Aleppo. Her father,
an elderly and sick man, died of exhaustion en route. Shortly after
reaching Aleppo with her mother and sister, Kaplanian was adopted by
a Turkish couple. After the war she was removed from her new home
and, like other adopted Armenian children, moved between several
orphanages in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, eventually ending up in the
1930s in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, where she
still lives.

Kaplanian is close to 100, though she cannot recall her year of
birth, or her original surname. She remembers that her given name was
Filomena, and that her father was redheaded and freckled, just like
her. Some experiences from the journey to Aleppo remain profoundly
etched in her memory. She remembers the terrible thirst and fear at
night. “We would hear horrible screams by girls. When we walked in
the daytime, the men walked on the outside columns to conceal the
girls from the guards, who lusted after them.”

In the 1920s and 1930s, the small Armenian community in Palestine
took in thousands of refugees, many of them orphaned children like
Kaplanian. George Hintilian, an Armenian historian, says genocide
survivors had no special standing in Armenian society. “The general
feeling was that everyone had gone through this calamity, and
nobody’s special. I remember being surprised when I saw Israelis
treat Holocaust survivors reverently.”

Professor Yair Oron, a historian who researches the Armenian
genocide, says there are generational differences in Armenians’
attitudes toward the genocide: “Members of the first generation were
preoccupied with existential struggle. They didn’t recount their
experiences much to the second generation. Members of the third
generation made the issue a public priority, but before that happened
we lost valuable time.”

Academic research on the genocide only began in the 1960s. In the
1970s, the Armenians sought attention through terrorist attacks on
Turkish targets in Western countries. Countries such as the United
States and Israel still refuse to ascribe the term “genocide” to the
Armenian disaster. “What characterizes the second and third
generations is the profound sense of humiliation and frustration, to
an obsessive degree, at the world’s ignoring their people’s
calamity,” says Oron.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Hovnanian School
817 River Road
New Milford, NJ 07646
Contact: Vartan Matiossian (201-967-5940)

Rouben Mamoulian’s Films to Be Discussed in a Lecture

At the Hovnanian School

NEW MILFORD, NJ.- At some time or another you have watched “Dr. Jekyll and
Mr. Hyde,” “Queen Christina,” or “The Mark of Zorro.” Hollywood stars like
Tyrone Power, Greta Garbo or Rita Hayworth excelled under his skillful
direction. Armenian-American filmmaker Rouben Mamoulian’s name was at the
top in the 30’s and 40’s, and his films are today regarded as true classics.
“Stage and Screen with Rouben Mamoulian” is the title of a lecture by Dr.
Arby Ovanessian, Paris-based filmmaker and scholar and currently Visiting
Professor of Armenian Studies at Columbia University. The lecture, which
will include fragments of various films, is organized by the Hovnanian
School and will be held on Thursday, April 28, at 8:00 pm. Admission is
free, but reservations are suggested ahead of time.

Daily Star – Lebanon
April 26 2005

Turkey must repudiate its policy of denial
Commentary by
By Charles Tannock

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

All wars end, eventually. But memories of atrocity never seem to
fade, as the government-fanned anti-Japanese riots that took place
last week in China remind us. The 90th anniversary of the Armenian
massacres of 1915, which was commemorated on Sunday, and that was
ordered by the ruling Young Turks of the Ottoman Empire and carried
out by the Kurds, is another wound that will not heal, but one that
must be treated if Turkey’s progress toward European Union membership
is to proceed smoothly.

Most people still know little about that dark episode. It is hard for
most of us to imagine the scale of suffering and devastation
inflicted on the Armenian people and their ancestral homelands. But
many members of today’s thriving global Armenian diaspora have direct
ancestors who perished, and carry an oral historical tradition that
keeps the memories burning.

It is particularly ironic that many Kurds from Turkey’s southeastern
provinces, having been promised Armenian property and a guaranteed
place in heaven for killing infidels, were willingly complicit in the
genocide. They later found themselves on the losing end of a long
history of violence between their own separatist forces and the
Turkish Army, as well as being subjected to an ongoing policy of
discrimination and forced assimilation.

Historically, the ancient Christian Armenians were amongst the most
progressive people in the East, but in the 19th century Armenia was
divided between the Ottoman Empire and Russia. Sultan Abdul Hamid II
organized the massacres of 1895-97, but it was not until the spring
of 1915, under the cover of the World War I, that the Young Turks’
nationalistic government found the political will to execute a true
genocide.

Initially, Armenian intellectuals were arrested and executed in
public hangings in groups of 50-100. Ordinary Armenians were thus
deprived of their leaders and soon after were massacred, with many
burned alive. Approximately 500,000 were killed in the last seven
months of 1915, with the majority of the survivors deported to desert
areas in Syria, where they died from either starvation or disease. It
is estimated that 1.5 million people perished.

Recently, the Armenian diaspora has been calling on Turkey to face up
to its past and recognize its historic crime. Turkey’s official line
remains that the allegation is based on unfounded or exaggerated
claims, and that the deaths that occurred resulted from combat
against Armenians collaborating with invading Russian forces during
the world war; or as a result of disease and hunger during the forced
deportations. Moreover, the local Turkish population allegedly
suffered similar casualties.

Turkey thus argues that the charge of genocide is designed to
besmirch its honor and impede its progress toward EU accession. There
are also understandable fears that diverging from the official line
would trigger a flood of compensation claims, as occurred against
Germany.

For many politicians, particularly in America, there is an
unwillingness to upset Turkey without strong justification, given its
record as a loyal NATO ally and putative EU candidate country. But,
despite almost half a century of membership in the Council of Europe
– ostensibly a guardian of human rights, including freedom of speech
and conscience – Turkey still punishes as a crime against national
honor any suggestion that the Armenian genocide is a historic truth.
Fortunately, the relevant article of Turkey’s penal code is now due
for review and possible repeal.

Indeed, broader changes are afoot in Turkey. The press and
government, mindful of the requirements of EU membership, are finally
opening the sensitive Armenian issue to debate. Even Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, under increasing EU pressure as accession
negotiations in October near, has agreed to an impartial study by
historians, although he has reiterated his belief that the genocide
never occurred. In France, the historical occurrence of the Armenian
genocide is enshrined in law, and denial of its occurrence is
condemned in the same way as denial of the Jewish Holocaust.

The European Parliament is pressing for Turkish recognition of the
Armenian genocide. It is also calling for an end to the trade embargo
by Turkey and its close ally Azerbaijan against the Republic of
Armenia, a reopening of frontiers, and a land-for-peace deal to
resolve the territorial dispute over Nagorno Karabakh in Azerbaijan
and to safeguard its Armenian identity.

Armenia, an independent country since 1991, remains dependent on
continued Russian protection, as was the case in 1920 when it joined
the Soviet Union rather than suffer further Turkish invasion. This is
not healthy for the development of Armenia’s democracy and weak
economy. Nor does Armenia’s continued dependence on Russia bode well
for regional cooperation, given the deep resentment of Russian
meddling in neighboring Georgia and Azerbaijan.

There is only one way forward for Turkey, Armenia and the region. The
future will begin only when Turkey – like Germany in the past and
Serbia and Croatia now – repudiates its policy of denial and faces up
to its terrible crimes of 1915. Only then can the past truly be past.

Charles Tannock is chairman of the European Parliament’s Human Rights
Committee.

This commentary is published by THE DAILY STAR in collaboration with
Project Syndicate ().

Daily Star – Lebanon
April 26 2005

Bekaa residents look forward to Lebanese control
‘We’ve had enough of foreign armies’

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

BEKAA VALLEY: As the last Syrian soldiers trickle out of Lebanon
after 29 years of domination, residents of the Bekaa Valley are
looking ahead to a new era of Lebanese self-reliance and control of
law and order. As soon as the truckloads of Syrian soldiers had left
for home, Mariam Majzoub started dishing out paint to erase the last
vestiges of their presence.

Her children, nephews, nieces and neighbors stuck Lebanese flags on
top of the abandoned posts near her home in this tiny village,
slapped whitewash on the walls and celebrated the Syrians’ departure
date in green paint: “Independence 2005, Sunday, April 17.”

“We started dancing in the street even before they turned the
corner,” said Majzoub, her plump face glowing with joy. “We could
finally express ourselves, and there was nothing they could do about
it. We have bad memories because the Syrians controlled the country
through the mukhabarat (intelligence services),” she said.

“We were constantly afraid, a lot of people went missing, some were
tortured, but we hope that this is all history now,” explained a
neighbor who asked not to be identified.

The man smiled as he added: “Once they leave, we can talk more
freely. We will talk all about it. We waited for 29 years, we can
wait for a few more hours.”

But after the Syrians with their dreaded intelligence services have
gone, the Lebanese say they hope friendship and trade will replace
domination and fear.

“I cannot even find words to express our happiness, but it does not
mean that we do not want good relations with Syria,’ said Ali Hamdan,
a trader in mobile telephones along the main highway leading to
Syria.

Syrian troops were packing up and heading out of Lebanon on Monday,
restoring an air of independence to the tiny country.

The Lebanese Army has deployed inside the border town of Anjar, the
notorious headquarters of the Syrian forces in Lebanon which was
declared a “military zone” Monday afternoon.

“We want our own army to protect us, we have had enough of foreign
armies. It is time for us to become really independent,” said Ali
Hassan.

Salim Nassar was ecstatic. He finally recovered his house which had
been occupied by Syrian forces for over two decades on a hilltop
overlooking the commercial town

of Chtaura.

“I had to rent an apartment in a nearby building and pay the rent for
20 years. Today, I took my son to see his ancestral home, which he
has never been able to approach,” he said.

Nazira, the manager of a clothing shop on the main highway, said that
“since Hariri’s assassination two months ago, we have not seen a lot
of tourists or Syrians because they are afraid to come here.”

“We hope that the Syrian withdrawal will be followed by stability and
that tourists – including Syrians – will return,” she said.

“We want prosperity for the Syrians as much as for us. We want to
have good neighboring relations, based on trade and not intelligence
and security.”

In Anjar, Syrian troops toured shops and restaurants to bid farewell
to their old neighbors for decades in this sleepy all-Armenian town.

“We are very happy because we will get back the tourists who have
been afraid to come here. We have great fish, good Arabic coffee and
beautiful Islamic archaeological ruins,” said restaurant manager
Raffi.

In a shop in Anjar, Syrian soldiers shook hands with the owner, staff
and other curious bystanders. “God be with you,” said the owner.

“Come back to buy from us,” said the employee, before adding in a low
voice to a journalist, “as a civilian, of course.”

But Anwar Sharqiyyah, a 25-year-old farmer, felt that the retreat
lacked dignity.

“The Syrians helped stop the Lebanese civil war. They were important
for the country’s stability,” he said, articulating the official
Syrian line. “We wanted them to leave, but they should have left in a
more honorable manner.” – Agencies

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Army Public Affairs (press release)
April 25 2005

Events at Arlington, Russian Embassy mark WWII `handshake’ at Elbe
By Eric Cramer

Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Yuri Ushakov (right) congratulates
World War II veteran Pvt. Bernard Cohn who served with the 89th
Infantry Division and met Russian troops at the Elbe River 60 years
ago. The ambassador pinned a medal on Cohn commemorating the 60th
anniversary of the historic “handshake” of forces.

Eric Cramer Printer-friendly version

RSS Feed
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, April 25, 2005) – Dignitaries from
several countries met April 25 at Arlington National Cemetery to
commemorate the 60th anniversary of the meeting of U.S. troops with
units from the Soviet army during World War II.

A reception at the Russian Embassy followed the multiple
wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington.

Officials from Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia,
Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Russia laid wreaths
in the national cemetery at a special marker which honors the
veterans of the Elbe linkup.

At the Russian Embassy, Yuri V. Ushakov, Russian ambassador to the
United States, said the day’s events held a special significance for
both countries.

`It marked the end of their difficult journey begun on the banks of
the Volga and the beaches at Normandy,’ he said. `This became a
symbol of our brotherhood in arms against a common enemy.’

Ushakov said his country continues to be a partner with the United
States in meeting the world’s terrorist threat.

`The Elbe linkup anniversary is just one of many events commemorating
the 60th anniversary of the victory, which will culminate with the
ceremony May 9 in Moscow celebrating the victory in the Great
Patriotic War,’ Ushakov said.

The ambassador presented those present with a joint statement from
the presidents of the Russian Federation and the United States saying
in part `Our nations will always remember the handshake that made
history at the Elbe, which became one of the most vivid symbols that
our countries were comrades-in-arms fighting together against Nazi
tyranny, oppression and aggression.’ The complete text of the
statement is available at

He then presented a medal commemorating the Elbe linkup to 28 former
Soviet soldiers who were there, and several American veterans who
also attended the event.

Among the Americans was Ralph George, who was a second lieutenant
with the 9th Infantry Division when the Soviet and American troops
merged. George went on to a distinguished military career, and his
service included working as the Russian liaison officer in Austria, a
time as commandant of the Spandau Prison, which housed Nazi war
criminals in the years after the war.

`I’m very honored to be recognized all these years later,’ he said.
`It’s something I didn’t expect.’

Another American veteran, Bernard Cohn, was a company `runner,’ with
the 84th Infantry Division at the time of the linkup.

`I was with Company G, of the 335th Infantry Battalion,’ he said.
`When I landed in England in September of 1944, the regiment put out
a call for mining and demolition school and went through that. I was
a mine detector during the Battle of the Bulge.’

Cohn said he is looking forward to attending the Moscow victory
celebration in May.

`I have my ticket right here, and I leave on May 6,’ he said. `This
event, the whole thing was exciting and I’m really looking forward to
that.’

Cohn still participates in the military, as a member of the Coast
Guard Auxiliary, and appeared at the Arlington and Embassy events in
full uniform. Although his uniform displayed numerous decorations and
the Combat Infantry Badge, `I wasn’t a hero in World War II,’ he
said.

Events at the embassy included a performance by children from the
embassy’s school, who sang `Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition,’
a song popular in World War II. The Russian Army’s Alexander Men’s
Chorus also performed a medley of Russian songs.

Daily Star, Lebanon
April 26 2005

News in Brief

Beirut MP urges Europe to be strict with Turkey

Beirut MP Hagop Kassardjian urged the European head of states not to
tarry in defending political values by barring Turkey from joining
the European Union if it expresses reluctance in meeting any of the
union’s basic terms.

Speaking on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the Armenian
genocide, Kassardjian said the Armenian genocide and Turkey’s
acknowledgement of the issue is a very delicate case that requires
the efforts of the European peoples and governments to be brought to
light in addition to other issues such as the rights of minorities.