City leader sparks row by backing claim of genocide
By GARETH ROSE
The Scotsman
16 Aug 05
COUNCIL leader Donald Anderson has become embroiled in an international
row over whether the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians during the First
World War was genocide.
Armenia has called for an international investigation into whether the
massacre was ordered by the Ottoman Empire which ruled Turkey in 1915.
Turkey has always insisted the people died during civil unrest while
its authorities attempted to deport them.
Councillor Anderson first became involved in the issue when the
Capital hosted a Holocaust Memorial Day in 2003.
But now, the city leader plans to go one step further and put forward
a motion to the council in October recognising that “it was indeed
genocide”.
The proposed motion has been welcomed by Armenians in the Capital.
But the move has raised the ire of the Turkish community in Edinburgh
and Councillor Anderson has also received complaints from the Turkish
ambassador, who has pointed to the fact that history accepts many
Turkish people died at Armenian hands.
In a letter to the ambassador, Cllr Anderson said: “Having researched
this issue, I am in no doubt that the Armenian community suffered a
genocide at the hands of the Ottoman regime.
“There are substantial eyewitness accounts that are well documented
and there is, I believe, wide support for the view that the historical
evidence is robust and compelling for genocide.
“You mention in your letter that atrocities were carried out against
Turks by the Armenian side and undoubtedly this is true. There were
atrocities on all sides of what was an extremely bitter period
of ethnic conflict. However, this was not genocide and was not
state-sponsored.”
He added: “As council leader I have to advise you that I am convinced
of the need to support recognition for what I believe was genocide.
“I would encourage you as ambassador for a great and dynamic country
to reconsider your position.”
The council leader was asked earlier by the Armenian community if the
city would host a commemoration service to mark the 90th anniversary
of the deaths, which was held on April 24.
Armenian Dr Hagop Bessos, 55, of Marchmont Road, Edinburgh, today
said Edinburgh’s recognition that genocide took place would be a
“significant” step.
Dr Bessos, who is chairman of the Scottish branch of UK organisation
the Campaign for Recognition of Armenian Genocide said: “It would be
very important for Edinburgh City Council to recognise what happened
was genocide.”
Dr Bessos, whose parents survived the massacre, added: “Many countries
across the world already have done. The UK and the US are the principal
ones which have not.”
A total of 15 nations, including Switzerland, Russia and Argentina,
classify the killings as genocide. France, which has a large
Armenian population, passed a law officially recognising the events
as genocide in 2001, cooling relations with Turkey and scuppering a
major arms deal.
The disagreement is also seen as the biggest stumbling block facing
Turkey as it attempts to join the European Union.
But far from backing down, Turkey has remained defiant.
Murat Toruntay, chairman of the Turkish Association, said: “There
are two sides to the story and I am pleased Cllr Anderson is prepared
to listen to both. I was in Turkey recently and it was being talked
about. The government does not accept that it was genocide.”

First autopsies show at least six people were alive when Cypriot
airliner crashed in Greece
AP Worldstream; Aug 16, 2005
PATRICK QUINN
At least half a dozen people aboard a Cypriot plane were alive when
the jetliner carrying 121 people slammed into a hillside north of
Athens, Athens’ chief coroner said Monday after conducting the first
autopsies from the crash.
But Fillipos Koutsaftis could not rule out that the six people were
unconscious when the Helios Airways Boeing 737-300, with six crew
and 115 passengers, plunged 10,400 meters (34,000 feet) Sunday
into a mountainous area near the village of Grammatiko, 25 miles
(40 kilometers) north of Athens. There were no survivors.
“We have performed autopsies on six people. Our conclusion is they had
circulation and were breathing at the time of death,” Koutsaftis said,
but stressed: “I cannot rule out that they were unconscious.”
Investigators, to be joined by U.S. experts, were sending the plane’s
data and cockpit voice recorders to France for expert examinations
that could shed light on what happened.
But the head of the Greek airline safety committee, Akrivos Tsolakis,
said the voice recorder was damaged. “It’s in a bad state and,
possibly, it won’t give us the information we need,” he said.
In Cyprus, police raided the offices of Helios Airways in the coastal
city of Larnaca, near the international airport.
A search warrant was issued “to secure … documents and other evidence
which could be useful for the investigation into possible criminal
acts,” Cyprus’ deputy presidential spokesman Marios Karoyian said.
Investigators also were trying to determine why the pilot was not in
his seat shortly before the crash.
The pilots of two Greek air force F-16 fighter planes scrambled to
intercept the plane after it lost contact with air traffic control
shortly after entering Greek airspace said they saw the co-pilot
slumped over the controls. The pilot did not appear to be in the
cockpit, and oxygen masks were seen dangling in the cabin.
The fighter jet pilots also saw two people possibly trying to take
control of the plane; it was unclear if they were crew members or
passengers.
The plane might have run out of fuel after flying on autopilot,
air force officials said, asking not to be named in line with Greek
practice.
After the crash, authorities said it appeared to have been caused by
a technical failure _ resulting in high-altitude decompression. A
Cypriot transport official had said Sunday the passengers and crew
may have been dead before the plane crashed.
“They had circulation and were breathing _ so they were alive _ but
of course that only concerns the people that have been examined. The
others, according to a preliminary observation, show the same signs,
but the autopsies must be carried out to confirm this,” Koutsaftis
said late Monday outside Athens’ main morgue.
He added that there were “80 passengers who cannot be recognized and
that we are not examining at the moment. We are only talking about
a certain number of people at this point. The tissue examinations
on those who cannot be recognized will help us draw more clear
conclusions.”
Koutsaftis also dismissed reports that those aboard may have frozen
to death.
In a related development, police in northern Greece arrested a
man who claimed to have received a telephone text message from a
passenger. The man _ identified as Nektarios-Sotirios Voutas, 32 _
told Greek television stations that his cousin on board the plane
sent him a cell-phone text message minutes before the crash saying:
“Farewell, cousin, here we’re frozen.”
But authorities determined he was lying, and arrested him on charges
of dissemination of false information.
The airliner’s pilots had reported air conditioning system problems
to Cyprus air traffic control about a half-hour after takeoff.
Searchers were still looking for three bodies, including the plane’s
German pilot, fire officials said. Cypriot authorities identified
him as Marten Hans Jurgen, 50, from Berlin.
A spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry, speaking on condition
of anonymity in line with German practice, identified one of the
pilots as a 58-year-old German but would not give his full name. It
was unclear why there was a discrepancy in his age. Greek and Cypriot
authorities often list surnames before given names, and Hans-Juergen
would likely be the pilot’s first name.
In Berlin, police were guarding the house at the address where
the Cypriot government said the pilot lived _ a gray stucco house
surrounded by a tidy, tree-filled garden in a quiet Berlin neighborhood
near the Schoenefeld airport.
The name on the mailbox said Merten. Neighbors confirmed his first
name was Hans-Juergen and said he was a pilot in his 50s, but refused
to provide any other details.
There were other unanswered questions about the pilot, including how
long he had worked for Helios.
“I don’t remember the exact date of his employment,” Helios General
Manager Andreas Drakos said when asked at a news conference.
A passenger list showed there had been 20 children under the age of
16 on board. At least 10 families with children were among the dead.
The passengers and crew included at least 12 Greeks and the German
pilot, and a four-member family of Armenian origin. The rest were
Cypriot.
The body of the Cypriot co-pilot, Pambos Haralambous, was found in
the cockpit.
The airliner’s pilots had reported air conditioning system problems
to Cyprus air traffic control about a half-hour after takeoff, and
Greek state TV quoted Cyprus’ transport minister as saying the plane
had decompression problems in the past.
But a Helios representative said the plane had “no problems and was
serviced just last week.”
Helios said the Boeing 737-300 was manufactured in 1998 and was
previously operated by Deutsche BA. It entered the Helios fleet in
April 2004, the company said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Grieving Relatives ID Greece Crash Victims
By ELENA BECATOROS
AP Online; Aug 15, 2005
Grieving relatives, many black-clad and weeping, arrived at a central
Athens morgue Monday by bus, taxi or on foot to try to identify the
remains of some of the 121 people _ including 10 families _ killed
in Greece’s worst plane crash.
A young woman, eyes shaded by dark sunglasses, slumped to the ground
outside the building in the hospital complex, her head in her hands.
An elderly couple embraced as they got off the bus that took them
straight from Athens airport to the morgue. Two men helped a woman
toward an area set aside for the victims’ relatives as her cries
echoed around the hospital courtyard.
“What can I say? I have no words to say because I lost my whole
brother’s family, two kids and my brother and … his wife,” said
Albert Toutounzian at Larnaca Airport before boarding a flight
for Athens.
Hagop Toutounzian, 51, his 45-year-old wife Hilda and their two
sons, 12-year-old Bariet and 16-year-old Ara, were on the Cypriot
government’s official list of victims from Sunday’s crash of Helios
Airways flight ZU522.
The bodies recovered from the crash site on the slopes of a mountainous
region north of Athens were initially taken to a morgue in an eastern
Athens suburb. From there, those which authorities believed could be
identified by relatives were ferried in ambulances to the morgue in
the hospital complex in central Athens.
A brush fire sparked by the crash burned through much of the plane’s
debris, strewn across two ravines and surrounding slopes, charring
many bodies beyond recognition.
Those would be identified by DNA tests and other forensic methods,
and would remain in the mortuary in eastern Athens, Greece’s Deputy
Health Minister Thanassis Yiannopoulos said.
“This is the hardest part of the tragedy,” Yiannopoulos said.
In the central Athens morgue, orderlies could be seen dragging body
bags, some bloodstained, from the ambulances and into the building
before relatives were taken in.
Officials said only 24 had been identified by Tuesday night.
The room in which the identification was taking place was small, and it
was taking time for the relatives to file through, said Eleni Antoniou,
a Cypriot coroner who was part of a Cypriot medical delegation that
traveled to Athens.
“Only five or six relatives enter the room at a time and this is a
very slow process,” she told Cyprus Antenna TV. “Identification is
very difficult because of the state of the bodies.”
At the crash site near the village of Grammatiko, north of Athens,
a firefighter described a scene of devastation.
“It was pretty grim down there,” said the firefighter, who would not
give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
“There were lots of body parts and I saw a severed head by itself.”
Some angry relatives blamed the airline for the crash.
“Those who put profit above the lives of people must be punished,”
said Takis Mavris, whose brother, Andreas Christodoulou Mavris _
a soccer player well-known in Cyprus in the late 1970s and early
1980s _ was killed along with his wife.
“If these people from Helios come here and see what we have seen …”
he said outside the morgue, his sentence trailing off. He said he
had been unable to identify his brother among the bodies he saw.
In Cyprus, the mayors of Nicosia and several towns gathered in the
capital’s central square for a remembrance ceremony. Hundreds of
people joined them in a spontaneous show of solidarity, lighting
candles that flickered in the night on sidewalks and the city’s 16th
century Venetian walls.
A 40-day mourning period was declared in Paralymni, a Cypriot town
of about 10,000 that lost at least 12 of its residents in the crash.
The Helios Airways flight had been heading from Larnaca to Athens
and was to have continued on to Prague, Czech Republic.
The passengers and crew included at least 12 Greeks and the German
pilot, and a four-member family of Armenian origin. The rest were
Cypriot.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Police to prevent unsanctioned protests
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
posted Aug 15 2005
Baku, August 12, AssA-Irada — Police will prevent all future
unsanctioned protest actions, Interior Minister Ramil Usubov told
reporters on Friday.
The Minister said that if major opposition Popular Front Party (PFPA)
wants to hold any protest over the recent arrest of youth movement
chairman Ruslan Bashirli, it may proceed strictly with the permission
of the mayor’s office.
Bashirli is charged with plotting with Armenian secret service to
stage a coup in Azerbaijan.
“In case of sanctioned protest actions, the police is required
and will ensure the safety of the protesters or any other people.”
Touching upon the clashes during rallies outside the PFPA office
a few days ago, the Minister said the law enforcement succeeded in
preventing those unsanctioned protest actions. “If the police force
had not thwarted those protests, other developments would have taken
place there”, he said.
Usubov said that only sanctioned protests will be allowed. The
opposition’s August 27 rally will be given a go-ahead as well,
he added.*

US Amb. dismisses allegations
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
posted Aug 15 2005
Baku, August 12, AssA-Irada — US ambassador in Baku Reno Harnish has
dismissed allegations suggesting that the United States provided
assistance to youth movement leader Ruslan Bashirli recently
arrested over plotting with Armenian secret service to stage a coup
in Azerbaijan.
“The presumptions that the USA or US National Democratic Institute
(NDI) are behind Bashirli’s actions are absolutely groundless.”
Harnish said that the US government believes Bashirli’s activity
should be scrutinized in court in accordance with the law. The issue
should not be a subject of ‘black PR’, he said.
The ambassador noted that if there are substantial grounds for accusing
Bashirli, the police should look into the matter.
Harnish continued that a major ‘campaign’ has been carried out over
the past week against political parties, especially one of them.
“If one of the legally operating parties has been subject to
persecution, physical pressures and attacks in the media, the OSCE
is not likely to call the parliament election [due in November]
unbiased.”*

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr. Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version:
OPENING OF THE INTELLECTUALS’ CONFERENCE IN ANTELIAS
“BELONGING TO ONE NATION HAS BECOME THE BASIS OF OUR UNITY, THE SOURCE
OF OUR STRENGTH AND
THE SUSTAINING POWER OF OUR SURVIVAL”
Says His Holiness Aram I
Antelias, Lebanon – The meeting of intellectuals from Armenia and the
Diaspora officially started on August 11 under the patronage of His
Holiness Aram I. His Holiness Aram I said prayers and the Seminary’s
choir delivered “Hair Mer”.
20 intellectuals, politicians and leaders from Armenia and several
communities from the Diaspora are attending the conference. The
Ambassador of Armenia to Lebanon, Mr, Arek Hovhannisian, and the
director of the “Armenia” pan Armenian fund, Naira Melkoumian also
attended the opening of the conference. Lebanese Armenian intellectuals
and political leaders were present as observers.
His Holiness Aram I talked about the direction the conference should
take and its prospects.
“We hope that the unique nature of this gathering would provide an
opportunity for free thought, realistic analyses and honest judgments
away from all kinds of influences and prejudiced approaches,” said
His Holiness.
His Holiness stressed the importance of dialogue. “Talking
about each other away from one another leads us to alienation,
polarization. Being together and talking with one another lead us to
unity and progress. Our nation should choose the second path.”
His Holiness called upon the attendants to come out of their closed
circles and stay open to new challenges. “We need new and wider spaces
to inter-act with each other”, said Aram I. He stressed cooperation
as the pivot of the Armenian nation’s collective struggle.
“The sense of belonging to one nation has become the unshakable basis
of our unity, our strength, our survival. Therefore, we should talk
about cooperation between the two societies of a single nation. Any
other approach is not acceptable,” said His Holiness.
The Pontiff spoke about the current status of Armenia-Diaspora
cooperation, outlining the importance of getting to know one another
better. He pointed out that during the first few years of Armenia’s
independence and the Karabakh liberation war, the Diaspora dedicated
its heart and money to Armenia. His Holiness said, however, that
unfortunately this aid has started to decrease.
His Holiness summarized the main purpose of the conference in the
following three points: giving a new impetus to the cooperation between
Armenia and the Diaspora, challenge intellectuals to make people’s
voices and will heard, discussing the factors hindering cooperation
and looking for ways for giving a new drive to this cooperation.
The first two sessions of the conference were dedicated to what has
been achieved to this date in Armenia-Diaspora cooperation. Levon
Meguerdtchian, an MP from Armenia, and Jirair Tanielian, a well-known
scholar, chaired the sessions.
Hranoush Hagopian, an MP from Armenia, and Bedros Terzian from France
were the speakers during the first session.
Hagopian talked about the main incidents in Armenian history of the
last decades and considered the current situation as a consequence
of these incidents. She expressed optimism in the prospects for
cooperation, praising the decision of His Holiness to hold the
conference in Antelias, Lebanon “which remains the main community in
the Diaspora after the Genocide.”
Bedros Terzian talked about the future of Armenia and the Diaspora
the way he pictures it. He stressed the importance of renewal of
structures, betterment of quality and the importance of giving a new
impetus to Armenia-Diaspora cooperation.
Ambassador Arek Hovhannisian commended the conference and the
attendants started a discussion about the challenges facing
Armenia-Diaspora cooperation.
His Holiness Aram I delivered the concluding remarks after the two
sessions of the first day. “We should make diagnosis of the problem
and seek the cure in order to build cooperation on strong pillars,”
said His Holiness. He spoke about confusion between two realities,
government policy and national ideology.
“The two have different priorities and approaches. But there is
a pan-national ideology that requires discussion of pan national
problems, strengthening of Armenia and the Diaspora through organized,
systematic and close cooperation,” said His Holiness.
His Holiness emphasized that the attendants should look for new
models and methods of cooperation, leaving behind the traditional,
classical and outdated ways. He said Armenians need to adopt pan
Armenian approaches to issues and should create pan Armenian values
transcending local mentalities and approaches.
“We have shortage of manpower both in Armenia and the Diaspora. We
have started to get to know one another well. We should continue this
way. We should gradually move from romantic patriotism to realistic
patriotism. What Armenia gives us is not direction, what we give
Armenia is not aid. What each does for the other is contribution to
the strengthening of the Diaspora and the building of the motherland,”
said His Holiness.
Aram I stressed the importance of devising plans to renew all Armenian
structures in Armenia and the Diaspora.
##
View pictures here:
*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates
of the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about
the history and the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may
refer to the web page of the Catholicosate,
The Cilician Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church
is located in Antelias, Lebanon.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Nouvelles de Turquie
Agence d’Information Européenne sur la Turquie
Aug 16 2005
Money spent by the Armenian Lobby in America (USA/ Armenia)
In 1994 alone, the Armenian Assembly of America has spent $7,000,000,
most of it on lobbying the congress.
Money spent by the Armenian Lobby in America
Senol Kantarci (Assistant at Erzurum University) (~SErmeni Lobisi :
ABD~Rde Ermeni Diasporasinin Olusmasi ve Lobi Faaliyetleri~T ERAREN,
Sayi 1, 2001, pp:139-171)
Translated and Summarised by Fatma Sarikaya
Advisory Board Member, Turkish Forum
While the Americans were waging their war of independence in 1780,
figs from Izmir and other Anatolian produce were advertised in
American papers. The first American ship touching waters was named
Grand Turk, and set to sail off Salem port in 1782. This ship carried
produce to the New England harbors in the 1790~Rs. American trade
ships visited Istanbul in 1786, Izmir in 1797, and Iskenderiye
(Alexandria) in 1800. First trade agreement between America and
Turkey was signed on May 7, 1830 (most favored nation status).
The American traders used the Armenian merchants to reach the goods
of Eastern Anatolia, because Greeks were effective only in Western
Anatolia. Armenians greatly profited from this activity and got rich
for organizing the network of tradesmen all around Turkey. Turks at
this time were the only ones doing mandatory military duty for 5
years and longer in time of war.
America targeted Anatolia as a trade heaven from 1797-1811. After
1819 they saw its potential for religious missionary activity.
America~Rs missionary organization targeting foreign countries,
~SAmerican Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission (ABCFM)~T was
founded in Boston in 1810, and targeted Turkey in 1819. Armenians of
Turkey started to immigrate to America as early as 1810.
According to Armenian author Mark Malhasian the ABCFM representatives
arrived in Anatolia in 1820. First they tried to convert the Muslims
into Christians, later gave up on them, and targeted the Christian
population of Eastern Anatolia (the Nasturians, Greeks, Assyrians,
and especially Armenians). Malkasian further states that the ABCFM
Boston secretary Judson Smith quoted in 1893 ~QThanks God, we were
able to reach all villages and towns all over Anatolia, from
Chanakkale to the Mediterranean Coast, the Russian border, and from
the Black Sea to Syria.~R American missionaries bragged about their
activities surpassing all other forms of activity in Anatolia.
The ABCFM was so successful in Turkey that by 1893, they had founded
624 schools and 436 prayer homes. There were 1317 missionaries
working in Turkey, and they had distributed 3 million Bibles, and 4
million other books in Anatolia. They had spent more than 10 million
dollars by 1893. This was a huge sum with 1893 standards.
Missionaries started to send Armenian students to America in 1840 ;
mostly to study theology. Later they started to send some of the
students to study in other universities like Yale and Princeton. The
number of Armenian students who left Turkey for America and stayed
there in the year 1890 was 70. The first group thus settled in
America is the most educated ; however they were also raised with
hate for the Turks. Though small in number this elite group of
Armenians was very effective in creating anti-Turkish sentiments in
America.
The second group of Armenians to reach America from Turkey engaged in
small businesses. They were not educated like the first group. Some
were educated by the missionaries for one or two years, but most were
used by the missionaries for jobs like mail delivery, or as servants.
This group used Turkish antagonism to advertise their trade. Their
hatred for the Turk was passed from father to son and became like a
second nature to Armenian personality.
The third group came in the 1890~Rs. Peasants and farmers started to
arrive in large numbers. This upset both the American and the Ottoman
governments. America did not want to accept people without thorough
health examination ; Ottomans did not want certain areas of their
land left unpopulated. So, they put restrictions to stop the
immigration of Armenians in large numbers. This created a new group
of Armenians who traded in human trafficking. In spite of all
restrictions 12,000 Armenians immigrated to America from Anatolia
between 1890 and 1900. According to R. Mirak, between 1869-1890 1,401
and from 1890-1895 5,500 Armenians immigrated to America. Armenians
were enchanted by the land of opportunities that the Protestant
Missionaries spoke of. The first immigrants intended to come back and
improve living standards for their relatives at home, but they never
came back. Their exodus continued after 1901 and especially after
declaration of 2nd Tazminat. Their numbers reached 3,300 in1908,
5,500 in 1910 and 9,355 in 1913.
Before the start of World War I, the Armenian colony in America
reached 50,000. After 1915 25,000 Armenians came to America. In 1916
there were 16,000 Armenians in New York – most of them settled in
Manhattan writes the daily newspaper Agos printed in Istanbul. In
1924 100,000 Armenians headed to America from Soviet Russia and
Turkey.
Manuel Sarkissian mentions in his book called ~SA Modern History of
Transcaucasian Armenia~T printed in Germany in 1975, on page 310 ;
that in 1939 around 100,000 Armenians lived in Iran, 175,000 in Syria
and Lebanon, 75,000 in France, and 200,000 in America. In 1975 their
numbers in America reached 350,000-400,000.
Roots of Armenian lobby is one century old. The Hinchak Commity
founded in Cenevre in 1887 targeted Turkish land. Their aim was to
entice the Armenians living on Ottoman soil for rebellion to form a
socialist Armenian State there. The Ramgavar Party founded in
Istanbul in 1908 showed similar tendencies. The Tashnak Party and the
Hinchak Committee~Rs branch in America were founded in the 1890~Rs.
They formed many sub-sections in short time and bombarded the public
with anti-Turkish propaganda sometimes secretly and sometimes in the
open. These committees have collected money from the Armenian
immigrants in America and organized open rallies. In America 36
Tashnak Committes were founded in 1903, 48 in 1907, and 77 in 1914.
The Hinchaks gathered 1,500 trained martyrs to their ranks. Thus the
first Armenian lobby was formed.
Senator Newton Blanchard from Louisiana on December 3, 1894 carried
the Armenian uprising in Bitlis to the Senate floor in America. This
was followed by the Armenian resolution on December 3, 1894 and the
external affairs committee decision on January 22, 1896. After the
Adana uprising in 1909 the Armenian lobby activities in America hit
the roof. Two priests named M. Bagdararian and S. S. Yenovkian on
April 27, 1909 sent a telegram to the American President William Taft
in the name of three Protestant Churches of Boston. A letter was also
sent by a group of Episcopalian Church priests claiming to represent
12 million people on May 6th. On May 7th a protest meeting was held
in Fresno California. Their decision was mailed to the White House
with the signature of their Mayor Chester Howell. On May 10th 1909 a
group called the American Friends of Armenians (founded in 1905 in
Illinois) gathered a meeting and mailed their decision to the
President. The New York Armenians held a meeting on May 8 and mailed
it to President William Taft signed by the meeting chairman A.
Agrazian. In New Jersey on May 14, 4 priests were selected to write
down the feelings of the National Congregation of Churches to be
mailed to the President. On May 17, Sacramento, Virginia and Richmond
Armenians letter signed by 50 people was sent to the President. On
June 18th a letter signed by M. G. Papazian, M. G. Benneyan, and H.
M. Dadorian was mailed to the President in the name of the Armenian
Evangelical Alliance of America. This kind of bombardment of letters
to the Congress, the White House and Secretary of State continued
non-stop all year round. The 30,000 pages of documents the Armenians
claim as evidence of their genocide compose of these letters.
The first anti-Turkish lobbying effort in America was crowned with
the May 9, 1916 decision of the Senate, and the May 11, 1920
decision. A lull of 55 years was observed due to Turkey~Rs importance
as a NATO member. However, similar decisions found their way to the
Senate Floor in 1975 (with Turkish interference in Cyprus). The Greek
lobby has always sided with the Armenian members of the Congress.
Now, the Kurdish Groups are following suit.
Hundreds of Armenian lobby groups were founded in America. The total
number is staggering when considering they all have branches in all
corners of the land. Excluding the religious groups the number of
Armenian establishments is 1046. With the religious groups this
number reaches 1228. The aim of all these establishments is making
anti-Turkish propaganda besides protecting Armenian identity and
culture.
The Armenian population in America is estimated between 800,000 and 1
million. However, their representation in the Congress is far beyond
proportion. They have been living in America for over a century and
that they share the same religion are important factors.
The Nixon letter, and the Mondale efforts to blame Turkey for the
American Youth~Rs drug addiction created disappointment among the
Turks. When the Turkish Government interfered in 1974 to undo the
coup efforts in Cyprus to unite the island with Greece, the American
Congress slapped Turkey with an arms embargo. All of these negative
developments since 1970 gave the Greek and the Armenian lobby a wrong
signal like they could use America to fight their wars with Turkey.
Greece and the Greek Cypriot Governments did hot hold any effort or
money to increase their lobbying efforts on the American Congress.
They also sided with all enemies of Turkey, like the PKK and the
Armenians of Lebanon.
If we take a look at some of the major Armenian Lobbying Group
Activities :
Armenian Assembly of America(AAA) aims at educating Armenians about
their unproven genocide, increasing aid sent to Armenia, and
improving Congressional contact for Armenians. Since 1978 they have
been funding 10 weeks of summer internship for at least 30 Armenian
American students of high school level in Washington DC. They inform
about their lobbying activities through publishing like Daily News
Report from Armenia, Armenian This Week, Assembly This Week, and
Monthly Digest of News from Armenia.
Armenian National Committee (ANC) : Aims to provide political
grassroots organization to form coordination between establishments.
Besides improving Armenian social rights, they have devoted
themselves to carry out antagonistic activities against Turkey. They
recommend which political candidates to sponsor during election time
at the federal, state, and county level. Besides their most important
publishing Transcaucaus they publish statements for the Armenian
Community in general.
ANC Eastern Region has been active since 1918. They aim at teaching
the non-Armenians about their culture including their unproven
genocide. Their publication is the ANC Newsletter.
ANC Western Region was founded in 1890. This grassroots organization
specializes in organizing quick action on matters pertinent to
Armenians. Since they work with 14 branches that organize youth
activities they have a strong base. They have a daily radio program
and they participate in Horizon TV network. They provide travel
opportunities to Washington DC for young Armenian Americans to teach
them the ins and outs of lobbying. They also prepare report cards for
the American Congressmen based on how much they sponsor the Armenian
causes.
Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) aims at reviving the Sevr
Agreement which was nullified after the successful military operation
of the Turks under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal. Lozan agreement
replaced the Sevr. Armenia to this day has not accepted the Lozan
Kars or Gumri Treaties which established Turkey~Rs eastern borders.
Hunchakian Social Demokratic Party of Eastern USA aims only at
creating Turkish animosity world wide.
National Armenian American Republic Council (NAARC) selects
candidates for the Armenian caucus during the election campaigns.
They also lobby with local and congressional politicians to improve
awareness about Armenia~Rs needs.
One thing in common with all the Armenian lobby groups is their
animosity towards anything Turkish. They play the victim role to hide
their aggression over Azeri and Turkish land.
In 1994 alone, the Armenian Assembly of America spent $7,000,000 –
most of it on lobbying the congress.
Their activities involve recognition of their so-called genocide in
the American and other parliaments throughout the world. Without
going to court, they want to force Turkey to accept their theory of
genocide and extract a forced apology. Their ultimate aim is to
establish a Western Armenia on Turkish soil.
They coach American congressmen to give speeches defending the
Armenian claims prior to April of each year. Most congressmen mention
this fact in their speeches. For instance Senator Levin on April 24,
1990 ~S. . Last Saturday and Sunday I was honored with the company of
prominent Armenians from the Greater Detroit Area . .~T Senator Mc
Govern on April 22, 1998 mentions that he met with 60 Armenian
Holocaust survivors and spoke with 14 of them.
Another frequently used method is inviting congressmen to Armenia. On
their return most representatives tell sob stories and beg for aid
for Armenia. For example Senator Pell after his trip in 1990 to
Soviet Armenia explained on the Senate Floor how pitiful condition
the Armenian refugees were in. These representatives sometimes read a
letter from their constituency as if it is evidence of some sort.
Sometimes they refer to a news paper article assuming it is factually
correct.
In spite of all these efforts the American congress has not accepted
their claims, because Turkey was a necessary ally in the area. Now
that the Kurdish Peshmerge pose an alternative to Turkey in the
region we will see how long the American bias to Armenian lobbying
will extend.
Fatma S.
–Boundary_(ID_y+mPQKqt9lwP1DgeGeaEMg)–

Police Hunt Man Who Stabbed 6 in Rampage
By Carl Schreck, Staff Writer
The Moscow Times, Russia
Aug 16 2005
Police on Monday were hunting for a man who went on a rampage early
Sunday, roaming the streets in central Moscow and stabbing six men
with a kitchen knife, seriously injuring five of them.
The unidentified assailant attacked two Armenian citizens, identified
by Kommersant as Vilen Shiboyan and Artush Kazaryan, near 11
Krasnoprudnaya Ulitsa by the Krasnoselskaya metro station at around
1 a.m. Sunday, police spokesman Kirill Sharov said.
Shiboyan, 40, and Kazaryan, 32, were admitted to the Sklifasovsky First
Aid Hospital at around 1:45 a.m., Shiboyan with lacerations to the
abdomen and Kazaryan with a puncture wound to the chest, Sharov said.
One hour later, three more people were admitted to the Sklifosovsky
hospital with knife wounds after they were attacked in the same area,
Sharov said.
Tajik citizens Gulrus Rakhmanov and Adil Nazarov, both 23, arrived at
the hospital at 2:25 a.m., with puncture wounds to the lungs, he said.
They were attacked on Rusakovskaya Ulitsa, which adjoins Krasnoprudnaya
Ulitsa.
Also arriving at the hospital 2:45 a.m. was Ashot Petrosyan, a
22-year-old Russian citizen with a puncture wound to the chest,
Sharov said. Petrosyan was alone on Krasnoprudnaya Ulitsa when he
was attacked.
The final attack happened at about 5 a.m. on Rusakovskaya Ulitsa. The
victim, Vladimir Kabanov, who is homeless, was hospitalized 20 minutes
later with a puncture wound to the abdomen, Sharov said.
Police had not detained any suspects as of Monday, and the motive
for the attacks remained unclear, Sharov said.
Igor Besfamilny, head of criminal investigations at the Krasnoselsky
police precinct, said the man who attacked the two Armenians had
yelled at them and accused them of stealing his cell phone, Vremya
Novostei reported Monday.
Russian media speculated that the attacks might have been racially
motivated, given that most of the victims came from Armenia and
Tajikistan. Sharov said, however, that some of the victims had Slavic
appearances.
Police were looking for a man aged 30 to 40 with blond hair and 160
to 170 centimeters tall.
The Sklifosovsky hospital could not be reached for comment, but
Besfamilny said Shiboyan had been treated and released, while Kazaryan
was in critical condition. The rest of the victims were in satisfactory
condition, he said.

Rocklin and Roseville Today, CA
Aug 16 2005
Habitat for Humanity brings more than new homes to India
BARTHOLOMEW SULLIVAN (Scripps Howard News Service)
KANYAKUMARI, India — Fisherman Michel and his wife Vivitha said one
of the biggest satisfactions of owning their new home is knowing
their children won’t have to go door-to-door looking for lighting to
do their schoolwork. The new house has electricity.
Menaga, a 35-year-old unmarried seamstress, lost her chief asset, a
sewing machine, in the December tsunami that damaged much of the
fishing village of Kootapuly. But on Monday, she too became a
homeowner.
An international team of Habitat for Humanity volunteers spent seven
days working on five houses here and took the eighth day to finish
some last-minute painting, and then to celebrate.
Habitat for Humanity officials were on hand to dedicate one of the
houses _ Michel’s and Vivitha’s _ as the 200,001st home built by the
housing charity. House 200,000, in Knoxville, Tenn., was also
dedicated Monday.
Armenian sociology student Karen Tataryan, 21, pointed proudly at
Michel and Vivitha’s house as he listed the jobs he’d performed
there, from roof framing and tiling to painting.
“I’m very impressed,” he said. “It’s not just my first time to see
the ocean; this is my first trip (outside Armenia), actually. Habitat
gave me the chance to see the world.”
Dick Graham, 65 and a retiree from Knoxville, said he and five other
volunteers with extensive Habitat experience in Tennessee had no
clear feel for the kind of houses they’d be building before they
reached the seaside village of about 4,000.
“There was a little bit of apprehension, but we were real excited to
be coming over here building homes for God’s people,” he said. At
first, the interaction with local laborers made for slow going, he
said.
“They learned that we could do some things and they taught us their
ways and we listened and we started doing it their way,” he added.
“We’d always have the thumbs up whenever everything was right. It
exceeded every expectation I had.”
At Monday’s celebration, the pastor of the village Catholic Church,
Father Kumar Raja, blessed each house after giving the assembled
neighborhood a brief lesson from the Bible. “Unless the Lord builds
the house,” he quoted, “the workers labor in vain.”
Mahesh Lobo, interim national director for Habitat in India,
explained the tradition of allowing milk to boil over in a cauldron
at auspicious occasions like Monday’s dedication. He urged the
neighborhood to share the warm milk, which he said symbolized “that
health and prosperity also will overflow.”
Lobo also noted that Monday was Indian Independence Day, a national
holiday, which permitted all the school children to join in
celebrating.
“With God, there are no coincidences,” he said. “He surprises us with
his miracles.”
Volunteers worked a scheduled day off Sunday to get the roof up on
House Five, which was no more than a concrete slab when they arrived
on the site Aug. 8.
Volunteer Julius Wejuli, 23, an agricultural engineering graduate
from Uganda, cut the ribbon Monday to permit Anthony and his wife
George Ammal into their almost-completed home. The blue painted
shutters were still wet.
There they sang hymns and thanked Samuel Peter, the Habitat official
from Madras who has been working on tsunami relief since the Sunday
afternoon of Dec. 26 when the wave struck.
One house went to Setlis, 50, and it won’t solve all his problems. He
has two sons fishing in Saudi Arabia. The sons’ travel was funded
with borrowed money. Last week, they sent word that they want to come
home, their venture a complete loss.
In an interview in his brother’s house, Setlis, 50, said he couldn’t
imagine his good fortune after being so hopeless after the wave
destroyed his home.
“I have a heart full of joy,” he said. “I can see that Habitat for
Humanity is God’s messenger.”
The international student volunteers have bonded so well that they
are singing songs in Tamil, taught by the college-age local
volunteers who also helped with communication with the carpenters,
brick masons and plasterers on the site.
On Saturday, during a break, they were singing “Amma Enkvava,” a
Tamil nursery rhyme that tells of a baby asking its mother for more
food. Spanish speakers Andrea Lisseth Arevalo Ortiz of El Salvador,
Daniel Piliado of Mexico, and Carolyn Beal of Tucson, Ariz., also got
the group to sing some Spanish popular songs. Beal leaves India this
week en route to a two-year hitch with the Peace Corps in Guatemala.
Interaction between the international volunteers often leads to
laughter.
“So you’ve never seen the ocean?” medical student Ortiz asked
Tataryan, of Yerevan State University in Armenia.
“No,” he said. “In Armenia there is no ocean, not even sea.”
He was out swimming in it during a lunch break by week’s end.
The Habitat work goes on while the cacophony of a village of 4,000
people plays on. Mothers comb their daughters’ hair under the
hibiscus-like trees locals call puvarasamaram that grow outside
almost every front door.
The sandy streets are streaked with the red betal nut that the locals
chew and spit all day. Hens peck at ants when a pile of rubble is
wheel-barrowed off to expose their colony. Tamil music wafts from
glassless windows. In the distance, the gentle whir of a giant
windmill can be heard. There are more than 50 modern power-generating
windmills within a few miles of Kootapuly, taking advantage of its
strong sea breezes at the southernmost tip of India.
Children wander around and under the makeshift wooden beams tied with
rope that form the scaffolding for bricklayers, and most workers work
barefoot, prompting volunteer Mariane Whittemore of Knoxville to
suggest that U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration
inspectors might have some problems with the setup.
There will be 6,000 Habitat houses built in India in the
tsunami-affected areas over the next two years. But the effort is
clearly more than homebuilding. Even Indians who didn’t receive
houses said they found something valuable in their interaction with
the international group of volunteers.
Selvi, 23, who lives in a fishing village northeast of here that was
more seriously damaged than Kootapuly, said she volunteered to help
English speakers communicate with the Tamils. She had no idea that
she would be a bricklaying laborer, and says she doesn’t know where
she gets the strength to do it.
“For me, it is a gift from God, you people,” she said. “He has given
me you to share your happiness and my happiness.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Journal of Turkish Weekly
Aug 16 2005
The Armenian Who Saved Ataturk’s Life
Tufan TURENC, Hurriyet
There were many Armenians who were loyal to the Turkish nation. Here
is the story of one remarkable example, who came through when his
nation needed him the most.
The Story of Berch Keresteciyan
Istanbul 1919 … a city of suffering under the pain of Allied
occupation … Berch Keresteciyan Efendi, in those days, is the
Director of the Ottoman Bank.
Mustafa Kemal knows him from Selanik, as the president of the bank’s
Selanik branch.
Berch Keresteciyan Efendi also happens to be the Vice President of
Hilal-i Ahmer (Kizilay), the “Turkish Red-Crescent”.
In the Istanbul of those days, a city teeming with spies on every
corner, Berch Keresteciyan meets with Mustafa Kemal’s attorney Sadettin
Ferit Bey and divulges the following information:
“You are, I believe, both the attorney and a close friend of the
Esteemed Pasha. The ship that the Esteemed will be taking to Samsun
will be sunk by a British torpedo boat outside the Bosphorus. Please
convey this warning to the Esteemed Pasha.”
Sadettin Ferit showed up at Mustafa Kemal’s house in Sisli with the
bad news, although it happened to be a rather late hour of the night.
As soon as he boarded Bandirma, the ship that would take him to Samsun
on the first leg of what would develop into the Turkish National War
of Liberation, Mustafa Kemal asked Captain Ismail Hakki Bey “is it
possible to cruise as close to the shore as possible?”
The captain hesitatingly admitted to the Pasha that this was his first
voyage in the Black Sea, and he didn’t quite know where the rocks or
shallow banks were at.
Mustafa Kemal responded: “Then we’ll sail with compass.” When the
captain replied embarrassingly that the ship’s compass did not work
either, Pasha smiled gently and said: “No problem. Great is Allah.
You still try to hug the coastal line to the extent possible.”
Bandirma, by cruising as close as possible to the shore, reached
Samsun without any major mishaps.” Berch Keresteciyan
The bank director warned of an attack planned for Ataturk’s ship
After Mustafa Kemal launched the liberation campaign in Anatolia, Berch
Keresteciyan Efendi, as the Vice President of Hilal-i Ahmer Society,
personally oversaw the shipment of crates of medicine from Istanbul
to Anatolia on cargo barges. Through the same crates and barges,
Teskilat-i Mahsusa (the National Intelligence Organization of its
days) was also smuggling weapons to Anatolia as well. Mustafa Kemal
and his friends were carrying on the war under great privation and
difficulties, and were trying their best to stop the Greek occupation
forces marching towards Ankara. The enemy was stopped at Inonu. Both
armies were getting prepared for one final showdown.
The 2420th Rotary Regional Governorship has presented an honorary
certificate posthumously to a Turkish citizen of Armenian descent,
Berc Keresteciyan Turker, who saved Ataturk’s Iife in 1919. The then
General Director of the Osmanli Bank, Berc Keresteciyan Turker,
informed officials that the ship on which Ataturk was to board
on May 19, 1919, would be attacked, and thus, saved Ataturk’s
Iife. The honorary certificate was received on behalf of the Iate
Berc Keresteciyan who died 50 years ago by Deputy Patriarch of the
Turkish-Armenians, Krikor Damadyan, during a ceremony held at the
Cemal Resit Rey Concert Hall on May 30.
Keresteciyan was elected as a member of the Turkish parliament
At that point, however, the Turkish side discovered to their great
dismay that the firing mechanisms of the artillery pieces were in such
bad shape that they were unusable. The war could not be won if the
artillery could not fire. The firing mechanisms were sold in Istanbul’s
black market. However 15,000 liras were needed; a great fortune in
the early 1920s. Nobody was able to produce the required amount.
At the end, Mustafa Kemal wrote a letter to Berch Keresteciyan Efendi,
asking for the procurement of the direly needed funds.
Berch Keresteciyan’s reply to the Pasha’s envoys was clear and simple:
“Come back at midnight and I’ll have it ready for you.” Keresteciyan
withdrew everything he had in his personal bank account and delivered
it to Mustafa Kemal’s envoys. The missing firing mechanisms were
purchased and sent immediately to Anatolia.
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
After the victory, Berch Keresteciyan Efendi retired from the Ottoman
Bank and was employed as a technical consultant at the state-owned
Ziraat Bank. After the surname Law passed the Turkish Parliament,
Mustafa Kemal gave the last name “Turker” to Berch Keresteciyan,
a man whose services the Pasha could never forget.
In 1934, Ataturk made sure that Keresteciyan was elected as a member
of the Turkish parliament from Afyon the same city from where the last
and decisive Pitched Battle of the Commander in Chief was launched
in August 1922. Thus Keresteciyan became the first Armenian member
of the Turkish Grand National Assembly. Berch Keresteciyan Turker
served in the Turkish parliament until 1942. He passed away in 1949.
So goes the story of Berch Keresteciyan Turker … We have learned
about his story during a presentation by the American historian
Prof. Justin McCarthy, at a lecture he gave at the Rotary Club
in Istanbul. The Rotary Club, in a touching gesture of homage to
Berch Keresteciyan’s exemplary memory, has presented a Certificate
of Honor prepared in his name. This very meaningful document was
delivered to the custodianship of Archbishop Mesrob II of the Turkish
Armenian Patriarchate.
Tufan Turenc (Hurriyet)
Translated by The Turkish Times