Historic Armenian Monastery has been turned into cafeteria

Cyprus Press and Information Office, Occupied Northern Cyprus
April 18 2005

Local daily YENIDUZEN newspaper (17.04.05) reports that the historic
Armenian monastery Magara Vank in the occupied area, has been turned
into a cafeteria. The historic Monastery in the Kyrenia mountain
range, was leased by Dervis Sonmezler, who wanted to turn the place
into a hotel.

Sonmezler´s objective is to turn the place into a camping site.

–Boundary_(ID_hL9rI1tvoD8V/abF8SFNQQ)–

Aid worker uncovered America’s secret tally of Iraqi civilian deaths
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington

The Independent/UK
20 April 2005

A week before she was killed by a suicide bomber, humanitarian
worker Marla Ruzicka forced military commanders to admit they did
keep records of Iraqi civilians killed by US forces.

Tommy Franks, the former head of US Central Command, famously said
the US army “don’t do body counts”, despite a requirement to do so
by the Geneva Conventions.

But in an essay Ms Ruzicka wrote a week before her death on Saturday
and published yesterday, the 28-year-old revealed that a Brigadier
General told her it was “standard operating procedure” for US troops
to file a report when they shoot a non-combatant.

She obtained figures for the number of civilians killed in Baghdad
between 28 February and 5 April, and discovered that 29 had been
killed in firefights involving US forces and insurgents. This was
four times the number of Iraqi police killed.

“These statistics demonstrate that the US military can and does
track civilian casualties,” she wrote. “Troops on the ground keep
these records because they recognise they have a responsibility to
review each action taken and that it is in their interest to minimise
mistakes, especially since winning the hearts and minds of Iraqis is
a key component of their strategy.”

Sam Zia-Zarifi, deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights
Watch, the group for which Ms Ruzicka wrote the report, said her
discovery “was very important because it allows the victims to start
demanding compensation”. He added: “At a policy level they have never
admitted they keep these figures.”

Exactly how many Iraqi civilians have been killed in the last two years
is unclear. Iraq Body Count, a group that monitors casualty reports,
says at least 17,384 have died. But the group bases its totals only
on deaths reported by the media, and says it can therefore only “be a
sample” of the total actually killed. Its website says: “It is likely
that many if not most civilian casualties will go unreported by the
media. That is the sad nature of war.”

A peer-reviewed report published last year in The Lancet and based
on an extrapolation of data suggested that 100,000 civilians may
have been killed during the invasion and its aftermath. One of the
report’s author, Dr Richard Garfield, professor of nursing at Columbia
University, said: “Of course they keep records and of course they
pretend they don’t. Why is it important to keep the numbers of those
killed? Well, why was it important to record the names of those people
killed in the World Trade Centre? It would have been inconceivable
not to. These people have lives of value.

“We are still fighting [to record] the Armenian genocide. Until people
have names and are counted they don’t exist in a policy sense.”

Ms Ruzicka, from California, was killed in Baghdad after her car
was caught in the blast of a suicide bomber who attacked a convoy
of security contractors on the road to the city’s airport. She was
in Iraq heading, Civic, the organisation she set up to record and
document civilians killed or injured by the US military, and to seek
compensation. She carried out a similar project in Afghanistan.

In her report, she wrote from Iraq: “In my dealings with the US
military officials here, they have shown regret and remorse for
the deaths and injuries of civilians. Systematically recording and
publicly releasing civilian casualty numbers would assist in helping
the victims who survive to piece their lives back together.”

Colleagues of Ms Ruzicka at Civic (Campaign for Innocent Victims In
Conflict) have vowed to continue her work. April Pedersen, a friend,
said: “We are all committed to ensuring the work that Marla did is
going to continue.” Ms Ruzicka, whose funeral service is to be in
California on Saturday, was also remembered on Capitol Hill where
Senator Patrick Leahy, with whom Ms Ruzicka worked to achieve almost
$20m in appropriations to help victims in Afghanistan and Iraq,
paid tribute to her.

He said: “I want to… pay tribute to a remarkable young woman from
Lakeport, California. In my 31 years as a United States Senator I have
met lots of interesting and accomplished people from all over the
world. We all have. Nobel prize winners, heads of state, people who
have achieved remarkable and even heroic things in their lives. I have
never met anyone like Marla Ruzicka.” Meanwhile the Pentagon maintained
its position that it did not keep numbers of civilians killed in Iraq.

‘The public must know how many have died’

This is an edited extract of an article written by Marla Ruzicka a
week before her death:

In my two years in Iraq, the one question I am asked the most is:
“How many Iraqi civilians have been killed by American forces?” The
American public has a right to know how many Iraqis have lost their
lives since the start of the war and as hostilities continue.

In a news conference at Bagram air base in Afghanistan in March 2002,
General Tommy Franks said: “We don’t do body counts.” His words
outraged the Arab world.

During the Iraq war, as US troops pushed toward Baghdad, counting
civilian casualties was not a priority for the military. Since 1 May
2003, when President Bush declared major combat operations over and
the US military moved into “stability operations”, most units began
to keep track of civilians killed at checkpoints or during patrols
by US soldiers.

Here in Baghdad, a brigadier general explained to me that it is
standard procedure for US troops to file a spot report when they
shoot a non-combatant. It is in the military’s interest to release
these statistics.

A number is important not only to quantify the cost of war, but as a
reminder of those whose dreams will never be realised in a free and
democratic Iraq.

Federation Of Victims Suffered From Armenian Massacre Sends Letter To Embassies
Published: 4/19/2005

Turkish Press
April 19 2005

VAN – Federation of Associations of Victims who suffered from massacre
of Armenian gangs (in eastern cities of Van, Igdir, Bitlis, Mus and
Agri) sent letters to embassies in Turkey, on Tuesday.

Federation Chairman Ikram Kali said in a written statement, “Armenian
committees which organized Armenian gangs and pursued activities
against Ottoman Empire were closed down and 2345 administrators of
those committees were arrested on April 24, 1915.”

“However European and U.S. parliaments, as well as various groups,
are still trying to bring Armenian genocide allegations onto the
international agenda. Thus, we have sent letters to embassies in
Turkey to be conveyed to their leaders,” added Kali.

Referring to the letter, Kali said, “every year, within the framework
of planned provocations, forging accusations towards Turkey have
become a tradition. Fundamentalist terrorist groups destroyed
lands of an empire which settled peace in these lands throughout 600
years. As these groups cooperated with external forces in war milieu,
authorized organs of state removed these groups from war area as a
security measure. Settlements in 1918 and diplomatic records about
Armenian population in Turkey exist in foreign ministry and military
archives of Turkey and in various other countries. Unfortunately
however, parliaments of several countries, by violating all democratic
principles, launch initiatives to adopt resolutions on the so-called
Armenian genocide.”

Kali said that they wanted the whole world to act with common sense
to settle world peace and not to live past sufferings again.

Armenian defence minister outlines key priorities of Karabakh settlement

Regnum, Moscow
12 Apr 05

Armenian Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan has said that Armenia is
not planning to vacate Azerbaijan’s occupied territories without a
scrupulous consideration of the security interests of the Karabakh
people. In his address to the Armenian parliament during the
recent hearings on ways of solving the Karabakh conflict, Sarkisyan
said that Yerevan is ready for certain compromises provided that
Azerbaijan guarantees the physical security of the Nagornyy Karabakh
population. At the same time, he called on the country’s relevant
bodies for closer cooperation at the international level to protect
Karabakh’s independence and outlined Armenia’s key priorities in
solving the conflict. The following is an excerpt from the report by
Russian news agency Regnum. Subheadings have been inserted editorially:

The Armenian parliament held hearings on the Nagornyy Karabakh problem
and ways of solving the conflict on 29-30 March. The hearings were
organized by the standing foreign relations commission of the Armenian
National Assembly.

Regnum news agency released detailed reports on the hearings. However,
taking account of the importance of the issue, the agency decided
to publish the full text of the report of the Armenian National
Security Council secretary and defence minister, Serzh Sarkisyan,
in the Armenian parliament on 30 March 2005.

Sarkisyan calls on relevant bodies for closer cooperation on Karabakh

“First, I consider it necessary to note that drawing up the list
of issues, which the commission sent to the participants in today’s
hearings in advance, is a useful initiative. However, I do not think
that there is a point in following this list accurately because
this would turn my report into an interview. I shall try to give my
answers in the form of a military-political analysis of the roots
of the Karabakh armed conflict and the key factors that define the
process of its dynamics.

1) A brief assessment of the state of affairs in our foreign policy:
In my opinion, in the sphere of advancing the interests of the Karabakh
settlement, we can note both certain success and difficulties which
are well-known to us. However, on the whole, there are no grounds for
panic. It is another matter that noting remarkable achievements, it
is more useful to pay more attention to the problems and the lessons
we have learnt as a correct understanding of them can help us advance
the Karabakh settlement better, proceeding from the security interests
of Armenia, Karabakh and the Armenians as a whole.

I think that at this stage of the Karabakh settlement, we have to
concentrate on the systematization of our resources in counteracting
the sly and cynical enemy who resorts to the most despicable methods
and tricks in order to discredit the international image of Armenia and
Nagornyy Karabakh. We must proceed from the realities that specialized
departments of Turkey and other allies are helping Azerbaijan in the
political attack on Armenia.

Therefore, it is extremely important in the Karabakh process to
join the efforts of Armenian government institutions, including
the National Assembly, government, ministries and departments and
foreign representative offices. This requires the correct selection and
professional training of representatives of state organizations which
should represent our highest national interests in the world community.

They must receive professionally-prepared information about our
national interests and priorities in the most important issues, how
to defend them by political and diplomatic means during the forums
of international organizations and visits or receptions by foreign
delegations.

Roots of the modern phase of the Karabakh problem

At the same time, we must periodically “synchronize watches” on
the Karabakh settlement. Today’s session of the commission is a
good example of the clarification of assessments, principles and
approaches taking into account the dynamics of the Karabakh foreign
policy process.

2) On the correlation between “history” and “politics” in
substantiating Armenia’s position as one of the principles of
protecting our national interests.

The roots of the modern phase of the Karabakh problem lie at the turn
of the catastrophic change in Karabakh’s state status as a constituent
part of Russia and the USSR.

[Passage omitted: historical background]

3) On current approaches and principles of solving the Karabakh
problem and substantiating them.

In the process of the 13-year talks under the aegis of the OSCE Minsk
Group, four major approaches to the settlement of the Karabakh conflict
were discussed:

Nagornyy Karabakh’s reunification with Armenia;

The recognition of the independence of the legally self-determined
Nagornyy Karabakh Republic [NKR];

The establishment of a common state on the basis of Azerbaijan and
the NKR;

The granting of the highest degree of autonomy to Nagornyy Karabakh
within the Azerbaijani Republic.

Accordingly, the basis of these approaches on the Armenian side
is the concept of the self-determination of the Nagornyy Karabakh
people. Azerbaijan’s approach is invariably based on the principle
of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and inviolability of borders.

Nevertheless, as a member of the Minsk negotiating process, Armenia
is building its relations on these models and proceeding from the
principles of ensuring the physical security of the Karabakh Armenians,
as well as conditions for its stable and democratic development.

You are aware of these principles. However, in my opinion, the modern
development of the Karabakh process says that it is expedient to
include in these formulations the fact that Nagornyy Karabakh orients
itself to the world processes of progressive development.

Sarkisyan’s three major principles

These three fundamental principles can be formulated in the following
way:

– The impossibility of Karabakh’s subordination to Azerbaijan;

– The impossibility of Nagornyy Karabakh’s existence as an enclave, the
need to have a land border with Armenia and international guarantees
that conditions will be created for Karabakh’s participation in world
progressive processes;

– The need to have clear international guarantees that the war will
not resume and the security of the Nagornyy Karabakh population will
be guaranteed.

[Passage omitted: historical background]

Finally, a cogent argument of the impossibility of Nagornyy Karabakh
forming part of Azerbaijan is the real threat of its complete
de-Armenianization.

The total ethnic cleansing of the Naxcivan Autonomous Soviet Socialist
Republic from the indigenous Armenian population without the right
to return to their land, which was carried out by official Baku even
when Azerbaijan was part of the USSR, serve as a dreadful lesson and
warning for the Karabakh Armenians.

– On the principle of guaranteeing the impossibility of Karabakh’s
existence as an enclave, the need to have a land border with Armenia
and the NKR’s participation in world progressive processes.

The explanation of the impossibility of the NKR’s existence as an
enclave is based on the fact that in the absence of a land border
with Armenia and in conditions of an overall blockade, the Karabakh
population will be deprived of possibilities to survive. At the same
time, the guarantee that Karabakh will not exist as an enclave is the
necessary condition for fulfilling the will of the NKR to participate
in world progressive processes.

– On the need for the international community to guarantee that the
war will not resume and the security of the Karabakh Armenians will
be ensured.

In this respect, it is extremely important to skilfully bring to
the notice of the international community the basic argument that
Azerbaijan had resorted to aggression against the NKR.

The self-defence of the NKR people was organized in conformity with
Article 51 of the UN Charter in response to the military aggression
of the Azerbaijani Republic against the legally-established Nagornyy
Karabakh Republic. The violation of the principle of “territorial
integrity” with regard to the Azerbaijani Republic occurred following
a forced response to its aggression against the NKR, including the
military construction of a security zone on Azerbaijani territory
regained from the aggressor in the process of eliminating its gun
emplacements.

If we speak about the essence of the issue, we are not planning to
return the territories from the “security belt” without a scrupulous
consideration of the security interests of the Karabakh people. We
are ready to make certain compromises in a negotiated way provided
that we acquire firm guarantees from Azerbaijan that the physical
security of the Karabakh people will be ensured with the backing of
influential international organizations. In fact, Armenia is ready
to discuss the possibility of mutual compromises precisely within
this pragmatic framework.

Peaceful means and mutual compromises key to Karabakh solution

4) The prospects for Nagornyy Karabakh’s status: It is obvious to
me that the resolution of the Karabakh conflict is possible only
by peaceful means on the basis of mutual compromises. What are the
compromises that, in my opinion, the Armenian only side might agree to?

We see as a fundamental compromise the fact that Armenia is refraining
from recognizing the NKR although Karabakh has been legally established
and has been functioning as a democratic independent state for many
years. This is a demonstration of good will with the aim of backing
the peaceful settlement process within the framework of the [OSCE]
Minsk Group.

[Passage omitted: reference to international documents]

In our view, we can base the second fundamental compromise on this
proposal: Although the NKR has been legally established and has been
functioning as a democratic independent state for many years, Armenia
can agree to conduct an additional referendum among the residents
of the former Nagornyy Karabakh Autonomous Region in their current
places of residence if the referendum is organized under the aegis of
the OSCE and the UN. In this case, we are obliged to professionally
study the constructive experience of the UN mission for the affairs
of the provisional administration in Kosovo, as well as the OSCE
mission in Kosovo.

Speaking about Karabakh’s future status, I want to underline the
logic of the process of establishing the NKR and Armenian statehood
as a whole. The vital interests of maintaining the national and
international security of the Armenians imply the importance
of the parallel membership and fruitful cooperation of the two
fraternal Armenian states – the Republic of Armenia and the NKR – in
international organizations. Along with this, based on the fact that
the NKR has been established legally and is an independent state, this
approach can soften the protests of the Council of Europe to Armenia
regarding “the wish to annex” Nagornyy Karabakh. In other words,
the model “one Armenian people, two Armenian states” is definitely
of benefit to all Armenians on a strategic scale.

[Passage omitted: historical background]

European Weightlifting Championships Results

AP Worldstream
Apr 19, 2005

Results Tuesday from the European Weightlifting Championships at the
Universiada Hall:

Men

56 Kg

1. Sedat Artuc, Turkey, 275 kilograms (125 snatch; 150
clean-and-jerk).

2. Erol Bilgin, Turkey, 265 (120; 145).

3. Vitaly Derbeniev, Belarus, 260 (117.5; 142.5).

4. Arsen Tamrazyan, Armenia, 250 (110; 140).

5. Eric Bonnel, France, 247.5 (107.5; 140).

6. Igor Grabucia, Moldova, 245 (110; 135).

___

Women

48 Kg

1. Svetlana Ulyanova, Russia, 177.5 (77.5; 100).

2. Rebeca Sires, Spain, 175 (80; 95).

3. Donka Mincheva, Bulgaria, 165 (72.5; 92.5).

4. Genny Caterina Pagliaro, Italy, 162.5 (77.5; 85).

5. Marta Kleszczynska, Poland, 157.5 (70; 87.5).

6. Sibel Ozkan, Turkey, 157.5 (70; 87.5).

53 Kg

1. Anastassia Novikova, Belarus, 195 (85; 110).

2. Marioara Munteanu, Romania, 192.5 (87.5; 105).

3. Nataliya Trotsenko, Ukraine, 187.5 (82.5; 105).

4. Estefania Juan Tello, Spain, 185 (85; 100).

5. Shade Okotie-Eboh, Britain, 180 (80; 100).

6. Virgine Lachaume, France, 177.5 (77.5; 100).

7. Heidi Neubacher, Austria, 165 (72.5; 92.5).

8. Bediha Tunadagi, Turkey, 165 (75; 90).

ARKA News Agency
April 19 2005

NKR President leave for Yerevan

Armenia’s political forces should get ready for presidential election
“without fits”: Serge Sargsyan

Armenian press too free: Serge Sargsyan

*********************************************************************

NKR PRESIDENT LEAVE FOR YEREVAN

YEREVAN, April 19. /ARKA/. President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
(NKR) Arkady Ghukasyan has left for Yerevan to take part in the
arrangements on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. The NKR presidential press service
reports that Arkady Ghukasyan is expected to speak at an
international conference “Grave crimes, topical challenges, human
rights and genocide.” P.T. -0–

*********************************************************************

ARMENIA’S POLITICAL FORCES SHOULD GET READY FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
“WITHOUT FITS”: SERGE SARGSYAN

YEREVAN, April 19. /ARKA/. /RA Minister of Defense Serge Sargsyan
urged Armenia’s political forces to get ready for the next
presidential election “without fits.” He advised them not to
“privatize the institution of presidency.” He added that all those
wishing can take part in the elections. Sargsyan did not specify
whether he himself will participate in the presidential election. He
stated that “quite three years are left, and no haste should be
displayed.”
As regards the successor of the incumbent President, Sargsyan said
that Robert Kocharyan can give the best answer to this question. “If
the preparation of a successor seems a physical process to you, you
are mistaken. That is, when the preparation of a successor is in
question, it does not mean that the President orders anybody to study
English. It is a matter of choice,” Sargsyan said. He added that he
does not take part in making decisions on some problems. P.T. -0–

*********************************************************************

ARMENIAN PRESS TOO FREE: SERGE SARGSYAN

YEREVAN, April 19. /ARKA/. Armenian press is too free, RA Minister of
Defense Serge Sargsyan told reporters. According to him, the
country’s officials are not in equal conditions with the press, as
they cannot take any measures, even those stipulated by the law, to
defend themselves from libels. “No matter what is the trial result,
talks about pressure and imposed decision will take place,” Sargsyan
said. P.T. -0–

*********************************************************************

Week of Remembrance in the City of Glendale

Annual Commemorative Events

The City of Glendale (California)
Annual Commemorative Committee
April 19, 2005
Contact: Mr. John Takhtalian, Management Services
Phone: 818-548-4844

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The following genocide commemorative events, which are part of the City
of Glendale’s 2005 Week of Remembrance, will take place throughout the
following week at various venues in Glendale, California. They are
co-sponsored by the City of Glendale, the Alex Theater, the Armenian
General Benevolent Union, Don Peterson – SNK Realty Group, City of
Glendale – Parks, Recreation & Community Services, City of Glendale –
Public Works, Glendale Water & Power, Glendale Unified School District,
Glendale News-Press, Glendale Association of Realtors, and Sidewalk Cafe.

1.) Panel Discussion on Three Films Depicting Genocide
Date: Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Time: 6:00 pm
Location: Glendale Central Library
Address: 222 E. Harvard Street, Glendale
Panelists Include: Mr. Dan Alba, Western Region Director of Facing
History and Ourselves; Ms. Julia Powell, Co-Producer of the
award-winning PBS Frontline Documentary, “Ghosts of Rwanda”; Mr. Vahe
Babaian, Screenwriter, Producer and Director.
Admission: Free and Open to the Public

2.) Armenian Genocide 90th Anniversary Commemoration
Date: Sunday, April 24, 2005
Time: 2:00 pm
Location: The Alex Theater
Address: 216 North Brand Blvd., Glendale
Keynote Speaker: Mr. Aram Saroyan (Poet, Novelist, Playwright, and Son
of William Saroyan)
Musical Performances by: Winds of Passion; Zvartnotz Dance Ensemble
Theatrical Performace by: The Cornerstone Theater Company, which
presents Leon Zaven Surmelian’s “I Ask You, Ladies and Gentlemen.”
Admission: Free on a first-come, first-serve basis. Pick up your free
ticket at the Alex Theater Box Office between now and 12:00 Noon on
Sunday, April 24.
Parking: Free validated parking is available specifically at the Orange
Street Parking Garage located at the corner of California Street and
Orange Street (enter from Orange). Parking tickets can be validated by
the House Manager in the Alex Theatre lobby.

3.) Repeat Performances of Surmelian’s “I Ask You, Ladies and Gentlemen”
will be offered by the Cornerstone Theater Company at the Alex Theater on:
— Tuesday, April 26, 2005 at 8:00 pm
— Wednesday, April 27, 2005 at 8:00 pm

For tickets to the Tuesday and Wednesday performances, please contact
The Alex Theater Box Office at (818-243-2611).

— A Synopsis on Surmelian’s “I Ask You, Ladies and Gentlemen”

Cornerstone Theater Company presents “I Ask You, Ladies and Gentlemen,”
written by Leon Z. Surmelian, adapted for the stage by
playwright-in-residence Yehuda Hyman, and directed by founding member
Christopher Liam Moore.

It is a true story of an Armenian orphan boy whose brave and poetic
spirit guides him through a tragic odyssey in his war-torn country and
propels him into a new life in America. History and literature come to
life, using text directly from Surmelian’s memoir about survival during
the Armenian genocide. Actor Ludwig Manukian and puppeteer Michelle
Zamora are accompanied by live music composed and performed by John
Bilezikjian; puppets and sets are by Lynn Jeffries, costumes by
Christopher Acebo, and lights by Lonnie Rafael Alcaraz.

Proceeds benefit The Leon & Zarmig Surmelian Foundation, which assists
orphans and needy students in Armenia and the Ukraine, the Middle East,
Asia, Africa, and America. Permission to adapt this work was granted by
the estate of Leon Z. Surmelian and executor Torcom Postajian.

Yehuda Hyman and Cornerstone Theater Company are participants in the
Theater Residency Program for Playwrights, a project of the National
Endowment for the Arts and Theatre Communication Group.

Running time is approximately 1 hour, and the performance is suitable
for ages 10 and older.

Chefs spice up food tours
By Clare Leschin-Hoar | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor

Christian Science Monitor
April 19 2005

WATERTOWN, MASS. – Moving through the tightly packed Sevan’s Bakery
here in Watertown – home to a large Armenian population – chef
Ana Sortun holds up a small bag of dried mint, explaining its many
uses – such as sprinkling on just-roasted meats, or folding it into
thick, creamy Middle Eastern yogurt, commonly used in a variety of
Mediterranean dishes.

The tour group soaks up every word uttered by Ms. Sortun, nominated
for a James Beard Award. They move as a pack as she steps deeper into
the store, past the displays of olives, dried fruits, and nuts, and
into the bakery’s stainless steel kitchen, where they sample three
varieties of feta cheeses – French, Bulgarian, and the newly arrived
Turkish feta, all with slightly different tastes and textures.

Margaret Chavushian, the bakery’s owner, swings through the door with
a tray of soft mounds of red lentil kofte. Hard bagel-like breads and
flat crackers with spread Za’atar – a dry mixture of summer savory and
sesame seeds – are passed hand to hand. Murmurs and nods of approval
travel through the group. Quickly, the tray is bare and smiles abound.

This Saturday morning lesson in yufka pastry, lamejun, kibbeh,
and haloumi cheese is an example of the latest way for chefs to
connect with clientele clamoring to get up close and personal. Unlike
traditional walking tours, which are often led-to-a-chef, Sortun’s
version is chef-led.

Moving out of the kitchen and back into the shop, Sortun, who is of
Norwegian descent, stops at the display of frozen goods and points out
a number of delights such as Egyptian mantee – tiny baked ravioli-style
dumplings that are traditionally cooked in chicken broth; boxes of
lamejun – delicious pizzalike snacks that can be warmed in the oven
or on a griddle; and yufka pastry, which can be wrapped around cheese
and then fried.

Serious about her passion for Middle Eastern food, Sortun, chef-owner
of the award-winning Oleana Restaurant in Cambridge, Mass., exudes
both confidence in her knowledge of this cuisine and appreciation
for the goods displayed in this tiny corner market.

“I think sometimes there’s a curiosity that people have about how
chefs find their ingredients,” says Sortun. “People think there’s
some kind of secret, when really, we’re shopping the same way [as
home cooks]. We’re just looking for something that inspires us,
that looks good that day.

“For me, Watertown is really a special place,” she adds. “I can’t
get the ingredients they have there anywhere else. I can’t find the
labne or the yufka pastry at a lot of different places, so I rely on
them for the kind of food I use [in the restaurant].”

The students file out of Sevan’s and cross the street to Arax Market,
a Lebanese and Armenian grocer, where the sights and smells change
dramatically.

An earthy, sweet aroma prevails, wafting from the piles of fresh
produce displayed in cardboard boxes stacked on the floor. To one
side is a wall filled with clear bags of exotic spices, to the other
side are open bins of pickled vegetables and cured olives.

In the back corner of Arax are piles of flour, grains, rice, lentils,
and couscous, shelved near stacks of immense pita breads, which are
routinely prodded and tested for freshness by the store’s regulars.

“It was very exotic,” says Marcy Rizzo of Newton, Mass., one of those
on the tour. “You really felt like you were in a different country
when you walked into those stores. [The place] wasn’t Americanized –
the way of displaying things, the quality, the smells, the colors;
[or] how things like brilliant pink pickled turnips and crushed red
pepper paste are used in everyday cooking.”

Sortun deftly moves around the store fielding questions from the group
about items such as tiny bundles of dried purple eggplant that are
bound with thick rubber bands. She explains how to use fresh dates,
which are hard and light yellow – with little resemblance to their
dried, sticky, brown cousins – by slicing them very thinly and using
them atop salads.

She draws out two types of skewers and explains the difference to the
group: The round shish are used for cubes of meat and vegetables. The
flat shish are for ground meat. “They make it by kneading the beef
or lamb until the meat becomes creamy and binds itself. This is like
their meatball,” says Sortun.

The next stop on the morning tour is Massis Bakery, which feels like
a cross between Sevan’s and Arax. Here the group is treated to warm
samples of kibbeh. Since the store has many similar ingredients to
the first two, the time spent here is short.

Sortun then herds the tour across another street to Town Shawarma,
a halal meat market, where samples of grilled sujuk (a special
spiced meat mixture, similar to sausage) and a salty yogurt drink
are served. The owner, Magid Alhussein, is amiable, and brings out
the samples as soon as he sees Sortun walk through the door.

Sortun ends the tour at a small local restaurant, where, among platters
of falafel and dainty dishes of humus, her clients chatter about this
unusual peek at an often overlooked ethnic neighborhood.

Turkey Calls For a New Study of Armenian Genocide Claims

Voice of America
April 19 2005

Washington
18 April 2005

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for an unbiased
Armenian-Turkish study of the Armenian genocde claims. Last month,
Turkey made an unprecedented gesture by offering its neighbor Armenia
to conduct a joint study of the historic events that took place during
World War One in Anatolia, the Asian part of Turkey. Armenia rejected
the proposal.

Peter Balakian, author of several books on Armenian history, says ample
research has already been done. He notes that many studies, including
one by the International Association of Genocide Scholars, concluded
that mass killings and deportations of Armenians from Anatolia under
the direction of the Ottoman government amount to genocide.

“I think there is a growth in recognition of the Armenian genocide
worldwide — the Canadian government last year, the French government
in 2000, the Swiss government last year, the Danish Parliament, the
Italian Parliament the Vatican and many countries in Latin America
and the Middle East as well. It is the result of education, of the
fact that scholars have done increasingly brilliant work over the
last couple of decades, writing objective, detached histories of the
Armenian genocide.”

According to Armenians, on April 24, 1915, the government headed by
the Young Turks , the ruling political party of the Ottoman Empire,
began to deport and massacre its Armenian Christian minority
population, approximately 2.5 million people. Turkey denies that
there was a planned campaign to eliminate Armenians from Anatolia.
It says that both sides suffered losses in the war. Atrocities may
have occurred, they say, but only at the hands of rogue groups or
individuals, Turkish as well as Armenian. Turkey says no more than
300-thousand Armenians perished in the clashes.

Turkish-born Muge Gocek, a historical sociologist at the University
of Michigan, says ordinary Turks have denied the massacres for many
years because they haven’t had access to their historic documents.

“Turkish society knows very little about what happened in its own
past for two reasons, says Professor Gocek. “One is because of the
alphabet reform that happened in Turkey in 1928, where the Arabic
script was abandoned and Latin script was adopted. Turks cannot read
their own past historical documents. And the second is that things
from the past were selectively translated and therefore very little
scholarly information has been made available to them about the
Armenian question.”

But after World War One, says professor Gocek, there was an
international condemnation of the Turkish atrocities and the allies
conducted trials against the perpetrators.

“They had more than a thousand trials held, but only a couple of
people were punished. The rest were not at all punished for these
crimes because a lot of them joined the nationalist movement, the
war of independence. And as such they became important people who
went on to found the Turkish Republic,” says Professor Gocek.

In the 1920’s, Turkish reformist leader Kemal Ataturk established a
strong and When Pope John Paul II visited Armenia in 2001, he paid
respect to the Armenian victims of massacre. independent Turkey,
which was able to use its political clout to squelch Armenian claims
for reparations and return of their land. Turkey continued to do
so later as a strategic US ally and a member of NATO. But with the
collapse of the Soviet Union, the government of the newly independent
Armenia began a worldwide effort to gain international condemnation
of the World War One massacres as genocide. Subsequent mass killings
of civilians in Bosnia, Kosovo, Rwanda and Sudan focused international
attention on such crimes. And scholars say, this has renewed interest
in the Armenian question worldwide and among many in Turkey.

Some groups are interested in fostering reconciliation between
Armenia and Turkey. David Phillips, a fellow at the Council on Foreign
Relations in New York, says pre-conditions to reconciliation would
be counterproductive.

“The idea that exists in some ultra-nationalist circles in
Armenia that before you even talk to Turks, they have to admit the
genocide, pay the reparations and give back territory is completely a
non-starter. Ultranationalists in Turkey also oppose any movement on
Armenian issues and try to link that with the restoration of so-called
occupied territories in Azerbaijan.”

David Phillips says both countries need to be moderate while acting
in their national interests. And, he adds, Turkey and Armenia would
benefit from opening their common border for travel and trade. That,
many analysts agree, would be the quickest road to reconciliation.
From: Baghdasarian

Turning a blind eye to ‘genocide’ in Sudan
By Thibauld Malterre

Daily Times, Pakistan
April 20 2005

On December 9 1948, the UN unanimously adopted a convention on
genocide, identifying it as a crime ‘committed with the intention to
destroy in whole or part a national, ethnical, racial or religious
group’

IT is almost 60 years since the word “genocide” entered the lexicon of
international law, and it has been used to characterise officially the
mass slaughter of Armenians, Jews and Rwandans in the 20th century. It
was first used at the military war crimes tribunal at Nuremburg in
1945 at the end of World War II, though in the end the Nazis on trial
there were found guilty of “crimes against humanity”.

The word was invented in 1944 by Raphael Lemkin, a Polish Jew who
found shelter in the United States. It is a hybrid, combining the
Greek word “genos”, meaning a race or people, and the Latin suffix
“-cide” (as in fratricide or parricide), itself a formation from the
Latin verb “caedere” to kill.

On December 11 1946 the United Nations gave the word a formal
definition as “the denial of the right to existence of entire human
groups” in reference to the killing of Jews during World War II.

On December 9 1948, the UN unanimously adopted a convention on
genocide, identifying it as a crime “committed with the intention to
destroy in whole or part a national, ethnical, racial or religious
group”.

The UN recognised in 1985 the killing of hundreds of thousands of
Armenians between 1915 and 1917 as a genocide, as well as the mass
murder of Jews by Nazi Germany, and in June 1994 the killing of
an estimated 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis by their Hutu compatriots that
same year.

Beyond these three instances, the International Criminal Tribunal for
the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), established by the UN Security Council,
in 2001 sentenced a Bosnian Serb general to 35 years in jail for
“complicity in genocide” in connection with the massacre of 7,000
Muslim cvilians in Srebenica in 1995.

The UN and Cambodia have agreed that former Khmer Rouge leaders of
a regime that was responsible for the deaths of almost two million
Cambodians (20 percent of the population) should face charges of
crimes against humanity and genocide. Their trial could start in the
coming months.

In January this year a UN committee decided that though crimes against
humanity had been committed in the Darfur region of Sudan they did
not amount to genocide in the absence of any evidence of central
government genocidal intention.

Some historians argue that mass killings, such as those of Chinese
by Mongols in the 13th century and of the indigenous peoples of the
Americas by conquistadors and colonists are covered by the definition.

Armenians are preparing to mark the 90th anniversary on April 24 of
the start of the controversial 1915-1917 massacres, which they say
1.5 million of their kinsmen perished. Ankara argues that 300,000
Armenians and thousands of Turks were killed in what was civil strife
during World War I when the Armenians rose against their Ottoman
rulers and sided with invading Russian troops.