THE INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON THE 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN
GENOCIDE IN OTTOMAN TURKEY TO TAKE PLACE ON APRIL 20-21 IN YEREVAN

YEREVAN, April 7. /ARKA/. The international forum on “Grave Crimes,
Grave Challenges: Human Rights and Genocide”, devoted to the 90th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey will take place
on April 20-21 in Yerevan. According to RA MFA, RA President Robert
Kocharyan and Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin the Second will
welcome the participants of the forum. The ex- President of Poland
Leh Valensa and the Special Adviser of the UN Secretary General
on prevention of genocide Juan Mendes are expected to speak at the
forum. Over 20 scientists, political and public figures from Armenia,
USA, Ireland, Switzerland, Israel, Canada, Denmark, Turkey, as well
as representatives of UN will participate in it.

Under the forum on April 18-19 a conference on genocide will be held
in the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia.

On April 24, 1,5 mln. people will march to the memorial complex to
the victims of the Armenian Genocide, and ecumenical requiem in the
Cathedral of Saint Gregory the Illuminator in Yerevan will take place.

Also concerts, showing feature and documentary films, theatre
performances, and photo-exhibitions will be held. Literature on
genocide and human rights will be presented in the RA MFA library.

Turkey rejects European pressure for Armenian genocide recognition

EUbusiness
07/04/2005

Turkey will not bow to European Union pressure to recognize the World
War I killings of Armenians as genocide as a condition for joining
the EU, Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said Thursday.

“We are witnessing efforts to bring many issues not directly related
to our (EU) membership process before us as covert conditions,” among
them allegations that more than a million Armenians were victims of
genocide under Ottoman rule, Sezer told a press conference at the
military academy here.

“It is wrong and unjust for our European friends to press Turkey on
these issues,” he said. “They should know that it is not possible for
demands imposed on us and devoid of just foundations to be accepted.”

Turkey has recently faced mounting calls from within the EU, which
it hopes to join, to acknowledge the massacres as genocide, something
it systematically rejects.

Some EU politicans have said that the genocide claims will be one
of the issues Turkey must address as it prepares to launch lengthy
membership talks with the EU on October 3.

“These claims (of genocide) upset and hurt the feelings of the Turkish
nation,” Sezer said. “What needs to be done is research, investigate
and discuss history, based on documents and without prejudice.

“The basis of such discussions should be scientific and not political,”
he said.

The Armenian massacres of World War I are one of the most controversial
episodes in Turkish history.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen died in orchestrated
killings nine decades ago during the final years of the Ottoman Empire,
the predecessor of modern Turkey.

Turkey, on the other hand, argues that 300,000 Armenians and thousands
of Turks were killed in what was civil strife during World War I when
the Armenians, bacvked by Russia, rose against their Ottoman rulers.

NKR RECOGNITION IS ARMENIA’S NUMBER ONE FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITY

STEPANAKERT, APRIL 7, ARMENPRESS: Speaking in the capital of Karabagh,
the Chairman of the Armenian National Assembly’s Standing Committee
on Foreign Relations, said that the number one priority of Armenia’s
Foreign policy is for Karabagh to gain international recognition.

“That process must never be viewed as something other than the
advancement of democratic principles among the public, specifically
because the starting point in gaining international recognition is
democracy,” said Armen Rustamian during a meeting with ARF youth
organizations and journalists.

He stressed that the will of the people–both in fostering democracy
and safeguarding the principals of self-determination–must be conveyed
in accordance with international standards.

“At the end of the day, the catalyst for both is the public’s
determination; both are so intertwined that to attempt to realize one
without the other is not only unrealistic, but also impossible. To put
it another way, the world will not recognize any republic–no matter
how ‘guaranteed’ its right to self-determination is,” noted Rustamian.

Armenians Will Hold a Majority on Glendale Council
By Nicholas Shields, Times Staff Writer

It is a first for an ethnic group that makes up more than a third of the
city’s population. Ardashes Kassakhian elected city clerk.

Los Angeles Times
April 7, 2005

For the first time in its history, the Glendale City Council will
have an Armenian American majority following this week’s municipal
elections.

In unofficial returns, Ara Najarian topped a field of 19 candidates
in Tuesday’s election with more than 10% of the vote.

He was followed by Mayor Bob Yousefian with 9%, Frank Quintero with
8.8% and Dave Weaver with 8.2%.

The three top vote-getters will serve four-year terms and Weaver will
complete a two-year term left when Councilman Gus Gomez stepped down
late last year.

Armenian Americans Najarian and Yousefian and Councilman Rafi Manoukian
will hold three of the five City Council seats.

More than one-third of Los Angeles County’s nearly 153,000 Armenians
Americans live in Glendale, which has the second-largest population
of people of Armenian descent of any city in the country, behind
Los Angeles, according to census officials. There are about 205,000
residents in the city.

“There are a lot of Armenians in Glendale, and we just happen to be
fortunate enough to be elected,” said Najarian, whose goals include
tackling traffic problems.

“I know these gentlemen, and we’ll be dedicated and committed to
serving all of Glendale,” he added.

In Glendale’s first contested city clerk election in 75 years,
Ardashes Kassakhian will replace City Clerk Doris Twedt, who retired
after serving five years.

Treasurer Ronald K. Borucki was reelected with 64% of the vote.

Assistant City Clerk Rita Buchanan said a number of absentee ballots
remain to be counted. The results are not expected to change the
outcome of the election.

Meanwhile, voters in Inglewood on Tuesday reelected incumbent council
members Curren Price Jr. with a 61% majority and Judy Dunlap with 55%
of the votes.

,1,4512890.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

RUSSIANS WANT TO KNOW ARMENIA BETTER

A1+
07-04-2005

Armenian Ambassador to Russia Armen Smbatyan gave a lecture with the
subject «The Present and Future of Armenia» in the Institute of
Asian and African States at the MGU.

Mr. Smbatyan in detail presented the social and economic situation
in Armenia as well as the political developments in the region.

When commenting of the Armenian-Russian relations the Ambassador
attracted attention to the events held within the frames of the Year
of Russia in Armenia.

During the discussions that followed the lecture, Armen Smbatyan
responded to the question, which for post part regarded the
Armenia-Russia, Armenia-Turkey and Armenia-Europe relationships as well
as the foreign policy and problems referring the economic priorities
of the country .

–Boundary_(ID_bU8oUfMaRVJVk1IxR5ko9Q)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone 212.319.6383 x.118
Fax 212.319.6507
Email [email protected]
Website

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, April 7, 2005

WINTER WONDERLAND GREETS AGBU YOUNG PROFESSIONALS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Record Snow Makes for Great Skiing, Great Socializing

South Lake Tahoe, CA – The South Lake Tahoe region recorded one of
the snowiest winters in recent memory the weekend of March 18th,
2005; however, nearly two feet of snow didn’t stop ABGU Young
Professionals of Northern California (YPNC) from making the most of
its Tahoe Trip. This year was the 7th excursion Northern California
Young Professionals have made in what has become an annual tradition
of skiing, socializing, and serious fun.

More than 30 alpine enthusiasts made the 4-hour journey to South
Lake Tahoe where the freshly fallen powder made for ideal skiing and
boarding conditions at Sierra Ski Ranch. By all accounts, the 2005
Tahoe Weekend was an overwhelming success.

“Like YPNC’s Winter Gala, the Tahoe Weekend has become an annual
tradition for the Young Professionals of Northern California,” said
Ed Minasian, the new YPNC Chair. “For those that couldn’t make this
year’s trip, it’s not too soon to look forward to the 2006 excursion.”

AGBU YPNC preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage
by adding dimensions to the lives of young professional Armenians
through educational, cultural, social, and humanitarian programs. To
view pictures from the Tahoe Weekend, please visit the photo gallery
on For more information on AGBU YPNC, please contact
Armen Najarian at [email protected].

The U.S.’ Designs On Anatolia
BY UMIT ZILELI

Cumhuriyet (Ankara)
4/7/2005

Strange and perilous things are happening both in Turkey and in
the world. The steep and unstoppable rise in oil prices is shaking
budgetary balances. The fall of the US dollar frightens not only
developing countries, but also leading economic powers such as Europe.

What we should ask is, who benefits from this situation? Nezih Erverdi
of Ankara University gives clear and striking answers to this question
in his essay ‘Analysis of Turkey and the Rest of the World.’ Below
is a short summary of his ideas:

The US has two main principles in its national security policy. The
first is, no nation (besides itself) or alliance of nations should
be allowed to become a global power. And the second principle is,
in order to achieve this goal, the US will use any means, including
military intervention.

The US also has three main objectives concerning Turkey, which are
founding a ‘Greater Israel,’ ‘Greater Armenia,’ and ‘Greater Kurdistan’
on our lands.

Washington has long been trying to block Europe’s path. It has
depreciated the dollar in order to cut the European Union’s exports.
Moreover, it has increased oil prices, which has dealt a heavy blow
to the economies of oil-dependent countries.

The motive behind the invasion of Afghanistan was getting a post
close to China, and the US base in Kyrgyzstan serves similar
purposes. Erverdi notes that in order to survive, the EU must turn
to Turkey, which stands closer to oil-rich regions such as Central
Asia and the Middle East. The Europeans however, foolishly think that
it would serve their interests better to support a ‘Kurdish state’
in the region than admit Turkey into the Union.

You may disagree with any of the above claims, but just ask yourself
why the Orthodox Fener patriarch now more than ever wants to be
ecumenical. Also consider why the Armenian ‘genocide’ claims have
won so much support all of a sudden. And by the way, why have EU
delegations begun to visit Diyarbakir so frequently?

PRESS RELEASE
GenocideEvents.com
3115 Foothill Blvd, Suite M-293
La Crescenta, CA 91214
Contact: Armen Vartanian
Tel: 818-581-6144
E-mail: [email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, April 7, 2005

The Genocide and the Armenian Response in the 21st Century

On the occasion of the 90’th anniversary of The Armenian Genocide,
the community is invited to a public lecture by Armen Ayvazyan,
PhD in political science and history, titled ” The Genocide and the
Armenian Response in the 21st Century ” on Tuesday, April 19, 2005 at
7:30 pm, at Glendale Royal Palace, located at 201 S. Brand Blvd., in
City of Glendale, California. The speaker will address the impact of
the Genocide on today’s reality, the Turkish denial of the Genocide,
its implications for Armenia’s security and the most effective way of
modern Armenian response. There is a general admission fee of $ 15.00.

Dr. Armen Aivazian is a Senior Researcher in the Matenadaran, the
Yerevan Institute of Medieval Manuscripts and an Assistant Professor
of Political Science at the American University of Armenia. He is also
the Team Leader of the European Commission’s sponsored Campaign Against
“Corruption-Freindly” Legal and Social Settings in Armenia program.
He holds doctoral degrees in History (1992) and Political Science
(2004). From 1992 to 1994 he worked as Assistant to the President
of Armenia, Adviser to the Foreign Minister of Armenia, and Acting
Head of the Armenian Delegation to the Conference (now Organization)
on Security and Cooperation in Europe at Vienna. He was a recipient
of an International Security Studies grant provided by the Carnegie
Corporation of New York, working in affiliation with the Program
on the Analysis and Resolution of Conflicts, Maxwell School of
Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University (1995). During the
1997-1998 academic year, he was a Visiting Senior Fulbright Scholar,
affiliated with the Center for Russian and East European Studies,
Stanford University, USA. He was a Visiting Alexander S. Onassis
Foundation Fellow at ELIAMEP, Hellenic Foundation for European and
Foreign Policy (2000-2001). Dr. Aivazian was also a Fellow at the
American University of Armenia’s Center for Policy Analysis and a
Guest Lecturer at the Yerevan State University. Dr. Aivazian is the
author of several books, book chapters, and many articles in Armenian
and international journals.

While visiting the United States, Dr. Armen Aivazyan has been scheduled
to appear on numerous media programs and series of lectures to be
announced in the near future. For further information, please contact
the organizing commitee: Friends of Armen Aivazyan at (818) 653-5516

Foes Reunited at Peace Pope’s Funeral
By Sophie Hardach

Reuters
Thu Apr 7, 2005 3:42 PM BST
 
ROME (Reuters) – The “Great Satan,” part of the “axis of evil” and an
“outpost of tyranny” will gather for the funeral of Pope John Paul, who
toiled for peace but whose mourners find it hard to forgive each other.

At what is expected to be one of the biggest funerals ever, there will
be heads of governments whose hostile exchanges have long dominated
the headlines — the United States and Iran, Israel and Syria,
Zimbabwe and Britain among others.

“The conviction he had about humankind, about life and about peace —
it just shone through,” said former U.S. president George Bush, father
of the current president, aboard Air Force One as it was heading to
Rome on Wednesday.

But the pacifist message often fell on deaf ears.

Tehran and Washington have been enemies since Iran’s Islamic revolution
in 1979, months after John Paul was elected Pope.

Iran’s former leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, was the first to
call the United States the “Great Satan,” while President Bush has
said Iran is part of an “axis of evil” and accuses Tehran of secretly
building nuclear arms.

In another long-standing war of words, Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice has described Communist Cuba as an “outpost of tyranny.”

Cuba is sending National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon.

Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who will not attend the funeral, hailed
the Pope as a friend of peace — but his condolences for the late
Pontiff also included a jab at U.S. sanctions on his country.

PIOUS POLITICS

Funeral guest and Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian, too, combined
piety with politics, describing his country as “the Vatican’s most
faithful partner.”

The Holy See is Taiwan’s only European ally, while Beijing sees the
island as a renegade province. China cut relations with the Vatican
more than 50 years ago and will send no envoy to the funeral.

Seating arrangements for the funeral have not been made public,
but they will require the Vatican’s finest diplomacy.

Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe may recall some of his own
musings on religion when he listens to the funeral prayers for the
late Pontiff.

“We are now being coerced to accept and believe that a new
political-cum-religious doctrine has arisen, namely that ‘There is but
one political god, George W. Bush, and Tony Blair is his prophet’,”
Mugabe told the U.N. general assembly last September.

Blair has criticized Mugabe’s treatment of political opponents and
policy of seizing white-owned farms for allocation to blacks in the
former British colony. Mugabe sees Blair, who will also be at the
funeral, as a chief enemy, saying he cajoled the European Union into
imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe.

The burial will also draw visitors whose animosity has been less
vocal but equally embittered.

Turkey and Armenia, which have no diplomatic relations, will both send
their heads of government. Turkey is trying to counter long-standing
accusations that it slaughtered 1.5 million Armenians during and
after World War One, which it denies.

The issue has come under fresh scrutiny as Turkey strives to enter
the EU.

The only traditional foes to bring a gift of peace for the late
Pontiff may be nuclear-armed India and Pakistan.

On Thursday, a day before the Pope’s burial, the passengers on
the first bus service in more than 50 years from Pakistani Kashmir
to Indian Kashmir walked across a “peace bridge” between the two
territories to resume their journey on the other side.

The region has been divided since a 1947-48 war, and the brief walk
across the bridge was hailed as a possible beginning of a much longer
process — forgiveness.

–Boundary_(ID_woy1SsLlcoLETBuWvsPlbg)–

EP Criticizes Erdogan for Overreacting
By Selcuk Gultasli

Thursday 07, 2005
zaman.com

The European Parliament (EP) Socialist Group Vice Chair Jan Marinus
Wiersma has said that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
is going too far in suing cartoonists and his criticisms of Turkish
writer Orhan Pamuk.

Meeting with Turkish journalists, Wiersma told them that he laughs
at cartoons about him and that he was disappointed by Erdogan’s
preference to sue. Wiersma also stated that although what happened
to Armenians is not the same as the holocaust, there are similarities
adding that gestures could be made without recognizing the so-called
genocide. Touching on the Cyprus issue too, Wiersma expects an attempt
for a solution after October 3rd and he took pains not to criticize
the Greek Cypriots for their refusal of the Annan Plan.

Meanwhile, two parliamentarians of Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus (TRNC) for the first time attended an EP session as observers.
Wiersma said that the TRNC deputies were in the group as “non-official
observers” because TRNC has not been recognized.

Brussels