Moreover / The ineffable charm of Charles
By Gideon Levy

Ha’aretz, Israel
March 24 2005

French singer Charles Aznavour steals the show at the Leipzig book
fair.

Saturday afternoon, Leipzig: Pure delight

A short old man, with sparse gray hair and dated attire, ascends the
stage with the blue couch – the central interview site in the
entrance hall of the book fair. Yesterday and the day before, this
couch was sat upon – separately – by David Grossman, Yoram Kaniuk and
Amos Oz, whose attire wasn’t all that spiffy either, and they also
attracted a sizable crowd, but nothing like this man has. He looks
like the elderly neighbor from across the hall, in his holiday best,
with his blue jacket and gray trousers and shiny shoes, like one of
the most charming images from our childhood.

The crowd cheers. He waves to them as one of his immortal songs plays
in the background. A chill goes up the audience’s collective spine as
all eyes watch him sit down on the sofa – flesh and blood, in arm’s
reach. The interviewer asked her questions in German, he answered in
his Armenian French, and the translator of his book, which was just
published in German, translated into the local language. Ladies and
gentlemen, Charles Aznavour.

No setting would be more incongruous in which to encounter this giant
of song, the last great avatar of the chanson, than this sprawling
book fair in Germany’s Saxony region. Writers have given a thousand
readings here, but his appearance was the emotional high point.
Brassens, Montand, Brel and Piaf have all been gone for some time.
Only he is left, like a rare bird from an endangered species. He will
turn 81 next month and he is as vital and charming as ever; his deep,
throaty voice unchanged, making him instantly identifiable even when
he’s not singing.

His relationship with Piaf was something “between love and
friendship” and his dependence on her was “a willful dependence.” His
father used to wake him up every morning when he came home totally
drunk from his nights on the town – it was a warm and loving family.
The “operation on his hair” – a hair implant or something like that –
changed his life, and he felt the need to share the experience with
everyone. He displays the piece of hair that goes from back of his
head to the front, still covering for what’s no longer there.

He once appeared at the Moscow opera house and all the tickets were
given to Communist party hacks. There wasn’t a seat left for his
grandmother. Outside, the Soviet masses wrote graffiti: “The concert
belongs to the party but Aznavour is ours.” Aznavour wanted his
grandmother. He asked the organizers from the Kremlin: “Do you know
how to sing? My grandmother knows.” And the concert didn’t start
until his grandmother was there.

Yes, he smoked and drank a lot his whole life, but only cigarettes
and only whiskey. That’s why he’s had such a long life. Does he have
any regrets – to echo Piaf’s immortal song? “I haven’t thought about
that question yet,” he says. “I’ve had such a wonderful life. I was
poor, but I was never miserable.”

In April, Nana Mouskouri will perform in nearby Dresden, as part of
her World Farewell Tour. The posters are already up around the once
devastated and now beautifully rebuilt city, and in December, the
bassist from Queen, another scion of an endangered species, is due to
perform there, too. And we’ve got Eurovision songstress Shiri Maimon
(autobiography coming soon).

Armenian customs agency to continue fight against “shadow” economy

Mediamax news agency
24 Mar 05

Yerevan, 24 March: The leadership of the Armenian State Custom
Committee [ASCC] linked today’s blast near the building of the
Armenian State Custom Committee to “active measures against the shadow
economy which has been taken by the custom agencies since the start
of this year and the reinforcement of the customs control”, the press
secretary of the Armenian State Custom Committee, Nelli Manucharyan,
told Mediamax news agency.

[Passage omitted: known details]

“We would like to inform all those who are attempting to weaken the
will of the ASCC leadership through such actions that the Armenian
State Custom Committee will continue to fight consistently against the
shadow economy and to disclose any breaches of law. The incident this
morning once again proves the effectiveness of the measures aimed at
improving and reinforcing the customs control,” the Armenian State
Custom Committee’s said in a statement.

Armenian customs boss survives attempt on his life

A1+ web site
24 Mar 05

Yerevan, 24 March: There was a blast near the building of the Armenian
State Customs Committee at 1015 today. The blast happened right under
the tree where the car of the head of the State Customs Committee,
Armen Avetisyan, was parked a few seconds before that.

Having checked the scene of the crime, the chief of the Armenian
police, Ayk Arutyunyan, refused to say anything definite.

The head of the police department of Yerevan, Nerses Nazaryants, told
us that by the time of the explosion, Armen Avetisyan had already
left the car but his driver and aide were hurt.

The head of the city police department said that they have already
spoken to Avetisyan, but the latter said that he does not know whom
to suspect.

The group, which is conducting the preliminary investigation, cannot
yet say what kind of an explosive device was used.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

City lights
Mar 17th 2005
>From The Economist print edition

For Turks who want to get ahead, the places to be are Istanbul or
Ankara

TURKEY is divided into two parts. There is Istanbul and its political
appendage, Ankara, and there is the rest. This “other” Turkey, most
of it in the east, is a vaguely defined area from which the
cosmopolitan inhabitants of Istanbul and Ankara carefully insulate
themselves. Until very recently they would have travelled there only
under firm instructions from the armed forces or the government.

Conversely, people from the eastern regions hardly ever made it to
positions of power. Now, however, there are some easterners in the
ministerial team. Burhan Yenigun, the mayor of the remote eastern
city of Van, says some ministers in office today were at school with
him. In a country where whom you know still matters at least as much
as what you know, that is helping Turkey’s disadvantaged east feel
more involved in the democratic process.

The east also happens to be home to many millions of Kurds, whose
alienation from the mainstream of Ataturk’s republic has been a cause
of dissension and violence almost since the republic was born. When
one Istanbul company’s salesmen go to Diyarbakir, a large Kurdish
city in the east, the locals say (and not in jest): “The men from
the republic have arrived.”

Istanbul, home to up to a fifth of Turkey’s population, is a
microcosm of Turkey itself, with migrants from particular regions
clustering in specific areas. Migration has also made it the largest
Kurdish city in the world. At the same time it is home to some of the
trendiest boutiques in Europe. Meandering beside the Sea of Marmara
and across the Bosphorus for some 40 miles, it houses the
headquarters of every Turkish company of substance. Even Is Bank, a
commercial bank set up by Ataturk and his Republican Party in Ankara,
his own creation, recently moved its headquarters there.

Istanbul is a handsome, ancient place and a magnet for the rest of
the nation. It has an air of noisy, amiable chaos. In far-off Rize, a
city on the Black Sea coast near the border with Georgia, in the
heart of Turkey’s wealthy tea-growing region, an improbably large
number of cars have Istanbul registration plates, recognisable by the
prefix “34”. The locals explain that anybody in the area who makes
money immediately goes to Istanbul to spend it.

Ankara, on the other hand, is a modern place sadly lacking in
man-made beauty. Many a Turkish civil servant has silently rued the
day that Ataturk decided to plonk his republic’s capital in a
treeless expanse of Anatolian wasteland, in the interest of shifting
the nation’s centre of gravity away from Istanbul. So devoid was
Ankara of any structure of note in the early years of the republic
that civil servants had to live in dormitories.

Beyond these now lively metropolises lies the “other” Turkey, vast
tracts of mountainous land stretching from the city of Edirne in the
west, where Ottoman architecture had its finest flowering, to Kars,
once capital of the long-defunct South-West Caucasian Republic, now
wasting near the end of the cul-de-sac leading to Turkey’s closed
border with Armenia.

The typical inhabitant of this other Turkey today lives in a town,
not a village, in a standard apartment that is one-quarter of a floor
in a six- or seven-storey concrete block. These uniform buildings,
sometimes painted in pastel shades to break the monotony, creep
across the hillside scrub on the fringes of fast-growing towns from
Edirne to Sanliurfa. Everywhere the countryside has a half-finished
look, littered with abandoned buildings.

Europe’s new neighbours

Around its eastern and southern edges this landmass touches Georgia,
Iran, Iraq and Syria. With Turkey inside the EU, these will be
Europe’s new neighbours, a Europe whose highest mountain will be
Mount Ararat, not Mont Blanc; a Europe that will include the northern
areas of Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers, often considered the cradle of civilisation.

Turkey’s mountainous hinterland is tightly controlled from Ankara,
which allows the regions little financial autonomy. Ataturk inherited
the Ottoman system for imposing law and order and for gathering taxes
and redistributing revenues. At its heart is the vali, the governor
appointed by the Ministry of Home Affairs in Ankara who is sent out
to the regions much like ambassadors are to foreign postings.

Every vali has a huge office, which reflects its occupant’s status
both by its size and by the number of black leather armchairs it
contains. The great men are surrounded by acolytes in dark suits who
interrupt continually with requests to sign pieces of paper. In
Turkey today, as in Ottoman times, little can be done without a
governor’s signature. If a vali is absent or ill, official life-from
granting a pay rise to a junior employee to authorising a new office
block-simply goes on hold until the governor can resume signing.

The middle of nowhere

The vali system suits a geography in which towns and cities sit in
bowls surrounded by mountains, isolated and self-contained. The towns
are joined by long asphalt strips with only the occasional petrol
station as a diversion. From time to time a village appears in the
distance. But there is no rural aristocracy or country life of the
sort you find in western Europe. Turks live in villages not because
they have chosen to escape to them, but because they have been unable
to escape from them.

The other power in town is the local mayor, an official elected for a
five-year term. Unlike the vali, who comes from many miles away, the
mayors are usually local folk from the town they represent-often
local tradesmen, in Trabzon even a former professional footballer.
Both the mayor and the deputy mayor of Diyarbakir are Kurds. Their
responsibilities are for the most part limited to transport, drains
and water, and their revenues come from building permits, local
property taxes and central-government grants.

Urban aspirers

It is now government policy to decentralise control and budgets away
from the huge and inefficient ministries in the capital. This year
the “Village Services Department”, a 42,000-strong cohort of civil
servants in Ankara who oversee administration of the villages, is due
to be disbanded. But this is only a drop in the ocean. Turkey’s
public administration still employs more than 2m bureaucrats.

Trying to decentralise further, the government says it would like to
shift power from the vali to the local mayor. Part of the plan is to
send a different sort of individual to these outposts. Efkan Ala, for
example, the governor of Diyarbakir, was appointed to the job last
year at the age of 39. His approach is more informal than that of his
predecessors. He clearly disapproves of the minder from the security
services who attends the meeting with your correspondent and takes
copious notes.

Last autumn the government was due to transfer large chunks of
treasury property to the local authorities. Much of it-such as
sports centres and museums-earns rent and could make a big
difference to the mayors’ budgets, says Volkan Canalioglu, the mayor
of Trabzon. But the plan was shelved. Perhaps the central
government’s success in getting its own budget under control has made
it reluctant to let go. “We don’t want to end up like a Latin
American country,” says Mr Babacan, the economy minister, “where
they don’t know what their budget is.” But the government, he says,
is still “working on how to share revenues with the regions”.

Glendale News Press
March 24 2005

State of city just ducky

Mayor discusses city’s achievements and highlights Glendale’s
commitment to open, transparent government.
By Josh Kleinbaum, News-Press and Leader

GLENDALE — Using a stuffed duck as a prop, Mayor Bob Yousefian
discussed the city’s achievements in the past year during his State
of the City address Wednesday, touching on improvements in public
safety, transportation and development.

“In short, the city is doing wonderfully,” Yousefian said at a
luncheon sponsored by the Glendale Chamber of Commerce. “Don’t listen
to the naysayers.”

Yousefian touted the City Council’s successes, including a commitment
to hire 100 new police officers, acquiring more than 550 acres of
open space in the last four years and setting the stage for mixed-use
development in downtown Glendale. He said the Americana at Brand, a
controversial outdoor shopping center approved by the City Council in
April 2004, will be the envy of the region.

The Americana also served as something of a theme for the Chamber of
Commerce’s business awards, presented at the meeting. Two key figures
from the Americana debate received awards, Jeanne Armstrong and the
Glendale Galleria.

Armstrong, named the chamber’s Woman of the Year, was the city’s
driving force behind the Americana as director of development
services. She retired in November but remains project manager of the
Americana.

The Galleria was named the chamber’s Business of the Year. Galleria
owner General Growth Properties led the fight against the Americana,
funding a failed referendum drive and suing the city over the
project’s approvals.

Neither Armstrong nor Galleria Senior General Manager JoAnne Brosi
mentioned the Americana during their comments.

“I started with the Galleria the week before 9/11, so I bonded very
quickly with all the merchants,” Brosi said. “I realized very quickly
what a great community this was.”

Catherine Pelley, president and chief executive of Glendale Memorial
Hospital and Health Care, received the CEO of the Year award. Bill
Wiggins, chairman of Automation Plating Corp. and a former mayor of
Burbank, received the Man of the Year award.

“This is the one day of the year that really shows the relationship
of the business community and the Chamber of Commerce with the City
Council and city staff,” Higgins said. “It’s a special day.”

Yousefian drew the biggest laugh of the luncheon during his speech
while criticizing City Council candidates who have called for more
transparency in government. He said that Glendale televises more
public meetings per month, 37, than any other city in the state.

“How much more transparent can we be?” said Yousefian, who is up for
reelection in the April 5 municipal election. “I guess we should
start wearing suits that are made of plastic and see-through.”

Yousefian said the stuffed animal, an AFLAC duck, will be his mascot
until the election, because he will duck all of the criticism thrown
his way.

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
03/24/2005
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://

1) ARF Lebanon Condemns Recent Attacks against Population
2) Amnesty International Voices Concern about New Turkish Penal Code
3) Russia’s Putin in Armenia
4) Armenia’s Customs Chief Survives Bomb Blast
5) Kyrgyzstan Uprising Forces President to Flee
6) Pascal Message of the Armenian Catholic Exarch

1) ARF Lebanon Condemns Recent Attacks against Population

BEIRUT–In a strongly worded statement issued on March 25, the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Central Committee of Lebanon condemned the
violent outpour that has rocked the country in recent weeks, ending over a
decade of relative peace following a debilitating fifteen year civil war.
Criticizing the bombings and shootings that have occurred since the
February 14
assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the statement called for
an immediate end to acts such as the March 23 bombing of the Alta Vista
Shopping Center of Kaslik.
“We reaffirm our stance on this issue, and condemn the detrimental
position of
those who believe that acts of terror aimed against a peaceful Lebanese
population will help address the country’s political problems,” the ARF
statement noted. “The abuse of internal political issues in an attempt to
create an unsafe and unstable environment is totally unacceptable to us.
“Abhorrent acts of violence can only serve to further aggravate the political
divisions that exist in Lebanon. We reject any attempt that endangers the
country’s internal security and endangers its economic stability.
“We call on the people of Lebanon to stand with us in solidarity against any
act that threatens the well-being of this country and its population,” the
statement concluded.

2) Amnesty International Voices Concern about New Turkish Penal Code

In recent days, various press groups and professional bodies in Turkey have
articulated their concerns regarding the new Penal Code, due to come into
effect on April 1, and called on the government to urgently review the new law
which they believe will restrict press freedom. Amnesty International has
joined in these concerns and urged the government to take further steps in
bringing Turkish law into line with international human rights law and
standards related to freedom of expression.

(AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL)–In a public statement, Amnesty International
addresses Turkey’s new Penal Code, noting that though it has introduced many
positive changes–most notably in the removal of gender-discriminatory
articles–it still contains numerous restrictions on fundamental rights.
The statement says that some provisions, which the authorities had used
before
to breach international standards related to freedom of expression, were
carried over from the old Penal Code. For example, Article 159 which
criminalized acts that “insult or belittle” various state institutions–and
which Amnesty International has repeatedly called for to be
abolished–reappears as Article 301 of the new Penal Code in the section
entitled “Crimes against symbols of the states sovereignty and the honor of
its
organs” (Articles 299–301). Amnesty International is concerned that this
section could be used to criminalize legitimate expression of dissent and
opinion.
In other cases, new articles have been introduced which appear to introduce
new restrictions to fundamental rights. For example, Article 305 of the new
Penal Code criminalizes “acts against the fundamental national interest.” The
written explanation attached to the draft, when the law passed through
Parliament, provided as examples of crimes such acts as “making propaganda for
the withdrawal of Turkish soldiers from Cyprus or for the acceptance of a
settlement in this issue detrimental to Turkey…or, contrary to historical
truths, that the Armenians suffered a genocide after the First World War.”
Amnesty International considers that the imposition of a criminal penalty for
any such statements–unless intended or likely to incite imminent
violence–would be a clear breach of international standards related to
freedom
of expression.
Many of the provisions in the new law envisage higher sentences if the
“crime”
has been perpetrated through the press and raise the possibility of custodial
sentences for journalists. Chair of the Press Council Oktay Eksi has evaluated
the new law as “an unfortunate reversal from the point of freedom of
expression
and of the press.”

BACKGROUND

The new Penal Code was presented by the government as a less restrictive and
democratic piece of legislation and hastily passed by Parliament in September
2004 as a result of pressure from the European Union. This pressure appears to
have resulted in insufficient consultation with members of civil society, such
as press and human rights groups, and may have contributed to the continuing
problems in the law.
Amnesty International is also concerned about aspects of the Penal Code which
are related to areas other than freedom of expression. For example, Article
122
of the draft of the new Penal Code, which forbids discrimination on the basis
of “language, race, color, gender, political thought, philosophical belief,
religion, denomination and other reasons,” was amended at the last moment so
that “sexual orientation” was removed from the draft. The organization is
concerned that discrimination on the basis of sexuality was not
criminalized in
the new law.
In addition, Amnesty International is concerned that the statute of
limitations still applies in trials in which individuals are accused of
torture. While the new law has extended this time limit, trials against
alleged
torturers are frequently deliberately delayed and subsequently dropped through
this provision, thereby contributing towards a climate of impunity. Given the
frequency with which this happens and the status of torture as a peremptory
norm of general international law, Amnesty International considers that there
should be no statute of limitations for the crime of torture.
Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for
internationally recognized human rights. Its mission is to undertake research
and action focused on preventing and ending grave abuses of the rights to
physical and mental integrity, freedom of conscience and expression, and
freedom from discrimination, within the context of its work to promote all
human rights. Amnesty International is independent of any government,
political
ideology, economic interest or religion. It is concerned solely with the
impartial protection of human rights.

3) Russia’s Putin in Armenia

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–Russia’s President Vladimir Putin arrived in Armenia late
Thursday on a brief working visit which, according to Armenian officials, will
cement the close relationship between the two allies.
Putin will meet with President Robert Kocharian on Thursday to discuss mostly
economic issues, notably Russian-Armenian cooperation in the energy sector,
according to a Kremlin official cited by the Russian Itar-Tass news agency.
Further development of bilateral military ties will also be on the agenda, the
official said. It is unclear whether the two plan to sign any agreements.
The Armenian side is expected to again raise its concerns about the
implementation of a 2002 swap agreement that settled Yerevan’s $100 million
debt to Russia. Armenian officials have repeatedly complained that the
Russians
are slow in revitalizing the five Armenian enterprises that were handed
over to
them in payment for the debt.

4) Armenia’s Customs Chief Survives Bomb Blast

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–A car belonging to the chief of the Armenian customs Armen
Avetisian, was rocked by an explosion early on Thursday in what
law-enforcement
authorities see as a botched attempt on the influential official’s life.
President Robert Kocharian called an emergency meeting of his top
law-enforcement officials, asking them to take “all necessary measures to
solve
the incident,” and keep him informed about the course of the investigation.
The blast occurred outside the building in downtown Yerevan housing the State
Customs Committee just minutes after Avetisian entered his office.
Investigators said an explosive device was planted under a tree next to which
his car was parked.
The car was not seriously damaged. An aide to Avetisian and another customs
official who stood nearby were said to have sustained minor injuries.
Still, residents of nearby apartment buildings said the blast was powerful.
The chief of the Armenian police Hayk Harutiunian, and the first deputy head
of the National Security Hrachya Harutiunian, personally inspected the scene
but declined to comment on the incident.
“Nothing is known yet,” the head of Yerevan’s police department Nerses
Nazarian, told reporters. He said Avetisian has told investigators that he
does
suspect anyone of seeking to assassinate him.
The Office of Prosecutor-General launched criminal proceedings under an
article of Armenia’s Criminal Code that deals with attempted assassinations of
senior government officials and public figures. The Customs Committee also
characterized the explosion as an attempt on Avetisian’s life in a statement
issued later on Thursday.
The statement attributed it to a crackdown on smuggling and tax evasion
announced by the authorities earlier this year. “To all those who hope to
weaken the committee leadership’s will to fight against the shadow [economy]
with such terrorist acts we find it necessary to say that the State Customs
Committee will continue to be consistent in identifying violations of customs
rules,” it said.
Prime Minister Andranik Markarian also condemned the blast as he opened a
weekly cabinet meeting. “Nobody should hope that they can hamper the work of
the bodies collecting state revenues with such actions,” he said.
The crackdown was announced after Kocharian’s high-profile meetings with the
management of the customs and tax agencies. In particular, Kocharian decried
widespread corruption among customs officials, accusing them of helping
large-scale importers avoid taxes in return for kickbacks.

5) Kyrgyzstan Uprising Forces President to Flee

–Parliament elects interim leader; protesters seize state-run TV

BISHKEK (AP)–President Askar Akayev fled Kyrgyzstan on Thursday after
protesters stormed his headquarters, seized control of state television, and
rampaged through government offices, throwing computers and air conditioners
out of windows.
A leading opponent of the Akayev regime, Felix Kulov, was freed from prison
and praised the “revolution made by the people.” Kulov said Akayev had
signed a
letter of resignation, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
Members of the parliament–that was in power before February’s disputed
election–met Thursday night and elected former opposition lawmaker Ishenbai
Kadyrbekov as the country’s interim president.
Sitting in Akayev’s chair surrounded by supporters, another opposition
activist, Ulan Shambetov, praised the latest uprising to sweep a former Soviet
republic.
The takeover of government buildings in Bishkek followed similar seizures by
opposition activists in southern Kyrgyzstan, including the second-largest
city,
Osh. Those protests began even before the first round of parliamentary
elections on Feb. 27 and swelled after March 13 runoffs that the opposition
said were seriously flawed.
Another opposition leader, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, appeared on state TV and
declared: “Akayev is no longer on the territory of Kyrgyzstan.”
Bakiyev also said the prime minister had resigned but that those in charge of
the Security, Interior and Defense ministries were working with the
opposition.
The whereabouts of Akayev, who ruled Kyrgyzstan for 15 years, were not clear.
The Interfax news agency, without citing sources, said Akayev had flown to
Russia but later said he had landed in Kazakhstan.

6) Pascal Message of the Armenian Catholic Exarch

The Feast of Victory

The resurrection of Jesus is the central event of Christianity and the basic
truth of our faith.
It is true that without the nativity of Christ we would not have the Messiah,
the Savior of the world. But if the Gospels had ended with the end of Jesus’
life by his death, all the content of the Gospels would have vanished. The
message of salvation of Christ would not have had any sense, because it was
based on the affirmation that he was the master of life and death, and
specifically the eternal death, which is the result of sin.
All the preaching of the apostles, especially that of St. Paul who developed
the teaching of Christ in his epistles, is based on the certitude that Jesus
has triumphantly risen from the sepulcher. The angels who announced the
resurrection said to the women, the first visitors to the tomb, “Why are you
searching the living amidst the dead? He is not here, he has risen!”
Departing from this event that became an evidence for all the followers of
Christ, we have been celebrating for twenty centuries the resurrection of
Jesus. If Christmas is for us the feast of joy, Easter is the feast of
victory.
If Jesus has triumphed over death, we also will triumph over it, and we will
share his glory. So that when we are submitted to trials and sufferings of
life, we have strong conviction that all this will have a happy end. No
suffering can be senseless or overcome our faith, for we share the
suffering of
Jesus who has predicted it as a precondition of the success of his mission as
the savior of mankind.
Concerning the credibility of resurrection, some argue that it is based on a
negative evidence: the empty tomb. Could we deduct from it, they say, that
Jesus really has risen alive from dead or that his body was not fraudulently
took away by the disciples? This is a nonsense, when we know from the Gospels
that these poor men were so despaired of the tragic end of Jesus’s life that,
terrified and disoriented, they escaped one after the other, not ever
daring to
accompany him during his passion and crucifixion. Yet, after the resurrection
became a certitude for them, they were radically transformed, they proclaimed
it courageously, and witnessed it at the cost of their lives, shedding their
blood for it. Who would sacrifice his life for a phantasm or a legend?
We are not asked today, but in exceptional circumstances, to shed our
blood to
testify to the resurrection of Christ. Yet we are called to proclaim it in
sometime difficult conditions: when we have to respect our engagement as
followers of Christ, in the face of enemies of our faith who despise or deride
it, or when we must make critical choices between our interests and our
spiritual and moral convictions, or when we are asked to sacrifice our time or
goods for the improvement and growth of the Church’s mission.
As we celebrate the resurrection of Christ with all Christianity, we must
consider our own resurrection as the fruit of his resurrection. Not as a
historical glorious event belonging to the past, but as a permanent
presence in
our daily life, inspiring our acts and thoughts, guiding our steps and our
decisions according to the plans God has for each of us, until our final
victory on sin and death.
Christ has risen from the dead.
Let us share the joy and hope of all who share our faith!

Bishop Manuel Batakian
Armenian Catholic Exarch in United States

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian president, OSCE envoy discuss constitutional reforms

Arminfo
23 Mar 05

Yerevan, 23 March: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan held a meeting
with the head of the OSCE mission in Yerevan, Vladimir Pryakhin, today.

During the meeting, Pryakhin spoke about the main directions of the
work of the OSCE office in Yerevan in 2005, the Armenian presidential
press service has told Arminfo news agency. The sides discussed issues
related to the improvement of the Electoral Code and constitutional
reforms.

The sides also discussed the process of implementing a number
of programmes carried out with the OSCE’s assistance. Kocharyan
congratulated Pryakhin on the fifth anniversary of the OSCE office
in Yerevan and wished him success in his work.

Armenian finance minister, US envoy sign action plan

Arminfo
23 Mar 05

Yerevan, 23 March: Armenian Finance and Economy Minister Vardan
Khachatryan and the US ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, today
signed an action plan drafted by the 9th meeting of the Armenian-US
working group for economic cooperation.

The document outlines the spheres in which the governments of the two
countries will cooperate within the programme, the press service of
the Finance and Economy Ministry has told Arminfo.

As John Evans said at the signing ceremony, the action plan is a
development guide. “It helps formulate questions accurately and
secures effective cooperation at the government level in the name of
the bright future of the Armenian people,” Evans said.

The action programme, which consists of 30 points, concerns
improvements in fiscal management, the strengthening of the banking
sphere, the fight against corruption, the intensification of business
ties, as well as the strengthening of lasting cooperation in the
agricultural and humanitarian spheres.

The document also states that Armenia has the right to participate in
the Millennium Challenges Account and should ensure progress in the
spheres defined by the programme.

The director of the USAID mission in Yerevan, Robin Phillips, also
took part in the signing ceremony of the programme. Prior to the
signing ceremony, a working meeting was held between representatives
of various Armenian ministries, the US embassy in Armenia and USAID.

CONFLICTS BETWEEN COSSACKS AND ARMENIANS IN NOVOROSSIYSK

NOVOROSSIYSK, MARCH 23. ARMINFO. Some 200 Cossacks have organized
pogroms in one of the districts in Novorrosiysk.

According to the newspaper “Yerkramas,” persons of Armenian nationality
as well as their cars, cafes and shops were subjected to pogroms. The
reason of the conflict was a quarrel in a cafe between Armenians,
Greeks who celebrated a birthday, and Cossacks who approached
them headed by Ataman of the local Cossacks Community Vladimir
Petrushin. The latter was taken to hospital wherein he underwent
surgical operation. The health stated is assessed as stable at
present. A criminal case was initiated on Article 282 (stirring
up of national, racial and religious enmity) of the CC of RF.
Novorossiysk Mayor Vladimir Sinyagovskiy held an extreme discussion
with representatives of national communities of the city and stated
that those guilty would be exposed and punished. An agreement was
reached not to aggravate the tension and restrain the emotions of the
conflicting parties. The local Armenian cultural society “Luys” states
that the Armenian party strictly observed these agreements calling
its compatriots for calmness and guarantying that the law-enforcement
structures control over the situation.

GEORGIAN FRONTIER GUARDS WILL HAND ON SYMBOLIC BATON DEDICATED TO
60TH ANNIVERSARY OF VICTORY IN GPW TO THEIR ARMENIAN COLLEAGUES ON
BAGRATASHEN BRIDGE

YEREVAN, MARCH 23. ARMINFO. Georgian frontier guards will ceremonially
hand on the symbolic baton dedicated to the 60th Anniversary of the
Victory in the Great Patriotic War to their Armenian colleagues on
Bagratashen Bridge bordering with Georgia at 15:00 today.

The Frontier Troops of the National Security Service of Armenia inform
ARMINFO that the symbolic baton will be taken wither by Commander of
the Frontier Troops of NSS of Armenia Colonel Vyacheslav Voskanyan
or his Assistant Lt.Colonel Armen Muradyan. Handing on the symbol
to each other, the Armenian frontier guards will take it along the
state border of Armenia with Georgia and on March 26 in the Armenian
town of Gyumri it will be handed on to the Command of the Frontier
Department of the RF Federal Service. Russian frontier guards, in
their turn, will take the symbol around the periphery of the state
border of Armenia protected by the Frontier Department of Federal
Security Service of Russia (frontier contingents in Gyumri, Meghri,
Artashat and Armavir). On April 4 at 11:00 Yerevan time a solemn
ceremony of finish will take place in Yerevan Park of Victory with
participation of the Commands of Frontier Troops of the NSS of Armenia
and the Frontier Department of FSS of Russia.