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Press Release Source: Harris Interactive

TRIA International Research and Consultancy Joins Harris Interactive Global
Network
Wednesday March 9, 3:09 pm ET

– Turkey serves as a gateway into Eastern Europe, the Middle East and
Central Asia

ROCHESTER, N.Y., March 9 /PRNewswire/ — Harris Interactive® (Nasdaq: HPOL –
News) announces that TRIA International Research and Consultancy, a
full-service global market research and consulting company in Turkey, has
become the newest member of the Harris Interactive Global Network.
TRIA, headquartered in Istanbul, was established in October 2000 and its
management offers more than 20 years of dynamic market research experience
to a broad variety of industries. Sectors include automotive, chemicals,
construction, fast-moving, jewelry, logistics and management performance,
oil and gas, pharmaceutical, retailing, and telecommunications. Data
collection methods include desk research, quantitative research (CAPI,
face-to-face, mail and telephone interviews) and qualitative research with
focus groups and in-depth interviews. TRIA offers market research services
in Turkey, and through its business partners in Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, and in Central Asia.

“We are very pleased to welcome TRIA, a firm that offers premier research
capabilities for a diverse list of practice areas, as the newest member of
our global network,” stated David Vaden, executive vice president and chief
strategy officer for Harris Interactive. “We are excited to offer our
clients the opportunity to gain consumer and business insights into this
region that serves as a gateway to Eastern Europe, the Middle East and
Central Asia.”

“Joining the Harris Interactive Global Network will help us gear up the
speed of growth of TRIA,” stated Melih Yurdagul, managing director of TRIA
International Research and Consultancy. “We are pleased to have our local
and international skills and capabilities endorsed by our affiliation with
Harris Interactive. New product and service offerings as well as the
implementation of state-of-the-art Harris Interactive online research
technology will definitely help our clients make better use of research in
the region.”

About the Harris Interactive Global Network

The Harris Interactive Global Network, an international network of affiliate
market research firms, was established in 1992. Today, there are more than a
dozen global network members, representing Africa, Asia, Australia, the
Caribbean, Eastern and Western Europe, Central/North/South America, and the
Middle East. Member firms exchange research expertise and provide the
resourcefulness of local-country knowledge.

Though affiliated with Harris Interactive, global network members operate as
totally independent market- and opinion-research firms. For more information
about the Harris Interactive Global Network, go to
.

About Harris Interactive®

Harris Interactive Inc. ( ), the 15th
largest and fastest-growing market research firm in the world, is a
Rochester, N.Y.-based global research company that blends premier strategic
consulting with innovative and efficient methods of investigation, analysis
and application. Known for The Harris Poll® and for pioneering
Internet-based research methods, Harris Interactive conducts proprietary and
public research to help its clients achieve clear, material and enduring
results.

Harris Interactive combines its intellectual capital, databases and
technology to advance market leadership through U.S. offices and wholly
owned subsidiaries: London-based HI Europe ( ),
Paris-based Novatris ( ), Tokyo-based Harris
Interactive Japan, through newly acquired WirthlinWorldwide, a Reston,
Virginia-based research and consultancy firm ranked 25th largest in the
world, and through an independent global network of affiliate market
research companies. EOE M/F/D/V

To become a member of the Harris Poll Online(SM) and be invited to
participate in future online surveys, visit
.

–Boundary_(ID_fpSlLqQPKN8YpeQ5K5/vNQ)–

The Armenian Issue
BY HASAN PULUR

TurkishPress.com

Published: 3/9/2005

MILLIYET- I should first emphasize that there is in fact a historical
Armenian issue, which unfolded as follows: Imperialist states seeking to
split the Ottoman Empire forced Armenians loyal to the Ottoman Empire to
revolt against the empire and promised them an independent Armenian state in
return. This was a result of the empire~Rs decision to enter World War I on
the same side as Germany. France and Britain incited the Armenian revolt
against the Ottoman Empire in order to gain a strong hand in the Dardanelles
and the empire~Rs southern and eastern flanks. Thus, Armenians attacked
Turkish civilians and furthermore, Armenian soldiers in the Ottoman Army
deserted to the Russian Army.

The Ottoman government called on the Armenians to stop the violence.
Heedless, the Armenians continued and as a result, the Ottoman government
forced the Armenians in the region to emigrate. This was the only thing the
Ottoman Empire did to put a halt to the Armenian violence. During this
emigration, the Armenians had to fight neither the Ottoman government nor
the Turks, but the Kurds in the region. This is the incident which the
Armenians now call ~Qgenocide.~R

Historian Mete Tuncay wrote in an article published in the Journal of Social
History that in his view, the so-called Armenian genocide is a sort of myth
for the establishment of the Armenian state. ~QArmenians want Turkey to
recognize the so-called genocide and pay compensation and give land to the
Armenian state,~R said Tuncay. It is true that there is an Armenian issue,
but this is nothing more than a fight between two communities, as Ziya
Gokalp has noted.

People who talk about these issues as if they happened yesterday ignore the
ongoing killings in Iraq and the destruction of valuable works of ancient
civilizations in museums there.

AME Info
The ultimate Middle East business resource

Thursday, March 10 – 2005

The Jordanian software house ESKADENIA to deliver its BCRM (Billing &
Customer Relationship Management) solution to K-Telecom in Yerevan-Armenia
K-Telecom Armenia has awarded the Jordan-based software house, ESKADENIA
Software Solutions, a turnkey contract for the deployment of ESKADENIA
Billing & Customer Relationship Management System and the GSM & GPRS
ESKADENIA Mediation Gateways.
Jordan: 3 hours, 40 minutes ago

This is the second deployment project of ESKADENIA’s billing system in
Armenia after the successful deployment in Nagorna Karabakh in 2002.

ESKADENIA® BCRM will enable K-Telecom Armenia to professionally handle all
billing services, customer care functions, Interconnect and Roaming
agreements, and customer self-care Internet access for all subscribers
connected to its GSM and GPRS networks.

The system is a high performance, mission-critical software application that
enables real-time billing in telecommunications networks. The modular
software solution comprises Customer Relationship Management, Marketing,
Service Provisioning, Product and Pricing Management, Inventory, Purchasing
Management, Rate Plan Management, GSM and GPRS Rating, Billing, TAP 3
Roaming, Interconnect, and Revenue Sharing modules.

The bilingual system for K-Telecom Armenia is initially contracted for
300,000 subscribers with an option to increase the number of subscribers to
500,000 without any hardware upgrade. The system will manage accounts of
post paid and prepaid subscribers and provide complete rating of more than
1000,000 CDR per an hour.

ESKADENIA will also deliver its Web-enabled GSM & GPRS Mediation Gateways to
K-Telecom Armenia that collect call data of any format, convert them into
any other required format, and forward them to any destination. ESKADENIA®
Mediation Gateways can be connected immediately to any switch brand and
switch version. The gateways will support interface to Alcatel 1000 E10
mobile switch, Alcatel 1400 IN platform, and Alcatel GPRS Serving Nodes.

Furthermore, ESKADENIA® BCRM offers tight integration with the financial and
inventory systems of K-Telecom Armenia. This advanced integration
facilitates the capture, consolidation, analysis and distribution of data,
thus allowing for comprehensive and efficient processing of information. The
system also smoothly supports integration with third-party applications.

In addition, the system provides web-based points of sale and self service
modules to stretch out the operator’s customer services regardless of the
geographical location of the clients.

ESKADENIA® BCRM and ESKADENIA® Mediation Gateways have been completely
designed and developed from scratch at ESKADENIA in accordance with both the
GSM and CCITT recommendations for billing and number plan standards.
Additionally, the Billing & Customer Relationship Management System supports
billing for landline telephony services, and Intelligent Network services.
The system supports the billing of customers by the second, which is an
essential value to its charging capabilities.

“ESKADENIA has been the right choice in previous projects and we are
confident it will be the same for this K-Telecom Armenia turnkey billing
project”, said Ralph Yirikian, General Manager of Karabakh Telecom and
K-Telecom Armenia.

“ESKADENIA Billing & Customer Relationship Management Solution has been
proving reliability and stability in all awarded projects. This is our
sixths billing project and the second of its kind for ESKADENIA in Europe.
The ESKADENIA team has proven their dynamic capabilities to serve and reach
out to customers wherever they are. We plan to have full deployment to take
place within two months”, said Nael Salah, Managing Director of ESKADENIA.

–Boundary_(ID_p4PzgWGh2J6Hj739xDK1pQ)–

Thursday, March 10, 2005
**********************************
MEMO TO A TURKISH READER
WHO DENIES THE REALITY
OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
*****************************************
No nation in the history of mankind has ever invented or imagined a genocide and believed in it for a hundred years.
*
Also to be noted: Armenia is not alone in asserting the reality of the Genocide. There are a number of other Western nations that at no time have questioned or doubted its reality.
*
A serial killer becomes a serial killer exactly because, after killing his first victim, he fails to come forward and confess his crime. If Sultan Abdulhamid II had come forward after the first massacres of the Armenians in 1894 and admitted to the world that he Ottoman Empire had been guilty of crimes against humanity, he would have changed the profile of the Turkish people far more effectively and radically than Ataturk with his superficial reforms (the elimination of the fez and the adoption of the Latin alphabet); and in doing so he (the Sultan) would have prevented the Genocide, with the result that Turks would now enjoy all the rights and privileges of members of the European Union, instead of being what they have become: rejects of their own country, garbage collectors of Europe, and unwanted candidates of the EU.
*
Hitler would not have admitted the Holocaust if he had won the war. As long as Stalinists were in power, they at no time admitted the existence of the Gulag. By denying the Armenian Genocide, Ankara is tacitly admitting to being the legitimate heir and successor of the despotism of the Sultanate and the fascist regime of the Young Turks.
*
As for the suggestion that it was the Armenians who committed genocide against the Turks: throughout history genocides have been committed only by armed majorities against unarmed minorities and civilians. Within the Ottoman Empire, Armenian communities were only “tiny islands in a Turkish sea” (Oshagan) and most of the victims were women, children, and old men. To say otherwise is to demonstrate an appalling ignorance of world history and a total absence of common sense.
*
I will not speak of common decency and fair play because these have never been attributes of despotic regimes.
*
History, it has been said, is the propaganda of the victor. It has also been said that the aim of propaganda is to deceive friends, not enemies. If Israel and the United States speak today of the Armenian Tragedy (as opposed to the Armenian Genocide), they do so not because they are dupes of Turkish propaganda, but because they happen to need Turkey more than they need Armenia. And if Europe has so far rejected Turkish membership in the EU, it’s because it is against its own interest to have an underdeveloped and backward nation that may end up as a heavy burden on its resources.
*
On the positive side, not all Turks are dupes of state propaganda. Some of their most progressive intellectuals and historians are now willing to concede that if Turkey wants to take a step in the right direction towards civilization and democracy and away from Asiatic despotism, it has no choice but to accept Germany as its role model, which means coming to terms with its dark past by admitting its crimes against humanity.
#

PRESS RELEASE

UCLA AEF Chair in Armenian History
Contact: Prof. Richard Hovannisian
Tel: 310-825-3375
Email: [email protected]

MARCH 9, 2005

UCLA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE GENOCIDE AFTER NINE DECADES,
APRIL 1-3, 2005

UCLA­An international conference, ~SAfter Nine Decades ~V The
Enduring Legacy of the Armenian Genocide,~T will be held in Pasadena
and on the UCLA campus from Friday evening, April 1, to Sunday
afternoon, April 3. The conference is sponsored by the Armenian
Educational Foundation Chair in Modern Armenian History in
cooperation with the UCLA International Institute, Center for Near
Eastern Studies, and Center for European and Eurasian Studies. The
conference organizer is A.E.F. Chair Holder Richard G. Hovannisian,
who explained: ~SThe Armenian Genocide set the prototype of
premeditated mass killing in the twentieth century, and there is much
to be learned from the enduring legacy of that crime.~T Participants
include scholars from Argentina, Armenia, France, Lebanon, Syria, and
from throughout the United States.

Friday Session in Armenian

The opening session on Friday evening, April 1, from 7:30 to 9:30
p.m., will be conducted in the Armenian language and will feature
Nora Arissian (Damascus University), Karen Khachatryan (History
Institute, Erevan), Marc Nichanian (Wesleyan University), and Raffi
K. Hovannisian (ACNIS, Erevan). The Armenian session will be held in
the AGBU Manoogian Center at 2495 E. Mountain Street (at Altadena
Drive) in Pasadena.

Saturday Sessions in English on UCLA Campus

The Saturday sessions, April 2, will take place in Moore Hall 100 on
the UCLA campus from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. The theme for the first
Saturday morning session, 9:30 to 11:00 a.m., is ~SRethinking Aspects
of the Armenian Genocide,~T with presentations by Richard Hovannisian
(UCLA), Henry Theriault (Worcester State College), Suzanne Moranian
(AIWA, Boston), and Michael Papazian (Berry College, Georgia).

The second session, 11:20 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., focuses on ~SThe
Armenian Genocide in Comparative Perspective~T with Katia Peltekian
(American University of Beirut), Anahit Khosroyeva (History
Institute, Erevan), Speros Vryonis, Jr. (UCLA and New York
University, Emeritus), and Tigran Matossian (Museum-Institute of the
Armenian Genocide, Erevan).

A lunch hour illustrated talk on the Armenian Genocide memorial
complex at Del Zor will be given by its architect, Sarkis
Balmanoukian.

The first Saturday afternoon session, 2:15 to 4:00 p.m., is on
~SGenocide Education, Human Rights, and Prevention,~T and includes
Nicole Vartanian (Washington, D.C.), Adam Strom (Facing History and
Ourselves, Brookline), Sara Cohen (Washington, D.C.), and Hagop
Gulludjian (UCLA).

The second Saturday afternoon session, 4:20 to 6:00 p.m., features
~SArtistic Responses to Genocide,~T with illustrated talks by Jean
Murachanian (UCLA), Ramela G. Abbamontian (UCLA), Jack Der Sarkissian
(Kaiser Permanente Medical Group), and
Hrag Varjabedian (University of Wisconsin-Madison).

Sunday Afternoon Sessions on Memory and Reconciliation

The Sunday afternoon sessions from 1:30 to 6:00 p.m. will shift to
the Court of Sciences 50 (Young Hall), with two sessions. The first
session, 1:30-3:15 p.m., examines ~SHistory and Memory~T with Barlow
Der Mugrdechian (Fresno State), Marc Mamigonian (NAASR, Boston),
Rubina Peroomian (UCLA), and Philippe Vedelier (National Center for
Scientific Research, Lyon, France).

The second and last session, 3:40-5:30 p.m. moves to the contemporary
issue of ~SProspects for Dialogue and Reconciliation,~T with
presentations by Elazar Barkan (Claremont Graduate University), Bedross
Der Matossian (Columbia University), Fatma Muge Gocek (University
of Michigan-Ann Arbor), and Simon Payaslian (Clark University). A
discussion period will follow.

A display of Armenian Memorial Monuments worldwide featuring the
photographs of Hrair ~SHawk~T Khatcherian of Quebec will be mounted
by Richard and Anne Elizabeth Elbrecht of Davis, California.

The conference is open to the public at no charge. Parking is
available in structure no 2, at the entrance to UCLA on Hilgard
Avenue at Westholme Avenue. A map of the UCLA campus may be found at
and the conference program may be viewed at
For additional information, contact Professor
Richard Hovannisian at [email protected] or by telephone at
310-825-3375.

–Boundary_(ID_HaJfBxDOiKKyQAHXeEEljA)–

LEADER OF PARTY HUMAN RIGHTS – DEMOCRACY ACCUSES HEAD OF WORLD
ARMENIAN CONGRESS OF VIOLATION OF ARMENIAN LEGISLATION

YEREVAN, MARCH 9. ARMINFO. Leader of the party Human Rights –
Democracy, Head of the public organization “Deputy Club ‘Supreme
Council'” Ruben Torosyan accuses Head of World Armenian Congress Ara
Abrahamyan of violation of the Armenian legislation.

The party’s statement addressed to Head of the State Taxation Service
of Armenia Felix Tsolakyan received by ARMINFO today says that in
conformity with recent publications in a number of native Mass Media,
Ara Abrahamyan made donations to the political parties RAPA and ARFD.
However, the statement says that the RA Law on Parties bans donations
from foreign citizens and legal entities to political parties of
Armenia. The same law stipulates that if such cases are registered,
the donations are subject to return to the donator within two weeks.
“Please, informs us of the measures taken to liquidate the consequences
of the above violation of the RA Law on Parties,” says the message
of the party “Human Rights-Democracy.”

EDUCATIONAL CENTER OF TECHNOLOGIES OF AMERICAN COMPANY NATIONAL
INSTRUMENTS OPENS AT SEUA IN YEREVAN

YEREVAN, MARCH 9, ARMINFO. An Educational Center of an American company
National Instruments opened at State Engineering University of Armenia
(SEUA) on March 7. National instruments is one of the leading companies
in the world in the sphere of development and production of hardware
and software for automation of dimensions, diagnostics, management,
design.

Speaking at the ceremony, Director on National Instruments Development
Aram Salatyan said that company produced an intensive program of
support to higher education in the world, contributing to creation
and modernization of educational courses, laboratories, educational
and research complexes. He pointed out lack of laboratory examination
works in the world. In this connection, the company organizes tenders
to resume these works. In the current year the above university won
a tender, which resulted in opening of a laboratory in the country
and provision of Lab.View software to the university and necessary
equipment for examination works. “Such laboratories exist only in
Russia and the opening of a similar one in Armenia testifies to the
high potential of Armenian specialists in the sphere,” Salatyan said.

According to the educational plan, teachers, students and specialists
of industrial enterprises will receive education at the Center. The
graphics of LabVIEW development will become a subject of study, which
allows collection of data, automation of dimensions and management of
processes through PC. It is for already two years that teachers of SEUA
have studied the software of LavVIEW package. At present, the package
will be technically replenished and will become a subject for study
of students with a broad spectrum of technical specialties. Besides,
a scientific and technical seminar “Virtual devices – revolution
concept of automating dimensions and management” was held. At the
presentation of the seminar, Director on NI Development Aram Salatyan
made a report. Participating in the seminar were representatives
of SEUA, Yerevan State University, AUA, European Academy, National
Academy of Sciences, the leading National Research Institutions and
industrial enterprises of Armenia.

It should be noted that every year the best educational establishments
of 50 countries in the world participate in a contest for grants of
National Instruments. This year, one of the winners was SEUA. National
Instruments provides SEUA with necessary funds for implementation
of educational process as well as with a full package of software,
laboratory stations and others.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Karabakh leader signs law on ombudsman

Arminfo
9 Mar 05

Yerevan, 9 March: The president of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic
[NKR], Arkadiy Gukasyan, signed the law “On ombudsman” today.

The NKR president also signed the law “On exempting Azat Artsakh
newspaper from some taxes and fines” and laws on amendments and
additions to the laws “On civil service” and “On the administrative
division of the NKR”.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

VARDAN OSKANIAN: NAGORNY KARABAKH HAS NEVER BEEN A PART OF INDEPENDENT AZERBAIJAN

YEREVAN, MARCH 9. ARMINFO. Nagorny Karabakh has never been a part of
independent Azerbaijan. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of
Armenia Vardan Oskanian stated during the news conference, Wednesday.

As the minister mentioned, the problem of Nagorny Karabakh is, first
of all, the issue of the right of NKR people for self-determination.
“It is implementing this right in the territory which has never been
a part of independent Azerbaijan”, the foreign minister mentioned.
Commenting on the issue on NKR’s participation in the negotiations,
Vardan Oskanian expressed an opinion, though Stepanakert is not
directly taking part in the negotiations, nevertheless, it is present
at the general process and the NKR authorities are informed about
the matter of the meetings and keep contacts with the cochairmen of
the OSCE Minsk Group. “So, when the negotiations begin within the
framework of the Minsk Group, Nagorny Karabakh will be involved in
them. The evidence of falseness of the opinion on the absence of NKR
at the negotiations is that during their visits the cochairmen of the
OSCE Minsk Group visit Stepanakert and meet with NKR authorities”,
the minister reminded. He also stressed there is no disagreement
between the authorities of Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

CAR OF INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST CATCHES FIRE

YEREVAN, MARCH 9. ARMINFO. Yesterday in the daytime in the territory
of Yerevan community of Erebuni, the car VAZ 21-07 with Russian
state number-plate belonging to the Head of the Public Initiative
“Protection of Journalists’ Rights” Hasmik Kirakosyan caught fire.

The above organization informs ARMINFO today that fortunately no
victims were recorded as no one was in the car at that moment. The
organization considers the event as a terrorist act with respect
to the independent journalist. Hasmik Karapetyan is known by her
recent sensational publications and sharp issues read out from
various tribunes. The members of the initiative say that the trails
of the crime lead to the persons Kirakosyan’s sharp publications
were addressed to. “We expect for exposure of the crime as soon as
possible and for an objective investigation,” the message says.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress