Armenia should speed up cooperation with NATO – MP

Arminfo
5 Mar 05

YEREVAN

Armenia should speed up its cooperation with NATO, which will help
increase guarantees of regional security, the head of the commission
on defence, national security and interior issues, Mger Shakhgeldyan,
stated at a press conference at the Pakagits Club today.

He stressed that he was not diminishing the role and importance of the
CIS Collective Security Treaty Organization [CSTO] as a guarantor of
regional security. Shakhgeldyan said that the deepening of Armenia’s
cooperation with NATO will not obstruct the country’s membership of
the CSTO.

“So far, the CSTO has not expressed its dissatisfaction with the
intensification of Armenia’s relations with NATO. In turn, NATO has
not expressed its dissatisfaction with Armenia’s membership of the
CSTO either,” Shakhgeldyan said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESIDENT CAN’T BE GUARANTOR OF INDEPENDENT JURIDICAL SYSTEM

A1PLUS
13:22:14 | 05-03-2005 | Politics |

According to the acting Constitution and the draft of amendments represented
by the parliamentary coalition, chairman of the Justice Council is the
President, who appears as the guarantor of the independence of the juridical
bodies. In its intermediate report the Venice Committee expressed the
opinion that the President’s presidency over the Justice Council causes
certain complications. In this view the Committee remind of the European
Charter on the status of Judge, which stressed the absolute independence of
the Justice Council both of the executive and legislative power. We tried to
find out the opinion of our citizens regarding this issue. Thus we ask 100
people the following question:
Should the President head the Justice Council?
5% of the surveyed said “yes”, 40% found difficulty in answering. “I do not
know”, “Can’t say”, “Have no idea” – these were their answers. 50% of the
respondents were categorically against.
“The leader of the republic should deal with foreign and domestic policy and
should not intervene in the justice processes not to make the judges
completely dependent”, a man of about 40 said.
To remind the Justice Council compiles and submits to the President’s
confirmation annual lists of professional propriety and carrier advance of
the judges and prosecutors and the appointments are made on the basis of
these lists.
Karine Asatryan

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

La Croix , France
5 mars 2005

CRITIQUE TV; TELE-RADIO; Pg. 20

Trois regards neufs pour les émissions religieuses. Non spécialistes
de l’information religieuse, Catherine Matausch, Hervé Claude et
Agnès Vahramian apportent aux magazines qu’ils animent pour “Le Jour
du Seigneur”, sur France 2, la force de leur questionnement
personnel.

par BOUVET Bruno

De quoi parle Agnès Vahramian, chef du service étranger de France 2,
lorsqu’elle évoque une expérience professionnelle qui la “ressource
personnellement”? Cette journaliste chevronnée, dont la vision du
monde est “marquée par les conflits de la planète”, fait part de son
plaisir nouveau d’animer “Tout à la foi”, magazine de “catéchisme
moderne” du “Jour du Seigneur” (1). À quoi fait référence Catherine
Matausch au moment où elle confie sa joie de “réentendre les
religions” et sa “surprise” de constater à quel point “elles sont
tolérantes”? La présentatrice des éditions du week-end sur France 3
dresse le bilan d’une année à la tête de “Agapè” (2), le magazine
oecuménique qu’elle anime alternativement avec Hervé Claude, depuis
qu’elle a remplacé la regrettée Martine Chardon. Son confrère, qui se
définit comme agnostique, n’est pas moins enthousiaste de “trouver à
la télévision un espace pour le débat d’idées”, lui qui a longtemps
décliné la litanie de l’actualité pour les journaux de France 2.

Non spécialistes de l’information religieuse, ces trois
professionnels ont affirmé leurs compétences dans d’autres secteurs.
Leur point commun? Un goût manifeste pour la confrontation des
opinions et des convictions et un intérêt aigu pour les grands sujets
touchant à la condition humaine et à l’éthique, rejoignant souvent un
vif questionnement personnel. Se déclarant tout à la fois “agnostique
mystique” et reconnaissant “être en quête”, Catherine Matausch
incarne le besoin moderne de recherche spirituelle, dont les
territoires s’étendent au-delà des frontières des Églises.

Bonne intuition de l’équipe du “Jour du Seigneur” qui a sollicité
cette “solitaire”, cultivant le paradoxe de trouver son bonheur
professionnel dans le contact avec les autres. “Cette expérience
nouvelle de tolérance me rend plus vivante! s’exclame-t-elle, sans
calcul. Tous les points de vue peuvent se confronter sans tomber dans
l’affrontement. À titre personnel, cela me fait un bien fou
d’entendre des gens qui avancent, au rythme de leurs convictions. Mon
moteur, c’est le doute et ce n’est pas toujours confortable…”
L’animation d’un débat dominical sur “la mort, le handicap ou les
relations hommes femmes” lui correspondait parfaitement mais elle
n’aurait jamais osé le demander… Par peur du dénigrement? “Pas du
tout, répond-elle. Je n’ai entendu aucun commentaire de protestation
ou de surprise chez mes copains journalistes. “Agapè” bénéficie d’une
excellente image dans le milieu parce qu’une émission de ce type est
plutôt rare…”

Agnès Vahramian compte bien sur la qualité de “Tout à la foi” pour
faire taire les (quelques) sceptiques et les railleurs qui se sont
étonnés de son choix. Elle-même n’avait pas songé à une telle
aventure quand le P. Benoît Vandeputte, dominicain et concepteur du
magazine, l’a invitée à déjeuner. “Comme nous sommes amis depuis
l’époque où nous fréquentions l’école de journalisme de Strasbourg,
il voulait un conseil pour choisir le présentateur de l’émission.
L’idée me semblait bonne de revisiter les piliers de la foi et de
montrer leur présence dans la culture contemporaine. La laïcité et
les religions ne sont pas deux univers cloisonnés: ils
s’interpénètrent.” À la fin du repas, Benoît Vandeputte est convaincu
que la jeune femme (proche de la sensibilité des chrétiens d’Orient
en raison de ses origines arméniennes) saura mettre sa réflexion
personnelle au service de l’émission. “Dans cet espace de liberté, où
j’ai dix minutes pour interviewer Yves Coppens ou Serge Moati, je
prolonge le questionnement entrepris dans mon métier de reporter.
Tout en respectant les convictions de chacun, j’ai demandé au
scientifique si l’on pouvait croire en Dieu, dans la mesure où
l’homme descendait du singe. Et au cinéaste, j’ai demandé si l’on
pouvait se référer à Jésus sans se référer à l’Église…”

BRUNO BOUVET

(1) Diffusion du prochain numéro le 13 mars à 10 h 30.

(2) Ce dimanche 6 mars à 10 h 30, le thème est “Homme, femmes, le
grand malaise?”

Glendale News Press
LATimes.com
March 5 2005

Attempted-murder charges added to case

The grandson of a 94-year-old Glendale woman whose body was found
inside a torched hillside home faces capital-murder charges,
prosecutors said Friday.

Antranik Khajarian, 37, of Glendale was also charged with two counts
of attempted murder of his mother and father, according to a press
release from the Los Angeles district attorney’s office. The murder
count carries a special circumstance of arson, which makes Khajarian
eligible for the death penalty, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors also identified the grandmother as Arpine Demerjian.

Khajarian was scheduled to be arraigned Friday at Glendale Superior
Court, but his plea was postponed, prosecutors said. It has been
rescheduled to March 24 in Burbank Superior Court, prosecutors said.
The defendant on Tuesday allegedly set fire to the home he shared
with his parents and grandparents in the 200 block of Wonderview
Drive, police said. He was found crossing the Mexican border midnight
Tuesday, police said. Khajarian is being held in county jail on no
bail, prosecutors said.

GIBRAHAYER e-magazine
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The largest circulation Armenian
online e-magazine on the WWW

OVER 1.7 MILLION DOLLARS RAISED FOR HAY TAD

MARCH 1, 2005 YEREVAN (YERKIR) – A fund raising event in Paris raised
almost $1.7 million to help advance the work of Armenian National
Committees worldwide, including
recognition of the Armenian genocide, and advancing Armenian issues.
Over 180 Armenians from Armenia, Russia, Middle East, and Europe
gathered at a banquet on February 26, with the participation of
Catholicos Aram I of the Holy See of Cilicia, ARF Dashnaktsoutiun
Bureau representative Hrant Margarian, Armenian ministers, religious
leaders, politicians, and public figures.
Dashnaktsoutiun Press office reported that though donations are
still coming in, $555,000 has already been received from Armenia and
Russia, $325,000 from Lebanon, $150,000 from Iran, $200,000 from the
Persian Golf Arab countries, as well as sums from the UK, France,
Belgium, Greece, and other countries. The complete report in Armenian
can be read at ;id=13926

CYPRUS ACCUSES TURKS OF BRINGING IN NEW TANKS
By Charlie Charalambous – The Cyprus Weekly
CYPRUS has denounced Ankara for raising tensions on the island by
strengthening its forces in the Turkish-held north with upgraded
US-made weaponry during the Turkish Cypriot elections.
“According to our observations, the Turkish army has transferred
to the occupied north fully-equipped and modernised US-made tanks and
a significantly large number of armoured personnel carriers,” Defence
Minister Koullis Mavronicolas told a news conference.
He said the arms were “not replacements” but “additional
weaponry” in moves to upgrade the capabilities of Turkish forces whose
guns are trained on a weaker National Guard.
“Moreover, the increase in Turkey’s occupational presence
heightens tension across the ceasefire line,” said the minister.
He argued that an arms build-up in the north did not contribute
to efforts to find a Cyprus settlement or sit well with Turkey’s own
ambitions to join the European Union.
“This event alone shows a contradiction between the words and
deeds of the Turkish side.”

Meanwhile in Strasbourg¦
(combines sources)
¢ Armenian genocide allegations spark fury in Strasbourg meetings
¢ Marios Matsakis accuses Turkey of three genocides

The Armenian genocide overshadowed the 53rd meeting of the
Turkey-European Union Joint Parliamentary Commission in Strasbourg
last Friday, as French right-wing deputy Jacques Toubon sparked harsh
reactions from Turkish deputies when he displayed Turkey’s recognition
of the Armenian genocide as a condition for its membership to the
European Union.
Turkey’s relations with its neighbours such as Armenia, Greece
and Cyprus were on the agenda during the last session of meetings
which was held close to the press yesterday. Toubon suggested that
Turkey should accept the Sevres Treaty of 1920, giving outright
independence to the Armenians and autonomy to the Kurds.
Cyprus Euro MP Marios Matsakis a member of the joint
parliamentary commission, stated that Turkey had committed genocide
not only on Armenians, Greeks and Kurds.
Turkey’s permanent representative to the EU, said proposing the
ratification of the Sevres Treaty is unacceptable for Turkey, while a
representative from the main opposition Republican People’s Party
(CHP) said the genocide allegations should be examined by historians
not by politicians.
The Armenian genocide is not only an issue for European deputies
in Strasbourg, but has also been brought to the agenda of the German
Federal Parliament (Bundestag) by Angela Merkel, the main opposition
Christian Democrat Union (CDU) leader. Merkel is expected to introduce
a proposal for the 1.5 million Armenians killed by the Ottoman Empire
in 1915.
She said that the denial attitude of Turkey – that is the legal heir
of the Ottoman Empire – does not go with the idea of `peace and
forgiving’ which is one of the EU’s founding elements.

AGASSI KEEN ON JOURNEY TO ROOTS
Alaric Gomes, Staff Reporter –
Gulf News, United Arab Emirates

February 21, 2005: – After a quick tour of Dubai, American legend

Andre Agassi admitted that he wouldn’t mind risking a trip to
neighbouring Iran in an attempt to trace his roots.
“If I have more time here, then I don’t mind making a quick
trip to Tehran and seeing things for myself,” Agassi told reporters at
the Dubai Tennis Stadium.
Born in Armenia, Agassi’s father Mike Agassian was a boxer with
the national team that went to the 1952 Olympic Games. After he moved
to the US, however, Mike dropped the final two letters in Agassian to
become Agassi.
Armenian Cypriot author Nouritza Matossian, author of Black Angel, A
Life of Arshile Gorky, the book which inspired Atom Egoyan’s movie
Ararat, breaks the story of Orhan Pamuk’s stand for the Armenians and
human rights in Turkey, the hate campaign in the Press, the charges
brought against him and the ensuing human rights debate in last
Sunday’s Observer.
You can read it at
,6903,1426319,00.html
ARMENIAN CYPRIOT ARTIST NANOR TASHDJIAN TO EXHIBIT IN CARDIFF
Armenian Cypriot artist Nanor Tashdjian will be exhibiting her
works in Cardiff from April 12 – April 21, 2005 at the Temple of
Peace, Cathays Park.
The exhibition, entitled “The Battle Field” is partly a
reflection by Nanor on her background. She was born during the Turkish
invasion of Cyprus and in her work she identifies strongly with her
grand parents, orphaned during the Armenian Genocide of 1915-23. The
exhibition will be held in the foyer of the entrance to the Temple of
Peace, from April 12 -21 from 9.00 a.m. till 5.00p.m.(not the weekend)
The exhibition will culminate in a Commemorative meeting at The
Temple of Peace (upstairs Council Committee room) at 7.00 p.m. on
Wednesday, 20th April. Taking part will Caerphilly Labour Councillor
and Human Rights campaigner Ray Davies, and the well-known poet Mike
Jenkins of Merthyr. He will read his poem “Komitas” on the composer
who suffered terribly during the round-up and massacre of Armenian
intellectuals at the beginning of the Genocide.
As Cardiff is the first city in the UK to recognise the Armenian
Genocide, the organisers are planning to commission a mural in the
city to depict this tragic and ignored Holocaust.

EDITORIAL
THE REPRESENTATIVE
By Jean Ipdjian*

It would have given me so much pleasure and satisfaction if I
could write today that the only problem, the Armenian community in
Cyprus has, was the closure of the Melkonian Educational Institute.
Unfortunately, that I cannot do, since despite the apparent
health and activity of the community, it has a host of underlying
problems, which threaten its very existence and future well-being.
Incidentally, this apparent health and well-being is only the result
of the work of a handful of selfless people, who without pay or profit
spend their free ` and not so free – time serving their community.
This cannot continue and will surely end one day when they also in
turn burn out and cannot be replaced.
The yins (life `force) of a community are its churches, schools,
political parties, clubs, cultural and social entities, and last but
not least, its leaders.
Each of these has its role to play in the forging of the
character, mind and spiritual world of our community. Each of these
has its role in forging the Armenian of Diaspora, in the forging of
individuals, who not only are good citizens of the countries they live
in, but are good Armenians as well. Being a small nation, being a
nation who has more people living in Diaspora than in the Mother
country, the life of us, Armenians, has always been a continued battle
against assimilation, a continued battle to retain our national
character ` our language, our culture, our church, a continued
struggle for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the
settlement of our national demands ` the regaining our lost lands. So,
it is essential that our different communal institutions work
separately, and together, in order to fulfil these ambitions.
The Armenian community in Cyprus has a unique advantage. It has a
person who carries the title of “House Representative”, who is elected
by the community members during the parliamentary elections in a
parallel election and who attends Parliament in a non-voting status.
The uniqueness of this position is that the government considers him
as being the official representative of the community and so prefers,
for his own convenience, to deal only with him in all matters
regarding the community. Although this position has only a nominal
status, within the hands of an able person, it can be turned into a
really useful tool.
That person can turn into the central peg of the community’s
wheel, bringing together and coordinating the work of all the
different factions, clubs, cultural organizations and institutions
operating in the community. But in order to do that, the elected
representative should have the courage and the will to, once elected,
forget whose votes had elected him and work for the whole community
without factional and other regards, without nepotism and favouritism.
He should use all the means under his disposal for the good of all.
Unfortunately, our community has not been able to find the
person, who has the required understanding, strength, nationalism and
impartiality to resist the corruptive effects of power and succumb to
the divisive pressures of one group or the other.
At a time when our community is faced with so many problems
threatening its existence, at a time when our youth ` both minors and
seniors ` are under the relentless pressures of modern society and
assimilation, at a time when a historical institution like the
Melkonian has already capitulated and sentenced to death, at a time
when the secondary education of our children in an Armenian
institution and atmosphere is denied to them, at a time when day by
day the number of people going to our church is dwindling and the
community is losing touch with our national church, at a time when our
clubs are threatened to become just empty buildings, at a time when
the organization of each cultural event is becoming a “golgotha” for
its organisers, at a time when our community desperately needs a
person with the vision and charisma of a real leader, our
“Representative” together with his immediate entourage is content to
do nothing and when they occasionally decide to do something, they do
it either for the sake of appearances or with utter incompetence.
Unfortunately, – and that is the most painful ` many members of
our community instead of using their judgement and instead of giving
priority to matters pertinent to the benefit of the whole community,
still prefer and chose to continue being guided by factional gains.
They still prefer and chose to continue to regard matters
conservatively and still prefer and chose to continue to regard the
name and person of the “representative” as their paramount and
foremost concern.
Perhaps, in order to be rid of these malaise, we should start
looking for and adopting new ways and methods when deciding the person
of our “representative”. Perhaps we should first write a job
description and accordingly look for the person who can fill the post
rather than ` as we now do ` decide upon the person and adopt and
amend the job description to fit him.
Whatever we finally decide to do, we must find the resolve to do
it selflessly, to do it conscientiously, to do it right for our sake
and more to the point, for the sake of the future generations of this
community whom I ` and I presume all of us too ` would like to see
remain and be true Armenians.

* Jean Ipdjian is a Melkonian graduate and the Editor of Artsagang
monthly newspaper. You can contact him direct on
[email protected]

All political directions in life should stay parallel, and existent at
all times as equally valuable and necessary poles for different human
attitudes. It is only when one or the other becomes severely dominant,
crippling the other, that dangerous imbalance in life occurs.
Perhaps it is a law of nature that dictates we can only be one thing,
think and act one way at any given time. But, perhaps it is also an
innate weakness in humanity. We are not as broad-minded or broad-based
as we like to think. And, perhaps it is that during more disturbed
times, when established values are crumbling, our uneasiness gives
rise to fanaticism, forcing us to cling ferociously to a single
belief, thought, action or way.
Charles Darwin said “It is not the strongest of the species that
survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to
change.” in order to guarantee the survival of your fond dreams you
might want to keep transforming yourself…!
Tatiana Ferahian – Limassol

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NEWS IN BRIEF

* 36 ambassadors to Turkey together with their wives spent a weekend
at historic places of Kars, upon the invitation of Kars Mayor Naif
Alibeyoglu.

* AGBU President Berge Setrakian, on a visit to Jerusalem on February
3rd and 4th, met with the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop
Torkom Manoogian, and discussed matters of mutual interest.

* Germany’s main opposition parties, which oppose Turkey’s bid to join
the European Union, plan to submit a motion to parliament calling on
Turkey to acknowledge responsibility for the deaths of hundreds of
thousands of Armenians in 1915.

* The Singapore Armenian Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator and the
Armenian residents of Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong, have decided
to honour the 170th anniversary of the construction of the Church with
a series of events.

* Armenia’s 46-member member non-combat platoon, which left for its
peacekeeping mission in Iraq on January 18, has begun the
implementation of its duties in Iraq.

* Armenian servicemen have confirmed that they have captured three
Azerbaijani servicemen, who crossed the front-line, at 5.20 p.m. on
February 15, 2005

* The Shushi Foundation, a non-governmental charity, is planning to
launch archaeological excavations in about 200 ancient cemeteries
dating to the Bronze age.

* 36-year-old former Monaco, Paris St Germain, Internazionale,
Kaiserslautern, Bolton and Blackburn striker Youri Djorkaeff is
joining US Soccer New York/New Jersey Metrostars.

* Thousands of citizens, along with political figures paid their
respects on Monday to the victims of pogroms against Armenians in the
Azeri city of Sumgait in 1988.

g i b r a h a y c a l e n d a r

Lecture series dedicated to clergymen that were killed in the
Armenian Genocide of 1915 will continue every Wednesday after Hsgoum
throughout Medz Bak with the following schedule.
* Wednesday 2 March 2005 – Souren Dz.Vart.Kalemian (1884 – 1915) is
presented
by Dr.Antranik Ashdjian
* Wednesday 9 March 2005 – Nerses Yebisgobos Tanielian (1868 – 1915)
is presented
by Anahid Eskidjian
* Wednesday 16 March 2005 – Shavarsh Dz.Vart.Sahagian (1881 – 1915) is
presented by Elsy Utudjian

* Annual Traditional Michink Dinner at AYMA organised by The Armenian
Relief Society “Sosse” Cyprus Chapter on Wednesday March 2, 2005 at
8:30 pm at AYMA.

* Tsunami Relief Aid Concert March 2, 2005 at 7:30 p.m., MEI
Auditorium, organised by the AGBU Melkonian Educational Institute with
the participation of Melkonian Students.

* Two Day celebrations in Cyprus for the 75th Anniversary celebrations
of the Cilician Seminary and the 10th anniversary of the enthronement
of Catholicos Aram I of the Holy See of Cilicia. Main event on
Saturday March 5, 2005 at 8:00 pm at the Sourp Asdvadzadzin Church in
Nicosia where Shnorhali Choir from Beirut under Der Bartev Vartabed
Guelimian will perform. Speakers at the same event: His Holiness
Catholicos Aram I. Sebouh Tavitian and Vartan Tashdjian.

* Holy Mass on Sunday March 6, 2005. Karoz by His Holiness Catholicos
Aram I followed by a Luncheon at Makedonitissa Palace at 1:00 pm
organised by the Temagan and Varchakan Joghov.

* Carnival Party organised by the Parent’s Association of Nareg
Schools. March 9, 2005 at The Hall of Nareg School in Nicosia, from
4:00 – 6:00 pm. Entrance: £4.00 for adults and £3.00 for children.

* On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of martyrdom of ARF
Dashnaktsoutiun founder Christapor Mikaelian the following
commemorative events have been planned: Symposium at 10 & 11 March,
with the participation of various political figures and academics in
Sofia. Pilgrimage to Christapor Mikaelian’s grave at Sophia Cemetery
on March 11. All wishing to take part in the pilgrimage, should
contact ARF Dashnaktsoutiun Cyprus.

* Armenian Cultural Event ` Dance & Poetry April 8, 2005 at 7:30 p.m.,
MEI Auditorium. Organised by the AGBU ` Melkonian Educational
Institute with the participation of Melkonian Students.

* The “Sipan” Dance Group of Hamazkayin Cultural and Educational
Association of Cyprus will be presenting the Musical Performance of
Toumanyian “Famous Children’s Stories” on Sunday April 10, 2005 at
8:30 pm at PASIDY Auditorium.

* Armenian Cypriot artist Nanor Tashdjian will be exhibiting her works
in Cardiff from April 12 – April 21, 2005 at the Temple of Peace,
Cathays Park. The exhibition, entitled “The Battle Field” is partly a
reflection by Nanor on her background. She was born during the Turkish
invasion of Cyprus. The exhibition will be held in the foyer of the
entrance to the Temple of Peace, from April 12 -21 from 9.00 a.m. till
5.00p.m.(not the weekend).The exhibition will culminate in a
Commemorative meeting at The Temple of Peace (upstairs Council
Committee room) at 7.00 p.m. on Wednesday, 20th April. Taking part
will Caerphilly Labour Councillor and Human Rights campaigner Ray
Davies, and the well-known poet Mike Jenkins of Merthyr. He will read
his poem “Komitas”.

* The “Timag” Theater Company of Hamazkayin Cultural and Educational
Association of Cyprus is getting ready for its annual performance
which will take place on Saturday May 7, 2005 at 8:30 pm

* Armenian musical duo of Jean Davidian and Marie Louise Kouyoumdjian
perform at Champs every Friday at 9:30 pm. Reservations on 22 873888.

* Arevakal and Hsgoum ceremonies begin from Wednesday 9 February, 2005
as follows: Every Wednesday and Friday – Arevakal 7:40 am and Hsgoum
at 6:00 pm

* Opening of a Painting Exhibition of Armenian Cypriot Artists,
organised by The Hamazkayin Cultural and Educational Association
Cyprus Chapter at The Utudjian Hall of The Armenian Prelature, on
Friday 18 March, 2005 at 7:30 pm. The Exhibition will remain open
until the 20th of March, 2005.

* Commemoration of The Armenian Genocide ` 90th Anniversary April 20,
2005 at 7:30 p.m., MEI Auditorium. Organised by the AGBU ` Melkonian
Educational Institute with the participation of Melkonian Students.

* Lecture by Peter Balakian on Friday May 20, 2005 organised by The
Hamazkayin Cultural and Educational Association Cyprus Chapter.
Details to follow.

* Cyprus Dart Championships. AYMA/HMEM is participating in the Cyprus
Dart League with home matches being played every other Thursday at
AYMA.

* AYF Badanegan Mioutian get-togethers take place on Saturday at 3:30
pm at AYMA. Contact Vartoog Karageulian on 24-659245.

* Practices of the “Sipan” Dance Group of Hamazkayin Cultural and
Educational Association of Cyprus for the Musical Performance of
Toumanyian “Famous Children’s Stories” take place as follows: Every
Friday and Sunday at 5:30 pm and every Saturday at 4:30 pm

* AYMA/HMEM Chicco Football practices take place every Friday from
7:00 – 8:30 pm for children starting from the age of 7. Contact Krikor
Mahdessian on 99650897.

* AYMA/HMEM Table Tennis practices take place every Saturday from 5:30
pm under the guidance of ex-Cyprus Champion Sirvart Costanian. Classes
for all ages.

* AYF meetings every Wednesday at 9:00 pm at AYMA. This week’s meeting
is postponed because of three community events on March 2.

* AYMA/HMEM Football team practices take place every Thursday at 7:30
pm.
For more details of the next Bible Study Class organised by the
Armenian Prelature at the Vahram Utudjian Hall of The Armenian
Prelature call Father Momik Habeshian direct on 99 307966 or at the
Prelature Office on 22 493560 email [email protected]

* Armenian Radio Hour on The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation via real
audio on . Broadcast 17:00-18:00 local Cyprus time
(14:00-15:00 GMT)

* The Armenian Prelature announces that the next permit for the
Armenian Cemetery visitation at Ayios Dhometios on the Green line, is
on Sunday March 13, 2005

* Every Wednesday from 7-8 pm (Cyprus time + 2 GMT) on CyBC’s Trito,
Puzant Nadjarian presents the “History of the Blue”. Internet edition
on

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

LRAPER BULLETIN
Armenian Patriarchate
34130 Kumkapi, Istanbul
T: +90 212 517 0970
F: +90 212 516 4833
[email protected]
[email protected]
Contact: Revd. Fr. Drtad Uzunyan

Regarding ADL Party Statement

The Statement of the Central Committee of the ADL Party, first published in
its original Armenian in its press organs on February 26, 2005, and the
English translation then published as an editorial of the Armenian
Mirror-Spectator, has been reviewed. The writings of the Central Committee’
s President, Mr. Edmond Edward Azadian, always in the same ungracious style,
have been appearing in the party press since 1999. This Statement, rife
with baseless accusations, is self-evident proof of this clique’s moral
standards and ideological bankruptcy and is unworthy of being dignified with
a response. With regard to the AGBU and all the ADL members thereby
involved, in the name and memory of the magnanimous benefactor Garabed
Melkonian and on behalf of Patriarch Zaven of blessed memory and the
supporters of the Melkonian Educational Institute around the world, we say,
`give an account of thy stewardship.’ (Luke 16:2).

Divan of the Armenian Patriarchate
Istanbul, March 5, 2005

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Community & Church Council of Great Britain
P.O.Box 46207
London, W5 2YE
Email: [email protected]

A brief outline of the lecture given by Professor Richard Hovhannisian
on 27th February, 2005 at the Navasartian Centre, London.

In his 90th Anniversary Lecture to the Armenian Community at the
Navasartian Centre in London, Prof. Hovannisian referred to the
forgotten aspects of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Apart from mourning
the lost generation of approximately 1.5 Million victims, who were
murdered in the most sadistic and inhuman methods at the instigation of
the Turkish authorities, we had failed to emphasise the loss of our
Armenian Homeland and the continuity of Armenian History. We should not
forget the deprivation of land, loss of cultural heritage and the
collective wealth of the Armenian people living in the Anatolian
peninsula.

He said this great tragedy had not been rectified in any way yet. He
said Jewish people had received a great deal of compensation from the
German Republic, (even though no amount of compensation could cover the
great loss in human terms.) However, even this had not happened in the
Armenian case. No reparation, re-instatement or recompense, not even an
acknowledgement of the great physical or psychological damage done to
the Genocide victims and their descendents had yet been proferred by the
Turkish Republic. Referring to the Armenian people living in the
Diaspora he said, ‘We are all products of the Genocide.’

He said, that collective memory was short, referring to the Cambodian
Genocide during the Pol Pot regime, which had already slipped out of the
consciousness of the new generation of his students.

He said that the challenge to us as Armenians was to make the Armenian
Genocide a part of peoples’ collective existence and a part of human
history. In order for the Armenian Genocide to have a meaning to
others, the Armenian experience must be related to everyone’s
experience, in other words, it must be relevant in a universal way. The
only people who had achieved this had been Jewish people in the case of
the Jewish Holocaust.

The challenge was to find a way of educating young people to make the
Armenian Genocide relevant to their lives. The Armenian people in the
Diaspora had found this difficult to do because the people who survived
the 1915 Genocide had been mostly involved in commerce and had worked
hard to put their lives together under very difficult circumstances.
The Genocide had wiped out almost all the intellectuals in 1915 and very
few of these had survived.

He said we had to find ‘handles’ to make the Genocide experience
broader. We could draw parallels between the oppressed and second class
status of Black people in the United States to the oppressed second
class status of the Armenian population of Ottoman Turkey. Had the
government of the United States not been serious about achieving
equality for all minority groups living in the U.S.A. and had they not
only enshrined it in law but enforced the law, a genocide of Black
people could have been plausible.

Prof. Hovannisian referred to the connection between the Hamidian
massacres of the Armenian population of Ottoman Turkey, in the last
decades of the 19th Century, to the Armenian Genocide of 1915, the
‘Final Solution.’ He said although there was a continuity of violence
against a defenceless minority there were in fact differences between
the reasons for the violence and the intended effect. The Hamidian
‘pogroms’ were instigated by a traditional autocratic Sultan, Abdul
Hamid, on the Armenian Christian minority of Ottoman Turkey to suppress
and subdue any expression for a desire for reforms in order to preserve
the status quo. The 1915 Genocide, ‘the Final Solution’, on the other
hand, was the second wave of violence unleashed by the Young Turks –
after deposing the despotic Sultan – in order to create total change in
Turkey, create a homogenous Moslem Turkic population, by eliminating
the entire Armenian Christian population as well as other Christian
minorities such as Greeks & Assyrians.

It was important to study the Armenian Genocide, said Prof. Hovannisian,
because the Armenian Genocide of 1915 had been the ‘prototype’ for all
mass killings of the 20th Century, a century laden with Genocides. He
defined Genocide as the act of an ideologically driven group using
extreme violence to achieve their objective. The Young Turks to the
Armenian population, the Nazis to the Jewish population of Germany and
beyond, the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. He said that the forceful and
violent implementation of a belief system constituted genocide.

Prof. Hovannisian discussed the common denominators of Genocide. The
economic factor was a major incentive and central motive as well as the
rape of women, which was not only physical violence but a symbolic
shaming as well as actual eradication of the next generation.

Referring to the recently formed Turkish Armenian Reconciliation
Committee, TARC, he expressed scepticism of any such attempt, since he
believed that the Turkish Government only used such platforms to simply
deny the Armenian Genocide at every opportunity and therefore a genuine
reconciliation could not be achieved until Turkish people looked
critically and honestly at their past and distanced themselves from it
by condemning the Genocide committed by the Young Turks. Prof.
Hovannisian said that there were some brave Turkish historians and
writers who were trying to grapple with Turkey’s official denial of
their dark history, trying to write honestly under very difficult
circumstances. However, the idea of having to face their dark genocidal
history was causing the political elite in modern Turkey a huge
dilemma. This was because Ataturk, the first president of the ‘modern’
Turkish Republic and the great hero of the Turkish nation state, was
himself implicated in the Armenian Genocide. Apart from driving out the
last remnants of the Armenian victims towards the end of Genocide
period, Ataturk’s ministers and members of parliament consisted of the
very people responsible for implementing the Armenian Genocide.

Finally, Prof. Hovannisian quoted his friend and colleague, Prof.
Terence Des Pres, who had told him that power destroyed everyone and
everything around them and after the destruction, it sought to destroy
the memory of the people themselves. In the introduction to The
Armenian Genocide in Perspective, edited by Prof. Richard G.
Hovannisian, 1986 (Transaction Books,) Terence Des Pres wrote, “When
modern states make way for geopolitical power plays, they are not above
removing everything – nations, cultures, homelands – in their path.
Great powers regularly demolish other peoples’ claims to dignity and
place and sometimes, as we know, the outcome is genocide â€¦. Against
historical crimes we fight as best we can and a cardinal part of this
engagement is ‘the struggle of memory against forgetting.’

Prof. Hovannisian concluded by saying that in an uneven struggle and we
do the best we can for as long as we can and the weapon is ‘memory.’

Nagorno-Karabakh to hold parliamentary election June 19.

05.03.2005, 21.39

YEREVAN, March 5 (Itar-Tass) — The unrecognised Republic of
Nagorno-Karabakh will hold a parliamentary election on June 19,
according to a decree signed on Saturday by the leader of this
predominantly Armenian populated enclave in Azerbaijan, Arkady Gukasyan.

It will be the fourth legislative election in Nagorno-Karabakh that was
proclaimed in 1991 and that has been pressing for the international
recognition of its independence from Azerbaijan ever since.

Nagorno-Karabakh has not been recognised by any country, including
Armenia that helps it military, economically, politically, and
diplomatically.

Meanwhile, the Minsk Group of the Organisation for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is continuing the search for ways to
resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The group is co-chaired by Russia, France, and the United States.

Stepanakert says that only popularly elected authorities can act on
behalf of the Nagorno-Karabakh people and conduct negotiations on the
resolution of the conflict.

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan believes the optimal status for
Nagorno-Karabakh would be `independence in the foreseeable future’ and
`a part of Armenia in the long term’.

The present Nagorno-Karabakh parliament was elected on June 18, 2000. It
consists of 33 members elected in majoritarian constituencies for five
years.

The president is the chief executive in Nagorno-Karabakh. He is elected
by the population for five years.

As of January 1, 2005, the population of Nagorno-Karabakh was 146,600.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PanArmenian News
March 5 2005

AZERI DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER ASSURES «FACTS OF SETTLING ARMENIANS IN
SOME REGIONS CONFIRMED»

05.03.2005 13:07

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Araz Azimov
assures that the OSCE Fact Finding Mission report has confirmed «the
facts of illegal settlements in Lachin, Kelbajar, Zangelan, Kubatlu
and Jabrail.» «Although the mission did not come about population in
other regions, the representatives saw there repaired houses and
divided lands,» he noted. A. Azimov said that one could suppose that
«before the arrival of the mission in the territory Armenians took
certain measures, instructed the population.» Answering the question
whether the Lachin region territory will be provided as a corridor
for Armenia, A. Azimov reported that the Azeri party suggests using
the road both by Azerbaijan and Armenia after achievement of a peace
agreement. «We propose that the road be used both for communication
from Nagorno Karabakh to Armenia and communication from Armenia to
Nagorno Karabakh, as well as cargo transportation. Azerbaijan in its
turn will use the road for communication with Nakhichevan,» he
stated. Due to locating peacekeeping forces at the contact line of
the Armenian and Azeri Armed Forces A. Azimov said it will not do any
good: «Azerbaijan wishes not to freeze the conflict but to solve it.
Only after the signing of a peace agreement, return of the population
to their residence places such forces can be located there.» A.
Azimov said that there is probability for the postponed meeting of
the Armenian and Azeri Foreign Ministers Vardan Oskanian and Elmar
Mamedyarov to be held next month.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Ottawa Citizen
March 5, 2005 Saturday
EARLY Edition

Drawn to the East’s beauty: The 1,500-year-old liturgy of Eastern
Christianity embraces symbolism and song

by Bob Harvey, The Ottawa Citizen

The golden domes of Ottawa’s only Ukrainian Catholic church speak
loudly to those in the know as they drive south beside the Rideau
Canal. Their message: Beauty matters.

On any Sunday within Saint John the Baptist Shrine, there is the
smell of incense and a haunting musical harmony. In his golden
vestments, the Very Rev. Cyril Mykytiuk leads in prayer, and the
faithful sing the responses in practised synergy throughout the
entire liturgy. Some say the singing and the almost non-stop
participation would attract even charismatics and progressive
Christians, if they only knew.

The traditionalists might respond to the liturgy. This prescription
for worship was written 1,500 years ago by Saint John, a patriarch of
Constantinople who became known after his death as Chrysostrom, Greek
for “golden-mouthed.”

Wherever you look in the church, there are treats for the eye: icons
and other images of apostles, prophets, saints, and the church’s 12
major feast days. They are painted in glowing reds, blues and golds
on the walls, the ceiling, and the stained glass windows.

A huge image of Christ Pantocrator, the Universal Ruler, dominates
over all else as he eyes the faithful from the dome overhead.

Among the worshippers is Brian Butcher, the son of Baptist
missionaries to India, his Korean wife, Jean, and their five small
children. While studying at McGill University in Montreal, Mr.
Butcher enrolled in religious studies, and was introduced to Eastern
Christianity. “I fell in love with the beauty of the icon, in both
the Catholic and Orthodox churches,” he says. Before long, he and
Mrs. Butcher were received into the Orthodox church. And now Mr.
Butcher is in his second year of a doctoral program in Eastern
Christian theology.

He is not the only convert to Ukrainian Catholicism studying at the
Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies
at Ottawa’s Saint Paul University.

Andrew Bennet, a Roman Catholic, has been working in the privy
council office since obtaining his doctorate in political science and
constitutional law. A colleague invited him to come with him to Saint
John the Baptist Shrine at a time when he was suffering

what he calls a spiritual “malaise.” The number of non-Ukrainians in
the church surprised him, his malaise disappeared, and he has now
been going there for a year. “I was drawn by the beauty of the
liturgy, and I love to sing,” he says.

Adam deVille grew up Anglican, but was at loose ends in the summer of
2002, when he was invited to a memorial service in a Ukrainian
Catholic church for a Dutch friend’s grandfather. He was surprised
that the Brampton church was not just for Ukrainians. “The singing
was lovely. I went back, and I kept on going back. This experience
was confirmed later that year when I was in Ukraine itself,
especially at St. Vladimir’s Cathedral in Kiev on its patronal feast
day. I saw before my eyes people who lived Dostoevsky’s dictum: ‘The
world will be saved by beauty.’ ”

By the time Mr. deVille returned home to Brantford, he had decided.
“This was something, however mysterious, that I could not bear to be
separated from.” He petitioned for a transfer from the Anglican
church, and was accepted into the Ukrainian Catholic church.

Mr. DeVille is interested in the priesthood, but is concentrating on
his dissertation for Saint Paul University, an attempt to break
through the main obstacle to unity of the Orthodox and Catholic
churches: the papacy.

The Orthodox consider every bishop a successor of St. Peter, as
opposed to the Catholic teaching that the bishop of Rome is the one
and only successor. In 1995, Pope John Paul II asked for help
overcoming the stumbling block.

“There have been almost no Orthodox responses,” says Mr. DeVille.
“The field is wide open. I am endeavouring to put something together
that would meet the concerns of both sides.”

Rev. Maxym Lysack, pastor of Christ Our Saviour Orthodox Church, one
of several Orthodox churches in Ottawa, says that “what irks the
Orthodox churches in dialogue with Catholic churches is that Rome has
never perceived Orthodox churches as equal.”

Eastern Catholics, he says, are living the Orthodox liturgy, but
there are differences. As well, Ukrainian Catholics acknowledge the
Immaculate Conception, the Catholic doctrine that Mary was without
sin from the moment she was conceived. “That is totally unknown in
the East,” says Father Lysack, the dean of the Canadian branch of the
Carpatho-Russian Diocese of U.S.A, and has taught

at the Sheptytsky Institute, which he gives credit for renewing the
eastern side of Ukrainian Catholicism.

Many Eastern Catholic churches have also adopted Roman Catholic
practices, like prayers for people in purgatory and novenas, a
nine-day series of prayers. But unlike the West’s Roman Catholic and
Protestant churches, Eastern Christianity considers beauty an
essential part of the mystical search for the divine.

Rev. Peter Galadza, a professor at the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky
Institute of Eastern Christian Studies at Ottawa’s Saint Paul
University, says the legend is that, in 988, Saint Vladimir the
Great, the ruler of Kiev in what is now Ukraine, sent emissaries to
Constantinople to investigate different religions.

When the emissaries came back, they told of the Eastern Christians’
worship and said “We knew not whether we were in heaven or earth
because on earth there is no such beauty.”

Father Galadza explains that “this has been taken as the ethos for
the Eastern church. The Greek word for good, kalos, is also the word
for beauty. You can’t be good without being ‘beautiful’ in the old
sense.”

The Ukrainian Catholic church entered into communion with Rome in
1596, and is the largest of 24 Eastern Catholic churches, including
Armenian, Melkite, Romanian and Chaldean Catholics. They are all in
communion with the Pope, and accept his authority. But, aside from
that link with Rome, the Eastern Catholic churches are little
different from the 16 Eastern Orthodox churches, with their 300
million followers.

The Eastern churches are “far more open to evocative symbolism and a
non-cerebral approach,” says Father Galadza. They were also the model
for many of the changes brought into the Roman Catholic church by the
Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.

Among the innovations borrowed from the East were permanent deacons,
services in the vernacular, instead of Latin, increased participation
by laity, and the celebration of communion in wine as well as bread.
One custom that was not adopted is married priests.

The Eastern Catholic and Orthodox churches are still little known in
Canada, but their numbers are growing, primarily because of
immigration. The Serbian Orthodox doubled their numbers between 1991
and 2001.

The Ukrainian Catholic Church is an exception. Its numbers dropped
from 128,000 in the 1991 census to 126,000 in 2001.

Father Galadza says one reason for the decline is the shift to Roman
Catholicism by those of Ukrainian heritage who want to spend less
time in church than the 80 to 90 minutes sometimes demanded by the
Eastern liturgy, or live too far away from any of the Ukrainian
Catholic churches scattered across Canada. Others prefer to worship
in English, which, unlike Saint John the Baptist, some Ukrainian
parishes still do not offer.

However, Ukrainian Catholics now have a one-volume source for singing
their liturgy in English. For the first time, Ukrainian Catholics
have a book in English and Ukrainian that contains everything needed
for the church’s liturgy throughout the year. The Divine Liturgy: An
Anthology for Worship also comes with a two-CD set for those who have
trouble reading musical notes. It was released this month, and Father
Galadza, the chief editor of the volume, said orders are already
coming in to the Sheptytsky Institute from the United States,
Australia, and the United Kingdom.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress