PRESS RELEASE
Haigazian University
Mira Yardemian
Public Relations Director
Rue Mexique – Kantari
P.O. Box 11-1748
Riad El-Solh 1107 2090
Beirut – Lebanon

Beirut, December 15, 2004
Haigazian University inaugurates the automation of its Library.
Haidostian: Partnerships encourage excellence and knowledge; help the weak
and needy;
close the gaps among peoples, classes and hearts.
On December 15, 2004, the president of Haigazian University, Rev. Dr. Paul
Haidostian, and the mission director of the United States Agency for
International Development in Lebanon, Mr. Raouf Youssef, inaugurated the
automation of the Haigazian University Library, in the presence of the
minister of youth and sports, Dr. Sebouh Hovnanian, the president of The
Union of Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East, Rev. Meguerditch
Karagoezian, vice governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, Mr. Alain
Balian, members of the board of trustees, faculty and press representatives.
The ceremony started with a welcome speech by the Director of Public
Relations of the university, Mrs. Mira Yardemian, who highlighted the
importance of technology in learning, the proliferation of electronic
knowledge, and the transition from paper to digitized information.
In his word, the president of Haigazian University, Rev. Dr. Paul
Haidostian pointed out that the project of the library automation was the
fruit of a partnership between Haigazian University and the United States
Agency for International Development (USAID). He explained the meaning of
partnership as two entities that enjoy separate identities and resources
which go through a process of joining forces for better and fuller
existence, where truth, freedom and service abide. This is applicable to
this partnership, since on one hand, Haigazian University and its libraries
with their 80,000 volumes, rare books and periodicals have nurtured
generations of young people in the past 50 years, and on the other hand,
the noble ideals of the Unite States constitution, pave the way for just
relationships, free minds and consciences.
Then the mission director of the United States Agency for International
Development, Mr. Raouf Youssef, addressed the audience, by noting that this
partnership will benefit more than 750 students in Haigazian University,
and the automation will promote information technology, manage and exchange
knowledge between educational institutions in Lebanon and abroad. He hoped
that Haigazian University will continue to further develop this project and
other projects that will prepare to endow educated professional citizens to
have responsibility in leadership and in the contribution of the Lebanese
socio-economic development.

Afterwards the audience had a tour in the 2 libraries, the English and the
Armenian. Mr. Raouf Youssef was especially touched when he saw a copy of
the first Armenian Bible published in 1666 in Amsterdam by Voskan Yerevantzi.
A reception followed.

Renseignor , France
26 décembre 2004

Des soldats arméniens seront déployés en Iraq…

Le parlement arménien a approuvé vendredi avec 91 voix pour, 23
contre et une abstention, la décision du gouvernement d’envoyer 43
militaires non combattants en Iraq où ils auraient pour charge de
seconder la coalition de guerre dirigée par les américains.

L’opposition et des organisations de jeunesse s’étaient farouchement
opposées à cette mesure qui mettrait, selon eux, en danger la vie de
la diaspora arménienne vivant en Iraq. Celle-ci compte près de 20 000
personnes. Un accord conclu début septembre entre l’Arménie et la
Pologne prévoyait l’intégration de militaires non combattants
arméniens au contingent dirigé par les polonais en Iraq.

El Mundo
December 26, 2004

El Parlamento de Armenia aprueba el envio de tropas no combatientes.

ANA MKRTCHAN. Efe/EL MUNDO

Armenia. El Parlamento aprueba el envio de tropas no combatientes a
Irak

EREVAN (ARMENIA).- El Parlamento de Armenia aprobo por mayoria el
envio de tropas no combatientes a Irak, a pesar de la ferrea
oposicion de la influyente diaspora, los intelectuales y su vecino
del norte, Rusia.

“Las tropas seran de pacificacion y partiran en el plazo de un mes y
medio, con la mision de permanecer en Irak durante un ano”, aseguro
Artur Agabekian, viceministro de Defensa. El contingente, cuyo grueso
estara formado por las fuerzas de pacificacion armenias desplegadas
en Kosovo, estara integrado por 10 zapadores, tres medicos y 30
conductores.

De esta forma, Armenia se suma a otros tres antiguos miembros de la
Union Sovietica que tambien tienen tropas en Irak supeditadas al
mando polaco y desplegadas al sur de Bagdad: Ucrania, Georgia y
Azerbaiyan.

El proyecto fue aprobado el viernes por la noche por la Asamblea
Nacional con 91 votos a favor y 23 en contra en una sesion
parlamentaria celebrada a puerta cerrada y tras siete horas de
acalorados debates.

Los miembros del bloque opositor Justicia y la fraccion parlamentaria
del partido oficialista Dashnaktsutiun, que representa a la diaspora
tanto en el exilio como en Armenia, votaron en contra del envio de
las tropas.

El ministro de Defensa, Serzh Sarkisyan, matizo que Erevan impondra
como condiciones que el contingente armenio tome parte solo en
actividades defensivas y humanitarias, y no participe en operaciones
con fuerzas azerbaiyanas.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Times Union (Albany, New York)
December 23, 2004 Thursday
4 EDITION

A day when the past makes the best present

By TIM O’BRIEN Staff Writer

It is said that what children most remember when they are adults are
not the big gifts they get for the holidays. Those presents you
knocked yourself out shopping for – the ones your kids said they
couldn’t live without – will be long forgotten.

What people remember are the traditions. Repetition is what builds
memories that last, and so it is that most people, when asked, will
tell you what their families did every time the holidays came around,
not what great gift they got in any one year.

That’s why some of Troy’s annual events are so important. Whether it
is teaching your child a lesson about helping others by participating
in the Winter Walk for Joseph’s House, or exposing them to arts and
music during the annual Victorian Stroll, these are the ways that
memories are built and remembered.

Christopher Maier, who will become Troy City Court Judge on Jan. 1,
said he remembers dressing up as a child to deliver baked goods to
the neighbors.

“Growing up, my brother would dress up as Santa and I would be an
elf, and we would go around to the neighbors’ houses and sing
Christmas carols,” he said. “That’s when I was really small.”

His family also cooked a Christmas Eve dinner and invited his
grandmother, and they would exchange some presents. Now he is doing
the same with his wife, Beth, and son Thomas, inviting his parents to
their home.

“Even as a child, you didn’t realize the significance of it at that
time,” he said. “Now I’m glad I have those memories.”

Developer John Hedley said his memories from his childhood in the
1940s differ from what happens today.

“Back when I was a little kid, there were nine children in the
family. We didn’t put up a Christmas tree until Christmas Eve,” he
said. “Now they put it up in July.”

He said he preferred when the tree went up the day before the
holiday, because it meant Christmas had truly arrived. His father
worked two jobs, so the family opened presents on Christmas Day.

“You never could open your present until the morning. Now you get 200
presents,” he said. “You opened your present, then you went to church
and then you had Christmas dinner at your house.”

Today, Hedley has four grandchildren and two adopted daughters from
Russia, ages 5 and 7.

“The tradition we have here is we have family come on Christmas Eve,”
he said.

He has other traditions, he said, but he’d rob them of their meaning
if he shared them. “It’s what you do for somebody else that nobody
knows about that matters,” he said.

For Troy Mayor Harry Tutunjian, his memories are of two Christmases
each season – both closely tied to his Armenian church.

“We’d go to Christmas Eve service at church, which would often run
until 10 o’clock,” he said. There would be a fellowship hour
afterward as well.

And his church also celebrated again on Jan. 6, the Orthodox
Christmas also known to some as the day the Wise Men came. The
children would attend services that morning too.

“In elementary school, the priest would send a note to get them out
to attend church and the children’s breakfast,” he said.

For City Council President Marjorie DerGurahian, holiday memories
conjure up shopping trips downtown with her mother. They’d go to
Green’s, Denby’s and Peerless department stores.

“When we finished up our shopping, we would go down to Hartigan’s,”
she said. “We’d go to see Santa Claus. I just remember walking down
those wooden steps.”

And every year, she’d be handed a candy cane after her chat with
Santa.

“Another important part of our tradition was going to find a
Christmas tree,” she said, which her family continues to do. “We go
out into the woods and cut one down. A real Christmas tree is a big
tradition in our family.”

She still has her grandmother’s bubble lights – they contain water
that bubbles when they heat up – and remembers fondly watching her
father wrapping the lights around the trees of her youth.

And so, whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year, don’t worry
if you can’t find the perfect gift. It’s the memories you make that
matter.

O’Brien’s column on Troy topics is published each Thursday in the
Rensselaer TU. He can be contacted at 454-5096, or by e-mail at
[email protected].

The Baltimore Sun
December 26, 2004 Sunday
FINAL EDITION

Palestinian campaign requires delicate balance;
Campaigns begin with Abbas trying to shore up image

Peter Hermann, SUN FOREIGN STAFF

EL-BIREH, West Bank – The front-runner in next month’s election to
succeed Yasser Arafat as Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, launched
his campaign yesterday, appealing to voters who worry that he might
surrender core tenets of their long fight for statehood.

The silver-haired, pragmatic 69-year-old reassured a hall filled with
800 supporters in a municipal building here, paying homage to Yasser
Arafat and using language to please militant ears, while not
repudiating previous moderate statements. He shared a dais with
teenagers wounded in the conflict, former prisoners of Israel and
relatives of dead gunmen.

They took turns giving Abbas their support in what was the
candidate’s attempt to reach out to people who have felt slighted by
him in the past, to shore up an image hurt by the tacit support he
enjoys from the United States and Israel and by his urgings for an
end to the armed conflict.

There are six candidates in addition to Abbas; one is under house
arrest in the United States, accused of supporting terrorist groups.

Yesterday was the first day of official campaigning, opening a
two-week process leading up to the vote, scheduled for Jan. 9, to
replace Arafat, who died last month.

`Hopes and the pains’

“The people at this table represent the hopes and the pains of the
Palestinian people,” Abbas said, after the group raised their joined
hands in a show of solidarity.

Addressing some of the concerns emanating from the street while
embracing Arafat’s legacy, he added, “We need only to be faithful to
our people.”

Abbas avoided any mention of his previous calls for gunmen to
surrender their arms, nor did he repeat his unpopular assertions that
militarizing the uprising was a “historic mistake.”

He pushed for national unity and the rule of law but appeared to rule
out a police crackdown on militant groups.

“We will not raise weapons in the faces of our brothers,” he said to
cheers from teenagers in the audience, who represent a young
generation of Fatah political party leaders who feel left out by the
entrenched old guard, epitomized by Abbas.

The only other relatively well-known candidate, Mustafa Barghouti, a
doctor from Ramallah, began his campaign in a more traditional style,
by visiting several Palestinian cities on an opening-day tour to get
close to the people.

Uncomfortable speaking

Abbas, widely known as Abu Mazen, is uncomfortable giving public
speeches, and he spent the past several weeks traveling and meeting
Arab leaders.

Last week, Abbas met with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and on
Friday he attended midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity in
Bethlehem – carefully choreographed events in which he is clearly at
ease.

Yesterday’s campaign event was designed to quell concerns resonating
from a speech Abbas made last year at a peace summit in Jordan in
which he renounced violence and did not mention the plight of
thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Abbas sat between the Muslim cleric who had pronounced Arafat dead in
Paris and an Armenian priest.

Next to them sat Israel’s longest-held Palestinian prisoner, released
when Abbas was prime minister, along with the son of a man killed by
Israel and a teenager wounded in the conflict.

Also on the stage was Fadwa Barghouti, the wife of jailed uprising
leader Marwan Barghouti, who bowed out of the race this month under
pressure from Fatah, whose leaders were worried that his popularity
would split the dominant party and endanger Abbas’ candidacy.

Inclusive language

Abbas made sure not to leave out any part of his constituency,
especially those still involved in a conflict he wishes to end.

The song that preceded his remarks opens with the line: “We are not
terrorists, Muslims and Christians; we are struggling for freedom; we
are an Arab nation; we are struggling to liberate Palestine; they hit
us with missiles; we hit them with stones.”

He appealed to the young, often disillusioned Palestinians, saying,
“We know the suffering of our youth.”

He promised never to give up on Jerusalem as the capital of a future
Palestine and never to surrender the rights of refugees to return to
their former homes in Israel.

“We are choosing a path of peace and negotiations,” Abbas said. “If
there is no peace here, there will be no peace in the Middle East and
in the rest of the world. We know that the others do not want us to
be in peace, so they choose to kill and demolish us. But we will
stay.”

Homage to Arafat

Abbas sprinkled his lengthy address with references to Arafat, giving
him credit as “the one who exploded our revolution.” He referred to
Arafat’s final speech to legislators, in which he urged internal
reform to end corruption and made a stark admission that he and
others made mistakes in their quest for an independent state.

Abbas referred to that speech as Arafat’s will, and promised, “We
will do it” – using Arafat’s address as a bridge to a new era, away
from the rule of one man and toward the rule of democratic
institutions.

The large crowd only occasionally reacted with enthusiastic applause.

Often, it was the small groups of young activists whose loud shouts
provided the only lively spark in what was, for Abbas, a typically
dry speech.

At one point, they chanted, using Arafat’s nom de guerre, “Abu Amr,
he is resting and we will continue our struggle. Abu Mazen, we will
follow you to liberation.”

Akiam Mazaham, a 22-year-old biology student at Birzeit University,
was one of Abbas’ liveliest supporters.

Putting down his flag and removing his scarf adorned with the
Palestinian colors, he said he is convinced that Abbas will not sell
out Arafat’s legacy.

But he acknowledged that cheering a man clad in a gray suit and tie
is a bit harder than rooting for the more animated Arafat, the
embodiment of their movement.

“Abu Mazen is a man of institutions, and that can help us build a
state,” Mazaham said. The student smiled when asked about Abbas’
subdued speaking style, saying diplomatically, “He acts more than
talks.”

A campaign aide, Mohammed Ishtyeh, told reporters that Abbas planned
a vigorous schedule.

“Wherever he can go, he will go,” Ishtyeh said. “We want him to react
to the people, and we want the people to react to him, even though we
know what the end result will be.

“We want to keep up the momentum of the democratic process.”

Zaman, Turkey
Dec 26 2004

‘Turkey is too Big for EU’

Turkish Greater Unity Party (BBP) leader Muhsin Yazicioglu says that
the real goal of the European Union is not to make Turkey a full
member but to break it into pieces.

Yazicioglu says that the EU is trying to split Turkey into parts, as
it is too large for them and said that that’s why they put in clauses
about the so called Armenian Genocide, Cyprus, Aegean region and
minorities.

Answering the questions of Zaman, he said that although Turkey has
fulfilled the Copenhagen Criteria, the EU is applying double
standards. Pointing out the fact that they are constantly bringing
new conditions to the table, he said: “They tell us to solve the
problems with Armenians, which means to give the Armenians Kars, to
accept the invasion of Karabag, to accept the so called Armenian
Genocide and to give them extra land as indemnity. Another point here
is that there may be wars over water so they want us to turn over the
administration of the rivers Firat and Tigris to an international
committee, which is a violation of our sovereign rights. Do we tell
them to turn over the oil produced in Britain to such a committee?”

12.26.2004
Selim Kuvel
Ankara

Arab Monitor, Italy
Dec 26 2004

Armenia dispatches troops to Iraq

Erevan, 25 December – The Armenian Defence Minister Serge Sarkisyan
revealed that Armenia is preparing to dispatch 46 military experts,
among them a comunications officer, a platoon commander, three
doctors, ten sappers and thirty drivers to Iraq to operate as part of
the Polish contingent. The Armenian Parliament had previously given
approval to send the expert team to Iraq for one year.

Sarkisyan declared he was well aware that the Armenian team would
face threats to their lives, but nonetheless, he was convinced that
“more dangers will emerge” if Armenia refuses to participate in what
he described as the post-war stabilization of Iraq.

;lang=en

San Diego Union Tribune, CA
Dec 26 2004

Armenian hopes title shot at Sycuan becomes work of art

By Jerry Magee
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
December 26, 2004

Not many fighters challenge for an IBF title in their 16th
professional appearance. But not many have an amateur background as
extensive as Art Simonyan’s.

Before coming to this country from his native Armenia, Simonyan
(14-0-1, 7 KOs) had as many as 250 amateur bouts, by the count of
Harry Kazandjian, the manager/trainer of the fighter who opposes
Israel Vasquez of Mexico for Vasquez’s IBF junior featherweight
championship Tuesday evening at the Sycuan Resort and Casino.

It was Kazandjian, also an Armenian, who brought Simonyan to the
United States. Kazandjian said he had received a call from an
acquaintance in Armenia before the 2000 Olympics alerting him to
Simonyan’s potential. When Armenia did not have the funds to send the
boxer to the games, Kazandjian summoned him.

“He has all the credentials you can imagine,” contended Kazandjian,
who once handled light welterweight contender Hector Lopez. “He can
punch and he can box and he has one thing Lopez didn’t have – he has
discipline. He doesn’t smoke or drink, and he is always in the gym.”

As if boxing for an IBF title isn’t incentive enough, Simonyan has
one in Armenia, according to Kazandjian: a 4-year-old daughter he has
never seen. If Simonyan gets past Vasquez, Kazandjian said his reward
is going to be a trip to Armenia to see his daughter.

Simonyan’s promoter, Art Pelullo of Philadelphia, is predicting that
Simonyan is going to wrest the title from Vasquez (36-3, 26 KOs), who
claimed it when he stopped Jose Luis Valbuena in the 12th round of a
March match at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. Vasquez thus
became the 100th Mexican to win a world championship.

“But Simonyan can fight,” argued Pelullo. “I’m telling you he is
going to win the fight. He’s a tough kid, and he takes a good whack.”

Vasquez is boxing for the first time since he came under the
promotional aegis of Sycuan Ringside Promotions. The Tuesday bout is
being offered in the Sycuan Showcase Theater, with doors opening at
5:30 p.m. and the first bout at 6 p.m. The program is not being
televised.

Two bouts involving women are included on the undercard. Tickets are
$100, $200, and $250.

Sycuan boxing
Who: Israel Vasquez (36-3, 26 KOs) of Los Angeles defends his IBF
junior featherweight title against No. 1 contender Art Simonyan
(14-0-1, 7 KOs) of Glendale

When: Tuesday (the seven-bout card begins at 6 p.m.)

Where: Sycuan Resort and Casino, Showcase Theater, El Cajon

TV: Not televised

Tickets: $100, $200, $250. Available at Sycuan or by phone, (619)
445-6002.

Noteworthy: This is Vasquez’s first defense since stopping Jose Luis
Valbuena to win the vacant 122-pound title in March; Vasquez is from
Mexico but fights out of L.A.

Armenian parliament increases military spending in 2005

Arminfo
25 Dec 04

YEREVAN

Yesterday’s session of the Armenian National Assembly made a decision
to increase military spending in the Armenian state budget of 2005.

Military spending envisaged by the final version of the 2005 draft
budget amounts to 61bn drams (127m dollars), Armenian Security Council
Secretary and Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan has told journalists.
It has increased by 7.2bn drams (15m dollars) in comparison with the
original amount. Thus, Armenia’s military spending increased by 35 per
cent in comparison with the republic’s military spending this year and
accounts for 16 per cent of the republic’s budget for 2005.

Sarkisyan also pointed out that the main part of the sum by which
military spending has been increased will be used for giving a payrise
to the military.

Armenian parliament adopts 2005 state budget

Arminfo
25 Dec 04

YEREVAN

The Armenian National Assembly yesterday adopted the Armenian state
budget for 2005 with a vote of 103 in favour and seven against.

Armenian Deputy Finance and Economy Minister Pavel Safaryan who
presented the country’s main financial document thinks that certain
changes have been made to the state budget of 2005. The overwhelming
majority of the 315 proposals and amendments put forward by the
deputies are reflected in the document.

Additional expenses to the tune of 22.3bn drams [46.074m dollars] are
envisaged, including 9.2bn [19m dollars] on the resolution of
social-cultural issues, 2.7bn [5.57m dollars] on the education sphere
and 3.6bn [7.43m dollars] on the social sphere. In comparison with the
original amount of the draft project, the budget expenses have
increased by 19.2bn [39.6m dollars] and total 394bn drams [814m
dollars].

The revenues of the Armenian state budget have also increased and
totalled 345.7bn [714.25m dollars].

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress