PRESS RELEASE
Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
138 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
Tel: 212-689-7810
Fax: 212-689-7168
e-mail: [email protected]
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Contact: Iris Papazian

CROSSROADS E-NEWSLETTER – December 2, 2004

COMMITTEE FOR UNITED COMMEMORATION
OF 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF GENOCIDE FORMED
Under the auspices of His Eminence Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate
of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America and His Eminence Archbishop
Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America, a
committee has been formed to organize a pan-Armenian American commemoration
of the 90th anniversary of the Genocide next year. The commemoration will
take place in New York City on Sunday, April 24, 2005.
The joint commemorative committee convened its first meeting on October
21. Roy Stepanian of St. Mary Armenian Church, Livingston, New Jersey, and
Ken Sarajian of Sts. Vartanantz Church, Ridgefield, New Jersey have been
appointed by the Diocese and the Prelacy to serve as co-chairs. With the
attendance and support of major Armenian American groups, the committee
began its work. The immediate task will be the formation of subcommittees to
plan specific events, prepare educational and press materials, and begin
fundraising to underwrite the commemoration.
>From press release issued by the Joint Committee

ST. GREGORY CHURCH, GRANITE CITY
CELEBRATES 50TH ANNIVERSARY THIS WEEKEND
His Eminence Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate, will be with the
parish of St. Gregory the Illuminator Church in Granite City, Illinois, to
celebrate the 50th anniversary of the church. His Eminence will travel to
Granite City. On Saturday he will preside over services in the former church
of the parish followed by a fellowship hour. His Eminence will officiate at
the Divine Liturgy services on Sunday, assisted by Rev. Fr. Serop Azarian,
pastor of the church. A celebratory banquet will follow.
The original St. Gregory Church, a small church on Maple Street, was
consecrated on December 5, 1954. A new and much larger church, a few miles
from the original site, was built and consecrated on October 12, 1997. In
2001 a Memorial was erected to honor the Martyrs of the Armenian Genocide,
along with a Walk of Remembrance that recognizes other family memorials.
Saturday evening arrangements have been made for informal nostalgic
remembrances with photographs and memorabilia covering the fifty-year
history of the parish.
In conjunction with the commemorations, parishioners will participate in
a mortgage burning ceremony thanks to an aggressive fundraising drive, which
enabled the church to pay its mortgage debt and establish an endowment fund.

CATHOLICOS ARAM IN GENEVA
His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, left
Antelias last Saturday, November 27, for Geneva where he will preside over
the meeting of the Central Executive Committee of the World Council of
Churches. His Holiness is the Moderator of the WCC. During his visit to
Geneva and the headquarters of the WCC, His Holiness will deliver a prime
lecture on Ecumenism in the 21st Century.

CHRISTMAS FAMILY CONCERT ON SATURDAY
CELEBRATES THE YEAR OF THE FAMILY
During 2004, which was designated as The Year of the Family by His
Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, the Prelacy has
set its goals with the health and welfare of our families. Although the
yearlong celebration will come to an end with a Family Christmas Concert
this Saturday, December 4, certainly the Prelacy’s focus on the family will
continue as it has always.
The December 4th concert at the Alliance Française in New York City,
featuring Nvair and her HyeFamily friends and special guest from California,
Taline, has been sold-out for more than a month.
Youngsters attending with their parents are due for an exciting
afternoon with many surprises.

ARCHBISHOP OSHAGAN PARTICIPATES
IN AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY LEADERSHIP COUNCIL
Archbishop Oshagan participated in the meetings this week of the
National Church Leadership Council organized by the American Bible Society.
The meetings took place in New York City, Monday and Tuesday, November 29
and 30. The theme of the meetings was, An Effective Church in a Post-Modern
World.

ST. SARKIS WILL HONOR POLICE AND FIRE FIGHTERS
Archbishop Oshagan will preside over special morning services and
luncheon in honor of the police of the 111th precinct and fire fighters of
Bayside, New York, organized by St. Sarkis Armenian Church, Douglaston, New
York.
This annual service and luncheon by St. Sarkis Church has helped bring
the church and community closer together.

THADDEUS AND BARTHOLOMEW
This Saturday, December 4, the Armenian Church commemorates Sts.
Thaddeus and Bartholomew, two of the twelve apostles who were the first
evangelizers of Armenia and were martyred there, giving the Armenian Church
its apostolic identity.
Thaddeus came to Armenia about 43 AD to preach Christianity. He was
martyred in southeastern Armenia. His tomb lies in the Armenian monastery of
St. Thaddeus (now Iran) where a chapel was built in the third century.
Bartholomew is thought to have come to Armenia about 66 AD. He was
martyred in Hadamakert, southeast of Lake Van.

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT
This Sunday, December 5, is the second Sunday of Advent. Advent, the
solemn period anticipating the birth of the Savior, is a period of
contemplation. This week let us think of those less fortunate than us and
take some action to help.

NEXT TUESDAY IS 16TH ANNIVERSARY
OF EARTHQUAKE IN ARMENIA
Next Tuesday, December 7, is the 16th anniversary of the earthquake in
Armenia that shook the very foundations of the Soviet Empire. Our thoughts
and prayers are with the families that suffered great loss and continue to
strive to reach normalcy. God rest the souls of those who perished and peace
to those who survived.

DECEMBER 7TH IS ALSO PEARL HARBOR DAY
At dawn on Sunday, December 7, 1941, naval aviation forces of the Empire
of Japan attacked the United States Pacific Fleet center at Pearl Harbor,
Hawaii, and other military targets. The sneak attack against Pearl Harbor
brought an immediate reaction of unprecedented unity from the American
people. Families from every class sent their sons and daughters to war,
bringing the U.S. into World War II in full force. Women joined the work
force and took over the jobs that were generally reserved for men.
Ultimately it was the industrial strength of the United States and the will
of the people that was the foundation of the U.S. victory.

TODAY MARKS FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH
OF ARCHBISHOP MESROB ASHJIAN
Today, December 2 marks the first anniversary of the passing of His
Eminence Archbishop Mesrob Ashjian who died in New York City where he was
visiting family and introducing his latest book, The Etchmiadzin Chronicles.
Our community was shocked and stunned as the news of his sudden death
spread.
On Sunday, December 12, all Prelacy churches will observe the first
anniversary of his passing with Requiem Services and Madagh. Archbishop
Oshagan will be at St. Illuminator Cathedral in New York City, where the
Divine Liturgy will be celebrated by His Eminence Archbishop Souren
Kataroyan, the former Prelate of Aleppo.
Archbishop Ashjian served as Prelate of the Eastern United States and
Canada for twenty years from January 1978 to May 1998. He also served as the
Executive Secretary of the 1700th anniversary of Christian Armenia and he
presided over a host of programs spreading the Light of Christianity and
benefiting the general population of Armenia and Artsakh.
Therefore, and we beseech you O heavenly Father, accept our deceased in
your Upper Jerusalem, in the gathering of those, who have been registered
first into the heavens. (from Armenian Requiem Hymn)
We end this week with a quote from a 1995 New Year message by Archbishop
Ashjian:
Traditionally the New Year has come to symbolize a time to reflect on
one’s own life and the general condition of the human race. Somehow, with
the coming of a new year-almost miraculously-life’s slate seems to be clean
and ready to be filled anew. This time, we think, we are determined to
change our ways, to have better priorities, to make this year better than
last. The changes that have taken place in our national lives in less than a
decade are enough to fill half a century. For so many years we went along
almost by rote with little, if any, deviation. And then on that fateful day
of December 7, 1988, the earthquake in northern Armenia brought upheaval and
change not only to Armenia but also to every corner of the Armenian
Diaspora. Life has not been the same since, nor will it ever be.

Visit our website at

PanArmenian News
Dec 2 2004

“KARABAKH PROBLEM NOT ONLY FOR AZERBAIJAN, BUT WHOLE ISLAMIC WORLD”

02.12.2004 18:26

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “Karabakh is a problem not only for Azerbaijan, but
also the whole Islamic world,” stated representative of the
International Islamic Youth Conference Saad bin Fahd al Khiid. In his
turn leader of the board of Muslims of the Caucasus sheik ul-Islam
Allahshukur Pashazade stated that the Islamic Conferences is the only
organization that backs the Azerbaijani position in the Karabakh
settlement. He stated it when commenting on the visit of Azeri
President Ilham Aliyev to Qatar to meet with Islamic Conferences
leaders. Azerbaijan is member of the Islamic Conferences since 1992,
however official Baku becoming close with the organization takes
place recently after the Islamic Conferences member countries
supported Azerbaijan in its initiative to submit the Nagorno Karabakh
problem for discussion by the UN. Meanwhile, Islamists, in the
opinion of many political scientists, can become an actual political
force in Azerbaijan in the near future.

Azeri leader receives credentials of Iraqi, Japanese, Ukrainian envoys

ANS TV, Baku
2 Dec 04

Presenter Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev today received the
credentials of the newly-appointed ambassadors to Azerbaijan from
Iraq, Japan and Ukraine.

Correspondent, over video of the ceremony The president first met
Japanese ambassador Tadahiro Abe. The Japanese ambassador spoke about
friendly relations between the two countries and the history of
bilateral ties. He conveyed his emperor’s greetings to Ilham
Aliyev. President Aliyev spoke about cooperation with the Japanese
government within the framework of international organizations. The
Japanese government has allocated major loans to Azerbaijan so far and
major projects are being implemented due to those loans, he said.

President Aliyev thanked the ambassador and his government for
cooperation in the humanitarian sphere and for schools built in
Azerbaijan on the funds allocated by the Japanese government.

Then Aliyev received the credentials of Ukrainian ambassador Anatoliy
Yurchenko. The ambassador said that he had arrived in Azerbaijan at a
difficult time for his country. However, he hoped that his activity
would give an impetus for the development of relations between the two
countries. He said that Azerbaijan and Ukraine were successfully
developing cooperation within the framework of the CIS, the Council of
Europe and the GUUAM Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and
Moldova countries.

President Aliyev said that Ukraine always supported Azerbaijan in the
Karabakh settlement.

The Karabakh conflict was a focus of attention when the president
received the credentials of Iraqi ambassador Umar Isma’il. The
president recalled that the Azerbaijani lands had been occupied by
Armenians and said that the Iraqi people was also living through hard
times. He hoped that peace will be restored in this Middle East
country soon.

Leyla Hasanova, Ali Ahmadov, Ibrahim Telmanoglu for ANS.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Agency: Ethnic minorities to be represented in Romanian parliament

Rompres news agency
2 Dec 04

Bucharest, 2 December: Twenty-eight organizations and associations of
ethnic minorities registered in the parliamentary electoral race in
Romania, with the polls held on 28 November, further to the acceptance
by the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) of the logos and lists and
supporting signatures presented by them, daily Nine O’Clock says on
Thursday 2 December .

Since the beginning of the registration of the electoral process, BEC
has rejected the requests of several minorities’ organizations to
participate in the parliamentary election. Among them there are the
Szeklers’ Union of Romania, the Association of the Slav Macedonians of
Romania, the Ethnic Association of the Russians in Romania. They could
not participate in the polls, as the minorities that they allegedly
represent are not mentioned in the latest census. The BEC members also
turned down the registration of the Cultural Union of the Albanians in
Romania, which submitted a list with only 36 of the 72 signatures
required from supporters. The lists of sympathisers of the Hungarian
Civic Union (UCM) were referred to the Prosecutor’s Office to verify
if the signatories are members of the Hungarian ethnic group, as BEC
noticed the existence of several Romanian names on the lists. Further
to verifications, the decision was made not to accept UCM to take part
in the election. In exchange, two other organizations in a similar
situation, the Association of the Italians in Romania and the Cultural
Union Association of the Poles, do participate, the daily adds.

>From a political point of view, the national minorities are
represented in parliament, are part of the ruling process and are
consulted by the government. Article 5 (2) of the Romanian
constitution stipulates: “The organizations of citizens of ethnic
minorities, which do not meet in the election the required number of
votes to be represented in parliament, have, each of them, the right
to one deputy seat, as the electoral law says,” daily Nine O’Clock
reports.

In Romania, there are several parties and organizations of the
national minorities, and the ones below are represented in parliament:
Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania, Democrat Forum of the Germans
in Romania, Rroma Social Democratic Party, Union of Serbs in Romania,
Union of Armenians in Romania, Democratic Union of Turkish-Moslem
Tartars in Romania, Democratic Turkish Union in Romania, Union of
Ukrainians in Romania, Cultural Union of Ruthenians in Romania, Union
of the Poles in Romania-Dom Polski, Democratic Union of the Slovaks
and Czechs in Romania, Bulgarian Union in Banat/Romania, Lippovan
Russians Community in Romania, Federation of the Jewish Communities in
Romania, Union of the Croatians in Romania, Association of the
Macedonians in Romania, League of the Albanians in Romania, Greek
Union of Romania, Italian Community of Romania.

ARMENIA GETS OBSERVER STATUS AT INTERNATIONAL FRANCOPHONY ORGANIZATION

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 2. ARMINFO. Armenia has got observer status at
International Francophony Organization, says Armenia’s FM Vardan
Oskanyan who has just come back from the IFO’s last meeting in
Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso).

Oskanyan says that Francophony is highly respected in the world with
its authority daily growing along with its membership. Over 50 states
are already its members, dozens are observers. In Ouagadougou observer
status was given to Armenia, Georgia, Austria and Croatia. “I think in
the next few years Armenia will become the IFO’s full member,” says
Oskanyan.

Besides poverty reduction, globalization problems, cultural legacy
preservation Armenia is interested in the opportunity to cooperate
with the countries it has no chance to contact with under other
organizations this first of all concerning African countries. This is
especially crucial now that Azerbaijan’s policy at international
organizations is becoming increasingly aggressive, says Oskanyan.

SLOVAK PARLIAMENT’S ACKNOWLEDGING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE STRENGTHENS
ARMENIA’S POSITIONS ON INTERNATIONAL ARENA

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 2. ARMINFO. The Slovak parliament’s acknowledging
the Armenian Genocide is significantly strengthening Armenia’s
positions on the international arena, says Armenia’s FM Vardan
Osknanyan.

The Armenian Genocide has ceased being an Armenian problem
only. Unless the past is condemned and preventive measures are taken
humanity may face new genocides in the future. Slovakia’s step was one
more drop into the international pressure on Turkey – this is getting
especially important now that Turkey is preparing for the talks for EU
membership. Europe does not accept closed borders. So Armenia is
working in this directions. Pres.Kocharyan has appealed to all the EU
presidents. All the foreign ambassadors to Armenia have been invited
to Armenia’s FM to discuss the problem. Turkey should realize that
Europe does not accept the fact that a country seeking to join it is
keeping close its border closed with a neighboring country involved in
the Wider Europe program and wishing to join Europe itself, says
Oskanyan.

SOME ARMENIAN PARTIES SPECULATE ON KARABAKH PROBLEM: ARMENIA’S FM

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 2. ARMINFO. Some political parties of Armenia keep
speculating on the problem of the Karabakh conflict peaceful
settlement, says Armenia’s FM Vardan Oskanyan.

This speculations are damaging the settlement process and are working
against Armenia and the Armenian people. Today the opposition is
saying “yours, ours – ours was better.” They should understand that
the problem should be considered so as to make it as acceptable for
Armenia as possible.

All the opposition’s statements on the problem are coming to one
conclusion – that government should be changed. This proves that the
Karabakh problem is only a tool for them to attain their goal. This is
a serious blow on Armenia’s strong diplomatic positions in the world.

The opposition’s arguments have three serious flaws. First, in Astana
OSCE Minsk Group discussed just what is now on agenda. Before that the
Armenian and Azeri FM had met 4 times in Prague exchanging g opinions
and presenting their results of their discussions to their
presidents. OSCE MG new that Armenia is ready to continue the Prague
talks on the basis of the agreements reached by the FMs before.

The second flaw is that OSCE MG are alleged to support Azerbaijan’s
initiative at UN but in fact they are against it. UN postponed the
initiative discussion mostly because OSCE MG began to pressure
Azerbaijan into recalling it at all. The FMs and OSCE MG will shortly
meet in Sofia.

The third flaw is that Armenia and its government are reported not to
be interested in the quick resolution of the problem and to be
artificially delaying the settlement process. What they mean by
settlement – if what they are proposing then yes we better delay the
process – the present Armenian government will never give back its
controlled territories until the problem of Karabakh’s
self-determination is solved.

Armenia will not concede just for the conflict to be settled soon. The
same is for Karabakh’s de jure inclusion into Azerbaijan. The process
will go on until Armenia attains a solution meeting its interests and
the interests of its people. Azerbaijan’s current aggression is the
result of Armenia’s successful diplomacy. Azerbaijan is panicking and
is rushing from one international organization to another.

FIRST LADIES OF ARMENIA AND GEORGIA VISIT NATIONAL ONCOLOGICAL CENTER

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 2. ARMINFO. The first ladies of Georgia and Armenia
Sandra Elizabeth Rulofs and Bella Kocharyan visited today the National
Oncological Center in Yerevan.

Rulofs said that Georgia also has a big oncological center so the
countries can tightly cooperate in the sphere particularly through
joint training workshops.

The director of the center Hayrapet Galstyan said that the center
treats 4,000 patients a year this including surgery, chemical therapy,
x-ray therapy. Its equipment is modernized every year.

Last year IAEA provided the center with diagnostic eqiupment and a
linear accelerator worth $1.5 mln. This allows the center to
effectively detect cancer at early stages – 12%-13% detection rate
against 5% last year. Galstyan says that in Armenia there are 30,000
people who were cured of cancer over 10 year ago. The cancer rate is
low in Armenia compared with other countries. 160 patients per 100,000
people against 450 ones in other countries.

Rulofs also visited American Rehabilitation Center. Friday she will
visit Yerevan State University, meet with Catholicos of All Armenians
Garegin II and go to the Armenian Genocide Complex.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

–Boundary_(ID_GwpyiPwstUuZvUYug784pw)
Content-typ e: message/rfc822

From: [email protected]
Subject: An Interesting Book on Armenian Assessment of Sevres Treaty

AN INTERESTING BOOK ON ARMENIAN ASSESSMENT OF SEVRES TREATY

Azg/arm
3 Dec 04

“Gitutyun” publishing house issued young historian Avag Harutyunian’s
book under the title of “The Treaty of Sèvres and Armenian
Social-Political Thought” in November of the current year.

As it is known there have always been and still are diverse opinions and
assessments among Armenian thinkers as regards the Sèvres Treaty, the
Armenian Cause and Armenia’s orientations in general. Today when the
rivalry between the super powers for our region aggravates this issue
may help us to make right decisions. Mr. Harutyunian’s book largely
supports in the search for solution to this national issue.

The book is composed of 6 sections: prologue, epilogue and 4 chapters.

The 1st chapter is titled “Diplomatic and National Discussions of the
Armenian cause”. It contains 2 parts examining activities of Armenian
delegation at the Paris peace conference and the evaluation of the act
on United Armenia issued by the Armenian government on May 28 of 1919.
The author unveils the subjective and political reasons of discord
between the National and RA government delegations (Poghos Nubar pasha
is accused of subjectivism).

The 2nd chapter is an analysis of the Sèvres Treaty. After presenting
the history of the Treaty, Mr. Harutyunian turns to the political,
juridical and geo-economical analysis of the Treaty. Geo-economical
aspect of the Treaty has never been studied before. The author proves
that the Treaty “contained deliberate confusion in the key issues” and
that “the fact that Republic of Armenia was absent at the negotiations
could be a reason for nullifying Lausanne Treaty in so much that
Armenia’s rights are violated”.

The 4th chapter of the book deals with the evaluation of the Sèvres
Treaty as different Armenian political flows saw it. The party in power,
Armenian Revolutionary Party, had discords within the party itself.
Approaches of Liberal Democratic Party and of the socialist camp to the
Sèvres Treaty and the Armenian Cause are discussed in separate parts.

In the epilogue of the book Mr. Harutyunian deals with controversial
views on the Treaty existing today. He thinks that the fact that Turks
are so worried about the possibility of the Sèvres Treaty to float to
the surface means that it indeed “may possibly emerge on the political
arena”. The major lesson to learn from the Sèvres Treaty is this: “If
you want to see the Sèvres Treaty realized, get ready for struggle
because no one, above all Turks, will give you lands”.

The main deficiency of the book is that the author did not use foreign
sources otherwise some issues would find solution. For instance, the
author assigns all blame on Olti and Koghb Kurds for joining the Turks
during the Armenian-Turkish war of 1920 forgetting about the role of
Armenian bashibozuks in Kurds’ orientation. Mr. Harutyunian writes that
“the Treaty would not lose its force but for the treason of Russia and
western powers” forgetting that on the previous page he mentioned that
“Armenia was not able to liberate `Wilson’s’ territories on his own”.

By Gevorg Yaztchian

ARCHEOLOGISTS COME ACROSS RICH FINDINGS IN CHURCH OF HANDABERD, NAGORNO
KARABAKH

Azg/arm
3 Dec 04

A group of archeologists from the Institute of Archeology within the
National Academy Sciences together with professors from Yerevan
Polytechnic Institute and Nagorno Karabakh state university carried
out excavations in the area of Handaberd monastery in Karabakh in
August of the current year. The undertaking was financed by the
Harutyunians from New Jersey, USA.

The major aim of the excavation was to prepare way for multifold
researches as well as to partially reconstruct the
monument. Historical documents inform that most of the buildings of
the monastery were built in 1276 AD by father Davit. Architectural
investigation indicates that the monastery was built around a
chapel. The monument differs from other classic Armenian churches with
construction methods and materials and allows the observers to
understand the architecture of 13-14th centuries.

As a result of the excavations there were found khachkars
(cross-stones), tombstones and documents dating back to 12-14
centuries. The found numerous pieces of inscriptions evidence that
literacy was widespread in Armenia. A khachkar with an engraved
horseman holding a spear in one hand and a goblet in the other is a
unique find. The examination of khachkars found in Artsakh show that
people of Artsakh always revered defenders of the motherland.

Stiffened pieces of stone found during the excavation were stated to
be flints after examinations carried out at the Archeological
Institute. The flint can be worked out only artificially and in high
temperatures. All the findings will be resting at the Archeological
till the end of the excavations and the construction of Karabakh’s
would-be museum.

Prepared by Ruzan Poghosian