Pope Condemns Use of Religion for Violence

.c The Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope John Paul II received Muslim, Orthodox
Christian and Jewish religious leaders from Azerbaijan, calling their
visit Thursday a symbol of tolerance and declaring that religion must
never be used for violent aims.

“No one has the right to present or use religion as an instrument of
intolerance, as a means of aggression, of violence, of death,” the
pope told the group.

Christians, Muslims and Jews must appeal together for an end to
violence in the world “with justice for all,” he said.

“This is the way of religions,” he said.

The audience was scheduled to repay the pope’s 2002 trip to
Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic and mainly Muslim nation with a
Roman Catholic population of only 300 people.

The Vatican said the pope wanted to hold up Azerbaijan as an example
of coexistence and cooperation among religions and express hope that
“a full peace in the spirit of reconciliation” may be achieved in
the region – a reference to the country’s conflict with Armenia over
Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave.

A cease-fire ended fighting in 1994 after some 30,000 people were
killed and more than 1 million people fled their homes.

11/18/04 09:16 EST

Margaret Thatcher’s Son Charged in Plot

By RODRIGO ANGUE NGEUMA MBA
.c The Associated Press

MALABO, Equatorial Guinea (AP) – Equatorial Guinea prosecutors
confirmed Thursday they have charged Mark Thatcher, son of former
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, in an alleged coup plot in
the oil-rich west African nation.

Thatcher is accused of having helped finance the coup attempt,
Attorney General Jose Olo Obono said.

Thatcher was added to the existing list of 19 other defendants, all
accused mercenaries, on Tuesday, Obono said.

Equatorial Guinea intends to seek Thatcher’s extradition, a legal
official close to the government’s case told The Associated Press
earlier this week.

Equatorial Guinea alleges Thatcher and other, mainly British
financiers, worked with Equatorial Guinea opposition figures, scores
of South African mercenaries, and six Armenian pilots in a takeover
plot here.

The coup plotters intended to force out the 25-year regime of
President Teodoro Obiang, installing an exiled opposition figure in
his stead as a figurehead leader for Africa’s No. 3 oil producer,
Equatorial Guinea claims.

The alleged plot was exposed in March by South African intelligence
services, and scores of accused mercenaries arrested here and in
Zimbabwe.

Thatcher was arrested in August at his home in South Africa.

Trial resumed Thursday, with prosecutors’ lead witness formally facing
the death penalty after repudiating his alleged confessions in the
case in court on Tuesday.

11/18/04 06:45 EST

AGBU Montreal
has the pleasure of inviting you to an
exhibit of recent works by world-renowned artist
ROUDOLF KHARATIAN
November 26 to 28, 2004

VERNISSAGE FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26 at 8:00 p.m.
The exhibit continues
Saturday, November 27
and Sunday, November 27
from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
at the
AGBU Alex Manoogian Center
Dervishian Hall
805 Manoogian Street
St-Laurent, QC
514.748.2428

See attached flyer, and feel free to invite
friends and family. All are welcome.

Biographical Information:

Roudolf Kharatian is a native of Yerevan, Armenia where he studied at
the Yerevan School of Fine Arts. In America, Kharatian’s works have
been included in individual, group and juried exhibitions in
Washington, DC at the Foundry Gallery, the International Monetary Fund
(IMF), the Fannie Mae Foundation Gallery of the Washington Ballet, the
Embassy of Armenia, Art-O-Matic 2000, HNTB Architecture, Hamazkayin
Cultural and Educational Association, Touchstone Gallery, Art-O-Matic
2002, Roulette Gallery, the Embassy of Russia’s Russian Cultural
Center and the Maryland College of Art and Design; in Frederick,
Maryland at the Delaplaine Visual Arts Center; in Montreal, Canada at
the Tekeyan Cultural Center; and in St. Petersburg, Russia at the
Gorohovaya Gallery. Kharatian’s works are in private collections in
the United States, Canada, France, Great Britain, South Africa and
Armenia.

Mr. Kharatian has also had an illustrious career in dance. His ballets
have been performed on many stages worldwide including the Kennedy
Center, Lincoln Center, the Salle Pleyel in Paris, the Place des Arts
in Montreal, and many others. Artist Emeritus Kharatian holds a
Master’s Degree in Choreography and Stage Production and is the
recipient of three Maryland State Arts Council Awards for Choreography
(1997, 1999 and 2001). He is currently on the faculty of the
Washington Ballet and is the founder and Artistic Director of ARKA
Ballet.

Dance biography:

Choreographer and Master Teacher Roudolf Kharatian was principal
dancer with the National Ballet of Armenia from 1967 to 1990,
performing all the great leading roles of the classical repertoire. A
star of five films, he also toured extensively with the Bolshoi Ballet
and Stars of Russian Ballet. From 1979 to 1991, he was Artistic
Director of the Chamber Ballet of Armenia.

A graduate of the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg,
Mr. Kharatian also holds a Master’s Degree in Choreography and Stage
Production from the Moscow University of Theater Arts. Artist Emeritus
Kharatian has received numerous medals and awards as dancer,
choreographer and teacher including consecutive Maryland State Arts
Council Individual Artist Awards for Choreography (1997, 1999,
2001). Under his coaching, many of his students have won gold at the
most prestigious international ballet competitions.

A frequent guest teacher, Mr. Kharatian has taught the Kirov Ballet,
the Boston Ballet, the Washington Ballet, the Debra Colker Dance
Company, among others. His ballets have been performed on many stages
worldwide including the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, the Salle
Pleyel in Paris, the Place des Arts in Montreal. His choreographic
credits include full-length story ballets and countless one-act
ballets and concert pieces. Mr. Kharatian served on the faculty of
Washington’s Kirov Academy before joining the Washington School of
Ballet faculty in 1994. He is also the founder and Artistic Director
of ARKA Ballet in Washington, D.C.

In addition to his work in ballet, Roudolf Kharatian is also an
accomplished visual artist. His works are in private collections in
the United States, Canada, France, Great Britain, South Africa and
Armenia.

Web sites to check out: and

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Postimees web site, Tallinn, in Estonian
18 Nov 04

Newspaper questions consistency of Estonian foreign policy

Vacillating between idealistic and realistic strands is no good for
Estonian foreign policy, the Estonian newspaper Postimees has said,
adding that there should be greater coordination and clarity on this
front. The comments came in the wake of President Arnold Ruutel’s
statement in Yerevan where he called on Turkey to apologize for the
1915 genocide in Armenia. The following is the text of the
newspaper’s editorial published on its web site on 18 November:

The statement of President Arnold Ruutel in Armenia about the fact
that Turkey should apologize for the 1915 Armenian genocide is
evidence of eternal twitching between the Estonian idealistic and
realistic foreign policies.

Having suffered from a Soviet genocide as a small country, Estonia is
under a moral obligation to fight for human rights and against crimes
against humanity. Estonia is expecting that Russia should apologize
for its acts of violence. It is only natural that we should voice our
opinions on other issues as well, for example, on the Turkish
genocide of the Armenians in 1915.

However, this is where doubt creeps in. The Armenians think that 1.5m
people died as a result of the Turkish policy of genocide. Turkey
thinks that the number is perhaps up to 0.5m and there were dead on
both sides. It seems, however, that, in the eyes of the world, Turkey
is to blame.

But if we say so of Turkey, where is the Estonian position, for
example, on the occupation of Tibet or the independence of Taiwan?
Would Ruutel issue a statement in China to say that China needs to
end its occupation of Tibet? Once Estonia has accepted that
idealistic foreign policy is its aim we would have to go the whole
way.

The issue of Turkey, however, brings in the issue of realistic
foreign policy. Turkey has been one of the biggest supporters of
Estonia in NATO and Estonia has voiced support for the start of
accession talks between Turkey and the EU. Undoubtedly, Ruutel’s
statement on the Armenian genocide will result in a negative reaction
from Turkey and our diplomats will have to explain what it was the
president wanted to say. Let us recall the statement from Justice
Minister Ken-Marti Vaher on the subject of the Kurds.

The problem is even broader, since the consensus over the
implementation of Estonian foreign policy that existed to a degree
quickly started to crumble once we joined the EU. Different
individuals say different things on foreign policy. The most recent
example was the public debate between Prime Minister Juhan Parts and
Foreign Minister Kristiina Ojuland as to when Estonia should be the
country holding EU presidency. It ended with the prime minister’s
victory.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has refrained from statements on the
subject of the Armenian genocide. Now a presidential statement has
come. Arnold Ruutel has had his say on the Armenian genocide; it is
the diplomats’ turn next. One would still like to hope that Estonia
should be more coordinated and unambiguous in pursuing its foreign
policy (whatever its content).

Mediamax news agency, Yerevan, in Russian
18 Nov 04

Greek telecom company signs “reconciliation agreement” with Armenian
government

YEREVAN

The management of the Greek company OTE Greece’s Telecommunications
Organization signed a reconciliation agreement with the Armenian
government on disputable points in the activities of the ArmenTel
company on 17 November.

Justice Minister David Arutyunyan, who represents the interests of
the government in the negotiations on this issue, said this in
Yerevan today, a Mediamax parliamentary correspondent reports.

Arutyunyan signed this document on 13 November. He said that the
ArmenTel management would sign the agreement today. It will come into
force immediately after that.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azg, Yerevan, in Armenian
18 Nov 04

Armenia displeased with new Council of Europe rapporteur’s Karabakh
report

Excerpt from Tatul Akopyan’s report by Armenian newspaper Azg on 18
November headlined “Atkinson submits a report prepared by Davis” and
subheaded “Azerbaijan is pleased with the new rapporteur on Karabakh,
but Armenia is not”

Yesterday’s session of the political commission of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe PACE in Paris had to discuss David
Atkinson’s report on the Karabakh issue along with other reports.

In his interview with the Baku newspaper Ekho, a member of the
Azerbaijani delegation at PACE, Aydin Mirzazade, said that if the
report is based on that of the former Karabakh rapporteur Terry
Davis, who is now secretary-general of the Council of Europe, it will
be acceptable to Azerbaijan and unbiased.

Two days ago 16 November , Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan
told journalists in the parliament that Atkinson had almost copied
Davis’s report. “There is a number of points in the document, which I
think should be changed, as they do not express reality correctly. It
would be better to change them for the report to become more
balanced,” Vardan Oskanyan said.

At the press conference held earlier on 22 September, Oskanyan
described Terry Davis’s report on Karabakh as unacceptable and
causing anxiety. “Today this report has no legal status, it is still
a subject of discussion, the rapporteur has changed, a
newly-appointed one should prepare his report, he may ground on
Davis’s report or may ignore it.” Oskanyan described the statements
made up till now by Karabakh rapporteur Atkinson as not being
pro-Armenian.

Undoubtedly, Atkinson was forced to make only some changes to the
report prepared by Davis, as he could not prepare a new one in two
months. In that period of time, he did not visit the region,
including Karabakh.

Passage omitted: Atkinson once visited Karabakh in 1993; On the
whole, the view existing in Armenia that the British MP is
pro-Azerbaijani is not true

Along with Vardan Oskanyan, the deputy chairman of the National
Assembly, Vaan Ovanesyan, also publicly expressed a negative reaction
to Atkinson. And this happened when Atkinson’s report was not ready
yet. Atkinson is not obliged to read the Armenian press, but it is
difficult to rule out that he is not aware of the negative view that
developed around his name in Armenia. Armenia is displeased with
Atkinson’s appointment instead of making contacts with him.

Earlier, the deputy chairman of the National Assembly said that
Davis’s report on Karabakh had no legal force and had only a
consultative nature.

Undoubtedly, Atkinson’s report will also have no real force, but it
will be of political and propaganda significance. Especially as
Atkinson’s report, which is a copy of Davis’s report, contains a
number of inadmissible words like “ethnic cleansing”, “part of
Azerbaijani land is occupied, and separatists control Karabakh” and
so on.

Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku, in Azeri
18 Nov 04

Azeri border guards deport Bulgarian journalist of Armenian descent

Presenter Azerbaijani border guards have barred a Bulgarian citizen
with an Armenian surname from entering the country. Eduard Papazyan,
who intended to visit Baku as a member of the Bulgarian national
football team, was sent back straight from the airport.

The leadership of the State Border Service explained that ethnic
Armenians are not allowed to enter the country due to possible acts
of sabotage in Azerbaijan.

Reporter over video of airport Ethnic Armenian journalist Eduard
Papazyan was among the fans that arrived in Baku on the same flight
as the Bulgarian national football team. The border guards detained
this person, who has an Armenian surname, during a passport check at
the border checkpoint at Bina airport. Eduard Papazyan was deported
following an investigation in line with the regulations.

Despite the journalist’s protests, the State Border Service assesses
the move to bar Eduard Papazyan from entering the country as quite a
natural event. The press service of the State Border Service told ATV
that the major reason is that there are no guarantees for the
security of these people. Apart from this, the press service stressed
that state bodies thought it advisable not to allow ethnic Armenians
to enter the country, taking account of the fact that they might
commit acts of sabotage in Azerbaijan.

BULGARIAN JOURNALIST EXPELLED FROM BAKU BECAUSE OF HIS ARMENIAN ORIGIN

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18. ARMINFO. An unprecedented scandal took place at
Baku’s Bina airport Wednesday – well-known Bulgarian journalist of
Armenian origin Eduard Papazyan was expelled from Azerbaijan just
because he is Armenian.

Former Bulgarian Ambassador to Armenia Ivan Ivanchev says that
Papazyan, who is the chief sports editor of the biggest Bulgarian
daily “24 Hours,” came to Baku to cover the friendly match of the
Bulgarian and Azeri national football teams.

The Azeri side was previously notified who was coming to cover the
match and made no objection. The Bulgarian journalists arrived in Baku
with no problems. But the moment the passport control officer saw the
“hostile” name in Papazyan’s papers he began yelling “Armenian,
Armenian!”

“Yes I am Armenian but from Plovdiv,” said Papazyan but was arrested
right away by a huge bodyguard and taken for interrogation the main
question being since when he has been a Bulgarian citizen. Papazyan
explained that even his grandfather was born in and died for Bulgaria,
that he has been representing Bulgarian sports journalism for many
years and has had no problems in civilized and even not very much
civilized countries. The last remark made “the hosts” very angry.

An official representative told Papazyan that he felt sympathy for him
but could do nothing (whispering: everything is because of
Karabakh). After that Papazyan was put onto the same plane and
expelled from the country. Now he is in Istanbul waiting for Bulgarian
visa while the Bulgarian ambassadors to Baku and Ankara are
petitioning for him.

Ivanchev says that the incident has received an enormous response in
Bulgaria especially among the local Armenian community. 24 Hours
quotes Papazyan as saying: “I thought we live in the 21st century
rather than the Middle Age. I am proud of my roots and my family and
am not going to change my name for some Azerbaijan.” Ivanchev wonders
what explanations may come from the Azeri authorities.

Vodka Lemon to be Screened in Los Angeles

LAEMMLE THEATRES Weekly Newsletter
11/17/2004

Schedule & Showtimes for Week of 11/19 through 11/25

New Films Opening 11/19

Vodka Lemon: starts FRIDAY at the FAIRFAX 3 & ONE COLORADO

In the snowy badlands of post soviet Armenia, village life is nearing
subsistence level. The Russians have long departed (along with their
subsidies), and almost all of the villages young men have gone abroad
for work. In the heart of sixtysomething year old Hamo, a handsome
widower living with his alcoholic oldest son and his beautiful
granddaughter, hope rests through his youngest son, who has recently
immigrated to France in search of work. Hamo’s sole possessions on earth
– seven dollars a month for military pension, an old armoire, a broken
soviet television set and his military suit – are barely enough to
sustain him, leaving the grizzled patriarch to spend his days awaiting
word – and money – from Paris. Biding time, Hamo finds contentment through
his daily bus trips to the local cemetery where his wife has been laid
to rest. It’s during one of these visits that Hamo notices Nina, a
beautiful fifty-year old widow who, like Hamo, is struggling to survive
the harsh conditions of life in the village following the loss of her
husband. Although an initial attraction between the two is clear, Hamo’s
loyalty to his dead wife and Nina’s shyness forestalls the two from
allowing the sparks to fly. Nina retreats to her job at the desolate
village bar, Vodka Lemon, and Hamo hustles home with hope waning that
his son in Paris has mailed him. The letter does in fact arrive but the
money Hamo is so desperate for isn’t included. Retreating back to the
cemetery, Hamo once again runs into Nina and with a few kind gestures
the two begin a September-December romance that will lead to the film’s
indelible conclusion: a Chagall-like vision of love among the ruins.

“A little gem that takes a potentially grim subject and mines it for
maximum humor and insight.” — David Stratton, VARIETY

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1 Plus | 19:25:17 | 18-11-2004 | Official |

RECONCILIATION WITH `ARMENTEL’ RATIFIED

Today Executive Power of Armenia has approved Reconciliation Agreement
concluded between Armenian Government, OTE and `ArmenTel’ JV CJSC.
Armenian Justice Minister David Harutyunyan has represented the main
clauses of it.