PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V. Rev. Fr. Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
HIS HOLINESS ARAM I RECEIVES THE DELEGATION
OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES USA
Antelias, Lebanon – On Saturday, January 22, 2005, His Holiness Catholicos
Aram I received a delegation of the National Council of Churches USA at the
Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia, Antelias-Lebanon. The representatives of
the Middle East Council of Churches and His Grace Bishop Nareg Alemezian
(Ecumenical Officer) were also in attendance. The delegation is visiting the
Middle East to be acquainted with the situation more closely and to express
its solidarity to the peace process.
His Holiness shared with his guests the emerging religious, social and
political concerns in Lebanon and the Middle East and underlined the
importance of overcoming violence and establishing a peaceful society
enhanced by Christian-Muslim long-standing co-existence.
His Holiness spoke about the challenges facing the ecumenical movement and
identified areas where the Churches should co-operate and support each
other. His Holiness underlined that ecumenical advocacy and solidarity
should be expressed through the tangible actions and continuous support of
Churches towards each other. “We do not live in isolation. Global, regional
and local challenges are inter-connected and we need to adopt a policy of
facing them together and responsibly. In this respect, the role of the
Churches should be expressed as bridge-builders and promoters of dialogue
and collaboration, and the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is strongly
committed to this principle” underlined His Holiness.
Referring to the situation in Iraq and Jerusalem, His Holiness reminded all
the Churches and especially the USA Churches to encourage their governments
to work for peace and justice all over the world and to embark on the
establishment of communities living in an atmosphere of mutual respect and
trust. “The Armenians in the Holy Land and Iraq are integral part of the
population of these countries who are the focus of our prayers and
attention. We are sharing all the difficulties in the region and
contributing to the peace process with a firm commitment to the
Christian-Muslim co-existence and the promotion of the common values that
have sustained us for centuries,” stated His Holiness.
The delegation expressed its gratitude for this opportunity and invited His
Holiness to address the National Council of Churches USA Board meeting in
October, in New York.
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View printable pictures here:
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The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the Ecumenical
activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.
From: Baghdasarian

PERMANENT MISSION OF ARMENIA TO THE UNITED NATIONS
Contact: Dziunik AGHAJANIAN
Minister-Counsellor
Deputy Permanent Representative
119 East 36th Street, New York, NY 10016, USA
Tel: 1-212-686-9079
Fax: 1-212-686-3934
Mobile: 1-917-940-5665
STATEMENT
by H.E. Mr. Vartan Oskanian
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia
to the 28th Special Session
of the UN General Assembly
Mr. President
Your Excellencies
Dear Friends,
On behalf of the people and government of Armenia, and as a descendant of
genocide survivors, I feel compelled to be here today, to join other
survivors and descendants, of both victims and perpetrators, to take part in
this commemoration. I am also duty-bound to urge us all to confront more
effectively the threat of genocide anywhere, at any time, regardless of cost
and political discomfort.
The liberation of Auschwitz is, indeed, cause for commemorative celebration.
However, in this commemoration, with each uttering of the name Auschwitz, we
are forced to reflect: to look back, look around, look deep, look at the
other, but also look inward, at ourselves.
After 9/11 and reacting to the unusually high number of victims of a
singular event, an editorialist proclaimed “We are all Americans”. Sympathy,
solidarity, anxiety, and indignation bound us together. How much more
intense our feelings about Auschwitz and the singularity of its horror, its
synonymity with the technology of death-making, its eerily ordinary
commitment to efficiency, to pragmatic, effective, result-oriented
administration.
After Auschwitz, we are all Jews, we are all Gypsies, we are all unfit,
deviant and undesirable, for someone, somewhere. After Auschwitz, the
conscience of man cannot remain the same. Man’s inhumanity to men, to women,
to children, and to the elderly, is no longer a concept in search of a name,
an image, a description. Auschwitz lends its malefic aura to all the
Auschwitzes of history, our collective history, both before and after.
In the 20th century alone, with its 15 genocides, the victims have their own
names for places of infamy. What the French call ‘les lieux infames de
memoire’ are everywhere. Places of horror, slaughter, of massacre, of the
indiscriminate killing of all those who have belonged to a segment, a
category, an ethnic group, a race or a religion. For Armenians, it is the
desert of Deir-El-Zor, for Cambodians they are the killing fields, for the
children of the 21st century, it is Darfur. For the Jews and Poles and for a
whole generation of us growing up after The War, it is Auschwitz.
Mr. President,
Just as we all were, or are, or might be victims, we all were or are or
might also be guilty. It is only through the engagement of those who have
seen and done the unimaginable, and who have had the dignity, the grace, the
sensitivity, the decency and courage to acknowledge wrongdoing, that we may
achieve the requisite collective political will and its expression.
This is not as naïve, unrealistic, idealistic as some might wish to label
it, perhaps in order to dismiss it. Genocide is not about individuals who
act insanely, do evil, commit crimes, perpetrate irrevocable wrongs.
Genocide is the undertaking of a state apparatus, which must, by definition,
act coherently, pragmatically, with structure and organization.
Thus, this is not a plea to reform human beings, but an appeal to take
conscious account of the role of our national institutions and international
institutions must play to insure that no one can expect to enjoy impunity.
After Auschwitz one would expect that no one any longer has a right to turn
a blind eye or a deaf ear. As an Armenian, I know that a blind eye, a deaf
ear and a muted tongue perpetuate the wounds. It is a memory of suffering
unrelieved by strong condemnation and unequivocal recognition. The catharsis
that the victims deserve, which societies require in order to heal and move
forward together, obligates us here at the UN, and in the international
community, to be witness, to call things by their name, to remove the veil
of obfuscation, of double standards, of political expediency.
Mr. Presidents,
Following the Tsunami-provoked disaster, we have become painfully aware of a
paradox. On the one hand, multilateral assistance efforts were massive,
swift, generous and without discrimination. But, when compared and
contrasted with today’s other major tragedy, in Africa, it is plain that for
Darfur, formal and ritual condemnation has not been followed by any
dissuasive action against the perpetrators.
The difference with the Tsunami, of course, was that there were no
perpetrators. No one wielded the sword, pulled the trigger or pushed the
button that released the gas.
Recognizing the victims and acknowledging them is also to recognize that
there are perpetrators. But this is absolutely not the same as actually
naming them, shaming them, dissuading or warning them, isolating or
punishing them.
If these observations signal a certain naiveté that overlooks the enduring
structures of our political and security interests, then, on this occasion,
when we have gathered to commemorate this horrible event, then allow me this
one question: if not here and now, then where and when?
Mr. President,
The Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana, who has been quoted here,
admonished us to remember the past, or be condemned to repeat it. This
admonition has significance for me personally, because the destruction of my
people, whose fate in some way impinged upon the fate of the Jews of Europe,
should have been viewed more widely seen as a warning of things to come.
Jews and Armenians are linked forever by Hitler. Who, after all, speaks
today of the annihilation of the Armenians? said Adolf Hitler, days before
he entered Poland.
Hitler’s cynical remembrance of Armenians is prominently displayed in the
Holocaust Memorial in Washington because it is profound commentary about the
crucial role of third parties in genocide prevention and remembrance.
Genocide is the manifestation of the break in the covenant that governments
have with their peoples. Therefore, it is third parties who become crucial
actors in genocide prevention, humanitarian assistance and genocide
remembrance.
We are commemorating today, because the Soviet troops marched into Auschwitz
60 years ago. I am here today because the Arabs provided sanctuary to
Armenian deportees 90 years ago.
Third parties, indeed, can make the difference between life and death. Their
rejection of the behaviors and policies which are neither in anyone’s
national interest nor in humanity’s international interest, is of immense
moral and political value.
What neighbors, well-wishers, the international community can’t accomplish,
is the transcending and reconciling which the parties must do for
themselves. The victims, first, must exhibit the dignity, capacity and
willingness to move on, and the perpetrators, first and last, must summon
the deep force of humanity and goodness and must overcome the memory of the
inner evil which had already prevailed, and must renounce the deed, its
intent, its consequences, its architects and executors.
Auschwitz signifies the worst of hate, of indifference, of dehumanization.
Remembrance of Auschwitz and its purpose, however abhorrent, is a vital step
to making real the phrase “Never Again”.
Thank you.

PRESS RELEASE
ARMENIAN PATRIARCHATE
TR-34480 Kumkapi, Istanbul
Tel: +90 (212) 517-0970
Fax: +90 (212) 516-4833
[email protected]

ARMENIAN PATRIARCHATE TAKES LEGAL ACTION TO KEEP MELKONIAN INSTITUTE OPEN

CONTACT: RAFFI ZINZALIAN
951-453-9917
On behalf of Melkonian alumni, around the world, the Patriarch of the
Armenian Patriarchate of Turkey, Mesrob Mutafyan, as the original trustee of
the Melkonian gift, filed a lawsuit on January 13, 2005, with the Superior
Court of the State of California, against The Armenian General Benevolent
Union seeking to continue the Institute as the premier Armenian educational
facility in the world and enforce the terms of the Garabed Melkonian Trust.
The suit will be prosecuted by MacCarley & Rosen, PLC of Los Angeles,
California.

Devoted alumni from around the world have banded together to oppose the
closing of their beloved Melkonian Educational Institute, a treasure of
Armenian culture and education in Nicosia, Cyprus. Using the proceeds of a
large financial gift from Garabed Melkonian, a benefactor, the Armenian
Patriarch of Constantinople, Zaven Der Yeghyayan, in 1923 established the
Melkonian Educational Institute in Cyprus. It has nurtured three generations
of Armenian teachers, educators, lawyers, doctors, poets, scientists, and
leaders. Its location in Cyprus puts it at the crossroads of the Armenian
culture-between the Armenia homeland and the millions of Armenians who have
immigrated to Europe and the America’s.

In 1925, the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople with Garabed Melkonian’s
concurrence thereafter conveyed the entire gift, including the Melkonian
Educational Institute, in trust to the Armenian General Benevolent Union,
with the express direction and expectation that the AGBU would maintain the
Institute in Cyprus and continue to educate Armenian youth long into the
future. The Melkonian School now educates over 200 students from throughout
the world every year at its 40 acre campus in Nicosia.

The AGBU has recently announced that the Melkonian Institute will be closed
at the end of the 2005 school year. Melkonian graduates from around the
world have united in vigorous opposition to any effort to sell off the
School and to do injustice to Garabed Melkonian’s vision and foresight. So
far, individual calls to AGBU to retain the school have gone unanswered.

PRESS RELEASE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of Australia & New Zealand
10 Macquarie Street
Chatswood NSW 2067
AUSTRALIA
Contact: Laura Artinian
Tel: (02) 9419-8056
Fax: (02) 9413-1709
Email: [email protected]
24 January 2005
REMEMBERING THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VICTIMS OF BAKU & AZERBAIJAN
Sydney, Australia – On Sunday, 23 January, 2005, a solemn requiem service
was held during the Divine Liturgy in memory of the many hundreds of
Armenians killed in the course of the pogroms in Baku, Sumgait and other
regions of Azerbaijan in January 1990. The commemoration of the victims was
observed by Armenian churches worldwide at the call of His Holiness Karekin
II Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.
In his sermon, His Eminence Archbishop Aghan Baliozian, Primate of the
Diocese of Australia and New Zealand remembered the tragic events that led
to the campaign of persecution directed at the Armenians of Baku. As
history shows, the sacrifice of life is not uncommon for the Armenian people
but the memorial of Armenian martyrs will remain forever in the fibre of the
Armenian identity. Archbishop Aghan called on the voices of power to
condemn and remedy the injustices that were executed upon the Armenian
victims of Azerbaijan.
The congregation was led in prayer for the repose of the souls of these
victims.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
January 23, 2005 Sunday 8:22 AM Eastern Time
Visit by FM to Baku to help discuss reforming CIS-spokesman
BAKU, January 23
A visit by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Baku on February 1-2
“will help to discuss several questions on reforming the CIS”, along
with bilateral relations and pressing international problems, said
here on Sunday Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander
Yakovenko.
According to spokesman, Russia “heads this work in the Commonwealth
and now collects proposals from member countries”. Yakovenko noted
that Lavrov “plans to visit in the near future all the CIS states for
such discussion. For instance the diplomat noted, a trip to Georgia
is planned for February. “There are plans on visits to other
countries as well,” Yakovenko noted.
“The situation in ‘flash spots’, including Nagorno-Karabakh, will be
one of topics for talks of the Russian minister in Azerbaijan.
“Russia is a member of the Minsk Group,” Yakovenko noted. “We believe
that it is necessary to reach understandings and to follow
attentively processes in the region.”
He reported that “important events are in store” in the life of the
two countries. “2005 is Year of Azerbaijan in Russia, while 2006 –
Year of Russia in Azerbaijan.” “We are interested in consolidating
bilateral cooperation,” Yakovenko emphasized.
Speaking in Baku on Sunday at the roundtable “Russia and Azerbaijan.
United information space: issues and prospects”, the diplomat
reported that he “held today first consultations on information
coverage of foreign policy”. For instance he discussed cooperation on
such topics as struggle against terrorism, organized crime and drug
trafficking.
The spokesman underlined importance of “promoting objective
information on the contribution of our countries to the Victory in
the Great Patriotic War, 1941-1945”.

All-Women Games open in Iran
By NASSER KARIMI
.c The Associated Press
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – About 600 women from 17 countries will participate
in the All-Women Games for Muslim and Asian Capitals, and men will be
barred from watching all but one of the events.
The only sport that will be open to all spectators is shooting, the
lone event in which women’s bodies will be completely covered. Other
sports at the weeklong competition – which has drawn athletes from
countries including Afghanistan, Armenia, Iraq and Thailand – include
athletics and swimming.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran promotes women sports while it
safeguards cultural values,” parliament speaker Gholam Ali Haddad
Adel said to about 10,000 men and women attending Sunday’s opening
ceremony.
“We like to prove to the world women could compete and observe the
Islamic dress code as well.”
In the past, Iranian female athletes were restricted from
participating in sporting events because of their country’s strict
dress code. In public, Iranian women are required to wear baggy
smocks and head scarves in line with strict Islamic teachings. More
traditional women cover themselves with chadors, or loose unsewn black
sheets.
Iran also bars mixed competition and restricts mingling between
unrelated males and females in public.
Iranian women have often participated in international shooting or
chess competitions, where they can keep their headscarves and
full-length outfits. Iranian women took part in the shooting events
at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and the 2000 Sydney Games.
Conservative clerics have opposed women in sports, but moderates have
succeeded in promoting the idea, gradually convincing some members of
the conservative camp to soften their opposition.
Iran co-organized the Muslim Women Games with other Muslim countries
in the mid-1990s, and hosted the Third Muslim Women Games in 2001.
01/23/05 17:48 EST

SwissInfo, Suisse
Dimanche, 23 janvier 2005

France: l’UDF en congrès vote pour la Constitution européenne

PARIS – Quelque 2000 élus et militants du parti français de
centre-droit UDF ont entériné leur volonté de faire campagne pour le
“oui” au référendum sur la Constitution européenne. Ils ont réaffirmé
leur opposition à une adhésion de la Turquie à l’UE.
Les participants ont approuvé samedi soir à une écrasante majorité,
lors d’un vote à main levée, un texte disant que “l’UDF partage
l’inquiétude de ceux qui voient dans l’élargissement à des pays non
européens comme la Turquie un risque de dissolution du projet
européen”.
L’UDF “considère que la perspective d’un partenariat privilégié
aurait dû figurer dans l’accord d’ouverture des négociations (avec la
Turquie), exigeant en même temps la reconnaissance de Chypre, du
génocide arménien” et de la question kurde par Ankara, poursuit le
texte adopté à l’issue d’un débat.
Le document stipule aussi que “plus il y a risque de dissolution,
plus vite il faut rendre l’Europe solidaire et démocratique. L’UDF
votera donc oui et fera campagne résolument pour le oui au référendum
sur la Constitution européenne”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Donald Kuspit To Speak on Arshile Gorky
ArtDaily.com
January 21, 2005
LOS ANGELES, CA.- Donald Kuspit, one of America’s most distinguished
art critics, is making a rare speaking appearance in Los Angeles at
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, 357 N. La Brea Ave., on Friday, January 28,
7:30 p.m. Dr. Kuspit will present “A Discussion on Arshile Gorky”, on
whom he has written and lectured extensively.
In his roles as a critic, art historian, author of countless articles
and more than twenty books, Donald Kuspit is among the most respected,
prolific and at times provocative commentators on modern and
contemporary art.
Donald Kuspit is Professor of Art History at Stony Brook University,
New York. Winner of the prestigious Frank Jewett Mather Award for
Distinction in Art Criticism given by the College Art Association, he
is a Contributing Editor at Artforum, Sculpture, and Tema Celeste
magazines, the Editor of Art Criticism, and on the advisory board of
Centennial Review.
“An Evening with Donald Kuspit” at Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, 357 N. La
Brea Ave. in Los Angeles is sponsored by the Hans G. and Thordis
W. Burkhardt Foundation and is free and open to the public, but space
is limited. This lecture is presented in conjunction with “Arshile
Gorky – The Early Years,” an exhibition of 67 works by this important
20th Century artist. The exhibition extends through February 26. Those
wishing to attend should R.S.V.P. to (323) 938-5222 to reserve
seating.
;int_new=12396

HEAD OF GUGARK DIOCESE AWARDED WITH GOLD MEDAL AFTER FRIDTJOF NANSEN
YEREVAN, January 21 (Noyan Tapan). Bishop Ter Sepuh Chuljian, the Head
of the Gugark Diocese, was awarded with a gold medal after Fridtjof
Nansen. According to the press divan of the Gugark Diocese, Felix
Bakhchinian, the Chairman of the “Fridtjof Nansen” Foundation, handed
the medal to the holy father. The medal awarding ceremony was solemnly
held at the residence of the Gugark Diocese with the participation of
the clergymen of the Diocese.

SENATOR CHUCK POOCHIGIAN HONORED AT LOS ANGELES AREA DINNER FOR
CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL CAMPAIGN
LOS ANGELES, January 19 (Noyan Tapan). California State Senator Chuck
Poochigian (R-Fresno) was honored at a dinner in support of his
campaign for Attorney General held at Sheraton Universal Hotel in
Universal City on Thursday, January 13, 2005. The dinner program
featured California’s 35th Governor, George Deukmejian, who also
served as Attorney General. Dr. Joan Otomo-Corgel, a longtime
Poochigian family friend was the emcee for the event. Governor
Deukmejian was introduced by former California Congressman and
Assemblyman Steve Kuykendall. Governor Deukmejian offered remarks on
the history and importance of the office of Attorney General and
praised Poochigian and his wife, Debbie, for their work in government
and politics. He warmly introduced Senator Poochigian to approximately
500 enthusiastic dinner guests. Senator Poochigian spoke about his
preparation for the office beginning with his work as a member of the
senior staff to Governors Deukmejian and Pete Wilson. His
responsibilities had included considerable work in assisting in the
selection of members of the judiciary and seeking men and women for
appointment who were highly respected, hard-working, and committed to
the rule of law. He spoke of the importance of similar qualities in
the state’s chief law officer who, in the ideal, should judiciously
carry out the duties of the office. Senator Poochigian spoke about the
challenges of conducting a statewide race and the necessity of having
strong involvement of committed supporters throughout California. He
encouraged guests to actively participate in the campaign and to
encourage others to join in the effort. Entertainment was provided by
Fred Travalena, a renowned singer, impressionist, comedian and song
writer who has performed internationally on stage and screen. Jill
Simonian, who is a television host of World Entertainment Connections,
sang the National Anthem and closed the evening with a wonderful
rendition of America the Beautiful. First elected to the Legislature
in 1994, Chuck Poochigian has in the course of two Assembly and Senate
terms, represented Central California from Bakersfield to the
Sacramento county line. He has been in the leadership of the
Republican Caucus for his entire time in the Legislature – beginning
in his first term when he chaired the Appropriations Committee and was
named “Republican Rookie of the Year” (in a class of 22). He has had a
distinguished legislative career with many important legislative
accomplishments in the fields of education, business and law
enforcement. Most recently, he was the author of comprehensive
legislation sponsored by Governor Schwarzenegger to reform
California’s workers’ compensation system.