PRESS RELEASE
October 6, 2004
Embassy of the Republic of Armenia
2225 R Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20008
Tel: 202-319-1976, x. 348; Fax: 202-319-2982
Email: [email protected]; Web:

U.S.-Armenia Task Force Holds Meeting in Washington, DC

The ninth session of the U.S.-Armenia intergovernmental task force on
economic cooperation (USATF) was held in Washington, DC on October 4, 2004.
USATF is the format allowing discussions between the governments of the
United States and Armenia on issues of bilateral economic and related
issues, and its sessions are held on bi-annual basis. The Armenian
delegation to the Ninth Session of USATF was headed by Finance and Economy
Minister Vardan Khachatryan, and included Chairman of State Committee on
Water Management Andranik Andreasyan, Chief Economic Adviser to the
President Vahram Nercissiantz, Central Bank Chairman Tigran Sargsian,
Armenian Ambassador to the U.S., Dr. Arman Kirakossian, and officials from
the Ministries of Finance and Economy and Foreign Affairs.

The agenda for the USATF meeting included issues such as coordination and
directions of U.S. assistance programs in Armenia within the context of the
Government of Armenia’s strategy for poverty reduction and sustaining
economic growth, the current status of the Millenium Challenge Account
programs’ process in Armenia, banking sector development, business
environment, further reforms in energy sector, agriculture, and irrigation,
strengthening counterterrorism capabilities, and other issues of bilateral
concern.

Prior to the USATF session, the Armenian governmental delegation
participated in the annual Governor’s Meeting of the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund on October 2-3, 2004.

On October 3, the Embassy of Armenia hosted a reception in honor of the
Armenian delegation, with participation of officials from U.S. Government
and the international financial organizations, including CEO of the
Millennium Challenge Corporation Paul Applegarth, U.S. Ambassador to Armenia
John Evans, NSC Deputy Director for Europe and Eurasia Matthew Bryza, and
World Bank Country Director for Armenia and South Caucasus Donna
Dowset-Coirola, as well as representatives of the Armenian-American
organizations.

ARMENIAN PREMIER FOCUSES ON ECONOMIC PROJECTS AT MEETING WITH BULGARIAN HEAD

Noyan Tapan news agency
6 Oct 04

YEREVAN

Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan received Bulgarian
President Georgi Purvanov, who is on an official visit in Armenia, on
5 October.

The prime minister spoke about problems in Armenia’s integration into
Europe and in regional policy, including processes aimed at conducting
democratic reforms. He said that Armenia attached great importance to
regional cooperation, in particular, within the framework of the OSCE
and the Council of Europe. In this context, the prime minister noted
the importance of further active involvement of our country in the
economic projects being implemented under the aegis of the European
Union. He also spoke about our country’s cooperation with NATO.

The Armenian prime minister also noted that Armenia was interested in
building a road linking the South Caucasus with Europe. He,
particularly, spoke about the possibility of building joint railway
and ferry links between the (Black Sea) ports of Kavkaz and Varna,
which had been supported earlier by Bulgaria as well.

The recent developments in the Nagornyy Karabakh negotiations and the
possibility of cooperation in a number of economic fields were
discussed. The prime minister thanked the Bulgarian president for the
authorities’ benevolent attitude towards the Armenian community of
Bulgaria.

ARMENIA’S KARABAKH WAR VETERANS UNITE “TO ESTABLISH JUSTICE”

Noyan Tapan news agency
6 Oct 04

YEREVAN

A group of disabled veterans of the Karabakh liberation movement is
calling on all azatamartiks (freedom fighters) to unite to establish
justice in Armenia. The chairman of the newly-established union
Justice Fighters, Grigor Adamyan, told a press conference on 5 October
that a number of organizations had already expressed their readiness
to unite.

Adamyan’s statement said that currently freedom fighters consider it
their duty to unite against injustice reigning in the country. The
statement says that freedom fighters, who have established security
and formed the country, will not tolerate existing injustice. “Do not
compel us to establish the rule of law,” the statement reads.

(Passage omitted: the statement condemns arbitrariness and injustice
against disabled people)

CENN – OCTOBER 6, 2004 DAILY DIGEST
Table of Contents:
1. The Eurasia Foundation Georgia Office
2. Metsamor Plant Reactivated After Repairs, Refueling
3. National Oncology Center in the Limelight of State and International
Community
4. China Allocates 100mln. USD for Construction of Rubber Producing
Plant
5. Caustic Soda Production to be Set Up in Armenia
6. ExxonMobil Fails to Find Oil in the Caspian Shelf

1. VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT — THE EURASIA FOUNDATION GEORGIA OFFICE

Vacancy Announcement

Title: PMDI Program Coordinator

Under the supervision of the Country Director, the Program Officer is
responsible for developing and managing the Pipeline Monitoring and
Dialogue Initiative (PMDI). PDMI is a new Initiative implemented by
Eurasia Foundation in cooperation with BP, UNDP, IFC for building
capacity of Georgian NGO’s in Monitoring Methods for Pipeline
Construction & Operations. PDMI supports a series of activities aimed
at developing monitoring skills amongst NGOs and their members,
providing an effective channel for increased public dialogue related to
pipeline-oriented issues.

The Program coordinator will be responsible for overall management and
coordination of the PDMI initiative, including:

a) Coordinating and facilitating the meetings of NGO representatives
involved in the project.
b) Organizing activities the NGO working groups on social,
environmental, cultural heritage, and labor rights issues;
c) Developing the training curricula for the project participants;
d) Organizing trainings for the project participants;
e) Organizing field trips and collection of relevant information in
coordination with other partners;
f) Facilitating the report writing process, compiling and submission of
the final reports
g) Representing the foundation on issues of the project in relations
with partners, donors, and media.

Requirements:

§ An advanced university degree (Master’s degree or beyond) in public
policy, journalism, law or environmental sciences.
§ At least three years experience working in Georgian or international
NGO’s.
§ Knowledge of the history and trends in civil society development in
Georgia.
§ Excellent written and spoken Georgian, English, and Russian.
§ Computer literacy, particularly Microsoft office programs.
§ Demonstrated analytical, written, and communication skills.
§ Excellent ability to work with others to achieve results; coaching,
developing teams.

Applicants should submit in English (1) a curriculum vitae (CV) and (2)
a detailed cover letter explaining their qualifications for the
position.

Applications should be submitted to the Eurasia Foundation office, or by
e-mail to [email protected].

3, Kavsadze Street, Tbilisi, Georgia 0179
Tel./Fax: (995 32) 22 32 64
The deadline for application submission is October 14, 2004
E-mail: [email protected]

2. METSAMOR PLANT REACTIVATED AFTER REPAIRS, REFUELING

Source: RFE/RL

The nuclear power station at Metsamor, which meets nearly 40 percent of
Armenia’s energy needs, was reactivated on Monday more than two months
after its sole reactor was stopped for refueling and regular capital
repairs. The plant’s director, Gagik Markosian, told RFE/RL that it
would resume supplies to the national power grid on Tuesday.

Mr. Markosian said the capital repairs have further improved the safety
of Metsamor’s Soviet-designed reactor built in 1979. He said the work,
carried out once in four years, has involved the installation of new
equipment provided by the United States and the European Union,
estimating their cost at `millions of dollars.’

According to Gagik Markosian, the two-month period has also been used
for a close inspection of the reactor core conducted by specialists from
Skoda, a Czech engineering firm chosen in an international tender. They
found it in good condition, he added.

The light-water reactor was brought to a halt on July 30 shortly after
the delivery of a new batch of Russian nuclear worth $12 million. It
replaced approximately one third of Metsamor’s previously loaded fuel
and should keep the facility operational for at least one year.

Mr. Metsamor was placed under the financial management of Russia’s RAO
Unified Energy Systems utility last year in payment for its $40 million
outstanding debts to Russian fuel suppliers.

The plant resumed power generation despite last month’s closure of
Russia’s border with Georgia that disrupted the delivery of a special
lubricant used in the process. Prime Minister Andranik Markarian warned
as recently as Wednesday that this could delay the planned reactivation.

Mr. Markosian revealed, however, that the Metsamor management found
another Russian supplier and imported the substance by air.

The U.S. and the EU continue to provide substantial financial and
technical assistance to the plant despite their long-standing calls for
its closure on safety grounds. The Armenian government says it is safe
enough to operate for another decade.

3. NATIONAL ONCOLOGY CENTER IN THE LIMELIGHT OF STATE AND INTERNATIONAL
COMMUNITY

Source: Armenpress, September 30, 2004

Funded by US State Department, Community and Humanitarian Assistance
Project Armenian Office of Counterpart International have provided
medical equipment and medicine in the amount of 320,000 USD to Armenian
National Oncology Center. This is a donation of US National Oncology
Coalition.

The center hosted representatives of the organization and the project
today. Counterpart International has committed itself to continue
dispatch of medical equipment to the center with the total cost of
assistance for the running year exceeding 1mln USD. Since 2001, the
organization has supplied the center with medical items of about 12 mln
USD through its Community and Humanitarian Assistance Project.

According to Sergei Khomchenko, a representative of the organization and
the project, Counterpart international assists the most needy patients.
He argued that prevention of oncology illnesses is far easier than their
treatment. He said that smoking is widespread in Armenia that is one of
the major causes of the illness.

According to Hairapet Galstian, National Oncology Center Head, thanks to
Counterpart International the center is equipped with modern technology.
He said that they are particularly in need of diagnoses equipment that
cost 1mln USD and are not affordable neither for the state nor the
center.

The center head said that government also earmarks funds for the
operation of the center.

US national oncology coalition supports medical program in some 10
countries throughout the world.

4. CHINA ALLOCATES 100MLN. USD FOR CONSTRUCTION OF RUBBER-PRODUCING
PLANT

Source: Arminfo, October 4, 2004

China has allocated 100mln. USD for the construction of a plant to
produce chloroprene rubber by Armenian technology, stated Albert
Sukiasyan the Armenian participant in the project, Director of the
“Nairit 2”.

According to him, the construction of a plant with a designed capacity
of 30,000 tons of rubber a year in the province of Shaahsi was started a
year ago. The Armenian share in the authorized capital of the
“Shaansi-Nairit” CJSC is 40%, and that of China 60%. Sukiasyan pointed
out that the State Bank of China lent a credit, and the Armenian side is
to contribute with technologies and equipment. Sukiasyan pointed out
that a rubber-producing plan is already operating in Shaansi, but it was
closed for environmental reasons. The old plant is to be shut down after
the new one is put into operation, 50km. away from the city. Sukiasyan
reported that China’s yearly demand for rubber is 100,000 tons.

An agreement on the establishment of a JV was signed on October 2001
between the RA Ministry of Trade and Economic Development and the
Shaansi group of joint-stock companies of synthetic rubbers.

5. CAUSTIC SODA PRODUCTION TO BE SET UP IN ARMENIA

Source: Arminfo, October 4, 2004

A number of foreign companies are showing interest in a 30mln. USD
project of setting up the production of pure solid caustic soda in
Armenia initiated by the “Nairit-2” CJSC, stated Karen Karapetyan, Head
of the Information Department, Armenian Development Agency (AAA).

According to him, the project was submitted to the Eurasian Economic
Union (EAEU) in Moscow on September 20, 2004. US companies showed the
greatest interest in the project. Karapetyan pointed out that
investments are to be directed to the purchase of up-to-date equipment.
Production is expected to be organized at the “Nairit 2” CJSC. The
project envisages the production of 50 to 100 thousand tons of caustic
soda a year. Karapetyan reported that the principal raw material in the
production of caustic soda is table salt. Salt solution is leached from
under the ground, and the formed cavities are expected to be used for
storing fuel and oil products. The storage will allow oil-processing
enterprises to be established in Armenia. Karapetyan said that the
Rustavi-based “Azot” plant is a large consumer of caustic soda in the
region.

6. EXXONMOBIL FAILS TO FIND OIL IN THE CASPIAN SHELF

Source: CBN, October 6, 2004

Major U.S. oil company, ExxonMobil, has lost hope for finding a large
oil deposit with its Azeri flagship offshore, after its local venture
partner reported on Wednesday that the first ultra-deep well yielded
only gas. The drilling at the Zafar-Mashal offshore field had been
expected to produce a considerable clue as to whether the Caspian
country’s shelf contained more significant reserves, or if its overall
potential had been overestimated.

—
*******************************************
CENN INFO
Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN)

Tel: ++995 32 92 39 46
Fax: ++995 32 92 39 47
E-mail: [email protected]
URL:

Armenian National Committee of America
888 17th St., NW, Suite 904
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:

PRESS RELEASE
October 6, 2004
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

ANCA “HYE VOTER TURNOUT” CAMPAIGN IN FULL SWING

— Record Armenian American Turnout
Expected on November 2nd

WASHINGTON, DC – With only a few weeks left to the November 2nd
Presidential and Congressional elections, Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA) chapters have teamed up with activists
across the country, as part of the ANCA’s “Hye Voter Turnout”
campaign, to make their last push to ensure record levels of
Armenian American participation in the electoral process.

Over the past several months, local ANCA chapters have been working
within their communities to raise awareness about federal, state
and local candidates and the issues facing the Armenian American
community. A powerful tool in this effort has been the ANCA
Candidate Questionnaire, available on the ANCA website, which has
provided candidates from across the nation with the opportunity to
speak directly to their Armenian American constituents. The ANCA
Congressional Candidate Questionnaire includes nine different
questions on the topics of the Armenian Genocide; U.S. support for
Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh; U.S.-Armenia economic relations;
Self-determination for Nagorno Karabagh; Conditions on U.S. aid to
Azerbaijan; the Turkish blockade of Armenia, and; the U.S. subsidy
of the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline bypass of Armenia. For an Adobe PDF
version of the ANCA Questionnaire, visit:

The ANCA has also teamed up with local Armenian Youth Federation
chapters in national voter registration efforts, working to
increase the Armenian American voice at the ballot box. Activists
have set up registration tables at local churches, community
centers and even local business establishments, providing the forms
and information needed to register. These efforts have made it
easy for young people to register through the ANCA voter
registration website and “Rock the Vote,” MTV’s youth voter
education program.

At the national level, the ANCA has endorsed Senator John Kerry as
clearly the better candidate on issues facing the Armenian American
community. At the same time, the ANCA – locally and nationally –
continues to highlight the powerful leadership demonstrated by a
great many Congressional Republicans on Armenian issues, notably by
Armenian Caucus Co- Chairman Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), Genocide
Resolution author George Radanovich (R-CA), and Senators such as
Mitch McConnell (R-KY), John Ensign (R-NV), George Allen (R-VA),
Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), and many others.

Working with local chapters or Armenians for Kerry, the ANCA has
spent the past several months raising awareness of Senator Kerry’s
20-year record of supporting Armenian American concerns – on issues
ranging from recognition of the Armenian Genocide and self-
determination for Nagorno Karabagh, to increased aid, expanded
trade, and an end to the blockades of Armenia. The ANCA
endorsement of Senator Kerry includes a full review of the
Senator’s record as well as a listing of the many areas in which
President has disappointed the Armenian American community. This
text can be found at:
;pressregion=anca

The ANCA’s “Hye Voter Turnout” four-part strategy in support of the
Kerry-Edwards ticket was formally launched on August 28th, with the
Armenstock 2004 / Kef for Kerry event in Massachusetts
(). This major day-long music festival featured
leading Armenian musicians and speeches by Armenian activists and
elected officials, including Congressmen Barney Frank (D-MA) and
James McGovern (D-MA), as well as State Representatives Peter
Koutoujian and Rachel Kaprielian. Additional get-out-the-Armenian-
vote concerts are planned as part of the Kef for Kerry Tour of
Battleground States. The tour includes stops in the key swing
states of Wisconsin – October 8th, Michigan – October 23rd, Florida
– October 24th, and, Pennsylvania – October 29th. For additional
information, visit:

The second element of the ANCA plan was the “Friends for Kerry
Postcard Campaign,” which debuted at Armenstock. This campaign
circulated tens of thousands of pre-addressed postcards which were
sent by Armenians in solidly pro-Kerry states like New York and
California to fellow Armenians in twelve swing states: Arizona,
Arkansas, Florida, Ohio, New Hampshire, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada,
Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and West Virginia. The
postcard urges voters to “compare the records of Senator Kerry and
President Bush on Armenian issues, to weight the importance of your
ballot for the future of US-Armenian relations, and the please
consider casting your vote for the Kerry-Edwards ticket on November
2nd.”

The third part of the ANCA plan is a series of “Calling for Kerry”
weekends on October 9-10 and October 30-31. Building on the
postcard campaign, local activists are teaming up with Armenian
Youth Federation and Armenians for Kerry chapters in hosting
gatherings and “cell phone parties” to reach out to thousand of
Armenian American households in sixteen swing states. In addition
to supporting the Kerry-Edwards ticket, activists will highlight
the need for strong turnout for friends of Armenia in Congress,
both Democratic and Republican. The fourth and final part of the
ANCA effort is a grassroots “Canvassing for Kerry” program that
will go door-to-door to getting out the vote for John Kerry and
other friends of Armenia on Election Day.

Washington Times
October 06, 2004

Christian church may hold key to European Union

By Julia Duin
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey – When a mentally deranged Turk showed up at Diyarbakir
Evangelical Church one hot July day quoting verses from the Koran and waving
a butcher knife, it took police a half-hour to get there.
By that time, Medet Arslan, 27, had broken several windows, threatened
the Christians who were inside the church, and burned New Testaments and
other Christian literature, curtains, bookshelves, tapes, compact discs and
whatever furniture he could find in the reception hall. Had church members
not locked him inside the room, he might have gone to the sanctuary on the
second floor to do more damage.

Known in Turkish as Diyarbakir Kilisesi, the 11-year-old congregation just
inside the ancient white-and-gray basalt city walls is the only evangelical
Christian group in all of eastern Turkey. The closest similar church is at
Adana, in central Turkey near the southern coast. House prayer groups exist
in the cities of Sanli Urfa and Gazi Antep, which are respectively two- and
three-hour drives west of Diyarbakir.
However, this small congregation is playing a minor role in today’s
announcement in Brussels on whether talks can start regarding Turkey’s
admission to the European Union. Some governments – among them those of
Britain, Greece, Finland and Poland – favor Turkey’s admission to the union.
Others, including Denmark and Austria, oppose it. Turkey’s lackluster human
rights record, especially regarding political prisoners, and slowness to
allow religious freedom are two of the sticking points in the debate.
Istanbul, formerly Constantinople, was the capital of the Byzantine
Empire and a center of Christianity centuries before the birth of Islam.
Scattered Armenian, Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and other churches,
monasteries, cathedrals and pilgrimage sites of the early centuries of the
Christian era remain in use as places of worship.
Sami Turgut, a diplomat at the Turkish Embassy, defended his country’s
actions.
“We have already made huge changes,” he said, “and we are still making
some changes in our laws and [penal] code.”
Turkey’s eagerness to be part of the European Union has dampened
religious harassment aimed at evangelical Christians. In recent years, the
national Committee of Culture and Protection of Historical Sites has filed
two lawsuits to shut down the Diyarbakir evangelical Christian congregation.
Now the church is being watched by Europeans – namely German, Dutch and
British lawmakers, embassy officials and ambassadors who have visited – to
gauge whether Turkey is serious about human rights for religious and ethnic
minorities. Minor matters, such as slow police response to an attack on the
church, concern them.
Diyarbakir Kilisesi is made up of both Christians and Kurds, Turkey’s
main ethnic minority. Diyarbakir is in the heartland of a region known for
its uprisings seeking self-rule for about 15 million Kurds packed into
cities such as Diyarbakir, Van and Mardin.
These cities became sanctuaries after the government destroyed hundreds
of villages in the 1990s in search of members of the Kurdistan Workers
Party. Caught in the middle were villagers who sided with neither group but
who, after their homes were bulldozed by the government, had to leave their
farms and live in urban ghettos.
Because of their sufferings, the Kurds tend to be more open to
Christianity, said Jerry Mattix, an American pastor who has been assisting
the 40-member Diyarbakir Kilisesi since he moved his young family there in
2001.
“Kurds tend to be freethinkers,” he said, “and they are more open than
the Turks, who have a lot of baggage and preconceived notions about
Christianity.”
Mr. Mattix, who acts as a church consultant and Bible teacher to the
congregation and to chief elders Ahmet Guvener and Cengiz Bayram, estimates
the country has 70 evangelical Protestant churches, comprising 5,000
believers. Many meet in homes.
A decade ago, there were 20 such churches, he said, and most of those
gatherings were held in secret. The political atmosphere in Turkey has
improved enough, he added, to allow Christians to meet openly, to have
summer camps attracting several hundred people and to have public baptisms
in the Mediterranean Sea.
Some fears remain. During lunch at a local restaurant, several members
of his church were openly nervous about being asked – within earshot of
other patrons – how they had become Christians.
One said he was directed in a dream to seek out the church. Others said
they had responded to newspaper ads offering a correspondence course in
Christianity. Respondents are directed to contact persons in nine Turkish
cities.
“We are relatively free and we are tolerated now,” Mr. Mattix said.
“What attracted me to Turkey is that here’s a Muslim country that’s
relatively open to evangelism. We [evangelical Christians] ought to be all
over this.”
Turkish churches have an abundance of single men, who do volunteer work
daily at the church because of the lack of jobs in what is considered an
outlaw province by other Turks. Bookshelves at the Diyarbakir church are
loaded with free Christian books and tapes, and copious numbers are handed
out to the 20 visitors the church sees on an average day.
The two-hour Sunday service in an upstairs room with upholstered beige
chairs and a blue tile floor look like any similar house of worship in an
American storefront. Worship is led with a guitar, a narrow Turkish drum and
a “saz,” an instrument shaped like a mandolin.
But conversions to Christianity are few. Of the 20 to 30 baptized
members, Mr. Mattix says, maybe 10 are mature Christians.
“There isn’t a huge outpouring of the Holy Spirit here yet, but we are
praying for it,” he said.
Unlike other mainly Islamic countries, Turkey does not follow provisions
of Islamic law that forbid Muslims to change their religion or exact the
death penalty on those who do. But conversion to Christianity is
discouraged, and Diyarbakir Kilisesi has endured two lawsuits filed by the
local governor’s office to shut it down.
The church won one lawsuit that accused members of interfering with the
Meryamana Kilisesi, a third-century Aramaic church and convent across a
narrow alley.
A second lawsuit accused the evangelicals of illegally setting up a
church in a home. Although Mr. Guvener does not live in the three-story
building the church occupies, construction was halted for a few months until
a court awarded the church the right to occupy its building last year.
Before that, the congregation met in private homes.
“But the laws aren’t in place to make us fully legal,” Mr. Mattix said.
“We need full legality to function as a church and to run a children’s
program. But any work with children needs permission from the Ministry of
Education. But this will take massive rewriting of Turkish law,” involving
directives that affect mosques as well as churches.
The problem with legalizing religious buildings is that many of the
mosques function illegally as well, he said, meaning that Muslims would have
to join the Christians in making their ministries compliant with the law.
Thus, Diyarbakir Kilisesi functions in a gray area between legality and
illegality where any group that feels threatened by the church can file a
lawsuit. Although Turkey has been a secular country since 1923, 98 percent
of the populace is Muslim. Christians are mainly Armenian and Greek
Orthodox, or evangelical Protestants who are converts from Islam.
Events in Europe have tempered the religious harassment, Mr. Mattix
said, which may be why the church has won in court lately.
“We are optimistic,” said Tuluy Tanc, another spokesman for the embassy.
“We feel we will have fulfilled the Copenhagen criteria – demands made of
Turkey by the EU several years ago – as a result of the wide-scale reforms
we have undertaken. There may be some misgivings, but those aren’t enough to
put off negotiations.”

Baku Today

Politics

Pressure Group Says It Will Again Prevent Armenians’ Visit to Baku

AssA-Irada 06/10/2004 15:54

The Karabakh Liberation Organization (KLO) will hold actions in protest
against Armenian MPs’ planned visit to Baku to attend the 58th Rose-Roth
seminar of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

Chairman of the pressure group Akif Naghi told a new conference on Tuesday
that Armenians should not be allowed to visit Baku.

`Establishment of official or unofficial relations between the two countries
serves Armenia’s policy, as Azerbaijan’s lands are still under the Armenian
occupation,’ he said.

The KLO chairman said the organization will try to prevent Armenian
parliamentarians’ visit to Baku by all means.

Disabled Armenian veterans protest over benefits, housing

.c The Associated Press

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) – Dozens of disabled Armenian veterans protested
outside the government headquarters Wednesday, demanding pensions,
better housing and other benefits for taking part in a war with
neighboring Azerbaijan nearly 10 years ago.

Asya Barkhudaryana, a nurse who was shot and wounded in
Nagorno-Karabakh, said problems with finding appropriate housing were
most acute for the fighters and others wounded during the war in the
early 1990s.

Many complain that only the soldiers who fought in the war and their
families have received adequate housing and government payments.

“The disabled from the Karabakh war are in the most difficult
position, since only families of the dead (soldiers) are given top
priority for apartments,” Barkhudaryana said.

Armenian-backed forces drove Azerbaijan’s army out of Nagorno-Karabakh
– a mountainous ethnic Armenian region within Azerbaijan – before a
cease-fire was signed in 1994, ending the six-year war.

Nearly 30,000 people were killed and about one million left
homeless. No agreement has been reached on the territory’s final
status and relations are tense between the two countries.

10/06/04 14:47 EDT

Armenian National Committee of America
888 17th St., NW, Suite 904
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:

PRESS RELEASE

October 6, 2004
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

REP. PALLONE CALLS ON SECRETARY OF STATE TO PROTEST TURKISH
LAW CRIMINALIZING DISCUSSION OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairman Frank
Pallone (D-NJ) this week called upon Secretary of State Colin
Powell to formally protest Turkey’s adoption of a new penal code
that criminalizes even the discussion of the Armenian Genocide,
reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

Section 306 of new Turkish penal code provides for prison sentences
of between three and ten years for remarks concerning the facts of
the Armenian Genocide or the withdrawal of Turkish occupation
forces from Cyprus. In his letter, Congressman Pallone noted that
this action represents a “hardening [of Turkey’s] anti-Armenian
stance and undermines hopes for a reduction of tensions in the
region.”

Commenting specifically regarding the Administration’s opposition
to the Genocide Resolution (H.Res.193 and S.Res.164), Rep. Pallone
said, “We have been told, recently and in the past, that the State
Department and the Administration have fought so strenuously
against this legislation, because its adoption would somehow harm
progress in the region toward the normalization of ties between
these two states. This line of reasoning is, in my view, deeply
flawed. However, if the State Department were to seriously rely on
this argument concerning improved Turkey-Armenia relations, it
would stand to reason that the State Department should also
publicly and privately condemn Turkey’s patently hateful
codification of its official campaign to deny the Armenian
Genocide.”

“Armenian Americans, having endured years of attacks on efforts to
recognize the Armenian Genocide, remain profoundly troubled by the
hypocrisy of a State Department that never hesitates to openly
protest – and strenuously work against – legislation before
Congress commemorating this crime, yet seems perpetually unable to
summon the will to utter even a single word of concern regarding
Turkey’s hateful and shameless campaign of genocide denial,” said
ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.

The full text of Congressman Pallone’s letter is provided below.

#####

October 1, 2004

Secretary Colin Powell
U.S. Department of State
2201 C St, NW
Washington, DC 20520

Dear Secretary Powell,

I write to you today to bring your attention to a recent troubling
development in Turkey. Just this past week, Turkey adopted a new
penal code that represents a dramatic display of the Turkish
government’s campaign to deny the Armenian Genocide and further
inhibit a resolution to the Turkish occupation of Northern Cyprus.
This new criminal code not only hinders improved relations between
the Republic of Armenia and Turkey, but it is also an imprudent
step on the part of a nation that is desperately trying to
establish an image of having a free and democratic society.

Section 306 of this new criminal code would punish individual
Turkish citizens or groups that confirm the fact of the Armenian
Genocide in Ottoman Turkey or call for the end of the Turkish
occupation of Northern Cyprus- with up to ten years in prison. Far
from coming to terms with the Genocide or reaching out to Armenia-
Turkey, in adopting Section 306 of its new penal code, is hardening
its anti-Armenian stance and undermining hopes for a reduction of
tensions in the region.

I would like, for a moment, to discuss why I consider it important
that the State Department not remain silent in the face of this
extremely troubling restriction on freedom of expression mandated
by a NATO ally. In the past, when the State Department has spoken
out against an Armenian Genocide Resolution, it has argued that
such legislation would not contribute to improved Turkish-Armenian
relations. We have been told, recently and in the past, that the
State Department and the Administration have fought so strenuously
against this legislation, because its adoption would somehow harm
progress in the region toward the normalization of ties between
these two states.

This line of reasoning is, in my view, deeply flawed. However, if
the State Department were to seriously rely on this argument
concerning improved Turkey-Armenia relations, it would stand to
reason that the State Department should also publicly and privately
condemn Turkey’s patently hateful codification of its official
campaign to deny the Armenian Genocide, the most recent attempt
being in the form of a repressive and unjustified new criminal
code.

Section 306 of the new criminal code does nothing to remove
barriers to bilateral cooperation and lower the level of distrust
and tension in this critically important region. I urge you and
the State Department to condemn this oppressive provision in the
criminal code and do everything that is in your power to ensure
that the government of Turkey, our NATO ally- cease to inhibit the
rights of its citizens; remove its troops from Northern Cyprus;
come to terms with its own history; and finally start living up to
the expectations that the United States has of free and democratic
nations.

Sincerely,

[signed]
FRANK PALLONE, JR.
Member of Congress

The Republican Springfield, MA 01103

Tutoring volunteers spark ESL program

Wednesday, October 06, 2004

Once a week, Mary Omartian travels to foreign lands.

Her one-hour journeys to Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Puerto Rico, Colombia,
Korea, Thailand, or wherever her bilingual students come from, started three
years ago when Omartian, an administrative assistant at Springfield Technical
Community College, joined Adopt-an-English as a Second Language-Student program
in which faculty and staff volunteer to meet with English learners for
informal conversation.
“I don’t know what the students are getting,” she laughs. “I am getting a lot
out of it, and that’s why I do it.”
A Springfield resident, Omartian grew up in “a European home,” where, along
with English, she was learning Armenian, the native language of her parents,
who came to America in 1915 from what is now eastern Turkey. They fled what
was probably the first genocide of the 20th century when more than a million
Armenians were killed due to Ottoman Empire policy.
Omartian said the tutoring “is a chance to learn more about the world. I
travel to foreign lands with these children. And they keep me young.
“Primarily, it’s learning about each other personally. We just sit down and
talk. I tell them a little bit about myself, and then they open up and I ask
them if they have families and about their country. And they ask me questions.
It’s just to make them feel comfortable to be here, just get them to speak
freely.
“The kids” are wonderful students who “are happy to be here and very
committed, very dedicated, very bright, very anxious to learn.
“And it’s fun. … Oftentimes, they can’t think of the English word and start
chattering to each other, start thinking out loud, helping each other around
and then they respond with the proper word,” Omartian said.
While the talks are good for their oral comprehension, her students are
getting much more because Omartian makes you feel at ease right away, which is
something vital for chatting with friends.
“In our Adopt-an-ESL-Student effort, last spring we had 23 volunteers, mostly
from the faculty and staff, meeting with 50 students,” said Setta McCabe,
director of publications at STCC. “There are volunteers from all over campus –
senior administrators, faculty in many different academic programs, ad
ministrative assistants, as well as other students. … They are such wonderful people.”
Regina “Jill” Mendez, the faculty member who organizes the
Adopt-an-ESL-Student program, said they also have a few volunteers from the community, some of
whom have been helping out year after year.
“It’s really like a conversation with a friend,” said Lyudmila Kolesnik, 21,
of West Springfield, who came from Ukraine two years ago and is taking an ESL
course at the college. “We are talking about everything. It’s fun and it
just makes the time fly by.”
“I like the program and the tutoring part very much,” said Inna Dudkina, 33,
of West Springfield, adding that when she came to America a year ago from
Ukraine, she barely could speak the language. “All the teachers are very patient and really friendly.”
The ESL program “prepares our students to enter the programs that they want
to,” said department chairwoman Pam Greene. “If someone comes into the program
without any background – and we do accept students who have absolutely no
knowledge of English into the program – our four semesters allow them to be
proficient enough to really depend on themselves and to participate fully and
satisfactorily in their classes.”
Alex Peshkov, a staff writer for The Republican, emigrated to Western
Massachusetts from Arkhangelsk in 2002. His column focuses on the Russian-American
community. He can be reached at [email protected]