URUGUAYAN “CHANNEL 12” TV CHANNEL SHOWS DOCUMENTARY ABOUT ARMENIA OF
JOURNALIST HULIO ALONSO
MONTEVIDEO, December 21 (Noyan Tapan). The documentary about Armenia
of famous Uruguayan journalist Hulio Alonso was shown via the popular
Uruguayan TV channel. The film contains great information about the
history, culture and people of Armenia. “Realizing my dream, I am in
Armenia now, in the most ancient cradle of the mankind,” Alonso says
in the film’s preface. Hulio Alonso has presented “Journeys of 12th”
program, which tells about the culture, history, way of life and
traditions of different peoples, on this channel for 22 years now.
According to the Head of the Armenian Diocese of Uruguay, Alonso has
wished to visit Armenia and shoot a film on it since the establishment
of the program, but he hadn’t such an opportunity in the Soviet years.

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 60; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
December 21, 2004
___________________
ARMENAIN FAITHFUL URGE PROTECTION OF INNOCENTS
As survivors of Genocide, the Armenian voice has been strong in calling
for international action to end the genocide and violence being
committed in the Darfur region of Sudan.
The Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern) has been
especially active in calling for an international solution to the crisis
and in raising funds to aid the victims of that violence.
“The Armenian Church is very much involved in efforts to end this
genocide. We have raised the issue in international religious
organizations and called for action,” said Bishop Vicken Aykazian,
diocesan legate. “We have suffered as a people, so we don’t want other
people to suffer through genocide.”
As the Diocese’s ecumenical officer, Bishop Aykazian has been at the
forefront of pushing for peace in Sudan. Bishop Aykazian, who serves as
secretary to the executive committee of the National Council of Churches
(NCC), has discussed the issue with leaders of that ecumenical body. He
has also led protests outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C.,
and discussed the violence with politicians, including a recent
delegation from Saudi Arabia.
“Armenians know the lingering pain caused by genocide. It is not just
violence today, but the ripping apart of communities and an entire
culture which causes deep generational pain,” Bishop Aykazian said.
“That is why we, as Armenians, need to stand up and denounce all acts of
genocide. Genocide hurts not just the victims, but our entire moral
fabric.”
On Tuesday, December 14, 2004, Bishop Aykazian, diocesan legate,
presented $10,000 to Dr. Bob Edgar, the general secretary of the
National Council of Churches (NCC). The money, raised through a special
offering in local parishes and by donations made to the Diocesan
website, , will be used by the NCC international
aid arm to provide relief supplies to the thousands of refugees pouring
out of Sudan’s Darfur region and into neighboring Chad.
In the Sudan, the Janjaweed — a government-backed nomadic Arab tribe —
has raped, killed, and burnt the homes of black, non-Arab residents in
the nation’s Darfur region in attempt to get them to leave their lands,
which the Arab government has promised to the mercenaries. The fighting
has left 70,000 people dead and more than 1.5 million displaced.
“The thought that humans could do this to other humans is immensely
saddening,” said Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Eastern
Diocese. “We must pray that God gives our political leaders strength to
prevent more pointless slaughter of innocent lives. We all must do our
own part to amplify the victims’ cries to bring about peace and safety
and justice.”
— 12/21/04
E-mail photos available on request. Photos also viewable in the News
and Events section of the Eastern Diocese’s website,
PHOTO CAPTION (1): Bishop Vicken Aykazian, legate of the Diocese of the
Armenian Church of America (Eastern), presents a check for $10,000 to
National Council of Churches General Secretary Bob Edgar to help fund
relief operations for victims of the ongoing genocide in the Darfur
region of Sudan.
# # #

CLASH BETWEEN HIGH-RANKING “ARMENIAN” AND “NAKHIJEVANI” AZERI OFFICIALS AGGRAVATES
Azg/arm
22 Dec 04
According to the reporter of Baku-basedZerkalonewspaper, Azeri
ministers born in Armenia and in Nakhijevan are likely to declare
a war against each other. The article of the Azeri reporter titled
“Ilham Aliyev Provokes Dangerous War of Ministers” was published in the
recent issue ofNezavisimaya Gazeta, thus making the hidden war public.
First of all, he reminds in the article that the political elite of
Azerbaijan is ruled by two clans, i.e. the “Armenian” clan and the
“Nakhijevan” clan. In particular, recently, when discussing the state
budget of 2005, “Nakhijevani” Ali Nagiev, labor and social security
minister, and Misir Mardanov, education minister, clashed. Earlier,
the “Armenian” Farhad Aliyev, economic development minister, clashed
with “Nakhijevani” Kamaleddin Heidarov, head of tax committee.
There have been contradictions and quarrels between the “Armenian” and
“Nakhijevani” Ministers when Heydar Aliyev was at power but “Aliyev
(senior) who originated from Armenia and was born in Nakhijevan” could
be a third side in the clashes between the clans. The newspaper noted
that both clans considered Aliyev was on their side “while Aliyev
junior is not that versatile,” the newspaper wrote.
The reporter emphasized that “Armenians” donâ~@~Yt seem to have
firm positions. The leaders of this clan are Ali Insanov, healthcare
minister, and Murtuz Alesqerov, head of the parliament. While “dark
cardinal” Ramiz Mehtiev, head of the presidentâ~@~Ys staff, is known
as the leader of the “Nakhijevani” clan. According to the newspaper,
Ilham Aliyev fails to hold control over the clash between the clans
and he advised the ministers who decided to get involved in the public
politics to resign from their state posts.
–Boundary_(ID_A6wwGh5/rcaGTXzDYXK6MA)–

THOUSANDS OF ARMENIAN CITIZENS REFUSED FROM SOCIAL CARDS
PanArmenian News
Dec 12 2004
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “Based on religious and legal reasons thousands
of Armenian citizens refused from social cards. Many of those, who
were forced to get the cards or were deceived to get them, today
convey them to the Armenian Center for Protection of Constitutional
Rights and ask us to return them to the Ministry of Labor and Social
Affairs, as respective services refuse to receive them,” the Center
President Gevorg Manukain noted at a press conference in the House
of Journalists. The requests of 130 citizens are complied. In Gevorg
Manukian’s words a note was received from the Ministry, which reported
that the personal records of the citizens, who refused from social
cards, are blocked. Virtually from January 1, 2005 hundreds of people
can be deprived of minimal means of existence – the opportunity
to get salary and pension. The Armenian Center for Protection of
Constitutional Rights and other human rights organizations state that
further steps on the way of fulfillment of the Law on Social Cards
are fraught with serious consequences.

ARMENIA SHOULD GAIN CONTROL OVER NAGORNO KARABAKH, NATO PA HEAD CONSIDERS
PanArmenian News
Dec 21 2004
21.12.2004 17:01
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “Europeans, Americans and Russians have to jointly
find a compromise, in compliance with which Armenia would gain
temporary control over Karabakh, and further the Karabakh status would
be determined via a referendum – within five of ten years,” head of
the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Pierre Lellouche and former Spanish
Foreign Minister Ana Palacio write in Putin and the Phantoms of the
Empire joint article in Le Figaro today’s issue. In the article the
relations between the EU and Russia against the background of the
Ukrainian events. “The success of the democracy in Ukraine should
underlie the common strategy of our democratic countries. This strategy
aims at putting an end to the “frozen” conflicts at the threshold of
Europe,” the article authors consider. In the future the fate of the
peoples, who live at the threshold of Russia and the EU, will depend
on whether the “Russian neo-imperialism or the EU is able to establish
“pax europa”. To that end “the Western democracies” in the opinion of
the authors should come out with initiatives to solve the conflicts in
the post-Soviet space. “The frozen conflicts” in Georgian provinces –
South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as well as in Pridnestrovie have much in
common. “The conflict, in which Armenia and Azerbaijan collided in
Nagorno Karabakh, is more difficult and has a different nature than the
conflicts in South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Pridnestrovie, Ana Palacio and
Pierre Lellouche write. “As of Turkey, it has got the opportunity to
show that the country wishes to enter the European family: for that
the border with Armenia should be opened and it would facilitate
the life in the republic, which has been blockaded for already 15
years. Finally, in exchange for cooperation with Azerbaijan in the
conflict, the West has to arrange close partnership ties with the
country,” the authors sum up. Both authors had visited Armenia and
Nagorno Karabakh in late October this year as part of the delegation
of the German Marshall US fund. They came for the participation of
Nagorno Karabakh in the conflict settlement talks.

ARMENIA AND KARABAKH PARTLY FREE, AZERBAIJAN AND RUSSIA NOT FREE
PanArmenian News
Dec 21 2004
21.12.2004 14:52
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ According to the results of the recurrent research
of Freedom House human rights organization that summed up the year
2004, Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh were ranged among the partly free
countries, while Azerbaijan and Russia are not free. The estimate is
based on a seven-point scale, where 1 is the highest value. According
to the scale Armenia got 4 points in civil freedoms and 5 points in
political freedoms. Nagorno Karabakh got 5 in both categories. The
Freedom House report notes aggravation of the political freedom record
of Armenia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TWO ARMENIAN JUDOISTS WIN SILVER AND BRONZE MEDALS IN TEHRAN
ArmenPress
Dec 21 2004
TEHRAN, DECEMBER 21, ARMENPRESS; Two Armenian judoists, Levon Galstian
from Yerevan (73 kg weight category) and Karen Yeritsian, also from
Yerevan (60 kg) snatched silver and bronze medals respectively at an
international competition in Tehran. Three other Armenian athletes
occupied the fifth position.

Russica Izvestia Information Inc.
RusData Dialine – Russian Press Digest
December 21, 2004 Tuesday
Ilkham Aliyev teaches politics
by Rauf Mirkadyrov
SOURCE: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, No 277, p.5
Azerbaijan’s President believes Russia is excessively interfering
insettling the conflict in Nagorny Karabakh
Commenting on the progress of the talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia
on the problem of the disputed province Nagorny Karabakh, the Azeri
President Ilkham Aliyev praised as successful the recent round of
negotiations the two countries’ foreign ministers Elmar Mamedyarov and
Vardan Oskanyan conducted in Prague. As a result of the four meetings,
the sides came to an agreement on the general principles of settling
the conflict. “I believe that if the negotiations continue in a
constructive manner and the Armenian side doesn’t withdraw from the
existing agreements, as it happened earlier, we can reach a certain
settlement,” Aliyev said.
However, he remarked that the Russia’s excessive interference in the
conflict settlement and backing of Armenia may negatively affect the
peace process. Commenting on the last week’s visit of the Russian
State Duma’s Chairman Boris Gryzlov to Yerevan, Ilkham Aliyev said
the following: “The chairman of the State Duma said the other day
that Armenia is the Russia’s outpost in the Southern Caucasus. We
used to believe Armenia was an [independent] state. Now it turns out
to be just an outpost.” After this sarcastic remark, Aliyev continued:
“With whom shall we conduct negotiations – with the ‘outpost’, or with
its owner?” According to Aliyev, Yerevan should “clear up this issue,”
in order to create favorable conditions for continuing the talks. “If
Armenia behaves like an independent state, we can approach signing
a concrete agreement in the near future,” the Azeri President said.
Experts said that Aliyev’s statement was predictable – after the defeat
of the Russia’s “imperial” policies in Ukraine the Azeri leader is
likely to distance himself from Russia and demonstrate loyalty to
the West.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Attack on US base in Iraq kills more than 20
Agence France Presse — English
December 21, 2004 Tuesday 6:03 PM GMT
BAGHDAD Dec 21 — More than 20 people were killed in a rocket attack
Tuesday that turned a dining hall at a US base in the Iraqi city of
Mosul into a fireball, one of the deadliest strikes against US-led
forces in the country.
The attack, claimed by Al-Qaeda linked militants, was swiftly condemned
by US President George W. Bush who said it was aimed at derailing
the transition to democracy in Iraq.
“More than 20 have been killed and more than 60 wounded,” said
Brigadier General Carter Ham, the US-led coalition commander for the
Mosul area.
“The killed include US military personnel, US contractors, foreign
national contractors and Iraqi army,” he said. “It is indeed a very,
very sad day.”
An embedded reporter from the Richmond-Times Dispatch described the
scene of carnage at the Mosul base as soldiers sat down for lunch
and were suddenly hammered in a rocket attack.
“The force of the explosions knocked soldiers off their feet and out
of their seats. A fireball enveloped the top of the tent, and shrapnel
sprayed into the men,” journalist Jeremy Redmon reported.
“Amid the screaming and thick smoke that followed, quick-thinking
soldiers turned their lunch tables upside down, placed the wounded
on them and gently carried them into the parking lot. ‘Medic! Medic!.
soldiers shouted.”
The attack was claimed by Al-Qaeda linked Ansar al-Sunna, which
broke away from another radical group called Ansar al-Islam, both
of which are believed to have links with Iraq’s most wanted man Abu
Musab al-Zarqawi.
“One of the mujahedeen of the Army of Ansar al-Sunna carried out
a martyrdom-seeking (suicide) operation in a restaurant of the
infidel occupation forces at the Ghazlani camp in Mosul,” said the
website statement from the group, whose authenticity could not be
independently confirmed.
Bush condemned the attack and mourned the loss of life, saying it
believes it shows the desperation of insurgent forces, White House
spokesman Scott McClellan said.
“The terrorists and Saddam loyalists are desperately seeking to
derail the transition to democracy and freedom in Iraq,” he said.
“They will be defeated.”
Iraq’s intelligence chief Mohammed Abdullah al-Shahwani said in October
that Mosul has been turned into a major base for militants linked to
Zarqawi, a Jordanian-born militant who has a 25 million dollar price
on his head.
Mosul, 370 kilometres (250 miles) north of Baghdad, was once considered
a success story of the defunct US occupation in Iraq, but has been
transformed into a battleground between insurgents and US forces.
The city, home to Islamists and staunch loyalists of the ousted Baath
party regime, was the site of almost daily assassination attempts on
suspected US collaborators before the city boiled over in violence
last month.
On June 24, insurgents mounted a one-day street battle against US
forces and set off five car bombs, killing more than 50 people,
in a prelude to November’s fierce uprising by insurgents.
The US military has been conducting operations in Mosul, Iraq’s
third largest city, since coordinated attacks by insurgents on
police stations prompted most of the local police force to quit on
November 11.
Around 80 bodies have been found in and around Mosul since the
beginning of December, most of which authorities say belong to security
forces executed by insurgents.
Christian churches in the city have also come under attack.
Mosul, whose name in Arabic means the link, is one of the most
ethnically diverse cities in Iraq with Arabs, Syriac people, Armenians,
Kurds, Turkmen, Jews, Christians, Muslims and Yazedis all calling
the city home.
Sunni Muslims in Mosul, together with the minority Turkmen community,
fear Kurdish calls for an expanded autonomous region in districts
immediately bordering the northern metropolis, a city of about 1.5
million people.

U.N.: Almost a million refugees face hunger in 2005
by JONATHAN FOWLER; Associated Press Writer
Associated Press Worldstream
December 21, 2004 Tuesday 11:10 AM Eastern Time
GENEVA — Around a million refugees could face hunger and malnutrition
next year because of meager donations from governments of more
prosperous countries, the United Nations said Tuesday.
Several hundred thousand refugees are already struggling to survive
because aid agencies have had to drastically reduce rations to ensure
there is enough to go round, said Ron Redmond, spokesman for the U.N.
high commissioner for refugees.
“We are especially worried for refugees in Africa,” Redmond told
reporters.
In Zambia, handouts already have been halved in the past two months
and soon will be slashed again, putting 87,000 people at risk of
malnutrition.
“Already, we are hearing reports of refugee women resorting to
prostitution to support themselves and their children,” Redmond
added. “Field offices in Zambia also report there has been a marked
increase in children dropping out of school, presumably to help their
families find food.”
In Tanzania, rations were cut by a quarter in October. UNHCR and the
World Food Program found last month that malnutrition is rising among
some 400,000 refugees from Burundi and Congo who live in Tanzania’s
camps.
Malnutrition also threatens some 118,000 refugees in Ethiopia, and
another 224,000 in Kenya, Redmond said.
In conflict-ravaged Congo, WFP says that next month it will need to
make ration cuts of almost one third, Redmond noted.
“Africa is not the only continent facing a breakdown in the food
pipeline,” he said.
In January, 140,000 displaced a decade ago by conflict between Armenia
and Azerbaijan face a complete cut in rations – just two months after
handouts were halved.
Non-U.N. aid agencies also have sounded the alarm, but some have
chastised the United Nations for failing to respond fast enough
to crises.
On Monday, U.S.-based Refugees International said the world body was
moving too slowly to hand out food to people who fled the conflict
in Ivory Coast.
But the Rome-based WFP said Tuesday it can only provide food assistance
to refugees who have a registration and a ration card issued by UNCHR,
given the limited resources of the agency. The ration card is the
only document that makes a refugee eligible for U.N. food assistance.
“We need to be absolutely sure that who gets the food is in need of
it,” said Caroline Hurford, WFP spokeswoman. “Otherwise, what would
we tell our donors?”
Hurford said food supplies are already in the border zone. But many
Ivorians are going back to Ivory Coast to harvest their crop and then
returning to Liberia to look for extra food.
“The process of feeding is not always easy with flows of population
going back and forth,” she said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress