Council of Europe report on Karabakh unacceptable for Armenia, minister says

Arminfo
22 Sep 04

YEREVAN

The report by the PACE [Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe] rapporteur on Nagornyy Karabakh, Terry Davis, is unacceptable
for Armenia, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan told a news
conference in Yerevan today.

He said the report was based on a subjective opinion of “one person”.

“We cannot agree with it because it presents an inaccurate picture,”
the foreign minister said.

At the same time, he said the report has no status, all the more so
because the new PACE rapporteur, David Atkinson, will have to prepare
his own report.

Asked whether it is not alarming that the new rapporteur, as was the
case with the previous one, represents Great Britain which is known
for its conservative approaches to the Nagornyy Karabakh issue, Vardan
Oskanyan said that whether or not the new report is based on the
previous one, it is necessary to work with the new rapporteur so that
the report does not reflect the opinion of only one man and that it
does not affect the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR)
Sept 23 2004

ARMENIA’S NUNS: A RARE BREED

In devout Orthodox Christian Armenia, only four women have become
nuns – but they don’t regret it.

By Karine Ter-Saakian in Echmiadzin

When the Armenian Apostolic Church celebrated its recent great Feast
of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross at Echmiadzin, the seat of the
church’s Catholicos or spritual leader, there were four particularly
unusual members of the congregation: nuns.

For all the popularity and influence of the Armenian Apostolic
Church, to which the overwhelming majority of Armenians belong, nuns
and convents are extremely rare. In fact the four attending the
liturgy in Echmiadzin’s Saint Hripsime Church in September were the
only nuns in Armenia.

Convents all but disappeared from Armenia after the fourth century,
when King Pap ordered their closure, saying that women should marry,
not dedicate their lives to God in the closed institutions.

The seventh century Saint Hripsime church stands on the traditional
site of a massacre of Hripsime and 32 other women in the fourth
century – all because Hripsime reputedly refused to marry the king at
that time, Trdat.

At the Saint Hripsime convent, another unusual aspect is that there
is no mother superior. A man is in charge. “We are all God’s children
without sex or age differences,” the prior, Archimandrite Martiros
Pogosian, told IWPR.

Father Martiros, whose name means “martyr”, is a “black monk” and
cannot marry. He said the women might have also chosen a rare way of
life, but had done so freely, “Leaving the world is an entirely
voluntary matter, and no one forced these women.”

Becoming a nun, he said, is a simple process, but it is a step only
for those who are totally dedicated.

“The convent is not a place to solve your social problems, we can’t
give people jobs or means for existence,” he said. “We don’t even
have a monastic hierarchy, unlike the Russian Orthodox Church, or
acts of penance, or a ceremony of taking of monastic vows. We believe
that if a person came to God, he or she has consciously taken that
decision.

“I am also a human being and I understand that their coming to the
convent is a sort of escape from the abnormal life, problems and
maybe even from oneself.”

Of the four nuns, the youngest one is 42-years-old and the oldest is
56.

They rarely socialise with lay people, but this is not prohibited.
They can visit their relatives or go to town. However, one of the
nuns, Elizaveta, told IWPR there was not much need to go to Yerevan.
“We live quietly, don’t need anything, they even pay us salaries: 40
US dollars a month by the order of Catholicos of All Armenians
Garegin II,” she said.

The nuns’ living quarters are small and are surrounded by a small
orchard and kitchen garden. Vegetables and fruit grown here are quite
enough for the sisters, father superior and deacon of the church.
They also keep chickens; in other words, it is quite a big farm
considering that just four women – none of them especially youthful –
look after it.

“We always take part in all services and help the father any way we
can,” Sister Aida said.

“You know, a regulated life has its advantages. A day that is
precisely scheduled doesn’t leave any time for idle thoughts. There
is always work here: prayers in the morning, then dining, doing
household work, praying again, and then off to bed. We also have a
television set so you can’t call us hermits. Incidentally, there is
no ‘religious censorship’ as to what we watch.”

While talking to the prior in the yard of the convent, a delicious
smell of freshly baked bread came from the kitchen. “Yes, we make
everything ourselves,” he said.

The nuns are governed by the statute of the church, which is
constitutionally separated from the state. They are not entitled to
state benefits, but do not have to pay for anything. “They are freed
from worldly troubles and they are not threatened by a miserable
pension,” Father Martiros said.

There are mixed feelings among ordinary Armenians about the role of
these few nuns.

Astkhik Pogosian, told IWPR she was sceptical, “Maybe these women
just didn’t have a choice but to become nuns, they didn’t have enough
strength to face up to social problems. But on the other hand, it is
simply running away from reality. Somehow I don’t believe in their
desire to serve God.”

Garegin, the manager of a computer firm, agreed, “One must be really
tired of life voluntarily to renounce all its worldly joys. … I
wouldn’t wish such a lot for my loved ones.” He blamed the state for
failing to provide the women with an alternative.

Even a guard at the church was critical. “Women are preordained to
get married, give birth to children, in other words – create
families,” he said. “King Pap did the right thing 16 centuries ago
when he shut down all nunneries.”

However, there are many who admire and even envy the nuns’ vocation.
“I would be glad to become a nun, not because life is hard, but
because of lack of spirituality. Although I am often told that it is
all a figment of my imagination, I think I am right,” Onarik
Asatrian, a mother of two, said.

Gayane Minasian, a student, said there should be more nuns, “What do
we see in life: emptiness and pursuits of material well-being, and
there is no time to think about the soul. Well done for these women.
If there were more of them it would have been better for all of us.”

Sister Aida said it was for individuals to decide. “We don’t thrust
our choice on anyone. If somebody wants they can come to the convent,
and if he, I mean she, comes to us consciously, we will only be
happy. If not, then we will have to say goodbye. No one keeps grudges
here against other people, we don’t force people to take vows, and
maybe we are freer than other citizens of Armenia.”

Karine Ter-Saakian is a freelance journalist and frequent IWPR
contributor in Armenia.

PRESS RELEASE
The Eurasia Foundation
1350 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20036
Contact: William Grant
Tel: 202-234-7370
Fax: 202-234-7377
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

Eurasia Foundation and the Izmirlian Foundation Launch Armenian Credit
Company

September 21, 2004 – The Eurasia Foundation and Izmirlian Foundation
announce the establishment of the Izmirlian – Eurasia Universal Credit
Company LLC. On July 22, 2004 the Central Bank of Armenia issued a
credit organization license to the company that will provide financing
to small businesses in Armenia.

This is the next step in the evolution of the existing small business
loan partnership program of the two foundations, establishing a
permanent, locally registered and operated credit company that will
provide medium term financing directly to small businesses. Zakar
Boyajyan has been appointed the credit company’s director; he has served
as director of the small business loan program for five years. In its
first two months of existence the Izmirlian – Eurasia Universal Credit
Company has approved loans to 11 businesses for a total of $730,000.

The Eurasia Foundation launched its small business loan program in
Armenia in 1995 with funding from USAID. Over time the program became
recognized as successfully contributing to the development of small
businesses. Based on this success, the Eurasia Foundation attracted
significant additional funding from the Lincy Foundation. In 1999, the
Izmirlian Foundation became a full partner in the program and provided a
grant that substantially increased its loan pool. The program has lent
to businesses across a wide range of sectors and in all 11 marzes
(regions) of Armenia. Through August 2004, the loan program had
disbursed $10.4 million to 294 businesses.
*****

Privately managed with support from the U.S. Agency for International
Development and other sponsors, the Eurasia Foundation has made over
7,000 grants totaling more than $143 million to support democratic and
economic reform in 12 countries of the former Soviet Union since 1993.
For more information, please visit or

The Izmirlian Foundation is a charitable organization established in
1995, aimed to assist economic and social development in Armenia.

Armenian Defence Ministry denies bus fired at on Azeri border

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
23 Sep 04

The Armenian Defence Ministry has flatly denied the report that on the
night of 21 September, Azerbaijanis fired from their positions in
Qazax District [northwestern Azerbaijan] at an Armenian bus on the
Kirants-Voskepar sector of the Idzhevan-Noyemberyan highway [Armenia’s
Tavush District], the press secretary of the Armenian Defence
Ministry, Seyran Shakhsuvaryan, has told an Arminfo correspondent.

The newspapers which put out this report wrote that Gayane Petrosyan,
48, a resident of the town of Martuni of [Armenia’s] Gegharkunik
District, was wounded as the result of the fire.

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Communications Officer
Tel: (212) 686-0710; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
September 23, 2004
___________________

Week of September 17 to September 23, 2004
* * *

PRIMATE TO CELEBRATE WITH HARTFORD CHURCH

Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian
Church of America (Eastern), will travel to Hartford, CT, this weekend
to help the St. George Church celebrate its name day and its 51st
anniversary.

Fr. Gomidas Zohrabian, pastor of the St. George Church, will celebrate a
special Divine Liturgy at 10:15 a.m. on Saturday, September 25, 2004,
which is the Feast of St. George. That will be followed by the blessing
of the madagh.

The Primate will visit the parish on Sunday, September 26, 2004. He
will celebrate the Divine Liturgy at 10:15 a.m. That will be followed
by a banquet marking the church’s 51st anniversary at the Colonnade
Banquet Center in Glastonbury, CT. The parish’s Armenian School
students will perform Armenian songs and recite poetry, and the guest
speaker will be Jeff Masarjian, executive director of the Armenia Tree
Project.

The St. George Church is located at 22 White St. in Hartford, CT.

(Source: St. George Church, 9/23/04)
* * *

SUNDAY IS THE FEAST OF THE HOLY CROSS OF VARAK

In communion with other churches, the Armenian Church celebrates three
feasts associated with the Holy Cross: the Discovery of the Cross, the
Apparition of the Cross, and the Exaltation of the Cross. But the
Armenian Church has one unique cross celebration, the Feast of the Holy
Cross of Varak, which will be marked on Sunday (9/26).

The feast commemorates the apparition of the Holy Cross near the
historic Armenian city of Van in the mountains of Varak, possibly in the
year 660 A.D. For more, click to our website:
;selmonth=9&sel
year04

(Source: Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), 9/23/04)
* * *

KHRIMIAN LYCEUM OPENS SATURDAY IN NYC, BOSTON, CHICAGO

The Diocese’s Khrimian Lyceum, a six-year educational program for parish
Armenian School graduates, begins Saturday (9/25). The program started
in New York City, and this year will be the second year for the
program’s expansion in the Boston and Chicago areas. For more
information on the program, and how to sign up, click to our website:
;selmonth=5&sely
ear04

(Source: Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), 9/23/04)
* * *

PRIMATE REPRESENTS CHURCH AT INTERNATIONAL EVENTS

On Monday (9/20), Archbishop Barsamian delivered the benediction during
the annual Appeal of Conscience Foundation Awards Dinner. The
international ecumenical organization presented awards to the prime
minister of Sweeden, the chairman of HSBC Holdings, and the chairman of
the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. For more on the Primate’s
role at this event, click to our website:
;selmonth=9&sel
year04

This was one of several recent programs the Primate attended as a
representative of the Armenian Church. On September 13, 2004, he and
Fr. Mardiros Chevian, dean of St. Vartan Cathedral, were among the 15
clergymen invited to attend a special prayer service to mark the opening
of the United Nations General Assembly. The prayer service, at the Holy
Family Catholic Church, was organized by Edward Cardinal Egan, the Roman
Catholic Archbishop of New York City. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan
spoke during the service, which brought together ambassadors, as well as
Archbishop Celestino Migliore, The Vatican’s Nuncio to the United
Nations.

Fr. Chevian also represented the Primate at the 12th “Path to Peace”
award ceremony on Monday (9/20), which honored Roman Catholic Cardinal
Angelo Sodano, the Vatican’s secretary of state.

(Source: Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), 9/23/04)
* * *

FIND SOMETHING TO DO

This weekend, St. Nersess Armenian Seminary and the Diocesan College
Ministry program will both be reaching out to parishes in New Jersey.
The seminary will send its seminarians to the St. Mary Church of
Livingston, NJ; while Jason Demerjian, Diocesan College Ministry
facilitator, will meet with parishioners at the St. Leon Church in Fair
Lawn, NJ.

If you’re not in New Jersey, don’t worry, there’s plenty going on
throughout the Diocese. From a special speaker on the topic of
stewardship in Cambridge, MA, to a performance by the Shushi Dance
Ensemble in Wynnewood, PA, to a gala concert in Providence, RI — find
details on those and many more events throughout the Diocese by clicking
to our website’s Calendar of Events:

If your parish has something to list on the highly viewed Calendar of
Events, e-mail the details to [email protected].

(Source: Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), 9/23/04)
* * *

MAKE PLANS FOR COLUMBUS DAY WEEKEND

Columbus Day Weekend (10/8-10/11) is fast approaching, and there are
three great events to get involved in this year. But you need to make
your plans today to save your spot.

The St. Nersess Seminary will hold a special weekend retreat exploring
the uniquely Armenian “Service of the Oil-Bearing Women,” a beautiful
weekly remembrance of Christ’s resurrection. The weekend is
specifically designed for deacons and altar servers, but is open to
everyone. It will be at the Diocesan Ararat Center in Greenville, NY.
Registration deadline is October 1. For more information, visit the St.
Nersess Seminary website:

The Armenian Church Youth Organization of America (ACYOA) will bring its
Archbishop’s Basketball Tournament to the Holy Trinity Church of
Cambridge, MA, on Columbus Day weekend. With sports, a dance, a Divine
Liturgy, and sightseeing, the weekend is a wonderful chance for 18- to
28-year-old Armenians to make new friends and get together with old
ones. Registration deadline is tomorrow (9/24). For more information
and to register, click to the ACYOA website:

Younger parishioners are invited to attend the ACYOA Jrs. Sports
Weekend, hosted by the Sts. Sahag and Mesrob Church of Providence, RI.
The weekend, for students between the ages of 13 and 18, will feature
games, a dance, an educational session, and a banquet presided over by
Archbishop Barsamian. The official registration deadline is tomorrow
(9/24). For more information, contact your parish priest.

(Source: Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), 9/23/04)
# # #

Armenian president, OSCE envoy discuss ties, Karabakh settlement

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
23 Sep 04

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan received the special envoy of the
OSCE chairman-in-office on the Nagornyy Karabakh issue and the former
prime minister of Bulgaria, Filip Dimitrov, today. An official report
only noted that they discussed relations between Armenia and the OSCE
and the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.

Armenian defence minister discusses military ties with German envoy

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
22 Sep 04

Armenian Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan received today the
newly-appointed Polish ambassador to Armenia, Tomasz Knothe. They
discussed the implementation of the agreements reached during
Sarkisyan’s recent visit to Warsaw.

Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan and the German ambassador to Armenia,
Heike-Renate Peitsch, discussed today the establishment of the legal
foundations for military cooperation between Armenia and Germany.

We regard ourselves as part of the European fold and view cooperation
with NATO as part of Armenia’s security, Serzh Sarkisyan announced.

The German ambassador also spoke about the possibility of training
Armenian officers at Hamburg’s military school. The ambassador
expressed the hope that beneficial cooperation between Armenia and
Germany will be possible not only in the military sphere but in other
spheres as well.

[Video showed both meetings]

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian presidential aide accuses European rapporteur of pro-Azeri stance

Hayots Ashkarh, Yerevan
21 Sep 04

An interview with the Armenian president’s advisor Garnik Isagulyan.

[Hayots Ashkarh correspondent] Mr Isagulyan, [rapporteur of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe] Terry Davis’s draft
report on Karabakh has been submitted to the Council of
Europe. According to some officials, it contains statements which
worry both Azerbaijan and Armenia. Do you also think so?

[Garnik Isagulyan] I think there is nothing surprising in the draft
report. The principle according to which the rapporteur on Karabakh
was chosen should be taken into account in the first place. Terry
Davis is an MP from Great Britain, a country which in 1991 recognized
the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan including Karabakh. For this
reason, Great Britain, albeit an influential country, did not become a
member of the OSCE Minsk Group [for the settlement of the Karabakh
conflict] because from the very beginning it adopted a pro-Azerbaijani
position.

A new rapporteur has been appointed recently and again an MP from
Great Britain. I do not think that his approaches will differ greatly
from the approaches of Davis. We should be ready for this. On the
whole, it will be better if our delegation in the Council of Europe
does its best to have a representative of a country that has a neutral
position appointed a rapporteur on the Karabakh issue.

[Passage omitted: Baku might want to change format of Karabakh talks]

[Correspondent] Do you think that within the framework of the Minsk
Group a pro-Armenian settlement is becoming more realistic?

[Isagulyan] I would say not pro-Armenian, but a settlement which stems
from the real situation, in case if Azerbaijan stops insisting on
starting the process from scratch. But Baku understands very well that
the minimum to which the Armenian party will agree is Karabakh’s
independence or even reunification with Armenia. Our society,
political forces, on the whole, should get into the habit of not
paying much attention to different discussions and reports regarding
the Karabakh issue in those international structures which have no
significant role in the settlement process. The Nagornyy Karabakh
Republic is in fact an independent state. As for the discussions that
start from time to time as to whether territories should be returned
or not, what compromises can be made, the Megri problem, and so on, in
reality they are raised in Armenia. There are similar hopes in
Azerbaijan and Turkey that if certain forces come to power in Armenia,
the problem could be resolved in their favour.

[Correspondent] What forces do you mean?

[Isagulyan] It is no secret that the whole ideology and approaches of
the Armenian Pan-National Movement worked in this direction. Their
agreement to the settlement option suggested at the end of 1997 and
[Armenian ex-President] Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s known article are the
links of the same chain. Today in Armenia against the background of
the anti-Karabakh propaganda, one can hear from radical opposition
circles expressions like: let Karabakh itself resolve its
problem. This is inadmissible. Although Karabakh is a fully-fledged
country, it still needs Armenia’s support and it will never be within
Azerbaijan. No country or international structure can make such an
illogical claim to Armenia and Karabakh if our domestic moth does not
destroy us.

Azeri paper derides decision to allow Armenian military experts to visit Baku

Zerkalo, Baku
17 Sep 04

Text of Farid report by Azerbaijani newspaper Zerkalo on 17 September
headlined “Armenians still to come to Baku” and subheaded “Though this
time, they will be wearing plain clothes”

The participation of Armenian representatives in the NATO
Parliamentary Assembly’s [PA] Rose-Roth seminar due in Baku on 26-28
November is still on the agenda, the head of the Azerbaijani
delegation to the NATO PA and deputy speaker of the Azerbaijani
parliament, Ziyafat Asgarov, has told Trend news agency.

He said Armenian specialists are not military officers and since they
are civilian experts, their visit to Baku will not cause serious
protests in Baku.

The seminar, which was postponed in 2003, will be held at Hyatt Park
Hotel which the NATO PA chose itself during a visit to Baku (Trend).

Only one thing remains unclear: who is trying to fool who? Either
Ziyafat Asgarov, who is trying to convince the nation that the
Armenians, who have now slipped into plain clothes, will meet less
resistance in Azerbaijan or our neighbours have decided to set foot on
our soil at all costs.

And while the wish of the Armenians is quite understandable, the
position of the Azerbaijani authorities in this issue is causing
nothing but astonishment. Why did they raise all this hue and cry
over the visit by Armenian officers to Baku and eventually damage
relations with NATO, if only two months later Armenians are to appear
in Baku anyway?

Even stranger is the fact that this has been announced by the deputy
speaker of the parliament, a body whose representatives were almost
kissing each other in jubilation after representatives of the Armenian
military establishment were barred from coming to Azerbaijan.

Whatever the outcome, Azerbaijan has made a rather precipitous
decision, especially if we take into account Asgarov’s statement.

British rep asks Azeri official to allow Armenian presence at NATO event

ANS TV, Baku
22 Sep 04

The executive director of the London Information Network on Conflicts
and State-building, Dennis Sammut, has asked Azerbaijani Deputy
Speaker Ziyafat Asgarov to allow an Armenian delegation to attend the
forthcoming Rose-Roth seminar of NATO in Baku. Mr Asgarov said that
the event will be held and that the Azerbaijani government and the
Milli Maclis are interested in that. Dennis Sammut also said that
Azerbaijan will chair the interparliamentary initiative group of the
South Caucasus countries from 1 January 2005. The meeting also
discussed the Nagornyy Karabakh problem. Sammut said that the conflict
could not be solved by itself and added that international
organizations would inevitably have to make serious efforts.

[Video showed the meeting]