NATO cancels military exercises in Azerbaijan

Xinhua News Agency report.
14/09/2004 01:29

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) announced on Monday
that it has canceled military exercises in Azerbaijan hours before
they were due to begin after the authorities in Baku said that it
did not want Armenian troops on its territory.

Xinhuanet — Azerbaijan refused Armenian servicemen to participate
in the war games because many Azeris have bitter memories of a war
between the two countries in the last century. NATO has decided to
cancel the exercises, which had been due to get underway on Tuesday,
an alliance spokesman said in a statement.

“We regret that the principle of inclusiveness could not be upheld
in this case, leading to the cancellation of the exercises,” the
spokesman said.

“The exercises are an important series of live exercises on the
Partnership for Peace calendar. They are designed to provide basic
knowledge on Peace Support Operations (PSO) at small unit level,”
he added.

In the early 1990s, Baku and Yerevan fought a five-year war over the
remote enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, administratively part of Azerbaijan
but inhabited mainly by Armenians. About 35,000 people died in the
fighting and some one million civilians were displaced. The territory
is now controlled by Armenia.

The Fate of Iraq’s Christians
by Eden Naby

Progressivetrail.com
13 sept 04

Just after celebration of the Festival of the Cross (Aida d-Sliwa) on
Friday, 10 September, the village of Baghdeda, located southeast of
Mosul, on the Nineveh Plains, in the Ninawa Governorate, came under
mortar attack. Thus far a complete tally of the dead and injured in
this village of 30,000 Christians has not been transmitted abroad. We
know that the Sheeto family lost 13-year-old Mark Louis Sheeto and
that his brother and sister were critically injured.

It is unusual for information from Christian villages to filter
outside the area currently under military and political pressure from
the Kurdish Democratic Party. Kurds are barring Western journalists
from entering villages like Dayrabun (“Monastary of the Bishop”)
which are not in any danger zone, but are being denied resettlement
by their Christian inhabitants (reported by Thiry August, a Belgian
who tried to visit the Faysh Khabour area this summer). The KDP
is determined to expand its control as far to the west and south
as possible into areas now inhabited by ChaldoAssyrians. Under the
Transitional Administrative Law, so favorable to Kurds, the objects
of Western sympathy and funds, any territory in the three provinces
adjoining Dohuk, Arbil and Sulaymaniya (Ninawa, Tamim [Kirkuk]
and Diyala) that Kurds can show they controlled on March 19, 2003
(prior to the invasion), may become part of the Kurdish controlled
region in northern Iraq (TAL, Article 53A).

This provision allows Kurds to create “facts on the ground” in
the Mosul and Kirkuk areas in particular, at the expense of unarmed
ethnic and religious minorities – to wit – the Christians of Iraq, the
Yezidis, the Shabat, and the Turkomens. The advantages of controlling
Kirkuk are well known. But the Mosul area, now the scene of fierce
attacks on Christians and Turkomens, are less well recognized.

– The Nineveh Plains hold Iraq’s largest and most fertile agricultural
fields (barley, wheat and legumes). The ChaldoAssyrians had been
farming these for millennia until the steady pressure of Kurdish
population growth combined with Baathist village destruction forced
many of them to be displaced. There is considerable evidence that
Kurdish pastoralists have had a difficult time becoming productive
farmers. (ASSYRIAN STAR, Spring 2004, “Helwa, the Forgotten Tragedy”)

– The Nineveh Plains, through which passes the upper Tigris River
and its tributaries, holds the main water source for central and
south Iraq. Control of places like Faysh Khabour (to where thousands
of Christian villagers are not being allowed to return [NYT Sept. 12,
2004 “Assyrians in Syria”]) lies at the juncture of both the Tigris as
it enters Iraq from Turkey, and where the oil pipeline from the Kirkuk
fields enters Turkey on its way to Ceyhan. The KDP, and its strategic
allies, are grabbing control of Faysh Khabour and its environs,
at the expense of the area’s indigenous Christian inhabitants.

– The possibility of gas fields on the Nineveh Plains
makes control of this region triply attractive for the
Kurds. Barzani has already threatened war with regard to Kirkuk
(). [It is suspicious]
that that the methodical killing of Turkomens and ChaldoAssyrian
leaders by “unknown” assailants stands to profit the KDP, whether this
organization acts as a Sunni Muslim force or a secular Kurdish one.

The attack on Baghdeda, also known as Qaraqosh, marks the long and
largely ignored attacks on Iraq’s Christians who, with the exception
of some 10,000 Armenians, descendents of refugees from the atrocities
of WWI, form the one million or more indigenous Christian population
of Iraq. The term “Assyrian” by which this community has been known
historically (always called so by their Armenian neighbors) includes
several church communities of which the largest is the Chaldean
Catholic. Also included are two branches of the Church of the East,
and members of the Orthodox and Catholic Syrian churches, together
with small Protestant and Seventh Day Adventist congregations.

Both the Baathists (in Iraq and in Syria) and the Kurds have
attempted to divide this community along denominational lines for
easier control. But at their own conference of Chaldeans, Syriacs
and Assyrians, convened in Baghdad 22-24 October 2003, the unified,
albeit artificial term, ChaldoAssyrian, was adopted to forestall
Kurdish poliltical manipulation, which nonetheless continues. This
term appears in the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) signed on 8
March 2004 by the Governing Council. “Assyrian,” dropped from Iraqi
census since 1977 as punishment for opposition to the Baath regime,
is widely used in the diaspora. But TAL recognition of this community
marks a historic first in Iraqi law.

The ChaldoAssyrians form the world’s last and largest compact
community of Aramaic (Syriac) speakers, the oldest continuously
written and spoken language of the Middle East, and after Chinese,
the second oldest continuously written and spoken language of the
world. This now endangered language will become extinct if the
ChaldoAssyrians are forced into mass exodus from Iraq, a prospect
activated by their inability to maintain a foothold, a safe haven, in
northern Iraq. A combination of Kurdish chauvinism and fundamentalist
terrorism (both Arab and Kurdish) has already driven large numbers,
probably thousands, of ChaldoAssyrians out of the country. As Patrick
Cockburn has reported recently with regard to the Turkomens, the US
military is apparently being manipulated by the KDP in the attacks
on Shiite Turkomens at Tel Afar, also in the path of KDP expansion
(). Blind sympathy for Kurds is
allowing the US to become complicit in the ethnic displacement of
Christians as well as Turkomens. Specifically in the Christian case,
the community is regularly denied funds for refugee resettlement
and village reconstruction while Kurdish villagers settle on former
Christian lands with US and international funding.

The early evening mortar attack on the homes of Christians in
Baghdeda comes in the wake of a bloody forty days for this community,
highlighted by the 1 August simultaneous bombing of five churches,
one in Mosul and the others in Baghdad. While it has been impossible
to determine the instigators of violence against Christians in
Basra and Baghdad, and no doubt some of the Baghdad kidnapping
for ransom is the work of criminal gangs possibly allied to the
insurgency, the upsurge in attacks on Christians in the north, on the
Nineveh Plains especially, is widely believed to be the work of KDP
agents. Kurdish attacks on Christians has a long history, stretching
well before WWI and the Hamidiya units of Kurdish irregulars that
were largely responsible for the Assyrian genocide in southeastern
Turkey and northwest Iran. The current attacks appear to be targeted
at Christians in the north of Iraq, on the Nineveh Plains, and the
villages to which those fleeing Basra and Baghdad are hoping to
return. These internally displaced persons (IDPs), as well as the
refugees stranded in Jordan and Syria, need both resettlement funds
and security from Kurdish attacks and pressure. Yet the community is
currently only supported by funds collected from the diaspora – and
in some cases – when the diaspora funds a project, such as electrical
generators, Kurdish thugs blow them up. In other instances, the KDP has
blockaded Assyrian villages and prevented delivery of food supplies.
( ).

Over the past few days alone, a sharply increased pattern of attack
on Christians in the north has emerged as gathered from websites
(). What is happening in the more isolated
villages remaining in Berwari, Aqra and Zakho may be even more deadly.

1. Mosul, Nineveh Province. 8 Sept. Video of real or enacted beheading
distributed in Mosul to frighten Assyrians into leaving the area.

“According to residents of Mosul, a group of Islamic terrorists has
distributed in the past few days a video CD containing the beheading
of two Assyrian Christians from Mosul. To date, the identity of the
Assyrian victims is still unknown. Many residents have seen the video
and claimed that it was very disturbing.”

2. Mosul, Nineveh Province. 8 Sept. Assassination of three women,
wounding of another and driver, as they traveled back to home village
of Bartilla from Mosul.

“On Tuesday August 31, 2004, Tara Majeed Betros Al-Hadaya, Taghrid
Abdul-Massih Ishaq Betros and her sister Hala Abdul-Massih Ishaq
Betros, were murdered in Mosul. The three Assyrian victims were
returning to their homes in Bartilla, from a hospital in Mosul, where
they worked, when their car was attacked by a group of terrorists
who opened heavy fire at the car.

The attack took place in the section between the Television area and
the Kokajli area on the main road between Mosul and Bartilla. Also
injured in the attack was another Assyrian woman, ‘Amera Nouh Sha’ana
who was also going home to Bartilla and the Assyrian driver, Naji
Betros Ishaq. The three female victims were in their twenties.

The residents of Bartilla are followers of the Syriac Orthodox Church,
and the town is the birthplace of His Holiness Mor Ignatius Yacoub III,
the late Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church.”

3. Mosul, Nineveh Province. 9 Sept. Two Assyrian brothers, both
community leaders, are riddled with bullets. Community believes goal
of intensified attacks is to terrorize them and force the indigenous
people to leave, and thus stop disputing Kurdish claims to Mosul,
now being vociferously put forward in Kurdish media.

“On Thursday September 2, 2004, Khaled Boulos (1972-2004) and his
brother Hani Boulos (1976-2004), who are known as the sons of Hasina,
were murdered in Mosul in the Al-Sa’a district. The deceased Assyrian
brothers were known by many Assyrians for their honorable stands
in Mosul in defending and assisting other Assyrians. According
to eyewitnesses, on September 2, at noon (local Mosul time) in
the Al-Mayasa (Al-Sa’a) district, a car carrying a group of armed
terrorists pulled by Khaled and Hani Boulos, where the armed terrorists
came out of the car and began firing heavily at the two Assyrians,
killing them instantly. The two Assyrian brothers worked for a foreign
company in Mosul, which the terrorists used as an excuse to murder
them. However, the peaceful Assyrians of Mosul believe that the main
goal of the intensified attacks on Assyrian Christians is to terrorize
the indigenous Assyrians and force them to leave their homeland.”

4. Mosul, Nineveh Province. 9 Sept. Assyrian political activist run
over by car without plates as terrorists target Christians. Suspected
terrorists are considered part of Kurdish plan to empty the region
of Assyrians who dispute Kurdish claim to entire north.

“On Wednesday September 1, 2004, during a terrorist attack on the
building of the Governorate of Ninawa, Nisan Sliyo Shmoel was injured
in his shoulder. Mr. Shmoel was taken immediately to the hospital where
he was treated. After treatment, he was released from the hospital that
same day, but the terrorists were awaiting his release and targeted
him with an unmarked car (not carrying plate numbers), which they
used to drive him over in front of the hospital entrance. Mr. Shmoel
died immediately.

Martyr Nisan Sliyo Shmoel was 43 years old. He is survived by his wife
and 6 children (5 daughters and a son). The oldest of his children is
15 years old. Shortly after the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s regime,
Nisan Sliyo Shmoel joined the Assyrian Patriotic Party (Gaba Atranaya
Aturaya) to serve his Assyrian people. Mr. Shmoel was also a private in
the newly formed Iraqi Army, which he had joined to serve his country.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

After the renewal of his mandate President Lahoud: â^À^ØYour support, an
additional responsibility for meâ^À^Ù

Monday Morning headlines/lb
13 Sept 04

It was a parade of well-wishers led by the speaker of Parliament, Nabih
Berri, who went to Baabda Palace to transmit to the president the good news
that
Article 49 of the Constitution had been amended by Parliament to allow an
extension of the presidential term.
Standing during four consecutive hours, President Lahoud received the
congratulations of the countryâ^À^Ùs notables and of ordinary citizens, who had
come to
tell him their social and economic difficulties and hope that conditions would
improve. The president was open to all of them, listening attentively to what
they had to say.
The popular delegations, men, women, children and personalities who went to
the palace did not do so in order to fill the â^À^Ügapâ^À^Ý left by the MPs of
the
opposition — the Democratic Gathering of Walid Jumblatt, Prime Minister Rafik
Hariri and his parliamentary bloc, and the opposition Maronite MPs.
Congratulations
Coming from all parts of the country, the well-wishers were pleasantly
surprised at not being searched at the entrance, according to the usual
practice,
and this on the instructions of the president.
Michel Murr, in the first rank of the loyalists, was one of the first to
shake the presidentâ^À^Ùs hand as he led a delegation from the North Metn,
followed by
his daughter, Mirna Abou-Sharaf, and his son, Elias Murr, the interior
minister.
Also seen at Baabda: former Prime Minister Salim Hoss, ministers Michel
Samaha, Asaad Diab, Karim Pakradouni, Karam Karam, Samir Jisr, Assem Kanso,
Elias
Skaff, Michel Moussa, Ali Hassan Khalil, Sebouh Hovnanian, Bahij Tabbara, Ali
Hassan Abdallah.
Among the MPs, we cite the names of Ali Osseiran, Samir Azar, Ali Khalil,
Wajih Baarini, Abdellatif Zein, Anwar Khalil, Antoine Khoury, Salim Saadé,
Ghassan Ashkar, Hagop Kassarjian, Saleh Kheir, Kassem Hashem, Yassin Jaber,
Nicolas
Fattoush, Sami Khatib, Ali Bazzi, Robert Ghanem, Mohammad Yahya, Faisal Daoud,
Jamal Ismaïl, Kabalan Issa el-Khoury, Gebran Tok, Mohsen Dalloul, Mohammad
Ali el-Meiss, Emile Emile Lahoud, a delegation of the Bloc of Fidelity to the
Resistance led by MP Mohammad Raad and including MPs Ali Ammar, Mohammad
Berjawi, Ibrahim Bayan, Hussein el-Hajj Hassan, Georges Najm, Nazih Mansour and
Massoud el-Hojeiri; as well as MP Antoine Haddad leading a group from the
League of
the Haddad Family.
Former ministers and former MPs were not absent from the gathering, such as
Georges Corm, Samir Mokbel, Sleiman Traboulsi, Shahé Barsoumian, Fawzi
Hobeish,
Nazih Baydoun…
Political parties were also represented: the Baath, Tadamon, Tashnak, Amal,
Kataeb, PSS, Christian Democratic, Arab Progressive, the Cénacle Populaire
Libanais and a Palestinian delegation led by Ossama Hamdan, head of Hamas in
Lebanon, leading a delegation of the movement.
Among the spiritual figures were the Syriac Catholic patriarch, Mar Ignatius
Peter VIII Abdelahad, leading a delegation of prelates of the community; Mgr.
Kegham Khacherian and a delegation of the Armenian Orthodox community; the
Greek Catholic bishops Youssef Kallas and André Haddad; Mgr. Georges Saliba,
Greek Orthodox bishop of Mount Lebanon; the Rev. Salim Sahyoun, president of
the
Evangelical Council of Lebanon and Syria.
Then too, a delegation of sheikhs from Tripoli and Akkar, in North Lebanon,
led by Sheikh Taha Sabounji, mufti of Tripoli and the North, and a delegation
of Druze sheikhs.
There were also congratulations from mayors and local government officials,
trade unionists, presidents and members of orders of liberal professions,
diplomats, judges, senior officials…

Presidential speech
Addressing thousands of people who had come to wish him well, President
Lahoud thanked them for their good will. â^À^ÜThis affectionâ^À^Ý, he said,
â^À^Üplaces an
additional responsibility on my shoulders, that of being up to your hopes and
aspirationsâ^À^Ý. He then called for national reconciliation and the
participation of
all Lebanese in the achievement of the countryâ^À^Ùs sovereignty and
independence, giving priority to the political dialogue â^À^Üso that all sides
will be able to
understand the essential problemsâ^À^Ý.

Anand predicts tough times for menâ^À^Ùs team

Press Trust of India
Tuesday, September 14, 2004 at 0014 hours IST

MUMBAI, SEPTEMBER 13: World rapid chess champion Viswanathan Anand
today said it would be a tough task for the Indian menâ^À^Ùs team to
win a medal at the forthcoming Olympiad at Spain as they would be up
against some strong opposition.

â^À^ÜWe will be playing some top chess playing countries like Russia,
Israel, Ukraine, USA and Armenia among others and it will be a tough
task for us to win a medal as all the members of the team will have
to do well consistently,â^À^Ý Anand told reporters here.

â^À^ÜCompared to the menâ^À^Ùs team, the womenâ^À^Ùs team has a
better chance of winning a medal as they not only have a very good
team but their opponents too are not as formidable as in the menâ^À^Ùs
field,â^À^Ý Anand said.

Touching on various topics, the champion said that his next important
assignments are to see that his team does well at the Olympiad and
to win the Chess Oscar.

On his recent performances this year, Anand said, â^À^ÜThis year has
been very good for me and I hope it will continue for some time. I
think I did pretty well to win the Corus Grandmasters tournament in
Wijk Aan Zee and then the Dortmund chess and Mainz chess in Germany
which had chess greats like Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik in
the fray.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Sony, Group Agree to Buy MGM for $5 Bln, Person Says

Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) — Sony Corp., the world’s second- largest
consumer-electronics maker, and a group of investors agreed to buy
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. from billionaire Kirk Kerkorian for about $5
billion including debt, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The Sony-led group, which includes private equity firms Texas Pacific
Group and Providence Equity Partners, may include other investors,
the person said. The group will pay about $12 per share, the person
said. Comcast Corp., the world’s biggest cable- television operator,
may invest $300 million in MGM after the purchase, said two people
familiar with the matter.

Sony became the only remaining bidder after Time Warner Inc.,
the world’s largest media company, said in a statement that it was
withdrawing its offer. The purchase will double the size of Tokyo-
based Sony’s film library to about 8,000, adding MGM titles including
the James Bond and Pink Panther series, and help Sony boost digital
video disc sales.

“The combo would be good. It’s the library they want,” David Miller,
a media and entertainment analyst at Sanders Morris Harris in Los
Angeles, said of Sony. “The more films you have, the more you can
keep costs low.” Miller rates MGM as “hold” and made his comment
before the agreement.

Not `Prudent’

Sony spokeswoman Ann Morfogen didn’t return calls for comment. Janet
Janjigian, a spokeswoman for MGM, declined to comment. Owen
Blicksilver, a spokesman for Texas Pacific, and Providence Equity
spokesman Andrew Cole at the public relations firm Citigate Sard
Verbinnen, couldn’t be reached for comment.

Sony already owns Sony Pictures Entertainment, the parent of Columbia
Pictures and TriStar Pictures. The MGM library includes such Academy
Award winners as “Ben Hur” and “Midnight Cowboy” as well as 10,000
hours of TV programming.

Time Warner Chief Executive Officer Richard Parsons, 56, said today
the company quit the bid because it couldn’t come to terms on a
“price that would have represented a prudent use of our growing
financial capacity.”

“It’s an important milestone that they are showing financial
discipline,” said Angela Kohler, a media analyst with Pittsburgh-
based Federated Investors Inc., of Time Warner’s decision. “MGM was
incremental to growth, but it wasn’t a crucial acquisition.”

Federated owns 2.8 million shares of New York-based Time Warner among
its $27 billion in assets.

Separately, Philadelphia-based Comcast has reached an agreement with
Sony for movies and shows that can be used in Comcast’s video-on-demand
service, and for the creation of new TV channels, said the people
familiar, who asked not to be named.

Kerkorian

The Sony group’s offer equates to around $2.94 billion plus the
assumption of around $1.9 billion in debt, the Wall Street Journal
reported today, citing people familiar with the matter.

The transaction would be the third time Kerkorian, who owns 74 percent
of MGM and tried unsuccessfully to merge it with Sony in 2001, has
sold the studio.

Parsons told Bloomberg News in May that the company is interested
in making acquisitions at the right price and didn’t feel under
pressure to complete any deals. Parsons said at the time he would
consider buying some assets of bankrupt cable-TV operator Adelphia
Communications Corp.

As of Aug. 5, Time Warner’s cash and equivalents totaled $6.2 billion,
the company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission. The company’s net debt totaled $18.1 billion on June 30.

Stock Offer

Time Warner earlier offered Kerkorian stock for MGM, the Journal
reported on Sept. 1, citing people familiar with the offer.

Time Warner, whose Warner Bros. film library has 6,660 titles, was
vying for MGM to be able to sell MGM’s films through its existing
home-video distribution system more efficiently than rival studios.

The decision to pass on MGM proves Time Warner will be a “prudent
and disciplined investor as it evaluates acquisition opportunities,”
said Spencer Wang, analyst with JPMorgan Securities Inc. in New York,
in a research note. He rates the shares “overweight.”

Home-video sales, including DVDs and VHS cassettes, probably will
account for about $5 billion to $5.5 billion in revenue for Time
Warner this year, said Paul Kim, an analyst with New York- based
Tradition Asiel Securities Inc., who rates Time Warner shares “hold”
and doesn’t own them.

U.S. consumers will spend $14.8 billion to buy DVDs this year,
according to Adams Media Research of Carmel, California. That’s
expected to rise to $20.6 billion by 2007. This year’s projected box
office total is $9.6 billion, Adams said.

Multiple Sales

Kerkorian, the president and chief executive of closely held Las
Vegas-based Tracinda Corp., is ranked as the 65th wealthiest person
with $6 billion in net worth, according to Forbes magazine.

The son of an Armenian immigrant rancher in California’s San Joaquin
Valley, Kerkorian first bought the MGM film studio in 1970. Under
Kerkorian, the company built the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas in
1973. The casino unit was spun off into a separate company in 1980.

Kerkorian sold the studio to Ted Turner in 1986 and then bought it
back, leaving the pre-1948 library with Turner, who used it to create
movie-oriented cable networks such as Turner Classic Movies.

Kerkorian later sold the part of MGM he retained to Italian financier
Giancarlo Parretti, who lost it to the French bank Credit Lyonnais
after defaulting on loans used to buy the studio.

Texas Pacific, Providence

With veteran studio executive Frank Mancuso, Kerkorian bought MGM a
third time in 1996 for $1.3 billion in cash.

Texas Pacific, started in 1993 by David Bonderman, a former adviser
to the billionaire Bass family of Texas, last year raised a $5.3
billion takeover fund, TPG Partners IV LP.

The firm has a history of investing in brand names in need of
resuscitation, including Continental Airlines Inc. and fast- food
chain Burger King Corp.

Providence Equity, named for the Rhode Island city where it is based,
invests in communications and media companies and was started in
1991. The firm is currently investing its $2.8 billion Providence
Equity Partners IV.

A Sony-MGM transaction would represent the third multibillion- dollar
purchase of a media company in the past year.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. paid $6.6 billion in December for a
controlling interest in DirecTV Group Inc., the largest U.S. satellite
television service.

General Electric

General Electric Co.’s NBC unit in May completed its $14 billion
purchase of Vivendi Universal SA’s U.S. media assets, creating NBC
Universal. Comcast in February made an unsolicited offer to buy Walt
Disney Co. for $54.1 billion. The offer was later withdrawn.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. advised the Sony group on MGM.

Time Warner shares fell 6 cents to $16.45 at 4:54 p.m. in New York
Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have fallen 8.6 percent
this year. MGM shares rose 44 cents to $11.55 and have risen 12
percent this year.

Sony’s American depositary receipts, each representing one common
share, rose 53 cents to $35.82 and are up 3.3 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dan Lonkevich in New
York [email protected]. Chitra Somayaji in New York at
[email protected].

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alan Mirabella at
[email protected].

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918 Fax: 818.246.7353
[email protected]
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

PRESS RELEASE +++ PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Monday September 13, 2004

Contact: Armen Carapetian 818.500.1918

U.S. CONGRESSWOMAN ESHOO & CALIFORNIA STATE SENATOR POOCHIGIAN TO BE
HONORED AT 2004 ANNUAL BANQUET

— Pre-Banquet Party to Kick Off 2004-2005 ANCA-WR Fundraising Efforts

Los Angeles, CA â^À^Ó The Armenian National Committee of America â^À^Ó
Western Region (ANCA-WR) has announced two of its honorees for the
2004 Annual Banquet. ANCA-WR Chairman of the Board of Directors Raffi
Hamparian and Annual Banquet Committee Chair Aida Dimejian announced
that Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and California State Senator
Charles Poochigian (R-Fresno) will be honored at this yearâ^À^Ùs event.

Hamparian praised Congresswoman Eshoo and Senator Poochigian by
saying, â^À^ÜWith a whole new class of young Armenian American elected
officials on the horizon, we need to recognize the individuals who
have set the standard in terms of commitment and hard work.

â^À^ÜCongresswoman Eshoo and Senator Poochigian are role models
and exemplary public officials in their respective bodies. They have
brought great pride to Armenian Americans and we are extremely grateful
for their hard work,â^À^Ý added Hamparian.

The ANCA-WR announced that it will hold its 2004 Annual Banquet at
the Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel in Pasadena, California on Sunday,
October 24, 2004. Last yearâ^À^Ùs ANCA-WR Annual Banquet was a sold out
affair which featured such honorees as Federal Judge Dikran Tevrizian,
California Treasurer Phil Angelides, Congressmen Adam Schiff (D-CA)
and George Radanovich (R-CA) as well as Dr. Alfred De Zayas, former
undersecretary to the United Nationâ^À^Ùs Human Rights Commission.

The ANCA-WR Banquet is attended annually by prominent Members of
Congress, State Legislators, Mayors, academics, and a vast number of
Armenian American political activists. The ANCA-WR Annual Banquet is
the largest event of its kind that brings Armenian Americans together
with a large number of federal, state and local public officials. The
Banquet annually draws over 750 individuals, including a long list
of dignitaries. Last yearâ^À^Ùs event was no exception, and with this
yearâ^À^Ùs guest list packed with high profile figures, tickets sales
are already heating up.

â^À^ÜThe Banquet continues to get better with each passing year, with
more dignitaries, better venues, and an amazing list of honorees,â^À^Ý
commented ANCA-WR Executive Director Ardashes Kassakhian. â^À^ÜIf
you havenâ^À^Ùt been to an Annual Banquet, then you must attend. If
youâ^À^Ùre an activist or supporter interested in politics, helping
the Armenian Cause, and meeting exciting and interesting people,
then this is your event,â^À^Ý added Kassakhian.

The ANCA-WRâ^À^Ùs Board of Directors also announced that the location
for this yearâ^À^Ùs annual pre-Banquet Kickoff Party will be the
luxurious and elegant Cicada Restaurant in downtown Los Angeles. The
Kickoff Party generally attracts those interested in reserving tables
for the Annual Banquet. Most of the tables for the Banquet are sold
at the high energy event.

With all the grandeur of a Hollywood dream movie from the 1920s,
Cicada Restaurant and Lounge has been voted Top Decor by the popular
Zagat Restaurant guide. The stunningly spacious room features
Lalique crystal, ornate gold-leaf ceilings, and a mezzanine and
lounge overlooking the main floor that was made famous in the films
â^À^ÜPretty Womanâ^À^Ý and â^À^ÜBugsyâ^À^Ý.

The gathering will take place on Thursday, September 16, 2004 at 7:30
PM. The complimentary event is part of ANCA-WR tradition and marks
the beginning of the fundraising drive leading up to the ANCA-WR
Annual Banquet â^À^Ó the organizationâ^À^Ùs gala event.

#####

New J’lem master plan seeks to curb Old City overcrowding
By Nadav Shragai

Haaretz
14 Sept 04

Jerusalem officials unveiled a new master plan for the city yesterday,
the first since 1959.

Mayor Uri Lupolianksy, city engineer Uri Sheetrit, and the head of
the planning team, former Jerusalem district planner, Moshe Cohen,
presented the plan, which calls for “massive intervention” to prevent
overcrowding in the Old City.

The plan envisions using government funds to offer alternative housing
outside the Old City walls to interested Old City residents.

A similar plan was proposed in the past by an Interior Ministry team
that looked into the situation in the Old City at the behest of the
Ministerial Committee for Jerusalem Affairs.

However, it was not implemented due to its political sensitivity.

The plan involves thinning out the population in all quarters of the
Old City, except the only one restored so far – the Jewish Quarter –
as a means of slowing down the rapid population growth.

At 119.5 people per dunam, population density in the Old City is 10
to 20 times greater than other areas of the city, and growing.

Plan needs city approval

Lacking a master plan, the city has relied over the years on partial
plans.

The new, comprehensive 464-page plan, which deals with virtually
every aspect of life in the capital, needs to be discussed by the
local and district planning commissions before it can be approved.

The plan notes that a great deal of the illegal construction in
the Old City takes place in interior courtyards and on the roofs of
existing structures, especially in the Muslim Quarter but also in
the Christian and Armenian Quarters.

It calls for the reconstruction of the Anata refugee camp in northern
Jerusalem, although according to ideas put forward by Israeli
politicians in recent years, Anata will not be within the Jerusalem
city limits and will be transferred to the Palestinian Authority.

The plan also proposes tripling the size of neighborhood parks,
which now cover an area of 2,638 dunams.

The plan recommends keeping the present skyline, with its view of
the city’s landmarks.

It limits the height of buildings in some areas, while allowing
high-rise construction in others.

In the center of the city, the plan envisions construction of buildings
between 24 and 33 stories.

ENERGONOROGUM MANUFACTURES POLYETHYLENE PIPES

   YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS: A local Energonorogum (Energy
Repair) company started production of polyethylene pipes late last
May and according to its chief manager, there are enough capacity to
manufacture around 100 km long pipes a month with a diameter ranging
from 60 to 160 cm. These pipes are successfully used both for laying
drinking water and natural gas pipelines.    Unlike metal pipes,
which can serve only for 15-20 years, pipes made of polyethylene,
can run for 60 years and demand no repair. They are also immune
against corrosion and other chemical exposure. The company brings
raw material from Belgium. It is now seeking prospects for selling
its products in Russia and other CIS countries.

Armenian Assembly of America
122 C Street, NW, Suite 350
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:
 
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 13, 2004
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
E-mail: [email protected]

NATO CANCELS KEY MILITARY EXERCISES IN AZERBAIJAN
SAYS BAKU VIOLATED “PRINCIPLE OF INCLUSIVENESS”

Washington, DC – The Armenian Assembly of America commended NATO for its
decision to cancel military exercises set to begin in Azerbaijan today after
Baku’s repeated attempts to bar Armenia’s participation. Armenia was among
several dozen countries due to take part in the annual exercises, but Azeri
officials were clear to point out that they did not want Armenians on their
territory.

U.S. General James Jones, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces, expressed
regret over the country’s refusal to grant entrance visas to five Armenian
officers to take part in the military exercises dubbed “Cooperative Best
Effort (CBE) 2004.”

In a statement released today, NATO said in part: “All PfP [Partnership for
Peace] exercises are agreed and conducted on the principle of inclusiveness
for all Allies and Partners which wish to participate. Nations participating
in Cooperative Best Effort 2004 agreed and have supported the exercise based
on this principle. We regret that the principle of inclusiveness could not
be upheld in this case, leading to the cancellation of the exercise.”

“We applaud NATO for its principled stance and refusal to succumb to
Azerbaijan’s pressure to bar Armenia, an active participant of the PfP
program, from these exercises,” said Assembly Board of Directors Chairman
Anthony Barsamian.

“Azerbaijan’s refusal to honor international commitments is part of an
escalating pattern throughout 2004 of its hostility towards all things
Armenian,” continued Barsamian. “By not properly condemning the murder of
an Armenian officer at a NATO event earlier this year, by constantly
threatening Armenia and NKR with another military offensive and by not
denouncing the remarks of its Defense Ministry spokesperson predicting
Armenia’s conquest by Azerbaijan within 25 years, Azerbaijan’s senior
leadership have shown their true colors to the international community.”

Armenia, as part of its commitment to international security in the
Caucasus, invited both Azerbaijan and Turkey to participate in the NATO
exercises held in Yerevan last year. Although Turkish troops attended,
their Azeri counterparts refused. NATO’s debut in Yerevan was noteworthy in
that two conflicting countries united to participate in the games.

The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide
organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian
issues. It is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.

NR#2004-081

Libération , France
9 septembre 2004

Mardirossian, des suites dans les idées;
Classique. Le pianiste arménien crée deux oeuvres de Tanguy et sort
un CD de Haendel.

par DAHAN Eric

Ouvert mardi, par un récital de Pierre-Laurent Aimard, le festival
Piano aux Jacobins, à Toulouse, propose cette année des grands
maîtres, comme Aldo Ciccolini, et la relève, incarnée par les
Angelich, Andsnes ou Anderszewski. Ce soir, Vahan Mardirossian, 29
ans, donne la création mondiale de Poème, commande du festival, et la
création française de quatre Intermezzi dévoilés à Londres cet été.
Deux oeuvres signées du parrain et ami, Eric Tanguy, l’homme qui l’a
réconcilié avec la musique contemporaine. “J’avais déjà joué Ohana ou
Takemitsu, mais je n’étais pas assez mûr pour apprécier”, déclarait
le pianiste en début de semaine.

Chef d’orchestre. Si la musique de Tanguy l’a séduit, c’est par son
exploration originale de la modalité : “Les échelles de Debussy,
Ravel ou Messiaen sont encore issues de la tonalité. Celles inventées
par Tanguy conservent la note sensible, mais sont plus abstraites, et
par le jeu des renversements et superpositions, confèrent une couleur
unique à chacune de ses oeuvres.” Mardirossian aimerait sans doute
être plus apprécié pour son jeu, techniquement supérieur mais économe
d’effets, à la fois dynamique et parfaitement articulé. Et cela dans
Schubert ou les transcriptions romantiques de Bach qu’il a
enregistrées, mais aussi tout ce répertoire qu’il joue, sous la
double influence de l’école russe et de l’école française, puisque
Mardirossian fut élève de Jacques Rouvier.

Quand l’ambassadrice de France en Arménie offre une bourse au jeune
Vahan, il a 17 ans, mais déjà une jolie carrière dans son Erevan
natal, et le reste du pays. A 8 ans, ce fils d’un radiophysicien et
d’une électromécanicienne, joue dans la même année des concertos de
Mozart et Grieg et la Rhapsodie sur un thème de Paganini de
Rachmaninov avec trois orchestres différents. Son rêve étant de
devenir chef, il s’initie au hautbois “pour pratiquer au moins un
instrument d’orchestre”, puis crée son propre ensemble composé d’amis
du conservatoire d’Erevan, qui donne rapidement des concerts. Il
apprend un temps la direction à Vienne, puis décide “qu’il vaut mieux
commencer par maîtriser son propre instrument, avant de prétendre
diriger un groupe”.

Fraîcheur. A Paris, Mardirossian passe de la condition d’enfant
prodige à celle de simple élève du Conservatoire national. Ses
modèles de pianistes? Richter (“capable de jouer tout le répertoire”)
et Guilels (“noblesse du son”). Côté chefs: Carlos Kleiber, récemment
disparu: “Dans une répétition filmée, j’ai été frappé par sa façon de
trouver des métaphores qui parlent immédiatement aux différentes
nationalités de l’orchestre” et Haitink pour “sa façon d’indiquer
avec un seul geste, à la fois le phrasé et la couleur sonore à
l’instrumentiste, est le propre des grands qui n’ont pas du tout
besoin de parler.”

Dans quelques jours, Mardirossian publiera un CD de Haendel. Trois
Suites, une Sonate qui a inspiré à Brahms de fameuses Variations, op.
24 et une Chaconne, repérées sur la liste des oeuvres jouées en
concert par Neuhaus. “N’ayant pas trouvé de CD complet des oeuvres
pour clavecin de Haendel, j’ai couru acheter des partitions et je les
ai arrangées. Cette musique est d’une fraîcheur absolue, ça sonne
comme du Bach inédit.”

Vahan Mardirossian

Ce soir à 20 h 30 au cloître des Jacobins de Toulouse. Loc. : 05 61
22 40 05.