ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
July 25, 2004 Sunday
Armenian premier to discuss electricity in Tbilisi
By Tengiz Pachkoria
TBILISI
Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan will arrive in Tbilisi on
Sunday evening on a two-day visit. He will discuss “smaller charges
on the Armenian electricity supplied to Georgia,” Georgian Energy
Minister Nika Gilauri told the press.
“Armenian electricity charges for Georgia are higher than prices on
Russian electricity,” the minister said. “We will also discuss
parallel functioning of the Georgian and Armenian energy systems, and
Georgia’s affiliation to the Armenia-Iran energy grid. We would like
to deliver electricity to Iran via Armenia in summer and receive
Iranian electricity via Armenia in winter.”
The Armenian delegation led by Margaryan will attend a session of the
Armenian-Georgian intergovernmental commission for economic
cooperation on Monday, July 26. Georgian President Mikhail
Saakashvili will receive Margaryan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
July 25, 2004 Sunday
Armenian premier to discuss cooperation in Tbilisi
By Tigran Liloyan
YEREVAN
Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan will discuss economic
cooperation with Georgia in Tbilisi. He will attend a session of the
Armenian-Georgian intergovernmental commission for economic
cooperation.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and other officials will
receive Margaryan. He will also visit the burial vault of Armenian
artists and a memorial to heroes who died for independence of
Georgia. The premier will meet with Georgian Armenians at the St.
Gevork Cathedral. The Armenian community in Georgia has 250,000
members.
Yerevan and Tbilisi think that bilateral trade and economic
cooperation fails to meet their potential. Last year bilateral trade
amounted to $43.2 million, a source in the Armenian government office
told Itar-Tass. Georgia supplies nitric fertilizers, petroleum
products, gas and knitted wear, while Armenia supplies electricity,
trucks and construction materials. Armenian businessmen are
interested in the Georgian market. Twenty-five ventures with Armenian
capital are functioning in Georgia nowadays.

The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY)
July 19, 2004 Monday Final Edition
REFUGEES’ LATE SON LIVES ON IN PORTRAIT;
WORKING FROM TINY SNAPSHOT, HAMILTON ARTIST MEMORIALIZES TODDLER WHO
DIED IN RUSSIA.
By Mike Fish Staff writer
Grigoriy and Yelena Bagiryan celebrated their daughter Marya’s fifth
birthday Saturday with gifts and a taste of cake.
But the Bagiryans, refugees from Russia who have lived in Syracuse
almost a year, also received a special gift of their own, one that
gave them a taste of what it feels like to live in a community where
they are loved and welcome.
Susan Naef, chair of the Social Justice Committee of St. Mary’s
Church in Hamilton, one of three churches that have taken the
Bagiryan family under their wings, presented Grigoriy and Yelena with
a portrait of their son, Nerses, who was 18 months old when he died
in an accident in their Moscow home in October 2002.
The portrait, done free by artist Rosita Dickson, of Hamilton, now
supplements their only photo of Nerses, one that’s about the size of
a quarter and fits in a refrigerator magnet in their kitchen on Park
Street.
“I am very thankful,” Yelena said in Russian through an interpreter,
Alex Sukhorukov.
The Bagiryan family, which includes six children and Grigoriy’s
mother, Vartush, came to Syracuse in September. The family is
sponsored by three churches: St. Mary’s in Hamilton, Our Lady of
Lourdes in Syracuse and St. Joan of Arc in Morrisville.
With considerable help from Catholic Charities and others, the
support group has provided furnishings, bicycles for the children, a
washer and dryer, a computer, a sewing machine, many Christmas gifts,
lots of food supplies and dinners, and help with the monthly rent,
when needed.
And St. Mary’s parishioners recently decided to cover the $5,000
travel bill the family still owes the U.S. government, Naef said. The
church so far has paid about four monthly installments of about $100
against that bill, she said.
Nerses died when he stuck his hand in an electrical outlet, and his
parents were able to visit his grave every day in Moscow. But in
Syracuse, their only reminder – until Saturday – was the tiny photo
on the kitchen fridge.
The family several months ago asked Naef for a few favors, including
a portrait of their late son.
Dickson, who is well-known for her pastel portraits, saw a photocopy
of the boy’s snapshot and volunteered to do his portrait.
“Rosita saw the snapshot copy and cried,” Naef said. “She did it from
the heart.”
Lauri Tomberlin, who owns a frame shop in Hamilton next door to
Dickson’s store, agreed to frame the portrait at no cost.
Grigoriy was from Azerbaijan, and when the Soviet empire crumbled and
Azerbaijan regained its independence, Armenian Christians like him
were no longer welcome there, Naef said. The family was forced to go
to Moscow, but because of their ethnic background, they were treated
poorly there, too, and sought refuge in the United States.
Speaking through the interpreter, Yelena said the family is happy to
be out of Moscow, where they were treated like third-class citizens
and lived in a neighborhood full of criminals. Her children, she
said, “may have a future here.”
In Russia, their children’s future looked bleak.
Yelena told one story describing the contrast between life in Moscow
and life in Syracuse.
In Russia, authorities thought their son, Armen, was mentally ill and
treated him that way.
When the family moved to Syracuse, doctors quickly discovered there
was hardly anything wrong. Armen, now 7, simply had a hearing
problem. He now has a hearing aid, and everything is fine.
“He acts so much better here,” his mother said.

San Bernardino Sun (San Bernardino, CA)
July 24, 2004 Saturday
Weddings windows to diversity
Mirjam Swanson said it was going to be her “Big Fat Armenian
Wedding,’ and she wasn’t exaggerating.
Mirjam is the sports editor of The Sun. On Friday night she married
the sports editor of the Glendale News-Press, whose name is Hamlet
Nalbandyan – which is as Armenian as he is.
Hyphenated-American weddings are great fun and of great interest to
the more-or-less assimilated of us as the remarkably successful 2002
film “My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ demonstrated.
A bonus to living in Southern California: We don’t have to try very
hard to turn up at wedding ceremonies far outside the traditions we
learned in our parents’ house. Mexican-American, African-American,
Jewish-American …
See enough weddings in SoCal, you ought to be able to get college
credit for cultural anthropology courses.
Mirjam’s and Hamlet’s wedding was celebrated at Saint Mary’s Armenian
Apostolic Church, in Glendale, home to some 80,000 ethnic Armenians
which gives Glendale the second-largest Armenian population of any
city in the world, behind only Yerevan, the capital of the nation of
Armenia.
The ceremony was conducted almost entirely in Armenian. Sensibly,
since it was the native tongue of most of the people in the church,
including the men officiating.
We asked directions on where to sit groom’s side vs. bride’s side and
one of the the groom’s relatives said, “Boy left, girl right!’
Armenia was the first nation to embrace Christianity [in the year
301], and its church has been pivotal in the retention of ethnic
identity during centuries of domination by non-Christian invaders. We
now know.
An interesting feature of the ceremony: The bride and groom touch
foreheads for long stretches of it. Hadn’t seen that before.
The reception, at the Yepremian Banquet Hall, was an Armenian
party-down event, and indicated the apparent Armenian preference for
the spare-no-expense celebration.
We arrived to a surfeit of food, so much that the groaning tables
could not accept one more plate. And those were just the appetizers.
Fifteen of them, at the least. Hummus, olives, cheeses, veggies,
salmon eggs, cured meats, everything but a partridge in a pear tree.
Each table also featured a fifth of Absolut vodka [Armenia once was
part of the Soviet Union], a bottle of Hennessy brandy and two
bottles of wine. Which were useful fuels for the dancing that ensued.
The band was made up of a keyboardist, a couple of drummers and a guy
on a violin, and they weren’t shy about performing Armenian folk and
pop tunes at bleed-from-the-ears volume.
Armenian dance features hand movements of the sort you might
associate with India or Iran, even Arabia, and a tendency to arrange
themselves in a circle which you might see at a Greek or Jewish
wedding.
Mirjam led the way for her family, which was laudably game in the
cross-cultural dance-floor events.
The band and its lead singer mixed in a slow dance or two, for the
old folks, presumably, then would start in with something “everyone’
knew the Armenian answer to, oh, “Shout!,’ perhaps and the crowd
would buzz with excited approval and rush the floor for more dancing.
The dinner courses arrived about 20 minutes apart. Mushrooms stuffed
with meat; seasoned potatoes; an enormous platter of boneless
barbecued meats [chicken, beef, pork]; stewed mushrooms with cheese;
boiled beef with rice; melon and strawberries.
More than a college football team could hope to consume. Our table
had been overpowered way back at the appetizers.
Between the barbecued meats and the stewed mushrooms, three
gypsy-style dancers made their appearance in a flash of sequins and
veils, repeatedly drawing members of the wedding party back out to
the dance floor, tiring out spectators just from watching.
We lasted till 11 p.m., amid reports “they’ll shut the place down,’
from veterans of other Armenian-American weddings.
We left with the idea of how we Americans routinely make cultural
leaps that would never occur in The Old Country. Our colleague
Mirjam, basically WASPy a few days ago, now can present herself as
Mirjam Nalbandyan, if she chooses.
Some of us believe that sort of marital jump is a sign of America’s
healthy acceptance of cultural diversity. We all can agree it makes
for a great show.
Paul Oberjuerge’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and
Friday. Readers may call him at [909] 386-3849 or e-mail him at
[email protected].
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
“Christian Moslem collaboration must be developed on common values”
His Holiness Catholicos Aram I
“Christian-Moslem dialogue is integral to the history of the Middle East”
His Highness Prince Hassan Bin Talal
ANTELIAS, (25 JULY 2004) – The meeting that took place between His Holiness
Aram I Catholicos of all Armenians of Cilicia and His Highness Prince Hassan
Bin Talal of Jordan today in Antelias was a significant event in the context
of the Christian-Moslem dialogue. In fact both leaders are engaged in the
Christian-Moslem dialogue regionally and internationally. They are both
committed to promotion of human rights, common human values and peace with
justice.
In a private meeting that took place in the office of His Holiness,
Catholicos Aram I and Prince Hassan of Jordan addressed a number of issues
related to the Middle East and particularly to Christian-Moslem dialogue.
They both stressed the crucial importance of deepening the interfaith
dialogue as an important instrument for the restoration of peace, justice
and reconciliation in the world today.
The private meeting was followed by an official reception in the main hall
of the Catholicosate. Present were the Armenian minister in the government,
the Central Committee of the Catholicosate the Primate of Lebanon, the
representatives of the Antelias clergy and the community leaders.
In his welcoming speech His Holiness Aram I greeted His Highness “as a great
Arab leader committed to justice, peace and reconciliation; as a man of
dialogue engaged in developing meaningful collaboration between Islam and
Christianity; as a friend and a partner walking and working together for the
promotion of common values and vision”. He then referred to the manifold
mission of the Catholicosate in the Armenian Diaspora emphasizing
particularly its contribution to Christian-Moslem dialogue. Speaking about
the challenges and concerns facing humanity, His Holiness Aram I pointed out
the pivotal role of religion. In this context he warned the misuse and the
abuse of religion which could become a source of evil. Concluding his
remarks, Catholicos Aram I assured the Prince that the Armenian Church and
people with their long history of suffering and genocide, as well as with
their continues struggle for justice and freedom remain partners with all
those who are committed for the building of a world sustained by tolerance,
mutual trust, human rights, justice and reconciliation.
In his respond to the greeting of His Holiness, His Highness expressed his
joy to be in the center of the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia. He
addressed His Holiness as a friend and a partner committed for the sacred
cause of justice, human dignity, inter-religious tolerance and peace. His
Highness then described the context of the present world in its major
problems, needs and challenges. He considered the role of religions very
important in developing firm ethical bases to govern the life of societies.
At the end of greetings His Holiness and His Highness responded to some
questions raised by those present.
##
View printable pictures here:
tp:// top

********
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the Ecumenical
activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS RELEASE
Bible Society of Armenia
Zakiyan 6/26
Yerevan 375015, Armenia
Tel: (+374 – 1) 58.55.09, 56.49.06
Fax: (+374 – 1) 54.24.39
E-mail: [email protected]
July 26, 2004
BIBLE STUDIES IN VAGHARSHAPAT
YEREVAN – As we approach the end of the first academic year in which the
teaching of religion was introduced into the public school curriculum,
the needs of teachers has become a major concern. The school curriculum
for the 4th grade is entirely devoted to the Bible. The Bible Society
has received an official request from the educational and religious
authorities at the highest levels to assist in both the training of
these teachers and in providing them with their own copies of the
Scriptures, given the fact that many of them are teaching religion for
the first time in their lives. At the current stage, the Bible Society
Board has adopted a project of assisting the teachers of the Armavir
Region.
The first phase of this project, April 15-July 15, 2004, took place in
the city of Vagharshapat. The opening was blessed by HG Bishop Sion
Adamian, the Primate of the Diocese of Armavir. Forty teachers have
constantly attended the courses every Thursday afternoon. The manager of
this project, the Board Secretary Arshavir Kapoudjian, presented the
mission of the Bible Society and explored the objectives of this
initiative, stating: “The Bible Society will always meet the need of the
churches and this is one of the examples that BS carries such
responsibility upon its shoulders. We know very well how important your
mission is. Hence, we consider ourselves your colleagues, to work
together, to bring the Word of God to our new generation.” Arshavir
Kapoudjian (The Old Testament); Rev. Fr Serope Chamurlian, the
Representative of Mechitarist Congregation to Armenia (The Four Gospels,
The Acts); Deacon Gevorg Ghushchian, Assistant to the Vicar General of
Araratian Patriarchal Diocese (The Epistles); Revd Dr Manuel Jinbashian,
UBS Translation Consultant (Historical and Linguistic Issues in the
Bible) took part in this project as lecturers.
On July 15, 2004, was the closure of this phase. After the final
lecture, certificates have been given to the teachers by HG Bishop
Adamian. The Primate expressed his gratitude and appreciation to the
Bible Society for this important initiative. He added: “Everyday and
everywhere we saw the commitment of the Bible Society.” After getting
the certificates some of the teachers expressed their joy and thanks
stating: “This initiative gives an opportunity for not simply acquiring
knowledge but it was also a source for spiritual uplifting. Every time
we left this classroom we felt much more encouraged and enlightened. So,
we don’t want to take this moment as an end but we hope to continue this
project.”
The Bible Society plans to organize some school visits and a full-day
seminar in fall, in the city of Vagharshapat. The next step of such
project will take place in September 2004 in the city of Armavir
The Bible Society of Armenia was established in 1991, when the late
Catholicos Vazgen I and representatives of the United Bible Societies
signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the translation,
publication and dissemination of the Holy Bible in Armenia. The Bible
Society of Armenia is committed to the widest possible meaningful and
effective distribution of the Holy Scriptures in languages and media
which meet the needs of people, at a price they can afford. The Board of
Trustees of The Bible Society of Armenia consists of representatives of
the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Armenian Catholic Church and the
Union of Armenian Evangelical and Baptist Churches.
For further information on Bible Society of Armenia and its activities,
call (3741) 58-55-09 or 56-49-06; fax (3741) 54-24-39; e-mail
[email protected]
###

MOSNEWS, Russia
July 26 2004
Moscow Evicts Armenian Refugees From Dorm – Paper
Created: 26.07.2004 13:37 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 13:37 MSK, 2 hours
15 minutes ago
MosNews
200 Armenian refugees living in a Moscow dormitory were told by city
authorities to leave in five days, Izvestia newspaper wrote Monday.
Moscow officials came to the dorm in the north of Moscow and ordered
the refugees to sign the papers on their eviction. Several
inhabitants agreed to sign them.
Three weeks before, police and emergency officials had evicted
Armenian inhabitants of one of the dormitory’s buildings, the paper
wrote. The eviction took place in the early morning. The law
enforcement officials threw bottles in the windows and broke the
doors. The belongings and furniture were thrown from the windows. The
building was immediately demolished. The evicted did not receive any
other place to live.
The refugees’ lawyer Igor Rakhmilov quoted by the paper called this
eviction illegal and said they had sent letters to the Moscow
prosecutor’s office, to the city administration and to the Russian
president Vladimir Putin.
In June 1990, then head of Moscow Council executive committee, now
Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov signed a decision on the temporary
accommodation of refugees. Armenians who had fled from Azerbaijan
were allowed to live with their families in Moscow dorms and register
there temporarily, the paper reminded. The 200 refugees living in the
dorm quoted by the paper say they were not registered.
The U.S. Congress had recently invited all Armenian refugees to the
United States for permanent residence. However, Moscow spokesmen of
the UN High Commissioner on human rights quoted by the paper said
that this program had been closed.

Civil Georgia, Georgia
July 26 2004
Armenian PM Visits Georgia

Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan arrived in Georgia on
July 25 for an official two day visit.
He will discuss bilateral economic ties with his Georgian counterpart
Zurab Zhvania, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and other
officials.
A session of the bilateral governmental commission on economic issues
is also scheduled during the Prime Minister’s visit.
Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili visited the Armenian
capital, Yerevan, last week.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Los Angeles Daily News, CA
July 26 2004
Armenians weigh Kerry vow
Candidatesays he’ll recognize genocide
By Lisa Friedman
Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — Presidential candidate John Kerry has promised to
formally recognize the Armenian genocide if he is elected.
But presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush all
made similar vows as candidates — then once inside the White House
opposed resolutions acknowledging genocide.
Still, in interviews with Armenian-Americans across Southern
California and elsewhere this week, hopes for the Massachusetts
Democrat ran high.
“I think we might expect something different from candidate Kerry,”
said Peter Balakian, author of “The Burning Tigris: The Armenian
Genocide and America’s Response.”
“He spent his whole life immersed in the Armenian community,”
Balakian said, noting that Massachusetts is home to about 30,000
Armenian Americans. “This is a candidate with a great depth of
knowledge on this history.”
Armenians contend the Ottoman Empire began a centrally planned
slaughter in 1915 under cover of World War I in which about 1.5
million Armenians were killed. Turkey insists that number is
inflated, and that Armenians died along with thousands of Turks as
the result of crushing a mass uprising against the Ottoman Empire.
Reluctant to alienate Turkey, a valued U.S. ally, American presidents
have traditionally taken a middle road describing the casualties as
“massacres” but stopping short of using the term “genocide” and
opposing resolutions acknowledging a genocide.
The opposition cuts across party lines. Currently the Bush
administration and House Republican leaders are demanding an
amendment by Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, recognizing the genocide,
be stripped from a foreign aid bill.
But in 2000 it was President Clinton who blocked a genocide
resolution by then-Rep. James Rogan, R-Glendale, from coming to the
House floor.
“It seems to be a nonpartisan issue. It’s more about the State
Department and the White House not having the courage to exercise its
moral leadership,” Balakian said.
Scholars and activists said they are pinning new hopes on Kerry
largely because he voted in favor of Sen. Bob Dole’s genocide
resolution in 1990 and currently is co-sponsoring a Senate version of
a resolution acknowledging the genocide.
“He has a long record of supporting issues of concern to the
Armenian-American community, and he comes from a state where
Armenian-Americans have been since the early 20th century, so there’s
some history there,” said Armen Carapetian, a spokesman for the
Armenian National Committee of America’s Western Region in Glendale.
Added Seto Boyadian, who heads the Armenian National Committee of
America’s San Gabriel chapter, “As long as he has been in public
life, he has always supported the genocide resolution. He’s
committed. He’s on the record.”
Others, of course, are skeptical that Kerry, whom critics have long
accused of flip-flopping on issues, will stand firm.
“The Democrats need the Armenian votes to regain their political
power. If elected, Kerry and his ilk will forget about the Armenians
and their genocide the next day,” Saakyan Gayane of Glendale wrote in
an e-mail.
Even those pinning their hopes on Kerry said they would not be
surprised if he changed his tune once elected.
“We know what pressures he will face on this issue. Those are real
pressures. The State Department won’t change its tune,” Carapetian
said.
Added Garbis Hindoyan, who heads the Armenian National Committee of
America’s East Valley chapter in Van Nuys, “We hope if he’s elected,
Kerry will keep his word.
“On the other hand,” he said, “we will not be shocked if he does what
Bill Clinton and George Bush did.”

Star of Mysore, India
July 26 2004
JUMBO YATRA TO MEET ARMENIAN LOVER
Mysore, July 26 (VG)- The staff at the Chamarajendra Zoological
Gardens are all agog with exictement as Komala, the eight-year-old
female elephant, is to go to Armenia.
According to Zoo Director Mr. Kumar Pushkar, Komala will be paired
with a nine-year-old Asian elephant at Armenia Zoo. The Armenian Zoo
had written to the President of India requesting for a female
elephant from one of the Zoos in India.
The Central Zoo Authority’s search for a healthy female elephant
ended in Mysore, Mr. Pushkar added.
“Central Zoo Authority’s Member-Secretary Dr. Rajesh Gopal and
Armenian Embassy’s Advisor Mr. Arman Kachatran selected Komala and
she would be air-lifted to Armenia within a month,” he informed.
Mr. Pushkar said Komala is a gift to the Armenian President from the
President of India. Giving away one elephant is not a loss as the
Mysore Zoo had successfully bred elephants in captivity. The Zoo will
be saving about Rs. 1.5 lakh spent on Komala’s maintenance.
The Central Government will bear the expenses of constructing an
enclosure required to airlift Komala to Armenia. Meanwhile, Komala is
being trained to remain in the enclosure for long hours as the
journey would take about 18 hours, Mr. Pushkar disclosed. The
pachyderm would be accompanied by a veterinarian and two keepers.
A doctor from Armenia and an elephant caretaker have arrived in the
Mysore Zoo to study the elephant’s behaviour and the ambience that
needs to be created at Armenia Zoo.