BAKU: Azeri MPs concerned about cultural monuments destruction

Azeri MPs concerned about cultural monuments destruction in Karabakh

ANS TV, Baku
20 Apr 04

[Presenter Aytan Safarova] Nagornyy Karabakh became a subject of
discussion in the Azerbaijani parliament today. MP Ibrahim Isayev
called on his colleagues to appeal to international organizations with
regard to the fate of cultural monuments and graves destroyed in Susa
[Shushi].

[Correspondent, over video of parliament’s sitting] The parliament
started its sitting today with current issues. MPs mostly spoke about
the Nagornyy Karabakh problem. Citing precise information, Isayev said
that the Susa castle and the Susa cemetery had been destroyed and Susa
had been renamed Shushi. He called on his colleagues not to be
indifferent to these facts.

[Isayev] The UN and various international organizations must be told
about that and all the bells must be set ringing. According to
reports, the walls of the castle are being destroyed to expand the
territory under a carpet workshop built by an Armenian entrepreneur of
Belgian origin. The names of the town’s ancient quarters have been
replaced by Armenian ones.

[Correspondent] Isayev also said that several US companies have been
operating on the occupied Azerbaijani lands. He added that the US
government should urgently recall these companies and the US
ambassador to Azerbaijan should be told about this.

MP Zahid Oruc spoke about a rapprochement between Iran and Armenia. He
said that the Azerbaijani foreign minister should protest against the
agreement on the construction of Iranian-Armenian power plants on the
occupied lands.

Some MPs called for an information war against the Armenians.

[MP Sabir Rustamxanli, captioned] There is a need for establishing a
certain body to conduct the information war.

[MP Qudrat Hasanquliyev] We must certainly establish a TV station in
Agdam [partly occupied by Armenia] which will broadcast in the
Armenian language in Nagornyy Karabakh. Azerbaijan must finally
initiate this.

We can form a provisional administration by restoring Nagornyy
Karabakh’s autonomous status with people who will recognize
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and agree to be citizens of
Azerbaijan. After liberating our lands, we could bring these forces to
power and then determine the status of Nagornyy Karabakh.

[Passage omitted: MPs discussed other issues]

Roads to Armenian capital blocked due to opposition rally

Roads to Armenian capital blocked due to opposition rally

A1+ web
21 Apr 04

It is rather difficult to get to Yerevan from Vanadzor today.
Meanwhile, those who managed to arrive in the capital said that both
highways from Vanadzor to Yerevan, the Vanadzor-Aparan-Yerevan and
Vanadzor-Sevan-Yerevan highways, were blocked.

Police officers from the Lori [Region] police station stopped all
vehicles without exception, irrespective of whether those were taxis
or private cars.

The police officers asked them why they are travelling to Yerevan and
whether they are planning to attend a rally set for 21 April.

[Passage omitted: minor details]

Armenian Opp leaders meet US envoy to discuss political situation

Armenian opposition leaders meet US envoy to discuss political situation

A1+ web site
21 Apr 04

US ambassador to Armenia John Ordway met the leader of the Justice
bloc, Stepan Demirchyan, and the leader of the National Unity Party,
Artashes Gegamyan, today.

The details of the meeting have not been disclosed. However,
Demirchyan said that they mainly discussed the country’s internal
political situation.

Armenian opposition member re-detained over foul language use

Armenian opposition member re-detained over foul language use

A1+ web site
21 Apr 04

Police officers from the Nork community police station turned up in
the house of Col Gegam Arutyunyan, member of the Republic Party’s
political council, former deputy defence minister and historian, and
took him to the police station. Gegam Arutyunyan is charged with the
use of bad language.

They attempted to summon Arutyunyan to appear in court, but he
declined to enter the courtroom without his lawyer. Gegamyan is
currently being held at the Interior Ministry’s Nork station.

[Passage omitted: reported details]

Members of the Republic Party think that this act by the police
officers is a preventive measure ahead of the 21 April rally.

German foreign minister in Azerbaijan, then to Armenia, Georgia

German foreign minister in Azerbaijan, then to Armenia, Georgia

Deutschlandfunk radio, Cologne
21 Apr 04

Following his visit to Afghanistan, Foreign Minister [Joschka] Fischer
has arrived in Azerbaijan. In the capital, Baku, Fischer plans to meet
with his counterpart [Elmar] Mammadyarov and then with President
[Ilham] Aliyev. Azerbaijan is the first stop of his trip through the
southern Caucasus, which will take Fischer to Armenia and Georgia as
well. All three countries want closer relations with the EU.

BAKU: Clashes between ethnic Azeris, Armenians in Iran

Agency reports clashes between ethnic Azeris, Armenians in Iran

Turan news agency
21 Apr 04

BAKU

Clashes occurred between activists of the National Revival Movement of
Southern Azerbaijan (NRMSA) and local Armenians yesterday evening.
The head of the NRMSA office in Baku, Huseyn Turkelli, has told Turan
that the reason for the clashes was that the Iranian authorities
sanctioned a rally of Armenians outside the Turkish embassy on 24
April. Earlier, the Iranian deputy interior minister (?Ruhanifar) had
said that the authorities would prevent the rally.

After receiving the authorities’ approval, representatives of the
Armenian community hung posters on Tehran’s central squares Valiasr,
Enghelab and (?Ahli Bulvar) inviting to the rally.

Movement activists tore off the posters, which provoked the clashes
between [Iranian] Azeris and Armenians. Iranian security forces
supported Armenians and used force against the movement’s activists,
some of whom were injured and arrested, including a woman, Sara
Abbasi.

Lecture at Haigazian University (Friday, 30 April 2004)

PRESS RELEASE
Department of Armenian Studies, Haigazian University
Beirut, Lebanon
Contact: Ara Sanjian
Tel: 961-1-353011
Email: [email protected]
Web:

HAIGAZIAN UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ARMENIAN STUDIES

invites to a lecture on

The Armenian Genocide and the Comparative Dimension of Denial
(in English)

by

Henry C. Theriault
(Worcester State College)

Friday, April 30, 2004 – 7:30 p.m.
Haigazian University Auditorium – Kantari, Beirut

N.B. Please accept this message as a personal invitation.

Henry C. Theriault has a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of
Massachusetts. He serves as Assistant Professor of philosophy at
Worcester State College (Massachusetts, USA), where he also coordinates
the College’s Center for the Study of Human Rights. His research focuses
on genocide nationalism, and the philosophy of history, with particular
emphasis on issues of genocide denial. His publications include
‘Universal Social Theory and the Denial of Genocide: Norman Itzkowitz
Revisited’ in Journal of Genocide Research (June 2001) and ‘Free Speech
and Denial: The Case of the Armenian Genocide’ in Richard G. Hovannisian
(ed.), Looking Backward, Moving Forward: Confronting the Armenian
Genocide (2003). This, Henry C. Theriault’s first lecture tour in
Lebanon, was initiated by the Lebanese-Armenian Heritage Club of the
American University of Beirut.

Haigazian University is a liberal arts institution of higher learning,
established in Beirut in 1955. For more information about its activities
you are welcome to visit its web-site at <; .
For additional information on the activities of its Department of
Armenian Studies, contact Ara Sanjian at <[email protected]>

http://www.haigazian.edu.lb/
http://www.haigazian.edu.lb&gt

Rally Starts

A1 Plus | 20:11:02 | 21-04-2004 | Politics |

RALLY STARTS

MP Shavarsh Kocharyan, who is presiding at the opposition-staged rally,
after welcoming the event participants in his opening speech, said people
had gathered here seeking decent lives in their own homeland.

Armenia could be like Latvia, if Kocharyan wasn’t Armenian president, he
said.

People Party leader Stepan Demirchyan, Robert Kocharyan’s bitter opponent
and key rival in presidential elections, commenting on ruling coalition’s
repeated calls for dialogue, said both sides of dialogue must observe the
law, however, Kocharyan proved on April 13 that he put himself above the
law.

The crowd is repeatedly chanting “Kocharyan, go away”.

Our crew on the scene says there are tens thousands of people in the square,
there is no room to swing a cat.

Armenian Sciences National Academy member Raphael Ghazaryan, whose wife and
son were among those disturbed by the police during the April 13
demonstration, said Robert Kocharyan with his vicious qualification of the
violence as “a brilliant operation” was far more ominous than the violence
itself.

Republic party leader Aram Sargssyan said the police terror raged across the
country. The only way to get rid of it is to oust current authorities from
power, he said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ANP: “The Netherlands must recognize the Armenian genocide”

“The Netherlands must recognize the Armenian genocide”

ANP (Dutch news agency)
April 21, 2004

Parliament

The Hague (ANP) – The Federation of Armenian Organizations in the
Netherlands, on Wednesday, called on the Dutch Parliament to recognize the
genocide on hundreds of thousands of Armenians in Turkey. Turkey too would
have to recognize this crime which began in 1915, before negotiations can
begin for Turkey’s accession to the European Union.

In a petition that the organization submitted to several members of
parliament, the organization spoke of a “forgotten genocide”. The massacre
has already been recognized by several other EU-countries, but not yet by
the Netherlands that tends to portray itself as the “judicial capital” of
the world.

MP Dijksma (Labor Party), chairman of the fixed commission for European
Affairs, received the petition and promised to read the document carefully
and discuss it in view of The Netherlands’s EU-presidency later this year.
Then a date will be set with Turkey to begin the negotiations for accession.
The Federation of Armenian Organizations wants the genocide to be recognized
by Turkey before the negotiations begin. It asks of the Dutch parliament to
adopt this condition.

Socialist Party MP Van Bommel said that it is important to put this
“sensitive issue” on the political agenda. “The Dutch government never uses
the words genocide, recognition and Armenia at the same time. This is a good
opportunity to change that.”

Several dozen demonstrators gathered in front the parliament building to
support the petition.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ANCA: Record Number of House Members Urge Bush to Recognize Genocide

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

PRESS RELEASE
April 21, 2003
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

RECORD NUMBER OF REPRESENTATIVES URGE PRESIDENT BUSH TO PROPERLY
CHARACTERIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AS GENOCIDE

— 169 Legislators Join In Bipartisan Efforts by the Armenian
Caucus

WASHINGTON, DC – Following an extensive nationwide grassroots
campaign, a record number of U.S. Representatives – 169 – have
joined together in sending a clear message to President George Bush
to keep his campaign pledge to properly characterize the Armenian
Genocide as a “genocide” in his annual April 24 address, reported
the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

“We want to thank Congressmen Knollenberg, Pallone, Radanovich and
Schiff for their unprecedented success in rallying their colleagues
to call upon President Bush to properly characterize the Armenian
Genocide as a genocide in his April 24th remarks,” said Aram
Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. “The strong support for
this initiative and the growing support for the Congressional
Genocide Resolution point to the fact that the days of U.S.
complicity in Turkey’s campaign of genocide denial are coming to an
end.”

The Congressional letter was initiated by Congressional Armenian
Caucus Co-chairmen Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI)
as well as Congressional Genocide resolution lead sponsors,
Representatives George Radanovich (R-CA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA). In
the letter, the 169 Congressional co-signers noted to Pres. Bush
that “by properly recognizing the atrocities committed against the
Armenian people as “genocide” in your statement, you will honor the
many Americans who helped launch our first international human
rights campaign to end the carnage and protect the survivors.”

This signatories go on to state that, “now more than ever as your
administration seeks to bring an end to global terrorism and to
help establish democracies in Afghanistan and Iraq, the memory of
the genocide underscores our responsibility to help convey our
cherished tradition of respect for fundamental human rights and
opposition to mass slaughters.” The full text of the letter
follows.

During his 2000 presidential campaign, President Bush had referred
to the “genocidal campaign” perpetrated against the Armenian people
and pledged to properly characterize that tragedy when elected
President. Neither the President’s 2001, 2002, or 2003 April 24th
statements have honored that pledge. Last year over 165 U.S.
Representatives signed a similar letter to the President.

Genocide resolutions in the House and Senate that mark the 15th
anniversary of the U.S. implementation of the United Nations
Convention on the Punishment and Prevention of Genocide have
received broad bipartisan support. House legislation (H.Res.193),
which mentions the horrors of the Armenian Genocide as well as the
Holocaust and the Cambodian and Rwanda tragedies, was unanimously
adopted by the Judiciary Committee last May and currently has 110
cosponsors. A similar measure (S.Res.164) introduced in the Senate
by Senators John Ensign (R-NV) and Jon Corzine (D-NJ) currently has
38 cosponsors.

Cosigners of the Congressional letter to President Bush include (in
alphabetical order): Representatives Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Gary
Ackerman (D-NY), Tom Allen (D-ME), Robert Andrews (D-NJ), Joe Baca
(D-CA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Charles Bass (R-NH), Xavier Becerra
(D-CA), Chris Bell (D-TX), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Howard Berman
(D-CA), Michael Bilirakis (R-FL), Tim Bishop (D-NY), Earl
Blumenauer (D-OR), Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), Mary Bono (R-CA), Jeb
Bradley (R-NH), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Dave Camp
(R-MI), Lois Capps (D-CA), Michael Capuano (D-MA), Benjamin Cardin
(D-MD), Dennis Cardoza (D-CA), William Clay (D-MO), John Conyers
(D-MI), Jerry Costello (D-IL), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Duke
Cunningham (R-CA), Danny Davis (D-IL), Susan Davis (D-CA), Peter
DeFazio (D-OR), William Delahunt (D-MA), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT),
Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL), John Dingell (D-MI), Lloyd Doggett (D-
TX), John Doolittle (R-CA), Mike Doyle (D-PA), David Dreier (R-CA),
Vernon Ehlers (R-MI), Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Anna
Eshoo (D-CA), Lane Evans (D-IL), Sam Farr (D-CA), Chaka Fattah (D-
PA), Mike Ferguson (R-NJ), Bob Filner (D-CA), Mark Foley (R-FL),
Vito Fossella (R-NY), Barney Frank (D-MA), Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-
NJ), Elton Gallegly (R-CA), Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Bart Gordon (D-
TN), Jim Greenwood (R-PA), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Luis Gutierrez (D-
IL), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Joe Hoeffel (D-PA), Tim Holden (D-PA),
Rush Holt (D-NJ), Michael Honda (D-CA), Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Steve
Israel (D-NY), Darrell Issa (R-CA), Jesse Jackson (D-IL), Sheila
Jackson Lee (D-TX), Nancy Johnson (R-CT), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Sue
Kelly (R-NY), Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Dale Kildee (D-MI), Carolyn
Kilpatrick (D-MI), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Gerald Kleczka (D-WI), Joe
Knollenberg (R-MI), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Nick Lampson (D-TX),
James Langevin (D-RI), John Larson (D-CT), Steven LaTourette (R-
OH), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Sander Levin (D-MI), John Lewis (D-GA),
William Lipinski (D-IL), Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA),
Nita Lowey (D-NY), Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY),
Edward Markey (D-MA), Jim Matheson (D-UT), Robert Matsui (D-CA),
Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), Karen McCarthy (D-MO), Betty McCollum (D-
MN), Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), Jim McDermott (D-WA), James McGovern
(D-MA), John McHugh (R-NY), Mike McIntyre (D-NC), Buck McKeon (R-
CA), Michael McNulty (D-NY), Martin Meehan (D-MA), Robert Menendez
(D-NJ), Michael Michaud (D-ME), Candice Miller (R-MI), George
Miller (D-CA), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Grace Napolitano (D-CA),
Richard Neal (D-MA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Devin Nunes (R-
CA), John Olver (D-MA), Doug Ose (R-CA), C. L. “Butch” Otter (R-
ID), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), William Pascrell (D-NJ), Donald Payne
(D-NJ), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Collin Peterson (D-MN), Richard Pombo
(R-CA), Jon Porter (R-NV), George Radanovich (R-CA), Charles Rangel
(D-NY), Mike Rogers (R-MI), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Mike Ross (D-
AR), Steven Rothman (D-NJ), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Edward
Royce (R-CA), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Paul Ryan (R-WI), Linda Sanchez
(D-CA), Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), H. James
Saxton (R-NJ), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Adam Schiff (D-CA),
Christopher Shays (R-CT), Brad Sherman (D-CA), John Shimkus (R-IL),
Rob Simmons (R-CT), Christopher Smith (R-NJ), Hilda Solis (D-CA),
Mark Souder (R-IN), Pete Stark (D-CA), John Sweeney (R-NY), Ellen
Tauscher (D-CA), Mike Thompson (D-CA), John Tierney (D-MA),
Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Stephanie Tubbs-Jones (D-OH), Mark Udall (D-
CO), Christopher Van Hollen (D-MD), Peter Visclosky (D-IN), James
Walsh (R-NY), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Diane Watson (D-CA), Henry
Waxman (D-CA), Anthony Weiner (D-NY), Curt Weldon (R-PA), Gerald
Weller (R-IL), Joe Wilson (R-SC), Frank Wolf (R-VA), Lynn Woolsey
(D-CA), Albert Wynn (D-MD),

#####

=============================================
TEXT OF CONGRESSION LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH
=============================================

April 21, 2004

The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We are writing to urge you to join us in reaffirming the
United States record on the Armenian Genocide in your April 24
commemorative statement.

This date marks the anniversary of the systematic and
deliberate campaign of genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire
in 1915. Over the following eight years, one and a half million
Armenians were tortured and murdered, and more than half a million
were forced from their homeland into exile. In the years since,
descendents of Armenian immigrants have thrived in the United
States and in many other countries, bringing extraordinary vitality
and achievement to communities across this nation and throughout
the world.

By properly recognizing the atrocities committed against
the Armenian people as “genocide” in your statement, you will honor
the many Americans who helped launch our first international human
rights campaign to end the carnage and protect the survivors. The
official U.S. response mirrored the overwhelming reaction by the
American public to this crime against humanity, and as such,
constitutes a proud, irrefutable and groundbreaking chapter in U.S.
diplomatic history.

Now more than ever as your administration seeks to bring an
end to global terrorism and to help establish democracies in
Afghanistan and Iraq, the memory of the genocide underscores our
responsibility to help convey our cherished tradition of respect
for fundamental human rights and opposition to mass slaughters.
The victims of the Genocide deserve our remembrance and their
rightful place in history. It is in the best interests of our
nation and the entire global community to remember the past and
learn from these crimes against humanity to ensure that they are
never repeated.

We look forward to your April 24 statement and stand ready
to assist you in this endeavor and in the many other matters of
importance to our nation related to Armenia and the South Caucasus
region.

#####