COMPETITION FOR JOURNALISTS ANNOUNCED
A1 Plus | 21:10:04 | 07-06-2004 | Social |
OSCE Yerevan office and Environment and Information Center / Orkhus/
has announced a competition for TV and press journalists.
To be eligible for Human Rights and Environment competition is an
applicant has to submit a 20-minute video-clip. If he/she is a TV
reporter, and a 1000-word article, if he/she is a press journalist,
produced/written in 2004.

EX FOREIGN MINISTER CONSIDERS NORMAL RELATIONS WITH TURKEY AS CRUCIAL FOR
CONSOLIDATION OF ARMENIAN INDEPENDENCE
YEREVAN, June 4 (Noyan Tapan). A seminar devoted to the possibility
of opening Armenian-Turkish border, the situation in the region,
as well as the discussion of the possible prospects of relations
between Turkey and Armenia was organized with the initiative of the
Union of Young Conservatives on June 4. Ex-foreign minister of Armenia
Alexander Arzumanian said in his speech that the issue of the Genocide
must occupy its peculiar place in Armenian-Turkish relations but it
must not be the basis for bilateral relations.
According to him, first of all it is necessary to establish normal
relations with Turkey, including trade ones. The ex-minister said
implementation of different programs, including exchange ones, will
create a corresponding atmosphere in Turkish society and, hence, will
contribute to the discussion of the Armenian Genocide. Arzumanian
believes we must first of all demand that Turkey recognize the
Genocide: “When other countries recognize the Genocide we hail the fact
but only Turkey’s recognition will remove the gap in Armenian-Turkish
relations.”
In connection with the issue of Armenia’s European integration,
Arzumanian said efforts will be more effective if Armenia supports
the process of Turkey’s membership in the European Union. Alexander
Arzumanian stressed the necessity of working out a normal modus
of relations. Establishment of normal relations with Turkey, he
believes, is the most important factor for the consolidation of
Armenia’s independence.
“As a citizen of Armenia, it hurts me to hear that Armenia is Russia’s
advanced post in the region. We needn’t become the executor of the
will of this or any other country, moroever that Russia, as it did
in the past, is abandoning us,” he stated.

Armenian National Committee of Illinois
1701 North Greenwood
Glenview, IL 60025
[email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
June 7, 2004
For Immediate Release
Contact: Nishan Mekhdjian
[email protected]
ANC OF ILLINOIS MEETS WITH MELISSA BEAN
— Eighth District Democratic Congressional Candidate Reiterates Support of
Armenian American Issues
GLENVIEW, IL–On May 17, representatives of the Armenian National Committee
(ANC) of Illinois met with Melissa Bean. The meeting, held at the Armenian
Community Center in Glenview, gave the ANC activists an opportunity to
discuss concerns of the Armenian American community with the Eighth District
Democratic Congressional Candidate.
“From our discussion with Melissa Bean–and her response to the ANCA
Congressional Candidate Questionnaire–it is obvious that she is well aware
of the issues that confront Armenian Americans,” stated ANC of Illinois
Chairman Nishan Mekhdjian. “Her support of our community’s concerns is to
be commended.”
“As the November election approaches, we will make sure that Armenian
American constituents in Illinois clearly understand the views of candidates
vying for office. The ANC will also continue to work with candidates
running for local, state, federal offices in an effort to help clarify their
views on Armenian American issues,” concluded Mekhdjian.
During the meeting with Bean, ANC representatives Karine Birazian, Nishan
Mekhdjian, Noubar Sarkissian, and Sevon Torosian provided a brief background
of the Illinois Armenian American community. They further discussed
numerous current issues confronting Armenian Americans, including US
reaffirmation of the Armenian Genocide–specifically the Congressional
Genocide Resolutions–US aid to Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh, and US-Armenia
economic relations, such as extending permanent normal trade relations for
Armenia and negotiating a Social Security Agreement and Tax Treaty.
In April, responding to the ANCA Congressional Candidate Questionnaire, Bean
expressed support for a number of key Armenian American concerns.
The Congressional Questionnaire calls upon candidates to answer nine
questions concerning their views on the Armenian Genocide,
self-determination for Nagorno Karabagh, US aid to Armenia and Nagorno
Karabagh, US-Armenian economic relations, conditions on US aid to
Azerbaijan, the Turkish blockade of Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh, and the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.
Bean, currently the president of a consulting firm serving high-tech Fortune
1000 clients internationally, who also ran for Congress in Illinois’ Eighth
District in 2002, answered all nine questions favorably.
Republican Congressman Philip Crane, the incumbent candidate, is running for
his 19th term in office. Illinois’ Eighth Congressional District includes
parts of Lake, Cook, and McHenry counties.
The Armenian National Committee is the largest Armenian American grassroots
political organization in Illinois and nationwide. The ANC actively advances
a broad range of issues of concern to the Armenian American community.
####

MY PRIEST PROGRAM ON ARARAT DIOCESE SITE
A1 Plus | 19:55:04 | 07-06-2004 | Social |
My Priest program is launched on Armenian Apostolic Church Ararat
diocese’s site. Interviews with priests and
secular activists on the themes interesting to the youth will be
placed at the site.
The program provides its readers with the opportunity to ask questions
on condition of anonymity.
The program is expected to appear on a separate site by the end of
this year, the diocese press-secretary Elza Manoukyan says.

Turkish, Armenian Women Weave New Borders
By Yigal Schliefer – WeNews correspondent
INTERNATIONAL
Women’s eNews
June 7, 2004
ISTANBUL, Turkey (WOMENSENEWS)–Stepping into the gap that their
governments have so far been unable to bridge, a group of Turkish
and Armenian women are expanding a dialogue project that was begun
two years ago, in the hope that their work might eventually have an
impact on official policy.
The project, called the Turkish-Armenian Women Communication Group, got
its start on March 8, 2001. Two Armenian women–a member of Armenia’s
parliament and a representative of an Armenian non-governmental
organization–came to Istanbul, Turkey’s capital city, to be part of
a panel discussion celebrating international women’s day.
After a series of reciprocal meetings, the group–made up mostly of
businesswomen, journalists, academics, non-governmental organization
representatives and parliamentarians–has been growing both in size
and scope. In the latest encounter, held in early July in the Armenian
capital of Yerevan, a dozen Turkish and some 20 Armenian women met,
organizing several smaller subcommittees responsible for coming up
with projects for further cooperation.
In the beginning, the two groups asked each other one question: “Are
we satisfied with the politics of our governments toward each other
up until now?” says Mujgan Suver, a Turkish psychologist who works
on human rights issues at the Istanbul-based Marmara Group, a Turkish
public policy foundation that initiated the dialogue project. “We said
if we are satisfied, then fine, let’s leave it. But if we are not,
let’s do something about it and maybe we will someday be able to get
our governments together and talk about it.”
Despite sharing a 166-mile border, Turkey and Armenia currently have
no diplomatic relations. Turkey sealed its frontier with Armenia in
1993 to protest the Armenian takeover of the Nagorno-Karabakh region
of Azerbaijan, a close Turkish ally.
An even greater source of tension, though, dates back to the early
part of the 20th century. Starting in 1915, during the violence of
World War I, large numbers of Armenians were deported from their
homes in Turkey’s Anatolian heartland. Estimates of the number of
Armenians killed during the deportations range from 300,000 to nearly
1.5 million. For Armenians, the events of that time are considered
genocide and they would like them officially recognized as such. Turkey
has steadfastly refused to accept the term “genocide,” pointing out
that atrocities were committed by both sides during what was a time
of great upheaval.
“For both countries, the relationship is still a very thorny issue,
and there doesn’t seem to be any opening on the horizon, to be honest,”
says Ali Carkoglu, research director at the Istanbul-based Turkish
Economic and Social Studies Foundation. “It’s very difficult these
days to deal with this issue in a cooperative manner.”
The Marmara Group’s Suver says it is because of this impasse in
Turkish-Armenian relations that she wanted to start the dialogue group.
Suver was previously involved in a similar group with women from
Greece–a country that, up until recently, also had strained relations
with Turkey–and says that project proved fruitful in bringing Turkish
and Greek women together.
Hranush Kharatyan, president of the Armenian branch of a human rights
group called Transcaucasus Women’s Dialogue, which has other branches
in Georgia and Azerbaijan, says the idea of a dialogue group also
appealed to her as a way of breaking through the rancor that exists
between Turks and Armenians.
“Our common goal is to arrive at the establishment of peaceful
relations,” Kharatyan writes from Yerevan in an e-mail message. “Though
Turkish and Armenian women vary in their perspectives regarding this
issue so far, there exist also common views.”
Project Introduces Women to Politics
Suver says she also hopes the project will help bring those involved,
who come from a region where women are often shut out of political
life, closer to the political process and the conflict resolution
process.
“Unfortunately, women never take part in peace negotiations, in peace
deals,” she says.
Working as women in an area where they aren’t the usual leading players
on political issues could actually be advantageous, says one of the
group’s participants.
“People don’t take it as a potential source of danger when women are
working on a something. They don’t take it seriously. That could be
helpful,” says Lale Aytanc Nalbant, an Istanbul chemical engineer
who has been part of the dialogue group since June of last year. “We
are not taken seriously by the politicians, but in the end we can
accomplish much more than expected.”
Both the Turkish and Armenian participants, meanwhile, say that their
meetings have already led to positive, if small, changes.
“If we compare our first and last meetings, I can say that our
relations have become more friendly and tolerant. We try to understand
each other and even some conflict issues have been solved through
dialogues,” writes Susanna Vardanyan, president of the Women’s Rights
Center, a Yerevan-based non-governmental organization, in an e-mail
interview.
Istanbul’s Aytanc Nalbant says she has seen the bitter tone that at
first dominated the meetings slowly melting away. “Once you get to
know people more and more, you feel more like family towards them and
grow more confident towards them,” she says. “There are less doubts
that they have secondary intentions when they say something.”
Focusing on the Future
In order to move forward, the group has for now decided to lay aside
discussions of the past, particularly the genocide issue, and to focus
on creating joint projects through four subcommittees that were formed
at the recent meeting in Yerevan. Among some of the ideas the group
is considering are creating a summer exchange program for Turkish and
Armenian students, publishing cookbooks that would illustrate daily
life in both countries and creating a committee that would screen
the media in each country for negative depictions of each other.
The time may be ripe for projects like these to have an impact. Both
the United States and the European Union–which Turkey hopes to
join in the near future – –have been applying pressure on the two
countries to resolve their disputes.
Noyan Soyak, the Turkish vice chairman of the Turkish-Armenian Business
Development Council, an independent group promoting better trade
relations between the two countries, says the increasing number of
Turks and Armenians meeting outside of conventional political channels
has led to a positive change in public opinion in both countries.
“Public diplomacy is the infrastructure. We are softening the ground
for the politicians to play on,” Soyak says.
For now, though, the participants of the dialogue say they are focusing
on building trust within their own circle before trying to influence
their countries’ leaders.
“When the time comes, we will work on applying political pressure,”
says Suver. “This won’t just be a group of women meeting. But we have
to let time pass before this can happen.”
Yigal Schliefer is a freelance writer based in Istanbul.
For more information: National Peace
Foundation – Transcaucasus Women’s Dialogue:
Women’s eNews is a nonprofit independent news service covering issues
of concern to women and their allies. An incubator program of the Fund
for the City of New York, Women’s eNews is supported by our readers;
reprints and licensing fees; and the John S. and James L. Knight
Foundation, the Barbara Lee Family Foundation, the Rockefeller Family
Fund, The Helena Rubinstein Foundation and the Starry Night Fund.

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
and
HAYDJAR
UNION OF LEBANESE ARMENIAN PROFESSIONALS (ARCHITECTS AND ENGINEERS)
jointly invite you to a lecture on
The Contributions of Toros Toramanian to the Study of Armenian Architecture
(in Armenian)
by
Mary Danielian
(Project Manager, The Architectural and Civil Engineering Department of
the Holy See of Etchmiadzin)
Thursday, June 10, 2004 – 7:30 p.m.
Haigazian University Auditorium – Kantari, Beirut
N.B. This is the first of two lectures by Mary Danielian in Beirut.
Please accept this message as a personal invitation. Her second lecture
will be held on Wednesday, June 16, 2004.
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

ARMENIA THIS WEEK
Friday, June 4, 2004
U.S., ARMENIA SIGN CULTURAL AGREEMENT, DISCUSS MILLENNIUM AID
Armenia and the United States committed to safeguarding the cultural
heritage of their respective citizens, and began talks on launching a new
U.S. aid program to Armenia and Kansas-Armenia state partnership in the last
two weeks.
Armenia’s Ambassador to the U.S. Dr. Arman Kirakossian signed the Agreement
on the Protection and Preservation of Certain Cultural Properties following
a December 31, 2003 request from the Chairman of the U.S. Commission for the
Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, Warren L. Miller. The Commission
was established by Congress in 1985 and has since signed over a dozen
agreements with Central and Eastern European countries. In addition to
protection and preservation of sites of historical significance, such as
temples and cemeteries, as well as archival documents, the agreement calls
for provision of public access to same. The Commission is negotiating
similar agreements with Azerbaijan and Georgia, and is also expected to
begin negotiations with Turkey. These three countries hold cultural heritage
of special importance to the Armenian-American community.
Also last week, Major General Tod M. Bunting, the recently appointed
Adjutant General of the Kansas National Guard, made his first visit to
Armenia to explore areas of cooperation under the Pentagon’s National Guard
State Partnership Program. The program pairs Eastern European countries with
U.S. states’ national guards for civil-military training. While in Armenia,
Bunting met with Defense Ministry and other officials to discuss possible
cooperation in emergency management, health and peacekeeping operations.
Kansas’ Governor Kathleen Sibelius endorsed the partnership with Armenia in
a special proclamation earlier this year.
This week, a delegation of the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)
led by its Chief Executive Officer Paul V. Applegarth was in Armenia to
begin preliminary discussions about this new U.S. assistance program.
Armenia and 15 other countries were found eligible for $1 billion in
additional U.S. aid in Fiscal Year 2004. In the next two months, MCC’s
Armenia counter-part commission, which is led by the Prime Minister and
includes the ministers of Finance, Agriculture and Transport, as well as the
Chairman of the Water Management Committee, is expected to submit Armenia’s
request identifying priority areas. MCC will consider funding proposals
based on their proven impact on economic growth, civic involvement and
effective implementation. (Sources: ;
; ; Armenia This Week 5-7; Embassy of
Armenia in U.S. 5-25; Noyan Tapan 5-25, 28; RFE/RL Armenia Report 5-31; AAA
Yerevan Office 6-3)
ARMENIA LAUNCHES THINK TANK TO EXPLORE SECURITY OPTIONS
Armenia’s Defense Ministry this week established the Dro National Strategic
Research Center tasked with providing policy advice and training on defense
and security issues to the Armenian government and serve as a liaison with
similar institutions abroad. Defense Minister Serge Sargsian designated his
advisor Col. Hayk Kotanjian to run the new Center. Sargsian and other
officials this week attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the Center’s
new building. The initial construction costs are funded from Diaspora
sources.
Kotanjian is a veteran Defense Ministry official, who combines a background
in the Soviet military and academia with Western training. He had just
completed a year-long program for senior officers at the U.S. National
Defense University and had previously served as Armenia’s Defense Attaché in
Washington (1998-2001). In a recent interview, Kotanjian underscored the
importance of Armenia’s growing relations with NATO, which he described as
“the only effective military-political organization in the world today.”
A recent poll conducted by the Armenian Center for National and
International Studies (ACNIS) found that a strong majority of local experts
“think that Armenia should join NATO within 10-12 years.” Armenia,
constrained by persistent antagonism from NATO member Turkey, and resultant
alliance with Russia, has yet to make a political commitment on membership.
According to Tevan Poghosian, head of the Armenian Atlantic Association, a
local NGO working to educate the Armenian public about NATO, all three
Caucasus countries have still much to do to reach even the basic NATO
standards. “But I would be happy should Armenia undergo the necessary
reforms, whether or not we eventually join the Alliance,” Poghosian said.
(Sources: Azg 5-22; ACNIS 5-27; Regnum.ru 5-28; Noyan Tapan 5-31; RFE/RL
Armenia Report 5-31)
GEORGIA STEPS UP EFFORTS TO REASSERT TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY
Following the successful re-imposition of state authority in Ajaria, the
Georgian government is moving rapidly to reassert control over other
breakaway and uncontrolled areas, while also accelerating talks on the
withdrawal of Russian forces from the country. Should these goals be
achieved as successfully and peacefully as in Ajaria, they may have a
significant positive effect on Armenia’s economy, which heavily relies on
trade routes through Georgia.
Last month Georgia renewed settlement offers to Abkhazia and South Ossetia,
two Soviet-era autonomies that broke away from Georgian control following
bloody wars in the early 1990s. This week, Georgia sent additional security
forces to South Ossetia, while also taking steps to win over the local
population by distributing humanitarian aid and beginning TV broadcasts in
the Ossetian language.
This week Georgia sent additional forces to the Azeri-populated areas of
Kvemo Kartli province in an effort to clamp down on smuggling there.
Georgian officials also temporarily closed the country’s border with
Azerbaijan as part of the operation.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell this week resumed calls for withdrawal
of Russian bases from Batumi and the Armenian-populated Akhalkalaki. In the
latter case, Georgian officials are reportedly preparing U.S.-funded
assistance programs aiming to reduce the local economy’s reliance on the
military base. Russia has made a general commitment on withdrawal, but is
said to expect U.S. compensation for the move.
A leading regional analyst Elizabeth Fuller suggested this week that Georgia
and Russia are working on a deal that would lead to incorporation of South
Ossetia and Abkhazia into a federated Georgia, return of refugees and
reopening of communications. Should the effort be successful, it would lead
to reopening of the Abkhazia railroad which connects Armenia to Russia and
Europe, and provide Armenia’s economy with a major boost.
At the same time, any armed escalation in Ossetia may be fraught with
sabotage against a key gas pipeline that supplies both Georgia and Armenia,
and one of two major highways linking the Caucasus with Russia. (Sources:
; Armenia This Week 5-7; Eurasia.net 5-19, 21; RFE/RL 5-27, 6-1,
3; U.S. State Dept 6-1; In the National Interest 6-2)
Visit the Armenia This Week archive dating back to 1997 at
A WEEKLY NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY THE ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA
122 C Street, N.W., Suite 350, Washington, D.C. 20001 (202) 393-3434 FAX
(202) 638-4904
E-Mail [email protected] WEB

Tennis-Halle Open ATP tournament results
HALLE, Germany, June 7 (Reuters) – First round results from the
$975,300 Halle Open ATP tennis tournament on Monday (prefix number
denotes seeding, + denotes new result):
Kenneth Carlsen (Denmark) beat Michael Berrer (Germany) 3-6 7-6
(7-5) 7-5
Alexander Popp (Germany) beat 7-Andrei Pavel (Romania) 1-6 6-4 6-4
6-Mardy Fish (U.S.) beat David Prinosil (Germany) 6-4 6-2
Sargis Sargsian (Armenia) beat Filippo Volandri (Italy) 2-6 6-2 6-2
Arnaud Clement (France) beat Alexander Waske (Germany) 6-1 6-4
3-Jiri Novak (Czech Republic) beat Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) 6-2 6-2
Marco Chiudinelli (Switzerland) beat Michel Kratochvil (Switzerland)
6-2 6-2
Tommy Haas (Germany) beat 8-Feliciano Lopez (Spain) 6-3 6-4
06/07/04 14:22 ET

Azer Tag, Azerbiajan State Info Agency
June 7 2004
AZERBAIJAN SCIENTIST ATTENDS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
[June 07, 2004, 13:12:31]
International conference on the topic “Revolutions of 1988 and their
consequences” under organizational support of the Council of Europe
has been held in Hungary /Budapest/.
At the Conference with the participation of representatives of COE
member states, the head of English language vocabulary and regional
geography faculty of Azerbaijan State University of Languages,
assistant professor Masmakhanum Gaziyeva, represented Azerbaijan.
By means of heavy arguments, the scientist informed conference
participants on the history of ancient Azerbaijan land – Nagorny
Karabakh, where the Armenians have inhabited only after 1828. Meeting
with the local population, she familiarized them with the history,
culture, customs and traditions of Azerbaijan people.

Azer Tag, Azerbiajan State Info Agency
June 7 2004
INTERVENTION IN RADIO SPACE OF OUR COUNTRY STOPPED
[June 07, 2004, 15:53:49]
Broadcasting of the tele-channels of Iran and Armenia in the border
areas of Azerbaijan is one of the problems causing concern of the
society.
As Minister of Communications and information technologies Ali Abbasov
informed the correspondent of AzerTAj, our country is a member of
the International Telecommunication Association. Members of the said
Association should observe the established legal rules. According to
these rules, television and radio channels of the frontier countries,
depending on relief, can be broadcast in territory of the next state
on distance almost 300 kilometers. However, it should be carried out
by regulation of channels between the countries. The Iranian TV channel
“Seger-2” possesses very powerful transmitting system. Therefore, airs
programs of this channel are possible to look sometimes even in Hovsan,
a settlement of Baku. For solution of the mentioned problem in the
corresponding zone a new transmitter was installed as a result of which
the radius of broadcasting of this channel was considerably reduced.
According to minister, for the full termination of broadcasting were
singed two protocols with the Iranian officials. According to the
protocols, the neighbors should bring corresponding technical changes
to the transmitter of the mentioned channel.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress