Chief Rabbi of Armenia Promotes Inter-Ethnic Accord

Friday, October 28 2005
Federation of the Jewish Communities of the CIS

YEREVAN, Armenia – Chief Rabbi of Armenia Gersh Meir-Burshtein participated in a working session of the Armenian Assembly of America, which opened in Yerevan on October 22nd, [...].
[...]
As he spoke to the Assembly's participants – which included prominent figures of culture and intelligentsia – the Jewish leader once again expressed his wish for the Armenian and Jewish communities to become closer to one another, especially given the commonalities between the cultures of these two ancient peoples. "Isn’t it a coincidence that in ancient times, long before the foundation of Armenia as a separate political-territorial entity, one of its kingdoms was called 'Biaynli'. The syllabic spelling this word, as Bi Ayn Li, has quite an Aramaic-Hebrew sound to it," explained Rabbi Burshtein.
[...]

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

U.S. must speak up to save Darfur

10/31/2005
Lowell Sun
By State Rep. BARRY R. FINEGOLD, and State Rep. PETER J. KOUTOUJIAN

Many are familiar with the famous words uttered by Matain Niemoller, a German Protestant pastor, in which he lamented the apathy of those seemingly unaffected by Nazi genocidal activity during World War II.

He said: “In Germany they came first for the Communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me -- and by that time there was no one left to speak up.”
[...]
While the Bush administration has a duty to act, and the greatest ability to act, we as elected officials in Massachusetts also must speak up for the people of Darfur. From 1915-1923, while Armenian men, women and children were slaughtered by the Turks, few American leaders stood up for the innocent people of Armenia. Similarly, in the 1940s, as Adolf Hitler began his systematic extermination of European Jews, few American leaders stood up for the innocent people of Europe. It is important that this trend does not continue today in Darfur.

Much like the genocides that affected our relatives, the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust, the Darfur genocide is a deliberate plan of a regime whose sole purpose is to permanently alter the demography of Darfur. With every week of silence in the Bush administration, more people in Darfur are raped, killed, beaten or starved to death. Our leaders can stop this genocide by speaking up and by acting, so no one in this country will ever risk having to utter the words of Martin Nielmoller, “then they came for me -- and by that time no one was left to speak up.”
[...]

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Armenian heirs try to document their loss

10/30/2005
DailyNews.com
By Alex Dobuzinskis, Staff Writer

The American missionary wrote his notes on a small tag, trying to keep track of the Armenian families he had come to know and whom he was powerless to save as they were deported.

"Pallanjian and family have not been heard from since leaving Platana June, 28, 1915," the Rev. Lyndon S. Crawford wrote in his notes, which he later sent to store owner Hagop Palanjian's surviving brother.
[...]
"These documents that I got - cards, letters, whatever - (were) sent by foreign missionaries, American missionaries, and I kept it for future purposes. It's a proof," said claimant Henry Palanjian, 72, whose uncle Hagop is the man Crawford's notes mention as having gone unaccounted for, along with his family.

Palanjian, a Costa Mesa resident, is seeking to collect payment for his uncle's New York Life policy. His is among nearly 4,000 claims, most of them submitted from the United States or Armenia and some of them unknowingly submitted by more than one family member for a single ancestor.

Claimants need not prove their insured relatives were murdered, because the 2004 settlement calls for the company to pay off unpaid claims on policies issued to Armenians from the Ottoman Empire during that era. More than 2,300 policies were issued.
[...]
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, said the House International Relations Committee's approval of his resolution calling on Turkey to recognize the deaths as genocide makes him hopeful the full House will do the same.

"Nations around the world have recognized the genocide," Schiff said. "Historians from all around the world have recognized it. The facts are about as clear as they can be, and I think Turkey has taken a political position, not a historical one."
[...]
The payment of the claims is expected to occur over the next year.

"I'm very pleased that so many personal stories can be told with evidence and with documentation," said Paul Krekorian, president of the Burbank school board and a board member for the settlement office.

"Because with a horrible mass crime like this, sometimes you can get lost in the statistics and when you see individual stories of how this impacted on particular families I think it's a very compelling, heart-wrenching story."

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Ancient Armenia gave faith an alphabet

October 29, 2005
The Boston Globe
By Rich Barlow

Few birthdays are cause for a global scholars' conference at Harvard, but they're raising a metaphorical glass in Cambridge to toast the Armenian alphabet. It's not just that at 1,600 years old the alphabet makes Methuselah look like a youngster. These three dozen letters gave a written language of faith to a pivotal country in Christian history

Years before the Roman emperor Constantine's famous conversion, Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its state religion, in the year 301. At the time, Armenian was a spoken tongue only, meaning worshipers relied on translators during services to interpret a Bible that was written in other languages.

Years before the Roman emperor Constantine's famous conversion, Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its state religion, in the year 301. At the time, Armenian was a spoken tongue only, meaning worshipers relied on translators during services to interpret a Bible that was written in other languages.

''Bare oral translations," an Armenian theologian later wrote, ''were insufficient to satisfy the aspirations of the heart."

A fifth-century priest, Mesrob Mashtotz, sated those aspirations, devising a 36-letter script (two more letters were added later) so the Old and New Testaments could be rendered in Armenian. For Armenians worldwide, including the Armenian Apostolic Church, religion and language would become intertwined as the life supports keeping the nation's culture and heritage alive outside the homeland, says James R. Russell, Mesrob Mashtotz professor of Armenian studies at Harvard.
[...]
The first words Mashtotz transcribed with his new alphabet were from the introduction to the Book of Proverbs, ''that men may appreciate wisdom." The alphabet gave birth not just to an Armenian-language Bible but to translations of other Christian texts and a voluminous scholarship.

The effects spilled over beyond Armenia's border; for example, Russell says that many works of Philo of Alexandria, the great Jewish theologian of the Greco-Roman era, have come down to us only because they survived in Armenian and subsequently were translated into Greek.

The language written by a holy man for religious purposes became the very muscle of Armenian national identity. [...].
[...]

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

'OYAK Should Go Separate Ways with Axa'

October 15, 2005
Zaman Daily Newspaper
By Economy News Desk

The French Insurance giant, AXA’s, announcement to pay compensation to the Armenians [...] drew great reactions.

The French company owns 50 percent of AXA-OYAK ( the Turkish Armed Forces Pension Fund) partnership in the Turkish insurance sector, which added a new dimension to the issue. Non-governmental organizations asked OYAK to give an end to the partnership. [...].
[...]
Regarding OYAK’s French partner’s acceptance to pay compensation to the Armenians with the allegation of "genocide," BBP {Grand Union Party } leader Muhsin Yazicioglu said it was "a very serious situation;" paying compensation can be considered natural in legal terms he said, but that making this payment under the name of genocide is thought-provoking.
[...]
Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ATO) Chairman Sinan Aygun said the issue of forced migration will develop against Turkey if OYAK's French partner AXA pays the compensation to the Armenians. Aygun, who defended that this must not be allowed since the rest will follow, said: "The result of the compensation will mean that Armenia's dream has come true. Here AXA agrees to pay the compensation before the decision is ratified by the court. In other words, it accepts the Armenians claims. I strongly condemn this." The OYAK Group, he further said, must immediately step in and say "We have documents that Armenians massacred the Turks" and prevent paying the compensation.


Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

'Banning things will not change anything'

Tuesday, October 4, 2005
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
By LEVON SEVUNTS

When Dora Sakayan first published her grandfather's diary in Montreal, she had no inkling that 10 years later it could land someone a half a world away in court, facing as much as two years in jail.

But then, she never dreamed that her grandfather's diary, an eyewitness account of the events in which several members of his family perished, along with 30,000 Greeks and Armenians at the hands of Turkish nationalist forces in Izmir in 1922, would ever be published in Turkey.

Ragip Zarakolu, a prominent activist and human-rights activist, dared to translate and publish Mrs. Sakayan's book, An Armenian Doctor in Turkey, Garabed Hatcherian: My Smyrna Ordeal of 1922. Now, he is charged with insulting the armed forces, Turkish identity and the memory of Kemal Ataturk, the iconic founder of the Turkish republic.

'I was worried and upset that he is suffering because of me, because of my book,' Mrs. Sakayan said during an interview over a cup of Turkish coffee and homemade sweets in her downtown apartment. 'But he calmed me down, saying that he sees this as his calling, to use the courthouse as a platform to speak out on human rights, the rights of Turkey's ethnic minorities and as an opportunity to fight historical revisionism.'
[...]
What irked Turkish authorities most about her book is that it deals with massacres perpetrated by some of the founders of the modern Turkish republic, not by young Turks, which was the case between 1915 and 1918, Mrs. Sakayan said.

In his defense statement during the first court hearing in the case on Sept. 21, Mr. Zarakolu said Turkey owed an apology to Mrs. Sakayan's grandfather, a Turkish citizen and a decorated military doctor, who served his country despite the Armenian massacres.

'Publishing this book can be counted as part of that apology.' Mr. Zarakolu told the court. 'The accusations that the book insults the Turkish national character or the Turkish army are totally unfair. All these events really happened. Banning things will not change anything.'
[...]

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Armenian General Accused Of Kidnapping Political Opponents

14, October 2005
Armenia Liberty
By Astghik Bedevian

A top Armenian army general {Deputy Defense Minister Manvel Grigorian} was alleged on Friday to have kidnapped a dozen supporters of a politician who is challenging one of his protégés {Gagik Avagian} in the upcoming local election in Echmiadzin, a town 20 kilometers south of Yerevan.

At least nine men representing the election challenger, Yervand Aghvanian, reportedly disappeared during a disrupted campaign rally on Thursday and remained missing as of late Friday. [...]. Police in Echmiadzin, however, refused to investigate the alleged hostage taking.
[...]
[...]. Susanna Harutiunian, a former election candidate who withdrew from the race [...] claimed that the hostage-takers contacted her by phone in the morning. “I first heard a litany of abuse,” she said. “They then said if we don’t stop [campaigning], none of [the missing activists] will return. But I told them that our struggle won’t stop.”
[...]
A group of Aghvanian supporters gathered outside President Robert Kocharian’s official residence in Yerevan on Thursday night and the next morning to request the Armenian leader’s intervention in the tense run-up to Sunday’s election of Echmiadzin’s mayor. Officials in the presidential administration refused to meet them.
[...]
Avagian {is the deputy chief of the local electricity network, he} [...] enjoys the backing of the regional governor and two member of the Armenian parliament representing Echmiadzin and the surrounding area. One of them, Hrant Grigorian, is the general’s nephew, while the other, Hakob Hakobian, is notorious for spending two weeks in a prison in the United Arab Emirates last January on suspicion of shop-lifting.
[...]
“Fear is running high here,” said Susanna Harutiunian whose small apartment serves as the headquarters of the Aghvanian campaign. Finding office space in Echmiadzin, she claimed, is impossible for those who challenge General Grigorian.

Echmiadzin and surrounding villages have long been considered a de facto fiefdom of Grigorian and another top army general, Seyran Saroyan. The two former truck drivers rose to prominence during the war 1991-1994 for Nagorno-Karabakh, first as militia leaders and then as commanders of regular army units. They both have extensive business interests in the Echmiadzin area and other parts of Armenia.
[...]
Grigorian became embroiled in another scandal earlier this year when his bodyguards reportedly dragged a priest out of his car and beat him for not yielding to the mustachioed general’s motorcade. Nobody was prosecuted in connection with the reported violence.

It is still not known how the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Garegin II, reacted to it. [...]. “This is Echmiadzin and I would like to draw His Holiness’s attention to what has been happening here. He is still keeping silent. How can he tolerate so much lawlessness in a town that hosts his headquarters?”

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Connecting James Joyce with Armenia

October 13, 2005
Belmont Citizen Herald

Marc A. Mamigonian of Belmont will speak at the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research Center in Belmont, on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 8 p.m., on the Irish novelist James Joyce's use of Armenian words and themes. {Marc A. Mamigonian is the director of programs and publications at the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research Center}
[...]
James Joyce wrote his final book, "Finnegan's Wake," between 1923 and 1939. Joyce, one of the high priests of literary modernism whose earlier novels, "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" (1916) and "Ulysses" (1922), were in many ways the ultimate expression of that movement, in "Finnegan's Wake" demolished the very notion of a unified work of art, of literary structure, and of the English language itself.
[...]
[...]. This lecture will explore the ways in which Joyce used the Armenians, the Armenian language, and the Armenian Genocide to support the book's major themes of death and rebirth, the "fall from grace," and the cyclical nature of history.

[...]. Joyce, ever alert to historical-mythical parallels, saw the Armenians as similar to the Irish, both nations of "people living in the same place ... or also living in different places," dispersed, oppressed, persistent in their refusal to be destroyed.
[...]

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Journalist convicted on charge of ‘insulting Turkish identity'

October 12, 2005
Committee to Protect Journalists

New York, October 12, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the conviction of a Turkish-Armenian journalist on a charge of "insulting and weakening Turkish identity through the media" An Istanbul court on Friday sentenced Hrant Dink, 52, editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, to a six-month suspended term. Dink and his lawyer, Fethiye Cetin, plan to appeal.
[...]
"Despite official promises, Turkish journalists continue to be criminally prosecuted for their work," CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper said. "At the heart of this case are the dozens of laws in Turkey that can make free expression a crime. Free expression will remain limited in Turkey as long as these laws are on the books."
[...]
Dink faces additional charges for making critical comments at a 2002 human rights conference about Turkey's national anthem and a daily oath taken by Turkish schoolchildren in which they say, "Happy is the one who says, 'I am a Turk.' " Dink said then that he did not feel like a Turk, but like an Armenian who is a citizen of Turkey. He will appear in court in February for those remarks.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Targeting the Peacemakers

October 13, 2005
Spiegel
By Cem Özdemir (is a German of Turkish origin and a member of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, where he also serves as the foreign policy spokesman for the Green Party.)

[...]
[...] Hrant Dink is an Armenian in Turkey, actively supporting the Turkish democratic movement and sensing an opportunity for reconciliation with his own history. But Dink, and others like him, are caught between a rock and a hard place.

[...]. At the forefront are the Turkish Ultra-Nationalists, who would like to see him silenced sooner rather than later. Their allies in Turkey's judiciary underlined these sentiments again recently. On Oct. 7, an Istanbul court sentenced Dink to six months in jail for a "crime of ideas." The sentence was suspended on the grounds that he had no previous convictions.

[...] By putting intellectual figureheads like Dink or the German Publishers' Association Peace Prize Winner Orhan Pamuk in the dock, the judiciary is sending unequivocal signals to Ankara and Brussels. The timing of the charges is anything but coincidental.[...].

[...] {if} the conference on the historical question of Armenia had been cancelled [...] Turkish opponents of entry to the EU would likely have had a major victory on their hands.

Derailment was ultimately only avoided thanks to an unlikely alliance between liberal civil rights campaigners and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamic-Conservative government.

Dink's courageous efforts as one of the organizers were a major catalyst in making the conference actually happen. Even the most ardent skeptics with regard to the killings were swayed enough to reconsider when challenged by the compelling Dink. Many in the crowd of scientists, intellectuals, politicians and journalists were moved to tears as he spoke of an Armenian woman from the Turkish town of Sivas. It was the story of a woman who had lived in Paris and whose greatest wish was to be buried in the place where she and her ancestors had lived for centuries.

The telephone calls that followed Dink's television appearances have become legendary. Some Turkish people come forward to reveal Armenian roots which they have hitherto kept hidden. Others report traces of Armenian life in their local areas and ask for assistance in preserving this cultural legacy. On one occasion, a whole village turned up in the newspaper offices: descendents of Turkish Armenians who had fled for safety to their Alevite neighbors in the Tunceli region (Dersim) in 1915, when persecution was at its worst.

Dink's prime concern is the future of Armenian and Christian minorities in a cosmopolitan, secular Turkey as part of Europe [...].

His strategy is as unorthodox as it is effective. He does not allow himself to get entangled in cynical discussions about whether the number of Armenians murdered was 600,000 or 1.5 million. Instead, he confronts the Turkish people with a history of which they either were ignorant, or had only learned about through distorted channels of propaganda. His arguments are persuasive, bringing to light what Turkey has irrevocably lost in their destruction and denial of Armenian life. "If the Armenians were alive today, Van (once a predominantly Armenian city in the East of Turkey) would be the Paris of the East," he says. Dink surprises his people with unexpected ideas. He has proposed, for example, a memorial to the slaughtered Armenians in Turkey. A memorial for the Turks who fell at the hands of Armenian freedom fighters already exists.
[...]
In the offending newspaper article, Dink is said to have insulted "Turkishness," as the judge put it. In fact, his column was aimed at the Armenian diaspora. Dink's appeal left no room for misinterpretation: The Armenian diaspora should surrender their hostility to the Turks, hitherto a defining element of Armenian identity. Even independent assessors brought in by the courts could not find any disparaging references to Turkey in his comments.

[...].He intends to take all legal measures available to prove his innocence. If the sentence is not revoked, he plans to leave the country.

This should not be seen as a threat -- that is not Dink's nature. Nevertheless, the Turkish government does need to take note of what his statement signifies. The new penal code, which only came into effect on June 1, 2005, is already in need of another overhaul. The law needs to be implemented in such a way that it cannot be used as a weapon against free speech. Nor should it be possible for judges or prosecutors to exploit it in ways that would impede reform in Turkey. A prime minister who was, himself, imprisoned for reciting a religious poem ought to be well aware of that.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

ADDRESSING THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS

12. Oktober 2005

VATICAN (kath.net/VIS)During the Fourteenth General Congregation of the Eleventh Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, held this afternoon in the Vatican's Synod Hall, apart from speeches by the Synod Fathers, the fraternal delegates were given an opportunity to address the gathering. The president delegate on duty was Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iniguez.
[...]
BISHOP NAREG (MANOUG) ALEMEZIAN, ECUMENICAL OFFICIAL OF THE GREAT HOUSE OF CILICIA, ARMENIA. "The Armenian word used to designate the Holy Eucharist is 'Surp Patarag,' which means holy sacrifice. In the liturgical life of the Church we are at God's service (liturgy) and offer sacrifice of thanksgiving (Eucharist) for gifts received from Him. Holy Eucharist is centered on the sacrificial giving of our Savior and generating a communion of love with God and our fellow beings by the power of the Holy Spirit. ... In assessing the constructive role of bilateral and multilateral ecumenical dialogues in discussing the theme of 'Church as Communion,' I encourage all of us to engage in the study of Eucharistic ecclesiology, which situates the unity of the Church in the local celebration of the Holy Eucharist presided over by the bishop in communion with his brother bishops. In this respect, the distinctive role of the bishop is underlined as the one who takes care of the flock entrusted to him by the Good Shepherd, tending it with a love that is most fully revealed in the Eucharistic partaking of the one bread for a spiritual and universal communion in the mystical Body of Christ."
[...]

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Armenian Wins in Programming and Design

October 12, 2005
Arka News Agency

The Armenian multimedia CD "Aram Khachatryan: Life and Work" has been recognized the best CD on culture in the world in 2005 [...] the multimedia CD "Armenian Genocide 1915-1923" was among the ten best education projects and won a special diploma, and the http://www.edram.am/ and http://www.doctor.am/ sites were among the ten best sites in the categories e-business and e-healthcare. According to Chukaszyan {Chairman of the Information Technologies Foundation, Executive Director of the Information Technologies in Education Company} it is an unprecedented result for such a small country as Armenia, especially so as it is the winner in one of the categories of the contest of the World Summit for the second time.[...].
[...]
The Armenian winners are to receive their prizes and diplomas at the World Summit of information community in Tunis on November 16-18, 2005. Armenia presented eight winner-works of the national contest "Mashtots 1600". Specifically, the CD "Armenian Genocide 1915-1923", CD "Aram Khachatryan: Life and Work", www.aras.am/dfbs.html (Byurtakan observatory), http://www.economic-court.am/ (RA Economic Court), medical site http://www.doctor.am/, http://www.edram.am/, (a payment system), http://www.armtv.com/ (RA public TV), http://www.armeniainfo.am/ (Armenian Agency for Tourism Development).

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Turkey a worthy addition

October 13, 2005
The Daily Texan
Opinion
The Firing Line
By Cem Akguner (Doctoral candidateDepartment of Civil Engineering)

As a Turk, I am miffed by the Turko-phobic views of Matthew Nickson in his Oct. 10 article, "Turkey not fit for membership." {See Turkey not fit for membership}

During the five centuries of its existence, the Ottoman Empire demonstrated not only tolerance, but respect for different religions. In fact, it entrusted commerce and artisanship almost exclusively to its Greek, Jewish and Armenian citizens, and many flourished. Why then, in the second decade of the twentieth century, when the Empire was beset on all sides, should it suddenly concern itself with the faith of its minorities?

National security - scoffed at by Nickson as a motive - is much less preposterous than a demand for conversion to explain, if not justify, the events that ensued in 1915. The whole question of an Armenian "genocide" is not nearly as one-sided as Nickson would portray it.

Belligerent? Aggressive? Turkey, in its republican history, has never engaged in a war for territorial gain. True, relations with Greece and Armenia have often been contentious. It is also true that it was Greece that ignited both the Cyprus and Imnia situations, however heavy-handed Turkey's reaction might have been.[...].
[...]
I don't mean to whitewash Turkey's problems: disparity of income, terrorism, economic concerns, its volatile neighbors and a fanatical fringe that would choose an Islamic state. From Europe's viewpoint, Turkey's drawbacks to full European membership are its relative poverty, Islamic roots and large size and population - therefore, its potential clout in the organization. Say that Europe cannot afford Turkey, but do not say that Turkey is "undeserving."

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Protests in Javakheti over financial police closures

October 13, 2005
The Messenger
By M. Alkhazashvili

Recent protests in Akhalkalaki immediately made headlines in the Georgian, Russian and Armenian media. After the incident many in the media, as well as Armenian officials, called on the Georgian government to exercise special caution in the Javakheti region, which is populated largely by ethnic Armenians, and to avoid further ethnic conflict within its borders.

The presidential representative, or governor, in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region Goga Khachidze stated that for the last three months Akhalkalaki has not been able to fulfill its local budget because many locals refuse to pay taxes. Recently the regional Tax Service, which is staffed by ethnic Armenians, inspected three enterprises and the financial police closed these businesses due to tax evasion.

[...]. During the meeting some residents confronted the police and officers fired into the air to restore calm.

[...] both residents and the police - were Armenian, {but} it is being treated by the Russian media as a case of Georgian police attempting to stomp out separatist movements in the region.

Even in Armenia the incident was viewed as an ethnic confrontation. Garnik Isagulian, President Robert Kocharian's national security adviser, issued a statement calling on Georgia to be more careful in dealing with Javakheti.
[...]
Even the Georgian media has warned the local administration to be careful. Indeed, exercising caution is important, but in the end we still have a simple dilemma: will we stand for people claiming ethnic discrimination when they are forced to pay taxes?

President Mikheil Saakashvili has defended the police and supported their work to control the situation in the region. "All attempts to create disorder will be unsuccessful" he said.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Armenia heirs win $17m Axa payout

13 October 2005
BBC

The descendants of Armenians who died in mass killings by Ottoman Turks have agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit against French insurance giant Axa.
[...]
Under the terms of the settlement, announced in Los Angeles, Axa will donate at least $3m to selected French-based Armenian charities.

Another $11m has been earmarked for the heirs of policyholders with subsidiaries of Axa that operated in the Ottoman Turkish Empire before 1915.
[...]
The Axa case was the second of its kind to be brought in US courts. Earlier, New York Life Insurance Company agreed to pay $20m (£11.4m) to descendants of Armenian policyholders who died in 1915.

Lawyer Mark Geragos said the settlements were "important building blocks... [towards]our ultimate goal, which is for Turkey and the US to officially acknowledge the genocide".
[...]

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Foreign investment in Armenian economy up 12% in H1

Oct 12 2005
Interfax

YEREVAN. Oct 12 (Interfax) - Foreign investment in the Armenian economy in the first half of 2005 increased 11.6% year-on-year to amount to $139.6 million, a source in the National Statistics Committee told Interfax.

Foreign direct investment amounted to $78.9 million (up 4.5%), including foreign direct investment in communications - 45.4%, in the food industry - 15.5%, in air transport - 8.9%, in metallurgy - 7.1% and in the construction sector - 4.7%.

The main foreign investor in the Armenian economy in the first half was Greece - $58.3 million (up 40.3%). Lebanese investment amounted to $23.2 million (up 14.3-fold), and Russian - $13.5 million (down 44.8%). Total U.S. investment in the Armenian economy in January-June fell 38.5% year-on-year to $9.3 million, and investment from France fell by 36.2%, to $8.8 million.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Armenia honors Iranian poet, Ahmad Nourizadeh

October 12, 2005
Iran Mania

LONDON, October 12 (IranMania) - A ceremony to honor the Iranian poet and translator, Ahmad Nourizadeh and to release his recent books was held at the Center for Armenian Writers in Yerevan.

Head of the Center for Armenian Writers Leon Ananian [...] referred to the historical and cultural ties between the two nations and described Nourizadeh as among the evident manifestations of bilateral friendship.
[...]
At the ceremony, a number of writers and poets also discussed the literary status of Nourizadeh and significance of his works in promoting Armenian literature among Iranians.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Shot and stab victim 'killed in family feud'

11 October 2005
Peterborough Today

Hovahannes Amirian (43), from Armenia, was found shot and stabbed in a field in Upton, near Peterborough, in December 2002. His body had also been set on fire.

Nishan Bakunts (28) and his father-in-law, Misha Chatsjatrjan (44), were charged after an exhaustive two-year police investigation to establish the dead man's identity and track down his killers.

The pair, who are also from Armenia, have appeared at Norwich Crown Court. The court heard how they allegedly killed Mr Amirian over a "family quarrel", before trying to destroy evidence linking them to the crime.
[...]

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Transcaucasian anomaly and the Javakh issue: mini-empires in the new reality

10.10.2005
Regnum News Agency

Recent developments in Akhalkalaki, a town in Georgia mostly populated by Armenians, are just a single unit in the chain of controversies surrounding Samtskhe-Javakheti Territory for 15 years of independent development of the Georgian state. During this period the regional media have repeatedly paid attention to the situation in the region: contrary to all the official statements made by Tbilisi the situation in the region remains constantly tense.[...]“Integration, not assimilation” initiative group by claiming to grant autonomy to Armenian-populated districts put forward an idea of establishing a new member of the Georgian federation.

“There will be only three autonomies in Georgia – Abkhazia, Adzharia and Tskhinvali,” Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli declared unambiguously six days after the claim was declared at the Conference “Javakh status in Georgia’s state system” that took place in Akhalkalaki on September 23-24.

However, the reality is that residents of Samtskhe-Javakheti Territory have continued to claim for autonomy. It is impossible to connive at the fact, neither it is appropriate to explain the existing tensions with only poor social and economical conditions. Exactly by the same way the situation in Nagorno Karabakh got out of hand.

Positions of Javakh Armenians could be denounced in some points, but to do this a serious dialogue between Georgia and Armenia is needed. There is no such dialogue now. Top officials of both countries prefer not to touch the painful issues and tend to treat frequent appeals of Armenians organizations to grant autonomy to Javakh as an initiative of “hotheads” who do not reflect the public opinion.[...].
[...]

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

ARMENIAN AND AZERI AUTHORITIES SHOULD PREPARE THEIR SOCIETIES FOR PEACE

2005-10-10
DeFacto

International Crisis Group representative for the South Caucasus Sabina Freizer believes Armenian and Azeri leadership should immediately begin preparing both countries’ societies for peace and mutual compromises necessary for the achievement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict long – term settlement.

Nagorno Karabakh conflict should not be considered “frozen” – people are dying of fire – exchanges along the contact line and mines, it goes on influencing upon the civil population’s life.[...]. She said lack of contacts between the societies had resulted in the fact that the two countries’ young generation [...] {is} more aggressive than the Soviet one. It concerns mostly Azerbaijan. Freizer blamed Azeri leadership forbidding Azeris to contact with Armenians. She noted Azeri identified themselves with Turks and believed their duty was to liberate the lands from Armenians. In her words, more than 50% of Azeri population does not see the alternative to the military settlement of the conflict.
[...]
As for a referendum, according to Freizer, there are still a lot of problems to be discussed and clarified. ICG suggests that the referendum should be conducted with the participation of Armenians and Azeris.

Speaking about the independence referendum conducted in Nagorno Karabakh in 1991, Freizer noted Azerbaijan did not recognize its outcomes. ICG suggests that a new referendum should be conducted for its outcomes to be recognized by Azerbaijan and be fixed in a peace agreement. It is difficult to speak about the referendum’s technical details now. No one knows what is going to take place in 10 – 15 years, who will finance the referendum and monitor it. The issue referring to the referendum is still painful. A few months ago Azeri FM rejected the idea. And yet, according to the Azeri Constitution, a referendum cannot be conducted in one part of the Republic, it must be held on the whole territory of the country, noted Freizer.
[...]
In this connection RA MFA representative Varuzhan Nersisyan noted the issue referring to the status of Nagorno Karabakh could not be postponed. The status is clear. He stated only its fixation’s form could be put off.

He added the issue relevant to troops pullout from the territories surrounding the NK should be discussed very carefully. In the diplomat’s opinion, the problem is that Azerbaijan can change its intentions, while Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh will not have the lever of influence.

Varuzhan Nersisyan said it was obvious for Armenia that only one referendum was to be conducted in NKR, as it concerned Nagorno Karabakh people’s security. The Armenian diplomat stressed only the people who lived in NKR or had lived there before the conflict should make their choice.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Nagorno-Karabakh: A Plan for Peace

11 octobre 2005
International Crisis Group
Europe Report N°167

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Settlement of the long running Nagorno-Karabakh conflict -- the most significant obstacle to stability in the South Caucasus -- remains elusive, despite more optimistic noises recently from Azerbaijan and Armenia. [...]. But a compromise can now be constructed around an approach that, while addressing all the matters in dispute, leaves the core issue of Nagorno-Karabakh's ultimate status open for later resolution, [...].

Key elements of that proposed settlement package include the withdrawal of the Armenia-backed Nagorno-Karabakh forces from the occupied districts of Azerbaijan surrounding the entity; the renunciation by Azerbaijan of the use of force to reintegrate the entity; the deployment of international peacekeepers; the return of displaced persons; and the re-opening of trade and communication links.

Nagorno-Karabakh's status should ultimately be determined by an internationally sanctioned referendum with the exclusive participation of Karabakh Armenians and Azeris, but only after the above measures have been implemented. Until then Nagorno-Karabakh would remain part of Azerbaijan, though in practical terms it would be self-governing and enjoy an internationally acknowledged interim status.
[...]

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Man charged with murder re-elected mayor

Oct. 10, 2005
Monterey Herald
Associated Press

YEREVAN, Armenia - The mayor of a small Armenian town jailed on murder charges was re-elected to his post, election officials said Monday.

Armen Keshishian, the mayor of Nor-Achin about six miles east of the capital, Yerevan, has been charged in the Sept. 24 shooting death of Ashot Mkhitarian, the head of a local electric utility. The pistol that allegedly killed the utility chief had been presented to Keshishian by Prime Minister Andranik Markarian, according to the prime minister's spokeswoman, Mary Arutunian.

Firearms are considered a treasured gift in the Caucasus. Although their sale is forbidden in Armenia, the president and prime minister are empowered to present people with weapons.

Since becoming prime minister in 2000, Markarian has presented 589 people with guns, which police officials say have been used in three murders and a number of attempted murders. Arutunian said law enforcement bodies were now checking a number of people whom Markarian plans to present with guns, to make sure they would not use them for criminal purposes.

With the election victory, Keshishian will govern his town from behind bars pending trial. If he is convicted, he will lose his post.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Solheim Elementary students dive into Armenian culture

October 10, 2005
Bismarck Tribune
By SARAKINCAID
sara.kincaid@;bismarcktribune.com

[...]
Solheim Elementary School reading specialist Pam Rettig introduced eight students to Armenia through products, labels and photos. Soon, the students will meet Armenian students from Gyumri, Armenia, through the Internet.

It's part of the Armenian Connectivity Program, sponsored by Project Harmony and the U.S. Department of State. It is meant to enhance cultural awareness by using computer technology. Students post their photos and type information about themselves and answer questions on a topic to get conversation flowing.
[...]
The students want to learn about everyday life in Armenia. Sixth-grader Nick Goulet wants to learn about their culture and daily life, and fifth-grader Faith Ward wants to know what they eat.

They also learn about Armenia through Rettig's photos. A one-room house without electricity or running water. Inside a building to make lavash, a flat, baked bread. People playing backgammon. Candles burning in church.
[...]
The social studies lessons will expand with each meeting, as Rettig adds more pictures each meeting to the bulletin board outside her classroom.
[...]
Rettig's class opened the Armenian Connectivity Program to new schools in Armenia. Previously, the program was open to middle and high school students only. The program allowed it because Rettig did a similar Internet forum with a school in Africa, she said. One other U.S. elementary school, in Illinois, participates in the Armenian Connectivity Program.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Europe is going to need Turkey

OCTOBER 9, 2005
International Herald Tribune
Opinion
By Giles Merritt
(secretary-general of Friends of Europe and editor of the new policy journal Europe's World.)

In most European countries there are issues too sensitive to be left to the voters; capital punishment is one, Turkey's membership of the European Union is another. In both cases there is a discreet consensus between the main political parties that their electorates would, if consulted, make the wrong decision.
[...]
Across Europe, opinion on Turkey ranges from lukewarm to downright hostile. In EU newcomer countries like Poland and Hungary, narrow majorities welcome Turkish membership. In Spain, Portugal and Britain, although something like a third are against, more than 40 percent are in favor. At the other end of the spectrum, only a tenth of Austrians want Turkey in, with four-fifths adamantly opposed. In Germany three-quarters are in the no camp.

It's never easy to tell whether politicians who declare themselves against Turkish membership are motivated by objective considerations or by opportunism and demagoguery. In any case, they were wrong to oppose the opening of negotiations that will most probably last for 15 years.
[...]
When the Berlin Wall fell, my views changed entirely. [...]. The new situation clearly made it essential to bring Turkey into the European bloc.

A glance at a map says it all. Turkey lies at the center of some of the world's most volatile regions [...]. Turkey is already a regional power that exerts a strong stabilizing influence on neighboring countries, so it is in Europe's long-term interest that Turkey should become firmly anchored in the EU.
[...]
Turkey is generally portrayed as a poor country whose many peasant farmers will place intolerable financial strains on the EU. Yet the economic advantages of bringing Turkey in are far more persuasive. By 2020, Europe's active work force will be less than half the population, whereas Turkey's will be two-thirds. Europe needs Turkey's increasingly well-educated workers, and could do with the growing economic and industrial muscle of a country that will soon be as populous as Germany.

[...]. In 15 years' time, the Union will by then have shrunk to less than 5 percent of the global population. Europe is going to need as much new blood as it can get. [...].

If Turkey's European aspirations had to be abandoned, the outlook would be worryingly uncertain. On the one hand, Islamic extremism might feed on Western rejection. On the other, Turkey's powerful generals, always more popular than its politicians, who command a million-strong army, might reverse the present trend and begin to call the tune. Turkey as a loose cannon in one of the world's most geopolitically sensitive regions doesn't bear thinking about.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Diamanda Galas

October 10, 2005
The Age
By John Slavin

PHILOSOPHER Theodor Adorno once wrote: "After Auschwitz, poetry is no longer possible." It is a contentious statement for a number of reasons. Poetry is the paramedic of culture: without poetry, what will cleanse language through which history, politics and media is polluted?

The other contention is that there were other genocides before the Holocaust. Greek-American artist Diamanda Galas confronts these issues head-on. Hers is a poetic chronicle and angry protest of man's inhumanity to man pushed up hard against the glass of memory.

The horrors that her extraordinary, over-the-top performance commemorates are the Armenian genocide of 1915 and the Anatolian catastrophe of 1923 in which an estimated half a million Greeks lost their lives and another 1½ million were displaced. "The Defixiones" of her title are the lead beads left on graves in the Middle East to warn against the desecration of graves. Her hour-and-a-half sustained chant for the dead based on poems by the Greeks Ritsos and Seferis and eyewitnesses to the murders in Armenia and the writings of the novelist Dido Soteriou, among others, are the chain of a rosary told for the victims upon which she hangs her performance.
[...]
Although a minute printout of the poems is provided, the audience seated in the dark can't possibly understand the details of a recital delivered in a smattering of Greek, Armenian and Turkish.
[...]
Diving into Galas' performance is like entering someone else's nightmare. It is intense, incomprehensible and finally tedious. It did, however, arouse an enthusiastic response from an audience of ululating Goths who might have identified with Galas' romantic despair.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Sergey Khachatryan

ANDANTE BOUTIQUE

Sergey Khachatryan
Sibelius, Khachaturian, violin concertos

Sergey Khachatryan was born in Yerevan, the Armenian capital, in 1985. He comes from a family of musicians. From childhood onwards, he benefited from broad cultural horizons that favoured the musical career of which he dreamt.

He began the violin at the age of five. The following year, he began his studies at the Sayat Nova Conservatory in Yerevan, continuing them in Germany when his family settled there. The exceptional qualities of this young virtuoso were revealed at a concert with the Orchestra of the Hessen State Theatre, Wiesbaden; he was then nine years old. From then on, foreign trips and prizes followed at regular intervals, with many concerts, all over Europe - Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Portugal, Spain, Italy, France - as well as in the USA, South America, Russia and Armenia.

The coming seasons are rich in exciting projects: with the Philharmonia Orchestra, with the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Neeme Järvi, with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra under Vladimir Fedoseyev. then partner Anne-Sophie Mutter in Bach's Double Concerto with the London Philharmonic.

When one asks Sergey Khachatryan which violinists he admires most, he unhesitatingly speaks of the supreme genius of the Soviet school. Above all, he evokes the magnetic tutelary figure of David Oistrakh.

Sergey Khachatryan's first recording, released in EMI's 'Début' series in 2002, allowed us to meet a violinist blessed with a glowing sonority and with musical intelligence rare in so young a musician.

Now he has recorded for Naïve two concertos that figure among the jewels of the violin repertoire.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Turkey not fit for membership

10/10/2005
The Daily Texan
Opinion
By Matthew Nickson (a third year law student and executive editor of The Texas International Law Journal.)

[...]
Since joining the European Economic Community as an associate member in 1963, Turkey has consistently professed its reformist credentials, eager to counter the world community's outdated image of a thinly veiled military dictatorship. But time and again - despite progress in certain areas outlined in the 1993 Copenhagen Criteria for EU expansion - the Turkish government has shown it is either unwilling or unable to fully democratize and modernize. In its own country, Turkey continues to systematically restrict freedom of expression and oppress its minority Kurdish population. Abroad, Turkey maintains an ever belligerent posture toward its neighbors, particularly Armenia and Cyprus.

The latest example of Turkish repression came last Friday, when a Turkish administrative court convicted an Armenian journalist, Hrant Dink, of insulting the "Turkish identity" by writing about the Armenian genocide. During World War I, the Ottoman Army and its guerilla auxiliaries massacred more than one million Armenians who refused to convert from Christianity to Islam. To this day, the Turkish government illegalizes practically any admission of Turkish guilt and threatens or imprisons individuals who speak out. Nationalist officials trivialize the massacres as tragic but inevitable consequences of war, or dismiss the Armenians as pro-Russian traitors. Although Armenia is a small, underdeveloped country, Turkey continues to blockade it by land, cutting off road and rail traffic.

Ironically - and in a sign of the Turkish court system's perversity - Dink was tried and convicted for writing that Armenians should rid themselves of anti-Turkish anger. The court implied from his admonition that Dink - who received a suspended six month sentence - was somehow deriding the Turkish blood.The fact is, unlike many former European colonizers, Turkey has made few if any efforts to atone for its imperialist past.[...].

Turkey also has a bad track record with its Middle Eastern neighbors. The country has consistently been accused by Syria and Iraq of siphoning an inordinate amount of water from the Euphrates River, which Turkey has diverted for a massive - and environmentally risky - development project involving the construction of 22 dams and 19 power plants. [...].
[...]
All the foregoing is not to deny that Turkey has enacted reforms in its quest for EU membership. [...].

But Turkey's reforms are too little, and Turkish society has evolved insufficiently since 1963. Treacherous fault lines still haunt the political landscape, with Islamic fundamentalists on one extreme and a military clique on the other, ever ready to intervene to defend the ideological vision of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

The bottom line is that Turkey absolutely does not deserve an EU seat alongside progressive, democratic nations like France, Great Britain, Germany and Spain.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Church leader says U.S. crucial to peace in the Mideast

Los Angeles, CA, 10/10/2005
Daily News
By Alex Dobuzinskis, Staff Writer

The United States has a big role to play in establishing peace in the Middle East, where Christians are awaiting peace as eagerly as are Jews and Muslims, an Armenian church pontiff said Sunday during his visit to Southern California.
[...]
{His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia} [...] is on an official visit to California on the 10th anniversary of his ascension to the head of the Lebanon-based branch of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
[...]
"I think we should go beyond politics in the strict sense of the word," Aram said. "The question is how can we live together."

Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky, president of the Board of Rabbis of Southern California, has a different view. [...].

"It's the folks with the weapons and the oil who are calling the shots, not the people inside the house of worship," he said.

Dr. Maher Hathout, spokesman for the Islamic Center of Southern California, said Christians living in the Middle East have an important role to play, especially in Israel.

"By virtue of their message and their long history of good relations with Muslims and the fact that (orthodox Christians) and the Muslims and Jews were victims of the Crusade(s), will give them that historical role to act as mediators for peace," he said

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

40,000 People From Armenia Live Peacefully In Turkey, Bagis

October 09, 2005
Turkish Press

[...]
Bagis, who is currently in Australia prior to the visit of Prime Minister Erdogan to this country and New Zealand in December, met representatives of an international policy think-thank organization named Lowy Institute in the morning.
[...]
Responding to a question about the Armenian issue, Bagis said [...]. Today there are 40,000 Armenians who came to Turkey from Armenia to live in our country. Our citizens of Armenian origin are not included in that figure. These 40,000 Armenian citizens work in construction sites and some of their wives look after our babies. Turkish families entrust Armenian women with taking care of their children and it shows that Turks don't have any hostility towards Armenian people,'' Bagis said.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

An Armenian-Turkish-American friend

Sunday, October 9, 2005
Turkish Daily News
Editorial by Yusuf KANLI

[...] days after we went through the Armenian conference excitement last month, I received a call from Kaan Soyak, chairman of the Turkish-Armenian Business Council. Kaan {is} an Armenian Turk [...]. Over the past decade I have at times helped him in his efforts, but mostly he helped me in my drive to forge some communication between Turkish, Armenian and Azerbaijani journalists as well as other professional groups.

[...] . I have a very important guest from the United States: A Turkish-Armenian-American man of religion. I will be accompanying him for some talks with some prominent people down there {Ankara}. Politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen… you know.” Kaan said.[...] .
[...]
It was great getting to know the Reverend Father Papken Anoushian from St. Thomas Church in New Jersey and listen to his views about the importance of social contact in promoting relations between the Turkish and Armenian peoples and trying to seek a common future together rather than letting what has happened or has not happened at a certain point in the common history of the two peoples bury us in a futile dead end.
[...]
He listened silently to my explanations of how we came to the brink of opening the border and establishing a land and rail link between Turkey and Central Asia through Armenia but every time -- either because of unfortunate Armenian resolutions in the French parliament and the European Parliament and elsewhere -- all such efforts were dashed by Armenian extremists. [...].

We underlined as well the need for some openings from Yerevan that would enable the government in Ankara to take some courageous steps towards Armenia. [...].

Father Anoushian will be back in Turkey next year as well. Next time, he said, he hoped he would be accompanied by some 50 or more people from his community in New Jersey.

Dink sentencing:
[...]
He was convicted of urging diaspora Armenians in a series of 2004 articles to get rid of the "poisoning effect" of their history in Turkey and focus on the welfare of Armenia, said Karin Karakasli, an editor at the newspaper. She said the court took the article out of context, saying it meant that Turkish blood is poison.

[...] isn't it awkward to “misinterpret” and sentence a journalist under a law that is irrelevant, anyhow, to the road we have undertaken towards EU membership?

The sentencing of Dink [...] underlines the pressing need to continue with democratization in this country. We have to change not only these laws, but the mindset as well.

We want a self-confident Turkey at peace with itself, at peace with its neighbors and which is democratic and secular and has supremacy of law, freedom of expression and freedom of belief.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Court sentences Turkish editor for insulting the state

October 07, 2005
Financial Times

A Turkish court yesterday sentenced the editor of an Armenian-language newspaper in Istanbul to six months in prison after finding him guilty of insulting the state in a series of articles he published last year.
[...]
The court found Hrant Dink, editor of the bilingual Turkish- and Armenian-language weekly Agos, guilty of "insulting and weakening Turkish identity in the media".

The sentence was suspended, so he will not have to serve time in jail unless he repeats the offence. Mr Dink, who is a Turkish citizen and who denied the charge, said he would appeal to a higher court and, if necessary, to the European Court of Human Rights.
[...]

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Armenians Want Elections to Choose Governors

October 8, 2005
Angus Reid Global Scan
Source: Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS)Methodology: Interviews with 1,000 Armenian adults, conducted in September 2005. No margin of error was provided.

Many adults in Armenia believe their regional heads of government should be selected through the ballot box, according to a poll by the Armenian Center for National and International Studies. 63.5 per cent of respondents say they would like to elect their regional governor.

Armenia adopted its Constitution in July 1995. The document was ratified in a referendum—deemed to have been fraudulent—and confers virtually unrestrained powers on the president.

President Robert Kocharyan was re-elected to a new four-year term in March 2003 in an election marred by fraud allegations. Armenia is divided into 11 provinces. The provincial governors are appointed by the head of state.

Under the current system, regional elections are limited to prefects and aldermen. Each provincial governor retains the right to dismiss elected officials. 36.7 per cent of respondents believe an elected governor would be more accountable to the people, and 13 per cent think he would be more interested in solving regional problems.

A nationwide referendum on proposed constitutional changes has been scheduled for Nov. 27. The reform package would seek a balance of power between the executive and legislative branches. At least one-third of Armenia’s 2.4 million eligible voters must support the amendments.
[...]

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Words of inspiration honored

October 8, 2005
The Enquirer
Katie Oliveri

Nona Atoyan, 17, was inspired by 10 words written below a painting hanging in the hallway of Kellogg Community College.

"Somebody was once a nobody who wanted to and did."

It was that quote which made Atoyan, who grew up in Armenia, realize that "one benefits from life exactly what they put into it."

"No one was born a teacher...a lawyer...a president," she wrote in a personal statement. "We all are born with equal opportunities and abilities to make the right choices and actually become somebody...I'm a strong-willed, focused individual...on her way to becoming a somebody."

It was Atoyan's words that earned her the Robert L. and Lois H. Brenner Memorial Scholarship, in the amount of $1,500. Atoyan, in her fourth semester at Kellogg Community College, received one of about 170 scholarships awarded to students this year at the third annual fall scholarship luncheon Friday, hosted by the KCC Foundation.

"I'm so very happy to receive the award since I'm an international student," she said. "It's a great help."
[...]

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

EU talks Turkey

Oct 8 2005
Western Mail
Staff Reporter

At the end of a week that saw the EU agree to formally begin membership talks with Turkey, Wales MEP Eluned Morgan gives her verdict on the 'Turkey Question.'

THE European Union's success has always lain in its unique ability to draw countries towards peace, democracy and co-operation through the magnetic pull of prosperity and stability. This week we witnessed a climax of this process as EU countries gave the go-ahead to embark on a new and uncharted phase of development.

[...]not since the break-up of the Ottoman Empire 100 years ago have Europeans agonised so much over the "Turkish question".

At the European Parliament last year I voted in favour of starting these formal negotiations. For someone who as a young member of Amnesty International wrote countless letters to Turkish leaders appealing for them to improve their human rights record, it was a difficult decision. But I believe it was the right one.
[...]
Turkey still has to travel a long and bumpy path of economic, social and environmental reform. [...].
[...]
[...]. There also remains a long way to go on relations with Cyprus, Armenia and Turkey's 12 million Kurds.
[...]
It is in our own strategic interest to give Turkey a fair chance to demonstrate whether it is capable of meeting the EU membership conditions.

And make no mistake, if Turkey meets all these conditions it will be quite a different Turkey from the Turkey of today.
[...]

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Armenian Jewish Community Promotes Inter-ethnic Tolerance

Monday, October 3 2005
The Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS

YEREVAN, Armenia – On September 29th in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, the State Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet hosted a concert dedicated to promoting greater tolerance towards representatives of other ethnic groups and religions under the auspices of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and Yerevan OSCE bureau.
[...]
The event, which turned out to be great success, involved the Symphonic-Jazz Orchestra of Armenian National Radio and TV, as well as some of the country's best soloists, who performed creations of Willy Vainer, a renowned Jewish performer and recording artist from Armenia.
[...]

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Taking Time Out from War for Shopping

NPR
by Lawrence Sheets

October 5, 2005 · Skirmishes continue between the warring former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia. Their common border remains closed and soldiers frequently fire at each other from trenches on both sides. But Lawrence Sheets reports that, despite hostilities, citizens of both countries continue to meet and trade at a Georgian flea market on the border, Listen to the report here.

Turkey: Back to the Future?

October 4th, 2005
The American Thinker
By Andrew G. Bostom

Once again, Turks are storming the heart of Europe. This time, it is not by the sword, but rather in seeking to join the European Union (EU). Once inside the gates, they will gain access to the great cities, wealth, and power of their ancient rivals. Smoothing the way for incorporation of the former would-be conqueror into borderless Europe is an errant belief that Ottoman Turkey was a tolerant multi-cultural civilization. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Recently, security analyst Frank Gaffney wrote a courageous essay, featured in the Washington Times , urging that Turkey's bid to join the EU be rejected. Gaffney highlighted the Islamic Shari'a-based religious revival under the current Erdogan regime as the keystone to his cogent argument. [...]. It is ahistorical to speak of "Ottoman tolerance" as distinct from Erdogan's "Islamism", because the Ottoman Empire expanded via three centuries of devastating jihad campaigns, and the flimsy concept of Ottoman tolerance was, in reality, Ottoman-imposed dhimmitude, under the Shari'a.
[...]
[...] the dissolution of this Shari'a state whose bloody, convulsive collapse during the first World War included a frank jihad genocide of the Ottoman dhimmi population, once considered most loyal to the Empire, i.e., the Armenians. I believe such an analysis is particularly timely, in light of a December 2004 United Nations Conference which lionized "Ottoman tolerance" as a role model, "… to be adapted even today…" [...].
[...]
Brief overviews of the Seljuk and Ottoman jihad campaigns which ultimately Islamized Asia Minor, have been provided by Vryonis and Vacalopoulos. First, the schematic, clinical assessment of Vryonis: [11]

The conquest, or should I say the conquests of Asia Minor were in operation over a period of four centuries. Thus the Christian societies of Asia Minor were submitted to extensive periods of intense warfare, incursions, and destructions which undermined the existence of the Christian church. In the first century of Turkish conquests and invasions from the mid-eleventh to the late twelfth century, the sources reveal that some 63 towns and villages were destroyed. The inhabitants of other towns and villages were enslaved and taken off to the Muslim slave markets.

Vacalopoulos describes the conquests in more animated detail: [12]
At the beginning of the eleventh century, the Seljuk Turks forced their way into Armenia and there crushed the armies of several petty Armenian states. No fewer than forty thousand souls fled before the organized pillage of the Seljuk host to the western part of Asia Minor…From the middle of the eleventh century, and especially after the battle of Malazgirt [Manzikurt] (1071), the Seljuks spread throughout the whole Asia Minor peninsula, leaving terror, panic and destruction in their wake. Byzantine, Turkish and other contemporary sources are unanimous in their agreement on the extent of havoc wrought and the protracted anguish of the local population…
[...]

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

IRAQI TERRORISTS THREATEN TO BEHEAD THE ARMENIAN

26 Sept. 2005
PanArmenian Network

[...]
Karapet Jan Djekerdjyan is from Lebanon by birth. During the last 20 years he has lived in Cyprus. He is 40 years old and has Cyprian and Lebanese citizenships. Karapet Jan Djekerdjyan worked in “Jetco” company which supplies juices and food to Iraq. [...]. On August 21 Karo was taken hostage in Baghdad. The responsibility for the kidnapping was taken by previously unknown grouping, called “In the Name of Spreading Good and Liquidating Bad”. Initially, the terrorists set two conditions: first they wanted the firm to leave Iraq and pay two million dollars in cash. The first demand was fulfilled by “Jetco” company immediately. The director of the company and the hostage’s relatives entered into negotiations on the redemption, though Americans were categorically against that. Cyprus authorities and the leaders of the Armenian community try to be of use too.

At the beginning of September the hostage’s relatives were given a video cassette with a dreadful recording: the terrorists in masks threatened Karapet with a machine gun and dictated their conditions. According to some sources, as a result of negotiations the terrorists decreased the redemption sum to 500 thousand dollars, but again rose it up to two million. “Cyprus weekly” paper reports that the hostage’s relatives have already paid 500 thousand dollars but the terrorists are demanding the deficient amount of money. It is also known that the hostage’s aunt Rita Metsaturyan has sold her property and saved up a sum of money for paying the redemption. Besides that, she has also started collecting donations. By Monday the redemption sum was still unpaid and the terrorists’ promise was still in force. Today, no one really knows what will happen next.
[...]

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Moscow Tycoon Reveals Ransom For Release Of Armenian Pilots

28, September 2005
Armenia Liberty
By Karine Kalantarian

Ara Abrahamian, an Armenian-born Russian tycoon, said on Wednesday that the recent release of six Armenian pilots controversially imprisoned in Equatorial Guinea cost him $2 million in “investments” in the west African nation’s infrastructure.
[...]
Abrahamian, known for his Kremlin connections, was instrumental in the pilots’ release and he explained why. “The pledges which I gave to the president of Equatorial Guinea have been fulfilled by 100 percent,” he told reporters in Yerevan. “We have invested more than $2 million in building a water supply system in Equatorial Guinea.”

“There were also other pledges and they have all been fulfilled,” he added without elaborating.
[...]
But Abrahamian insisted that money alone could not buy the freedom of the Armenian [...] prisoners. “It requires a lot of work and participation of many people,” he said vaguely. [...].
[...]

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Court Cancels Repeat Election In Yerevan District

29, September 2005
Armenia Liberty
By Shakeh Avoyan

A court in Yerevan set an important precedent for Armenia Thursday, declaring an independent candidate the winner of an election in the city’s Kanaker-Zeytun district over the local election commission’s objections.

Preliminary results of the September 18 vote showed the candidate, Ara Kotanjian, leading his main rival, businessman Valeri Harutiunian, by a small margin. Harutiunian refused to concede defeat and managed to get the election commission to scrap the results and call a repeat poll for this Sunday. The commission said “inaccuracies” found during a recount of the ballots were serious enough to affect its results.

But the Kanaker-Zeytun court of first instance, acting on an appeal filed by Kotanjian, disagreed. The presiding judge, Artur Arakelian, handed down the ruling after personally examining some of the contentious ballots marked for Kotanjian. Arakelian ruled that the commission invalidated them deliberately and unjustly.

The verdict was read out to rapturous applause from Kotanjian supporters present in the courtroom. The commission chairman, Ararat Karapetian, looked unhappy but refused to comment on it. Karapetian is affiliated with the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), a governing party which endorsed Harutiunian.

The wealthy candidate, who used to manage Armenia’s main international airport, was accused by his rival of paving streets and handing vote bribes during the election campaign.

“I’ve spent $1.2 million. How can I fail to win?” a Kotanjian proxy quoted Harutiunian as saying on voting day.

Harutiunian, however, denies resorting to vote buying.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Will they Split before they Marry?

October 3, 2005
Spiegel

[...]
Another popular line is that the only friends Turks have are themselves. This school of thought has gained currency following the recent debate about the genocide of Armenians. Internationally renowned Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk, the recent recipient of the peace prize of the German Booksellers' Association, got an unwanted glimpse of that recently. He didn't just get hate mail and death threats after making his recent comment that 1 million Armenians were murdered in the Ottoman Empire and 30,000 Kurds in modern Turkey. He is also scheduled to stand trial on Dec. 16 as a result.

DPA Nationalist commotion at Istanbul's Bilgi University, where protesters tried to counter a conference on Armenian genocide a week ago. It gets worse. After Turkey's justice minister vilified the organizers of an academic conference on the question of Armenian genocide as "traitors to their country," a court banned the meeting. Last week, a private university disregarded the court and held the conference, but protestors showered participants, including a former Turkish foreign minister, with eggs.
[...]
For his part, Erdogan has valiantly countered the wave of chauvinism in his country. Last week, he condemned the court's decision to ban the Armenia conference, "because I want to live in a Turkey in which freedom of expression is all-embracing." The Kurdish problem, he said, needs to be solved "with more democracy, greater civil liberties and increased prosperity." Not even an assassination attempt on Erdogan at the hands of a misguided nationalist two weeks ago was enough to disturb his peace of mind.

But in reality, diplomats in Ankara are reporting that the prime minister has given up his belief in the goal of the EU process. But they say he still hopes that the British EU presidency, which is well disposed to Ankara, will be able to open negotiations with one or two unproblematic issues -- national statistics or the environment, for example, two disciplines in which Turkey is already operating at European standards today. When Turkey-critic Austria assumes the EU presidency in January, the Turks believe the negotiations will come to a temporary standstill.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Reinstitution of Turkish - Armenian Friendship

10.03.2005
Zaman Daily News
By SAHIN ALPAY e-mail:s.alpay@zaman.com.tr

The crux of my speech at the panel on “The Armenian Problem and Turkish Democracy” in the “Ottoman Armenians” conference was the following: I am not a historian. As a political scientist and public commentator, my interest is focused on the current issues and problems of Turkish politics.

I believe that the resolution of the “Armenian problem” is indispensable for consolidation of liberal and pluralist democracy, and for peace culture to prevail in Turkey.[...].

Regarding history: What was experienced at the end of the19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries is the story of the dissolution of the multi-religious and multi-ethnic Ottoman Empire as a result of conflicting religious and ethnic nationalisms backed by imperialist European powers. It is the story of millions of people who were subjected to ethnic cleansing, deportation and massacres.[...]. Armenians became the religious and ethnic group which suffered most during the course of the dissolution of the empire.[...]. Turkish people know very little about the tragedy of the Ottoman Armenians, and a solution to the “Armenian problem” is not possible until they are sufficiently informed about it.
[...]
Our tasks as those in Turkey who {are in} favor of reconciliation are obvious: We must first of all exert our utmost efforts to ensure that our Armenian citizens enjoy equal citizenship rights and that their minority rights are secured. Historians should, with courage and determination, work to shed light on what really happened and on those who were responsible. We should try to win over the public opinion in favor of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia, and opening of the borders between the two countries. Ankara can thereby even contribute to peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia. We should also try to enhance the links and dialogue between the Turkish and Armenian civil societies. If we can do all these, it will one day be possible to erect a monument in Anatolia in memory of the great suffering Ottoman Armenians lived through.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

TURKEY-EU: BLOC CAN BECOME 'GLOBAL PLAYER' OR REMAIN A 'CHRISTIAN CLUB'

04-Oct-2005
Adn Kronos International

Ankara, 2 Oct. (AKI) - [...].
[...]
In an interview with Italian daily La Repubblica published on Monday, Erdogan reiterated the Turkish government's assertion that it has complied with all the preconditions set by Brussels for the start of the talks, and that he was confident that they would go ahead.

"I believe that those who promised to begin this journey will keep their word," he said, but warned, that "if today they place before us different conditions, then Turkey will not swallow such a ruse, and it will continue along its own path."
[...]
Another stumbling block to Turkey's accession is the country's refusal to allow public debate on the so-called "Armenian Genocide," of 1915 which according to many historians claimed the lives of some 1.5 million Armenians. Erdogan has defended renowned Turkish author, Orhan Pamuk, who is to stand trial for writing about the massacre in a recent newspaper article, but the Turkish premier argues his hands are tied.

"The media has to understand that this case [Pamuk's] does not involve the country's executive and legislative powers, but the judiciary. It's up to the magistrates to evaluate the facts and we have to respect their decisions," Erdogan told La Repubblica.
[...]
Only 35 percent of EU citizens favour letting Turkey in, according to an EU-sponsored poll in September.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

The South Caucasus seen from Brussels: betwixt pressure and good marks

Article published in 30/09/2005 Issue
Caucaz
By Anne-Marie MOURADIAN in Brussels
Translated by Michèle-Ann OKOLOTOWICZ

The European Union is getting ready to negotiate action plans with each of the South Caucasus republics, which will allow it to implement its new neighbourhood policy in the region. [...].

The idea of the future action plans can be summarised in a nutshell: treat each country on its own merits, by “rewarding” those that progress the most rapidly. [...]. “If in five years’ time we observe that the partner country has progressed well, we can move on to a form of closer partnership”, Brussels explains. [...].
[...]
Georgia

Today, Georgia is at the top of the charts of the South Caucasus republics. The EU’s presence there is also the most visible. [...]. Moreover, Georgia is the only country to have benefited from an international donors’ conference, held in Brussels.
[...]
[...] Brussels has observed a positive evolution and a manifest desire among its leaders to fight corruption, clean up the State apparatus and public accounts, and to enact the rule of law.[...].

Although the institutional structure is still slightly unstable, improvements are visible on the political level. [...].
[...]
The economic outlook is not so optimistic. The country lacks natural resources and public coffers are close to empty.[...] economic difficulties are aggravated by the instability linked to the question of the two secessionist republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.[...].
[...]
Armenia

From the political reform standpoint, the situation in Armenia is far from ideal and Brussels emphasises that Armenian leaders have a long way to go to come close to European standards, and it hopes that the forthcoming elections will be more democratic than the previous ones.

However, the Europeans have complimented the country for its very good economic performance. “Armenia’s leaders have undertaken structural reforms in many sectors and have been able to stabilise the country’s financial situation”, notes Hugues Mingarelli.

In spite of its land-locked position and the blockade imposed by Turkey, the Armenian economy has seen its GDP progress spectacularly, rising from 3.3% in 1999, to 12.9% in 2002, and to 13.9% in 2003. But the economy still remains in the hands of “clans” and a significant proportion of the population does not have access to the growing riches.

Brussels also hopes that the Armenian authorities will be “flexible” in negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh, reminding Armenia in the meantime that the Turkish blockade is a heavy price to pay.

The EU is not planning to increase pressure on Turkey to open its borders. Likewise, the denial of the Armenian genocide by the Turkish state is not considered to be a human rights issue. Brussels restricts itself to calling on Ankara to seek reconciliation with Armenia. And to Armenians who invoke the duty of remembrance, European officials generally point out “the difference between ‘little’ Armenia and the geostrategic weight of its Turkish neighbour”.

Another subject under discussion is the nuclear power station of Medzamor, which supplies 40% of the country’s electricity but whose venerable age makes it dangerous. [...].

On 23 September however, Yerevan let it be known that it intends to close down Medzamor and to build a new plant with the help of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Moreover, the construction of the gas pipeline between Iran and Armenia should cover, upon its completion in 2007, a third of Armenia’s gas requirements. [...].

[...] Europeans are backing Yerevan’s denunciation of the project by Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaidjan to build a new Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway designed to circumvent Armenia. Brussels believes the new railway would be surplus to requirement since a rail link already exists between Kars and Gumri (Armenia), which is currently closed due to the Turkish blockade.
[...]
Azebaijan

Regarding political and economic reform, Azerbaijan has a long way to go to catch up.[...].

The European Commission sees President Ilham Aliyev as “reasonable”. [...]. However, Ilham Aliyev is not alone and must take into account his entourage”.

The EU is insisting that the government steps up its fight against its still endemic corruption and wants it to use its oil revenue to fight poverty and strengthen social cohesion. [...].

“Within the framework of its action plan, Baku has to expect strong pressure from us”, Brussels says, recognising that thanks to its energy resources Azerbaijan has greater room for manoeuvre than the other two South Caucasian republics. Neither does it share their financial constraints. “Azeris are far more relaxed”, notes Hugues Mingarelli. “They are less dependent on European largesse than Georgia and Armenia”.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Nagorno-Karabakh = Åland ?

Current Word Affairs
source: Helsingin Sanomat - International Edition
Posted by MKL on Friday, September 30th, 2005 at 7:13 am.

The Finnish President Tarja Halonen started yesterday her regional visits to Caucasus from Armenia and as you can imagine, the press didn’t let her go easily. First on the table was the Armenian genocide, which Halonen passed by answering: “We are building a common future with Armenia”. Fairly vague answer on the question about genocide.

Later on when Halonen spoke to students at the Yerevan State University a question about the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh - an ethnically Armenian enclave inside Azerbaijan - came up. I don’t really know what she was thinking, but she offered as a solution the model of the autonomous status of Finland’s Åland Islands. A fiery-eyed Armenian student responded to this: “Azerbaijan is not Sweden“.

It’s hard to say what Halonen was thinking, but the analogy doesn’t work to me. The student was absolutely right - Azerbaijan is not Sweden, nor Armenia is Finland. Polish foreign correspondent Ryszard Kapuscinski wrote brilliantly about the tension in the region in his book Imperium, which I highly recommend for President Halonen.
[...]

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Armenia Receives International Grant to Fight AIDS

1 October 2005
Red Nova

Text of report by Armenian news agency Arminfo

Yerevan, 30 September: Armenia has received a grant worth 4m dollars to fight HIV/AIDS within the framework of the project of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The recipient of the grant is the World Vision office in Armenia.

The grant will be used to implement the second stage of the national programme to combat AIDS, a source in the World Vision office in Yerevan said.

In 2003-2005, the fund allocated 3.2m dollars to implement the first stage of the project.

An official ceremony to sign the document on the allocation of the grant is scheduled for 5 October this year.

According to the republican HIV/AIDS centre, by 1 September 356 HIV-positive cases had been registered in Armenia and 92 people had been diagnosed as having AIDS. A total of 70 people have died since the first HIV/AIDS infected Armenian patient was registered.

However, specialists of the centre say that official figures cannot reflect the real situation in the country, as the actual figures are 10 times higher. Specialists of the centre believe that over 3,000 people are HIV-positive in Armenia.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Hate meets history in Azerbaijani cartoonist's anti-Armenian art

03/10/2005 13:04
Baku Today
by Simon Ostrovsky, AFP

BAKU, Oct 3 (AFP) - Venom dripping from its fangs onto a Swastika, only the efforts of powerful arms grasping metal pincers restrain a black serpent and its desire for global domination, in a drawing displayed at a Baku gallery recently.
[...]
[...] the serpent is Kerimov's metaphor for Armenia and its "Greater Armenia" policy while the six arms grasping the pincers represent Azerbaijan's Turkic brethren from Turkey to Turkmenistan.
[...]
This could be the description a World War II-era Soviet propaganda poster depicting the concerted effort of the allies as they hold back the menace of Nazi Germany and the Axis forces.

But this poster -- and others like it, recently on display in the Artists' Union in former Soviet Azerbaijan -- are the recent works of an Azerbaijani scientist-turned-cartoonist.

You may not have heard of it, but the author Kerim Kerimov is on a mission to blow the whistle on "Armenian hegemony."
[...]
Anyone in Baku will tell you that Azerbaijan has many enemies: Armenia with its Russian backing, Armenia's wealthy diaspora, Azerbaijan's own opposition forces and perhaps a few loose clerics from Iran.

Kerimov goes further and puts the enemies into pictures, with horned and bewarted horrific caricatures of Armenians clawing at the map of Azerbaijan or driving a wedge between the country and its ally Turkey with a giant bomb.
[...]
"I don't want Armenians to see an enemy in me," he said however, claiming he has received death threats from Armenians and other "enemies" of Azerbaijan.

"I want them to see that the policies they are carrying out are wrong; then life will be better for both peoples."

But his stated peaceable intentions might prove to be a tough sell to Armenians, who in his drawings are alternately depicted as big-nosed hairy demons or sometimes white-hooded Ku Klux Klan members.
[...]

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Armenia's GDP up 11.7% in Jan-Aug 2005

YEREVAN, October 3 (RIA Novosti, Gamlet Matevosyan) - Armenia's GDP in January-August grew 11.7% year on year to $2.5 billion, a government official said Monday.

According to the National Statistics Service, per capita GDP for the period was $784.
[...]
Estimated GDP annual growth rate is 8% and inflation, 3%.
[...]
The average monthly salary in January-August was $109, up 23.6% compared with the same period last year.

Unemployment fell by 1.1% to 124,300 jobless.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.