Armenian Americans Honor Two Christmases

December 31, 2005
LA Times
By Larry B. Stammer, Times Staff Writer

Jews are well familiar with the so-called "December dilemma" of getting through the Christmas season with its ubiquitous carols, advertising and holiday displays.

One answer has been to lift the relatively minor Jewish festival of Hanukkah into competition with the major Christian observance of Christmas.

Armenian Orthodox Christians in the United States face their own December dilemma.

For the overwhelming majority of Christian denominations, the Christmas holiday culminates with celebrations Dec. 24 and 25. But Armenian churches wait until Jan. 6.

The observance of what has come to be called Armenian Christmas underscores an almost 1,700-year divide between the Armenian church and most other churches over when to mark the birth of Jesus.

The two Southern California-based Armenian archbishops this week sought to bridge the differences, honoring their own calendar and traditions while acknowledging that many of their members participate in Dec. 25 festivities.
[...]
"I cannot possibly tell my people you are not part of this tradition," said Hovnan Derderian, primate of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America. "If Dec. 25 is conveying the good news about Jesus' birth, there is every reason for us to take it as a blessing, because in today's society the more venues we look for to celebrate Christianity in our life, the better for our communities," said Derderian, a native of Beirut.
[...]
In fact, no one knows exactly when Jesus was born. Nor is his birth believed to have been celebrated in the earliest days of the church. According to the Armenian church, all Christian churches used to celebrate Christ's birth on Jan. 6. But in the year 325, the Roman emperor Constantine decreed that it would be celebrated in his empire on Dec. 25.

There are various reasons given for Constantine's edict. But one oft-repeated account suggests that it was a move by the church in Rome to usurp a popular pagan holiday celebrating "the invincible or unconquered sun god" with a Christian observance of the birth of the son of God. By the end of the 4th century, the Greek-speaking Christian world had also adopted Dec. 25, including what is today's Greek Orthodox Church. But the Armenian church held its ground. Jan. 6 endured as a date to mark both the birth and baptism of Jesus. For some orthodox churches, including the Russian Orthodox Church, Christmas is celebrated Jan. 7.

The Western church adopted Jan. 6 as the Epiphany, the time when Jesus was adored by the wise men. In the Armenian church, however, several themes are woven into the Jan. 6 observance, including Jesus' birth, baptism and the "manifestation," or epiphany, of Jesus as the son of God.

Derderian said Armenian Christians found no reason to change the date to Dec. 25 because in Armenia, pagan observances did not encroach on Jan. 6.
[...]

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.

Obstacles and Optimism as Turkey Embarks on EU Accession Talks

December, 2005 (pages 38-39)
Washington Report on Middle East Affair
By Jon Gorvett

For many Turks this year, Ramadan started in a more celebratory mood than usual, as news came that European Union accession talks finally had begun—46 years after Turkey first applied.
[...]
Yet meanwhile, back in Ankara and Istanbul, there were also some searching questions to be asked about just how popular EU membership is now among ordinary Turks themselves.
[...]
Cyprus [...] also a number of major domestic Turkish issues that are likely to be major obstacles to EU membership.
[...]
[...] there is the property issue. In Istanbul, the once large Greek and Armenian communities protest that much of their people’s real estate has been swallowed up by the state over the years, and claims for some form of restitution are likely to start flowing once the accession talks get under way. [...].
[...]
Foreign policy is another complication. Turkey’s commitments to the European Neighborhood Policy mean normalizing relations with all the countries surrounding it—a policy with particular relevance to Greece, with whom Turkey still has outstanding disputes over Aegean Sea air and sea limits, and Armenia, with whom Turkey has a border closed by the Turks in response to Armenia’s conflict over Nagorna Kharabakh with Turkish ally Azerbaijan.

The Optimists’ Argument
[...]
In late September, Turkey held its first-ever conference on the 1915 Armenian genocide, which, while protested by radical nationalists, nonetheless received official backing from the government itself. [...].
[...]

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.

CHESS

December 31, 2005
Globe and Mail
By JONATHAN BERRY

Levon Aronian of Armenia won the FIDE World Cup in Khanty Mansiysk, Siberia. The 23-year-old defeated Ukrainian Ruslan Ponomariov, one year his junior, in playoff rapid games after their finals match ended in two exciting draws.

I met Aronian in 1996 when I was a referee at the Chess Olympiads in Yerevan. Armenia, by virtue of hosting the event, was allowed to enter a second team, which was composed of young players. Aronian played third board on that team and was the darling of the local spectators, as he looked 12-years-old even though he was 14. He was remarkably calm, even smiling to himself when he had a tough position.
[...]

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.

Militant Islam vs. Western civilization

Dec. 31, 2005
Toronto Star
By RICHARD OSTLING, ASSOCIATED PRESS

The No. 1 religious theme of 2005 — and presumably for 2006 and years beyond — is the face-off between militant Islam and Western civilization, with its scriptural Jewish and Christian heritage.
[...]
Stepping back from the daily headlines about terrorism, the question arises: What underlies this lethal global tension? Ohio University historian David Curp has an answer that turns explanations inside out.

"It is commonplace to claim that the Crusades scarred the imagination of the Muslim world for centuries," he wrote recently in Crisis, a Catholic magazine.

Islamists and Arab nationalists regularly cite the medieval warfare between Christians and Muslims as a source for today's anti-Western views across the Middle East.
[...]
Curp's key claim: "Radical Islam's protest against the West is not fuelled primarily by aggrieved victimhood; it is nourished by an even stronger memory of how Islam's final victory over Christendom remained for so long a real possibility."

For about 1,000 years, the Muslim world experienced mostly expansion and military triumph.

That era ended in 1683, when Muslims held vast terrain in eastern Europe and 140,000 Turkish troops nearly conquered Vienna, posing a significant threat for the West. But the Muslim invaders were defeated.

One might develop Curp's scenario this way: After numerous victories, Islamic lands suffered the humiliation of European colonialism, then the cultural weakness of independent Muslim countries extending to the present. That has created a psychological crisis for Islam.

Curp's retelling of the history explains the context that first created widespread Muslim-Christian combat.

Islam originally took the Holy Land in 638 and quickly vanquished large tracts of the former Christendom. This provoked no sweeping outrage, nor did Western Christians manage any concerted military counterattack until 1095, when Pope Urban II summoned the First Crusade.

What caused the pope's radical step?
[...]
In 1064 the Turks seized the capital of Christian Armenia, slaughtering the populace and imprisoning 30,000 people. Then, in the climactic Battle of Mantzikert in 1071, the Muslims virtually crushed Byzantine military power.

In Curp's telling, it was that disaster that provoked the Crusades in response.
[...]

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 Takes Giant Step Worth to 46 yrs

December 31, 2005
Zaman
By Foreign News Desk, Istanbul

[...]
Police brutality against women on the World Women's Day, Armenian Conference, and the case of Orhan Pamuk caused tough days for Turkey, but the country slowly maintained its steps on the road to the EU. Predictions for 2006 suggest it will be even a "tougher year" for Turkey.
[...]
With its attitude of "gaining friends not enemies" in 2005, Ankara could not, however, obtain progress with Armenia due to Erivan's hard rock stance. In 2005, when the 90th anniversary of the 1915 incidents was commemorated, Turkey faced the harshest "so-called genocide" campaign in it history.[...].
[...]

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.

Telling truths in Turkey

December 31, 2005
Chicago Tribune

Turkey's best-known novelist, Orhan Pamuk, faces criminal charges and the prospect of time in jail. His crime? Publicly insulting Turkish identity. Pamuk, in an interview published in February, said that "30,000 Kurds and a million Armenians were killed in these lands, and nobody but me dares talk about it."
[...]
More than 1 million ethnic Armenians died during and after World War I as a result of mass deportations organized by Turkey. The deaths occurred in the chaos of the collapsing Ottoman Empire. Armenia has charged that Turkey committed genocide. The Turks insist the Armenians were casualties of war, as were about half a million Turks at the hands of Armenians during that time. The truth about what happened has for decades been shrouded in silence in Turkey.

Pamuk sought to end the silence. "From a very young age, I suspected there was more to my world than I could see," he wrote in his latest book, "Istanbul: Memories and the City." It's a book suffused with melancholy about a city filled with ambiguities and still struggling with the loss of its past greatness.

[...] the charges against Pamuk, like similar charges against some 60 Turkish intellectuals over the years, don't stem from affronts to Islam. Rather they come from alleged affronts to a fervent Turkish nationalism that apparently can't tolerate truth.
[...]
[...] Speaking truth to power is at the heart of free speech and it is an essential component for modern democratic societies. [...].

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.

Some Charges Against Novelist Are Dropped

December 30, 2005
LA Times
From Times Wire Reports

Turkish prosecutors decided not to file charges against novelist Orhan Pamuk for allegedly denigrating the military, but he still faces charges that he insulted "Turkishness," lawyers said.

Pamuk reportedly told a German newspaper, Die Welt, in October that the military threatened and prevented democratization in Turkey.

The novelist still faces charges of insulting Turkey for having told a Swiss newspaper in February that "30,000 Kurds and 1 million Armenians were killed in these lands, and nobody but me dares to talk about it."

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.

TO AZERBAIJANIS OF THE WORLD

December 29, 2005,
Azertag
By Ilham Aliyev
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Dear compatriots!

I am addressing you on the occasion of the World Azerbaijanis’ Solidarity Day, one of the most important holidays of the Azerbaijani people. Every year since Azerbaijan re-gained its independence, the 31st of December has been celebrating by our compatriots across the world as the day of unity and solidarity.
[...]
The Azerbaijanis living abroad should also be actively engaged in timely exposing treacherous plans of Armenian propaganda, resolutely suppress the facts of falsifications of our history and cultural heritage misleading the international community, and should coordinate these activities with relevant state bodies of Azerbaijan.
[...]

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.

“Javakhk needs help of the whole Armenian world”: Chairman of “United Javakhk” Vahagn Chakhalian to REGNUM

12/30/2005
Regnum

Mr. Chakhalian, recently Democratic Alliance “United Javakhk” led by you has become an active player in social and political landscape of the region. [...] I would like to ask you to explain, in general terms, the major political programs and ideas, on which your social activity is based.

The Democratic Alliance “United Javakhk” was established in March 2005 by several Javakhk’s Armenian NGOs; [...]. Our major goal is consolidation of the Armenian population of Javakhk and defense of its interests. [...] we will firmly stay on guarding the interests and civil rights of the Armenian population of Javakhk –law-abiding and fully-fledged citizens of Georgian state. We believe, that in the presence of political will on part of the Georgian government and together with all progressive social and political forces of the republic, it is possible to solve all the accumulated problems in the region, whereby Javakhk, thanks to its geographical setting, could and should become an effective intermediary of economic integration between Georgia and Armenia.

During this year several serious incidents took place in Javakhk. What are the reasons for the growing tensions in the region?

You are, probably, speaking about taking over of the Armenian school in Akhaltsikha, another attempt to “georgianize” the Armenian church in Samsar village, the clash with tax authorities in Akhalkalak, the recent destruction of the customs office in Jhdanovakan, etc.
[...]
In Javakhk, as well as in other regions of Georgia rights of the Armenian population are violated, without respecting the obligation to defend the rights of national minorities that Georgia undertook upon the entry to the Council of Europe.
[...]

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.

Dyer article insulting

Dec 29, 2005
The Hamilton Spectator
By Lori Avakian, Toronto

RE: 'The Armenian genocide, as a matter of fact!' (Dec. 24)

The recent article by Mr. Gwynne Dyer who questions the authenticity of the Armenian genocide, is shocking and insulting to the Armenian people.

During 1915 when the world was in turmoil, the Ottoman Empire, in a calculating move, devised a plan to annihilate the Armenian people, one that would eradicate all traces of Armenian culture, heritage and religion. The Ottoman troops were merciless and the government was unapologetic, as they are now.

In March 2000, during the 30th anniversary of the Scholars' Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches which took place in Philadelphia, 126 Holocaust scholars signed a statement affirming that the "Armenian genocide is an incontestable historical fact" and urging governments of western democracies to recognize this fact.

Today we have renowned authors and historians of Armenian, Turkish and Canadian descent, respected individuals such as Orhan Pamuk, Tamer Akcam, Vahakn Daderian and Hilmar Kaiser, who write of the genocide and publish histories of the massacres of the Armenians. Today many of these authors and historians are persecuted by the Turkish government for exposing the truth and calling these atrocities by their true name: genocide.

Mr. Dyer should use whatever journalistic knowledge he has to research and bring forth documentation from more than just one source. Furthermore, The Hamilton Spectator has a duty to itself, and to its readers, to confirm the veracity of any written piece prior to publication. The Canadian Parliament passed a motion on April 21, 2004, "acknowledging the Armenian Genocide of 1915". These facts were omitted by Mr. Dyer and surprisingly overlooked by the editors at The Spectator.

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.

A Turkish Terrorist Group, Called Akhaltsikhe Liberation Brigade (ALB), Has Threatened the Armenians of Georgia with Genocide Again

2005-12-25
I-Newswire
By Blogian

A Turkish Terrorist Group, Called Akhaltsikhe Liberation Brigade ( ALB ), Has Threatened the Armenians of Georgia with Genocide Again.

ALB has issued a video to distribute among the Armenians and Russians of Georgia.

PanArmenian.net describes the video: "Four members of the Brigade against a background of Turkish flag have read an address to the Armenians and Russians residing in the town of Akhaltsikhe of the Armenian-populated Samtskhe Javakhetia region of Georgia."

Earlier, on 12 October 2005, the same group posted leaflets calling upon Armenians to live their homes in Georgia. The translation from the Russian leaflet reads: "Armenians of Akhaltsikhe! We are coming! Whoever stands up against us will die!

For thousands of years you are poisoning the air of our lands.Get the hell out of our land to you Armenia, Russia, America - wherever you want. We will not tolerate here even a memory about you. Do not try to stand up against the will of the all-mighty [Allah].

Soon, the land of Akhaltsikhe will again be ours; who does not listen to this now will regret they were born.Disloyal dogs, leave property to us and run away fast: your ancestors remember 1915 [the Genocide].

Russians will not help you; their presence in our land is also timed; their sold hyenas, Armenians, you also get the hell out of here!

Know that the time of paying for our insulsts is close: [so] hurry up and do not be mistaken! - Brigade for the Liberation of Akhaltsikhe."One of the main regions of Georgia, Javakhk ( Javakheti ), is populated by Armenians and has been part of historic 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.

Arthur Abraham update!

FightNews.com
December 28 2005
By Daniel Hiller

IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham is now an honored citizen in his birthplace of Armenia, having received a gold medal from the President to commemorate his world title win over Kingsley Ikeke on December 10.

Abraham and his younger brother Alexander, also a middleweight, share an apartment in Berlin and are pursuing their pro careers in Germany. [...] the Abrahams can become, after the Klitschkos, the second pair of brothers to control a weight class."

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.

Olcott: Azerbaijani Elections ‘Disappointing,’ Pressure Mounts on Aliyev

November 7, 2005
Council on Foreign Relations
Interviewee: Martha Brill Olcott
Interviewer: Bernard Gwertzman

Martha Brill Olcott, an expert on the Caspian region that includes Azerbaijan, [...].
[...]
Olcott was interviewed by Bernard Gwertzman, consulting editor for cfr.org, on November 7, 2005.
[...]
We have major oil interests in Azerbaijan, yes?
We do. Azerbaijan's oil is being developed by an international consortium that includes BP, which is the successor of Amoco and BP, so there is considerable interest. But more important is the recent opening of the Azerbaijan-Georgian-Turkish pipeline. Azerbaijan is the key to the export of Caspian oil and gas to both Russia and Iran and that pipeline is not completed but it is now partially open. There's no question that the construction will go through to the end, now.

Of course, they also have a small contingent of troops in Iraq.
They do and there have always been rumors that the Azeris would like a U.S. base but one has to remember we still have the Nagorno-Karabakh problem in Azerbaijan and Armenia where there is a frozen peace or frozen war. So there are practical restrictions on how close the United States and Azerbaijan relationship and security is able to get.

The United States politically can't do anything that would really upset the Armenians, can it?
No, and that's one of the reasons a base in Azerbaijan would be very hard to imagine in the current climate. So because of that, there isn't very much the Azeris can promise to placate Washington.
[...]

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.

PACE to delegate fact-finding mission to occupied regions

29/12/2005
AzerNews

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has announced it will delegate a mission to the region to look into the facts over the destruction of historic monuments. PACE confirmed its intention in an official reply, signed by the Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis, to official Baku's appeal sent earlier to international organizations.

Azerbaijan has set up a taskforce comprising head of the Azeri community of Upper Garabagh Nizami Bahmanov, as well as historians, archaeologists, national security ministry and military prosecutor's office representatives, to cooperate with PACE experts. In a recent statement, the community leader voiced his objection over the Council of Europe's decision to send the mission to the entire region, instead of only the occupied land.

"There is no need for the mission to visit Armenia or other Azeri regions and the move is not in line with the CE resolution on Garabagh…The main focus should be on the destruction of historic and cultural monuments in the occupied territories." The Azeri community leader said the Azykh Cave, a site of international importance, and other sites dating back many centuries have been destroyed, along with cemeteries and monuments in the ancient Azeri town of Shusha, which possesses 378 historical sites.

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 urge US Amb. to end alleged destruction of graves

29/12/2005
AzerNews

The Armenian National Committee of America has called on US ambassador to Azerbaijan Reno Harnish to ensure ending the alleged destruction of Armenian graves at an old cemetery in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, which is cut off from the rest of the country by Armenia.

In a letter, the Committee urged Harnish to leave for Nakhchivan immediately, demand from Azerbaijan, on behalf of the US government and the world community, to honor the UNESCO agreement on the world's cultural heritage that the country joined in 1993, and put an end to alleged destruction of Armenian tombstone crosses.

Armenians also called on Harnish to urge Azerbaijan to restore the graves as much as possible until Armenian and international experts conduct surveys on the site.

Azeri officials dismissed the allegations. The Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Taghizada said the latest appeal is part of Armenians' long-term policy that started 4-5 years ago. "This is absolutely untrue and aims to cover up the destruction of Azerbaijani cultural and historical monuments by Armenians in the occupied territories. They are trying to mislead the international community," he said.
{Related articles:
o British House of Lords to Discuss Destruction of Armenian Khachkars in Nakhichevan
o US Congressmen Denounced Destruction of Armenian Khachkars in Nakhichevan
o Ignored vandalism: The world is silent while hundreds of Christian monuments are destroyed in Azerbaijan
o Letter from Armenia's FM to Unesco
o Azerbaijani Soldiers Destroy Armenian Kchachqars in Nakhichevan }


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, NATO Launch ‘Individual Partnership’ Plan

28, December 2005
Armenia Liberty
By Armen Zakarian

After more than a year of negotiations with NATO, Armenia has embarked on the implementation of an “individual partnership action plan” (IPAP) that should bring it closer to the U.S.-led alliance and result in a reform of its military.

The two-year plan of joint activities, which formally took effect on December 16, upgrades Armenia’s participation in NATO’s Partnership for Peace (PfP) program designed for members of the former Communist bloc.
[...].
[...] the Armenian government will decide how to continue its cooperation with NATO after by the time it completes the IPAP in late 2007. [...]

Unlike Azerbaijan and especially Georgia, Armenia has not expressed a desire to eventually join NATO. Armenian leaders say the military alliance with Russia remains the bedrock of their national security doctrine.

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.

Azeri NGOs and media address Hungarian journalists

27.12.2005
CASCFEN

AzerTAg, Baku, 26.12.2005 -- Heads of some 3 thousands Azeri NGOs and leading media have addressed their Hungarian colleagues in order to expose the anti-Azerbaijan propaganda of the Armenians connected to the case on the officer of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan senior lieutenant Ramil Safarov.

[...] stressed necessity to expose the anti-Azerbaijan propaganda of the Armenians in connection with the mentioned case, tell the truth to the Hungarian media and public.

In the Address, it is also noted that since the incident happened, the Armenian lobby and pro-Armenian forces carry out false and biased propaganda against the people of Azerbaijan throughout the world and in particular, in Hungary, which the public of country is deeply concerned with.

Azeri media representatives ask their Hungarian colleagues to be objective and unbiased, and inform them on historical hostility of the Armenians towards the people of Azerbaijan, [...].
[...]

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 charges editor for remarks

December 27, 2005
The Seattle Times
By LOUIS MEIXLER
The Associated Press

ISTANBUL, Turkey — A Turkish prosecutor has opened a new case against one of the country's leading Turkish-Armenians for comments he made about an earlier prosecution.

Hrant Dink, editor of the bilingual Armenian-Turkish newspaper Agos, was convicted in October of "insulting Turkishness" and received a six-month suspended sentence. The case became one of several prominent prosecutions over speech that prompted questions about Turkey's dedication to democracy from officials of the European Union, which Turkey is trying to join.

Defense lawyer Fethiye Cetin said Monday that Dink now faces charges of attempting to influence the judiciary, punishable by 4 ½ years in prison, for saying that he would leave the country if the case against him was not dropped.

A group of Turkish writers, academics, journalists and artists called on the government Monday to scrap the law making it a crime to insult Turkey, "Turkishness" or state institutions.
[...]
Three other journalists, including his son, also were charged with trying to influence the judiciary after they criticized Dink's conviction.

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 academic community appealed to OSCE Minsk Group

12/27/2005
Regnum

[...]
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on December 14 on the occasion of 60th anniversary of the Azerbaijani National Academy of Sciences. The Azerbaijani leader called the academicians of his country “to inform the international community actively and persistently that Armenian came to Nagorno Karabakh, an integral part of Azerbaijan as guests.” “Armenians have no rights to say that Nagorno Karabakh belonged to them in the past.[...].
[...]
Representatives of the Armenian academic community regard it as inadmissible “the political order given by the president to the fundamental researchers.” “We are drawing attention of the Minsk Group co-chairmen to anti-scientific and anti-Armenian provocative statements by the president of Azerbaijan, which do not contribute to establishment of the atmosphere of trust between the conflicting parties and question the sincerity of the Azerbaijani party’s intentions in the settlement process,” the appeal to the countries and co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.
[...]

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.

Turks have Paradoxical Opinions About America

12.27.2005
zaman.com
By Suleyman Kurt

Turkish people have paradoxical opinions about the United States, revealed in a questionnaire prepared by the International Strategic Research Center (ISRC).

According to the questionnaire, the US is in first place at 29.8 percent among those countries threatening Turkey's security. Twenty-two percent, however, pointed at the US, in response to the question “who will help Turkey the most if there is a problem.” Other countries seen to be threatening Turkey’s security are Israel with 13 percent and France with 11.4 percent, while the perceived threat emanating from Turkey's two neighbors, Greece and Armenia, was recorded at 7.4 and six percent, respectively.

The number of individuals who accepted the US as a friend fell from 6.1 percent to 3.4. A total of 2,500 people participated in the survey.

Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Japan, and Bosnia are the first five among "friends of Turkey ".

Public support for European Union membership has decreased from 61 percent to 55 and support for the "Turkic world" that has been accepted as an alternative to the EU, increased to 21 percent, while support for the "Islamic World" increased to 11 percent.

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.

A colourful diplomatic year comes to an end

27. December 2005,
Swissinfo
swissinfo-interview: Thomas Stephens

Ankara's ambassador to Bern, Alev Kiliç, looks back on a difficult year for Swiss-Turkish relations and gives swissinfo an update on their current state of health.
[...]
swissinfo: 2005 has been a particularly challenging year for Swiss-Turkish relations ? Armenia, Deiss's cancelled trip to Ankara, the football match... Are Swiss-Turkish relations worse today than on January 1?

A.K.: My answer would be no. Yes, this has been a challenging year, but the Armenian issue is not something new. It has been under the surface for decades [...].
[...].

swissinfo: How do you think the Swiss and Turkish public see each other?

A.K.: The Turkish public has always had great esteem for Switzerland and the Swiss people and I do not think that things have changed for the negative on that despite some of these fluctuations.
[...]

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.

Most Armenians for deeper cooperation with Russia

December 21, 2005
Itar Tass
by Tigran Liloyan

YEREVAN, December 21 -- Most Armenians, 75.9 percent, are for the further deepening of strategic partnership with Russia. This is shown by the opinion survey conducted by the Russian non-commercial organization "Caucasian Institute of Democracy Development Foundation". The respondents in Yerevan and in all the Armenian regions numbered 1,600.

As many as 93.3 percent of the respondents declared that the Russian military base in Armenia should stay, and 60.7 percent hold that the removal of the Russian military base from Dzhavakheti region in south Georgia will have a negative effect on Armenia's security.

Coming out for the strengthening of Russian-Armenian strategic relations, for the stay of the Russian military base in Armenia and for the deepening of cooperation in the military sphere, 51 percent of the respondents believe that Armenia-NATO cooperation should remain at the present level while 18.1 percent are for Armenia/s membership in NATO.

As many as 72 percent of the respondents believe that Russia plays a positive role in the process of the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict, while 30.9 percent assess positively the role of the European Union.

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.

Artist admires local heritage and history

Dec 25, 2005
THE MISSISSAUGA NEWS
By Chris Clay

Dec 24, 2005 Mississauga artist Jack Jelilian is back at it again, painting pictures of Mississauga's most venerable historic buildings.

His latest creation, Twilight Fantasy, is a 28x21-inch watercolour of Benares Historic House. A print of the Christmas scene, which took close to three months to complete, is currently on display at Benares.
[...]
"I'm an artist who likes heritage and history, things that were done before us but also buildings left behind for us to appreciate," said Jelilian, 60. "The paintings show the history of Mississauga. [...]Most of the historic paintings are set in the winter, specifically around Christmas. It's a time of year that brings back memories of growing up in Armenia for Jelilian.
[...]
Interested in art ever since he received a set of coloured pencils and paint as a 10-year-old, Jelilian has previously been honoured by the Mississauga Heritage Foundation for his artwork.
[...]
For more information, call 905-919-1347.

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.

UN official: Nearly 400 people hit by mines near Nagorno-Karabakh since 1994

2005-12-25
China Daily

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) _ More than 100 people have been killed by land mines near the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh and nearly 300 people have been injured by the explosives since a truce more than a decade ago, an official with the United Nations Development Program said Saturday.

Armen Grigorian, who heads an anti-mine program for the UNDP in Armenia, said a total of 123 people have been killed by land mine explosions around the enclave and 271 have been wounded since the 1994 truce ended a six-year conflict between ethnic Armenian and Azerbaijan forces over the enclave.

Grigorian said the number of victims had dropped substantially over the last two years thanks to the UNDP de-mining program, which is funded by the United States and the European Union.

Large-scale fighting ended with the 1994 truce, but tensions remain high and sporadic shooting still breaks out along the so-called line of control separating the Armenian and Azerbaijani forces.

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.

FRENCH HISTORIANS' DEMAND FOR CANCELLATION OF THE FRENCH PARLIAMENT'S DECISIONS CONCERNED WITH ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ORDERED BY TURKISH LOBBY

DECEMBER 21, 2005
ARMINFO.

[...]
Le Monde reports that French President Jacques Chirac's previous support to pass the genocide allegations law in parliament and his current statement suggesting "Parliaments cannot take decisions on history," when it comes to France's colonial past, has been interpreted as contradiction.
[...]
"The duty of rewriting history in a free country does not belong to the parliament or any legal authorities," the French historians stated. Parliamentary decisions, they defended, make it difficult to conduct research on history and education.

Historians criticizing the French Assembly asked the following laws to be annulled: "The law dated 23 February 2005 on imparting the good sides of France's colonial past, the law dated 29 January 2001 on recognizing the "Armenian genocide", the law dated 21 May 2001 on slavery, the law dated 13 July 1990 concerning the punishment of anti-Semitic and racist activities." The joint declaration also states these laws restrict the freedom of historians and impose what subjects can be discussed and which result can be concluded.
[...]

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.

British House of Lords to Discuss Destruction of Armenian Khachkars in Nakhichevan

24.12.2005
PanARMENIAN.Net

The issue of destruction of Armenian Khachkars (cross stones) in Old Julfa cemetery in Nakhichevan December 20 is included in the agenda of the British House of Lords as “a question demanding a written answer.” The consideration of the issue is sponsored by Baroness Cox and John Marx. Baroness Cox specifically urged the British Government to consider the opportunity to express concern via its representative to the UNESCO over destruction of ancient Armenian churches and other artifacts in Azerbaijan, reported IA Regnum.

! Reproduction in full or in part is prohibited without reference to «PanARMENIAN.Net».

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.

US Congressmen Denounced Destruction of Armenian Khachkars in Nakhichevan

23.12.2005
PanARMENIAN.Net

Co-Chairs of the US Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) have sent a joint letter to Ambassador Pashayev of Azerbaijan expressing their concern over the reported destruction of Armenian khachkars (cross stones), monuments and headstones in the medieval cemetery of Julfa, Nakhichevan of the Azerbaijan Republic on December 15, 2005, reported the Armenian Assembly of America. Knollenberg and Pallone stated their opposition to the vandalism of Armenian khachkars (headstones) that have for centuries existed in the Julfa Cemetery, pointing out that the same site was vandalized in 2002, leaving up to 2,000 of the 10,000 khachkars intact. The organized nature of the ongoing demolition accounted by eyewitnesses has been qualified as cleansing. The letter also calls attention to Azerbaijan's national responsibilities within the United Nations, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and other international frameworks. “As a member of the international community, Azerbaijan has a duty to preserve the cultural and historical heritage in its custody. By ignoring this obligation, the government of Azerbaijan undermines U.S. and international efforts to achieve greater stability in the South Caucasus region,” says the letter of Knollenberg and Pallone.
[...]

! Reproduction in full or in part is prohibited without reference to «PanARMENIAN.Net».

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.

Leonard Barden on Chess

December 24, 2005
The Guardian
By Leonard Barden

Armenia's Levon Aronian, 23, won the $1.5m (£850,000) World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Siberia, last weekend when he outplayed Ukraine's Ruslan Ponomariov 3-1 in the final. [...].
[...]
Carlsen, at 15 the youngest ever candidate, has a large public following in Norway. A Norwegian TV channel's website covered his World Cup games move by move and attracted up to 250,000 hits, with a peak for the game shown here in which the prodigy defeated a 2670-rated Russian GM and thereby broke Bobby Fischer's candidates age record.

Norway wants to host the six-game Carlsen v Aronian series. It will be hard for the teen since the laid-back Aronian, a self-confessed "cheap tactician", was cool about his own play in Siberia and believes he will improve further: "I'm not satisfied with my performance, I played rather badly, and have some vacancies in my chess knowledge".
[...]

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.

Major Newspapers in US & Canada Acknowledge the Armenian Genocide

Dec. 1, 2005
The California Courier
By Harut Sassounian

In a couple of recent articles, the Los Angeles Times referred to the Armenian Genocide as the “alleged slaying of Armenians” (Sept. 1, 2005) resulting in “hundreds of thousands of Armenians killed during the era of the Ottoman Empire,” (Sept. 8, 2005). In response to complaints from readers, the L.A. Times acknowledged its error in using the word “alleged” and published a correction on Sept. 11.

During discussions with the staff of the L.A. Times on that occasion, it was revealed that these articles had deviated from the newspaper’s written policy on the Armenian Genocide. To reinforce their existing guidelines, the newspaper’s editors sent a memo to all editors and writers, to ensure that they complied fully with its policy on this issue.

The memo stated that all articles appearing in the L.A. Times on this subject should reflect the fact that the Armenian Genocide, during and after World War I, is a historical fact, and that the word “genocide” should be used without qualification. The newsroom guidelines also noted that such articles should mention the official stance of the Turkish government as disputing this fact. The L.A. Times thus joins the rank of countless other newspapers around the world that have rejected the denialist position of the Turkish government on the Armenian Genocide.

Readers may recall that the New York Times adopted a similar guideline last year. Its internal memo stated: “After careful study of scholarly definitions of ‘genocide,’ we have decided to accept the term in references to the Turks’ mass destruction of Armenians in and around 1915.” The memo also stated: “the expression ‘Armenian genocide’ may be used freely and should not be qualified with phrasing like ‘what Armenians call,’ etc.” The editors urged their reporters to explain in their articles that “by most historical accounts, the Ottoman Empire killed more than one million Armenians in a campaign of death and mass deportation aimed at eliminating the Armenian population throughout what is now Turkey.” After this policy was issued, the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) carried out an intensive letter-writing campaign trying unsuccessfully to get the New York Times to reverse its position on the Armenian Genocide. The New York Times refused to budge. Furthermore, when Turkish organizations tried to place a paid denialist ad in the New York Times earlier this year, the newspaper rejected it, even after the Prime Minister of Turkey, Receb Tayyip Erdogan, personally met with the editorial board urging them to reconsider their decision.

Another major U.S. newspaper, the Boston Globe, made a similar change of policy on the Armenian Genocide two years ago. Michael Larkin, the Deputy Managing Editor of the Globe, announced on July 8, 2003 that the newspaper had ended its long-standing policy against the use of the term “genocide” when referring to the Armenian Genocide. The ATAA embarked yet again on another unsuccessful letter-writing campaign to reverse the Globe’s decision.

In Canada, Andrew Phillips, the Editor-in-Chief of the Montreal Gazette sent a memo to his staff on July 4, 2005, stating that the newspaper would no longer refer to the Armenian Genocide as the “alleged genocide.” He wrote: “It seems clear from the historical record that what took place in Turkey around 1915 amounted to a genocide, as defined in the 1948 UN convention on genocide: killing or harming people ‘with intent to destroy in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.’ As a result, reporters and editors are free to use the word genocide, without quotation marks, in relation to the Armenian tragedy and should avoid using qualifiers such as ‘alleged,’ ‘disputed’ or ‘what Armenians call.’ We may report Turkish denials of such a claim when they are relevant, but we should not feel obligated to include such denials with every reference to the Armenian genocide.”

In recent months, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Ottawa Citizen, The Guardian and countless other newspapers around the world have started referring to the Armenian Genocide as such, without any qualification.
The expanding circle of acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide by the media, scholars, legislatures and international organizations indicates that despite their costly and frenzied efforts, the Turkish government, its lobbyists and hired pens have failed to suppress the truth and convince others to go along with their lies and distortions.

Ankara worries over 2006 Armenian year

December 23, 2005
NTV-MSNBC

ANKARA - The French Foreign Minister Douste-Blazy will be visiting Ankara in February, where the issue is expected to be raised.

The concern is that Armenians based in France will use the proposal to find grounds to gain publicity for the so-called Armenian genocide.

Four years ago, French President Jacques Chirac announced the decision that the period between October 2006 and April 2007 should be declared the “Armenia Year”.

Ankara has made its concerns known to Paris but did not get the response it expected.

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.

Government Rewards Armenian Chess Player For World Cup Win

December 23, 2005
www.armeniadiaspora.com

ArmeniaLiberty.org, December 22, By Ruzanna Stepanian: The government granted 5 million drams ($11,000) to one of Armenia's youngest and most talented grandmasters on Thursday for his impressive victory in the latest World Chess Cup held in Russia.

The decision to reward Levon Aronian was made at a weekly cabinet meeting chaired by President Robert Kocharian. A government statement did not specify whether it was initiated by Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian, the chairman of the Armenian Chess Federation and a keen chess player.

Aronian beat Ukraine's Ruslan Ponomaryov in a four-match series to win the high-level tournament held in the Siberian town of Khanty-Mansiisk by the game's worldwide governing body, FIDE. The weekend victory marked a new high in the 23-year-old player's increasingly successful career.

It also underlined Aronian's status as one of the most important members of Armenia's national chess team. As recently as last fall he helped it win a respectable third place in the world team championship that took place in Israel.

The government reward may be princely by Armenian standards, but it pales in comparison with a $100,000 prize awarded to him by organizers of the FIDE tournament.
[...]

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.

No way out for the Javakhetian Armenians

21/12/2005
Caucaz - Europenews
By Albertine GIAN in Akhalkalaki
Translated by Ellie FORSHAW and Victoria BRYAN

Vahag Tchakhalian, aged 23, is the president of the ‘Armenian Youth Sports and Culture Union’. In March 2005, he founded the alliance of village and town representatives and various organisation leaders from the Samtskhe-Javakhetia region, in a movement called ‘United Javakhk’.The main aims of this organisation are the preservation of the Armenian community through the safeguard of its secular culture, its unique language and the apostolic Church, as well as the defence of the rights of Javakhetian Armenians and the socio-economic development of the region.Following the example of the Samtskhe-Javakhetia administrative organisation, “United Javakhk” seeks regional autonomy. It is the only judicial solution to be backed by most, and has the aim of defending the Armenian community against Georgian assimilatory nationalism and against the danger of increased Turkish presence in Javakhetia.Javakhetia’s economic slump also needs to be urgently addressed in order to stop the emigration of its people to Russia. The stakes are high, on demographic, cultural, economic and social agendas. It is a battle on all fronts that the Javakhetia Armenians must wage alone. The future looks bleak. Here’s why.
[...]
Ever since the Soviet period and especially since independence, the many governments that succeeded each other in Georgia have pursued this political direction, with the slogan “Georgia belongs to Georgians”. In Samtskhe-Javakhetia, it is obvious that the government wishes to totally dislodge the Armenians in the region and to destroy their culture. To this end, they use all possible means, backed by the police forces. More violent and methodical approaches have been adopted ever since the ‘Rose Revolution’ and the accession to power of Mikhael Saakashvili.
[...]
Demanding the autonomy is not only supported by the Council of Organisations of Samtskhe-Javakhetia, as the Georgian authorities would have you believe, but also by the whole of the Armenian community in the region. Within a multi-national Georgia, constructing a stable state is only possible on the basis on a democratic federal model where all citizens, no matter their nationality, would have equal opportunities to preserve their national identity. But today, the Georgian political elite are on a path of imperialistic chauvinism with Russo-Byzantine tendencies, leaving national minorities with only the choice of emigration or assimilation.
[...]

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.

When is murder genocide?

Dec 17, 2005
Hamilton Spectator

Turkish conservative nationalists are hoping a high profile trial will deflect attention from the Armenian massacres of 1915-16.
By Gwynne Dyer
Independant
More articles by this columnist

"Thirty thousand Kurds and one million Armenians were killed in these lands and nobody but me dares to talk about it," said celebrated Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk during an interview with a Swiss newspaper last February.

He was charged with "public denigration of Turkish identity" by an Istanbul public prosecutor and his trial opened yesterday. He could face up to three years in jail.
[...]
As the respected American historian Guenter Lewy writes in this month's Commentary: "The historical question at issue is premeditation -- that is, whether the Turkish regime intentionally organized the annihilation of its Armenian minority.
[...]
Many were robbed and murdered by the Kurdish irregular soldiers who escorted the columns of deportees in their terrible journey; many more died of hunger or exposure. And they never went home again: Anatolia today has almost no Armenian population.

What happened to the Armenians was dreadful, but as Lewy documents in his new book The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey: A Disputed Genocide, which will become the standard work on the subject, both premeditation and an intention to annihilate, two preconditions for genocide, were either absent or at least open to considerable dispute.
[...]
Does one word matter all that much? Armenians think so, feeling that their tragedy is being played down unfairly if they are denied the word "genocide." Turks think so, too, believing there is no legitimate comparison between the crimes committed by their ancestors during the First World War and the cold-blooded atrocity of Hitler's Holocaust.

But after three generations of what one observer called "fossilized venom" on both sides, the argument is at last coming out into the open.

Gwynne Dyer is a London-based independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries.

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: The case for genocide

Dec 22, 2005
The Hamilton Spectator
RE: 'When is murder genocide?' (column, Dec. 17)
By Albert Kaprielian,

I am extremely disappointed that you published Gwynne Dyer's article on the Armenian genocide, the Pamuk trial and Turkey's aspirations to join the EU. He and the so-called "scholar" he cites have no credibility to make sweeping generalizations on this subject.

I invite Dyer and the editors of The Spectator to look into the real scholarly work that has been published on the subject by non-Armenian scholars. Then, look at the archival materials published and researched from German, Turkish, American and European sources. Then, read the journals and memoirs of genocide survivors. Read the newspaper reports from the New York Times, the Canadian press and European press during the genocide years. Then read the confessions and trials of the perpetrators of the genocide.

Read about the Canadian government classifying these crimes as crimes against humanity (before the term genocide was coined) and providing Armenian families with some form of compensation. Read the words of Adolph Hitler who used what happened to the Armenians and the lack of consequences to the Turkish state as a clear green light to commit the Holocaust against the Jews.

Read the words from the diaries of the Turkish leaders of the time. Read the works of current reputable Turkish scholars, whom Dyer fails to mention.

Read the testimonies from parliaments around the world that have researched the topic and come to the conclusion that what occurred was genocide.

Then, after reviewing all of this, please try to tell me that the Armenians did not suffer genocide. Then try to tell me that this was not premeditated genocide. Try to tell me that the Armenians suffered only as a consequence of war and their aspirations for independence. It is offensive to read the words of Turkish state apologists in a Hamilton newspaper.

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.

Midnight Diplomacy: On Turkish Relations with Europe

12.21.2005
Zaman
By Hilal Elver & Richard Falk

[...]
But on the more substantial issues that appear to be roadblocks there are steps to be taken: on the Armenian issue, on Kurdish rights, and on Cyprus. Each of these issues is complex, concerns Turkish domestic politics at least as much as it does relations with Europe, and should be addressed by Turkey outside the framework of formal negotiations with the EU. But there are steps forward that would both help Turkey, and possibly remove the roadblock.

On the Armenian issue it seems useful for the Turkish government to make a unilateral declaration of acknowledgement and apology in relation to the 1915-1918 events that resulted in the death of more than 800,000 Armenians. In line with Murat Belge’s recent suggestion, it is not necessary to enter the domain of high emotion by officially describing this ethnic tragedy as ‘genocide.’ There are genuine doubts about whether the killings of Armenians were accompanied by the sort of specific intent that the crime of genocide legally requires. Such a recommended declaration will not entirely satisfy the Armenian communities around the world, but it will be seen as a genuine effort, as it would be, by the Turkish government to own up to its responsibilities for these events. If it were accompanied by tangible gestures, such as the establishment of a museum to honor the Armenian heritage, and a diplomatic move toward reconciliation with the state of Armenia, real progress could result. Such a Turkish initiative must not be made in response to external pressures, and it would have to cope with an undoubted domestic backlash from ultra-nationalist sectors of Turkish public opinion. Despite such difficulties, it is a step worth taking, and consistent with the overall effort of the current Turkish leadership to improve Turkey’s human rights record.
[...]

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 awaits free press ruling

19 December 2005
BBC News
By David Brewer Media affairs analyst

The European Court of Human Rights is studying an appeal by an Armenian TV station against a government decision to close it down.

The court's judgement could have far-reaching implications for freedom of expression and human rights in Armenia and across the southern Caucasus.
In April 2002, the Armenian government took A1+ off the air.

The TV station, which was the most popular independent news channel at the time, has since reapplied ten times for a licence to broadcast. Each time it has been refused.

Three years ago, A1+ took its case to the European Court of Human Rights. A two-year investigation followed.
[...]

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.

Lithuania recognized Armenian Genocide

12/16/2005
REGNUM

On December 15, the Lithuanian parliament passed by a majority the resolution on recognition of the Armenian Genocide in 1915. The resolution condemns the events of 1915 and calls Turkey to recognize the Genocide.

The voting was held in the evening of Thursday. As a REGNUM correspondent reports, 55 of 141 MPs participated in the debates on the resolution. As a result, 48 deputies voted for the resolution, 3 abstained from voting, no one voted against. Mostly, for the resolution voted members of the Motherland Union (13 votes), 11 were members of the Labor Party, by 6 members from liberals and social democrats, 5 liberal democrats, 3 members of the People’s Party.

Up to the present day, the Armenian Genocide of 1915 has been recognized by 15 countries including Russia, France and Canada, and more than 30 US states.

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. Approves Grant to Armenia, but Urges Greater Political Rights

December 20, 2005
New York Times
By CELIA W. DUGGER

President Bush's foreign aid program aimed at reducing poverty in well-governed developing countries announced its second-largest grant yesterday. It will give $236 million to Armenia over five years, but warned the country's rulers that the assistance would be suspended or canceled if its record on political rights continued to deteriorate.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation, the agency administering the program, delayed its approval of the plan to invest in rural roads and irrigation projects in Armenia after allegations of fraud and electoral mismanagement arose in a constitutional referendum on Nov. 27.

Even as the agency announced yesterday that it was moving forward, it released a stern letter to Armenia's president, Robert Kocharian, calling for corrective steps to improve the fairness of the political process. Stephen P. Groff, a managing director at the agency, said it was awaiting a reply.

A spokesman for the Armenian Embassy in Washington did not return repeated phone calls yesterday requesting comment.

Mr. Groff acknowledged that it would not be simple to halt the aid once the United States had spent tens of millions of dollars in Armenia, a former Soviet republic with a population of three million. "We'd be fooling ourselves to say it wouldn't be difficult to get out," he said, "but we are willing to cut countries off if their performance doesn't continue on a trend."

The Millennium corporation relies on Freedom House, a nonprofit group that promotes democracy, to rate countries' respect for civil liberties and political rights. Christopher Walker, the group's expert on the former Soviet Union, said political rights were severely restricted in Armenia, deteriorated in 2004 and had not improved this year. He also said corruption was pervasive.

"It's still not really clear that Armenia has the institutional capacity and independence to move forward with reforms," Mr. Walker said. He noted, for example, that a council the government set up last year to control corruption was not politically independent of the president.

President Bush advocated the creation of the corporation, now almost two years old, to aid poor countries that rule justly, invest in their people and have sensible economic policies. His theory, shared by many development experts, was that well-governed countries would not waste aid, but would use it to spark economic growth and reduce poverty.

Armenia has done well according to many of the agency's indicators, though it has slipped on measures of government, officials said. It is open to trade, has inflation under control and is a relatively easy and inexpensive place to start a business and has made progress on corruption. It has increased its spending on health and education, sustained high levels of immunization and improved the rate at which girls finish primary school.

The Millennium corporation's plan for Armenia includes $67 million to rehabilitate almost 600 miles of rural roads and improve the productivity of 250,000 farm households through gravity-fed irrigation and higher-yield crops, among other things.

The agency, which did not get off the ground for almost two years after Mr. Bush announced his intention to establish it, has recently come under pressure from Congress to speed up its approval of projects. Noting the slow pace of spending, Congress almost halved Mr. Bush's budget request for the agency for next year. Mr. Groff said such pressures did not affect the decision to go forward with the Armenia project.

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.

Ignored vandalism: The world is silent while hundreds of Christian monuments are destroyed in Azerbaijan

(I-Newswire) - The destruction of the Armenian stone crosses ( khachkars ) by the Azerbaijani government is ignored. A few days ago, a group of 200 Azerbaijani soldiers destroyed the few surviving architectural treasures of Old Jugha, a 400-year-old Armenian cemetery located in Nakhichevan ( now, a part of Azerbaijan ). Back in 1648, some 10,000 khachkars at the 1,600 square meter site of the Old Jugha cemetery were recorded, many as old as the 8th century. Thousands of Armenian graves were destroyed here in 2002 by the Azerbaijani government. The vandalism was ignored by the world. In the recent decades, Armenian culture has faced so much vandalism that the world has developed immunity against it. Almost every other day an act of cultural genocide against the Armenian civilization happens in the neighboring countries of Armenia, excluding Iran. Armenian churches and stone crosses suddenly “become” Georgian in Georgia; in Turkey, there is not much left to destroy ( over 2000 churches and cathedrals were ruined during the Armenian genocide in 1915 ), but a few surviving monuments are still being converted to Mosques or to secular buildings; in Azerbaijan, the Armenian monuments are either being wiped out or becoming “Albanian.” Let alone Russia, where Armenian cemeteries are being desecrated almost every other day.

Many acts of cultural genocide against the Armenian culture have been documents, but now the world has a video to look at; a “hot action” that shows Azerbaijani soldiers erasing the last memories of the Armenian past in Nakhichevan.

www.Blogian.cjb.net is watching the latest developments on the cultural genocide against the Armenian heritage in Nakhichevan.

The 30-second video can be downloaded by visiting http://azerivandalism.cjb.net/ and clicking on ““Click here to download file "14dec2005.wpl.” The same video is also available through http://clips1.vimeo.com/video_files/2005/12/16/vimeo.37011.wmv ( larger file ). The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia has posted clear photographs of the vandalism at its website: http://www.cathcil.org/v04/doc/Photos/Pictures109.htm. Archival photographs from the destruction in 2002 are available at http://raa.am/Magazine/FR_set_E_Exhib.htm. For more and constantly updated information visit www.Blogian.cjb.net

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.

Putin, Kocharyan tell press about their negotiations

16.12.2005
Itar-Tass

SOCHI, December 16 -- The Russian and Armenian presidents told the media about their Friday negotiations, which lasted for nearly five hours. Vladimir Putin and Robert Kocharyan spoke to journalists while drinking beer in the press center.
[...]
The media was primarily interested in energy cooperation of Russia, Armenia and Ukraine.

“Our energy cooperation [with Armenia] is correct. It meets the spirit of interstate relations,” Putin said. Gas spot price in the United Kingdom reaches $1,000 per 1,000 cubic meters, while Russia will supply gas to West European partners at only $250 per 1,000 starting from January 1, 2006, he said.

The CIS future depends on gas deliveries, Putin said.
[...]
Putin said the negotiations centered on bilateral relations. “Relations between Russia and Armenia far exceed energy projects. We develop political, humanitarian and military-technical cooperation. We have many other spheres of economic cooperation besides energy. We discussed these important issues,” he said.

The year 2005 “was interesting and memorable,” Kocharyan said. “We implemented large projects, and large Russian investments were made in the Armenian economy,” he added.
[...]

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.

Free expression and EU membership on trial in Turkey

12-18-2005
Anniston Star
By Bob Davis
Editorial Page Editor

ISTANBUL, Turkey — In October, Turkey’s National Security Adviser Yigit Alpogan spoke to a group of journalists about the prospects of his country joining the European Union. [...].

Alpogan’s text, delivered in fluent English, sounded familiar. His remarks on terrorism, for example, were as Western in their framing as anything coming from Britain or the United States. [...].

However, once he strayed from his prepared remarks for a Q&A session, the trouble began.

One questioner touched on three Turkish taboos, asking about the Armenian genocide, the dispute over Cypress and the Kurdish movement. Gone were nods to modernity. Out went niceties about joining the global fight against terrorists. In their place came dogma. What most of the world calls the 1915 genocide of Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Turks is a matter of dispute, Alpogan said. According to him, the controversy is completely distorted by natives of Armenia living in the West.[...].
[...]
Pamuk’s trial, which was suspended by a Turkish judge on Friday, is almost beyond Western comprehension. A writer faces jail time for speaking his mind? In the United States, this is all too abstract for a nation where blowhards from the left and right pontificate 24 hours a day.
[...]
For Turkey, membership in the European Union could mean a series of steps. Human rights would be one. Keeping mosque and state separate would be another. As would prosecutors and courts fully embracing the beauty of free expression, that which hangs in the balance in the case of Pamuk and at least 30 other writers and publishers. Pamuk jokes that so many Turkish writers have been jailed or otherwise harassed that such treatment is considered a status symbol.

Establishing these hallmarks of vibrant democracy in a nation bordering Syria, Iraq and Iran is in the interest of more than the Europeans.

That prospect looks less bright after a Turkish judge refused to drop Pamuk’s charges last week.
[...]
Ah, the freedom for a writer expressing his sincere beliefs. It’s a good thing, even for Turks.

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.

Letter from Armenia's FM to Unesco

17/12/05
Panorama

DEAR DIRECTOR GENERAL

December 16, 2005

Koichiro Matsuura
Director General
UNESCOParis

Dear Director General,

I wish to call your attention to an act of great cultural and political significance. At this moment, Azerbaijani soldiers, supported by arms and equipment, are destroying the remnants of historically and religiously significant headstones in a medieval Armenian cemetery in Nakhichevan, Azerbaijan.

This area, which is situated between Armenia and Iran was home to a majority Armenian population for generations. The cemetery in question held more than 10,000 individually carved, artistically unique headstones called Stone Crosses – khachkars. The Azerbaijani government began their destruction in the 20th century, continued with great force in 2002, and during these last three days has resumed this work with a vengeance – to attempt to wipe out traces of Armenian presence on those lands.

These acts of vandalism and violence, this callous demonstration of malice and intolerance comes at a time when the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the international community at large are extolling the virtues of preserving our common patrimony.

Director General, it is with a great sense of anger and regret that I write this letter. I do so, however, hopeful that the ire and disapproval of the international community will be brought to bear on Azerbaijan in order that they cease from carrying out these acts which are tantamount to ethnic cleansing – only this time, there are no people left, and they have resorted to cleansing the memory of those people.

I urge you to use your office to put a stop to what amounts to destroying our common cultural heritage. Sincerely, Vartan Oskanian

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.

Former World Jr Champion Levon Aronian wins World Chess Cup

December 17, 2005
Hindustan Times

Former World Junior Champion Levon Aronian of Armenia comprehensively defeated former World champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine 2-0 in the tie-break games of the final to annex the World Chess Cup that concluded in Khanty Mannsiysk (Russia).

Winning both the games under rapid time control, Aronian stamped his authority on the event and remained the only contestant in this long seven-round grind to remain undefeated.

The superiority of the Armenian can be gauged by the simple fact that he was stretched to the tie-breaker only twice -- once in round four against Spanish hope Francisco Vallejo Pons and next in the finals against Ponomariov.

Besides, Aronian won all the two mini-matches under normal time control games. The success rate of the Armenian was phenomenal as he won as many as seven out of 14 games under normal time control and drew the remaining. In the rapid tie-break games, Aronian scored 3.5/4 overall.

The highest rated Armenian ever went home richer by $80,000 (Appr. Rs 36 lakhs) for his exploits here. Ponomariov, the youngest ever World champion after his triumph in the Moscow World Championship of 2001-2002 had to be content with second place and got $54,000 for his efforts.
[...]

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.

Yerevan Reluctant To Condemn Iranian Leader For Holocaust Denial

15.12.2005
Armenia Liberty
by Anna Saghabalian and Emil Danielyan

Armenia on Thursday pointedly declined to add its voice to a chorus of international condemnation of Iran’s hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his repeated denial of the Holocaust and other anti-Israeli remarks.

Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said his government sees no need to react to Ahmadinejad’s statements because they are irrelevant to its close ties with Tehran.

“We have always refrained from evaluating this issue,” Oskanian said. “We view our relations with Iran only within a bilateral framework. Such issues have never been discussed in our bilateral relations.”
[...]
Official Yerevan is apparently anxious not to damage its political and economic relations with the Islamic Republic. They are currently being cemented by joint multimillion-dollar energy projects implemented by the two neighboring nations. Ahmadinejad reportedly called for an intensification of the Armenian-Iranian ties “in all areas” when he received President Robert Kocharian’s chief of staff last month.
[...]

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.

IMF STUDY HIGHLIGHTS WESTERN DONOR PRAISE FOR ARMENIAN REFORMS

December 15, 2005
Eurasia Daily Monitor
By Emil Danielyan

The Armenian authorities' economic policies have received another Western endorsement with the publication of extensive research conducted by a group of economists from the International Monetary Fund. In a research paper unveiled on December 6, they describe as "impressive" Armenia's decade-long economic growth and offered a generally positive outlook for its medium-term development prospects.
[...]
The IMF experts attribute the growth to a "combination of well-sequenced reforms and persistent commitment to macroeconomic stability." "Key reforms include the liberalization of prices, trade, investment, and the foreign exchange regime; privatization; deregulation; creation of an independent central bank; and the reduction of fiscal and quasi-fiscal imbalances," they write.

Those reforms have also drawn accolades from other Western donors like the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The EBRD, for example, regularly rates the ex-communist countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union on nine specific indicators of economic reform, including privatization, enterprise restructuring, and price liberalization. Its latest Transition Report released on November 14, gave Armenia the highest indicator scores in the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Armenian economy has also been repeatedly rated as the most liberal in the CIS in annual surveys of economic freedom jointly conducted by the U.S. Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal.
[...]
But paradoxically, there are no indications that the number one social problem, unemployment, has been significantly alleviated. The unemployment rate may still be as high as 30%, and finding a decent job remains extremely difficult, especially for young educated people. The problem is also highlighted by the plight of those people who have returned to Armenia from emigration in recent years. Migration experts said at a seminar in Yerevan on December 13 that many of the returnees are struggling to earn a living.

Many in Armenia believe that the growth has primarily benefited the wealthiest citizens that continue to avoid taxes. The government's tax revenues will make up only 16% of GDP this year, one of the lowest indicators in the former Soviet Union. That translates into still-modest government expenditures on education, healthcare, and public services.
[...]
The IMF study also points out that that the country cannot realize its economic potential in full without open borders with Azerbaijan and especially Turkey. "Armenia's economic potential lies with an export-led development growth process, and further integration with its neighbors and main trading partners should be a priority," it says. "Such potential will only be realized when the artificial barriers to regional integration are removed."

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.

Azerbaijani Soldiers Destroy Armenian Khachkars in Nakhichevan

December 15, 2005
PanARMENIAN.Net

The Armenian Embassy in Iran received an information from the Armenian eparchy of Atrpatakan that about 100 Azerbaijani soldiers burst into Old Julfa cemetery, which is on the bank of the Araks river, and began destroying and smashing into dust Khachqars (cross-stones) with hammers, spades and heavy equipment.

These are Khachqars, which were saved in 2002 from being vandalised by the Azerbaijanis, Armenian Embassy in the IRI {Islamic Republic of Iran} reports. This incident is another step taken by Azerbaijan in order to distort the history, which aims at erasing the Armenian trace in Nakhichevan.

In this connection the leaders of three Armenian eparchies of Iran, on behalf of the Armenian nation expressed their indignation and resentment. They appealed to the international community, international organisations, particularly, the UNESCO, for the latter to take steps, according to its mandate and capacity, in order to prevent another cultural genocide by Azerbaijan. Besides, the Armenian Embassy in Iran via its diplomatic channels informed the Foreign Ministry of Armenia of the fact and will keep an eye on the subsequent developments.

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.

Dear Price for Attitude

Dec. 16, 2005
Kommersant

[...]
Today, Vladimir Putin will receive in Sochi another president of an allied country – Armenia. The meeting with Robert Kocharyan, just like yesterday’s conversation with Lukashenko, will be about natural gas. Besides the president, the meeting will be also attended by Anatoly Chubais, Chairman of United Energy Systems of Russia, and Alexei Miller, Chairman of Gasprom. The sides will discuss conditions of supply of Russian gas and prices for energy sources. Moscow had developed personal package of discount payments for electricity and gas for Yerevan - just like for Minsk. Armenia deserved discounts because it never complained about a Russian military base in Gyumri. Beside, Robert Kocharyan gave agreement to relocate another Russian military base from Georgia to Armenia. According to Kommersant’s information, the presidents will discuss how to secure supplies of energy sources from Russia to Armenia if Georgia, which unhappy with price increases, would try to block them.
[...]

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.

Kremlin's new "coalition of the willing" at UN

16 December 2005
Vladimir Socor
Source Eurasia Daily Monitor

Uganda, Angola, Mali, Myanmar, and Venezuela have joined Armenia, France, and Spain in a Russian-led effort to deny the GUAM countries the right to bring their concerns before the United Nations General Assembly.

On December 13, in the Assembly's agenda-setting General Committee, the aforementioned countries rejected an initiative by Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova to introduce an item on "Unresolved Conflicts in the Black Sea-South Caucasus Region and their Implications for International Peace, Security and Development" on the General Assembly's agenda. With most other countries abstaining or not voting, only the United States and Britain spoke in favor of the GUAM group's initiative.
[...]
This combination of countries prevailed, and the General Committee killed the GUAM proposal.

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 reserved on dialogue with Turkey

December 16, 2005
Turkish Daily News

Armenia said yesterday it would be meaningless to engage in dialogue with Turkey if the dialogue was not likely to produce a satisfactory outcome.

“Any possible meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül must have a purpose; otherwise, it would be pointless for us to meet,” Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency.

Oskanian also claimed that Turkey was attempting to convince the international community that it was engaged in a genuine dialogue with Armenia, something that he said was not true.

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.

Ponomariov settles for exciting draw

December 16, 2005
Rediff.com

Former World champion Ruslan Ponomariov settled for an exciting draw as White against former World Junior champion Levon Aronian of Armenia in the first game of the finals of World Chess Cup now drawing to a close in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia.

The first draw in the two games mini-match means that Aronian will have the upper hand in the return game to be played on Saturday, as he will have the advantage of playing White. In case of a draw, the players will have to fight it out in the tie-break games of shorter duration.

Out of the 8-games of the final round that is played to establish the top 16 of the World Cup, 4 ended in quick draws while the remaining four produced decisive results.
[...]

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.

Veolia Water to manage water services for Yerevan

15.12.2005
EcoReporter
Source: www.veolia.com

Veolia Water, the Water Division of Veolia Environnement, has today signed a contract with the Armenian government (State Committee for Water Economy) to manage the water services for Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia with one million inhabitants. The 10-year contract, which was awarded following an international competitive bidding process overseen by the World Bank, is set to generate total revenue of ¤160 million over the period.

Under the agreement, Veolia Water will manage all water production and distribution, wastewater collection, as well as customer services.

Veolia Water's efforts will prioritize reducing network leakage and connecting the entire population to in a bid to enhance efficiency and quality of service. By selecting an international operator, the Armenian government aims to harness the benefits of modern expertise and management techniques for its water services.
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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.

Ponomariov beats Grischuk, to meet Aronian in World Chess Cup final

December 15, 2005
WebIndia123.com

Khanty Mansyisk Russia - Ukranian Grandmaster Ruslan Ponomariov beat Alexander Grischuk of Russia in tie-breaks to set up title clash with Levon Aronian of Armenia in the World Chess Cup here.

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.

From the Met to Middle Earth

December 15, 2005
Ottawa Citizen
Steven Mazey, The Ottawa Citizen

In the four years since Toronto soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian last performed in Ottawa, she has become a regular at the Metropolitan Opera, she recorded a Mahler symphony with the San Francisco Symphony, and in a gig that brought her silvery voice to the ears of millions, she found herself singing in Elvish for the soundtrack of a little movie called Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

Fans of the movie heard Bayrakdarian in the haunting song Evenstar on the film and on its soundtrack CD.
[...]
Bayrakdarian, who was born in Armenia and moved to Toronto as a teenager, performs a Christmas recital Saturday at Ottawa's Christ Church Cathedral with pianist Serouj Kradjian.
[...]
Praised in Time magazine for "a soprano voice that combines lyricism with remarkable dramatic instincts," she has excelled in ingenue roles in Mozart's Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro, as Rosina in The Barber of Seville and in baroque opera. Later this season, she will star with countertenor David Daniels in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice in Chicago.

Ottawa fans of Bayrakdarian can hear her in two performances this season. In addition to Saturday's recital with the concert pianist who happens to be her husband, Bayrakdarian will return in May to sing Mozart arias with the NAC Orchestra under conductor Pinchas Zukerman. It will be her first NAC performance since 2001, when she sang as part of the NACO fundraising gala that featured cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
[...]
For now, though, her attention is on the recital she and Kradjian will present at Christ Church Cathedral, featuring a generous program of mostly Christmas-related music. Kradjian, who performs internationally, will perform some solo Bach pieces.

Bayrakdarian will perform Mozart's Exsultate, jubilate, arias from Handel's Messiah, American composer Samuel Barber's Hermit Songs, Schubert's Ave Maria and Christmas songs including Away in a Manger, Gesu Bambino and O Holy Night.

"Because it's so close to Christmas, I couldn't just do a regular recital program. I wanted to offer variety, because we're all sick of hearing 'Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,'" she laughs.
[...]
At Saturday's concert, the Canada Council for the Arts will also present Bayrakdarian with the annual $25,000 Virginia Parker Prize. The prize was established in 1982 by Virginia Parker Moore to assist young professional musicians under the age of 32 "who demonstrate outstanding talent and musicianship."

The prize is intended to help young artists with particular projects or studies. Previous winners have included pianist Jon Kimura Parker, tenor Michael Schade, violinist James Ehnes and contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux.
[...]
Bayrakdarian says she's honoured to receive it, and plans to use part of the Parker prize to commission a composer to arrange some traditional Armenian folk songs for a CD she wants to put together with a chamber orchestra. In a nice bit of timing, she was at an airport in Vienna last spring, about to travel to Armenia to research the project, when she found out that she had won the Parker prize.

"Recording and keeping these songs alive is my new passion, and the project is dear to my heart, but it's a huge undertaking to do all by oneself. You need help with a project like this. I'll use this money to give something back to another composer for this project. When the CD comes out, the Canada Council will be credited for this wonderful support."

At her Ottawa recital Saturday, Bayrakdarian will give audiences a little taste of the kind of music to be featured on the new CD, when she performs a song by the Armenian composer Gomidas, who died in 1935. "It's plaintive and haunting and is said to be the last piece he wrote," she says.
[...]
Isabel Bayrakdarian and Serouj Kradjian perform Saturday at Christ Church Cathedral, Sparks Street near Bronson Avenue. Tickets & times, 567-1787. She performs May 11 and 12 with the NAC Orchestra. Tickets & times, 755-1111.

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.

TINY KINGDOM OF TONGA SET TO JOIN WTO ON 'WORST TERMS EVER'

15 December 2005
Pacific Media Watch
Source -- Oxfam New Zealand 15/12/5

[...]
As the price of joining the WTO, the remote, impoverished nation (population 100,000) will be forced to slash the tariffs on which it depends to pay for vital public services such as health and education.

"Tonga will have to fix its tariffs at levels lower than any other country in the history of the WTO, with the sole exception of Armenia," said Bloomer. Tonga will be allowed tariffs of no more than 20% on any product. In comparison, the US applies a 350% tariff on beef imports, and the EU applies an equivalent tariff of over 300% to block sugar imports. Such low tariffs threaten to wipe out Tonga’s vulnerable farmers and small businesses.

Releasing the analysis today, Oxfam’s Phil Bloomer said: "Both the EU and the US were active in the negotiations which led to this atrocious deal. This highlights the grotesque double-standards in operation at the WTO. It sets a very depressing tone for the talks."
[...]

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.