ARKA News Agency
April 26 2004

RA President takes part in charity concert of famous singer Charles
Aznavur in Paris

150 culture figures of russia will take part in Russian Culture Days
in Armenia

Monument-Khachkar Memorial to 1915 Armenian Genocide victims placed
in Akhaltskha City (Georgia)

President Bush fails to honor pledge to recognize Armenian Genocide
for the fourth time

Armenian-Russian culture links have great perspectives – Robert
Kocharian

The Caucasus Media Institute organizes three-day practice courses
online journalism

The RA President Robert Kocharian goes to Paris with an official
visit

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RA PRESIDENT TAKES PART IN CHARITY CONCERT OF FAMOUS SINGER CHARLES
AZNAVUR IN PARIS

YEREVAN, April 26. /ARKA/. RA President Robert Kocharian and first
lade Bella Kocharian took part in charity concert of famous singer
Charles Aznavur in Paris. All assets from the concert will be
transferred to the fund Aznavur to Armenia. Kocharian also met with
UNESCO Secretary General Kuetiro Matsuro.
On April 25, the President Kocharian left for working visit in Paris.
Kocharian will meet with the President of France Jack Shirak.
On April 27 delegation headed with Kocharian will leave for Warsaw
for participation in the work of European economic forum.
The President of Armenia will also take part in working sitting
Caucasus and will participate in opening of plenary sitting. L.D.
–0–

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150 CULTURE FIGURES OF RUSSIA WILL TAKE PART IN RUSSIAN CULTURE DAYS
IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, April 26. /ARKA/. 150 culture figures of Russia will take
part in Russian Culture Days in Armenia, RA Minister of Culture and
Youth Affairs Tamara Poghosian stated at the press conference in
Yerevan. According to her, Russian Culture Days are the event in
cultural life of Armenia and the level of Armenian-Russian culture
cooperation obliges to conduct the program of activities at the
highest level. She said that activities on this program will take
place not only in Yerevan, but in Vanadzor, Gyumri and Spitak.
The Head of Russian Delegation Vladimir Kozlov in his turn said that
present program envisages not less than 15 large activities,
including Russian Movie Day, concerts of Vivaldi orchestra, Russian
song, Semen Altov, Alexander Buinov and others. L.D. –0–

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MONUMENT-KHACHKAR MEMORIAL TO 1915 ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS PLACED
IN AKHALTSKHA CITY (GEORGIA)

YEREVAN, April 26. /ARKA/. Monument-Khachkar Memorial to 1915
Armenian Genocide victims was placed in Akhaltskha City (Georgia).
Khachkar was placed at the highest hill of the city, by Surb Nshan
Church.
The same day, on April 24, Tbilisian Church Surb Echmiadzin finished
a liturgy, which was followed with procession to Pantheon of famous
figures of Tbilisi.
>From the beginning of the 19th century till 1920, the Ottoman Empire,
legal successor of which is today’s turkey, regularly tormented and
persecuted Armenians. The top of barbarity was in 1915 when over a
million of Armenians was massacred in different regions of West
Armenia, part of the Empire.
The fact of the Armenian Genocide has been recognised by many
countries, including Uruguay (the first state that recognised the
genocide in 1965), Russia, France, Argentina, Greece, Lower Chamber
of Italy, 31 states of the U.S. L.D. -0–

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PRESIDENT BUSH FAILS TO HONOR PLEDGE TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
FOR THE FOURTH TIME

YEREVAN, April 26. /ARKA/. President Bush, ignoring calls from over
190 U.S. legislators, failed, once again, to honor his campaign
pledge to properly characterize the Armenian Genocide as “genocide,”
reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). In a
statement issued today, on April 24th, the annual day of remembrance
for the Armenian Genocide, the President again resorted to the use of
evasive and euphemistic terminology to obscure the reality of
Turkey’s Genocide against the Armenian people between 1915-1923. This
year’s statement praised the Turkish Armenian Reconciliation
Commission (TARC,) the failed State Department funded initiative
devised to derail progress toward international recognition of the
Armenian Genocide. The effort was universally rejected by Armenians
in the U.S., Armenia and around the world. “We do appreciate that
President Bush has, once again, taken the time to mark April 24th as
a day of remembrance. Armenian Americans, however, remain deeply
troubled that for the fourth year in a row, despite his repeated
calls for ‘moral clarity’ in the conduct of our international
affairs, he has allowed pressure by a foreign government to reduce
the President of the United States to using evasive and euphemistic
terminology to avoid properly identifying the Armenian Genocide – an
important chapter in America’s emergence as an international
humanitarian power – as what is was: a genocide,” said ANCA Executive
Director Aram Hamparian. “The President’s failure to honor his
campaign promise to recognize the Armenian Genocide is compounded by
the fact that, in this statement, he commends the thoroughly
discredited Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission, a transparent
partnership between the U.S. State Department and the Turkish
government to block the growing international recognition of and
justice for Turkey’s crime against the Armenian nation.” “It is also
plainly disingenuous for the President to ‘call on both Armenia and
Turkey to restore their economic, political, and cultural ties,’ when
it is the Turkish government that has illegally imposed a decade-long
blockade of Armenia, and it has been Armenia that has called for the
normalization of bilateral relations without preconditions. This
formulation suggests either a lack of understanding of the region or
a deliberate effort to artificially play down Turkey’s belligerent
posture while simultaneously devaluing Armenia’s very meaningful
contributions to regional stability.” The Bush Administration is
formally on record in opposition to Congressional legislation
recognizing the Armenian Genocide. For the position of the Democratic
Presidential hopeful John Kerry regarding Armenian Genocide
ecognition, please visit. L.D. -0 –

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ARMENIAN-RUSSIAN CULTURE LINKS HAVE GREAT PERSPECTIVES – ROBERT
KOCHARIAN

YEREVAN, April 26. /ARKA/. Armenian-Russian culture links have great
perspectives, RA President Robert Kocharian’s statement considering
Russian Culture Day in Armenia says. `Armenian-Russian culture links
have many-years’ history and cooperation development based on this
heritage is the wealth that we must keep for future generations’, the
statement said.
On April 26-30 Russian Culture Days will be held in Yerevan, during
which the multifaceted Russian art will be presented to the Armenian
public. These days will be in the frames of culture cooperation
between RA and RF Culture Ministries in 2003-2005.
A big gala concert will open the Russian days in Demirchyan Sport and
Concert Hall. Russian Song ensemble with Nadezhda Babkina, musical
bands Vivaldi Orchestra and Phonographjaz-Band’, satirists Semen
Altov and Efim Shifrin will perform on the concert. A Russian play
will be presented in Stanislavky Russian Dramatic Theater.
The Russian Cinema Week will be presented by such films as Slav
Woman’s Marsh, Sunstroke, Break Point, Carmen, Ark. The Union of
Painters of Armenia hall will host the exhibition presenting the
works by Chairman of Union of Painters of Russia Valentin Sidorov. As
planned the Russian art will also be presented in Spitak, Gyumri and
Vanadzor. L.D. -0 –

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THE CAUCASUS MEDIA INSTITUTE ORGANIZES THREE-DAY PRACTICE COURSES
ONLINE JOURNALISM

YEREVAN, April 26. /ARKA. The Caucasus Media Institute organizes
online journalism three-day vocational training courses to be held
from 1 June to June 3. As the CMI told ARKA, the courses will have
the following thematic: principles of the published information, how
to write information: issues of structure and ethics, how to make the
information more readable and interesting, efficient use of the text
in print, images and animation. Best sample technique will allow
demonstrating how to make the material, more readable and
interesting. The issue of selection of the materials for Internet
publication, productive use of images will be touched upon.
The participants will be involved in-group workshops. The courses
will be lead by representative of Dublin University,
journalist-adviser Harry Quinn. The potential participants should
submit applications.
CMI was organized in April 2002 with the purpose of development of
the mass media on the Southern Caucasus, rising of the journalists’
vocational level: introduction of the journalism international
standards in the South Caucasus, enhancing of the journalists vision,
as well as teaching them the current events analyses methods. T.M.
-0–

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THE RA PRESIDENT ROBERT KOCHARIAN GOES TO PARIS WITH AN OFFICIAL
VISIT

YEREVAN, April 26. /ARKA/. The RA President Robert Kocharian went to
Paris with an official visit. According to the RA President’s Press
Service Department, Kocharian to meet the president of France Jacques
Chirac. Besides, President Kocharian and his wife will Mrs. Bella
Kocharian will be present on the concert of a world famous singer
Charles Aznavour at the Palais des Congres in Paris. President
Kocharian will also meet with the Director of the Bouigue company,
Olivier Bouigue.
According to the press release, On April 27, President Robert
Kocharian, accompanied by the Armenian Ministers of Foreign Affairs,
and Trade and Economic Development will leave for Warsaw to
participate in the European economic forum.
The President will participate in the Caucasus working session and
attend the opening plenary session. Robert Kocharian is also expected
to meet with the Executive President of the World Economic Forum
Claus Schwab. While in Warsaw, President Kocharian will have
bilateral meetings with President Alexander Kwasniewski of Poland and
Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia.A.H. –0–