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01/20/2005
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1) Archbishop Mesrob Mutafyan to Take AGBU to Court on Melkonian Issue
2) Assistant US Secretary of State’s Statements Hinder Peace Process Says
Karabagh ARF
3) Kentucky Democrat Chandler Joins Armenian Caucus
4) Azeri Ex-Brigade Commander Refuses to Fight Again for Azerbaijan
1) Archbishop Mesrob Mutafyan to Take AGBU to Court on Melkonian Issue
LOS ANGELES–Reliable sources have confirmed that, in the matter of the
Garabed
Melkonian Trust, Archbishop Mesrob Mutafyan, in his fiduciary capacity as
Patriarch of Constantinople, filed a lawsuit against New York-based Armenian
General Benevolent Union (AGBU) on January 13, 2005. The suit was filed in the
Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles by
plaintiff Mutafyan’s California-based attorney.
The lawsuit mainly addresses the formal announcement made by the AGBU in
March
2004 that it would be closing the Melkonian Educational Institution in
Nicosia,
Cyprus at the end of the 2005 school year.
In July 1921, wealthy Armenian businessman Garabed Melkonian donated a
gift to
then Patriarch of Constantinople Zaven Der Yeghyayan, to establish and
maintain
Armenian schools, as well as carry out various charitable works for the
Armenian people. In 1924, the value of the gift was at least $3.5 million and
per Melkonian’s request, an Armenian school and orphanage named the Melkonian
Educational Institute was established in Nicosia, Cyprus.
In 1925, Patriarch Der Yeghyayan transferred the entire Melkonian gift,
including the Melkonian Educational Institute, to the AGBU due to the latter’s
expressed ability to better manage the trust’s assets and execute the donor’s
intentions.
The suit, Arch. Mesrob Mutafyan vs. Armenian General Benevolent Union,
petitions to compel AGBU to perform the Trustee’s duties and redress a breach
of trust by payment of money or otherwise.
Asbarez tried to contact Mutafyan for comment but has not yet received a
response.
2) Assistant US Secretary of State’s Statements Hinder Peace Process Says
Karabagh ARF
YEREVAN (Yerkir)–Responding to outgoing US Assistant Secretary of State
Elizabeth Jones’s recent statement concerning Mountainous Karabagh Republic
(MKR), Grisha Hayrapetian, a member of the MKR Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (ARF) Central Committee (CC), said that the comments are “extremely
damaging to the peace process.”
On Wednesday, Jones called for increased US engagement in resolving regional
conflicts in the former Soviet Union, stating: “It is in Russia’s interest for
these areas–for Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Mountainous
Karabagh–to be stable, for corruption to end there, for the criminal
secessionists who rule there to be removed. It is not appropriate for this
kind
of instability and criminality to exist right in the middle of Europe.”
In the article that appeared in the newspaper Aparazh, Hayerapetian
emphasized
that Jones’s statement contradicts those of high-ranking US officials who have
repeatedly said that democratic process in MKR has advanced significantly,
specifically in contrast to the authoritarian regime of Azerbaijan.
He also stressed that the removal of any given country’s leadership
remains an
internal issue for citizens to decide through free elections.
3) Kentucky Democrat Chandler Joins Armenian Caucus
Second term Congressman Serves on House International Relations Committee
NEW YORK (ANCA-ER)–Representative Ben Chandler (D-KY) became the newest
member of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues on Wednesday, boosting
the Caucus’s membership to one hundred forty-five.
Congressman Chandler was first elected to the US House in a special election
in February 2004 to replace Rep. Ernie Fletcher, who left his seat to
successfully run for Governor of Kentucky. Chandler was re-elected to
office in
November 2004, with 59% of the vote. Congressman Chandler serves on the
Committee on Agriculture, the Committee on International Relations, and the
Select Committee on Homeland Security.
“We welcome Representative Chandler joining the Armenian Issues Caucus and
look forward to working with the Congressman on a number of issues of special
concern to his Armenian American constituents,” said Doug Geogerian, Executive
Director of the Armenian National Committee of America Eastern Region
(ANCA-ER). “As a member of the Committee on International Relations, we look
forward to his support on gaining official recognition of the Armenian
Genocide, working to foster stronger US-Armenia bilateral relations, and
obtaining a just settlement for the people of Mountainous Karabagh,” said
Geogerian.
Founded in 1995, the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues is a bipartisan
forum for the discussion of policies to foster increased cooperation between
the United States and Armenian governments and to strengthen the enduring
bonds
between the American and Armenian peoples. Its two co-chairs are Congressman
Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and Congressmen Frank Pallone (D-NJ).
4) Azeri Ex-Brigade Commander Refuses to Fight Again for Azerbaijan
BAKU (PanArmenian.net)–“I will not fight for Azerbaijan anymore,” announced
retired Colonel Azer Rustamov, in an interview with Azeri weekly
Obozrevatel.net. “I do not wish to fight and others will not go either.
They’ll
prefer to trade in bazaars.”
Rustamov rose to the rank of full colonel and commander of a brigade in the
Fizuli district, where he served from 1999 to 2001. He resigned from the
military in 2003. “If war breaks out now, I am not sure whether I’ll fight. I
witnessed the attitude showed towards the memory of the killed and those, who
remained invalid after the war,” said Rustamov. “The army, of course, will
fight for a certain period. But what will happen when their depleted ranks
would need to be replenished? Who will go if over two million people now work
in Russia?”
Rustamov is also critical of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy rhetoric. At
present,
he is focused on forming “Combat Brotherhood,” a non-government organization
that would focus on veterans of Afghanistan and other wars.
A veteran of wars in Afghanistan and Karabagh, Rustamov was decorated by both
the Elchibey and Aliyev administrations with the Order of the Red Star,
awarded
for length of service. A group of 100 Chechen volunteers, headed by Shamil
Basayev and Salman Raduyev, significantly helped the Azeri army, according to
Rustamov.
CORRECTION
In Tuesday’s article “Twenty-two Novices Refresh Ranks of ARF,” we
incorrectly
reported that Khajag Dikranian served as the godfather to the novices entering
the ranks of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation on January 15; it should
have stated Khajag Dikidjian.
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