GIBRAHAYER
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The largest circulation Armenian e-magazine
Circulates every Wednesday
Established in 1999

FROM THE WAR ZONE BACK TO CYPRUS

Gibrahayer – More than 250 Cypriots were successfully flown back to
Cyprus from Lebanon, in an joint operation staged by the Foreign
Ministries of Cyprus and Greece.
The war in Lebanon and the fear of escalation prompted
Cypriots who had gone to Lebanon to contact the Cyprus Embassy and
seek their advice on alternative methods of leaving the country.
In seven separate groups the Cyprus Embassy arranged the
evacuation during last week. In the group of evacuees that left on
Thursday night, was the Office Administrator of Armenian MP Vartkes
Mahdessian, Nayiri Mouradian and her two sons – Vahakn and Varak –
who had gone to Lebanon a week earlier.
Nayiri Mouradian – originally from Lebanon, married in Cyprus
for two decades – talked to Gibrahayer on the day she arrived. "We
were contacted by the Cypriot Consul who arranged for us to gather at
the Greek Embassy on Thursday evening at 7:15 pm" she said. "From
then on it was a long drive to the Syrian border and everyone was
scared because Israeli bombing had not stopped since Wednesday".
The "Thursday convoy" of two buses, draped in Greek flags
first arrived in Tripoli at 8:30 pm, then to Tartoos and at 11:00 pm
they were at the Syrian border which they crossed from 11:00 – 1:00
am.
Ten hours later they were on the Damascus – Larnaca – Athens
flight and at noon they arrived at Larnaca airport and greeted by
family and press.
"For people who have not gone through this kind of experience
it was very scary. My sons did not stop asking questions throughout
the journey. They were frightened but relieved on arrival. As for me
I had lived these frightful experiences before and relived them
again" concluded Nayiri Mouradian to members of the Cyprus press at
Larnaca airport.
Armenian representative in the Cyprus Parliament Vartkes
Mahdessian took an active involvement in the assistance and
evacuation of Armenian Cypriots from Lebanon and in close
co-operation with the Cyprus Ambassador in Lebanon Kyriacos Kouros,
helped evacuees reach their destinations safely.
Meanwhile in Armenia, 100 Armenian citizens arrived in Armenia
last night with a direct Aleppo-Yerevan flight. Armenian authorities
also announced that Armenians from Lebanon would receive a status of
‘temporarily protected
persons’ if they arrived in Yerevan and asked for it.
Thousands of foreign nationals have been using Cypriot ports
and airports to flee the war zone, while a number of Lebanese
citizens – who had left their country a few weeks ago – used our exit
points as entry points back to Lebanon to reunite with their
families.

HAMAZKAYIN SEVAN DANCE ENSEMBLE STRANDED IN BEIRUT EVENTUALLY LEAVE
VIA JORDAN

AAP correspondents in Beirut – Members of the Australian
"Hamazkayin Sevan Dance Ensemble" stranded in Lebanon have
been eventually evacuated through Jordan. 45 young performers and 36
parents and supervisors travelling with them remained bunkered down
in their Beirut hotel as the Israeli military continued its attacks
on the Lebanese capital.
They eventually crossed the border on buses and travelled to
Jordan where accommodation arrangements have been made for a short
wait before flying to Sydney. The hush-hush evacuation took place at
around 2.00pm Australia time and the buses crossed the border around
4.30pm on Monday.
Cyprus was one of two possible destinations for the Dance
Ensemble and on Monday, Cyprus Hamazkayin Chairman Arto Tavitian
contacted the Central Executive Offices of Hamazkayin in Beirut to
offer the services of the Cyprus Oshagan Branch, if the need arises.
Eventually, between the ferry trip to Cyprus, the road option
to Syria and the exodus through Jordan was taken by the Group.
Foreign Minister of Australia Alexander Downer said it was
hoped to bus a number of Australians across the border into Syria,
and then on to Jordan. A representative of the Dance Ensemble Ms
Iskenderian, said that while everyone was in good health the group
remain frightened by the bombing and wanted to return home.
for the latest in the War in Lebanon click here , or visit the
constantly updated pages of the largest circulation Armenian Daily
Aztag’s online version. (English and Armenian)

Finally, the Cyprus Branch of the Hnchakian Party called upon the
AGBU to open up the gates of Melkonian to Armenian Children of
worn-torn Middle East. Should the same appeal not have been directed
to the Cyprus AGBU leadership as well?".
tatiana’s corner by Tatiana Ferahian

Turkish proverb of the week
"Tırnagın varısa – kaÅ~_ı baÅ~_ını."
Phoneti cally: Turnayun varusa – kashu bashunu.
Literally: If you have fingernails – scratch your head.
Idiomatically: If you have the resources you can meet your needs.
COULD THESE 5-DAY STATS BE TRUE?
250 innocent civilians dead, 650 wounded
500,000 refugees fleeing the south
25 bridges destroyed
all airports and sea ports bombed
no electricity
no fuel
complete Air and Sea blockade and partial Land blockade
losses estimated to 4 billions dollars (infrastructure, economy,
tourism)

ARMENIAN EDITOR COULD FACE NEW PROSECUTION FOR REFERRING TO ARMENIAN
GENOCIDE

(Reporters without borders for press freedom – 19 July, 2006) The
Istanbul public prosecutor yesterday opened a new investigation
against Hrant Dink, the managing editor of the Armenian-language
weekly Agos, this time for referring to the massacre of Armenians in
1915 as genocide.
Dink used the term in a 14 July interview for the British news
agency Reuters about his suspended sentence of six months in prison
for "insulting Turkish identity." He could face up to three
years in prison if convicted on the new charge.
Related LA Times editorial sent by Vartkes Sinanian. click here

DIRECT FLIGHTS TO ARMENIA BEGIN NEXT WEEK

(Gibrahayer 17 July, 2006) Karian Travel have announced that as of
July 31, 2006, they will begin chartered flights to Yerevan which
will be brought to us by ArmAvia Airlines and Sputnik Travel Agency.
For more information you can contact the following numbers in
Limassol, Nicosia and Larnaca: 25316849, 25318949, 22765760,
24643360.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT POSTPONES TALKS ON TURKEY REPORT

(Source: ABHaber) The European Parliament on Tuesday postponed
debates on a draft report entitled "Turkey’s Progress Towards
Accession" which includes a variety of criticisms of Turkey, until
early September.
Debates on the report, prepared by EP Committee on Foreign
Affairs Rapporteur and MEP Camiel Eurlings, are now set for an EP
session Sept. 4 to 7.
The decision to postpone talks comes after some 400 proposals
for amendments to the draft report were submitted. Moreover at
Tuesday’s session of the EP Foreign Affairs Committee, some members
stated that translation of the amendment requests will take a long
time. However European diplomats stated that there are many
conflicting views surrounding the proposed amendments.
While Eurlings said that more debates about Turkey are
necessary, other MEPs recalled the latest developments on Cyprus as
well as Turkey’s plans to implement certain reforms on women’s
rights, obligatory religious lessons and religious minorities and
requested the inclusion of these developments in the report. Other
MEPs noted that the European Commission will also announce a progress
report on Turkey and underlined the importance of back-to-back
issuing of the two reports.
The draft report criticised a number of issues, including
Cyprus, a slowdown in the EU reform process, the situation in the
southeast, problems with religious minorities, cultural rights and
civil-military relations. It raised particular concerns about the
Semdinli incident, during which a bookshop in the southeast was
allegedly bombed by members of the security forces, and called for an
impartial and objective investigation into the incident.
Turkey’s reservations to open its airports and harbours to
the Greek Cypriots will have serious implications for the EU process
and could even bring it to a halt, warned the draft report. The
highly critical report also called on Turkey to take steps towards
the recognition of the Greek Cypriot administration during the
accession process and raises the idea of an early withdrawal of
forces from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). It also
calls on the European Council to renew efforts to implement trade
regulations with Northern Cyprus.
The EP report severely condemned the killing of Council of
State Judge Mustafa Yucel Ozbilgin, expressing concern over the
low-level of security offered to judges by the police despite clear
and public threats, and called on the government to rectify the
situation. The EP also condemned a resurgence of violence in the
southeast by the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and
stressed that there can never be an excuse for violence against
Turkish citizens in any part of the country. The report also
expressed solidarity with Turkey in fighting terrorism.
On the Armenian issue, the EP took note of a Turkish proposal
to set up a bilateral committee of experts to deal with the tragic
experiences of the past and of Armenia’s position on the proposal. It
also urged the Turkish and Armenian governments to continue their
process of reconciliation leading to a mutually acceptable proposal
and asked Turkey to take the necessary steps, without any
preconditions, to establish diplomatic and good neighbourly relations
with Armenia and open the land border as soon as possible.
Armenians in China
Armenians lived in China long before the twentieth century,
but because the twentieth century brought us the first Genocide,
followed by the Russian revolution, our people fled their respective
homes in Turkey and Russian Armenia. The only available road was via
Trans-Siberian railroad all the way to Manchuria, the northern
province of China.
These Armenians have survived the genocide, the world
depression of 1930s, the Japanese occupation of Manchuria in 1932 and
the takeover of the country by the Chinese communist army -The
Paludiun, i.e. the Eighth Army, headed by Mao-Tse-Tung.
These Armenians rebuilt their lives, formed families, had
children, and built a church in the city of Harbin in 1927. They
worked hard and gave their children a good education so that the new
generation would go ahead and lead productive lives and always keep
their identity through their faith, their church and their nation.
click here for the complete article at the website of the Armenian
Studies program of the California State University.
news in brief
Turkish Cypriot daily KIBRISLI newspaper (12.07.06) reports that a
big fire broke out in occupied Pentadakylos (Sourp Magar Monastery
area) and helicopters from Adana and Mersin assisted on extinguishing
the fire. The fire destroyed 45 donums of land with pine, cypress,
carob and olive trees. The cause of the fire is not yet known.
Azerbaijan’s President Heydar Aliyev fired his FM Hasan Hasanov for
his involvement in a crooked real estate deal. Hasanov was accused of
converting a Turkish financed Foreign Ministry residence into a
hotel-casino in Baku. This was linked to a 1996 Turkish scandal that
involved collusion among Turkish government figures, mafia bosses,
drug lords and corrupt police according to an official Turkish
investigative report.
sports
Marcos Baghdatis heads the line-up of players for 11 Zonal ties in
the 2006 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas this weekend on 21-23 July. The
world No. 10, who has already played 27 ties for Cyprus since making
his debut at the age of 14 in 2000, travels to Cairo for the Davis
Cup Play-offs against Egypt to help Cyprus avoid relegation.
Zaruhi Harutyunyan results. Click here

Zaruhi Harutyunyan
VICTORY IN SCOTLAND !
(Gibrahayer Monday July 17) Armenia’s hope in world tennis, Zaruhi
Harutyunyan of Armenia bagged her fourth title of 2006 in Scotland,
demolishing in the final Anastasia Nebojanko 6-1, 6-2 who in the semi
finals had eliminated tournament number one Alexa Guarachi of the
United States.
However, Harutyunyan’s true determination and champion
characteristics in the Scottish Championships emerged in the semi
finals – when she fought off all odds – against Caitlin Smith,
7-6(4), 6-7(6),7-5.
A position in the top 200 is now well in her grasp and if she
continues this winning tempo her chase for a Grand Slam participation
may come much sooner than we all anticipate.
For Zaruhi Harutyunyan’s activity in 2006 – click here
CONTRIBUTE TO ZARUHI’S WORLD TOUR
Laiki Bank Strovolos Industrial Area, Stavrou 96 I, 2034, Strovolos:
Account No. 101-08-037631 for Zaruhi Harutyunyan under Simon
Aynedjian
International transfers at IBAN CY30 0030 0101 0000 0101 0803 7631
Swift Code address LIKICY2N
gibrahayer calendar
Wednesday July 19, 2006 – Commemoration of the 32nd anniversary of
the Turkish invasion to Cyprus at the Presidential Palace Garden.
Main Speaker President Tassos Papadopoulos. Concert by George
Dalaras.
Sunday July 23 – Annual traditional Khanasori Arshavank celebrations
organised by ARF Dashnaktsoutiun Cyprus Committee, and affiliate
organisations. Venue: Last year’s picnic site at "Loumada ton Aeton."
Sunday 16-30 July – Hamazkayin Forum – Yerevan – Armenia. Visit the
Hamazkayin Forum site at:
12 – 30 July – Khalkidiki Summer Camp organised by the ARS of Greece
for 12 – 16 year old Armenians. Sosse Chapter of ARS (HOM) Sosse
Cyprus announce that 18 Armenian youth from Cyprus are participating.

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