Author: Antonian Lara

Turkish Daily News
June 1 2004

Minority newspapers in Turkey – Part Two
Nor Marmara – the first Armenian newspaper on the Internet

`We believe that the number of our readers decreases with each death
announcement. Unfortunately, we don’t believe that a birth
announcement will bring us a new reader’

`Today Turkey’s biggest newspapers see minorities through a different
perspective. They feel attracted to them; they are defenders of
minorities against injustice, this pleases us greatly. The Turkish
Daily News is one of the newspapers that has approached minorities
sympathetically’

GUL DEMIR
ISTANBUL – Turkish Daily News
The Nor Marmara newspaper was established in 1940 by well-known
Armenian journalist Suren Samliyan. It was a weekly newspaper
initially but later became a daily because of the people’s intense
interest. Rober Haddeler took over the responsibility for the
newspaper in 1967 and it has now been published as a daily in
Armenian for 63 years. Nor Marmara, which cannot be published on
Sundays due to difficulties created by distribution, has four pages
and is published six days a week.

Rober Haddeler tries to keep Nor Marmara alive despite difficulties
in finding reporters, as well as with printing and advertising,
although the paper does now benefit from today’s technological
opportunities. Haddeler has turned over the day-to-day running of the
newspaper to his elder son Air with his younger son Ayk involved in
the management of the newspaper. Nor Marmara, which publishes a
supplement in Turkish on Fridays for Armenian citizens who cannot
read Armenian and for those who are interested in the life of
Armenians. The main goal of the newspaper is to keep the Armenian
language and culture alive while at the same time informing their
community of the latest news stories, discussing political issues in
Turkey and give snippets of information about the life of Armenians.

Rober Haddeler, who has had 50 to 60 books published so far and who
speaks English, French, Armenian and Turkish, is a graduate of the
Pangalti High School established by “Mihitarist” priests and the
Istanbul University Faculty of Letters Department of Philosophy.
Column articles in Nor Marmara are translated into Turkish by his
daughter-in-law Karolin Haddeler and published in the weekly Turkish
supplement.

TDN: How did you get started in journalism?

HADDELER: Actually, I am a man of letters, I was a writer before
becoming a journalist. I started writing Armenian stories in 1946. As
I am interested in literature, we prepared pages of literature in Nor
Marmara with a few friends between 1946-1967. In 1967, the former
owner of the newspaper Bedros Zobyan went abroad for the education of
his daughter. They asked me to take responsibility for the newspaper
for one or two years. I didn’t want to do it because I thought that
it was difficult to publish an Armenian newspaper in Turkey and I
didn’t want the responsibility, but I accepted it as a favor to my
friend. Because my friend did not return, whether I liked it or not,
I was forced to continue working on the newspaper. I must say that I
enjoyed it and I’ve never regretted it, it’s a pleasure to publish an
Armenian newspaper in Turkey. It makes one feel proud.

TDN: Have the winds of change blowing around Turkey and the world had
an influence on your newspaper?

HADDELER: It is a very big change but unfortunately we see this
change as deterioration. Everything is developing so fast in Turkey
with European standards being adopted. These developments bring many
things to Turkey but cause some minorities and groups to lose
something. Young Armenians are fascinated by Turkish television,
Turkish newspapers and radio. They think that it is unnecessary to
read an Armenian newspaper instead of a Turkish one because they
don’t expect the same thing from a newspaper as we do. Additionally,
we don’t compete against television and the rich Turkish press and we
lose our own readers. Also, our cultural publications don’t enthuse
the younger generation. They seek more popular culture.
Unfortunately, there is a permanent deterioration and decrease in the
number of our readership. I don’t know how long this can continue.

TDN: A decrease in the number of readers means a decrease in
circulation. What is the reason of this decrease?

HADDELER: When I took over responsibility for the newspaper, it had a
circulation of 3,500-4,000. It remained at this level for a long
time. In the last five-to-six years there has been a significant
decrease and today we have a circulation of below 2,000. However,
these figures are not important to us because 60 percent of our
newspapers are sent to relatives living abroad after being read by
our readers in Istanbul. They pass from hand to hand there. There is
one reason for the decrease in our circulation; the fact that
Armenian citizens living in Istanbul can’t read the Armenian language
or don’t want to read it. Generally, the number of those who want to
read in Armenian is very high but they can’t because of problems
caused by the Armenian alphabet. That’s why they read Turkish
newspapers. Additionally, for the first time in five years an
Armenian newspaper has been published on the Internet. We can make
our voice heard all over the world.

TDN: What is the most difficult thing in publishing the newspaper?

HADDELER: Although all the minorites have similar problems, the
Armenians have difficulty because they have a unique alphabet. It is
the richest and the most difficult one among the world’s alphabets.
If the young generation don’t wish to learn it then it is very
difficult for teach them. Teachers in the 15-18 schools of our
communty encounter lots of difficulties in teaching Armenian. We
believe that the number of our readers decreases with each death
announcement. Unfortunately, we don’t believe that a birth
announcement will bring us a new reader. In recent years there has
been a search for identity among people in the 20-30 year age group
but this does not overcome our difficulties. It is difficult enough
to find a reporter, and yet even if we do so, can he or she write in
Armenian?

TDN: Some laws relating to minorities living in Turkey were amended
in the EU adaptation process. As a journalist, you must know the
problems of your community. What are these problems?

HADDELER: Unfortunately, our community does have some problems. We
have called the state’s attention to these difficulties via our
patriarch and the managers of our community. We expect solutions. I
can say that today’s government is tolerant towards these issues. In
the EU adaptation process, important laws relating to property
acquisition were made, but none of these laws were put into effect.
Our community’s demands relating to property acquisition have yet to
be fulfilled, but even if they are fulfilled they cannot be put into
practice. We remain hopeful and believe these issues will be
resolved, and when they are resolved, Turkey won’t lose anything,
only win, because people abroad attach great importance to
unimportant things. We don’t think about applying to places like the
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). We believe that such methods
will overshadow our citizenship. We prefer to overcome these
difficulties with our own state. We believe that they can easily be
overcome but they continue because of reasons that we don’t
understand. I can list these difficulties; Minority foundations are
not given the possibility of surviving. Many rights given to Turkish
foundations are not given to minority foundations. We have 30
churches today but if we want to build a 31st church we can’t do it,
so we have to forget about building a new church, we can’t even add a
storey to one of the properties of our churches or construct a
building on empty land belonging to one of our churches in order to
obtain income. This is one of the biggest problems for us.
Additionally, when rich citizens want to donate some of their
property to their own foundation it is not accepted, they have to
sell their property and give the money to their foundation. You know
that money and property are different things, money is quickly used
up, but property remains permanent.

Besides this, we hold two kinds of elections every four to five years
to elect the administrators of our community. We have some problems
regarding these elections. For example, it is a condition that
candidates and electors must be from the same district but we have
churches in some districts where no Armenians live. Who will take
responsibility for these beautiful treasures that helps to create
Turkey’s richness? We have many problems such as this.

TDN: When you compare the past and present, what has changed in the
attitude of the Turkish press towards minorities?

HADDELER: Unfortunately, the minorities received three or four blows
during the period of the Republic. First, among minorities only men
above 20 were enlisted during the war. This was an unforgettable
event for us because many families ran into difficulties and
dispersed. Later, the Wealth Tax was imposed causing many Armenians
to become very poor followed by the September 6-7 [1955] events. I
experienced it and still don’t understand how it was done. If the
target was only Greeks, why were other minorities chosen as a target?
Their properties and wealth were plundered. Because of this event
many friends left Turkey within a year or two. This caused our
community and Turkey to lose many things. All these things may be
seen as the necessities of politics at the time.

Today the press’ attitude towards minorities is sympathetic, the
turkish press did not feel so attracted to minorities in the past.
For example, when an Armenian was found guilty of a crime it was
stressed over and over again in the press. There was enmity. Today,
Turkey’s biggest newspapers see minorities through a different
perspective. They feel attracted to them; they are defenders of
minorities against injustice, this pleases us greatly. The Turkish
Daily News is one of the newspapers which has approached the
minorities sympathetically. When I met you, its Istanbul office
representative, I felt better. I said that we would see love if there
were such friends in Turkish press. The Armenian press abroad closely
follows the Turkish Daily News because it is accepted as one of the
newspapers reporting events the best.

TDN: Does Nor Marmara newspaper have future plans?

HADDELER: In my opinion we publish a high-quality newspaper. We have
no future projects because we just think about tomorrow. We don’t
have the opportunity to think ahead a few years. We let sleeping dogs
lie. Let’s see how the life of our community will go on. Maybe we can
publish our Turkish newspaper two to three days a week while
publishing our Armenian newspaper. Maybe we can publish a separate
Turkish newspaper. But is an advantage for Turkey that a newspaper
like Nor Marmara is published in Turkey. We are admired by all people
who like Turkey or not, they are astonished, exclaiming, “Such a
newspaper is published in Turkey!” People in Diaspora are interested
in Turkey the most. This makes us work harder. If the Armenian
community living abroad is taken into consideration, we are one of
the factors that reflects Turkey’s image best. Nor Marmara newspaper
is the one which is sought and read most. It is said, “It is true if
the Marmara newspaper writes it.”

Armavir unit of Russian Border Troops marks 80th jubilee
By Tigran Liloyan

ITAR-TASS News Agency
May 30, 2004 Sunday

ARMAVIR (Armenia), May 30 – The Armavir unit of the Russian Border
Troops, which is stationed on the Armenian-Turkish frontier, is
celebrating the 80th jubilee.

The 26th separate border battalion was formed on the basis of the 2nd
division of the Red Army after the Soviet regime had been established
in Armenia. The battalion was transformed into a border unit on May
25, 1924. The unit command was moved to Yerevan, Artashat and later
on to Oktemberyan (currently Armavir).

Border unit commander Col. Sergei Kuklin said they had detained 904
border trespassers since 1943. Four Heroes of the Soviet Union served
with the unit.

The Armavir unit “has always been a school of courage, patriotism
and internationalism,” Commander of the Armenian Border Troops Col.
Vyacheslav Voksanyan said. Head of the Armavir regional administration
Albert Geroyan said that the local residents and authorities are
actively cooperating with Russian border guards. Local businessmen
sponsor the border unit.

Yerevan regards the presence of Russian border guards and a Russian
military base in Armenia as an important component of the national
security.

US Azeris should have close ties with Congress, congressman tells Azeri TV

Space TV, Baku
25 May 04

US Congressman Curt Weldon, vice chairman of the House Armed Services
Committee, has urged American Azeris to be more active and to support
the Azerbaijani caucus in the US Congress, Azerbaijani Space TV said
on 25 May.

In a live link-up with the studio of Space TV and a panel of
experts, the head the Azerbaijani caucus called on the US Azeris
to “have relations with Congress members and ask them to join the
Azerbaijani caucus” which is “a small group of 10 people”. “However,
we are growing. The caucus has representatives of both parties,”
Weldon said, adding that the Israeli and Armenian caucus are much
stronger because they take this issue seriously.

Curt Weldon said that the caucus was set up to inform US congressmen
of Azerbaijan and to prevent any laws “directed against your country’s
interests” from being adopted. “This is the best way of establishing
cooperation between the two nations,” he said. “In some cases,
this is a kind of bridge to help to avoid conflicts and perhaps,
some negative feelings your people or other nations might have about
the USA,” Weldon said.

“The US congressmen want to bring together the Azerbaijani and Armenian
leaders and tell them that we want to be friends with both nations
and both countries. Do not force us to take sides. We do not want to
do that,” he said.

Questions were asked about the amount of the US aid to Armenia which
is larger than that to Azerbaijan especially in view of Azerbaijan’s
active involvement in the US-led antiterror fight. In reply to the
question, Weldon said that his “country and president highly values
Azerbaijan’s role in the fight against terrorism”.

Weldon added that “Azerbaijan’s decision to send its military force to
Iraq is highly appreciated as well as the fact that the Azerbaijani
sons and daughters are taking part in that side-by-side with the
Americans. The Americans should be made aware of this. As for your
question whether the US Congress is aware of Azerbaijan’s role
in the fight against terrorism, I would say that most of them are
not. The purpose of the caucus is to better inform them. You asked
me why Armenia receives such extensive support. This is because the
Armenian caucus is strong. There are a couple of reasons for that. The
Armenians have had their caucus for many years. Hundreds of thousands
of Armenians live in the USA. They have close relations with their
congressmen. The US Armenians are very active and ask congressmen to
work with Armenia on significant issues. The US Azeris should be more
active with their congressmen.

“What we do not want is to be pro-Armenian against Azerbaijan
or pro-Azerbaijani against Armenia. We want the US congressmen
to understand both countries well and to make friends with both
countries and their peoples. To achieve this, we would like Armenia
and Azerbaijan to understand each other better. We want something
similar with other countries as well,” Weldon said.

The deputy speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament, Ziyafat Asgarov;
a member of the Azerbaijani delegation to the Council of Europe,
MP Asim Molla-zada; the head of the section of the presidential
executive office for work with Azerbaijanis abroad, Rustam Mammadov;
and the editor-in-chief of the Russian-language newspaper Ekho and a
Space TV correspondent, Seyran Mammadov, were all members of the panel.

The “Ekspert: Azerbaijan-USA TV bridge” programme was broadcast on
Space TV at 1630 gmt on 25 May and also at 0730 gmt on 26 May and
hosted by Sevinc Mirzayeva.

BOXING: Team USA’s Vanes Martirosyan Grabs First Win at Athens Test Event

Sports Features Communications (press release), FL
May 28 2004

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. – United States welterweight (152 lbs/69 kg)
Vanes Martirosyan recorded a win in his first bout of the Athens Test
Event on Thursday evening at the Peristeri Olympic Boxing Hall in
Athens, Greece. Martirosyan defeated Bulent Ulusoy of Turkey, 23-14,
in their quarterfinal match-up, and the first bout of the tournament
for both Martirosyan and the U.S. team.

Despite early nervousness in the contest, Martirosyan pushed
through a tough first round to pull out the preliminary victory.
Martirosyan’s Armenian background contributed to his nervousness,
knowing the battles that his homeland had faced with Turkey, but
strong advice from his father helped Martirosyan turn his attention
back to business in the ring.

“My dad told me to forget about the past and have fun, and that’s
what I tried to do,” Martirosyan said. “I knew that my opponent was
very good, but I listened to the instructions from my corner and used
my jab. ”

Head Coach Basheer Abdullah praised his boxer’s victory in his first
bout of the competition, but saw room for improvement. “Overall I
give him a B-,” Abdullah said. “It was a good start for Vanes. He was
a little nervous and it showed but he put it all together and pulled
out the win.”

Martirosyan will face Cuban World Champion, Lorenzo Aragon in
Saturday’s semifinal action, and the 18-year-old Olympian is ready
for the challenge.

“I feel great, and I am going to go into the ring with a lot of
confidence on Saturday,” Martirosyan said.

Middleweight (165 lbs/75 kg) Andre Dirrell of Flint, Mich., will
be the next U.S. boxer to compete in Athens when he faces off with
China’s Dabateer Ha on Friday evening.

Full Frame Jihad
By Cinnamon Stillwell
FrontPageMagazine.com | May 27, 2004

Frontpagemag.com
May 27 2004

It is no secret that people with left-leaning political perspectives
dominate film festivals, and thus they tend to promote films that
reflect their worldview, while shunning those that contradict it.
This is certainly the case when it comes to films about Islam, one of
the Left’s pet subjects in the post-9/11 world. If a film does not
portray Muslims in a positive light (or as victims), it will
inevitably be labeled “propaganda” instead of “art.” Yet strangely
enough, actual propaganda is often lauded as “art.”

Mohammed Bakri’s Jenin Jenin, for instance, advances the myth that
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) “massacred” Palestinians during
Operation Defensive Shield in 2002. [1] Despite being widely
discredited, this so-called documentary played at the Big Sky
Documentary Film Festival in Montana this year, [2] as well as
various “Palestinian Film Festivals” on college campuses across the
country, and it won Best Film at the Carthage International Film
Festival. [3] In contrast, Pierre Rehov’s Road to Jenin, an expose
about how the Palestinians perpetrated a media fraud in Jenin, has
played at very few film festivals. [4]

This year the Islam documentary making the rounds is Noble Sacrifice
(Thabh-ul-Azim) by Vatche Boulghourjian, an ethnic Armenian born in
Kuwait and educated in the United States and Britain. Shot in
southern Lebanon, this controversial film, which draws a connection
between the Shiite ritual of Ashura (self-flagellation) and the
popular mythology of “martyrdom” throughout the Islamic world,
recently screened (April 2, 2004) at the Full Frame Documentary Film
Festival in North Carolina. [5] The film description at the Full
Frame website demonstrates a typical moral ambiguity towards Islamic
terrorism, saying:

“Noble Sacrifice examines the historical and philosophical
implications of Ashura on current socio-political conditions and
military theaters. More importantly, it challenges audiences to
contemplate the rationality underlying the act and discourse of what
has become one of the most controversial topics in contemporary
history – suicide bombing – recognized locally as martyrdom
operations. [6]”

Unsurprisingly, the documentary’s bloody imagery and glorification of
suicide bombings were the subject of a heated debate after the
screening. What film festival promoters had billed as a “provocative
discussion,” turned out to be a revealing experience. Boulghourjian
vowed never to show the film “in the United States again,” after a
Muslim woman in the audience called it “irresponsible for connecting
violence to Islam” and someone else labeled it “propaganda”. [7]
Tellingly, no one commented on the film’s celebration of terrorism,
only its politically incorrect depiction of Islam.

The Noble Sacrifice panel discussion also shed light on the
intersection of film festivals and universities. Panelists included
two Duke University professors, Negar Mottahedeh and Miriam Cooke.
Both Mottahedeh, a professor of Literature and Film, and Cooke, a
professor of Modern Arabic Literature and Culture, have a long
history of promoting leftist politics through their work at Duke
University. Professor Cooke has also been very active in Duke
University’s Islamic Studies Department. She is co-director of the
university’s Center for the Study of Muslim Networks (CSMN), [8] as
well as being involved in the 2003-2004 Carolina Seminar on
Comparative Islamic Studies. [9] And it turns out that Cooke had
crossed paths with Boulghourjian’s film once before.

Noble Sacrifice had been set to screen at Full Frame in 2003 (during
the liberation of Iraq) but was canceled at the last minute due to
“wartime sensitivities.” [10] Nancy Buirski, the festival’s founder
and executive director, was uncomfortable with the film’s negative
portrayal of Muslims and pulled it in what she called, “the spirit of
reconciliation and tolerance.” In making her decision, Buirski
deferred to Professor Cooke, who was to introduce the documentary.
But after viewing it at home the night before, Cooke refused,
describing it as “a sensationalistic film that was treating people
not as devotees but as fanatics.” She labeled the filmmaker “biased”
and called his linking of Ashura and suicide bombings
“reprehensible.” Cooke maintained that the rituals portrayed in the
film represented only a “local, cultish version” of Ashura, and
worried that they might “inflame anti-Arab sentiments.” [11] In other
words, Islam’s reputation as a “religion of peace” was at stake and
Cooke was not about to aid in its destruction.

In an interview in April of 2003, filmmaker Vatche Boulghourjian,
[12] disputed Cooke’s assertions, pointing out that self-flagellation
occurs in South Lebanon, “whether Miriam Cooke and other scholars of
Islamic or Asian studies like it or not.” And he stood by his
decision to associate Ashura with suicide bombings. Boulghourjian
cited Sayyid Hasan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of the Lebanese
terrorist group Hezbollah, for making “the connection between Ashura,
politics, resistance and self-sacrifice very clear.”

The documentary relies on archival footage obtained from Hezbollah
officials and includes scenes of suicide bombings, as well as a
videotaped “pre-martyrdom message” from Salah Ghandour, the Lebanese
suicide bomber who blew himself up near an Israeli base in southern
Lebanon in 1993.
Considering all this, Cooke’s assertions of bias seem a tad bit
misdirected.

The Full Frame Festival was by no means professor Cooke’s first brush
with notoriety. She gained attention in 2003 for co-organizing Duke
University’s “Axis of Evil” film festival, along with professor
Mottahedeh. [13] The series was dubbed “Reel Evil” and featured films
from Iran, Iraq and North Korea, as well as rogue states Syria,
Libya, and Cuba. The timing of the festival coincided with the advent
of the war in Iraq, which made it essentially a platform for anti-war
sentiment. Considering Cooke and several of her students attended an
anti-war rally in Washington D.C. the same year, this was hardly
surprising. [14]

Of course, the real target of the festival was President Bush and his
famous “axis of evil” phrase in the 2002 State of the Union address.
As Cooke said at the time, the festival was an “opportunity to see
the kind of work, cultural work, that people are doing in the
countries that our government has labeled evil.” [15] The fact that
the film from North Korea, Pulgasari, was produced by Dictator Kim
Jung Il and featured an actress and director who had been kidnapped
from South Korea and forced to work on the project, didn’t seem to
factor into Cooke’s reasoning.

Why professor Cooke, Buirski, and the Full Frame Documentary Film
Festival brought Noble Sacrifice back a year later remains something
of a mystery. Buirski had promised the film would resurface and with
the war in Iraq no longer a new development, she may have considered
the timing better. [16] Or it could be that organizers decided to
take the film festival’s motto to heart: “How much reality can you
handle?” How much indeed.
Notes:

[1] Lee Kaplan, “PLO Propaganda Film ‘Jenin, Jenin,'” February 20,
2004. FrontPageMagazine.com:

[2] Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, 2004 Official Selections,
HighPlainsFilms.org:
http://highplainsf ilms.org/festival/selections.htm

[3] Eric J. Greenberg, “Mapping a Controversy,” The Jewish Week,
January 31,
2003:
;print=yes

[4] Greg Myre, “Battle for Jenin camp flares anew on TV,” New York
Times,
April 3, 2004. SunSentinal.com:
,0,610 3335.
story?coll=sfla-features-headlines

[5] Full Frame Documentary Film Festival:

[6] Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Panels:

[7] Holly Hickman, “Full Frame airs ‘Noble Sacrifice,’ pulled from
2003
festival,” Associated Press, April 2, 2004. NewsObserver.com:

[8] Holly Hickman, “Full Frame airs ‘Noble Sacrifice,’ pulled from
2003
festival,” Associated Press, April 2, 2004. NewsObserver.com:

[9] Center for the Study of Muslim Networks, Duke University:
n_about.html

[9] Carolina Seminar on Comparative Islamic Studies, Upcoming Events
on the
Middle East and Muslim Civilizations, 2003-2004:

[10] David Fellerath, “Confronting Reality From Home and Abroad; the
2003
Full Frame Doc Fest,” Independent Weekly, On the Scene:

[11] David Fellerath, “Nausea on a sea of blood: Why did the Full
Frame
Festival yank Noble Sacrifice?” Independent Weekly, April 23, 2003.
IndyWeek.com:

[12] David Fellerath, “Confronting Reality From Home and Abroad; the
2003
Full Frame Doc Fest,”Independent Weekly, On the Scene, April. 2003:

[13] David M. Lewkowict, “Staff, Students ‘Duke’ It Out Over Film
Festival,”
FoxNews.com, March 12, 2003:
,2933,80849,00.html

[14] Arts & Sciences and Trinity College News, Miriam Cooke:

[15] David M. Lewkowict, “Staff, Students ‘Duke’ It Out Over Film
Festival,”
FoxNews.com, March 12, 2003:
,2933,80849,00.html

[16] David Fellerath, “Noble Sacrifice,” The Independent Weekly,
March 31,
2004. IndyWeek.com:

.asp?ID=13546

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
05/26/2004
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://

1) Armenia, US Sign Agreement on Protection of Cultural Heritage
2) ANCA Capitol Hill Lobby Days Highlight Variety of Issues
3) Amnesty Slams ‘Bankrupt’ Vision of US in Damning Human Rights Report
4) Education Conference Targets Changing Armenian-American Identity
5) Community Congratulates Prelate Mardirossian’s Reelection

1) Armenia, US Sign Agreement on Protection of Cultural Heritage

WASHINGTON, DC–An important cultural agreement was signed on Tuesday between
the United States and Armenia. The agreement provides that the cultural
heritage of all national, religious, or ethnic groups residing and having
resided in both countries will be safeguarded.
Armenia’s Ambassador to the US Dr. Arman Kirakossian, and Chairman of US
Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad Warren L. Miller,
signed the Agreement on Protection and Preservation of Certain Cultural
Properties.
The signing ceremony took place at the State Department, in the presence of
Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman, as well as officials from State
Department and Embassy of Armenia.
The Agreement commits both parties to protecting and preserving the cultural
heritage of any ethnic group residing on their territory, or against the
nationals of the other Party in its laws concerning the protection and
preservation of their cultural heritage; the right to contribute to the
protection and preservation of their cultural heritage; and public access to
such heritage, including places of worship, sites of historical significance,
monuments, cemeteries and memorials to the dead, as well as archival
materials.
The Agreement also stipulates that “each Party shall take special steps to
ensure such protection and preservation of cultural heritage within its
territory and shall invite the cooperation of the other Party and its
nationals
where assistance is required for this purpose.”
Speaking at the ceremony, Undersecretary Grossman and Chairman Miller hailed
the agreement as another bridge linking the peoples of the United States and
Armenia. In his remarks during the ceremony, Ambassador Kirakossian said the
agreement is the first such treaty regulating cultural affairs between the two
countries, augmenting already strong cooperation on economic, political, and
security areas. Ambassador Kirakossian summed up the significance of the
agreement for Armenia saying, “we understand the value of cultural heritage
and
the importance of its protection and preservation.”

2) ANCA Capitol Hill Lobby Days Highlight Variety of Issues

ARMENIAN AMERICANS PARTICIPATE IN ALMOST 100 MEETINGS AND VISITS TO
CONGRESSIONAL OFFICES

WASHINGTON, DC–A record number of activists from across the US traveled to
Washington, DC this April for a series of advocacy meetings on Capitol Hill,
coinciding with the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) 10th annual
Armenian Genocide Observance.
Over 90 meetings were held with Members of Congress from California,
Delaware,
Florida, Indiana, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire,
New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, and Virginia.
“We were gratified by the growing number of participants who traveled to
Washington, DC for this year’s Capitol Hill Observance,” explained ANCA
Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “Each year, we have seen increased
enthusiasm, sophistication, and confidence among our activists in their
advocacy for the Armenian Cause.”
Among the numerous issues discussed with Representatives, Senators, and their
staff were the Congressional Genocide Resolutions (H.Res.193 and
S.Res.164), US
assistance to Armenia and Karabagh, US-Armenia economic relations–namely the
Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) legislation currently pending in
the US
Senate, maintaining equal levels of military aid to Armenia and Azerbaijan,
and
Armenia’s cooperation in the war on terrorism. They presented to members of
Congress folders that had detailed information on the issues being discussed.
This year, joining the ANC activists in the Congressional meetings were
Colgate University Professor Peter Balakian and the Honorable Madeleine
Dalphond-Guiral, lead sponsor of the recently adopted Armenian Genocide motion
in the Canadian House of Commons.
During several meetings, Dalphond-Guiral took the time to brief Congressional
Members on the passage of the Canadian resolution and encouraged them to take
similar steps to reaffirm the United States record on the Armenian Genocide.
Professor Balakian–author of the New York Times best seller “The Burning
Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America’s Response”–detailed to Members the
exhaustive record of the US reaction to the Armenian Genocide and pointed out
the tremendous amount of US archives available on the Armenian Genocide.
Both Balakian and Dalphond-Guiral were honored by the ANCA during the Capitol
Hill Observance of the Armenian Genocide.

Activists met with and visited the following Senate offices:

Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), John Cornyn (R-TX), Bob Graham (D-FL), Judd Gregg
(R-NH), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), John Kerry (D-MA),
Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Jack Reed (D-RI), Rick Santorum
(R-PA), Arlen Specter (R-PA), John Sununu (R-RI), and Jim Talent (R-MO).

ANC representatives also met with the following House offices:

Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and Representatives Joe Baca
(D-CA), Charles Bass (R-NH), Bob Beauprez (R-CO), Xavier Becerra (D-CA),
Howard
Berman (D-CA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Jeb Bradley (R-NH), Robert Brady
(D-PA),
Eric Cantor (R-VA), Dennis Cardoza (D-CA), Michael Castle (D-DE), Philip Crane
(R-IL), John Culberson (R-TX), Susan Davis (D-CA), John Doolittle (R-CA), Mike
Doyle (D-PA), Philip English (R-PA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Sam Farr (D-CA), Chaka
Fattah (D-PA), Michael Ferguson (R-NJ), Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), Bob
Filner
(D-CA), Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Sam Graves (R-MO), Jim Gerlach (R-PA), Jim
Greenwood (R-PA), Melissa Hart (R-PA), Wally Herger (R-CA), Joseph Hoeffel
(D-PA), Tim Holden (D-PA), Rush Holt (D-NJ), Michael Honda (D-CA), Paul
Kanjorski (D-PA), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Patrick Kennedy (D-NH), James Langevin
(D-RI), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), William Lipinski
(D-IL),
Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Nita Lowey (D-NY), Edward Markey (D-MA), Robert Matsui
(D-CA), Scott McInnis (R-CO), Howard McKeon (R-CA), Marty Meehan (D-MA),
Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA), George Miller (D-CA), Timothy Murphy
(R-PA),
John Murtha (D-PA), Devin Nunes (R-CA), Doug Ose (R-CA), Frank Pallone, Jr.
(D-NJ), Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), John Peterson (R-PA),
Joseph
Pitts (R-PA), Todd Platts (R-PA), Richard Pombo (R-CA), Jon Porter (R-NV), Ed
Royce (R-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), E. Clay Shaw, Jr. (R-FL), Brad Sherman
(D-CA), Don Sherwood (R-PA), Bill Shuster (R-PA), Hilda Solis (D-CA), Fortney
Pete Stark (D-CA), Thomas Tancredo (R-CO), Ellen Tauscher (D-CA), Mike
Thompson
(D-CA), John Tierney (D-MA), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Diane Watson (D-CA), Henry
Waxman (D-CA), Curt Weldon (R-PA), and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA).

3) Amnesty Slams ‘Bankrupt’ Vision of US in Damning Human Rights Report

LONDON (AFP)–The United States has proved “bankrupt of vision and bereft of
principle” in its fight against terrorism and invasion of Iraq Amnesty
International charges in its 2004 report on the state of human rights around
the globe.
Though the London-based group’s report cites grave violations in dozens of
other nations, it specifically targets the “war on terror” initiated by US
President George W. Bush in the wake of the September 11 attacks in 2001, for
sanctioning human rights abuses in the name of freedom.
The unilateral nature of the conflict to unseat Saddam Hussein in Iraq
additionally “virtually paralyzed” the United Nations’ role in guaranteeing
human rights on a global level, said the Amnesty report which was released on
Wednesday.
The 339-page document, detailing the human rights situation in 157 nations
and
territories, reserved the most column inches for the United States, with
almost
as many critical words to Russia and China.
Other perennial violators are also highlighted such as North Korea, Cuba, and
the central Asian state of Turkmenistan where Amnesty summarized the situation
simply as “appalling.”
“The global security agenda promulgated by the US administration is bankrupt
of vision and bereft of principle,” wrote Amnesty’s secretary general Irene
Khan in the report’s introduction.
“Sacrificing human rights in the name of security at home, turning a blind
eye
to abuses abroad and using preemptive military force where and when it chooses
have neither increased security nor ensured liberty.”
The notion of fighting a campaign against terrorism so as to support human
rights, while simultaneously trampling on them to achieve this, is no more
than
“double speak,” she said.
“The United States has lost its moral high ground and its ability to lead on
peace and human rights elsewhere,” Khan added at a press conference in London
to launch the annual report.
The report also states that events in 2003 “dealt a mortal blow” to the UN’s
vision of universal human rights, with the global body “virtually paralyzed in
its efforts to hold states to account” over the issue.
“Not since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in 1948 has
there been such a sustained attack on [its] values and principles,” Khan told
the press conference.
While the report only briefly deals with damning allegations that US and
British troops tortured Iraqi prisoners–these first came to light just last
month–it has harsh words about the overall record of the two nations in
Iraq.
“Coalition forces failed to live up fully to their responsibilities as
occupying powers, including their duty to restore and maintain public order
and
safety, and to provide food, medical care and relief assistance,” it states.
Elsewhere, Amnesty details a long list of abuses in Russia, where security
forces “continue to enjoy almost total impunity for serious violations of
human
rights and international law” in the breakaway republic of Chechnya.
China, despite a new Communist government under President Hu Jintao, made “no
significant attempt” to end the use of torture and other abuses, which
“remained widespread,” states the report.
In the Middle East, both Israel and the Palestinian Authority were taken to
task, with Amnesty saying that some actions by the Israeli army, such as the
destruction of property, “constituted war crimes.”
One of the most damning assessments is handed to Cuba, which saw a “severe
deterioration in the human rights situation” during 2003, most notably through
the jailing of dozens of dissidents after “hasty and unfair” trials.

4) Education Conference Targets Changing Armenian-American Identity

GLENDALE–Armenian Schools of North America have a history dating back more
than forty years.
With the challenges of the 21st century, however, it has become imperative to
reassess the mission of Armenian education along with the Armenian-American
cultural identity in Armenian schools.
Thus, in order to re-examine the mission of Armenian education in North
America in the context of the changing “Armenian-American Identity,” the Board
of Regents of Prelacy Armenian Schools will hold a two-day conference June 4-5
at Woodbury University in Burbank.
The Board’s goal in initiating the conference is to spark valuable dialogue
among community educators and experts, and to insure that the education
offered
correspond to current expectations and imperatives.
All Armenian daily schools and their leaders are invited to participate and
offer their expertise. Well-known professionals and experts on
“Armenian-American Cultural Identity” issues will either present lectures or
participate as panelists.
Sessions of the conference are open to the public, and the Board believes
that
those involved in the field of education can bring their valuable contribution
as well as benefit by participating.
For further information, contact the Board of Regents office 818-500-0822,
fax
818-500-0622, or email [email protected].

5) Community Congratulates Prelate Mardirossian’s Reelection

Members and the leadership of the Los Angeles Armenian community congratulated
Prelate Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian’s unanimous reelection to the
position
of Prelate by the 32nd Representative Assembly of the Western Prelacy of the
Armenian Apostolic Church of America. During a series of receptions held on
May
21, 23, and 24, spiritual leaders and representatives of area parishes, as
well
as representatives of the ARS, ARF, Homenetmen, Mashdots College, compatriotic
unions, and other organizations offered heartfelt congratulations to Prelate
Mardirossian.

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PROTESTERS DEMANDING TO RELEASE POLITICAL PRISONERS

A1 Plus | 13:41:04 | 25-05-2004 | Politics |

Protest actions outside Prosecutor General Office in Yerevan has
already become commonplace. Today, plastic bottles appeared near the
symbolic barbed wire stretched before the building in a protest of
Edgar Arakelyan’s arrest.

Edgar Arakelyan, 24, had been taken in custody for defending himself
from the police’s brutal assault by throwing plastic bottles at
them. Edgar is also charged with using foul language and making
insulting remarks toward the authorities.

Chair of New Armenia organization Eleonora Manandyan finds it absurd
to prosecute someone for using a plastic bottle for self-defense. She
and the action’s other participants have already collected 5,500
signatures demanding to release political prisoners.

The protesters intend to continue their action for another ten days.

RUSSIAN DEFENCE CHIEF RULES OUT “HASTY” WITHDRAWAL FROM GEORGIA

ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow,
20 May 04

Yerevan, 20 May: Russian Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov says that
there can be no question of a hasty withdrawal of Russian servicemen
from the military bases in Georgia.

“There can be no hasty withdrawal of Russian military bases from
Georgia. There can be no question of this. In this case, there will
be no repetition of what happened in the early 1990s when Russian
troops withdrew from Germany,” Ivanov said after meeting his Armenian
counterpart, Serzh Sarkisyan.

“For the withdrawal of the Russian military bases from Georgia,
time and large financial resources are needed so that the troops
that are being withdrawn can be relocated on Russian territory,”
Ivanov went on to say.

Ivanov said that recently the process of withdrawal of Russian military
bases from Georgia had “slowed somewhat for objective reasons due
to the change of governments in both Russia and Georgia”. “As soon
as the composition of the delegations has been changed, talks on
withdrawing the bases will be continued,” he said. “The talks will
turn on the time-frame for a withdrawal and, first and foremost,
on the status of the bases which form part of the group of Russian
troops in the Transcaucasus.”

BOOKS: Paperbacks – Gilgamesh By Joan London ATLANTIC pounds 7.99 (256pp)

The Independent – United Kingdom
May 21, 2004

Emma Hagestadt

Taking a baby on the Orient Express before the days of disposable
nappies is one of the many challenges faced by Edith, the heroine of
London’s spirited debut novel. Brought up on a rickety farmstead in
south-western Australia, Edith finds her life transformed by a visit
from her exotic cousin, Leopold, and his Armenian friend, Aram. By
the end of their stay Edith is pregnant. Ignoring warnings about the
outbreak of war, she sets off to Armenia. London peoples her European
checkpoints with black market racketeers and threadbare bohemians.
Sadly, Edith’s adventure is wrapped up a little too soon. EH

Time Passing Slowly
by Anna Hakobyan

Transitions onLine, Czech Republic
May 17 2004

The war may have hurt Armenia, but most seem happy with a status quo
that is binding Nagorno-Karabakh closer to Armenia.

YEREVAN, Armenia–In a symbolic move apparently designed to show
that peace talks are continuing, the foreign ministers of Armenia and
Azerbaijan met on 12 May, the 10th anniversary of the cease-fire that
ended the killing in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The end of hostilities in this once autonomous region of Azerbaijan
saved “the lives of many thousands of both Azeris and Armenians
and prevented the South Caucasus from turning into a region with a
humanitarian catastrophe,” according to Karen Ohanjanian, a leading
figure in Helsinki Initiative-92, a nongovernmental organization
involved in the current peace process.

By the time the shooting stopped, 20,000 people–perhaps 30,000–had
been killed in three years of fighting and an estimated 1 million
Azeris and 300,000 Armenians had become refugees.

Since then, there have also been successes, with some rebuilding, an
effective end to the troublesome issues of 500 hostages and prisoners
of war, the development of civil society and democratic institutions,
contacts between NGOs across the ethnic divide, and some integration
into the international community. The admission of both Armenia and
Azerbaijan into the Council of Europe was also a step forward for
Nagorno-Karabakh, as membership required both Yerevan and Baku to
agree to settle the Karabakh conflict peacefully.

However, the meeting on 12 May was also a symbol of failure. A
decade of talks has produced no breakthrough and cost the job of one
Armenian president, Levon Ter-Petrossian. For a time in April 2001, it
looked as if both Armenia’s president, Robert Kocharian, and his Azeri
counterpart, Heidar Aliev, would be able to reach an agreement in talks
that centered on the withdrawal of Armenian forces from Azeri land in
a corridor linking Armenia and Azerbaijan, a lifting of Azerbaijan’s
blockade on Armenia, the return of displaced persons and refugees,
and the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh. The hope was that Aliev,
the longtime leader of Azerbaijan, would be able to seal a deal before
his departure from the political scene. However, the talks collapsed.

THE EFFECT ON ARMENIA

In Ohanjanian’s opinion, the conflict has continued to be
destructive. The war and years of uncertainty have ensured that
the military remains a powerful force in Armenian politics and, in
his words, “the leading military force in the Caucasus.” The war,
he believes, has strengthened the power of the state, ensured that
the restructuring of the economy has been primarily aimed at meeting
military needs, and gradually warped Armenia’s political development,
putting the political scene increasingly under the influence of tough
figures and criminal elements.

While the cost of the war may have been a stilted economy, less
democracy, and continued relative international isolation, Armenians
continue to give broad support to the current status quo. Over the
past decade, Nagorno-Karabakh has enjoyed independence from Azerbaijan
while becoming more integrated both economically and politically
with Armenia.

However, in Azerbaijan, the anniversary highlighted just how angry
Azeris continue to feel, with President Ilham Aliev, son of Heidar,
telling Azeri soldiers on 12 May that “Azerbaijan is ready to start
a war to liberate its territories if the peace talks do not produce
any results.”

The reaction of Armenian officials was calm. The Foreign Ministry
in Nagorno-Karabakh, a self-declared and unrecognized republic,
issued a statement calling on Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as the
international mediators, “to reaffirm their commitment to maintaining
the cease-fire regime.” Kocharian downplayed Aliev’s comments, telling
Russian television on 15 May that “we have been hearing different
versions of this statement since May 1994” and suggesting that Aliev
was grandstanding to the Azeri public. Armenia would, however, be
ready to react should Azerbaijan choose the military option, he said.

THE IMPASSE AT THE NEGOTIATING TABLE

Even if Aliev’s warning proves hollow, both sides continue to face
the 10-year-old problem of how to reduce tensions.

On 12 May, supporters of former president Ter-Petrossian, speaking
to Radio Liberty, urged a return to the “step-by-step” solution that
Ter-Petrossian had advocated. This would require both sides to send
important signals of intent before the final status of the disputed
region could be decided. It would, for example, require Armenia to
cede control of occupied corridors leading to Karabakh. In return,
Baku would lift its economic blockade on Armenia. That approach,
which was proposed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) and the international powers mediating for the OSCE
(the United States, Russia, and France), was supported by Azerbaijan.
The decision by Ter-Petrossian to throw his weight behind the formula
led to his removal by other members of his government in 1998.

Armenia and the leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh are suggesting a
“package approach” in which every issue, including the final status
of the disputed region, would be decided in a single treaty. That is
opposed by Azerbaijan.

The OSCE’s Minsk Group continues to advocate the “common state”
solution proposed in the failed talks held in 2001 at Key West,
Florida. Under this plan, Nagorno-Karabakh would join a confederation
with Azerbaijan. It would enjoy its own constitution, police, and
army and be the same size as the prewar Karabakh region of Soviet
Azerbaijan. This was ultimately rejected by Baku. Earlier this year,
Ilham Aliev denied that his father had been close to agreeing to a
deal in 2001, calling it “another lie circulated by the Armenian side.”

The current state of limbo was apparent in a statement by Armenian
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, who said that the meeting with his
Azeri counterpart on 12 May had “no agenda. The parties can bring up
any idea.”

One idea that Ohanjanian believes should be explored is a proposal
that he put forward on behalf of Helsinki Initiative-92. In it, he
advocates offering Nagorno-Karabakh the possibility of independence,
but only on condition that all refugees are allowed to return and
that international standards of human rights and democracy are met.
In the open-ended probationary period, international peacekeepers
would replace ethnic Armenian troops and the region would be governed
on a rotating basis by ethnic Armenians and Azeris.

Realistically, though, he foresees further complications. Until
now, talks have been conducted through the Minsk Group or between
Armenia and Azerbaijan. He believes that Kocharian will increasingly
push for direct talks between Baku and Stepanakert, the capital of
Nagorno-Karabakh, as the Armenian president is aware that, in Key West,
he made promises that he would not be able to deliver on without the
agreement of the Karabakh authorities. However, Baku would object to
such a model.

Based on his involvement in attempts to resolve the conflict,
Ohanjanian believes that Baku might ultimately push for a radically
different approach to conflict resolution, in which talks would be
held not under the auspices of the OSCE but of the European Union or
the United Nations.

THE CHILL FACTORS

Whatever the political initiatives, formidable obstacles remain in the
form of public attitudes. In Armenia, the notion of Nagorno-Karabakh as
historical Armenian territory “remains a national idea” that Ohanjanian
believes Armenians would be unwilling to concede, while the anger
felt by Azeris was recently highlighted when an Azeri military officer
killed an Armenian officer in Hungary over a dispute about Karabakh.

Other, geopolitical reasons suggest there will be little change in
the status quo. While Aliev might hint at war, to resume fighting
would jeopardize foreign investment into Azerbaijan’s huge oilfields,
and oil and geopolitical interests would force the great powers to
exert heavy pressure on Azerbaijan to halt any fighting.

In early 2004, Aliev said that Azerbaijan was in no hurry to settle
the conflict. The likeliest scenario continues to be that the conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh will remain frozen when the foreign ministers
next meet, in June–and for a long time after that.