Author: Basmajian Ani

REMEMBERING GENOCIDE
Max Zimbert

Glendale News Press
/22/news/gnp-genocide042210.txt
April 22 2010
CA

Students from all Glendale high schools collaborate for remembrance.

About 900 people were exposed to original student poetry, song and
dance Friday at an Armenian Genocide remembrance ceremony at Glendale
High School.

The ninth annual Genocide Commemoration featured several performances
produced and orchestrated by students from all of Glendale Unified’s
high schools, as well as Toll and Wilson middle schools and Fremont
Elementary School.

"I want people to leave thinking, as a community we are united as
young adults to stop genocide and crimes against humanity," said Talar
Malakian, a senior and president of the Armenian Club at Crescenta
Valley High School. "If you don’t accept history, you can’t prevent
it from happening again in the future."

Students invoked ongoing bloodshed in Third World countries across
the globe as a call to arms to stand up against injustice.

"If we don’t keep fighting for this cause, it will happen over
and over again in places like Rwanda and Darfur," Atina Manvelian,
a Glendale High School senior and student board member, said in a
speech. "We need every person on our side."

The event featured dance and piano solos, poetry recitals in English
and Armenian as well as a video produced by students at Clark Magnet
High.

"I feel like I’m representing a lot of people who want to do this,"
said Patil Hassakorzian, a Crescenta Valley High senior and one of
the ceremony’s performers. "It feels really good."

Patil was one of a team of dancers who began their routine slowly,
before it accelerated to the beat of the music.

"Everything we do represents something," she said. "The music starts
slow and then becomes more upbeat. It shows we’re fighting through
it and not giving up."

The event is an important opportunity for students to frame the
genocide on their own terms, school board President Greg Krikorian
said.

"It’s about celebrating life in this great nation," he said.

Yvette Abrahamian said she’s taken her two young children to the
ceremony every year.

"They hang out with their friends, and it gives them a way to think
about the genocide," she said. "Even though they are born here,
they are Armenians and have to remember this day."

Many students participating have parents or family members who were
affected by the Armenian Genocide 95 years ago, said Vahik Satoorian,
president of the Davidian & Mariamian Educational Foundation, which
runs after-school programs in Glendale Unified and elsewhere in Los
Angeles County.

"They are honoring their ancestors," he said.

"It is good for them to know what genocide is and what it means for
humanity to respect other cultures. This is what we’re trying to
teach our children."

Students began organizing the program months ago, and said they
hoped the ceremony would inspire others to take action. Talar, the
Crescenta Valley High Armenian Club president, said students have a
few opportunities to take ownership of an event, but nothing on this
big a scale.

"We took it, spearheaded it and got it done," she said.

"It should be a message to a lot of youth in the community. If they
want something, they have a voice and can do it."

UN RASSEMBLEMENT EXIGE UNE ACTION DE LA JUSTICE CONTRE LA HAUSSE DU PRIX DU GAZ
Stephane

armenews
avril 2010
ARMENIE

Plus de mille partisans de l’opposition ont marche vers la Cour
Administrative d’Armenie vendredi en appui d’un procès de l’opposition
remettant en cause une recente hausse du prix du gaz naturel.

La commission de regulation des Services publics (PRSC) a permis
a ArmRosGazprom (ARG) distributeur national du gaz fin fevrier
d’augmenter son tarif du gaz pour les menages de 37,5 pour cent,
a 132 drams (33 cents americains) par mètre cube, a cause de la
hausse du coût du gaz russe importe en Armenie. Le prix du gaz pour
les entreprises a ete releve de 17 pour cent. Les nouveaux tarifs
sont entres en vigueur le 1 avril.

Le Congrès National Armenien (HAK) a affirme que la mesure impopulaire
est economiquement injustifie et injuste. Plus de 7000 personnes ont
depose une plainte collective. Les plaignants veulent que la Cour
Administrative infirme la hausse des prix en raison du fait que la
PSCR a viole plusieurs dispositions des règles de l’Armenie.

La cour a consenti a considerer ce qui semble etre la plus grand
plainte collective dans l’histoire de l’Armenie cette semaine. Mais
elle a decide de tenir les auditions en question sous une procedure
ecrite ce qui n’implique pas d’auditions publiques et de presentations
orales des arguments des parties.

Les responsables du HAK a condamne cette decision alors qu’ils
menaient la foule devant le bâtiment de la cour dans le district
sud de Shengavit a Erevan. " C’est ce dont les autorites ont peur "
a dit Levon Zurabian, le coordonnateur du bureau central du bloc. "
Ils ne veulent pas de public et ouvrir d’auditions de la cour sur la
question. "

Une petition demandant des audiences publiques a ete remise aux
fonctionnaires de la cour pendant la protestation. La cour n’a pas
encore annonce quand elle commencera a considerer la requete et donner
un verdict.

MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS ARRIVE IN BAKU

armradio.am
20.04.2010 12:10

The OSCE Minsk Group Russian co-chair Yuriy Merzlyakov has arrived
in Azerbaijan Tuesday morning.

According to APA, the US co-chair Robert Bradtke is expected to join
him in a few hours. The French co-chair Bernard Fassier will not join
his colleagues this time.

The co-chairs will meet with Azerbaijani officials to discuss the
process of settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

OSCE CO-CHAIRS DUE IN BAKU

Tert.am
20.04.10

OSCE co-chairpersons Yuri Merzliakov (Russia) and Robert Bradtke (US)
are due in the Azerbaijani capital Baku to discuss issues related to
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.

This time the French co-chair Bernard Fassier is not with them.

According to the Azerbaijani news web source 1news.az the official
representative of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Elhan Polukhov
has confirmed the news report.

Earlier the co-chairpersons had visited Yerevan and Stepanakert
in March.

LES ETATS-UNIS TENTENT DE SAUVER LES PROTOCOLES ARMENO-TURCS
Marion

armenews
lundi19 avril 2010

Les Etats-Unis espère encore sauver les accords de normalisation
armeno-turcs, malgre l’absence apparente de progrès lors des dernières
negociations.

" Le processus est au point mort depuis l’automne dernier, a reconnu
le porte-parole du secretariat d’Etat aux Affaires etrangères, Philip
Crowley, lors d’une conference de presse a Washington, vendredi.

Nous voulons voir la Turquie et l’Armenie ratifier ces protocoles,
normaliser leurs relations, ouvrir leur frontière. "

" Nous savons que c’est un processus difficile, a souligne Crowley,
en se referant a la ratification parlementaire obligatoire des deux
protocoles.

Nous savons que cela implique des troubles, des risques de chaque
côte, et nous continuerons a travailler de manière constructive avec
l’Armenie et la Turquie pour tenter de depasser ce processus. "

Ces declarations interviennent quelques jours après un regain
d’activite diplomatique americain sur l’avancee des protocoles.

Obama s’est entretenu avec le president armenien Serge Sarkissian et
le Premier ministre turc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan après la rencontre
des deux dirigeants en marge d’un sommet sur la securite nucleaire
a Washington, lundi.

Clinton s’est, pour sa part, entretenue separement avec Sarkissian
et le ministre turc des Affaires etrangères, Ahmet Davutoglu.

Les negociations semblent avoir echoue a rapprocher les deux parties.

Erdogan a insiste sur le fait que que le Parlement turc ne ratifierait
pas les protocoles avant une resolution du conflit du Haut-Karabagh
acceptable pour l’Azerbaïdjan.

Le ministre armenien des Affaires etrangères, Edouard Nalbandian, a
critique cette position et a une nouvelle fois menace de se retirer
des accords. Les responsables americains n’ont, de leur côte, pas
encore publiquement commente ces avertissements.

Turkey to Seek `Dialogue’ With Select Armenian Diaspora Groups
By Asbarez
Apr 16th, 2010

ANKARA (Combined Sources) – Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met
with Turkey’s diplomats in North America on Wednesday to relay orders
for the envoys to start `opening dialogue’ with certain Armenian
Diaspora groups in the United States and Canada, the Turkish Today’s
Zaman newspaper reported.

The Turkish Foreign Minister met with Ankara’s ambassadors to
Washington and Ottawa, as well as the Consul Generals of Chicago,
Houston, Los Angeles and Toronto. He told the diplomats to `engage in
dialogue with the Armenian Diaspora and to strengthen this dialogue.’

According to anonymous diplomatic sources quoted by the Anatolian News
Agency, Turkey would prioritize contact with Armenian groups who are
open to dialogue. The same sources indicated that dialogue with
`hard-line groups’ was not a priority for Turkey, at least at the
moment.

`It is impossible to finalize the normalization of bilateral relations
with Armenia without having the Diaspora involved in the process,’
Davutolgu said, according to diplomatic sources, speaking on condition
of anonymity, the Anatolia News Agency reported.

Davutoglu, meanwhile, told reporters Wednesday that Turks and
Armenians `in Paris and Boston’ should sit together and attempt to
reconcile their memories of what the Turks call the tragic events that
took place in 1915.

In 1915 the Ottoman Turkish government set out to annihilate the
indigenous Armenian population inhabiting the lands under its
dominion. Between 1915-1923, the government executed a systematic
campaign to exterminate the Armenian people and remove them from their
historic homeland.

The Armenian Genocide, recognized as the first genocide of the 20th
century by historians the world over, resulted in the death of an
estimated 1.5 million Armenians and the loss of millions of dollars in
property and land now under occupation by the Republic of Turkey.

Turkey, however, insists there was no crime and the murders were
merely terrible deaths resulting from the collapse of an empire.

`We made some outreach to the American Diaspora,’ he said in remarks
that appeared to reference the Boston area as home to a large Armenian
community. `We told them `Our archives are open. We are ready to
discuss everything.”

Davutoglu said that members of the Turkish parliament have discussed
passing a resolution condemning the US genocide against Native
Americans in retaliation for the bill in Congress, but that he has not
encouraged such a measure.

`You can create a success story out of history,’ he said. `You can
create hatreds as well.’

He said that Turkey had reached out to neighboring Armenia with signs
of friendship and he remains hopeful that the Turkish parliament will
eventually pass a law that will help normalize relations, although he
said he is not sure if there are enough votes yet.
`As Turkey, we are ready to share the pain of our Armenian neighbors,’ he said.

But his comments fell far short of the acknowledgment of suffering
that millions of Armenians want to hear.

Holy Mass served in the Mother See of Holy Echmiatsin in memory of
Polish plane crash victims

13:21 17/04/2010 » Society

Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II is
serving a Holy Mass in the Mother See of Holy Echmiatsin today in
memory of the Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and other
delegation members killed in an air crash on April 10 in Smolensk,
Russia.

Workers of Poland’s Embassy in Armenia, representatives of diplomatic
missions accredited in Armenia, Armenian officials are attending the
mass.

Today Poland bids farewell to Polish presidential plane crash victims.
The mourning ceremony is due in Jozef Pilsudski Square, Warsaw.

Source: Panorama.am

Bako Sahakyan: we will secure organization and conduction of free,
fair and transparent elections

April 18, 2010 – 11:57 AMT 10:57 GMT
PanARMENIAN.Net –

President of the Artsakh Republic (NKR) Bako Sahakyan held a number of
meetings with leaders of political parties, chairman of the Central
Election Commission and heads of local self-government from April 14
to 17 to discuss the parliamentary elections to be held on May23,
2010.

Describing the upcoming elections as a politically responsible event
for the republic, NKR President urged all those responsible to ensure
a proper course of the elections, creating equal and fair competition
conditions for every party and unaffiliated candidates.

Mr. Sahakyan called on all the parties and candidates to conduct their
campaigns in a civilized manner and constructive atmosphere within the
law and moral norms.

`The authorities of the Artsakh Republic would spare no effort to
secure organization and conduction of free, fair and transparent
elections,’ he said, reported the Central Information Department of
the Office of the Artsakh Republic President.

Agence France Presse
April 15 2010

Azerbaijan questions US role in Karabakh conflict

BAKU, April 15 2010

A top Azerbaijani official Thursday questioned Washington’s neutrality
as a mediator in the conflict over the breakaway Nagorny Karabakh
region and accused the US of increasingly siding with Armenia.

"We are not happy with the activity of the United States in the
process of settling the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan," Ali
Hasanov, the head of the political department of the Azerbaijani
presidential administration, told journalists in Baku.

"Unfortunately, some institutions and parties in the United States,
under the influence of the Armenian lobby, are losing their neutrality
and openly supporting Armenia," he said.

"We think this is not in accord with the mission of the United States,
especially the American mission as co-chair of the Minsk Group."

The United States is one of three co-chairs, along with France and
Russia, of the so-called Minsk Group, which is trying to negotiate a
resolution to the longstanding conflict.

Tensions over Karabakh have risen in recent months amid US-backed
efforts by Armenia and Turkey, a close ally of Azerbaijan, to
establish diplomatic ties and reopen their border after decades of
hostility.

Azerbaijan insists that the reconciliation process should not move
forward without progress on Karabakh and has accused Western
governments and Ankara of ignoring its interests.

The energy-rich country is a key Western partner in strategically
important projects to ship oil and gas from the Caspian Sea region to
Europe through Turkey, bypassing Russia.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of solidarity
with Azerbaijan — with which it has strong ethnic, trade and energy
links — against Yerevan’s support for the separatists in Karabakh.

Backed by Yerevan, ethnic Armenian forces seized control of Nagorny
Karabakh and seven surrounding districts from Azerbaijan in the early
1990s, in a war that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives.

The two former Soviet republics have cut direct economic and transport
links and failed to negotiate a settlement on the region’s status.

Armenian and Azerbaijani forces are spread across a ceasefire line in
and around Nagorny Karabakh, often facing each other at close range,
and shootings are common.

Summer archaeological school of Armenia has become the second best in the world

2010-04-17 17:43:00

ArmInfo. The summer archaeological school held by the Archaeology and
Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia has become
the second best in the world, Director of the Institute Pavel
Avetissyan said during a press-conference today.

There are 28 such schools worldwide. The Armenian summer school was
launched in 2009. Its first students were from the Cotsen Institute of
Archeology of California University. "Our summer school is the only in
the region. Its activities will be continued in 2010 as well,"
Avetissyan said.