Author: Basmajian Ani

SARGSYAN AND ERDOGAN WILL MEET IN WASHINGTON: CNNTURK

Tert.am
14:50 ~U 07.04.10

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan will meet with Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the Nuclear Security Summit to be held
in Washington from April 12-13, reports CNN Turk.

Turkish local daily Today’s Zaman also reports that an agreement
has been reached over the Sargsyan-Erdogan meeting. The publication
mentions that the parties will discuss the Armenia-Turkey Protocols,
as well as issues relating to the Armenian Genocide.

Turkish public TV has also reported on the upcoming meeting between
Sargsyan and Erdogan.

Earlier, at a press conference on April 6 in Yerevan, Armenia’s Foreign
Minister Edward Nalbandian confirmed that Sargsyan will meet with US
President Barack Obama during his visit to Washington next week.

Nalbandian also said that so far no arrangements have been made over
the possible Sargsyan- Erdogan meeting.

"UNE PREMIÈRE EGLISE ARMENIENNE SERA CONSTRUITE DANS ABU DHABI" ANNONCE SA SAINTETE ARAM 1ER
par Stephane

armenews
mercredi7 avril 2010

RELIGION

Après son depart d’Inde le Catholicos Aram 1er a passe deux jours dans
la region du Golfe pour rendre visite aux membres du Diocèse armenien.

Le Prelat H.E.l’archeveque Gorun Babian et les membres du Conseil
National l’ont accueilli a l’aeroport a Dubaï et l’ont accompagne
pendant son sejour.

À Dubaï et Abu Dhabi, Sa Saintete a rencontre le clerge et les
leaders des deux communautes et a salue les membres pendant un
Service de Vepres dans Abu Dhabi. Dans son message il a invite les
gens a approfondir leur foi en Dieu et a former leurs vies selon les
valeurs de l’Evangile.

Sa Saintete a aussi rencontre les Ambassadeurs du Liban et d’Armenie.

Le point culminant de sa visite au Golfe a ete la reunion avec les
autorites politiques d’Abu Dhabi, qui ontinforme Sa Saintete que les
dirigeants d’Abu Dhabi offraient un lopin de terre de 3000 mètres
carres pour y construire une eglise et un foyer communautaire.

BELHASSEN ENCOURAGES HAK ACTIVISTS TO FIGHT FOR FREEDOM

Tert.am
20:22 ~U 06.04.10

It stirred a real excitement among the participants of a rally
organized by the Armenian National Congress (HAK) next to Matenadaran
when the participants of an International Federation for Human Rights
(FIDH) Forum held in Yerevan joined the rally late in the evening.

In the hustle and bustle of the rally it added more excitement
especially when the FIDH President Souhayr Belhassen was given the
floor to say comforting words to those gathered.

"We demand the political prisoners be freed," said Belhassen, chanting
"azatutiun, azatutiun, [freedom – Armenian]."

She also said that they the FIDH members were standing beside those
who fight for freedom, and that they are fighting for justice together
with those gathered.

"The International Federation for Human Rights is with you with its
all staff. Each of them represents the league of a country, and each
of them is with you," said Belhassen.

Aysor, Armenia
April 3 2010

The officers of Armenia and Azerbaijan negotiate

On the Armenian ` Azerbaijani border close Yeraskhavan ` Sadarak, by
the mediation of the Representatives of the Red Cross international
committee the Armenian and Azerbaijani officers of Armed Forces are
holding talks on passing the corps of the two Azerbaijani soldiers who
were shot dead as a result of the events taken place in village Koti
on March 3. Journalist of Aysor.am will go on reporting the news from
Yeraskhavan.

April 2, 2010
Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate
6252 Honolulu Avenue
La Crescenta, CA 91214
Tel: (818) 248-7737
Fax: (818) 248-7745
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

EASTER MEMORIAL DAY

On Monday, April 5th, requiem service will be offered at Forest Lawn
in Hollywood Hills presided over by H.E. Archbishop Moushegh
Mardirossian, Prelate and with the participation of clergy
members. The service begins at 10:00 a.m. and will take place at the
Hall of Liberty.
Requiem services will also be offered at the Glendale
Forest Lawn Church of the Recessional.

EASTER DIVINE LITURGY AT ARARAT HOME

On the morning of Thursday, April 8th, the Prelate will preside over
Easter Divine Liturgy at Ararat Home in Mission Hills. Prelacy clergy
members will participate in the Divine Liturgy, which is celebrated
each year on this occasion.
Clergy members will visit the nursing facility at 10:00
a.m., followed by Divine Liturgy at the Chapel at 10:30 a.m., which
will be celebrated by Rev. Fr. Avedis Torossian.

ACYA SPIRITUAL REVIVAL II

The central board of the Armenian Church Youth Association has
organized a 3-day spiritual retreat to be held under the auspices of
the Prelate from Friday, April 9th, to Sunday, April 11th. The
retreat will take place at Homenetmen Camp Tecuya.
Very Rev. Fr. Barthev Gulumian will lead the spiritual
revival retreat which will include prayer, spiritual meditations,
lectures, and discussions.

MAUNDY THURSDAY COMMEMORATIONS

Maundy Thursday is a day filled with several services observing
various events near the end of the earthly ministry of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
On the morning of Thursday, April 1st, 2010, Divine
Liturgy was celebrated in all churches, commemorating the sacrament of
Holy Communion instituted by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper.
H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate presided over Divine
Liturgy at Holy Martyrs Church in Encino.
In the afternoon, the Washing of the Feet service took
place in all churches, with the Prelate conducting the service at
St. Mary’s Church in Glendale. In his sermon, the Prelate spoke of
the great example of humility set by our Lord Jesus Christ with the
act of washing His disciples’ feet, calling on the faithful to live
and serve humbly and in His example.
In the evening, the solemn vigil service took place
commemorating the betrayal and torture of our Lord Jesus Christ. The
Prelate led services at Holy Martyrs Church in Encino and delivered
the sermon, in which he emphasized the immense and boundless love our
Lord has for us to go through the suffering He did for our salvation.

HOLY TUESDAY COMMEMORATION

On the evening of Tuesday, March 30th, 2010, the commemoration of Holy
Tuesday took place in Prelacy Churches. H.E. Archbishop Moushegh
Mardirossian, Prelate, conducted services at St. Sarkis Church in
Pasadena and delivered the sermon on the parable of the ten maidens.
Referencing the example of the five wise maidens who had
taken spare oil with them and were therefore ready to greet the
bridegroom upon his delayed arrival, the Prelate called on the
faithful to live a God-pleasing life and be spiritually ready at all
times for the second coming of Christ.

PALM SUNDAY CELEBRATED IN PRELACY CHURCHES

Sunday, March 28th, 2010, was a joyous day for Christians worldwide
who celebrated the triumphant entry of our Lord Jesus Christ into
Jerusalem, Palm Sunday.
Within the Western Prelacy, Palm Sunday was ceremoniously
celebrated in all churches with Divine Liturgy, followed by the
children’s procession, and concluding with the Opening of the Portals
service.
At Holy Martyrs Church in Encino, Divine Liturgy was
celebrated by H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate, who also
delivered the sermon to the hundreds of faithful participating in the
celebration. The Prelate was assisted at the altar by parish pastor
Rev. Fr. Razmig Khatchadourian.
In his sermon the Prelate recounted the events leading up
to the entry of our Lord into Jerusalem and His eventual entrance.
Addressing the faithful, the Prelate rhetorically asked, of the
multitude that greeted our Lord Jesus Christ which group do we belong
to. We belong to the group of true and faithful followers, those who
truly accept Him and the salvation He offers, said the Prelate, and as
such, the message of Palm Sunday has great implications for us today.

Following Divine Liturgy, the children’s procession took place.
Accompanied by the singing of a hymn for the occasion, the Prelate
descended the altar and was led in a procession to the courtyard where
a large crowd of faithful, young and old, were waiting to kiss the
cross and receive his blessings. Upon returning to the altar, the
Prelate conducted the Opening of the Portals service, symbolizing the
second coming of Christ. The godfather of the service was Daniel
Yeghia Sarafian.

PRELATE WELCOMES REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART

On Wednesday, March 31st, 2010, H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian,
Prelate, welcomed Chief Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art
(MOCA) Mr. Paul Schimmel, and Director of Development Ms. Jennifer
Arceneaux.
The guests informed the Prelate that they are organizing
an exhibit to be featured at MOCA titled Arshile Gorky: A
Retrospective, which will run from June 6th to September 20th. The
exhibit was previously on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and
the London Tate Museum, and features nearly 200 of the artist’s works
including paintings, sculptures, prints, and drawings.
The guests also reported that the " MOCA Friends of
Arshile Gorky" committee, comprised of both Armenian and non-Armenian
members, has undertaken the advertising for the upcoming exhibit among
both communities, and asked for the Prelacy’s assistance in
publicizing the exhibit among the Armenian community. A member of the
aforementioned committee, Mr. Hrair Garboushian, also participated in
the meeting.
The Prelate welcomed the initiative of the representatives
in the planning of this exhibit and expressed his support of the
endeavor. At the conclusion of their meeting the Prelate presented
the guests with mementos and the guest presented the Prelate with a
book on the life and works of Arshile Gorky.
MOCA is located at 250 S. Grand Ave. in Los Angeles.
A CALL TO PARTICIPATE IN THE U.S. CENSUS

In the coming weeks, the U.S. Census Bureau will be holding training
workshops at "Dikran and Zarouhie Der Ghazarian" Hall. Collaboration
between the Prelacy and the Census Bureau began nearly a year ago when
representatives from the agency met with the Prelate and asked for the
support of our churches, schools, and sister organizations.
At the time, the Prelate and council members called on our
churches to impart necessary information about the census to their
parishioners
The Prelate and council once again stress the importance
of participating in the census and call on our faithful to mark
"Armenian" for question nine to ensure that the Armenian community is
accurately counted and represented.

REGULAR SITTING OF EU-ARMENIA COOPERATION COORDINATING COMMISSION HELD

Noyan Tapan
Apr 2, 2010

YEREVAN, APRIL 2, NOYAN TAPAN. A regular sitting of the EU-Armenia
cooperation coordinating commission was held at the Office of
Government on March 30. The sitting was conducted by head of
commission, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan.

The RA Government Information and PR Department reported that the
commission took note of the report of the minister of economy on the
activities carried out under the 2009-2011 action plan of the European
Neighborhood Policy, and the deputy foreign minister’s report on the
negotiations for preparation of the association agreement with the
European Union, as well as the report of the minister of justice on the
implementation of the Support for Armenian Judiciary Reform program.

The commission approved the list of priorities under the State agency
development complex program (CIB) and the timetable for actions to
be implemented for preparation of the negotiations over the deep and
comprehensive free trade agreement with the European Union (DCFTA).

The members of the government informed the prime minister about the
actions carried out by their respective agencies under the Eastern
Partnership Program in the spheres of democracy, good governance,
economic integration, energy safety and culture.

Deputy Foreign Minister Karine Ghazinian announced that the
government of Italy had proposed to expand bilateral cooperation
with Armenia under the Eastern Partnership Program. In this context,
the commission pointed out the following areas for cooperation:
cross-border integrated governance, SME development, energy,
environmental protection and emergency situations.

The sitting participants approved the National Indicative Program for
2011-2013 and discussed such actions and technical assistance programs
that may be implemented in the framework of Twinning, Tiex and Sigma
projects under the European neighborhood and partnership tools.

The commission took note of the report of the minister of economy on
budget and macro-financial assistance received from the European Union,
as well as on the general budget support program for 2010.

The prime minister instructed the minister of finance to take
into consideration the due and timely implementation of Armenia’s
obligations under the program of cooperation with EU during the
upcoming budget planning.

WORKS OF TURKISH AND AZERBAIJANI COMPOSERS IN ARMENIA

Aysor
April 1 2010
Armenia

In the frameworks of the 11th musical international festival "The
prospects of 21" the Swiss music bands Aquatour and Pre-art will
visit Armenia.

Tomorrow the groups will perform a joint concert program during
which will be introduced the works of Armenian, Uzbek, Byelorussian,
Croatian, Azerbaijani and Turk contemporary composers.

Today on the meeting with the journalists the art director of the
Aquatour and Pre-art bands Mathias Arther mentioned that the works
to be held have been chosen by a contest, thus they have not paid
attention at the ethnic origin of the composers.

"With the close voting won also the Azerbaijani composer. We shouldn’t
mix the culture with politics. We appreciate the good culture and thus
we included also the Azerbaijani and Turkish composers. In Tbilisi too
there will be held a concert like this and there too will be present
Turkish and Azeri composers, but they have not come to Armenia", –
Arther said.

The chairman of the festival and the art director Stepan Rostomyan
confessed that he would not chose such a program by himself.

"I would take out the compositions of both countries without
hesitation. Simply there are fabrications spread about us. If not that,
I would do take them out… We left it for them not to say that we make
problems. At present for example Azerbaijani days are being held in
London and under the shadow of culture they are humiliating Armenia,"
mentioned Rostamyan.

It’s not accepted that the works of the Azerbaijani composer are
performed on the Armenian stage.

He also added that they will choose another variant on the last second;
it’s possible that they will move away the program of the Azerbaijani
composer and instead the Turkish composer’s program will be left.

The concert will be held tomorrow at 19:00 in the Music house after
Komitas. The tickets are free.

DIAMOND CUTTING INCREASED BY 35% IN ARMENIA IN JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2010

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.03.2010 17:13 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Due to the global financial crisis, a significant
recession was recorded in diamond cutting of Armenia. Head of the
Department of Trade and Effective Markets of the RA Ministry of Economy
said that 600 people were employed in this field at the end of 2008,
while their number decreased to 380 people by the end of 2009.

"Taking into consideration the fact that from December 2008 to August
2009 Alros company, from which we are purchasing huge volume of raw
material, suspended the sales and left the market, like many other
raw material supplying companies, the recession becomes explainable,"
Gagik Kocharyan told journalists in Yerevan on March 31. He added
that after the sales restoration from September to December 2009,
21% average monthly increase was recorded.

Mr. Kocharyan also informed that the growth in the field totaled 35%
in January-February 2010, the number of jobs increasing to 735. "60
thousand carats of diamond were imported to Armenia against 10 thousand
carats during the same period of last year," he said.

"TERRITORIES CAN BE CONCEDED FOR THE KARABAKH SELF-DETERMINATION"

Aysor
March 31 2010
Armenia

ANM leader Ararat Zurabyan told the journalists today that he
attaches great importance to the expression of the NKR disposition and
thinks that it should become a subject of discussion before the NKR
recognition and all the for and against should express their points
of views.

"We are in 2010 already we think that the Armenian authorities today
try to break the issue," Zurabyan told.

The RA former Foreign Minister Alexander Arzumanyan their party speaks
on behalf of the NKR interests. Any decision that the NKR people will
make is acceptable for them.

In the same time he added that in order to get the NKR
self-determination they can withdraw from some of the territories of
the security are. It would be the most comfortable and acceptable way.

ARMENIAN LANDMARK IN CALCUTTA DESTROYED BY FIRE

2010/03/29 | 16:54

Diaspora

The following article is culled from today’s Hindustan Times. Dealing
with the legacy of one famous Armenian, Arathoon Stephen, in dovetails
well with the article on Liz Chater and the Armenian community in
India, elsewhere in today’s Hetq.

"Yet Another Colonial Hangover" by Pratik Kanjilal

Life on Kolkata’s Park Street will not be the same after the
devastating fire in Stephen Court. The hub of social life and
entertainment almost since the city was founded, the street has
recently been trying to recover from its decline during Marxist rule.

Now, its regeneration could falter. Kolkata is an old-style city with
a sense of public decency. The tragedy will be mourned for years
to come and going out for a bit of fun on the street where so many
people died needlessly could feel unnatural.

People are also mourning the destruction of a landmark of the
colonial skyline. Interestingly, though Stephen Court was a Raj
period building, it was not built by a colonial. In fact, much of the
remarkable heritage architecture of the Presidency towns is of Asian
provenance. The English mainly built government institutions to rule
from, educational institutions to generate manpower, and barracks
for the military that kept them in power. They built an astonishing
number of barracks. In fact, one of Kolkata’s satellite towns is
called Barrackpore. Ironically, that’s where the 1857 rising started,
precipitated by the court martial of the turbulent sepoy Mangal Pandey.

Stephen Court was built by the Isfahani Armenian Arathoon Stephen
(1861-1927), who arrived in Kolkata dirt-poor and became a real
estate baron. His impoverished refugee origin may be an exaggeration,
since his family was perhaps already in India when Pandey was turning
up the heat. But he was certainly a merchant prince committed to
institution-building. His most remarkable property was a Chowringhee
boarding house he took over from a Mrs Monk and turned into the iconic
Grand Hotel. When business declined in 1938 following Kolkata’s great
cholera epidemic, it was bought on the cheap by a certain Mohinder
Singh Oberoi. The Oberoi Grand was a lucky buy, minting money during
the war years when thousands of Allied soldiers were billeted there and
partied with single-minded determination as they waited to be shipped
out to fight the Japanese. It became the seed of the transnational
Oberoi chain of hotels.

The British did not exclusively build the colonial skyline, as we
imagine. Mercantile Asians, notably the Armenians, also invested in
building modern India. Armenians were trading with the Malabar Coast
from the 8th century and the seed of the British Empire, the Mughal
firman allowing the East India Company to set up shop in Bengal, was
brokered by an Armenian named Khoja Sarhad. By the time of Stephen,
about 30,000 Armenians were settled in India. And when Armenia was
under Soviet rule, this nation persecuted throughout history valued
India as a safe haven for its church.

In 2003, the Calcutta High Court ruled that the Company functionary
Job Charnock could not be identified as the founder of Kolkata. The
evidence against him included mention of the town in Abul Fazl’s
Ain-i-Akbari and the popular medieval text Manasa Mangal. But the court
neglected the most damning evidence: the oldest Christian gravestone in
India, in Kolkata’s Armenian Church. It is that of an Armenian woman
named "Rezabibi, wife of the late charitable Sookias, who departed
from this world to life eternal" in 1630. At the time, Charnock was a
suckling babe in London. So much for the British creating modern India!