Author: Boshkezenian Garik

ANCA WELCOMES KEY SENATE PANEL ADOPTION OF MENENDEZ AMENDMENT TO
BLOCK U.S. SUBSIDY FOR ARMENIA RAILROAD BYPASS

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Sept 22 2006

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) [Ho. He.
Dashnaktsutyan Washington-ee Hai Tahd-ee Krasenyag] today welcomed
the vote by a powerful Senate panel to block U.S. taxpayer funding
for an unnecessary and costly proposed railroad between Turkey and
Georgia that would, if built, circumvent Armenia and, in the process,
undermine the economic viability of the existing Caucasus railroad
route through Armenia.

According to the information DE FACTO got at the ANCA, with a
unanimous voice vote earlier today, the Senate Banking Committee
adopted the amendment spearheaded by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ),
and later adopted as proposed by Committee Chairman Richard Shelby
(R-AL) and Ranking Democrat Paul Sarbanes (D-MD). According to the
measure, the Export-Import Bank "shall not guarantee, insure or extend
(or participate in the extension of) credit in connection with the
export of any good or service relating to the development or promotion
of any railway connection or railway-related connection that does
not traverse or connect with Armenia, and does traverse or connect
Baku, Azerbaijan, Tbilisi, Georgia and Kars, Turkey." The provision
is now part of the Senate Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Bill,
also adopted unanimously by the Committee, paving the way for full
Senate consideration of the legislation.

"We would like to thank Senator Menendez, Chairman Shelby, Senator
Sarbanes, and all members of the Senate Banking Committee for ensuring
that U.S. taxpayer funds are not wasted in the construction of an
ill-advised railway project, initiated by Turkey and Azerbaijan, solely
to exclude Armenia," stated ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.

"With this amendment, we are sending a simple message – that we believe
that the United States should support an integrated and inclusive
approach to economic and regional development in the Caucuses region,"
explained Sen. Menendez. "There is already a railway, which connects
these countries and passes through Armenia, which could be used to
build a Trans-Caucasus railroad. Why would we spend additional funds
to build a new railroad link that goes around Armenia?"

Sen. Menendez also stressed that the proposed railway goes counter to
U.S. policy in the Caucasus region. In response to Senators during
her confirmation hearing, U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne Derse
noted that "because the proposed railway would bypass Armenia, and
thus not be beneficial to regional integration, we have no plans to
support such a railway financially."

The Menendez amendment is based on the South Caucasus Integration
and Open Railroads Act of 2006 (S. 2461), introduced by Senator Rick
Santorum (R-PA) and cosponsored by Senators Menendez, Sarbanes and
Wayne Allard (R-CO). The House version (H.R.3361), introduced by Rep.

Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), currently has over 85 cosponsors. Both
measures stress that U.S. policy should oppose the "The exclusion of
Armenia from regional economic and commercial undertakings in the South
Caucasus," noting that such actions "undermine the United States policy
goal of promoting a stable and cooperative environment in the region."

In June, a similar amendment to the House version of the Export-Import
Bank Reauthorization Bill was led by Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-NY), with
the support of Financial Services Committee colleagues, Representatives
Brad Sherman (D-CA) and Ed Royce (R- CA).

The House adopted the measure in July.

Following Senate committee passage of the measure, Rep. Crowley noted,
"With this amendment, the US Congress is telling the governments of
Turkey and Azerbaijan that it is wrong to continue their Cold War
style campaign against Armenia and hurt its economic growth. Their
actions against Armenia will meet with real consequences, and we
are taking note of this inexcusable behavior. By excluding Armenia
in these regional projects, Turkey and Azerbaijan are putting the
finishing touches on a 10-year-old economic blockade against this
republic that has made great progress in implementing democratic and
economic reforms."

In the days leading up to the vote, ANCA chapters and activists in key
states contacted members of the Senate Banking Committee in support
of the Armenia railway provision.

The proposed new Caucasus rail line – at the urging of Turkey and
Azerbaijan – would circumvent Armenia. Promoters of the project
have sought, even at the planning stages, to secure U.S. financing
for this undertaking, prompting Congressional friends of Armenia to
preemptively block such attempts.

In October of 2005, the European Commission voiced official opposition
to the proposed Caucasus railroad bypass of Armenia. A formal statement
by the Commission’s Directorate General for Transport and Energy
noted that its construction was both unnecessary and inefficient in
light of the existing railroad connecting Kars, Gyumri, and Tbilisi.

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) is the
official export credit agency of the United States. Ex-Im Bank’s
mission is to assist in financing the export of U.S. goods and services
to international markets.

Controversial Monument Poses Diplomatic Challenge to Tbilisi

Civil Georgia, Tbilisi
2006-09-23

Plans to erect a monument to Armenian Gen. Gurgen Dalibaltyan in
predominately ethnic Armenian-populated Georgia’s southern city of
Akhalkalaki have triggered Baku’s angry reaction.

Gen. Dalibaltyan a native of Akhalkalaki district, who is currently
80 years old, will reportedly be honored for his contribution in
fight against Azerbaijani’s troops in Nagorno-Karabakh in early 90s.

Local officials in Akhalkalaki say that funding to erect the monument
comes from "the Armenian sources," according to the Imedi television
stations.

A spokesman of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Tbilisi Elkhan Polukhanov
said on September 23 that the move will be perceived to be
"non-friendly" by Azerbaijani authorities.

"At first we want to know whether there is a relevant authorization by
the Georgian state agencies on creation of this monument. The monument
will definitely bring negative elements in relationship between the
two states – Georgia and Azerbaijan, which is in a condition of war
with Armenia," Elkhan Polukhanov told Imedi television.

PRESS RELEASE
Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
138 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
Tel: 212-689-7810
Fax: 212-689-7168
e-mail: [email protected]
Website:
Contact: Iris Papazian

September 21, 2006

CATHOLICOS ARAM I ADDRESS ARMENIA-DIASPORA CONFERENCE
His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, called for
a strong Armenian nation and a strong Armenia in an address to a large
number of Armenians from all parts of the world during the opening session
of the third Armenia-Diaspora Conference in Yerevan which took place
September 18 to 20. One day prior to the opening of the conference President
Robert Kocharian received His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All
Armenians, and His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia, for an exchange
of ideas about Diaspora-Armenia relations.
Catholicos Aram’s speech to the conference, which was received
enthusiastically, highlighted the important role of the conference in the
life of the Armenian nation, church and motherland. He considered this
conference to be a more conscious approach towards collective belonging and
one dictated by the Armenian nation’s collective history.
He elaborated on four major points and then talked about a number of
important national issues that should be discussed on a Pan-Armenian level
with a clear separation in the roles of the Armenian government and the
Diaspora. In this context he particularly mentioned the recognition of the
Armenian Genocide, the Nagorno Karabagh conflict, the situation in Javakh,
and the issues of dictation and dual nationality. He stated that collective
discussion on these issues strengthens and channels Pan-Armenian issues.
"The cooperation between Armenia and the Diaspora should not be
conditioned by financial standards only and should not be limited to narrow
economic boundaries. In other words, the Diaspora should not be satisfied
with financing projects in Armenia; it has much more to give to Armenia with
its manpower and experience. Armenia in its turn should not only organize
Pan-Armenian conferences, it also has a lot to offer to the Diaspora
particularly in the fields of culture and Armenology. Our church and
intellectuals have an important role to play in this respect," said the
Catholicos.
His Eminence Archbishop Oshagan attended the conference as part of the
official delegation representing the Holy See of Cilicia. Archbishop Oshagan
is expected to return to New York next week.

NEW OFFICES OF ST. NERSES THE GREAT CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION
IS DEDICATED TO ARCHBISHOP MESROB ASHJIAN
Tuesday evening, September 19, the new Yerevan offices of the Prelacy’s
St. Nerses the Great Charitable and Social Organization were dedicated by
Archbishop Oshagan. The office was named in honor of the late Archbishop
Mesrob Ashjian, who as Prelate of the Eastern Prelacy, first organized the
St. Nerses organization and its program of social work in Armenia and
Artsakh. The offices are now known as "The Archbishop Mesrob Ashjian
Center." Details and photos next week.

EPISCOPAL CONSECRATION OF BISHOP ANOUSHAVAN
WILL BE CELEBRATED ON SUNDAY OCTOBER 1
Archbishop Oshagan will preside over the celebration in honor of the
recent Episcopal consecration of Bishop Anoushavan Tanielian. A
community-wide banquet will take place on Sunday, October 1 at 3 pm at the
Terrace on the Park in Flushing Meadows, New York. In the morning, Bishop
Anoushavan will celebrate the Divine Liturgy at St. Sarkis Church,
Douglaston, New York, a parish he served for more than a decade. Bishop
Anoushavan’s elevation and consecration took place on June 4, in ceremonies
officiated by Catholicos Aram I in the Cathedral of St. Gregory the
Illuminator in Antelias, Lebanon.
For more information about the October 1st event click

NEW SERIES OF BIBLE STUDY AT PRELACY
An eight-session course on the "Letter to the Hebrews" will start on
Monday, October 2, at the Prelacy from 7:15 pm to 8:45 pm, and will continue
on the first and third Mondays of the month. Sponsored by the Armenian
Religious Education Council (AREC), the course will be conducted by Dn.
Shant Kazanjian, director of AREC.
The Letter to the Hebrews is a profound homily, a "word of exhortation"
(Hebrews 13:22). One of the main themes of the Letter is that the old
covenant has been superseded through the sacrificial death of Christ. And
for that reason, studying the Letter to the Hebrews gives a solid biblical
understanding of the "Soorp Badarak" (Holy Sacrifice) that we celebrate on
Sundays.
Registration is required (suggested donation: $25). For registration and
information, please call 212-689-7810 or e-mail at [email protected].

CHILDREN’S CONCERT ON NOVEMBER 18
WILL CELEBRATE THE "COLORS OF FALL"
With the extraordinary success of the Prelacy’s Children’s Concert two
years ago, another concert for children will take place on Saturday
afternoon, November 18, at Florence Gould Hall, at the Alliance Francaise in
New York City, featuring the talented and popular TALINE AND FRIENDS, from
California.
The theme of the concert will be "Fall Colors" (Ashnan Kouyner). Tickets are
$20 each and can be purchased by contacting the Prelacy office,
212-689-7810, Ext. 26.

MIDWEST DATEV PROGRAM NOVEMBER 10-12
The popular summer Datev program goes on the road again with a weekend
program scheduled in the Midwest, November 10 to 12, at the Colombiere
Retreat and Conference Center, Clarkston, Michigan.
The program will include interactive presentations and instructions on
faith-related topics, discussions of religious and current issues, Bible
studies, short worship services, fellowship and recreational activities.
Bishop Anoushavan Tanielian and Deacon Shant Kazanjian will be the
instructors and facilitators.
For information and registration click
6.pdf

PAREGENTAN OF THE HOLY CROSS OF VARAG
This Sunday is the Paregentan of the Fast of the Holy Cross of Varag.
Monday to Friday are fasting days leading up to next Sunday when the Feast
of the Holy Cross of Varag will be celebrated.

VICAR GENERAL WILL BE IN NEW JERSEY
This Sunday, September 24, Bishop Anoushavan Tanielian will visit the
Sts. Vartanantz Church in Ridgefield, New Jersey. The New Jersey parish
recently welcomed its new pastor and his family, Rev. Fr. and Yeretzgeen
Hovnan Bozoian.

AREC DIRECTOR WILL TRAVEL TO PHILLY
Deacon Shant Kazanjian, director of the Armenian Religious Education
Council (AREC) will travel to his home parish of St. Gregory the Illuminator
Church in Philadelphia where he will lead a Sunday school teachers’
seminar/retreat focusing on "Nurturing Faith."

TODAY IS ARMENIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY
Today, September 21, we celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Republic of
Armenia.
"Stretch forth your generous hands of mercy and bless our entire Armenian
nation and Armenian church in order that the spirit of love, peace, wisdom
and devotion rest upon them and remain there forever." (from Prayer of
Thanksgiving for the Republic of Armenia, by Archbishop Torkom Koushagian,
1920).

EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION
One hundred forty-four years ago, on September 22, 1862, President
Abraham Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation which would go into
effect on January 1, 1863, abolishing slavery in the United States.
"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State
or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion
against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free;
and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military
and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such
persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them,
in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom."

AUTUMN BEGINS SATURDAY
The official beginning of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere begins on
Saturday, September 23, at 12:03 a.m., eastern daylight time, with the fall
equinox, when day and night are approximately the same length. Henceforth,
our daylight hours will become increasingly shorter until the winter
solstice in December.

No spring, nor summer beauty hath such grace
As I have seen in one autumnal face.
"Elegy IX: The Autumnal," by John Donne (1572-1631)

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

September 22-Family Night at St. Gregory Armenian Church of Merrimack
Valley, North Andover, Massachusetts, 6 pm at Jaffarian Hall.

September 22-23-Retreat, "Nurturing Faith," for Sunday School teachers and
staff of St. Gregory the Illuminator Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

September 25-Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church, Worcester,
Massachusetts, 3rd Annual Golf Outing and Award Dinner at Raceway Golf
Course, Thompson, Connecticut. Registration 7:30 a.m. For information
508-872-9629 or church office 508-852-2414.

September 25-St. Gregory the Illuminator Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
Third Annual Golf Outing. For information, 215-482-9200.

September 28-4th Annual Golf Outing hosted by Sts. Vartanantz Church,
Ridgefield, New Jersey. Bergen Hills Country Club, River Vale, New Jersey.
For reservations and/or information: 201-943-2950.

October 1-Banquet honoring Bishop Anoushavan Tanielian on the occasion of
his recent elevation, at Terrace on the Park, Flushing Meadows, New York, 3
pm. Details will follow.

October 2-New eight-session Bible study on the "Letter to the Hebrews"
begins at the Prelacy, 7:15 pm to 8:45 pm, first and third Mondays of the
month, sponsored by AREC. Conducted by Dn. Shant Kazanjian. For information:
212-689-7810.

October 8-81st anniversary celebration of St. Stephen Church, New Britain,
Connecticut.

October 19-22-Annual bazaar, Soorp Khatch Church, Bethesda, Maryland.

October 22-Holy Cross Church, Troy, NY, anniversary celebration.

November 3-4- Ladies Guild Food Festival, St. Gregory the Illuminator
Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

November 3, 4, 5-Sts. Vartanantz Church, Ridgefield, New Jersey, Annual
Bazaar and Food Festival. For information 201-943-2950.

November 5-Annual bazaar, St. Stephen Church, New Britain, Connecticut.

November 5-36th Anniversary Luncheon and program, St. Gregory Armenian
Church of Merrimack Valley, North Andover, Massachusetts.

November 10-12-Mini Datev program for teens, ages 13 to 18. At Colombiere
Retreat Conference Center in Clarkston, Michigan.

November 11-42nd Anniversary of Soorp Khatch Church, Bethesda, Maryland, in
the church hall.

November 11-12-Sts. Vartanantz Church, Providence, annual "Armenian Fest" at
Rhodes-on-the-Pawtuxet, Cranston, Rhode Island.

November 17 & 18-Annual Bazaar, Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church,
Worcester, Massachusetts.

November 18-Children’s Concert, "FALL COLORS", sponsored by the Eastern
Prelacy at Florence Gould Hall, Alliance Francaise, New York City, featuring
TALINE AND FRIENDS. Details will follow.

November 26-St. Gregory the Illuminator Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
First Episcopal Badarak in Philadelphia by Bishop Anoushavan Tanielian.

December 9-Men’s Club Steak Dinner, St. Gregory the Illuminator Church,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

December 24-Sunday School Christmas Pageant, St. Gregory the Illuminator
Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Visit our website at

Tacy, Israel

INDIA PLANS TO CAPTURE 10% OF THE US$6-7 BILLION CIS
JEWELRY MARKET

21 September 2006

India’s Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) recently
led an 8-member delegation representing leading manufacturers from
different sectors such as diamond, colored gemstones, silver and
jewelry to CIS Nations including Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan,
Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

The key objective of the visit was to strengthen bilateral trade
between the gem and jewelry industry in India and those countries. The
delegation explored the potential of the gem and jewelry market in
the CIS nations, analyzed the possibility of sourcing raw materials,
supplying cut and polished diamonds as well as gold jewelry, and also
discussed cross participation in jewelry exhibitions.

"The gem and jewelry delegation visit to CIS nations was a very first
sector specific delegation and the initiative was very successful. The
total market size across the CIS countries along with Russia is
estimated at US$6 to US$7 billion with Ukraine providing the maximum
growth potential. GJEPC plans to capture 10 percent of this market in
the next 2-3 years through various aggressive initiatives," explains
Sanjay Kothari, Convener-PMBD, GJEPC.

As for future courses of action, the GJEPC will promote the import
of polished Russian diamonds through the CIS countries, and intends
to focus on the supply of loose diamonds and colored gemstones in
the CIS nations having a good market.

In order to enjoy more duty benefits while importing jewelry to Russia,
GJEPC plans to encourage exporters to export semi-finished jewelry
to the CIS countries and set up small manufacturing units in CIS
countries where the semi-finished jewelry can then be converted to
finished jewelry. Indian jewelry manufacturers also plan to undertake
an exchange program of jewelry designers in order to understand the
trends prevalent in the CIS nations.

Investment in the mining sector for colored gemstones and silver is
being contemplated as a means to alleviate India’s sourcing problems.

Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
Caucasus Reporting Service

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Georgia: The Last Collective Farm

Land reform may be the last straw for Georgia’s
Dukhobor community.

By Olesya Vartanian in Gorelovka

It is only six in the morning, but there is already a commotion
outside the house of tractor driver Oleg.

Amid angry shouts and obscenities, local residents are vying to be
the first to get his three-strong crew and old machinery to mow the
hay on their plots.

"They are all flocking in and all of them want to have their hay
mown immediately," grumbles Oleg. "We are working at night too,
but we still have no time to please everyone."

This harvest-time rush is something new for the Russian village of
Gorelovka in Georgia’s southern Samtskhe-Javakheti region, near the
border with Armenia.

It is a result of the land reform, which started in Georgia in 1992,
but reached Gorelovka only this summer.

Only after the haymaking had begun did villagers find out they were
entitled to land of their own. However, the news upset many villagers,
who don’t want to see their collective farm – the only one in Georgia
left over from Soviet times – broken up.

Gorelovka is home to a community of Dukhobors, ethnic Russians
practicing a rare form of Orthodox Christianity, who were exiled from
Russia to the Caucasus in the middle of the 19th century for their
pacifist views and doctrinal beliefs.

Fifteen years ago Dukhobors lived in eight villages in this region,
but today their community, once nearly 7,000 strong, has shrunk to
only a few hundred. (See ‘Special Report: Last Days of the Georgian
Dukhobors, CRS 254, September 3, 2004).

Their Dukhoborets agricultural cooperative, which the Russians still
call by its old Communist name, a collective farm, was founded by the
Dukhobor community in 1997 to succeed Gorelovka’s Lenin collective
farm.

It remained faithful to traditions of Soviet-style collective farming.
Only Dukhobors could use the lands of the farm, even though ethnic
Russians account for only half of Gorelovka’s population, with
Armenians and Georgians forming the other half. Ethnic Armenians
and Georgians, who came to live in the village in the Nineties, when
Dukhobors started to leave, were not allowed to work in Dukhoborets
but still had to buy hay for their cows from the farm.

As in Communist times, the collective farm provided each Dukhobor
family with a small plot of land. The crops were divided up between
the family and the cooperative, which was the only employer for the
Russians and paid its workforce quite well by Georgian standards at
around 150 laris (80 US dollars) a month.

The land distribution commission of the local administration has now
started to hand out land around Gorelovka. This summer, they stripped
the cooperative of almost 5,000 hectares, which was distributed among
all the local Armenians, Russians and Georgians, leaving Dukhoborets
with only 600 hectares.

"We gave between six and 15 hectares to each Dukhobor family," said
the head of the local administration Azat Yegoyan. "This is quite a
lot for one family."

The head of the land commission, Askanas Markosian, said no
particular criteria had been applied when the plots were being
distributed. Precedence was given to local farmers, "as they feed
the state and have people working for them."

Auctions will soon be held to sell off the rest of the land.

Most local officials see the collective farm as an unwanted remnant of
Soviet times, which leaders of the Dukhobor community were exploiting
skilfully to avoid sharing lands with migrant Armenians and Georgians.

But the Dukhobors have been reluctant to give up their common farm
and few of them understand what it will mean to have private property.

Dukhobors say the farm is far more than an agricultural enterprise,
but something that preserves their communal traditions.

"Since time immemorial Dukhobors have been living as a commune,"
explained Lyubov Demina. "People here don’t want to readjust to a new
way of life. All the other collective farms in the area were abolished,
but we reorganised ours. We did this because we thought that we would
live as long as our communal way of life did."

Like all other Dukhobor families in Gorelovka, Olga Medvedeva’s
family still lives in a small peasant’s hut that resembles a Russian
19th-century home.

Whitewashed on the outside, the walls of the house are made of
dung bricks. The light coming in through small windows rests on
patterned embroideries, tapestries and a Russian stove that smells
of smouldering coals.

Having washed her hands in the wash-stand, Olga cuts newly-baked
bread and puts the generous slices on an old wooden table.

She said she worked milking cows in Gorelovka’s collective farm for
20 years. This year her family was given 10 hectares of land, around
the same amount as they had from the collective farm.

"A lot of people used to work on the collective farm, and if a family
had a milkmaid and tractor driver, it was a well-off," she said with
sadness in her voice.

Tatyana Chuchmayeva, head of the Dukhobor community, said that 470
local Dukhobors had sent applications to the Russian government to
move to Russia. They are being promised free transport, housing and
benefits for six months.

"Gorelovka’s Dukhobors are now waiting for the beginning of next year,
when the State Duma will start considering resettlement projects from
provinces, and then they will know exactly where they will be moved,"
said Chuchmayeva.

Olga Medvedeva’s family is among the applicants for participation in
the program.

"If everyone goes, I won’t stay here either," she said. "But it will
be a pity, because I’ve spent my whole life here."

Olesya Vartanian is a journalist for Southern Gates newspaper,
founded by IWPR in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region.

OSKANYAN: PROSPECTS OF DISPATCHING ARMENIAN PEACEKEEPERS TO LEBANON UNDER DISCUSSION NOW

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Sept 14 2006

YEREVAN, September 14. /ARKA – Novosti-Armenia/. Armenian Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanyan said Thursday that the prospects of
dispatching Armenian peacekeepers to Lebanon are under discussion now,
but the final decision depends on some factors.

In his words, Armenia has received official proposals from some
countries to take part in the peacekeeping mission. These offers are
under discussions now, he said, but there are some questions in need
to be clarified before making decision.

"Such mission shouldn’t be an end in itself. Our presence there
should pursue certain goal. When this goal is become clear, Armenia
will make a final decision", Oskanyan said.

He said that, yet before the last Israeli strike against Lebanon,
the latter asked Armenia to send a mine-sniffing crew to the country.

The minister didn’t rule out that Armenia would take part in
mine-clearing work in Lebanon later, when the situation gets under
control.

Oskanyan also said that Armenian community in Lebanon urged Armenian
authorities to dispatch peacekeepers to the troubled country.

"We take into consideration the community’s view and maintain constant
contacts with it, but there are some other circumstances we should
take into account. I’m convinced the right decision will be eventually
made", the minister said.

EDUCATION NOTES

Dallas Morning News, TX
12:00 AM CDT on Monday, September 18, 2006

OF NOTE

UNT Foundation receives $1 million gift: G. Brint Ryan of Dallas, a
University of North Texas accounting graduate who founded Ryan & Co. –
America’s largest independent state and local tax consulting firm –
has donated $1 million to the UNT Foundation. The gift will create a
permanent endowment fund that is expected to generate approximately
$40,000 a year in discretionary spending for the accounting department
in UNT’s College of Business Administration. Prior to his $1 million
donation, Mr. Ryan gave gifts totaling more than $74,000 to the
university and the accounting department.

West End center to be announced: El Centro College will announce plans
to remodel the Paramount building at 301 N. Market St. in the Dallas
West End at 10 a.m.

Friday. The building will house the college’s Center for Allied
Health and Nursing. Plans call for immediate demolition of most of
the building’s internal structure to construct a new state-of-the-art
health and nursing facility that will serve the needs of El Centro
nursing programs and 12 of its 13 allied health programs. The college
expects construction to be completed in time to open the remodeled
building in fall 2007. El Centro, the flagship college of the Dallas
County Community College District, is at 801 Main St., about a block
south of the Paramount building, which dates to 1924.

Grant to help teacher hopefuls: Aspiring teachers can now receive
monetary assistance to meet their career goals, thanks to a new Fort
Worth Independent School District program funded by the U.S. Department
of Education. The Transition to Teaching grant represents about $1.6
million in tuition and tuition support. The district will work with
Texas Woman’s University to administer the program over the next
five years.

Individuals who take advantage of this program must make a commitment
to teach in the Fort Worth school district for a period of time after
completing the program. For more information, contact Birdie Avant
at 817-871-2237.

DCCCD open house this week: The Dallas County Community College
District will host a design and construction open house for interested
area builders, construction firms, architects and contractors from 4 to
6 p.m. Wednesday at 1505 S. Lamar St., Suite 1015, in Dallas. Business
people will learn more about phase II and phase III projects in the
DCCCD bond program, which was approved by voters in May 2004, and
upcoming bond projects. Refreshments will be served, and complimentary
parking is available. For more information about location and parking
or to make a reservation, contact Dee Crawford at 972-860-7903.

THINGS TO DO

Parent program scheduled: "911 for Parents … Stop Fighting, Whining &
Back-Talk" is scheduled from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 3 at the Terrell
Performing Arts Center and is being hosted by Terrell High School. It
is free for parents. "We’re going to teach parents, grandparents
and child-care providers how to effectively manage everything from
the little guys in the family to the teenagers," said Diana Day,
a child behavior expert.

Media panel set Wednesday: The University of Texas at Arlington will
host a panel of media experts to talk about free speech and the media
from noon to 1 p.m.

Wednesday in the sixth-floor parlor of UT Arlington’s Central Library,
702 Planetarium Place. This event, "Power of the Press," is free and
open to the public.

For information, contact Robert Wright, UT Arlington director of public
affairs, at 817-272-5364 or visit http://

ACHIEVERS

DISD social studies teacher Carolyn Reitz has been chosen for the
2006 Armenia School Connectivity Program. Ms. Reitz, who teaches at
Booker T.

Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, was one
of 25 educators nationwide selected for the program.

IN DISD

Student holiday this week: Friday is a staff development day for DISD
teachers and a holiday for students.

The Daily Telegraph (LONDON)
September 16, 2006 Saturday

The man of pleasure, the aristocrat and the belly-dancer

by Jane Stevenson

The Ruby in her Navel
by Barry Unsworth
336pp, Hamish Hamilton, pounds 17.99
T pounds 15.99 (plus pounds 1.25 p&p) 0870 428 4112

This lushly written novel is set in one of the most extraordinary
cultures ever to have existed, 12th-century Sicily. When the Normans,
those austere Christian descendants of the Vikings, went native in
the Mediterranean, they created a dazzlingly sophisticated hybrid
civilisation. Barry Unsworth’s evocation of this exquisite world of
perfumed silk, mosaics and tinkling fountains is a brilliant example
of the historical novelist’s art. Every detail carries conviction
but, far more importantly, what is going on in Thurstan Beauchamps’s
head is also perfectly realised. He is a product of a world in which
loyalty is a central virtue, knighthood is not a joke and the code of
courtly love still rules. He finds himself poised between two women,
the Norman aristocrat he has worshipped since childhood, and an
independent-minded Armenian belly-dancer; spiritual versus fleshly
love.

Or so he thinks. I do not want to give away the twists and turns of
this eminently well-plotted story, but in the course of the
narrative, all his faiths are tested, including his beliefs about
women. The novel is entirely successful as a romance, or a story
about growing up and growing out of unexamined assumptions. But
beneath the surface, some serious ideas are moving. Thurstan is the
king’s Purveyor of Pleasures. It is his job to find new sources of
entertainment and bring them to Palermo: a job that lends itself to
being combined with espionage and undercover activity. He works under
Yusuf ibn Mansur in the finance department, or diwan of control, for
Norman Sicily is a mixed culture of Normans, Byzantines, Arabs and
Jews.

In the 12th century, Western and Eastern Christendom had a heritage
of mutual suspicion, which arose partly from ideology and politics,
partly from fundamental cultural differences but, beyond that, Norman
Sicily was an experiment in Christian and Muslim coexistence. For
various reasons, Thurstan’s world was an irritant to both Eastern and
Western emperors, an experiment that many people wanted to see fail.
This was the era of the crusades, and King Roger’s realm was a direct
affront to the Christian fundamentalists from the West, who insisted
that Christians and Arabs were inescapably opposed, and any attempt
at dialogue was not only doomed, but damned.

There are lessons here for our own time, but Unsworth is not in the
business of big statements. He addresses the problem of a genuinely
multicultural society with subtlety, and asks the crucial question:
can people whose cultural heritage is completely different ever
really trust one another? Trust, not love, is at the heart of this
novel. Thurstan is trusted by Yusuf, and proud to be so trusted, but
Yusuf’s mind proceeds along different tracks from Thurstan’s; they
understand one another up to a point, but only by a continuous effort
of imagination, and there is much that Thurstan sees only when it is
too late. Content to serve his king, he fails to see the depths of
treachery and bad faith that surround the court at Palermo.

When the novel opens, Thurstan sees the royal household as something
that has risen above the petty strivings of ordinary mortals. To him,
King Roger is a remote and glorious figure. By the time his story
comes to an end, he has looked the king in the eye, and has come to
understand that the strife between nations is larger and more cruel
than that between factions within a society, but not intrinsically
different.

In an attempt to balance his various loyalties, Thurstan is driven to
commit gross injustice and to betray one of the people he holds most
dear. Ultimately, he has no choice but to walk away from everything
he has ever valued – though in the process, he must make another leap
of faith, in an unexpected direction. Love, trust and honour exist,
he finds; but not where he has been taught to look for them.

Associated Press Worldstream
September 13, 2006 Wednesday

SoCal heirs of Armenians file lawsuit against German banks

LOS ANGELES

Heirs of Armenians killed nearly a century ago in the Turkish Ottoman
Empire can proceed with a lawsuit against two German banks they claim
owe them millions of dollars.

Federal Judge Margaret M. Morrow’s ruling on Monday allows the
class-action suit to move ahead. No trial date was set.

Deutsche Bank A.G. and Dresdner Bank A.G. were sued in January. Seven
Armenians living in Southern California are seeking unspecified
millions of dollars for assets such as gold, cash and jewelry that
they claim were deposited by thousands of their ancestors at the
banks’ Turkish branches or otherwise looted by the Ottoman Turkish
government and later transferred to European banks.

The suit is the latest bid by Armenians in the United States to
recover assets they believe belonged to some 1.5 million Armenians
who perished in a genocide beginning in 1915.

Litigation brought against New York Life Insurance Co. by Armenian
descendants led to a $20 million settlement; French life insurer AXA
has agreed to pay $17 million to settle a separate class-action
claim. Both lawsuits made similar allegations.

Arminfo, Yerevan, in Russian
13 Sep 06

ARMENIA, BULGARIA SIGN MILITARY ACCORD

Yerevan, 13 September: The Armenian and Bulgarian defence ministers
have signed a document on further development of bilateral
cooperation in the military sphere.

Armenian Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan and his Bulgarian opposite
number, Veselin Bliznakov, signed the document at their meeting on 11
September, the press service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry told
Arminfo.

The Armenian and Bulgarian defence ministers discussed developing and
deepening of defence cooperation. The ministers agreed to cooperate
in conducting democratic supervision over the armed forces, forming
military budgets and ensuring transparency in defence planning, as
well as in the sphere of drawing up the military doctrine and
blueprint for national security. The ministers also agreed to
exchange expertise and re-train Armenian representatives at Bulgarian
military schools.

Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov received the Armenian delegation
led by the defence minister on the same day. The Armenian delegation
also visited the Bulgarian National Assembly and was received by
Deputy Speaker Petur Beron and members of the parliamentary standing
commission on defence.

In addition, meetings of working groups on defence planning and
logistics were held within the framework of cooperation between the
defence ministries of Armenia and Bulgaria.