Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

Armenian Eparchy accuses Georgian clergymen of destroying cross stones

Azg web site, Yerevan
10 Mar 05

Excerpt from Tatul Akopyan’s report by Armenian newspaper Azg web site
on 10 March headlined “`Georgian clergymen are engaged in destruction
of Armenian historical monuments’. Khachkars of 14 century were
destroyed in Kakheti’s Gremi monasterial compound”

The Georgian Eparchy of the Armenian Apostolic Church on Tuesday
[8 March] reported that the Armenian khachkars [cross stones] at
the Gremi monasterial compound in Kakheti [province of Georgia]
had been destroyed.

“The Georgian clergymen do not hide that the Armenian church will be
consecrated in conformity with the Georgian canons. Unfortunately,
many Georgian priests mistakenly mix up extreme nationalism and
vandalism with patriotism,” the report said. [Passage omitted:
Gremi’s background]

“Currently, the monasterial compound in Gremi is closed for the
visitors. It is being `restored`. The Georgian monastery is inside
the compound. Representatives of the clergy are engaged in beekeeping
and the destruction of monuments of the Armenian cultural heritage.
Unfortunately, by destroying Armenian monuments, those `patriots’
are not realizing that they are eradicating part of their history,
and, moreover, are destroying all-Christian values, which are above
the national interests,” the report said.

The Georgian Eparchy of the Armenian Apostolic Church asks: how can one
classify the above acts other than vandalism? When will this ordeal,
which has been going on in Georgia for 10 years, be ended?

LEADER OF PARTY HUMAN RIGHTS – DEMOCRACY ACCUSES HEAD OF WORLD
ARMENIAN CONGRESS OF VIOLATION OF ARMENIAN LEGISLATION

YEREVAN, MARCH 9. ARMINFO. Leader of the party Human Rights –
Democracy, Head of the public organization “Deputy Club ‘Supreme
Council'” Ruben Torosyan accuses Head of World Armenian Congress Ara
Abrahamyan of violation of the Armenian legislation.

The party’s statement addressed to Head of the State Taxation Service
of Armenia Felix Tsolakyan received by ARMINFO today says that in
conformity with recent publications in a number of native Mass Media,
Ara Abrahamyan made donations to the political parties RAPA and ARFD.
However, the statement says that the RA Law on Parties bans donations
from foreign citizens and legal entities to political parties of
Armenia. The same law stipulates that if such cases are registered,
the donations are subject to return to the donator within two weeks.
“Please, informs us of the measures taken to liquidate the consequences
of the above violation of the RA Law on Parties,” says the message
of the party “Human Rights-Democracy.”

`GENOCIDE ISSUE WILL BE RESOLVED NOT WITH DIASPORA BUT WITH ARMENIA’

Azg/arm
5 March 05

On March2, daily Azg informed its readers about a workshop on Armenian
Genocide with the participation of Turkish scientists to launch on
March 5 in Cologne, Germany. Meanwhile we noted that the initiative
will boost few German parties proposal to honor the Genocide victims
in the Bundestag.

Turkish ambassador to Germany, Mehmed Ali Irtemcelik, lashed out at
Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union for the
initiative. Meanwhile, Wolf Ruthart Born, German ambassador to Turkey,
was called to the Foreign Ministry where he was handed in a “notice”
of Ankara. Irtemcelik in his turn passed a document with similar
content on to German Foreign Ministry.

Turkish Hurriet newspaper informed on March 4 about seminar “What will
be the course of negotiations with Turkey?” organized by the Union of
Turkish Democrats of Europe in Cologne during which hot arguments took
place. Hurriet reports that Wolfgang Bosbach, deputy chairman of the
CDU, told that “Turkey cannot deny the genocide”, thus making furious
Zuneyt Zapsu, PM Erdogan’s adviser on foreign policy.

He exclaimed: “You carp at the genocide all the time. We will
certainly put these issues on the agenda and will discuss it to find a
solution in a short while. But the genocide issue will be resolved not
with Diaspora but with Armenia. But there are also such issues as the
Alavi issue waiting to be resolved”.

Bosbach angrily responded to Zapsu’s speech: “What is the other issue
but the Armenian Genocide? What do you mean saying Armenian cause? I
want to know what issues concerning Armenians will be put for
discussion. Do you believethat we would be in the EU if we had
rejected the Holocaust? If we put up with our history, doesn’t it mean
that Turkey should do the same? If you want to be part of the European
family you have to give up your ways”.

By the end of the torrid discussions Zapsu told journalists: “We
should not delay with settling the Armenian cause nor should we
exaggerate it. Germany supports us in our EU bid. We already face
numerous difficulties and there is no point to turn an ally into
enemy. If our forefathers did so, there would beno Christian in East
Europe”.

By Hakob Chakrian

Joint Commemorative Committee for the
90th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of 1915
138 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016

Contact: Iris Papazian, 212-689-7810
Chris Zakian, 212-686-0710

Date: February 28, 2005
PRESS RELEASE

90th ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO BE COMMEMORATED IN NYC ON APRIL 24,
2005

Joint Committee of Armenian American Organizations Plan Day of Remembrance,
Recognition for the “Forgotten Genocide”

* * *

NEW YORK, NY-On Sunday, April 24, 2005, Armenian Americans from throughout
the northeast will converge on New York City to commemorate the 90th
anniversary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide-in which 1.5 million Armenians
perished at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish empire.

Historians consider the attempt to exterminate the Armenians as the first
instance of genocide in the 20th century: a precursor to mass killings
throughout the century, and an explicit model for Hitler’s own “final
solution.” Still, 90 years after the catastrophe that scattered surviving
Armenians across the globe, the Republic of Turkey continues to deny the
facts of the Genocide.

For this year’s New York observance of the Armenian Genocide on April 24
(the date annually observed as “Martyrs Day” by Armenians around the world),
the main Armenian American organizations have joined forces to plan a major
commemoration, built around the themes of remembrance, justice, and
prevention.

The day will start with church services at 9:00 a.m., in Manhattan’s two
Armenian cathedrals: St. Vartan Cathedral (Second Ave. at 34th St.) and St.
Illuminator’s Cathedral (27th St. between Second and Third Avenues).

At 12:00 noon, a large memorial gathering at Times Square (Broadway at 43rd
St.) will bring together several thousand Armenian Americans from the Mid
Atlantic and New England areas.

Finally, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., a solemn ecumenical requiem service will be
held at St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Cathedral (Fifth Ave. at 50th St.),
where dignitaries from the religious, political, diplomatic, and media
arenas will be present.

In the run-up to the main commemoration, related events have been planned
throughout the northeast, to build momentum towards April 24. These include
speaking engagements by Dr. Peter Balakian-professor at Colgate University
and acclaimed author of the New York Times bestsellers The Burning Tigris
and Black Dog of Fate. Also planned is a production/reading of the
award-winning drama, Beast on the Moon, by Richard Kalinoski- an immigrant
love story whose two central characters are survivors of the Armenian
Genocide.

Other events will involve elderly Genocide survivors, noted Armenian
American scholars, and civil rights leaders who support the goal of gaining
official political recognition for the Armenian Genocide, both in Turkey and
in the United States.

Organizers view this anniversary year as a chance to heal the emotional
scars of the survivors of the Genocide-who fled their homeland to the safety
of America’s shores-and their descendants.

“We see it as an opportunity to catalyze leaders, at home and abroad, to
recognize the Genocide and seek justice for its victims,” say Ken Sarajian
and Roy Stepanian, co-chair of the joint 90th anniversary committee.

Despite the passage of 90 years, recent events make the Armenian Genocide a
relevant topic. Human rights questions, including the Genocide, have become
sticking points with the international community as Turkey attempts to gain
entry to the European Union. And Turkey’s decade-long land and rail
blockade of the neighboring Republic of Armenia has caused deep economic
problems for Armenia’s struggling citizens, already burdened with building a
free society over the ruins of the Soviet period.

More generally, genocide itself remains a horrifyingly relevant political
matter, as current events in Africa testify. Identification and prevention
of such atrocities is an important theme for Armenians in the upcoming
observance.

“This memorial will educate, in the hope that such things never happen
again,” says Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the
Armenian Church of America.

Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate of the Armenian Apostolic Church of
America, adds: “The justice we seek will stretch beyond our borders and
prevent similar events from taking place.”

# # #

The Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee is coordinating events on April 24,
2005, to commemorate the 90th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The
committee is comprised of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America
(Eastern), Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America,
Armenian Assembly of America, Armenian Democratic Liberal Party, Apostolic
Exarch for Armenian Catholics in the U.S., Armenian General Benevolent
Union, Armenian Missionary Association of America, Armenian National
Committee of America, Armenian Relief Society of the Eastern United States,
Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Armenian Social Democratic Hunchakian
Party, Knights and Daughters of Vartan.

Assyrian International News Agency – AINA

A Panel on Armenian Genocide With Turkish Intelligentsia

Posted 03-03-2005 11:00:32 GMT 3-3-2005 17:0:32)

A citizen of Germany of Armenian origin Artin Aqyuz sent an email to daily
Azg on February 25. The name of the addresser is the distorted variant of
Armenian name of Harutyun but the last name has no Armenian trace.
Obviously, the addresser is a former citizen of Turkey, a country that does
not bother too much about precisely putting Armenian names in the passports.

In other words, it is almost impossible for a Turkish-Armenian to make a
Turkish official at the Passport Department write his name correctly in the
document, especially when the name is ending in “ian”. However, Artin Aqyuz
attached a notification informing of a seminar in Cologne on March 5.

The name of the seminar is “The 90th anniversary of Armenian Genocide and
social responsibility. A panel with Turkish intelligentsia”. It is organized
by the Central Council of Germany and the Armenian Church Center of Germany
in association with the Church Union of Cologne and TODAY Turkish NGO.

Aqen Birdal, honorable president of the Turkish General Union of Human
Rights, journalist Demir Qyucuqaydn, Ragəp Zaraqolu, publisher and
public figure, writer Recep Maraslə will lecture at the seminar. Dogan
Aqhanlə, vice-president of Union Against Genocide, will preside the
workshop.

The notification informs that the Turkish society having neglected the
processes of the Ottoman military court in 1919, the investigation of the
parliament, numerous documents and studies, as well as the fact that
thousands Armenians escaped Genocide by finding shelter in different
countries of the world, continues denying the Genocide and even places the
blame on the victims of the atrocities 90 ago.

All participants of the seminar are from Turkey alone. It’s an incredible
step given Turkey’s state negationism. The following questions put by
participants for discussion are more than incredible: “Will Turkey be able
to follow Germany’s example in acknowledging Holocaust by 2015? Can it
display ability of reconciling with the genocide it committed instead of
turning deaf ear to just claims? Will it remember that the Armenians and
Assyrians massacred in 1915 were the country’s citizens and not a country
waging war against Turkey? Will it trace links between the crime committed
in the past and the violence in different spheres of social life in today’s
Turkey in order to free the coming generations from bearing moral, jural and
civil responsibility? If negation and threats are no way out, then what will
be the approach and responsibility of Turkish intelligentsia, mass media and
political figures to the genocide issue?”

We think that the coming seminar will contribute to the initiative of
Christian Democrats’ to honor the victims of Genocide in Bundestag and will
be an adequate counteraction to Turkish official circles.

By Hakob Chakrian
AZG Armenian Daily
azg.am

© 2005, Assyrian International News Agency

Interfax

Mar 2 2005 2:59PM

Armenian opposition wants non-scheduled elections

YEREVAN. March 2 (Interfax) – The Armenian opposition wants non-
scheduled elections to be held in the country, the Justice opposition
bloc’s leader Stepan Demirchian told a news conference on Wednesday.

The deep economic crisis in Armenia “is a result of the country’s
previous undemocratic presidential and parliamentary elections,”
Demirchian said.

Holding “non-scheduled free and democratic elections” is the only way
to end the crisis, he said.

NAGORNY KARABAKH REPUBLIC MARKS 17TH ANNIVERSARY OF TRAGIC EVENTS
IN AZERBAIJANI TOWN OF SUMGAIT.

STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 28. ARMINFO. Nagorny Karabakh Republic marks the
17th anniversary of tragic events in the Azerbaijani town of Sumgait.

According to ARMINFO’s special correspondent to Stepanakert, the
country’s leadership and public visited Stepanakert Memorial Complex
and in commemoration of the Armenians who fell innocent victims to
massacres in that town once known to be an international town.

UNION OF ARMENIAN ARYANS APPLIES TO APPEAL COURT

AZG Armenian Daily #019, 04/02/2005

Home

It is known that Aram Grigorian, Inspector-in~Vchief, rejected the
mediation represented by Victor Dallaqian and Manouk Gasparian, MPs,
for changing the preventive punishment sentenced for Armen Avetisian,
head of the Union of the Armenian Aryans.

The Union of the Armenian Aryans also applied to the prosecutor of
Yerevan city with the same aim. If the prosecutor of Yerevan city
rejects their appeal too, the organization will apply to RA Public
Prosecutor.

The organization has applied to RA Appeal Court against the decision
of the first instance court. Mar Martirosian, member of the union’s
supreme board, informed that the hearing of the case is envisaged on
February 4.

It is known that Larisa Alaverdian, RA Ombudswoman, applied to RA
President with the same purpose. According to PR Department of RA
Ombudswoman’s Office, Larisa Alaverdian hasn’t received any answer yet.

By Karine Danielian

AZG Armenian Daily #019, 04/02/2005

Turkey-EU

AMERICAN JEWISH GROUP TO LOBBY FOR TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP

For several years now, the Israeli government and a few American-Jewish
groups have supported Turkey on various issues, some of which run
counter to Armenian interests.

In addition to denying the Armenian Genocide, lobbying the US Congress
against a commemorative resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide,
and backing Azerbaijan in the Karabakh conflict, these Jewish groups
have now added a new irritant to the existing disagreements with
Armenians.

In a report issued last December, David A. Harris, the Executive
Director of the American Jewish Committee, wrote that the European
Union’s decision to start membership talks with Turkey was “truly
momentous.” He stated that Turkey is counting on the AJC and American
Jews to lobby for its interests.

The enthusiastic and almost blind support by Israel and some American
Jewish groups for Turkey’s EU membership runs against Armenians’
intent to force Turks to recognize the Armenian Genocide and open
the border with Armenia, as the price of admission to the EU.

In the following excepts from his lengthy report, Mr. Harris makes
abundantly clear the close partnership between Israel, the AJC
and Turkey:

“…In the Turkish Jewish community, with which the American Jewish
Committee has a very close affiliation, last week’s news from Brussels
will be enthusiastically received. The 22,000-member community has long
taken the view that Turkey’s future anchored in Western institutions
is the best guarantee of national security, stability, and prosperity.

“And, in Israel, the EU’s announcement will also be welcomed. Israel
has publicly declared its support for Turkey’s accession…

“In a recent American Jewish Committee visit to Turkey, the European
Union was issue number one (and two and three) on the agenda of
government officials, including the prime minister and foreign
minister. The October EU Commission report had just been released,
and the ensuing two months were seen as the last chance to persuade
European leaders to do the ‘right thing’ at their fateful meeting in
Brussels on December 16-17.

“Turkish leaders view the AJC as important to the political
equation. Not only have we been consistently regarded as a steady and
reliable voice for the Turkish-American relationship, but also, because
of AJC’s wide-ranging contacts throughout Europe, the Turks have
counted on our support when we meet with French, German, Greek, and
other European leaders. Lacking a well-organized Diaspora community,
they’ve looked to American Jews to fulfill that role….

“In the 1990s, the [Turkish-Israeli] bilateral relationship took off
in dramatic fashion, including defense cooperation, joint military
exercises, counter-terrorism measures, intelligence-sharing, a free
trade agreement, and tourism~E

“Today, Israel regards its links with Turkey as vitally important
and mutually beneficial….

“And not least, Turkish Jewry, though diminished in size, largely
due to aliyah [exodus], continues to prosper and enjoy a full
communal life, including keeping alive the Judeo-Spanish language of
Ladino. Anti-Semitism exists, but is not regarded as a major threat,
according to communal leaders. What is a threat — and not only to
Jews — is terrorism.”

By denying the Armenian Genocide, siding with Azerbaijan on the
Karabakh conflict, and lobbying the US Congress against recognition
of the Armenian Genocide, the Israeli government and some American
Jewish groups have deeply offended all Armenians. Nevertheless,
both Jews and Armenians must be mindful of the following key points.

Armenians must not forget that there are many prominent American
Jewish individuals and organizations as well as high-ranking Israeli
officials and scholars who fully support the Armenians on the
foregoing issues. In their frustration and anger, Armenians would be
wrong to lash out at all Jews. For example, when some ill-mannered
Yeshiva students insult Armenian clergymen in Jerusalem, Armenians
should not react by accusing all Jews or all Israelis of being
anti-Armenian. To be sure, several Israeli officials and Rabbis
as well as Jewish-American-organizations have condemned the crude
behavior of these Yeshiva students. Furthermore, many righteous Jews
have not shied away from severely criticizing the Israeli government
of its denial of the Armenian Genocide.

Similarly, Israelis and Jewish Americans should not blame Armenians
of being anti-Jewish, just because o prejudicial statements made by
few Armenian individuals. Armenians and Jews would be unnecessarily
antagonizing each other by indiscriminately condemning all members
of both groups for the sins of the few. Political differences should
not be pursued by exchanging insults, but through informed dialogue
among Armenians and Jews of good faith.

By Harut Sassounian; Publisher, The California Courier

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH(LONDON)
February 27, 2005, Sunday

We’ve all gone to heaven

By Peter Reed

BODY:
People still speak in hushed tones of the Kirov Opera’s performance
of Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and
the Maiden Fevroniya at the Barbican in 1994. If it was anything like
last Wednesday’s given by the same forces (now called the Mariinsky
Theatre) and again conducted by the Mariinsky’s director, Valery
Gergiev, I can understand why. The impact it made is all the more
remarkable when you consider that this conflation and interpretation
of two medieval Russian fables is not without flaws.

Its epic historical scale lacks dramatic focus – you think that the
“pilgrim’s progress” of saintly Fevroniya is at the centre of things,
but Kuterma, the grotesque and drunken idiot-savant, is far more
powerfully drawn. The love between Fevroniya and her prince,
initiated in Act I, is then virtually ignored until the last act, by
which time they’re both dead in the now celestial city of Kitezh. The
influence of Wagner – not for nothing is the work known as “the
Russian Parsifal” – is all over the score like a rash; and when it
isn’t the music is dominated by those characteristically Russian
folk- and hymn-style melodies that always seem to be looping back to
where they started.

The reason it works, of course, is that the Mariinsky performs it
with such conviction. Kitezh is in their blood and, with the
exception of the two main roles – a steady and radiant Fevroniya from
Tatiana Borodina (standing in for Mlada Khudolei) and Vassily
Gorshkov’s strident and demented Kuterma – in their heads: the other
13 soloists sang from memory. These included Lyubov Sokolova and Olga
Trifonova’s expressive two birds of paradise, who announce
Fevroniya’s death and lead her into the heavenly city, and Gennady
Bezzubenkov as Prince Yuri, sonorous and moving in his prayer for the
city’s deliverance from the Tartar hordes.

This sense of cohesion was firmly grounded in the grandeur of the
chorus’s singing and by the orchestra’s hyper-responsive playing,
which under Gergiev’s fairly minimal direction illuminated the
music’s visionary and narrative detail. One moment it was like
viewing one of those huge sombre Russian landscapes, the next like
contemplating an icon. Gergiev presented us with a rock-solid fusion
of style and content, and the result was both remarkable and
humbling.

The following night the Mariinsky chorus reasserted the authority of
their disciplined, flexible singing in a short concert of Russian
church music in the warm and very comfortable Armenian church of St
Yeghiche in south Kensington. The music included some lovely extracts
from vespers by Kalinnikov and Rachmaninov; Bezzubenkov was the
soloist in a magnificently gloomy Litany of Supplication by
Grechaninov; and I very much liked Arkhangelsky’s concerto for chorus
“I Think of the Dies Irae” – you and me both, all the time.