Author: Chakrian Hovsep

AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION COMES UNDER FIRE
Khadija Ismayilova 9/06/05

EurasiaNet, NY
Sept 6 2005

With two months of campaigning remaining before Azerbaijan’s
parliamentary election, President Ilham Aliyev’s administration
appears to be on a collision course with the country’s leading
opposition parties.

The country’s opposition has come under increasing pressure in recent
weeks. Several opposition and youth group activists have been arrested
— some of them accused of planning action aimed at undermining
political stability. Meanwhile, a lawsuit filed by the Popular Front
Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) against the Ministry of National Security
for allegedly attempting to orchestrate the ouster of party leader
Ali Kerimli suggests that what is already a contentious campaign
atmosphere could become explosive.

At an August 22 news conference, Ramiz Tagiyev, a former political
prisoner and advisor to Kerimli, alleged that Security Ministry
agents offered him $1,000 to foment discord within Kerimli’s PFPA. If
party infighting culminated in Kerimli’s ouster as leader, Security
Ministry officials indicated that they would pay him a bonus,
Tagiyev said at the news conference. “I was promised full support,
money for recruiting people inside the party and all benefits, after
the successful completion of the operation,” he said.

According to Tagiyev, ministry agents told him that the August 3
arrest of Ruslan Bashirli, leader of Yeni Fikir, a youth group with
ties to the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), was among the
“provocations” planned against the opposition party. [For background
see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Bashirli was imprisoned on charges
of attempting to stage a coup with the help of the Armenian special
services. After Bashirli’s arrest, violent pickets took place for
several days outside of PFPA headquarters. Baku police have since
faced criticism for doing little to prevent the attacks.

Tagiyev’s accusations do not target the government alone. The
PFPA advisor claims that Igbal Agazade, leader of the opposition
Umid Party, invited him to meet with two Security Ministry agents,
identified as Ilgar Agayev and Elchin Guliyev, to discuss the plan.
Agazade, released from prison in 2005 for allegedly helping to incite
the riots that followed President Aliyev’s October 2003 election,
has since denied any collaboration with the Security Ministry,
attributing the accusation down to a PFPA bias against his party.
[For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Appearing at the news conference with Tagiyev, Kerimli stated that
he had been informed about the actions planned against the PFPA, and
had, therefore, told party members not to respond to the attacks on
PFPA headquarters that followed Bashirli’s arrest. “It is a flagrant
illegality and violation of the law by the country’s special services,”
Kerimli said. “Instead of fighting threats to national security,
the ministry is involved in a dirty struggle against the nation.”

Commenting on the charges, ministry spokesperson Arif Babayev called
Tagiyev’s allegations “nonsense.” The fact that the Tagiyev-Kerimli
news conference coincided with a visit to Azerbaijan by Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe President Rene van der Linden was
not accidental, Babayev argued. “They [the opposition] always prepare
some ‘provocations’ for such guests,” Babayev said. The PFPA has since
filed a lawsuit against the ministry in Sabayil District Court in Baku.

Some human rights activists support Tagiyev’s charge that the
government is attempting to interfere in the election process.
Isakhan Ashurov, chairman of the Independent Lawyers League and a
member of the opposition Musavat Party, told EurasiaNet that Elchin
Guliyev came to his office in June 2005 to arrest Pirali Orujev,
a Musavat activist on charges of allegedly planning a terrorist act
against Bakhram Shukurov, an appeals court judge and president of
the pro-government Azad Azerbaijan television station.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) strongly
condemned the attacks on the PFPA headquarters, which took place amid a
breakdown in OSCE-sponsored talks between the government and opposition
parties on ways to foster a peaceful campaign environment. Like the
Council of Europe, the OSCE has strongly pressured President Aliyev
to hold free and fair parliamentary elections, scheduled for November
6. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

At a September 1 news conference in Baku, Special Representative of the
Council of Europe to Azerbaijan Mats Lindberg expressed optimism for a
free and fair vote, noting that, aside from delays in issuing identity
cards and voter cards, the registration of candidates appeared to be
going largely according to plan. “No one has been denied registration,
and it seems that this process will finish according to schedule,”
Lindberg said, the news agency Bilik Dunyasi reported.

Nonetheless, opposition members and activists continue to be targeted
for harassment and arrest. In recent weeks, scores of young members of
the PFPA, Musavat and Democratic Party of Azerbaijan have been arrested
for dissemination of leaflets urging people to check that their names
are correctly listed on official voter lists. Individual activists
in the regions, particularly the autonomous republic of Nakhichivan,
have been arrested on a variety of minor charges, and in May 2005,
Almaz Guliyeva, a British national and the niece of exiled Democratic
Party of Azerbaijan Chairman Rasul Guliyev, was arrested at the Baku
airport under suspicion of carrying a gun.

Of late, opposition rallies have been held with little interference
by authorities. Attendance at the latest demonstration, on August
27, was estimated at about 15,000, the Russian news agency ITAR-TASS
reported. “The last opposition rally gathered even more people than
the opposition had in their rally before the [Ruslan] Bashirli case,”
noted Hikmet Hajizade, head of the Far-Center: [For additional
information see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The recent arrest of Merab Jibutia, a Georgian citizen identified
by the Azerbaijani government as one of the alleged Armenian agents
working with Bashirli, has further aroused PFPA suspicions. On
August 26, Azerbaijani border guards arrested Jibutia crossing
into Azerbaijan from Georgia, allegedly to “meet with Bashirli
and clarify the situation,” according to a statement issued by the
prosecutor-general’s office.

Fuad Mustafayev, deputy chairman of the Popular Front, argued that the
prosecutor’s statement was flawed: “Why would a person declared by the
Azerbaijani government to be an Armenian spy come to Azerbaijan? Where
would he meet Bashirli? In jail? The authorities have stirred up
trouble, and now . . . are sinking into the lie more and more.”

International organizations have not responded to charges of government
provocation against the opposition. Rather, their focus remains on
encouraging authorities to hold an above-board vote. Said Lindberg:
“We very much hope and expect that the [November parliamentary]
election will be free and fair and that the presidential instruction
in this regard will be implemented in full.”

Editor’s Note: Khadija Ismayilova is a freelance journalist based
in Baku.

DIE WELT, Deutschland
2. September 2005

Türkisches Gericht klagt Pamuk an;
Dem Schriftsteller droht wegen einer Armenien-Äußerung Haftstrafe

von Boris Kalnoky

Istanbul – In ihrem ehrgeizigen Streben, eines Tages zur europäischen
Staatenfamilie gehören zu dürfen, macht die Türkei vieles
eindrucksvoll richtig. Mancher Schritt geht freilich so arg daneben,
daß selbst wohlgesinnte Beobachter Bauchgrimmen bekommen. Der bislang
schrillste Mißklang ist die Entscheidung eines Istanbuler
Staatsanwaltes, den international anerkanntesten Schriftsteller des
Landes vor Gericht zu zerren. Orhan Pamuk muß sich am 16. Dezember
des Vorwurfs erwehren, die “türkische Identität verunglimpft” zu
haben.

Konkret geht es um eine Aussage Pamuks, in der Türkei seien 30 000
Kurden und eine Million Armenier getötet worden und niemand rede
darüber.

Viel wird wirklich nicht darüber geredet, denn der Gummi-Paragraph
301/1, der besser zu einem totalitären Regime als in die
demokratische Türkei passen würde, bedroht jeden mit sechs bis 36
Monaten Gefängnis, der das tut. Dieses Strafmaß gilt auch für Pamuk.

Was denn die “türkische Identität” sein soll, die es da mit Gewalt
vor jeglicher Kritik zu schützen gilt, das bleibt ebenso unerklärt
wie die Frage, was genau an Pamuks Aussagen einen Angriff auf besagte
Identität darstellen soll. Daß mindestens 30 000 Kurden getötet
wurden, das gilt allgemein als historisch korrekt und wurde indirekt
auch von türkischen Staatsanwälten ins Feld geführt, als es darum
ging, Kurdenführer Abdullah Öcalan zu verurteilen. Freilich war da
nur von “mehr als 30 000 Todesopfern” im Guerillakrieg der PKK die
Rede. Daß die meisten von ihnen Kurden waren, wurde nicht präzisiert.

Was die armenischen Opfer betrifft, so wird man Pamuk vermutlich
bitten, Beweise für die Zahl “eine Million” zu erbringen. Das kann
schwer werden, da es keine verläßlichen Opferzahlen gibt. Die
armenischen Behauptungen von “1,5 Millionen Opfern” beim “Genozid”
von 1915 sind mit Sicherheit übertrieben, die türkischen
Regierungszahlen von rund “300 000 Opfern” der “Vertreibung” gelten
bei den meisten nichttürkischen Historikern als stark untertrieben.
600 000 bis 800 000 Todesopfer ist ein Mittelwert, auf den sich
gemäßigte Historiker eingestellt haben, freilich ohne diese Zahl
dokumentieren zu können.

Aber die Zahlenklauberei lenkt nur von der Hauptsache ab, daß es
nämlich zu Vergehen gegen die Menschlichkeit gekommen ist, für die
der Staat, dessen Schutz die damaligen ottomanischen Bürger
anbefohlen waren, direkt verantwortlich war, da es doch die Regierung
war, die die Vertreibung der armenischen Zivilbevölkerung anordnete
und organisierte. Daß es dabei zu großen Verlusten an Menschenleben
kommen würde, zumal die Opfer ohne Verpflegung oder Infrastruktur
bewußt in die Gluthölle der syrischen Wüste gebracht wurden, das
müssen die türkischen Führer gewußt und in Kauf genommen haben.

Die große Frage ist nun, ob im Verfahren gegen Pamuk ein übereifriger
konservativer Staatsanwalt als Einzelgänger vorprescht, um den besten
geistigen Botschafter der liberaleren Türkei außer Gefecht zu setzen
– oder ob dahinter Politiker die Fäden ziehen. Immerhin läuft seit
Monaten eine staatlich organisierte und koordinierte Kampagne in der
Genozid-Debatte. Die Regierung hat erkannt, daß das internationale
“Vorurteil”, es habe einen Genozid an den Armeniern gegeben,
potentiell zu großem politischen Schaden führen kann, und ist nun
bemüht, die Initiative zu ergreifen, um die Genozid-These zu
entkräften. Das Verfahren gegen Pamuk paßt in diese Strategie ebenso
hinein wie vor einiger Zeit die Torpedierung einer
Historikerkonferenz. Da hatte der Justizminister vor dem Parlament
gegen die Organisatoren gewütet, und diese hatten prompt die ganze
Veranstaltung abgeblasen.

Pamuk sieht sich übrigens nicht nur juristisch unter Druck.
Rechtsextreme Kreise wie die “Idealisten” (einst besser als “Graue
Wölfe” bekannt), aber auch große Massenzeitungen wie “Hürriyet”
beschimpfen ihn, ein “Nestbeschmutzer” zu sein, ein Schwarzmacher,
ein Lügner, ein Untürke. Der Rufmord an Pamuk ist in den Massenmedien
längst vollzogen. Der Schriftsteller, den schrille türkische
Schreiberlinge schon so lange an den Pranger stellen, wird nun
anläßlich seines Verfahrens erst recht öffentlichen Haßtiraden
preisgegeben sein. Da kann man nur hoffen, daß nicht eines Tages die
häufigen anonymen Drohungen wahr werden, er solle darauf achten, was
er sagt, um nicht zu Schaden zu kommen.

Die Europäische Union ihrerseits wird interessiert beobachten, wie
ein Land, welches der europäischen Wertegemeinschaft angehören will,
einen Schriftsteller verfolgt, der seine Meinung zu sagen wagt.

–Boundary_(ID_doiR6LfAIpVJyeHBXvziag)–

Armenian parliament approves far-reaching constitution change

Agence France Presse — English
September 1, 2005 Thursday 6:28 PM GMT

YEREVAN Sept 1 — Armenia’s parliament approved constitutional changes
on Thursday that would reduce the president’s powers and increase
the independence of the courts, but which opposition parties see as
a ruse by President Robert Kocharian to stay on in office.

The changes, approved in a second reading and due for a third reading
before going to a referendum, would represent a substantial shake-up
of the former Soviet republic’s political system.

They include giving parliament a greater role in forming governments
and ending the president’s role as head of the government and head
of the Council of Justice.

They would also permit the holding of dual citizenship, a move that
would allow millions of members of the Armenian diaspora living in
the United States and elsewhere to have Armenian citizenship as well
as that of their home country.

Opposition parties refused to vote on Thursday’s proposals, suspecting
that the authorities would use the changing of the constitution as
an opportunity to discount Kocharian’s current second term in office
and let him stand again for election.

“The changes… would allow the president to nominate himself for
a third time,” Aram Sarkisyan, leader of the opposition Democratic
party, said.

Kocharian’s spokesman, Viktor Sogomonyan, denied the charge.

“Neither the current nor a changed constitution would allow the
president to stand for a third term,” Sogomonyan told AFP.

Armenia’s opposition parties had been boycotting parliament since
February last year, accusing Kocharian of rigging his re-election in
2003. But they were persuaded to return for the second reading by the
46-nation Council of Europe, which promotes human rights and democracy.

But they refused to vote on the changes.

In the event of approval in a third reading, the authorities plan a
referendum on the changes in November.

NATIONAL BANK OF AZERBAIJAN SOLVES CONTRADICTION

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
[August 29, 2005, 14:13:23]

The national Bank of Azerbaijan has solved contradiction about the
Kazakhstan based “Bank Turan-Alem” which is going to open its office
branch in Azerbaijan, reported AzerTAj.

According to the Bank’s press release, rumors disseminating by some
mass media about the Turan-Alem’s Armenian relations are erroneous.
It added the Bank Turan-Alem has not been registered by the National
Bank and now it’s procedure reference is considering. Amongst the
shareholders of Turan-Alem are the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development, the International Finance Corporation, some prestigious
foreign financial structures, said the National Bank.

The case in connection with purchasing by Turan-Alem of the
Armenia-based commercial bank Mejinvestbank’s shares wouldn’t as
evidence of it’s Armenian management, noted the National Bank’s
press release.

Federal Information and News Dispatch, Inc.
State Department
August 25, 2005

Secretary’s Phone Calls: Upcoming Kazan Talks (Taken Question)

Taken Question
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
August 25, 2005

Question Taken at the August 25, 2005 Daily Press Briefing

Secretary’s Phone Calls: Upcoming Kazan Talks

Question: What did Secretary Rice discuss during her phone calls to
Presidents Aliyev and Kocharian?

Answer: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke briefly this
morning with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and President
Robert Kocharian of Armenia.

She did so in order to stress to them the importance that the United
States attaches to their upcoming meeting in Kazan, and to express
our hope that the two Presidents will make the compromises necessary
in order to reach a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Both leaders were upbeat about the prospects for making progress.

The Secretary stressed to President Aliyev the importance of free and
fair parliamentary elections this November in Azerbaijan, and noted
his important role in this.

The Secretary also told President Kocharian she hoped Armenia would
make progress toward enacting a package of constitutional reforms now
before the parliament.

2005/810

Released on August 25, 2005

The Messenger, Georgia
Aug 24 2005

Saakashvili, Kocharian meet at Sevan retreat
By Anna Arzanova

Following a two-day unofficial visit to Armenia, President Mikheil
Saakashvili returned to Georgia on August 22 and said that there are
“no political problems” in their relations.

Accompanied Minister of Defense Irakli Okruashvili, President
Saakashvili met with his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian at the
summer presidential residence on Lake Sevan.

Invited to Armenia by Kocharian, Saakashvili at a briefing Monday
said they discussed prospects for deepening cooperation on economic
and energy issues, the Trans Caucasian Railway running through
Abkhazia, tourism, the construction business as well as the situation
in Georgia’s predominantly Armenian region of Samtskhe-Javakheti.

According to Saakashvili, Georgian authorities are developing close
cooperation with Armenia and there are no political problems in the
relations between these two countries. “We can not live far away from
each other and thus economic integration absolutely must take place.
I believe that the economic integration of all three countries of the
South Caucasus should take place,” Saakashvili said in an interview
with journalists, adding that Georgia and Armenia have all the
preconditions in place for this.

Touching upon Armenian tourists in Adjara, Saakashvili said that
starting next summer they plan to open a daily Yerevan-Batumi flight.
“Why do Armenians visit Georgia? Because there is no more traffic
police harassing the people. This means that there are lots of
prospects in regard to the Georgian economy,” said Saakashvili.

In comparing the two countries, Saakashvili said that agriculture,
the bank sector and building spheres are more developed in Armenia
than in Georgia, but “all this has to start in Tbilisi now. We have
great potential and we can use it very well. That is why it was very
interesting to see how Armenia does everything that we are capable of
doing. We have to work in all directions.”

Speaking with journalists on the shores of Lake Sevan, Kocharian said
the meeting with Saakashvili was successful. “In my opinion,
neighbors must regularly find a reason for formal as well as informal
meetings with each other,” Kocharian stated.

The two men last met in Georgia at the Gudauri ski resort on April
1-2 in a unannounced visit.

The Armenian president said that the current state of affairs with
Georgia and the fact that Armenia and Georgia have not only official
but friendly relations as well is a positive signal and he expressed
his hope that the relations between the presidents will be further
developed.

Commenting on the question as to how Russian President Vladimir Putin
will assess their meeting, Kocharian refrained from answering
directly and diplomatically said that he agrees that the personal
friendship and relations as well as mutual trust between the
presidents Saakashvili and Putin is the most important precondition
for the settlement of relations between the two countries.

“My relations with Putin are also being developed based on trust.
Contacts mean tourism, presidential visits, business and mutual
interests. As a rule, it is impossible to build such relations in a
day or two, but it is possible to damage them in such a short
period,” Kocharian said.

Toward the end of the visit, the two presidents called on the other
neighboring states for more active cooperation. President Saakashvili
returned to Georgia Monday afternoon.

California Courier Online, August 25, 2005

1 – Commentary

Turks Scare Themselves by Claiming
Armenians Spend Millions on Lobbying
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The Califorrnia Courier

2 – Ambassador Edward Djerejian to Keynote
Dec. 7 Haigazian 50th Anniversary Banquet
3- Interfaith Committee Presents
Tribute to Armenia Nov. 5 in NYC
4 – Scottish Capital to Discuss Recognition
Of 1915 Armenian Genocide in October
5 – Scholar’s Name Removed from Ankara
Street Because of ‘Pro-Armenian’ Stance
6 – Triple X Golden Gate Golf Tournament
Raises $16,000 for Armenian Charities
7 – DNC Chairman Howard
Dean Visits Armenia
*************************************************************************
1 – Commentary
Turks Scare Themselves by Claiming
Armenians Spend Millions on Lobbying

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier

Hundreds of Turkish “scholars” are hired by various centers, institutes and
foundations in Turkey to write and publish articles and books on Armenian
issues, in general, and the Armenian Genocide, in particular.
Almost all of these centers, funded directly or indirectly by Turkish
governmental sources, have been set up to produce anti-Armenian propaganda
which is translated into dozens of languages and mailed to libraries,
parliaments, scholars and journalists around the world.
Despite the millions of dollars spent on this propaganda war, the Turkish
government is apparently not satisfied with the results. Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul announced last month that Ankara was devoting even more
resources to this campaign in order to flood the world with revisionist
materials on the Armenian Genocide.
One of these Turkish propaganda mills, appropriately located in Ankara, is
called the Institute for Armenian Research (Ermeni Arastirmalari
Enstitusu), a division of the Center for Eurasian Strategic Studies. This
so-called Institute has been publishing a periodical since 2001 that is
exclusively dedicated to denigrating Armenians.
Last week, Fatma Sarikaya, a Board member of the Turkish Forum, translated
into English and posted on the Forum’s web site a summarized version of an
article on the Armenian-American lobby, written by Dr. Senol Kantarci, a
researcher at the Institute for Armenian Research. The article was
originally written in Turkish and published in the Institute’s periodical
in 2001, under the title: “The Armenian Lobby: The Creation of the Armenian
Diaspora in America and the Lobby’s Activities.”
While Kantarci’s Turkish article remained unknown and unread, Sarikaya’s
English translation attracted widespread attention after it was posted on
several Turkish and Armenian web sites. Her version had a more sensational
title: “Money spent by the Armenian Lobby in America: In 1994 alone, the
Armenian Assembly of America spent $7,000,000, most of it on lobbying the
Congress.”
Not surprisingly, the article contains many historical and factual errors
that even a high school student, let alone a “researcher” with a Ph.D.,
would not make. Before refuting the ridiculous Turkish claim that
Armenian-Americans spend astronomic sums to lobby Congress, let’s focus on
some of the other assertions made by the author.
Kantarci wrote that Armenian students started arriving in America as early
as 1840. He said that these young men were “raised with hate for the Turks.
Though small in number, this elite group of Armenians was very effective in
creating anti-Turkish sentiments in America.” Kantarci is trying to make
the point that Armenians have been campaigning in America against Turkey
for 165 years. What he does not say is why these young Armenians from
Turkey were so anti-Turkish? What had the Turks done to them and their
families, even before the Genocide, to cause them to have such intense
feelings against Turks?
To justify the advances scored by Armenian political activists in recent
years and excuse the Turkish setbacks, Kantarci wrote: “Hundreds of
Armenian lobby groups were founded in America. The total number is
staggering when considering they all have branches in all corners of the
land. Excluding the
religious groups, the number of Armenian establishments is 1,046. With the
religious groups this number reaches 1,228. The aim of all these
establishments is making anti-Turkish propaganda….”
Kantarci further claimed that, while the Armenian population in America is
estimated between 800,000 and one million, “their representation in
Congress is far beyond proportion.” This is obviously false, as there are
no Armenian-Americans at all in the Senate and only two House members are
partly of Armenian origin.
After misstating the names and activities of many Armenian-American
organizations, Kantarci made his biggest mistake by claiming: “In 1994
alone, the Armenian Assembly of America spent $7,000,000 – most of it on
lobbying the Congress.”
The claim that Armenians spend huge sums to lobby Congress completely
freaked out some Turks. For example, one Turk after reading Kantarci’s
article, wrote on a Turkish web site that even though he loves eating
basturma very much, he would be forced to give it up, because most of the
basturma sold in the U.S. is made by Armenians. He said he feared that a
part of the money he pays to the Armenian shop owner for the basturma would
go towards Armenian lobbying efforts.
Kantarci’s reported lobbying figures are completely false. The Armenian
Assembly and all other Armenian groups collectively do not spend even a
tiny fraction of the $7 million claimed in his article.
According to the publicly available figures for the latest three years of
tax returns of the Armenian Assembly, the organization has spent on
legislative lobbying just $30,000 in 2003; $27,000 in 2002; and $100,000 in
2001. For the year 1994, the Assembly informed this writer that it had
spent a total of $272,000 on governmental, legal and lobbying efforts. One
can safely assume that less than $100,000 of that amount may have been
spent strictly on lobbying the Congress. This is a far cry from the $7
million
claimed by this Turkish “scholar.”
The facts clearly point out that Armenians spend very little on lobbying.
On the contrary, it is the Turkish government that spends millions of
dollars to hire the best American lobbying firms that money can buy. When a
country is trying to cover up a massive crime like genocide, it does need
to spend millions of dollars. Even then, as the Turks found out, it is a
total waste of their money. You cannot hide a genocide, no matter how much
money you spend!
But when you have the truth on your side, as Armenians do, you don’t need
to spend millions on lobbying!

**************************************************************************
2 – Ambassador Edward Djerejian to Keynote
Dec. 7 Haigazian 50th Anniversary Banquet
LOS ANGELES – The Haigazian University Women’s Auxiliary and its Honorary
50th Anniversary Committee announced last week that Ambassador Edward P.
Djerejian will be the keynote speaker at their 50th Anniversary Banquet on
Dec. 7, at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Universal City..
Ambassador Djerejian served as U.S. Ambassador to the Syrian Arab Republic
during the terms of Presidents Reagan and George Bush. A leading expert on
the complex issues of the Middle East, his career spans the administrations
of eight U.S. Presidents. He is currently the Director of the James A.
Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University.
Haigazian Auxiliary Chairman Joyce Stein, earlier this year, disclosed the
names of the Honorary Committee, Ambassador Djerejian, Dr. Vartan
Gregorian, Dr. Herant Katchadourian, Ann Swicker Kerr, and Carolyn Mugar.
The event will celebrate 50 years of quality education at Haigazian
University in Beirut, Lebanon.
An opportunity drawing for a rare Hovsep Pushman reproduction will take
place at the banquet.
For information, contact Joyce Abdulian 323-654-8031
*****************************************************************
3 – Interfaith Committee Presents
Tribute to Armenia Nov. 5 in NYC
NEW YORK -The Interfaith Committee of Remembrance is making plans for its
15th annual free Concert of Remembrance at the Cathedral of St. John the
Divine in tribute to Armenia with the commemoration of coinciding milestone
anniversaries: the 90th year since the Armenian Genocide and the 60th year
since the end of World War II. The concert/event will be Nov. 5, at 8:00 PM
at the Cathedral, located at 112th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, NYC.
The program’s centerpiece will be the world premiere of The Place of The
Place of Beginnings: Songs of Light and Peace, narrated by actor, writer,
Eric Bogosian. The new work was composed for the occasion by Interfaith’s
resident composer and Armenian community liaison Michelle Ekizian, and is
based on portions of Franz Werfel’s seminal 1933 novel, The Forty Days of
Musa Dagh, which chronicles a true-life incident during the Armenian
Genocide.
This rendition is offset by declamations of ancient Armenian folk and
spiritual melodies performed by contralto Patrice Djerejian and
Lebanese-Armenian born mezzo-soprano Maro Partamian, and ultimately, by two
outreaching ballads with English lyrics placing things in a present-day
perspective. Drawing on the ensemble’s full orchestral and choral forces,
these sections will include rising pop vocalist David Gaschen, currently
appearing in the lead role of Broadway’s Phantom of the Opera, soprano
Karen Lubeck, clarinetist Lawrence Sobol, and a rhythm section under the
direction of jazz guitarist Owen O’Mahony.
The Interfaith Concerts are free to the public. Interfaith’s Honorary
Chairmen include Governor Pataki, Mayor Bloomberg, Archbishop Khajag
Barsamian and Dr. Vartan Vartan Gregorian.
The Executive Committee for Armenia includes from the New York-New Jersey
area Mr. Garo Armen, Mr. Alexander A. Dadourian and Mrs. Hasmig Hovnanian,
and from Los Angeles, Mrs. Sylvia Minassian. The Concert Committee for
Armenia is comprised of a host of accomplished musicians from the classical
music world and arts supporters including Armand Andreassian of Boston, one
of Interfaith’s advance contribution coordinators for the New York and New
England area.
Further information regarding supporting Interfaith’s efforts and to secure
privileged seating and listing in the commemorative program booklet can be
obtained by calling Mr. Andreassian at (617) 527-5474.
**************************************************************
4 – Scottish Capital to Discuss Recognition
Of 1915 Armenian Genocide in October
EDINBURGH, Scotland – the Edinburgh Evening News on Aug. 16 published an
article reporting the efforts of Edinburgh Councillor Donald Anderson to
have the Armenian Genocide recognized by the Edinburgh City Council.
If he is successful, Edinburgh will be the second council in the UK to
recognize the Armenian Genocide. Gwynneth County Council (north Wales) is
already the first one to have done so.
This Scottish development takes place in the background to a recent major
petition from the Turkish Parliament to the British Parliament denying the
Genocide. The petition was sent to London in April 2005. This petition is a
major attack on the 1916 British Parliamentary Blue Book, “The Treatment of
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, 1915-16.”
The Gomidas Institute, which just republished a critical edition of that
work, is currently working with British academics and parliamentarians to
counter the Turkish offensive.
Great Britain remains a key battleground for Armenian Genocide recognition.
The main supporters of the Genocide thesis are:
The Gomidas Institute (an academic centre dedicated to the study of the
modern Armenian experience); Garod Books, publishing and distributing an
extensive range of books on the Genocide; Wales-Armenia Solidarity (a
single issue lobbying group); The Voice of Nor Serount, a monthly
publication dedicated to Armenian issues; CRAG (the political arms of the
Armenian Community and Church Council of Great Britain); CAIA, a voluntary
organization sometimes lobbying for the recognition of the Armenians
Genocide.
Anderson plans to introduce a motion in October for the council to
recognize the events as “Genocide.”
The proposed motion has been welcomed by Armenians in the Capital.
But the move has raised the ire of the Turkish community in Edinburgh and
Councillor Anderson has also received complaints from the Turkish
ambassador, who has pointed to the fact that history accepts many Turkish
people died at Armenian hands.
In a letter to the ambassador, Cllr Anderson said: “Having researched this
issue, I am in no doubt that the Armenian community suffered a genocide at
the hands of the Ottoman regime.
“There are substantial eyewitness accounts that are well documented and
there is, I believe, wide support for the view that the historical evidence
is robust and compelling for genocide.
“You mention in your letter that atrocities were carried out against Turks
by the Armenian side and undoubtedly this is true. There were atrocities on
all sides of what was an extremely bitter period of f ethnic conflict.
However, this was not genocide and was not state-sponsored.”
He added; “As council leader I have to advise you that I am convinced of
the need to support recognition for what I believe was genocide.
“I would encourage you as ambassador for a great and dynamic country to
reconsider your position.”
For more information, contact: [email protected]
**************************************************************************
5 – Scholar’s Name Removed from Ankara
Street Because of ‘Pro-Armenian’ Stance
ANKARA – Members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and
Republican People’s Party (CHP) from Ankara’s municipal assembly have
changed a city street name, removing the name of a scholar after whom the
street was originally named.
The name change was prompted by “pro-Armenian” statements made by the
deceased scholar, Dr. Abdullah Cevdet. Cevdet had also said it was
necessary to bring “studs” from the West to educate the Turkish nation.
AKP local assembly member Cevket Tandogan proposed the name change after
reading an article written by Milliyet columnist Hasan Pulur.
“Cevdet was also pro-Armenian. He tried to blacken our glorious army during
his speeches,” Tandogan said.
Now the street has been given the name of Professor Yusuf Halacoglu, head
of the Turkish History Association, and a strong supporter of the Turkish
government’s denialist policies regarding the Armenian Genocide.
***************************************************************************
6 – Triple X Golden Gate Golf Tournament
Raises $16,000 for Armenian Charities
SAN FRANCISCO – Does it get better than playing golf on the PGA’s choice
Harding Park Golf Course in San Francisco, on a beautiful August day?
Apparently not for the 88 participants in the Golden Gate Charitable
Trust’s first Charity Golf Tournament on Aug. 1,
Under the leadership of Tournament Chair, Ralph Kazanjian, Tournament
Director, Ara Sarkisian, and Committee chairs Vartan Hovsepian, Ara
Kaprielian, George Atashkarian, Sarkis Sarkisian, John Dahlberg, and Arlene
Hovsepian, all the participants and the 100+ attending the awards dinner
enjoyed the well-organized event at the Harding Park facility.
The Golden Gate Charitable Trust is the charitable arm of the Golden Gate
Chapter of the Triple X Fraternity.
The $16,000 raised will benefit the Bay Area Friends of Armenia, Inc.
(BAFA), the Armenian Eye Care Project, NorCal Armenian Senior Services, and
the Krouzian-Zakarian-Vasbouragan Armenian School in San Francisco.
Special thanks go to the Tournament Sponsor, the Zovinar-Davidian Trust –
Mr. and Mrs. Steve Noroian, and the “Hole-in-One” Sponsor, Dee and Brad
Kassabian of Kassabian Motors, of Dublin, Calif.
**************************************************************************
7 – DNC Chairman Howard
Dean Visits Armenia

By Emil Danielyan
YEREVAN – Howard Dean, a former U.S. presidential hopeful who now heads the
Democratic National Committee, began a two-day visit Armenia on Aug. 19,
meeting with President Robert Kocharian and other senior officials.
Official Armenian sources said his talks with Kocharian, parliament speaker
Artur Baghdasarian and Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian focused on the
current state of U.S.-Armenian relations, the situation in the South
Caucasus and international efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabagh
conflict. Armenia’s strained relations with Turkey, a key U.S. ally, were
also on the agenda, they said.
Kocharian was quoted by his press service as welcoming the “dynamic”
development of U.S.-Armenian ties and commending the US for its “weighty
contribution” to economic reforms implemented in Armenia. Baghdasarian
hailed Washington’s “great mission to strengthen democracy around the
world,”according to the speaker’s office.
Dean, who nearly won the Democratic Party’s nomination in the last U.S.
presidential election, told Baghdasarian and leaders of the Armenian
parliament factions that “development of democracy is the only possibility
of progress in Armenia” and that the U.S. has always been ready to support
the process. A resolution of the Karabagh conflict and a normalization
ofTurkish-Armenian relations are also important for the country’s
development, he said.
Dean was also reported to note the Democratic Party’s “strong ties” with
the influential Armenian-American community, saying that it will continue
to support pro-Armenian resolutions in Congress.
Dean’s first-ever visit to Yerevan was organized by the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), an influential party that
controls one of the two main Armenian lobbying groups on Capitol Hill: the
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). ANCA and other
Dashnaktsutyun structures in the U.S. supported the former Vermont
governor’s presidential bid in the Democratic primaries. They as well as
many other Armenian-American groups later endorsed John Kerry, Bush’s
Democratic challenger.
Dashnaktsutyun representatives said that although they arranged the
high-level meetings, Dean himself had expressed a desire to visit Armenia
as well as Georgia as part of his ongoing tour of Eastern Europe. The
prominent Democrat also met on Friday with U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John
Evans and visited the Genocide Memorial in Yerevan.
**************************************************************************
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authorship.

AZERI AMBASSADOR TO US DEMANDS THAT US CONGRESS DO NOT
INCREASE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO NAGORNY KARABAKH

YEREVAN, AUGUST 20. ARMINFO. Azeri Ambassador to the US Khafiz
Pashayev has sent a letter to the US Congress where he exposes the
actions of congressmen Franck Pallone and Joe Knollenberg, APA (Baku)
reports with reference to the Azeri Embassy in Washington.

Pashayev is displeased with Pallone’s and Knollenberg’s asking US
President George Bush to increase the US financial assistance to
Karabakh and the Congress to support this proposal. Pashayev says
that Pallone’s and Knollenberg’s appeal does not correctly reflect
the situation in the region and the position of the international
community on the issue of Nagorno Karabakh status.

Nagorny Karabakh has never been sovereign state or part of Armenia
and is recognized by the UN and other international organizations as
part of Azerbaijan an so the US’s economic and political steps should
comply with the legal, political and economic interests of
Azerbaijan, says Pashayev. He reiterates that “Armenia has occupied
Nagorny Karabakh and 7 Azeri districts this resulting over 1 mln
refugees.”

In conclusion Pashayev urges the congressmen to respect the US
official policy recognizing Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. While
Azerbaijan and Armenia are holding peace talks any support of the
initiative of Pallone and Knollenberg can deal a blow on Minsk
process especially as “Azerbaijan is already suffering from the two
congressmen’s initiative,” says Pashayev implying Section 907 to
Freedom Supporting Act.

Kathimerini, Greece
Aug 22 2005

Dynamic, global art projects

Founder of Art for the World, international curator Adelina von
Furstenberg expands the scope of art

A Liliana Moro work in `Woman, Women.’
By Alexandra Koroxenidis – Kathimerini English Edition

Mobility is one of those words that describes the contemporary art
world. It is not just that many artists often move between different
countries, but also that exhibitions and art events are taking place
all over the world, sometimes touring different parts of the world.
The art world is constantly `on the move’ – not necessarily in a
geographical sense but in how new ideas, art fairs, events and
exhibitions are constantly generated and multiplying all over the
world. This `movement’ has made art more accessible, more flexible,
more varied but perhaps more mass-oriented.

Adelina von Furstenberg, an international and renowned curator, was
one of the field’s pioneers in broadening the scope of art. An
Armenian born in Istanbul, she was one of the first curators who
showed an interest in non-European artists, thus opening the way for
a multicultural approach in art that grew into a trend in the early
1990s. She was also a curator who took a more global and flexible
approach to contemporary art exhibitions. Her objective, it seems,
was to create a new context for visual art and make it a more
vigorous part of our lives, create a more vivid dialogue for it with
other arts, and relate it more to worldwide social issues. She
essentially wanted to make art pertinent to our lives.

Art for the World, the foundation she established about a decade ago,
says, by its name alone, much about her goals. The Geneva-based
foundation (there are also offices in Milan and Brussels) is a
non-government organization (NGO) associated with the United Nations’
department of public information. The foundation organizes
exhibitions on issues related to the declaration of human rights,
including the environment, health, children and poverty.

Art for the World has partners, collaborating institutions, in
several countries, with India and Brazil among the strongest.
Although Greece is not yet an official partner, von Furstenberg is
close to the country. She discovered Hydra 30 years ago and has been
spending every summer on the island since then. In Hydra, she came up
with the idea for her foundation, and she makes many of her contacts
with Greek curators and artists on the island. Von Furstenberg also
follows Greek contemporary art. In `Woman, Women,’ an alternating,
four-stop exhibition organized by Art for the World, she has included
Dimitris Antonitsis for the show’s second stop at Palazzo Strozzi in
Florence in early October and Maria Papadimitriou for the next
showing in Brussels.

Many of the works originate from the Dakis Joannou collection –
including art by Yinka Shonibare and Katerina Fritch – and the
permanent collection of the National Museum of Contemporary Art.

`Woman, Women’ began in Geneva and will then move to Florence to mark
the anniversary of the 1995 Beijing Declaration on women’s rights.
After that, it will go to Brussels on March 8, concluding in Brazil.
The content of the exhibition will vary from city to city. Typical of
an Art for the World project, it creates a new context for art
outside the standard museum venue. In Brussels, for example, it
expands throughout the city with public, multidisciplinary projects.

Moreover, as is the case with most of von Furstenberg’s projects, the
approach is global. This worldview emerged after she was invited to
organize an exhibition marking the 50th anniversary of the United
Nations.

Von Furstenberg – the former founder and director of the Geneva
Contemporary Art Center – then decided to leave both of her
directorships, of The Magasin, the National Center of Contemporary
Art in Grenoble, France, and The Magasin’s school of curators.

`We had worked with artists from all over the world. Chen Zen and
Nari Ward were some among 60 in total,’ von Furstenberg told
Kathimerini English Edition. `After than it was impossible to go back
to everyday museum life.’

Since then, von Furstenberg has worked with artists from all over the
world. But how does a curator foreign to a country locate the most
interesting artists there? Is it possible to quickly gain an
insider’s point of view into the art of so many different countries?
To resolve that problem and expand the usual list of non-western (and
mostly expatriate) artists featured in most art exhibitions, von
Furstenberg follows an unusual route. Through the Art for the World,
she creates art for children in existing playgrounds or in
playgrounds she creates from scratch in various cities around the
world, including 10 in India. She invites local artists to design
them and, through that process, gets to know them.

`Besides the humanitarian aspect, we try to bring something to the
country and create a context which can enable us to take an insider’s
point of view into the local art scene,’ she said. `Going to Nigeria
to find a Nigerian artist is not always interesting, let alone
productive.’ Instead, she said, she `prefers to go Nigeria to build
playgrounds and art for children, and meet the artists in that way.’

But where is this multicultural approach leading the contemporary art
scene, especially now that it has regressed to a standard recipe in
contemporary art exhibitions? Von Furstenberg says narrowing in on a
more specialized perspective is what makes a difference.

`Nowadays everybody can make a global exhibition,’ she says. `It has
become almost a fashion, but the level of quality is not always
satisfactory. I think that what makes more sense nowadays is to take
one or three countries and really work deeply in addressing issues.’

Why take this global orientation in the first place? Once von
Furstenberg opened up to the non-Western contemporary art scene,
there was no looking back. This is partly because she found the work
of non-European artists had a certain exigency lacking in Western
art.

`When I started working in contemporary art, there was really a very
strong energy among artists,’ she said. `They believed that art could
change the world. Then gradually all of this transformed to a more
aesthetic approach. However, artists from India or South America, for
example, still believe that, because they are artists, they can
change the world. They are fighting for their art… This is what I
love so much. When an artist in India works on women’s issues, it is
not because of aesthetic reasons but because there is a problem. Of
course the result is art, it is not revolution. It is a work of art
because she is an artist, and she can only do art. She is not a
philosopher, activist, etc, but an artist who, in a certain,
non-aggressive world, works towards change.’

But she adds that the difference between Western and non-Western art
does not make the former any less interesting. Von Furstenberg
believes interesting art is everywhere.

If there is a problem with contemporary art, she says it lies with
the role of certain curators.

`I think the problem of art today does not come from museums,
collectors or artists but from curators,’ she said. `Most curators
are more than clever… They know how to move and approach
collectors, but do not help artists; they work for themselves. Of
course, there are great curators, too. But, in general, the result in
the past years has been very poor.’

For her part, von Furstenberg has come up with creative ways of
expanding the scope of art. A Yiannis Kounellis exhibition currently
showing at the botanical gardens of the privately-owned Borremeo
islands in northern Italy or a forthcoming exhibition on
Balkan-related videos by Marina Ambramovic gives a sense of the kind
of scope covered by Art for the World. But the objective is always
the same: striving to make art a more vital and vigorous part of our
daily lives and finding more challenging ways of examining our world.
Art for the World lives up to its name, offering art for everybody
and art as flexible, varied and lively as the real world.

Agency WPS
What the Papers Say. Part B (Russia)
August 16, 2005, Tuesday

THEY WHO “DO NOT BELONG”

SOURCE: Vedomosti, August 16, 2005, pp. A1, A4

by editorial office

The Levada Center polling agency reports that over half of respondents
support the slogan “Russia for ethnic Russians” to some extent, and
that xenophobic trends in society have been worsening for years. The
poll data tallies with the opinion of human rights groups. According
to the Moscow Human Rights Bureau (MHRB), ethnic hate crimes have
been responsible for ten deaths and 200 injuries in the first half
of this year.

All these figures come from the report “Racism, Xenophobia, Ethnic
Discrimination, and Anti-Semitism in Russia,” released by the MHRB
yesterday. It maintains that at least seven nationwide parties and
movements have ideologies based on bigotry and racism. All these
parties and movements total over 10,000 activists. More than 50,000
citizens belong to the skinhead movement divided into thousands of
small gangs. Radical nationalists set up so-called People’s Volunteer
Detachments and urge their participants to obtain weapons. They
publish magazines and books with the titles like “It’s Time the
Russians Took Over.” Human rights activists asked to testify against
them in courtrooms are harassed. Ethnographer Nikolai Girenko, a
witness in the case against the Russian National Unity, was shot to
death in St. Petersburg on June 19, 2004. Threats to another human
rights activist and anti-fascist, Dmitri Krayukhin of the United
Europe Institute, drew the attention of law enforcement agencies only
when dozens of Russian and international human rights organizations
appealed directly to the Prosecutor General’s Office.

Opinion polls cited by the MHRB indicate that antipathies are usually
focused on the Chechens (14.8%), Azerbaijanis (5.1%), Armenians
(4.1%), and people from the Caucasus in general (6%).

Along with everything else, almost 70% respondents are prepared to
welcome immigration of the Russians and Russian-speakers and restrict
immigration of other peoples. Pollsters point out that xenophobic
trends in Russia have risen noticeably since Vladimir Putin’s
election as president. According to the Levada Center, 43.7% backed
the slogan “Russia for ethnic Russians” in 1999, while 58% support
it nowadays. That shows a 14% increase of ethnic prejudice, a figure
that must be alarming for any sane government. It doesn’t, however,
seem to be worrying the Kremlin or politicians loyal to the regime.

Forget the red-brown danger. The true threat is posed by a different
color entirely. Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov sets up a special
channel aimed to fight “orange” trends among the youth. The Our Own
(Nashi) youth movement releases a brochure titled “Unusual Fascism”
– aimed against Irina Khakamada, the Free Choice 2008 Committee,
Youth Yabloko, Boris Berezovsky, and so on – rather than against
fascists as such. In other words, Our Own is much more concerned
about the orange threat than the red-brown threat. It follows that
numerous killings fuelled by ethnic hatred concern Our Own less than
the prospect of the opposition’s rise to power.

In fact, chauvinism increases every now and then even in prosperous
countries of the West. French President Jacques Chirac personally
marched in an anti-fascist demonstration last year. Gerhard
Schroeder and his predecessor Helmut Kohl regularly appealed to their
compatriots with anti-Nazi slogans. Even Russian president condemns
xenophobia. “There should be neither xenophobia, chauvinism, or other
phenomena of ethnic hatred in the 21st century,” he said in the wake
of negotiations with his Israeli counterpart.

But Putin’s other statements may encourage chauvinists into new acts of
violence. When Russian teenagers were assaulted and battered in Warsaw,
three Poles (two embassy officials and a journalist) were beaten
in Moscow. Irked by episodes of chauvinism in foreign countries,
Putin doesn’t pay attention to even crueller crimes committed by
racists in Russia itself. He is not concerned by the skinhead thugs
in Astrakhan who killed a whole Dagestani family in early May,
or by the murder of three Armenians near Sverdlovsk, by assault on
two rabbis in central Moscow, or by appalling attacks on foreigners
in his native St. Petersburg where skinheads assaulted 12 students
from African countries, China, South Korea, Palestine, Israel in the
first half of this year. Foreign students are similarly attacked
in Rostov-on-Don, Voronezh, Nizhny Novgorod, Lipetsk, Krasnodar,
Perm. Had Putin followed the example of his French counterpart by
marching in an anti-nazi demonstration along with United Russia, Our
Own, and Walking Together, it would have saved a lot of lives. Which
is more important, after all, than a war on phantom color revolutions.

Translated by A. Ignatkin