Author: Chavushian

PRESS RELEASE
ARMENPAC, The Armenian-American Political Action Committee
421 E. Airport Freeway, Suite 201
Irving, Texas 75220
Contact: Jason P. Capizzi, Esq.
Tel: (972) 635-5347
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: <;

ARMENPAC HOSTS MAJOR COMMUNITY EVENT IN MICHIGAN

Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Knollenberg and Assistant Majority Whip McCotter
Attend

Irving, TX – ARMENPAC, along with over 80 new members from the Michigan
Armenian-American community, gathered last week to recognize the Michigan
Congressional Delegation’s steadfast support of Armenian-American issues.
Congressmen Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), as well as
a representative of Congressman Sander Levin (D-MI), attended the event in
Northville, Michigan; although a scheduling conflict prevented Congressman
Joe Schwarz (R-MI) from participating, a letter was read on his behalf which
expressed the Congressman’s committed support of our community. ARMENPAC
Co-Chair Edgar Hagopian welcomed and thanked the Congressmen and community
activists alike for their “devotion and support of Armenian-American
issues.”

ARMENPAC hosted this event to provide our elected officials in Washington,
D.C. and local community members the opportunity to directly discuss
Armenian-American issues. Congressman Joe Knollenberg, who is a Co-Chair of
the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, began the evening by updating
the group on current legislative initiatives pending in Congress that relate
to Armenia; namely the Affirmation of the United States Record on the
Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.316) and The South Caucasus Integration
and Open Railroads Act of 2005 (H.R.3361). “I am hopeful that these
initiatives will eventually succeed, as Turkey is facing increasing pressure
from various sources to recognize the Armenian Genocide and maintain good
relations with Armenia should it wish to be accepted into the European
Union,” said Congressman Knollenberg.

H.Res.316 calls upon the President: 1.) to ensure that United States foreign
policy reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues
related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the
United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide and the consequences
of the failure to realize a just resolution; and 2.) in the President’s
annual message commemorating the Armenian Genocide to characterize the
systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians as genocide,
and to recall the proud history of United States intervention in opposition
to the Armenian Genocide.

H.R.3361 prohibits United States Assistance to develop or promote rail
connections or railway-related connections that do not traverse or connect
with Armenia, and do traverse or connect Baku, Azerbaijan; Tbilisi, Georgia;
and Kars, Turkey.

“ARMENPAC thanks both Congressmen for their distinguished leadership on
behalf of our community, and for their participation in this event,” said
ARMENPAC Co-Chair Edgar Hagopian. “Our community must continually engage
our elected officials in similar dialogues, independent of such events,
regarding those issues that are important to us in order to ensure that our
concerns will be adequately represented in Congress. We are privileged and
very appreciative of our elected officials’ attention and commitment to our
community, especially Congressmen Knollenberg and McCotter, who were
determined to attend this event despite the bad weather in Washington, D.C.”

“It was a tremendous opportunity to attend and witness in person the
grassroots power of the Armenian Community,” said Congressman Thaddeus
McCotter.

At the end of the evening, ARMENPAC presented each Congressperson with a
plaque, engraved with William Saroyan’s famous verse regarding the
resilience of Armenians, for display in their office.

ARMENPAC is an independent, bipartisan political action committee
established to shape public policy by raising awareness of, and advocating
for, Armenian-American issues. ARMENPAC provides financial support to
federal officeholders, candidates, political action committees and
organizations that actively support issues of importance to
Armenian-Americans. For more information and how to join ARMENPAC, please
visit

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ARMENIAN DM DOESN’T THINK STRANGE RE-ELECTION OF MAYOR CHARGED WITH MURDER

ARMINFO News Agency
October 11, 2005

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 11. ARMINFO. Armenian Defense Minister Serge
Sargsyan does not think it strange that the incumbent Mayor of the
town Nor-Hachn swept the election to the local self-government. To
note, Nor-Hachn Mayor Armen Keshishyan is charged with murder.

Talking to journalists Tuesday, Minister Sargsyan said the residents
of Nor- Hachn were well-aware that a person charged with murder
cannot occupy the post. So, they voted for A.Keshishyan in order that
additional election is announced in the town, the minister explained.

GOVERNMENT BLOCKS SURGE IN PHONE TARIFFS
By Shakeh Avoyan

Armenia Liberty
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep
Oct 11 2005

The Armenian government will block a steep rise in fixed-line phone
charges planned by the ArmenTel national telecommunications operator,
Transport and Communications Minister Andranik Manukian said on
Tuesday.

ArmenTel’s requested the Transport and Communications Ministry’s
mandatory permission for the tariff hike in a letter last August. The
Greek-owned company wants to double the existing subscription fee of
950 drams ($2) per month and cut by half the length of time covered
by it.

Outgoing local phone calls extending beyond that monthly limit that
are charged on a per-minute basis. ArmenTel would like to drastically
raise its existing charge of 4 drams per minute as well.

Manukian said his ministry has studied the telecom operator’s request
and found it “unjustified.” But he indicated that the Armenian
government would agree to a more modest tariff rise.

“We will be proposing economically substantiated tariffs [to
ArmenTel]. We never make proposals that are not beneficial for the
population,” Manukian told a news conference. But he refused to
elaborate on those proposals.

The government and ArmenTel, which bitterly disagreed on the fixed-line
charges in the past, will now have to sort out their differences at
the negotiating table. “If we do not reach agreement in the next 45
days … the current tariffs will remain in force,” said Manukian. He
said the government is interested in striking a compromise deal with
ArmenTel because failure to do so would automatically prolong the
company’s legal monopoly on fixed-line telephony by three years.

ArmenTel, which is 90 percent owned by Greece’s OTE, agreed last
year to give up that monopoly in 2009 in an out-of-court settlement
of its long-running disputes with the government in Yerevan. The
deal paved the way for last July’s launch of Armenia’s second mobile
phone network which has already rendered wireless service far more
accessible and affordable for the population.

But the OTE subsidiary also clinched important concessions such as
a government pledge to maintain its highly controversial exclusive
rights to Armenia’s Internet connection with the outside world. The
ArmenTel monopoly is widely blamed by Armenian information technology
experts on the high cost and poor quality of the service.

The monopoly appears to be the main reason why ArmenTel has been one
of OTE’s best-performing divisions ever since its 1998 takeover by the
Greek telecom giant. Despite losing its grip on the lucrative mobile
telephony, ArmenTel posted a 66.7 percent surge in its earnings in the
first half of this year. They totaled $20.6 million during that period.

Noyan Tapan News Agency
Oct 7 2005

ROBERT KOCHARIAN: “KARABAKH INDEPENDENCE IS IN NO WAY CONNECTED WITH
PRINCIPLE OF TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY”

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 7, NOYAN TAPAN. The independence of Nagorno Karabakh
is in no way connected with the principle of territorial integrity.
RA President Robert Kocharian declared it at the October 7 briefing
in connection with the visit of Latvian President to Armenia.

He explained that after the disintegration of the USSR two states
were proclaimed in its territory – the Nagorno Karabakh Republic that
established independence by a referendum and the Republic of
Azerbaijan that restored its independence of 1918. “NKR has been
never included in the independent Azerbaijan. I don’t remember a case
when territorial integrity was spoken about in the process of
disintegration of an empire as it’s not clear whose territorial
integrity is meant here,” RA President highlighted.

Robert Kocharian mentioned that after the disintegration of the USSR
not only 15 new states were formed – some restored their statehood,
some new states were formed, but the entire political map of Europe
changed: 5 new states were formed in the Balkans, the formation of
the 6th state is underway, Czechoslovakia disintegrated dividing into
2 parts and the two German states united. “Whose territorial
integrity is meant when global changes take place conected with such
a fenomenon as disintegration of the USSR?”

At the same time Robert Kocharian highlighted that Armenia has never
been against the importance of the principle of territorial integrity
and sees no contradiction between the principles of territorial
integrity and self-determination of peoples, the Karabakh issue “just
didn’t contain the territorial integrity that can be placed under
such a principle and respect this principle.”

Answering the question of a Latvian journalist, what is the
President’s conception about the settlement of the conflict that
would satisfy “both sides,” R.Kocharian mentioned that first of all
Nagorno Karabakh people’s opinion must be taken into consideration,
with whom and how it wants to live: “I don’t think that a solution
satisfying all sides of the conflict can be made but I have no doubt
that the issue must be solved proceeding from the principle of
peoples’ right of self-determination applied in Karabakh since the
first days of the movement.”

The Latvian President in her turn mentioned that in this issue her
country shares the neutral position of the European Union. “Of
course, we accept the principle of territorial integrity not
depreciating in this respect people’s right of self-determination,”
the Latvian President declared. She emphasized that over the past
years the principle of territorial integrity has been playing an
important part in elaboration of policy, but in case of Karabakh
Latvia greets peaceful negotiations expressing its assistance to the
efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group in searching for conflict’s solution.

“Judging by your statements one may suppose that for Latvia the
principle of peoples’ self-determination is less important than the
principle of territorial integrity,” answering this question,
Vike-Freiberga mentioned: “In this issue Latvia holds the position of
the European Union and doesn’t say anything that can differ from this
position.”

TURKEY’S BIG TEST

EUPolitix.com, Belgium
Oct 4 2005

Ankara has waited over 40 years to begin entry talks with the EU,
and as it reaches the start line it will need stamina to overcome the
“rigorous” and uncharted terrain that lies ahead.

Turkey faces at least a decade of progress reports and intensive
negotiations as Brussels insists the outcome all hinges on Ankara’s
cooperation.

“The negotiations will be based on Turkey’s own merits and their
pace will depend on Turkey’s progress” in meeting the EU’s political
criteria, officials have stressed.

Whilst the underlying objective of talks is full membership, their
uniquely “open-ended” nature means no outcome can be guaranteed.

The Copenhagen criteria states that if Ankara fails to meet key
conditions it will be offered a partnership, “fully anchored in the
European structures through the strongest possible bond.”

There is also an emergency brake mechanism to suspend negotiations in
case of “a serious and persistent breach of the principles of liberty,
democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

Policy issues in the Turkey talks have been broken down into 35 policy
areas or chapters – more than ever before – and the decisions on each
part will require unanimity.

The chapters cover a wide range of issues from food safety to foreign
policy and from free movement of workers to education and culture.

A troubled timeline

November 9 2005 – The European Commission issues its annual progress
report.

Expect tough talk on Turkey’s denial of Armenian genocide, human
rights progress and the criminal justice system.

Earlier this month, slammed the “deplorable provocation” of Turkish
judges for banning a meeting on the massacre of Armenians.

The commission warned Turkey its decision to ban an academic conference
would be noted in its annual situation report.

“The decision will be reflected in the regular report that the
commission will release on November 9,” a commission spokeswoman said.

“We strongly deplore this decision to stop the Turkish people from
discussing their history.”

January 1 2006 – Austria takes over EU presidency With an overtly
hostile Vienna steering negotiations, Ankara can expect a testing
six months.

Vienna’s insistence on less than full membership for Turkey, lead to
a troubled week of brinkmanship ahead of entry negotiations.

“We need an alternative that would ensure Turkey would remain bonded
as strongly as possible to the EU,” Austrian Chancellor, Wolfgang
Schussel insisted.

Opinion polls show 75 per cent of 15-24 year-olds opposed to Turkish
membership; rising to 82 per cent among people over 55. This is the
highest No rating in the EU.

Historical antagonism towards Turkish Ottoman imperialism combines
with modern day fears of incorporating a Muslim nation.

On current projections Turkey would be the biggest and poorest member
state if it entered the EU in ten years time.

The prospect of losing bargaining power to an impoverished Muslim
state troubles Vienna, (not to mention Paris and Berlin.)

March / April 2006 – Commission likely to end initial screening process
with proposals to begin negotiations in non-controversial areas such
as education and culture.

During 2006 – Cyprus likely to demand Turkey opens its ports to Cypriot
vessels before any specific negotiations on the 35 chapters can begin.

MEPs from across the political spectrum have backed up these demands
in recent weeks – pressing for a tight deadline on customs union – and
an ultimatum to recognise Nicosia by 2006, or the termination of talks.

“During the negotiations, recognition of Cyprus must take place,”
Socialist leader Martin Schultz told MEPs in Strasbourg last week.

“That cannot be at the end of the negotiations. It must take place
immediately, within the first one or two years. If there is no
recognition of Cyprus, the accession negotiations must be broken off.”

2007- 08 – The commission likely to propose the opening of the chapter
on the judiciary and fundamental rights.

Turkey will have to work hard to prove itself in these areas.

EU-harmonization reforms focus on a handful of key areas – Removing
regulations that contribute to impunity for torture, abolition
of the crime of spreading separatist propaganda, lifting of press
restrictions, the end of incommunicado detention and the right to
immediate legal counsel for State Security Court detainees.

Last year Amnesty International found, “Reports of torture and
ill-treatment in police detention and disproportionate use of force
against demonstrators continued to be matters of grave concern,
although the use of some torture methods appeared to diminish.”

2015 or later – If EU membership is offered to Turkey, France is
obliged to hold a referendum on the deal.

In September last year France’s then finance minister, Nicolas Sarkozy
convinced President Chirac to offer a referendum on Turkish entry.

Sarkozy does not disguise his anti-Turkey stance and pitted himself
against the French President to secure a referendum on the issue.

According to recent polls, only 20 per cent of French says Yes to
Turkey joining.

The even more sceptical Austria has also promised a referendum.

RA PRESIDENT AND HEADS OF POLITICAL COALITION DISCUSS PROCESS OF CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS

Noyan Tapan News Agency
Oct 3 2005

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 3, NOYAN TAPAN. Issues concerning the process of
the constitutional reforms and the draft on 2006 stage budget were
discussed at the September 30 working meeting of RA President Robert
Kocharian with members of the Political Council of the coalition.

As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA President’s Press Office,
the conclusion of the working group created by the RA President
for studying problems of citizens’ saving deposits freezed at the
ArnSavingBank was discussed at the meeting and a decision was made,
within the framework of the strategic program of overcoming poverty,
to solve the problem of compensation of deposits freezed by the
ArmSavingBank of citizens involved in lists of those getting family
benefits.

1,928 TO VOTE FOR ARMENIAN HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE

Financial Mirror, Cyprus
Oct 3 2005

There are 1928 individuals registered in the special voting list of
the Armenian Religious Group, with the right to vote in the by-election
on October 9 for the Armenian Representative at the House.

The number of Armenian voters is 1,218 in Nicosia, 305 in Limassol,
404 in Larnaca and one in Paphos.

Four voting centres will operate, two at the Armenian elementary school
“Narek” in Nicosia for the voters from Nicosia, one at the Larnaca
District Administration for the voters from Larnaca and another at
the Limassol District Administration for the voters from Limassol
and Paphos.

Vahakn Atamyan, Antranig Ashdjian and Parsegh Zartarian are the
candidates for the post.

The new representative will succeed Bedros Kalaydjian, who passed
away on the 1st of September at the age of 71.

The three religious groups — the Latins, Armenians and Maronites
— that belong to the Greek Cypriot community, elect a non-voting
representative each to the House, beyond the 56 parliamentary seats
for Greek Cypriots.

The Independent (London)
September 30, 2005, Friday

LEADING ARTICLE: ACCESSION TALKS MUST GO AHEAD;
TURKEY

It didn’t rate a mention in his speech to the Labour Party
conference, although it did produce an impassioned plea from his
Foreign Secretary in Brighton. But Turkey’s application for
membership of the European Union is likely to be the first major test
of Tony Blair’s presidency of the EU. And a crucial challenge to his
and Jack Straw’s powers of persuasion.

The UK has always been strongly in favour of accession talks with
Turkey, and rightly so. If the Union is to keep expanding to its
geographic and historic shape, if it is to act as a catalyst for
democratic change in the surrounding regions, and if it is to prove a
means of bringing Islam into cohabitation with the Christian West,
then there could be no better candidate for inclusion than Turkey. It
straddles the straits between East and West, it has a strong secular
and pro-Western tradition dating from the time of Kemal Ataturk, it
has been a stalwart member of Nato alongside the Western European
countries, and it has made a clear policy decision and started on the
steps necessary to join the Union.

A year ago the road seemed fairly straight and even. The Commission
was in favour, most of the member states had expressed approval and,
with a final meeting of the EU foreign ministers next Monday, a start
to negotiations (expected to last 10 years, it should be added) would
be under way.

All that has now been jeopardised by growing dissension in the
European Parliament, the open opposition of Angela Merkel in Germany
and Nicolas Sarkozy in France, and now the Austrian refusal to go
along with a vote in favour at the meeting of permanent
representatives of the member states this week. An emergency meeting
of foreign ministers has been called in Luxembourg on Sunday in a
last-ditch effort to save the talks.

Agreement will be far from easy. Quite aside from the thorny issues
of Turkish responsibility for the Armenian massacres and its refusal
to recognise Cyprus, there is Austria’s last-minute demand that
Turkey be offered partnership rather than full membership ” a
suggestion which Turkey indignantly and understandably refuses as
changing the rules of the game at the last moment.

The real worry is that time is slipping away from these talks.
Opposition to Turkish membership is building in the Union, while
nationalist antagonism to Europe’s prevarications and changes of mind
is rising in Turkey. If negotiations are to proceed, then the
timetable has to be kept. If ever there was a time for Tony Blair to
exercise his undoubted skills of charm and persuasion, it is now.
Otherwise an historic opportunity may be lost, with incalculable
effect on future relations with the Muslim world.

Agence France Presse — English
September 29, 2005 Thursday 1:49 PM GMT

UN envoy meets Orthodox Church leader in Turkey

ISTANBUL

US special envoy Karen Hughes met the head of the Orthodox Church,
Patriarch Bartholomew I, here on Thursday at the end of a
three-country regional tour, sources from her delgation said.

No statement was issued after the meeting as Hughes, undersecretary
of state for public diplomacy, left for Washington at the end of a
tour that also took her to Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

The aim of the trip was to polish the image, battered by the war in
Iraq, of the United States in the Muslim world.

While in Istanbul, Hughes also met representatives of the Muslim,
Orthodox, Armenian, Jewish and Syriac communities.

One issue likely to have come up in her talks with Bartholomew I was
the fate of the Greek Orthodox seminary on the island of Heybeliada
(Halki in Greek), off Istanbul, that was closed down by Turkey in
1971.

Washington, along with Greece, wants Turkey to re-open the school.

The Turkish government has said on several occasions that it is
looking into ways to allow the school to re-open.

Improving rights for non-Muslim communities is a key requirement
Turkey needs to fulfill in order to become a member of the European
Union, with which it is scheduled to begin accession talks on Monday.

Turkey, 99 percent Muslim, is also home to some 40,000 Armenians,
35,000 Jews, 20,000 Syriacs and 4,000 Orthodox Greeks, who live
mainly in Istanbul, the country’s biggest city.

NEW TWIST PREDICTED TO NOBEL PRIZE

Mail & Guardian Online, South Africa

Stockholm, Sweden
29 September 2005 07:20

The Nobel Literature Prize has for decades gone to fiction writers
and poets, but just days before this year’s winner is revealed,
some say the prestigious prize could be awarded within a different
genre altogether.

While the list of usual suspects appears to be largely the same as
in recent years, featuring United States novelists Philip Roth and
Joyce Carol Oates, Ismael Kadare of Albania, Israeli Amos Oz and
Swedish poet Tomas Transtroemer, the Swedish Academy might just have
a surprise in store this year.

“The academy has spoken of wanting to broaden the prize, which could
open the door, for instance, for literary journalists like Polish
Ryszard Kapuscinski,” said Eva Bonnier, head of Sweden’s Bonnier
publishing house.

“Kapuscinski is a possibility. It would be very exciting if the academy
decides to go in that direction,” agreed Ola Larsmo, a freelance
literary critic who writes for Sweden’s paper of record Dagens Nyheter.

He acknowledged, however, that “there are no clear-cut signs that this
will happen”, pointing out that the academy has been tight-lipped
about this year’s laureate ahead of the announcement, expected on
October 6 or the Thursday after.

If the academy does decide to embrace a new genre, Larsmo said a
prominent literary critic might also win.

“Someone like Roland Barthes, Maurice Blanchot or Susan Sontag. But
they are all dead now [and the prize cannot be awarded posthumously],
so I’m not quite sure who would be the most appropriate candidate
today.”

The head of the Swedish Academy, Horace Engdahl, acknowledged that
“it is important that the prize develops as literature develops”.

And if the award ends up going to a non-fiction writer, it would not
be the first time, he said, pointing out that Alfred Nobel did not
specify in his will that it had to go to a fiction writer.

Since the first Nobel Prize was awarded in 1901, several non-fiction
writers and non-poets have won, including Bertrand Russell in 1950
for his philosophical writings and Winston Churchill three years
later for his historical texts.

“It’s been a long time since the prize has gone to someone like that.

Aesthetic literature has dominated because, I think, the modernist
trend has been to frown upon scientific literature,” Engdahl said,
adding that it might be time to re-evaluate the scope of the award.

Once prone to leaks, the academy has in recent years been careful
not to let the laureate’s name slip out in advance.

“We have a very strict discipline now. No documents leave the building
and the [academy] members are not allowed to discuss the choice by
e-mail or with members of their family. So far this year, I have not
seen any sign that there is a leak,” Engdahl said.

As an indication that the system works, controversial Austrian author
Elfriede Jelinek’s name was not even mentioned among the possible
laureates before she won the prize last year.

“I think this year’s choice will be a much more expected choice than
last year. Jelinek was extremely unexpected,” observed Svante Weyler,
the former head of Sweden’s largest publishing house, Norstedt.

“The academy tends to like to mix the expected with the unexpected
choices,” he said, putting his money on the likes of Roth and Oz,
as well as Algerian novelist, poet and filmmaker Assia Djebar.

Other clear candidates, according to Bonnier, include Dutch-language
authors Cees Nooteboom and Hugo Claus, Somalia’s Nuruddin Farah and
Nigerian poet and novelist Ben Okri.

Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, who was recently charged in Turkey with
“public denigration of the Turkish identity” for remarks he made
about the country’s massacre of Armenians, might also win the award,
Weyler said.

“Pamuk is an obvious candidate,” he said, but the 53-year-old author’s
young age may count against him.

“The academy may not want to give the prize to another young author”
after honouring 57-year-old Jelinek.

Also making an older winner more likely is an academy rule that it
never gives the prize to someone figuring for the first time on its
shortlist of five potential winners.

“Candidates must figure on the shortlist at least two years running
to win,” Engdahl said, insisting that the final vote is not influenced
by considerations such as gender or geography.

“Fortunately it’s not about such silly demands for fairness and
balance but about good books,” Larsmo said.

“The academy is a bit unpredictable, and that’s a good thing. The
more unpredictable they are, the better it is for literature,” he
added. — Sapa-AFP