Author: Emil Lazarian

Washington Post, DC
April 29 2004

Held Over by Request
An Impromptu Assist Turns Into a Six-Week Booking
By Jonathan Padget
Washington Post Staff Writer

Music is integral to the new play “Rosemary and I” at Alexandria’s
MetroStage. The tale of a singer, Rosemary, and her intense,
mysterious relationship with her female accompanist is staged with
live musicians — New York pianist John Hodian and his wife, vocalist
Bet Williams — who add a haunting soundscape, composed by Hodian, to
the intricate drama.

Critical reaction to the play has been mixed, though Hodian and
Williams have garnered positive notice for their musical
contribution. They have also taken advantage of their MetroStage
engagement to give concerts as Epiphany Project, their identity for a
genre-blurring musical collaboration that combines everything from
avant-garde folk and Americana to classical art song and art-pop.

When Hodian started work on the play last year, though, he had no
idea that he and Williams would relocate to Alexandria for six weeks
of rehearsals and performances, with their 4-month-old son and a
nanny in tow. It was a much simpler proposition at first.

A fan of playwright Leslie Ayvazian since seeing an earlier work of
hers, “Nine Armenians,” Hodian asked her to write the libretto for an
Armenian-themed opera he envisions. The artists share Armenian
heritage, and Ayvazian responded enthusiastically to Hodian’s
request, with one condition: She would collaborate on the opera if
Hodian would first write music for her “Rosemary and I.”

Fair enough, Hodian thought. By the time a staged reading was held
last summer during a new-play festival at the Kennedy Center, he had
recorded the piano-vocal score with the help of Williams, and
traveled to Washington for the reading. He was expecting merely to
cue music from a CD. But a planned technical rehearsal fell through,
and suddenly the cast was in a room with only a piano for last-minute
preparations before taking the stage.

So much for simplicity.

Though Hodian had written the score, he hadn’t memorized it. But he
was undaunted. He sat down at the piano and did a little improvising.
Ayvazian was reading the part of the elderly Rosemary’s adult
daughter Julia (which she also plays now at MetroStage), and she had
enlisted a longtime friend, Oscar-winner Olympia Dukakis, to read the
part of Rosemary in preparation for directing the full MetroStage
production.

“As soon as I played the first cue,” Hodian recalls, “Olympia goes,
‘Wow, that was great. I wish we were doing that instead of what’s on
the CD.’ ” Her enthusiasm grew with every musical interlude until she
proclaimed that Hodian must perform for the reading, which at that
point was about 30 minutes from starting. Center staff nixed the idea
at first, Hodian says, “but then she kind of does her Olympia thing,
and suddenly there’s a nine-foot Steinway onstage — and it’s tuned.”

While the shift to live music for the current run of “Rosemary and I”
was unexpected, Hodian and Williams have no complaints about the
upheaval of their New York routine. It’s a “nice family project,”
says Hodian of the opportunity to work with Williams on both theater
and concert performance.

“What makes it so interesting,” says Judith Roberts, the actress who
plays Rosemary, “is that here is a woman who’s much later in her
life, and you hear this young voice . . . coming at you in a way from
the past, which reinforces the idea of searching for memories. It’s
very evocative, and [Williams] has a wonderful voice — very
powerful.”

Roberts was in the audience for Hodian and Williams’s Epiphany
Project concert Sunday night, featuring songs from their self-titled
2001 album on their independent label, Epiphany Records. Another
concert is scheduled for this Sunday.

“For each song, we just do the things we love,” says Williams,
describing their unbounded approach to musicmaking. A follow-up album
is in the works.

Though many independent musicians relish not being easily
categorized, says Hodian, he wouldn’t mind Epiphany Project having a
clearer market niche.

“We’d love to be categorized,” he says. “I wish we could say, ‘Hey,
it’s this,” and we could go play all the blues festivals, or play
classical music venues only, or whatever. But it really is a bunch of
different things. We do whatever we feel like musically.”

Epiphany Project bookings have been easier to come by in Europe,
where Hodian and Williams have found audiences and club owners
especially receptive to their eclectic style. Still, Epiphany Project
enjoys a devoted fan base in the United States, drawn from occasional
exposure on public radio and crossover from Williams’s work as a folk
solo artist.

“The people who like it,” Williams says, “like it a lot.”

“We have enough fans to keep buying the records,” adds Hodian, “and
to enable us to make another one, and who’ll keep coming to shows.
That’ll continue to make it worth us coming out for.”

Epiphany Project, at MetroStage, 1201 N. Royal St., Alexandria.
Sunday at 7 p.m. $20.

Rosemary and I continues through May 9. $32-$38. Call 703-548-9044 or
visit

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
April 29 2004

US co-chair calls on Baku to compromise

The Azerbaijani public was disappointed by the results of the
meetings of Steven Mann, the newly-appointed US co-chair of the OSCE
Minsk Group, who paid a visit to Baku on April 22-23, with President
Ilham Aliyev and the foreign and defense ministers.The public can’t
understand why

Mann called on Baku to compromise with Yerevan. What should
Azerbaijan compromise amidst Armenia’s intention to annex Upper
Garabagh? Such feelings and the demands for President Robert
Kocharian’s resignation in Armenia on the eve of a meeting between
Aliyev and Kocharian – scheduled to be held on Wednesday are unlikely
to facilitate positive results.

Defense Minister rejects Mann’s proposal
In a meeting with Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev, Mann
said it is necessary that Azerbaijan make concessions with regard to
the peaceful settlement of the Upper Garabagh conflict. “If the
conflict settlement takes many years, Azerbaijan and Armenia will
face new problems. The parties therefore should start a dialogue and
stand by it”, Mann said. Abiyev, in turn, said a double standard
approach on the issue is unacceptable, that Armenia is an aggressor
and must be held accountable. Referring to Yugoslavia and Iraq, two
countries that faced military action, Abiyev said that military
action has not been launched against Armenia even though there is
proper legal framework for this. Mann mentioned that Armenia and
Azerbaijan have made a commitment to settle the Upper Garabagh
conflict peacefully and the US supports mutually-acceptable
concessions by both parties to the conf lict. Abiyev replied that
Azerbaijan will make no concessions, the Defense Ministry reported on
Tuesday.

Presidential meeting
During a Thursday meeting between the President and the US diplomat,
Aliyev said that Mann is well-known in Azerbaijan as he had
participated in a number of large-scale projects in Azerbaijan and
wished him success in his new position. Touching upon the conflict
over Upper Garabagh, Aliyev stressed that Upper Garabagh and seven
Azerbaijani districts had been under the Armenian occupation for many
years and that Azerbaijan demanded that Armenian aggression be
stopped and its territorial integrity restored. He added that the
OSCE Minsk Group should step up its efforts to resolve the conflict.

US for fair settlement of Garabagh conflict?
Mann, in his turn, said he was pleased to have the opportunity to
visit Baku and meet with the Azerbaijani leader and mentioned the
opening ceremony of the East-West corridor foundation, which gave an
incentive to a number of energy projects. With regard to the Upper
Garabagh conflict, Mann said the U.S. government had put new tasks
before him and that he was keen to accomplish them. He mentioned that
this was his first visit to the region in his new capacity. The US
diplomat stated that the goal of his government was to work with the
parties in the conflict on a fair settlement and that it would
support an agreement reached by the two sides.

Briefing
At a media briefing, Mann confirmed that he has discussed in Yerevan
and Baku the possibility of a meeting between the Armenian and
Azerbaijani Presidents. He dodged the question about possible
compromises to be made by both sides and said the negotiations “have
not reached this stage yet”. He also confirmed that besides his
position as OSCE Minsk Group co-chair, he will remain the special
envoy on Caspian energy issues. Before arriving in Baku, Mann visited
Yerevan to discuss with the Armenian President, Ministers of Foreign
Affairs and Defense prospects for the conflict settlement. In his
meetings Mann said, “the peaceful settlement of the Upper Garabagh
conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group is based on US
national interests”. Mann stated that he intends to visit Upper
Garabagh but did not specify the date for his visit. At the same time
he said he had a “planned” meeting in Garabagh with the so-called
“Garabagh Foreign Minister” Ashot Gulian. The US diplomat visited
Armenia for the first time in 1978 as a representative of the US
embassy in the USSR. In 1992, he opened the first US diplomatic
representation in Armenia and held the position of the first US
charge d’affairs in Yerevan. In May 2001, Mann was appointed the US
President’s special envoy on Caspian energy issues.

Can Mann break the deadlock?
It appears that Mann’s new mandate as an OSCE MG co-chair is not
limited to Upper Garabagh. He also holds the position of US
President’s special envoy on Eurasia conflicts. It is not by mere
chance that he traveled from Yerevan to Baku through Tbilisi. Mann’s
mission targets settlement of conflicts in the entire South Caucasus
region which impede speedy US political and military deployment in
the region, notably, the Garabagh conflict and the Abkhaz conflict in
Georgia. Also, the US diplomat is probably also responsible for
keeping the situation in Ajaria under control. Therefore, unlike his
predecessors whose mission was limited to the OSCE MG, Mann has vast
credentials enabling him to swiftly respond to the situation. This
means that he is authorized to act according to his mandate just like
Strobe Talbott, who nearly convinced the Presidents of Azerbaijan and
Armenia to sign a peace accord, without consulting other OSCE MG
co-chairs. Therefore, Mann will not be required to coordinate his
visits to the region with the French or the Russian MG co-chairs.
Nonetheless, Mann should keep in mind the failure of Talbott’s
“shuttle mission” on the conflict settlement. Before leaving Yerevan,
Talbott, after discussing the terms for the upcoming peace accord,
reportedly joined the Armenian government officials in a toast for a
successful completion of the talks. It turned out it was too early to
celebrate. The American diplomacy failed to outwit Russian secret
service agents, who acted fast, without waiting for the conflict to
be settled. Before Talbott left Yerevan, a terrorist act was
committed in the Armenian parliament building, killing prime minister
Vazgen Sarkissian, speaker Karen Demirchian and several cabinet
ministers. After the incident, it was nearly impossible to expect
Kocharian to sign a peace accord, even if it was most suitable for
Armenia.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Pasadena Star-News, CA
April 29 2004

Racial tensions shadow school’s achievements
Marshall principal fighting accusations of insensitivity

By Gretchen Hoffman , Staff Writer

PASADENA — A year ago, Marshall Fundamental High School was one of
three schools in the nation to receive the College Board’s
Inspiration Award in recognition of its work in helping economically
disadvantaged students go to college. It is the Pasadena Unified
School District’s highest-scoring high school on state standardized
tests, and parents overwhelmingly choose Marshall when applying
through the district’s open-enrollment process.

But tensions have been building at the school, which serves sixth
through 12th-graders. Last month, a fight between African- American
and Armenian students spilled over, resulting in a lockdown and
several students being cited by PUSD police. Some parents say they
are afraid for students’ safety.

An Armenian administrator has been fired, and his lawyer is
threatening a lawsuit, saying Principal Steven Miller is the person
who should be removed.

And a group of community members is circulating a petition calling
for Miller’s removal, claiming that he is a bigot who is
systematically purging the school of African-Americans.

Some Armenian parents were upset when middle school dean Kevork
Halladjian was notified that he will not return to his position next
year. They say that he was the only school administrator who listened
to parents concerned about rumors of further violence before the
March 5 fights.

Miller has been criticized for his handling of the fights, with
detractors saying he is ill- equipped to handle racial tensions
because he is culturally insensitive at best.

However, many parents, students and school officials have repeatedly
denied that the fights were racially motivated but were merely fights
between individuals.

Halladjian’s lawyer, Dale Gronemeier, said he is laying the
groundwork for a lawsuit if Halladjian is not reinstated.

Gronemeier is married to Marshall’s high school dean, Temetra
Gronemeier, who had a lawsuit pending against the school district
alleging she was discriminated against because of her age. She was
seeking the principal position, which was instead given to Miller.

The lawsuit was rejected by a judge last week.

The lawyer said that in a deposition taken for that lawsuit, Miller
admitted asking district officials to remove Temetra Gronemeier from
her administrative position at Marshall, a request that was denied.

She and Halladjian are a symbol of African Americans and Armenian
Americans working together cooperatively at a time when Marshall is
undergoing a racial crisis, Dale Gronemeier said.

In an April 15 letter to Superintendent Percy Clark, Dale Gronemeier
warned of disastrous consequences for Miller and said he plays
hardball and is prepared for a public battle.

“There has been a systematic attempt by Miller to purge the African
Americans from the security force at Marshall,’ Gronemeier claimed
Wednesday. “Because Halladjian would not go along with illegal
practices, Miller wanted to fire him.

“At a minimum, Miller is racially insensitive and the alternative is
that he’s bigoted,’ Gronemeier added.

Miller said the allegation that Halladjian was given a pink slip
because he refused to fire a security guard does not make sense,
since district officials do all hiring and firing at the high school.
The opposition comes from people who would have targeted whoever took
the principalship two years ago, he said.

Teachers describe Miller as calm, fair, personable and a good
listener. He commands respect but becomes even more soft-spoken than
usual when talking about the allegations of bigotry.

“From the very first week that I arrived here, there were threats,
there were warnings,’ Miller said. “I’ve dealt with slander,
intimidation. I’ve been subjected to these twisted perversions of
lies. When I’m called a racist, I get emotional, because it’s
slander.

“On three different occasions, publicly I’ve been told that I’m going
to be driven out of Pasadena. It’s getting to a point where I’m
starting to worry about (my) safety. What’s going on here is an
agenda that has nothing to do with these kids.

“What I found was that every time Marshall demonstrates success, then
the intimidation, the aggression escalates,’ Miller said. “Right now
… the focus is on me but it’s really about destroying the school.’

District officials said Miller’s supporters far outnumber his
detractors.

“Steve has the unqualified support of the superintendent and his
staff,’ PUSD spokesman Erik Nasarenko said. ” Steve is an exemplary
school leader who we are fortunate to have in this district.’

Miller said he is committed to leading the school despite the threats
and lies but that he will leave if the conflict begins to affect
student achievement.

“I think it becomes too much when I start to see students being
negatively impacted, and I think (my detractors) know that about me,’
Miller said. “They know that’s ammunition.’

Altadena resident John Wright is one of the people who have been
handing out petitions calling for Miller’s removal. Miller lacks the
sensitivity to deal with a multi-ethnic student body and has
alienated members of the community with his biased attitude, the
petition states.

“He thinks that African Americans should have an appointment with him
as opposed to having an open-door policy with Caucasians,’ Wright
said, adding that he has not met personally with Miller. Wright has
no children or grandchildren at the school.

“I’m just a concerned citizen and feel there’s got to be someone who
will stand up and be a voice for the African-American community,’
Wright said. “I’m not boxing it in as an African- American principal,
but what we need is a person over there who has the children’s
welfare at heart and who has the sensitivity to deal with a
multi-ethnic campus.’

Roy Sunada, who has been teaching at Marshall for 12 years, said
Miller has had a calming effect at the school since he took over in
the midst of chaos caused by scheduling problems.

“I believe it’s turning into a personal attack,’ Sunada said. “He’s
absolutely not racist or a bigot. To say that really trivializes the
seriousness of racism. His detractors have no sense of shame and no
sense of decency.’

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Civil Georgia, UK
April 29 2004

Caucasian Leaders Met in Warsaw
/ Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 2004-04-29 13:04:06

Robert Kocharyan, Mikheil Saakashvili and
Ilham Aliyev. AzerTAj Photo

Presidents of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, Mikheil Saakashvili,
Ilham Aliyev and Robert Kocharyan respectively, met in Warsaw in the
frames of the European Economic Summit on April 28.

The regional issues and the prospects of further cooperation were
discussed at a business lunch arranged in honor of the South
Caucasian Presidents, AzerTAj state news agency of Azerbaijan
reported.

On April 29 President Saakashvili plans to make a speech at the
European Economic Summit in Warsaw and also will meet with his Polish
counterpart Aleksander Kwasniewski.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1 Plus | 14:23:48 | 29-04-2004 | Politics |

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH CALLS ON ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT TO INVESTIGATE EXCESSIVE
USE OF POLICE FORCE

On Wednesday, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE) held an urgent debate on Armenia, calling on the government to
investigate abuses and to create “fair conditions for the media,” and
warned the government that if no progress on this by September, the
PACE may “reconsider the credentials of the Armenian delegation.”PACE
also called on the opposition to work within the country’s
constitutional framework.

In early April, Armenia’s political opposition united in mass peaceful
protests to force a “referendum of confidence” on President Robert
Kocharian and to call for his resignation. The government responded
with mass arrests, violent dispersals of demonstrations, and raids on
opposition party headquarters. Hundreds were detained, many for up to
15 days, and some were tortured or ill-treated in custody.

“The Armenian government is repeating the same sorts of abuses that
called into question the legitimacy of last year’s election and
sparked the protests in the first place,” said Rachel Denber, acting
executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia
division. “The cycle of repression must end.”

Excessive police force, particularly at a nonviolent opposition rally
on the night of April 12, caused dozens of injuries among
demonstrators. The Human Right Watch briefing paper, based on an
investigation in Armenia in mid-April, documents this violence and
other abuses. Human Rights Watch found that some of the worst injuries
at that rally were caused by stun grenades, which inflicted deep
wounds in many protesters. Police also beat journalists and
confiscated their cameras.

The opposition protests derived from the government’s failure to
redress the deeply flawed 2003 presidential election won by Kocharian,
the incumbent. At that time, the authorities detained about 250
opposition activists and supporters in an attempt to intimidate and
disable the opposition in advance of the vote. The Armenian
Constitutional Court subsequently recommended that the government hold
a referendum of confidence. The government rejected the
recommendation, while the opposition insisted that the referendum be
held.

In its report on the 2003 presidential election, the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) found the vote to be “marred
by serious irregularities,” owing to “a lack of sufficient political
determination by the authorities to ensure a fair and honest process.”

“Armenia has to address the underlying causes of the opposition’s
demonstrations,” said Denber. “A first step would be to implement the
recommendations made by the OS?E following the 2003 elections.”

Human Rights Watch also called on the Armenian government to
investigate the excessive use of police force on the night of April
12, and to cease the use of stun grenades and electric-shock equipment
for the control of nonviolent public demonstrations.

Armenia’s international partners – including the European Union, the
United States government, the OSCE and the Council of Europe – should
closely monitor the situation and condemn any new abuses that occur,
Human Rights Watch said. In particular, the United States and the
European Union should closely monitor any security-related funding,
particularly for crowd-control equipment, to ensure that it does not
fuel human rights abuses.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Minister says no proposals discussed in Armenian-Azeri talks in Poland

ANS TV, Baku
28 Apr 04

[Presenter] We are going live to Strasbourg again. ANS TV’s special
correspondent Qanira Pasayeva is on the line. Good evening,
Qanira. Who met the [Azerbaijani] president at Strasbourg airport?
Could you also give us information about the trilateral meeting
between [Georgian President] Mikheil Saakashvili, [Armenian President]
Robert Kocharyan [and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev] in Warsaw
today?

[Qanira Pasayeva over the phone] Hello, Aytan. Our plane has just
landed. The reception will probably start in five or six minutes. I
mean the president’s plane has landed in Strasbourg as well.

An hour and 40 minutes ago, the president was in Warsaw, Poland. The
Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian presidents had a working lunch
there to discuss Caucasus issues. After the trilateral meeting, the
three presidents answered questions from delegations at the European
economic summit.

The most interesting questions were about regional
cooperation. President Ilham Aliyev said that Azerbaijan was
cooperating with Georgia at the highest level in all spheres. But
cooperation with Armenia is out of the question. Cooperation with
Armenia is possible only after the Nagornyy Karabakh problem is
resolved.

Robert Kocharyan said that cooperation could promote a solution to the
problem. But the Azerbaijani president said that this was ruled out.

The Georgian president said that regional cooperation with Azerbaijan
was at a very high level. But conflicts hinder full cooperation and
economic development in the region. President Ilham Aliyev backed up
this statement.

As for the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, the Azerbaijani president said
that Azerbaijan will not make any concessions that run counter to the
following: Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity should be ensured in
line with international legal norms. Robert Kocharyan answered in
general and did not say anything specific.

Another interesting question was about integration into the European
Union and membership of this union in the future. The Armenian
president did not give a concrete answer. But the Azerbaijani and
Georgian presidents said that Azerbaijan and Georgia were interested
in entering the EU. President Ilham Aliyev said that Azerbaijan was
integrating into European structures, which would secure the country’s
membership of the EU.

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan gave an exclusive interview
to ANS concerning the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents’ meeting
today. He said that today the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents had
a general discussion on the Nagornyy Karabakh issue. No concrete
proposal was discussed. The [OSCE Minsk Group] co-chairmen did not put
forward any new proposals or ideas. They simply attended the
meeting. Asked whether any discussions had been held on the package or
step-by-step settlement, Oskanyan said that no discussions had been
held on concrete proposals and that the discussions had a general
nature. His meeting with the Azerbaijani foreign minister in May will
decide whether a concrete proposal will be negotiated.

He said that there will be a NATO summit in Istanbul in late June. He
will raise the issue of opening the Turkish-Armenian border at a
meeting with Ankara officials at the summit. Commenting on a
trilateral meeting proposed by Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul,
Vardan Oskanyan said that if the meeting is to discuss the Karabakh
issue, Armenia will not agree to it. If the agenda includes issues
other than Karabakh, they will attend the meeting.

Bilateral issues were discussed at the bilateral meeting with Mikheil
Saakashvili.

[Presenter] Thank you, Qanira. This was ANS TV’s special correspondent
Qanira Pasayeva reporting from Strasbourg.

ArmenPress
April 29 2004

SOUTH CAUCASUS COUNTRIES EAGER TO BRING THEIR ECONOMICS UP TO EU
STANDARDS
WARSAW, APRIL 29, ARMENPRESS: At the lunch attended by the
presidents of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia and moderated by
Christopher Hill, US ambassador to Poland on the sidelines of the
European Economic Forum in Poland, on April 28, all three republics
demonstrated an eagerness to bring their economies up to the
standards of the European Union. The main obstacle to regional
solidarity remains the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over
Nagorno Karabagh. Georgia’s president Mikhail Saakashvili
demonstrated more willingness to provide a common ground to work
around the limitations imposed by the dispute and to work towards a
negotiated settlement, while Robert Kocharian of Armenia noted that
it will be a long time before Georgia can think of actually joining
the European Union. “On the whole, whatever we do we do in terms of
harmonizing and conforming to European standards,” Kocharian said.
President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, noted that foreign
investment in Azerbaijan is now adding up to around $10 million a day
and is expected to reach $9 billion over the next few years. He said
that he is aware of the mistakes of other countries that have
squandered sudden oil wealth. “We look at the bad experiences, too,’
he said. Azerbaijan is at a crossroads,’ he added.
As for the dispute with Armenia over Nagorno Karabagh, Aliyev
remarked the Azeris believe that a settlement should be based on
international law. “We respect territorial integrity anywhere,”
Aliyev said, and :we expect that to be applied to us.”
Replying to Aliyev’s analysis, Kocharian pointed out that many
borders in Europe have been altered and some have disappeared with
changing circumstances. he added that in the former Soviet Union,
borders had occasionally been drafted intentionally to exacerbate
conflicts in order to enhance centralized authority.
“I understand the position of Azerbaijan,” Kocharian added. “What
we need is a peaceful, amicable divorce,” he said. Answering a
question from the law on regional economic integration, Aliyev
insisted that the war is too much of an obstacle. “You cannot imagine
two countries at war having economic cooperation,” he said.
Kocharian on the other hand, suggested that regional cooperation
might help create an environment for resolving other conflict.
Saakashvili stated that he does not believe a solution can be forced,
but that the way to proceed is to start negotiations at all levels.
“Both leaders are reasonable people,” he said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Associated Press Worldstream
April 28, 2004 Wednesday

Armenia deports U.S. citizen accused of plotting seizure of power

YEREVAN, Armenia

A U.S. citizen was deported Wednesday after being arrested on charges
of working toward the forceful seizure of power in Armenia, the U.S.
Embassy said.

Artur Vardanian was arrested in the Armenian capital on April 22. He
had dual Armenian and U.S. citizenship, but Armenian President Robert
Kocharian revoked Vardanian’s Armenian passport the day after his
arrest.

His lawyer, Ashot Sarkisian, said Vardanian was taken under police
guard to the airport early Wednesday and deported to the United
States. No more details about his destination were available.

“The criminal case against the defendant was closed in connection
with changed circumstances,” Sarkisian said.

Vardanian was an active supporter of Stepan Demirchian, Kocharian’s
main opponent in last year’s election.

Kocharian won a second term, but the election sparked mass protests,
including nearly daily demonstrations between the first round and the
runoff. Opposition groups alleged widespread violations in both
rounds of the vote, which was followed by a parliamentary ballot in
which the pro-government party won the most votes.

In recent weeks, a new series of protest rallies have been held,
raising political tension in this ex-Soviet republic. Some 7,000
people participated in Tuesday’s protest, calling for Kocharian’s
ouster.

Vardanian, a former resident of Yerevan, received U.S. citizenship
after marrying an American citizen in the 1990s. Armenian authorities
accused him of failing to surrender his Armenian passport and
repeatedly entering Armenia illegally. They say he was involved in
political activities there.

Authorities said that this time, Vardanian arrived at the beginning
of April and participated in unsanctioned opposition meetings.

PRESS RELEASE
ANC San Diego
Contact: Garo Artinian (ANC SD Chair)
Telephone: 619-596-4332

April 27, 2004

ARMENIAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF SAN DIEGO AND UC SAN DIEGO ARMENIAN
STUDENTS HOST INAUGURAL GENOCIDE CONFERENCE

San Diego, CA : The Armenian National Committee of San Diego announced
that it will be hosting an academic conference on Genocide and Denial
on Saturday, May 8, 2004 at the University of California, San Diego
campus. The event is the first of its kind to be held at UC San Diego
and is cosponsored by the UC San Diego Armenian Students Association.

The conference, entitled “Western Response to Genocide”, will cover
various topics including the Armenian Genocide, the Jewish Holocaust,
the Rwandan Genocide and others. The intended emphasis of the
conference will be how the Western Culture has dealt with
genocide. The conference will address a number of genocide-related
issues, including definition, history, politics, literature,
acknowledgment, prevention, associated trauma (both individual and
collective) and reconciliation and reparations. The conference will
address the many genocides of the 20th century and draw similarities
and identify differences between these crimes against humanity.

A number of panelists will participate in the conference, including:
Laurence Baron, Ph.D., Director of the Lipinsky Institute for Judaice
Studies; Rubina Peroomian, Ph.D., lecturer at the University of
California, Los Angeles; Levon Marashlian, Ph.D., Professor of History
and Political Science at Glendale Community College, Dan Alba,
Regional Director of the Los Angeles Offices of Facing History and
Ourselves, and Ardashes Kassakhian, Executive Director of the Armenian
National Committee of America – Western Region.

The conference will take place at the University of California, San
Diego, Peterson Building and will begin at 10 A.M. Parking for the
conference is free and Armenian style barbecue will be served during
the break for $7.

Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and
supporters throughout the United States and affiliated organizations
around the world, the Armenian National Committee San Diego actively
advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad
range of issues.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CIS SECURITY CHIEF HOLDS TALKS WITH BELARUSIAN SECURITY OFFICIAL

Belapan news agency
29 Apr 04

MINSK

The secretary-general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization
(CSTO), Nikolay Bordyuzha, noted three main current areas of CSTO
activities during his meeting with the chairman of the committee for
international affairs and national security of the Council of the
Republic (Belarusian parliament’s upper house), Mikalay Charhinets, on
29 April in Minsk.

According to him, this includes coordination of foreign policy of
member states (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan
and Russia), formation of the organization’s military component and,
above all, counteracting modern threats and challenges. Bordyuzha said
that the ways of development of the CSTO military component will be
discussed at the next session of the Collective Security Treaty
Council scheduled for June in Astana (Kazakhstan). “The existence of
the military component is a factor of deterrence,” Bordyuzha said.

Speaking about CSTO activities aimed at counteracting modern threats
and challenges, the organization’s secretary-general noted the fight
against drugs and terrorism. According to him, the creation of a
single legal basis on these issues and informational support are
becoming quite topical in this respect. Bordyuzha recalled with
satisfaction that the Channel operation was carried out within the
CSTO framework in 2004. Law-enforcement agencies of the organization’s
member states, including Belarusian special services and the Interior
Ministry, were involved in the operation. The operation resulted in
the confiscation of about two tonnes of drugs, approximately the same
quantity of precursors and institution of 1,500 criminal cases in the
area of illegal turnover of drugs.

Nikolay Bordyuzha also said that the CSTO has been registered with the
UN and the issue of granting it observer status with the UN is
currently being discussed. The organization has established ties with
security bodies of the UN and OSCE.

The goal of Bordyuzha’s two-day visit to Minsk is to prepare the next
session of the Collective Security Treaty Council. He had meetings to
this effect with the head of the presidential administration, Ural
Latypaw, on 28 April and took part in a joint board session of the
defence ministries of Belarus and Russia. Bordyuzha had a meeting with
leaders of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry on 29 April.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress