A1 Plus | 15:03:33 | 27-04-2004 | Politics |
ARMENIAN LAWMAKERS LAYING LEGAL GROUNDS FOR FURTHER VIOLENCE AGAINST PEOPLE
Armenian Parliament voted 79 to 2 on Tuesday to adopt the bill on protest
actions, rallies and marches.
It has been one of the opposition leaders’ demands to postpone the bill
discussion.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
A1 Plus | 14:55:54 | 27-04-2004 | Politics |
AUTHORITIES’ BID TO BAR PEOPLE FROM ATTENDING OPPOSITION-STAGED RALLY
As it became known, a section of highway between Armenia’s town of
Echmiadzin and Armenian capital Yerevan was blocked from very dawn on
Tuesday.
Reliable sources say all buses that usually carry students to Yerevan for
their university lessons were stopped and sent back.
It should be reminded that the opposition will convene a rally on Tuesday at
16:00 local time.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
PRESS RELEASE
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Address: Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
Contact: Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
Tel: (374 1) 517 163
Fax: (374 1) 517 301
E-Mail: [email protected]
April 26, 2004
Commemoration of April 24 in Armenia
On the morning of Saturday, April 24, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme
Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, diocesan primates, high ranking
clergymen, and members of the Brotherhood of Holy Etchmiadzin visited the
“Tsitsernakaberd” Memorial to the Armenian Genocide of 1915, to pay tribute
to the memory of the victims of the first genocide of the 20th century. His
Holiness offered a solemn Requiem Service in memory of the 1.5 million
Armenian martyrs who perished in Turkey and the deserts of Syria in the
final days of the Ottoman Empire.
In attendance for the commemoration were President of the Republic of
Armenia Robert Kocharian, President of the National Assembly Artur
Baghdasarian, Prime Minister of Armenia Andranik Margarian, President of the
Constitutional Court Gagik Harutiunian, high ranking government officials,
ambassadors and representatives of foreign states, and guests from Armenia
and abroad.
* * *
The same day a solemn Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the Mother Cathedral
of Holy Etchmiadzin. His Holiness Karekin II presided during the service
commemorating the 89th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, which was
celebrated by Very Rev. Fr. Arshak Khachatrian, Chancellor of the Mother
See.
At the conclusion of the Liturgy, the Pontifical procession gathered around
the Armenian Genocide Monument located north of the Cathedral on the grounds
of the Mother See, as His Holiness presided during a Repose of Souls
service.
High ranking clergymen, Apostolic Nuncio for the Roman Catholic Church Abp.
Claudio Gugerotti, and hundreds of faithful were present.
##
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Armenian National Committee of Wisconsin
4100 N. Newman Road
Racine, WI 53406
April 26, 2004
For Immediate Release
Contact: A. Zohrab Khaligian
[email protected]
WISCONSIN ARMENIANS COMMEMORATE THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
MADISON, WI–For the fourth year in a row, Wisconsin Armenian Americans
gathered at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison to commemorate the
Armenian Genocide. Over 70 people–including 13 State Representatives and
Senators–attended the reception and program held on Tuesday, April 20 in
the GAR Hearing Room. The event was co-hosted by the Armenian National
Committee (ANC) of Wisconsin, State Representatives Mark Honadel, Bonnie
Ladwig, and Jeff Stone, and State Senators Jeff Plale, Mary Lazich, and
Cathy Stepp.
The purpose of the program was to thank the Wisconsin State Assembly and
State Senate for adopting Armenian Genocide resolutions, which designate
April 24 of each year as “Wisconsin Day of Remembrance for the Armenian
Genocide of 1915 to 1923,” and to continue to educate and promote awareness
of Armenia and Armenian issues, particularly the Armenian Genocide. The
featured speakers included Robert O. Krikorian, Ph.D., Representative Jeff
Stone, and Senator Mary Lazich. The program also included the reading of
commemorative statements from US Senators Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl.
Zohrab Khaligian, representing the ANC of Wisconsin, presented the welcoming
message. Khaligian thanked everyone for attending the program and voiced
his disbelief that almost 90 years had passed since the Ottoman Turkish
government attempted to eliminate an entire nation, that their crime has
gone largely unrecognized and totally unpunished, and today the crime of
genocide continues as rumors abound about atrocities in Sudan.
Khaligian thanked the State Assembly and Senate for not ignoring the past
and setting the record straight by adopting Genocide resolutions which
reaffirm the Armenian Genocide as a fact of history. Khaligian also thanked
Wisconsin’s US Representatives Tammy Baldwin, Mark Green, Jerry Kleczka,
Paul Ryan, and F. James Sensenbrenner for co-sponsoring the Genocide
Convention Resolution–H.Res.193–which is currently waiting to be brought
to the House floor for a vote. Khaligian singled out Representative
Sensenbrenner for his leadership on the House Judiciary Committee, ensuring
that this legislation was adopted at the committee level following intense
pressure to eliminate the mention of the Armenian Genocide by pro-Turkish
lobbyist Bob Livingston and the Turkish Ambassador to the United States
Faruk Logoglu.
US Senators Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl were also thanked for cosponsoring
the Senate version of the Genocide Convention Resolution (S.Res164).
Khaligian introduced Katie Crawley from Senator Feingold’s Middleton office
and Darci Louma from Senator Kohl’s Madison office, and then read each of
the Senator’s commemorative statements. (Full text of statements below).
Guest speaker Robert O. Krikorian, Ph.D. was then introduced. Dr. Krikorian
is a historian with the Office of the Historian at the US Department of
State, a Professorial Lecturer at the Elliott School of International
Affairs at George Washington University and a fellow at the university’s
Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies. It was announced
that prior to the program, Dr. Krikorian was the featured speaker at a
series of lectures organized by the ANC of Wisconsin. The series included a
talk on Saturday, April 17th with the Racine Chapter of the Armenian Youth
Federation on Dr. Krikorian’s experiences in Armenia and Artsakh from
1988-1991. A lecture titled “Education and Responsibility” on Sunday, April
18th at St. Hagop Armenian Church in Racine and an academic lecture entitled
“In the Shadow of War: The Ottoman Empire and the Destruction of the
Armenians” on Monday, April 19th, which was presented twice, once at the
University of Wisconsin-Parkside Library, and once at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison Memorial Union. The Friends of the UW-Parkside Library,
and the UW-Madison Armenian Student Association and History Department
hosted the latter two lectures, respectively.
Dr. Krikorian explained that the Ottoman Empire’s massacre and deportation
of the Armenian people during World War I should be understood in the
context not only of the war itself, but in the decline of the empire.
Beginning in the latter part of the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire
suffered a series of military and political reverses, culminating in its
total defeat in 1918. The significant losses of territory in the Balkans,
North Africa, and Western Armenia preceding the Genocide created the
preconditions for carrying out this final solution to the Armenian Question.
The final two speakers were Representative Jeff Stone and Senator Mary
Lazich. A co-host since the first commemorative program, Representative
Stone commended the Armenian American community of Wisconsin for remembering
their history in an effort to prevent history from repeating itself.
Senator Lazich, speaking for the first time since becoming a co-host in
2002, read excerpts from an article written by Dr. Richard Hovannissian to
highlight the enormity of the Armenian Genocide.
Prior to closing the program, Zohrab Khaligian thanked Representative Bonnie
Ladwig for her support and guidance in making the State Capitol program a
success. Representative Ladwig will be retiring from the Assembly in the
Fall due to health reasons and will be sorely missed by the
Armenian-American community in Racine.
In closing, Khaligian explained that the objective for obtaining recognition
of the Armenian Genocide can no longer be to obtain justice for the Armenian
people. As the crime of genocide has continued to the present day, the
Armenian people and their supporters must strive to obtain recognition and
justice for the Armenian Genocide in order to prevent future genocides from
ever occurring again. Khaligian wondered aloud that if the crime of
genocide is allowed to continue, who will be left alive?
The Armenian National Committee is the largest Armenian American grassroots
political organization in Wisconsin and nationwide. The ANC actively
advances a broad range of issues of concern to the Armenian American
community.
####
—————————-
Statement by Senator Herb Kohl
—————————-
Dear Friends
Please allow me to extend my best wishes and greetings to all of you who
have gathered today to commemorate the 89th Anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide. I regret my schedule prevents me from attending, and I hope this
event raises awareness and pays tribute to the victims of this seminal
moment.
I also hope this event provides everyone in attendance with an opportunity
to reflect on the tragic events of 89 years ago, and steels our resolve to
prevent it from ever happening again. We have an obligation to future
generations to share our lessons and experiences so that atrocities are
never repeated. Commemorations like this lay the important foundation of
that critical task, while also offering a fitting forum to pay our respects
to the victims of the tragedy.
Thank you for your efforts to promote peace, tolerance and a memorial of the
past. Best wishes.
Sincerely
Herb Kohl [signed]
US Senator
——————————-
Statement by Senator Russ Feingold
——————————-
Statemen t of US Senator Russ Feingold
Commemorating the 89th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
April 20, 2004
“I am sorry that I am unable to attend this important commemoration. Thank
you to the Armenian National Committee of Wisconsin for organizing this
event. Today, we remember the Armenian men, women and children who lost
their lives during the Armenian genocide. 89 years ago between 1915 and
1923, the Ottoman empire undertook a policy to isolate, exile and eliminate
the Armenian population. One and a half million Armenians were
systematically murdered in this campaign. Hundreds of thousands more were
forced to flee their homes.
The Armenian genocide must not be denied or forgotten. We have an
obligation to remember and remind others of the horror that occurred. As
seen by the killings in Bosnia, Kosovo and Rwanda over the past decade,
targeting people for their ethnicity is still a frequent occurrence. Its
repetition demands that we speak out and inform others in order to prevent
future atrocities.
Today, I join you in solemnly remembering the victims of the Armenian
genocide, and in honoring their memory by reaffirming our resolve to prevent
genocide from occurring again.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
ITAR-TASS, Russia
April 26 2004
Decision to send Armenian army transport company to Iraq
YEREVAN, April 26 (Itar-Tass) – The Military Command of Armenia has
decided to send an army transport company to Iraq, where it is to
take part in the country’s rehabilitation, Chief of the General Staff
of the Armenian Armed Forces and First Deputy Defence Minister
Colonel-General Mikhail Aratyunyan stated here on Monday.
`This decision is yet to be considered by the Armenian parliament and
endorsed by the president,’ the general noted. Ready to be sent to
Iraq is a company of sappers and three army physicians, he added.
`We cannot overlook the fact that there is an Armenian community in
Iraq, we must think of our future and must contribute to the
restoration of Iraq,’ the Chief of Staff believes.
In conformity with the Armenian-American agreement on reciprocal
purchases and deliveries, which was concluded on Monday, the
Americans will provide the Armenian army trucks in Iraq with fuel on
account of mutual settlements, Deputy Commander of the U.S. Forces in
Europe Charles Word has explained in Yerevan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 26, 2004 Monday 9:10 AM Eastern Time
Armenia decides to send transportation platoon to Iraq
By Tigran Liloyan
YEREVAN
Armenia’s military leadership has decided to send a transportation
platoon to Iraq in order to take part in post-war reconstruction in
the country.
First Deputy Defence Minister Colonel-General Mikhail Arutyunyan,
chief of Armenia’s General Staff, said on Monday sappers’ unit and
three doctors are ready to leave for Iraq.
“We should not forget that the Armenian community lives in Iraq. We
should remember of our future and make our contribution to Iraq’s
restoration,” General Arutyunyan said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
The Ottawa Sun
April 26, 2004 Monday Final Edition
HISTORY OF HATE
BY PAUL STANWAY, EDMONTON SUN
Armenians around the world today commemorate the beginning of what
they view as the darkest period in their long history, which is
saying something for a people who have been subject to almost
constant invasion and persecution.
On Wednesday the House of Commons voted overwhelmingly (153 to 68) in
favour of a motion that “acknowledges the Armenian genocide of 1915
and condemns this as a crime against humanity.”
The history of Armenia is a litany of tragedy and suffering,
endlessly repeated. But it is also a story of survival, against all
the odds and in the face of every possible indignity and handicap we
humans are capable of imposing upon one another.
The Armenians are the oldest Christian nation on earth, a forgotten
remnant of the ancient world from a time before Islam conquered the
Near East. You may not think you know any Armenians, but unless
you’ve never heard of Cher (full name Cherylin Sarkissian), tennis
great Andre Agassi or chess master Gary Kasparov, you are wrong.
GREAT DIASPORA
They are all children of the great diaspora that followed the
massacre of Turkish Armenians in 1915 — the “crime against humanity”
deplored by a majority of our MPs. It began on April 24, 1915 with
the arrest of Armenian professionals and intellectuals, and ended two
years later with Turkey’s Armenian population having been reduced
from around 3 million to fewer than 200,000.
What happened to the missing Armenians is still a matter of hot
debate for our NATO ally, Turkey, which vehemently denies systematic
slaughter. Hundreds of thousands fled to Russian Armenia, and
thousands of others eventually made their way to Europe and North
America, but somewhere between 600,000 and 2 million died as a result
of forced relocation, starvation and the actions of Turkish troops
and civilians.
The actual number seems less important than the fact a brutal
slaughter took place, documented by eyewitness accounts from
survivors, and from credible reports by mostly American diplomats and
aid workers on the scene. There was no Auschwitz, no Treblinka, and
the weapons of choice seem to have been the bayonet and the knife,
but the massacre of the Armenians was in no way less systematic and
inhuman than the Holocaust. An entire population was driven from land
it had occupied since the beginnings of recorded history, and those
who were not killed were left to starve or die of exposure.
There is no little irony in the fact Adolf Hitler used this genocide
as a prototype for his own final solution, apparently noting that 25
years later no one remembered what had happened to the Armenians. But
at the time he was wrong. The story of the Armenians received wide
publicity in the years between the world wars, particularly in the
U.S., Canada and Britain.
There was even a time when the Turkish authorities themselves
acknowledged what had happened. Several of those responsible were
tried for their crimes by Turkish courts and executed. But as a
valuable ally during the Cold War years, as NATO’s bulwark against
Soviet Central Asia, there was a concerted attempt to forget and
finally to deny Turkey’s past.
SIMPLE HONESTY
What’s the point of remembering a regrettable slice of the past?
Apart from simple honesty, humanity is the accumulation of its
history and it is impossible to learn from events if we deny they
happened. In Turkey’s case, denying the massacre of the Armenians
guarantees the memory will fester.
Some Turkish leaders in 1915 were openly critical of their
government, others bravely refused to implement genocidal policies,
while ordinary Turks were summarily executed for trying to help their
Armenian neighbours.
The present Turkish government would do better to remember their
example than to deny history.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 26, 2004 Monday
Great Russian culture treasured by Armenians
By Tigran Liloyan
YEREVAN
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan addressed a message of greetings
to participants in the Russian Culture Days in Armenia, that begin on
Tuesday. The president believes, “This is a remarkable event in
Armenia’s cultural life”.
“Great Russian culture is treasured by every Armenian”, the president
notes. He remarked that works of Armenian writers, poets, composers
and artists are well known and appreciated in Russia.
“Armenian-Russian cultural ties have the history dating back many
centuries and, I am sure, have good prospects”, the Armenian
president noted.
“Friendship and spiritual closeness of our peoples have been
accumulated by many generations “, the message says. “The deepening
and development of cooperation based on this legacy, the treasuring
of traditions is the boon we must preserve for the succeeding
generations, Kocharyan pointed out.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Glendale News Press
LATimes.com
April 26 2004
GREG KRIKORIAN
‘With great pride’
GUSD Board of Education’s first Armenian-American president seeks to
open dialogue with parents, get artificial turf installed at high
schools
By Gary Moskowitz, News-Press
NORTHEAST GLENDALE – Greg Krikorian recently became president of
Glendale’s Board of Education, making him the first Armenian-American
president of the school board.
Krikorian was elected to the board in 2001. He was the board’s clerk
in 2002-03 and, prior to Tuesday’s board meeting, was the vice
president. Krikorian moved into the position based on the board’s
policy of rotating its officers each year.
He replaced Pam Ellis, who is now a board member alongside Chuck
Sambar. Lina Harper is now the board’s clerk, and Mary Boger is the
vice president.
Krikorian, 41, was born and raised in Hartford, Conn. He lives in
Glendale with his wife, Christine, and their five children, Armen,
Gyaneh, Haig, Seran and Shant. Their four school-age children attend
Toll Middle and Balboa Elementary schools.
Krikorian is a co-founder of Cal-Conn Enterprises Inc., a
Glendale-based publishing and marketing firm.
The News-Press recently interviewed Krikorian about taking on the
role of president of the school board.
NEWS-PRESS: How does it feel to become president, and what can the
community expect from your leadership?
GREG KRIKORIAN: I am extremely humbled to be here and serve this
community. I initially wanted to join the board because I felt there
was a need to have a parent who was also a businessperson on the
board. My business background helps add long-term vision to
supporting our schools. People can expect from me a leader that will
pool resources and knowledge of our colleagues to come up with a
vision and set policy for our kids. We are planning not just for
2005, but also for 2010. I realize that what we do as a board is a
team approach, and that team includes parents, staff, teachers, the
community and students.
NP: Why is it significant that you are the first Armenian-American
president of the board?
GK: I think having me on the board, and especially as president,
provides a mentor for all 10,000 or so of our Armenian kids. It’s a
social responsibility. [Former mayor] Larry Zarian opened up the door
for all cultures. I think that I represent the entire community, not
just Armenians, and hopefully I can help open the door for other
communities as well. The challenges that all minorities go through
and the need to work harder and assimilate and become better
citizens, I take this on with great pride.
NP: What are some specific goals you have for the school district in
the next year?
GK: One thing I’d like to do is invite students and their parents to
lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance at board meetings, which would
bring parents to district headquarters more often. Technology is
something we need to hunker down on. We are in a financial crisis
with state budget cuts, and we need to be prudent with how we
purchase. We have started piggybacking with other districts on
technology spending, but we are still all over the place with it and
need to step back a little. I also want to see artificial turf
installed at Moyse Field and at CV High. I think it’s time, and if we
can partner with local businesses to purchase the fields, the initial
cost would balance out our long-term field maintenance costs in seven
years.
I want to raise the bar a little on nutrition and fitness. We could
continue to offer healthier foods for our kids and we could
strengthen our physical education programs by partnering with local
groups like AYSO and Little League to give our kids more chances for
extra activities.
NP: Because of the state budget deficit, the district is reducing its
spending by about $7 million for the 2004-05 school year. Why does
the board continue to spend money on outside consultants for
evaluating things like technology spending?
GK: When you hire consultants, it helps you fine-tune your spending
and slim down. There are people in our workforce being paid up to
$100,000 in some cases who should have the expertise to not need
consulting but, in some cases, you really need it to reduce spending
in the long term.
NP: This board voted to approve spending as much as $3.1 million in
reserve funds each year for the next three years. If you are planning
ahead for the future of the district, what is the plan to replenish
those reserves?
GK: We are required to save a certain amount of money, but reserves
are there for times like these. If we didn’t use reserves right now,
we would have to lay people off. That’s why we are also consolidating
and filling vacant positions. We’ve committed to spending reserves
for the next three years, and at that point, we would start building
our reserves back.
NP: Do you have other goals for the next year that people should be
aware of?
GK: I would like to start giving a “State of the Schools” address
every fall to inform the community about the status of our schools.
I’d also like to host a vendor fair, where local businesses could get
involved in the bidding process for purchasing, plumbing, roofing and
providing supplies for our schools. I plan to be more visible in the
community by creating a “Board Member in Your Neighborhood” monthly
event, where I could meet with people at schools or over coffee in
the mornings.
US general hails Armenia’s plans to sign partnership accord with NATO
Mediamax news agency
26 Apr 04
YEREVAN
“The United States hails Armenia’s intention to sign the Individual
Partnership Action Plan with NATO,” the deputy commander of the US
European Command, Gen Charles Wald, said in Yerevan today.
Gen Wald said that the signing of the Individual Partnership Action
Plan with NATO “will contribute to the expansion of Armenia’s
cooperation with the alliance members both on a multilateral and
bilateral basis”.
The US general said today that “the United States is not going to
build military bases on the territory of any of the South Caucasus
countries”. According to him, the United States is successfully
cooperating with all the Caucasus countries and Russia in the struggle
against international terrorism. However, this does not mean that the
USA is considering the issue of its military presence in the region.
Charles Wald expressed gratitude to the Armenian authorities for their
readiness to send military specialists to Iraq to take part in the
post-conflict reconstruction of this country.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress