Author: Felekian Ara

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
September 30, 2005, Friday

“LET THE ENEMY KNOW”

SOURCE: Voyenno-Promyshlenny Kurier, No 36, September 28 – October 4,
2005, p. 3

by Aleksei Matveev

KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT IS DELAYED

Attention of the international community is once again centered on
Nagorno-Karabakh, one of the self-declared states in the post-Soviet
zone denied international recognition. President of Armenia and
Azerbaijan, Robert Kocharjan and Ilham Aliyev, met in Kazan
(Tatarstan, Russia) in late April and discussed conflict settlement
with nothing to show for it. Even official press releases indicate
that the failure did not become a breakthrough. As a matter of fact,
many analysts predicted it. The dialogue has been under way for a
long time now without, however, a single accomplishment in over a
decade. Practically all meetings of the leaders of Armenia,
Azerbaijan, and Nagorno-Karabakh result in vague declarations on how
negotiations continue and how progress is made towards peace and
stability when in fact absolutely no progress worth mentioning is
ever made.

In the meantime, Nagorno-Karabakh exists as a de facto republic. The
Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh celebrated its 14th anniversary of
independence on September 2. Kocharjan attended the festivities.
Kocharjan mentioned in his speech that the negotiations had “positive
tendencies” and said that he had never implied that “Armenia might
change its stand on the matter of Nagorno-Karabakh settlement.” In
fact, the Armenian president was refuting himself. What positive
trends are possible when Armenia would not even hear of a compromise?
Ditto Azerbaijan, for that matter.

Aliyev of Azerbaijan is criticizing Nagorno-Karabakh openly. “Let the
enemy know that the Azerbaijani national army can liberate our lands
at any moment,” he was quoted as saying not long ago (at the opening
of a monument to former president Heydar Aliyev in Lenkoran on
September 8). Aliyev had arguments to substantiate his threats. “Arms
spending amounted to $175 million in 2004, and to $300 million in
2005. They will amount to $600 million next year,” he said. Stripped
of diplomatic finesse, it means that Azerbaijan will stop at nothing
to accomplish its goals.

The president of Azerbaijan may be understood. A six-day joint
exercise of the Russian Army Group in the Caucasus and Armenian Armed
Forces began in Armenia the day before, on September 7. Aliyev could
not let it go without comments. There are no doubts that the
maneuvers were planned, but official Baku took them for
muscle-flexing on the part of Yerevan backed by a foreign power.
Indeed, the legend of the exercise was really something. An enemy
makes a forced march 15-20 kilometers into Armenia across the border
with Turkey. Armenian and Russian servicemen check the enemy advance
and use artillery and aviation to force the enemy to fall back. Sure,
no implications with regard to Azerbaijan were intended, but in the
light of the situation with Nagorno-Karabakh the ambivalence is
certainly undeniable. Aliyev could not help condemning the exercise.
He did so obliquely – speaking about combat readiness and increased
arms spending as a certain counterweight to Armenia’s military
preparations. It is a different matter altogether that Baku was
fairly rude and openly resorted to threats…

Azerbaijani leaders are critical of Russia too. Conference Parallel
CIS: Abkhazia, Trans-Dniester, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh As
Realities Of The Post-Soviet Zone in Moscow on September 14-15 (here
CIS stood for the Commonwealth of Ignored States), was taken in
Azerbaijan as a provocation. Addressing the Nagorno-Karabakh
Provisional Commission of the Parliamentary Assembly in Paris the
other day, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov announced
that his country had waged a war on two foreign powers at once –
Russia and Armenia. Azimov also said that Russia had transferred a
great deal of weapons to Armenia. Shavarsh Kocharjan of the Armenian
delegation in return cited chapter and verse on what weapons and
ordnance Armenia had received from Russia before 1993. He said that
all arms deals were then suspended in honor of the Tashkent Accord
(May 1992). Kocharjan added that even according to official reports
Azerbaijan had received twice as many tanks from Russia, 2.5 times
more armored personnel carriers, 1.5 times more artillery pieces, and
twice as many helicopters. Armenia did not receive a single aircraft
from Russia while Azerbaijan received 53. “Armenia has more reasons
to begrudge Russian military assistance to Azerbaijan,” Kocharjan
said. “And yet, Armenia recognizes the role Russia has been playing
in connection with the truce made in 1994, because there would have
been no truce without Russia.”

In any case, Russia finds itself between the frying pan and the fire
in the Azerbaijani-Armenian dispute. Generally speaking, settlement
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is delayed…

The Irish Times
September 28, 2005

EU offer would boost reform in Turkey

Although recent events in Turkey raise concerns, there are grounds
for believing a firm promise of EU membership can help advance
reforms, writes John O’Brennan.

After a fraught and difficult year, the European Union is faced with
the extremely contentious issue of whether to proceed to substantive
membership negotiations with Turkey. In advance of the European
Council decision, expected on October 3rd, it is worth examining what
is at stake for the EU.

The internal EU debate about Turkey revolves around two distinct
issues. The first is identity and culture. There are many within the
EU who see Turkey as an Asiatic rather than a European country, or at
best a “Eurasian” country, a bridge between Europe and Asia. Turkey’s
population of 72 million is overwhelmingly Muslim and thus seen as a
threat to Europe’s increasingly secular value system. Although the EU
is manifestly not a religio-cultural entity, this does not prevent
those opposed to Turkish membership, including Pope Benedict XVI,
alluding to the weight of cultural difference as the key barrier to
Turkish accession.

The second key issue is the political power Turkey would potentially
wield within the EU. Under the complex weighted voting system used by
the EU Council of Ministers, Turkey would command a similar voting
strength to Germany, France and the UK. That is something that
worries Paris and Berlin especially. Turkish membership, say the
critics, would paralyse a decision-making system that is already
creaking in the wake of the eastern enlargement and the inefficient
institutional architecture recalibrated through the Nice Treaty.

In the run-up to the European Council summit, the Turkish negotiating
hand has been significantly weakened. On the one hand the EU
enthusiasm for further enlargement has receded significantly in the
aftermath of both the 2004 eastern enlargement and the antipathy to
expansion demonstrated in the constitutional treaty referendums in
France and the Netherlands.

Recent events within Turkey have not helped its cause either. The
decision to prosecute the country’s greatest living writer, Ohran
Pamuk, for allegedly “denigrating the nation” by making public
reference to the 1915 mass murder by Ottoman forces of Armenians was
followed last week by another judicial decision to ban a proposed
academic conference dealing with the same issue. Although the Turkish
government had nothing to do with these decisions, they have enabled
EU obstructionists to argue that Turkey’s value system is
fundamentally incompatible with the liberal norms which lie at the
core of the EU’s identity.

What then can the EU hope to achieve in proceeding to negotiations?
The answers can be found in the mechanisms used by the Union to
incorporate future member-states. In short, the offer of membership
to outside states and the management of enlargement processes has
proved the most effective foreign policy tool the EU has employed in
its efforts to stabilise, modernise and democratise a whole range of
states on its southern and eastern borders over the past two decades.
Just as earlier accession processes helped transform Greece, Portugal
and Spain from authoritarian, economically backward states into
vibrant and dynamic liberal democracies, so too can the accession
process help Turkey’s modernisers effect the transition they (and the
EU) so desire.

More recently, the EU’s experience of eastern enlargement
demonstrates how effective are both the membership criteria and the
pre-accession process as instruments for reshaping the applicant
state’s public administration, judiciary, and economy. In effect, the
EU transposes its norms on to applicant states in advance of their
accession. The process is completely asymmetrical, with the applicant
state having no option but to accept the changes recommended by
Brussels.

In Central and Eastern Europe the transposition and implementation of
EU laws helped consolidate fragile democratic institutions, open up
previously moribund economies, strengthen administrative capacity,
reduce corruption in public life and stabilise relations between
neighbouring countries. The benefits this has brought the EU include
a vast increase in intra-European trade and the stabilisation of its
external borders.

At a more micro level, my own research into the eastern enlargement
demonstrates that for EU policy to work a “good cop/bad cop” strategy
works best. This revolves around a firm promise of membership coupled
with the credible threat of exclusion (in the case of failure
adequately to transpose EU legislation and norms).

Prospective member-states must have sufficient incentive to carry on
domestic reform programmes, which bring them closer to EU norms, but
they encounter significant local opposition as more and more
legislative measures are adopted. The actions of the Turkish
judiciary in recent weeks constitute just such an example of domestic
contestation of EU standards and have been condemned by the Turkish
prime minister, Recip Tayyip Erdogan.

Those within the EU opposed to Turkish membership should look at the
record of reform of the AKP government since it won a landslide
victory in the 2002 election. It has pushed through four major reform
packages, some of which required significant changes in the Turkish
legal code.

Significant though these reforms have been, there is still a
fragility about Turkey’s engagement with modernisation and
Europeanisation. The EU needs to act on the commission’s
recommendation to open talks. If it does it will accelerate the
Turkish reform programme and ensure its eventual success. There is a
lot at stake at next week’s summit. The EU should not shirk the
challenge.

Dr John O’Brennan is IRCHSS post-doctoral fellow in the department of
politics and public administration at the University of Limerick. His
book on the Eastern enlargement of the EU will be published by
Routledge in February.

H. TUMANIAN PUPPET THEATER TO MARK ITS 70th ANNIVERSARY WITH ITS PERMANENT AND BELOVED SPECTATORS

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Sept 28 2005

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, NOYAN TAPAN. Hovhannes Tumanian Puppet Theater
will celebrate its 70th anniversary in the first decade of October.

Theater’s executives decided to celebrate the anniversary in a
non-traditional way. As Noyan Tapan’s correspondent was informed by
Ruben Babayan, theater’s Art Director, theater’s collective will spend
the jubilee with their permanent and beloved spectators, children. In
October the theater will have 4 benevolent performances for parentless
children and those attending special schools.

“For a theatrical figure the greatest occasion is pleasing the
spectators and when they are glad this is the greatest occasion. I
think that marking the jubilee with the spectators is the most
efficient way,” Ruben Babayan mentioned.

Derenik Martirosian, an actor of the Puppet Theater who has worked
there for many years, has written a book about theater’s history on
the occasion of the jubilee. He is a great connoisseur of theater
and is now teaching History of Puppet Art at the State Institute of
Cinema and Theater. According to R.Babayan, the book consisting of
several parts has been already translated into English, too, but they
aren’t able to publish it because of absence of funds. Besides, as
the theater has been a member of “Yunima” (international organization
of puppet theaters) for already 30 years, the book is likely to have
its online variant, as well.

FINNISH PRESIDENT GREETS RA AUTHORITIES FOR GREAT PROGRESS IN COOPERATION WITH EU

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Sept 27 2005

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 27, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenia hopes to get “more
active assistance” from Finland while making up an action plan within
the framework of the “New Neighborhood” policy. RA President Robert
Kocharian declared this at the press conference convened at the end of
the September 27 negotiations with President of Finland Tarja Halonen
who is in Armenia on an official visit. Finland’s assistance in this
issue is expected especially in consideration of the fact that this
country will preside over in EU next year.

President Kocharian expressed hope that this program will be adopted
by the end of the year, it will mean continuation of reforms in a
number of directions. The issue of Finland’s assistance in the 2-3
directions in which this country succeeded was also discussed during
the meeting with Finnish President.

Expressing satisfaction with the results of “open and frank”
negotiations, RA President noted that he hopes that the visit will
seriously stimulate the bilateral relations. R.Kocharian was pleased
with the activity of political dialogue during the negotiations
highlighting that nevertheless they especially stressed steps
stimulating bilateral economic cooperation.

RA President also informed the Finnish President about the negotiations
process around Nagorno Karabakh settlement: Mrs Halonen is for the
first time in the region as a Finnish President but she had visited
the region earlier as the Foreign Minister of the same country, as
OSCE Chairwoman-in-Office. A number of regional issues were discussed,
including the issue of Armenian-Turkish relations.

The Finnish President in her turn attached importance to the meeting
of the 2 Presidents as the highest meeting of political dialogue. She
informed that she invited RA President to visit Finland. Tarja
Halonen also attached importance to the prospects of bilateral
economic cooperation, emphasizing the necessity of protection of the
investments being at the stage of final elaboration and agreements on
avoiding of double taxation. The Finnish President also highlighted
that besides the above-mentioned agreements, protection of democracy
and supremacy of law is very important for business circles, a very
important circumstance carefully followed by business circles.

As for the issue of Nagorno Karabakh settlement, the Finnish President
“encouraged President Kocharian to continue his efforts and take
further steps in order to find a final solution to the problem.”

T.Halonen congratulated and thanked the Armenian authorities for “great
progress,” as she estimated, in the sphere of cooperation with the EU,
especially within the framework of the New Neighborhood program.

The Finnish Minister of Trade and Economic Development mentioned
spheres of mining, information and communication technologies as those
representing mutual interest for cooperation between the 2 countries,
saying that there are also great opportunities for cooperation in the
sphere of tourism. He expressed hope that after the elaboration of
the 2 agreements necessary for economic cooperation business forums
will be held in Finland, then in Armenia where additional directions
for development of economic cooperation will be discussed. The Finnish
President in her turn added that there is already a great current of
tourists coming from Finland to Armenia and expressed an opinion that
“it should be extended.”

SO DID THE ARMENIAN CONFERENCE HURT OUR COUNTRY’S INTERESTS?

The New Anatolian
Sept 27 2005

View: Ilnur Cevik

The controversy-riddled Armenian conference was held over the weekend
despite all kinds of obstacles. No one expected any earth-shattering
results, but even the fact that such a conference could be held in
Turkey and the quality of the debate, even though a bit fiery at times,
shows our country is edging towards accepting free debate as part of
our culture.

The court order demanding the cancellation of the conference was
by-passed with the help of Justice Minister Cemil Cicek, with
organizers switching the venue from Bogazici to Bilgi University .

This was a purely academic occasion yet it was turned into a political
controversy thanks to Turkey ‘s ultranationalist conservative
establishment.

The conference was entitled “The Ottoman Armenians During the Collapse
of the Empire,” but in essence it was designed to debate what had
really happened in eastern Anatolia on Ottoman Empire territory just
before and during World War I. It was designed to make an academic
evaluation of what really happened; to filter the facts from the myth.

Did the Armenians collaborate with invading Russian forces? Did
they set up militia groups to attack Turkish villages and
commit atrocities? Did Turkish bands attack Armenian villages in
retaliation? Were the Armenians forced out of their settlements and
made to migrate to other parts of the empire? What happened to them
during this exodus? Did tens of thousands of Armenians perish in the
process? And, above all, who’s responsible for all this?

Bogazici, Bilgi, and Sabanci universities and their academic
staff should be praised for supporting the organization of such a
conference. This isn’t only because the Armenian issue should be
discussed in earnest, without the usual nationalist slogans, but
also because they served the cause of freedom of speech and showed
how things are starting to change for the better in Turkey despite
efforts by the conservative establishment to turn the clocks back.

It also served to show to academics at universities what liberals like
us (the International Herald Tribune on Sept. 22 described me as a
“liberal voice”) suffer when they want to bring out the truths on many
issues, not only on the Armenian claims but also on the Kurdish issue,
domestic corruption, and irregularities.

The tomatoes and eggs thrown at journalist and columnist Cengiz
Candar and former Deputy Prime Minister Erdal Inonu by a handful of
ultranationalists and ultra “left-wing” militants of the Workers Party
(IP) while they were departing from the conference, was the least
that these people could do to us liberals.

Turkey ‘s liberals are making headway thanks to Turkey ‘s quest to
join the European Union. If it weren’t for the EU accession talks,
scheduled to start on Oct. 3, even the government may not have opposed
the court ruling to block the conference. We hope the freedom-loving
and liberal-minded people of Europe realize this. We also hope that
they also realize what could happen to liberals in Turkey if we fail
to make progress for full EU membership. Tomato attacks by such mobs
would be the least of our worries.

Turkey hasn’t lost anything but has gained from this Armenian
conference. We’ve shown that we have nothing to hide and most of us
can face the challenges of history in a mature manner. The cat is
now out of the bag and we all have to start debating these issues
in earnest without falling into any nationalist pits. Let’s hope
those who had the courage to organize this conference also show the
courage to debate Turkey ‘s Kurds and its domestic corruption and
irregularities with the same boldness.

AUTONOMY APPEAL FACES PARLIAMENT MEMBER’S BACKLASH

Armenpress
Sept 26, 2005

TBILISI, SEPTEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS: An application of Armenian
organizations in southern Georgia demanding autonomy for a
predominantly-Armenian populated region of Samtskhe-Javakheti faced
a strong backlash from an Armenian member of the Georgian parliament,
Van Bayburdian.

The appeal was issued by a congress of Armenian organizations of the
Samtskhe-Javakheti region held in the town of Akhalkalaki Saturday.

Bayburdian , who is also chairman of the Union of Georgian Armenians,
said the appeal was’ groundless,” as the population of Ninotsminda
and Akhalkalaki regions, where the majority are ethnic Armenians,
‘have full authority to govern their regions.”

He said there are more than 100 Armenian schools in the region and
Armenians are represented in Georgian government bodies and have
five members in the parliament. He also said there was no tendency
to discriminate Armenians because of their ethnicity. He said all
Georgian regions face dire economic conditions, but the government
is committed to resolve them. “One should not politicize social and
economic problems of the region, a wrong policy assumed by some local
Armenian organizations,” he said.

Associated Press Worldstream
September 25, 2005 Sunday 7:23 AM Eastern Time

Genocide scholars again met with barrage of protests in Turkey

by BENJAMIN HARVEY; Associated Press Writer

ISTANBUL, Turkey

Demonstrators throwing rotten tomatoes and eggs and shouting protests
again greeted scholars debating the killings of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks early in the 20th Century on the second day of their conference
on Sunday.

The passionately opposed conference is the first public discussion in
Turkey about the massacre of Armenians, and the European Union said
it would be seen as a test of freedom of expression in Turkey, which
is a candidate for EU membership.

The group of about 20 protesters outside the conference venue was
smaller than the hundreds who showed up on Saturday, and organizers
of the conference say Turks have been surprisingly supportive of
their efforts, despite some panelists suggesting that Ottoman Turks
committed the first genocide of the 20th Century.

Discussing the mass killings of Armenians has long been taboo in
Turkey, and scholars who use the word genocide can be prosecuted
under a clause in the Turkish penal code on insulting the national
character.

The academic conference had been canceled twice, once in May after
the justice minister said organizers were “stabbing the people in the
back,” and again on Thursday when an Istanbul court ordered the
conference closed and demanded to know the academic qualifications of
the speakers.

“This is a fight of ‘can we discuss this thing, or can we not discuss
this thing?”‘ Murat Belge, a member of the organizing committee, said
at the conference opening. “This is something that’s directly related
to the question of what kind of country Turkey is going to be.”

The Armenian issue stirs deep passions among Turks, who are being
pushed by many in the international community to say that their
fathers and grandfathers carried out the first genocide of the 20th
century.

“There are so many documents in hand with respect to the destruction
of Armenians,” said Taner Akcay, a Turkish-born professor at the
University of Minnesota, and author of books on the subject
including, “A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of
Turkish Responsibility.”

On Saturday dozens of officers in riot gear kept hundreds of shouting
protesters at bay. Some protesters pelted arriving panelists with
eggs and rotten tomatoes.

Inside, the audience of more than 300 people was restrained, as only
those invited by the organizing committee and preapproved members of
the media were allowed past security.

The issue has been a taboo for many years in Turkey, with those who
speak out against the killings risking prosecution by a Turkish
court. But an increasing number of Turkish academics have called for
a review of the killings in a country where many see the Ottoman
Empire as a symbol of Turkish greatness.

Several governments around the world have recognized the killings of
as many as 1.5 million Armenians in the late Ottoman Empire as
genocide.

Turkey vehemently denies the charge, admitting that many Armenians
were killed, but saying the death toll is inflated and that Armenians
were killed along with Turks in civil unrest and intercommunal
fighting as the Ottoman Empire collapsed between 1915 and 1923.

After the conference was shut down Thursday, Turkey drew condemnation
from the European Commission.

Organizers skirted the court order by changing the venue of the
conference.

The court-ordered cancellation Thursday was an embarrassment for the
country’s leaders, who are set to begin EU negotiations on Oct. 3.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul lamented that “there’s no one better at
hurting themselves than us,” and sent a letter wishing the organizers
a successful conference. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also
condemned the court’s decision, saying it did not befit a democratic
country.

The participants were all Turkish speakers and included members of
Turkey’s Armenian minority like Hrant Dink, the editor in chief of
Agos, a weekly Armenian newspaper in Istanbul. There are some 70,000
Armenians living in Istanbul.

Blabbermouth.net, NY
Sept 23 2005

SYSTEM OF A DOWN To Rally In Front of House Speaker DENNIS HASTERT’s
Office – Sep. 24, 2005

SYSTEM OF A DOWN, one of rock’s most daring and innovative bands,
have just announced that they – along with their fans, the Armenian
National Committee of America, Axis of Justice and the Armenian Youth
Federation – will visit the Batavia office of Rep. Dennis Hastert on
Tuesday, September 27 at noon to ask Speaker Hastert to “do the right
thing” and keep his commitment to hold a vote on the pending Armenian
genocide legislation. If passed, the legislation will officially
recognize Turkey’s destruction of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915
and 1923. The band have invited their fans to join with them in this
effort by attending the rally and have set up a system by which fans
can directly email Speaker Hastert on the issue.

SYSTEM OF A DOWN’s four band members – Serj Tankian, Daron Malakian,
Shavo Odadjian and John Dolmayan – are of Armenian descent and have
made awareness of the genocide, and genocide around the world, a
central message of the band. All have lost family members to the
Armenian genocide.

On September 15, the House International Relations Committee
overwhelmingly approved legislation recognizing the Armenian
genocide, despite objections from both Turkey and the Bush
administration. Despite his previous public support for the measure
in 2000, Speaker Hastert has twice prevented the Armenian Genocide
legislation from coming to a full vote in the House. Today the fate
of this human rights issue rests in the Speaker’s hands. He has two
choices: either allow a vote on the Armenian genocide resolution,
giving the 435 members of the U.S. House a chance to cast their
ballots on this human rights measure or, delay, defer, and ultimately
defeat the Armenian genocide resolution by refusing to bring the
measure to a vote of the full U.S. House. The rally is in support of
a fair and full vote in the House of Representatives, ending U.S.
denial of this crime and opening the doors to justice – to the
restoration, reparation, and restitution owed to the victims of
genocide.

“Dennis, do the right thing,” stated Serj Tankian. `I just visited my
97-year-old grandfather, my only link to the far past, and promised
him that I would go and try to talk to Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the
House, and make sure that he takes this opportunity to bring up the
Armenian genocide resolution to the floor of the House of
Representatives. This is a personal issue to me and SYSTEM.”

The SYSTEM OF A DOWN/ANCA rally will take place at the offices of
Rep. Dennis Hastert – 27 North River Street, Batavia, Illinois (about
an hour from downtown Chicago). The rally is scheduled for 12
noon-2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 27. The Armenian community,
activists, and the band’s fans from across the greater Chicago area
are expected to attend the rally.

Pan Armenian News

ORGANIZERS OF SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE ON ARMENIAN ISSUE IN TURKEY SURE IT WILL
BE HELD

24.09.2005 03:11

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The scientific conference to discuss the Armenian
Genocide, which was canceled at Bosphorus and Sabanci Universities by a
court decision, will nevertheless be held, however at another Istanbul
university, hold organizers of the event. CNN-Turk TV company reported that
the leadership of Istanbul Bilgi University had agreed to host the
conference. The Turkish court ban to hold the conference was censured by the
Turkish Government and the European Commission, reported RFE/RL.

PRESS RELEASE
VIRGINIA’S ARMENIAN COMMISSION
Contact Person: Bedros C. Bandazian
Two Foxmere Drive
Richmond, Virginia 23238
Home: 1-804-741-8107
Office: 1-804-358-5543
Cell: 1-804-370-5468
Email: [email protected]

VIRGINIA’S ARMENIAN COMMISSION HOLDS FIRST MEETING

August 23, 2005, was a historic day for the Armenian-American
community in Virginia and the United States. The Governor’s
Commission on Armenian Affairs held its first meeting in the Patrick
Henry Building on the grounds of the State Capitol of Virginia. This
Commission was established by Executive Order #70 by the current
Governor of Virginia, The Honorable Mark R. Warner.

Bedros C. Bandazian of Richmond, Virginia was appointed as the
Chairman.

The goal of the Commission on Armenian Affairs will be to create a
relationship between the Commonwealth of Virginia, the
Armenian-American Community of Virginia and the Republic of Armenia by
creating projects and initiatives that will forge a greater bond.
Various proposals were presented and adopted by the commission in the
fields of medicine, academia, culture, government, business trade and
networking. The designated mission will be to advise the Governor
regarding development of economic, professional, educational and
governmental links between the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Virginia
Armenian-American Community and the Republic of Armenia.

The commission is empowered to undertake studies, symposiums,
research, factual reports and initiatives in order to work with the
Governor of Virginia in the implementation of its mission. It also
has the task of creating mutual exchange of cultural and historical
information between the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia and
the citizens of the Republic of Armenia.

The commission is entitled to have 20 members who must be of good
character and active in Community projects. The Commonwealth of
Virginia has allocated a minimum of $10,000 to the Commission to
assist its work. Additional funds necessary must be obtained from
either various governmental sources or private funds through grants
and/or contributions.

Barkev B. Baronian will work with the 400th Anniversary Commemoration
of the founding of Jamestown, Virginia in 1607 and will research the
history of the first Armenian on American soil, Martin the Armenian.
The Jamestown 2007 Commemoration will celebrate America’s 400th
Anniversary of the first permanent English colony in Virginia with new
museum exhibits, films, programs and rare treasures on loan from major
museums and international collections. The activities of Martin the
Armenian, as well as, other early Armenian settlers in the 17th
Century, have been documented in various archives. Research is being
conducted into their contributions to the Jamestown settlement and
their role in the early growth of America. Ideally, there will some
type of exhibit in Jamestown to recognize this first relationship
between Armenians and America.

Sarkis A. Satian of Northern Virginia will be involved in creating a
special networking system with academicians in Armenia and the
Commonwealthof Virginia in the field of technology and science. Haike
Gorgourants of the Armenian Embassy gave a presentation on this topic
and the viability of this type of endeavor. Rita S. Balian will be
initiating efforts to create networking in the medical field between
Virginia medical institutions and Armenian medical institutions.
Dr. Alice A. Kassabian who has experience in medicalfield will assist
with this project. Elizabeth Chouldjian will be working on creating a
system for networking between the General Assembly of Virginia and the
Armenian Parliament. Ms. Chouldjian will also investigate the
possibilities of establishing a Virginia/Armenia Trade Office in
Armenia. Stephen Druhot has done much work in Armenia in regards to
trade projects and will assistin promoting trade between Virginia and
Armenia.

Dr. Moorad Mooradian along with Ms. Chouldjian will work on creating a
networking system between university professors & scientists in
Armenian and Virginia. Dr. Mooradian teaches courses in conflict
management at YerevanState University and his experience in this field
is invaluable. Robert J. Mosher will be working on obtaining grants
and funding for these projects and will assist other committees as
needed. John M. Jerikian will endeavor to promote agricultural
activity between Armenia and Virginia. Virginia Tech University in
Blacksburg, Virginia, had initiated this contact a few years ago and
hopefully Mr. Jerikian will be able to revive this interest again.
Mr. Jerikian suggested that since Virginia is now second only to
California in wine production this may be an avenue for trade and
networking between Virginia and Armenia. Melanie B. Kerneklian will
begin work with the General Assembly to officially codify this
Virginia/Armenian Commission so that it will survive past the term of
any one Governor. Ms. Kerneklian is very active and involvedwith
Virginia General Assembly activities and is familiar with this
process.

Stephan Druhot and Robert J. Mosher will assist with this effort.

All Commission meetings are open to the public. The next scheduled
meetings will be October 13, 2005, and November 17, 2005, from 10:30
AM until 3:00PM in the first floor meeting room of the Patrick Henry
Building at 1111 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia.

It is the hope of all that the Governor’s Commission on Armenian
Affairs will be able to create positive projects that will benefit the
Commonwealth of Virginia, the Armenian-American Community of Virginia
and the Republic of Armenia. For more information, please contact
Louise Arnatt, at [email protected]_
(mailto:[email protected]) or Bedros C. Bandazian at
[email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected])