Author: Frangulian Shushan

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x137
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: [email protected]
Website:

PRESS RELEASE

Thursday, July 28, 2005

AGBU MANOOGIAN-DEMIRDJIAN SCHOOL DEDICATES ANNUAL PARADON DAY AND BOOK
OF REFLECTIONS TO GENOCIDE REMEMBRANCE

New York, NY – Armenian Genocide commemorative events and tributes by
AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School began in April 2005 and continued
into May culminating with the dedication of the School’s annual
Paradon Day on May 22 to remembering the Armenian Genocide.

Showcasing the talents and skills of the student body, Paradon 2005
was a daylong cultural celebration of life through dance, music and
creative works depicting the 90 year journey from the tragedy of 1915
to survival and rebirth. The event exemplified the commitment of a new
generation of Armenians who grapple with the issues of genocide and
recognition.

Additionally, under the auspices of the Paradon 2005 Steering
Committee, “Book of Reflections,” a collection of creative writings
and artwork on the Armenian Genocide by School students was unveiled
at the Los Angeles Public Library on May 7.

Founded in 1976, AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School is a
pre-kindergarten through 12th grade co-educational private school
located in Canoga Park, CA providing instruction to approximately 1000
students. For more information on AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School,
please visit For copies of “Book of Reflections,”
please contact the School at (818) 883-2428 or click
for the
electronic version (4MB).

For more information on AGBU Schools, please visit

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr. Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version:

CLERGY FROM THE CILICIAN AND ETHIOPIAN BROTHERHOODS MEET IN BIKFAYA

Clergy from the Ethiopian and Cilician Brotherhoods held a meeting in the
St. Asdvadzadzine Monastery in Bikfaya on July 25. His Holiness Aram I and
Patriarch Paoulos chaired the meeting.

His Holiness Aram I delivered the opening remarks of the meeting, welcoming
the presence of the Ethiopian Patriarch in the Catholicosate of Cilicia. He
talked about the confessional and theological understandings of the two
churches.

Patriarch Paoulos delivered a special lecture, talking about the three
millennia long history of the Ethiopian Church ands the unique role it
played in the ancient eastern churches.

The Patriarch also talked about the friendly ties between the Ethiopian and
Armenian people and considered the international recognition of the Armenian
Genocide as an important human rights issue.

The Catholicos and the Patriarch also answered questions about their
lectures.

##

The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the Ecumenical
activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.

NOW WE KNOW WHAT TO ASK CONDOLEEZZA RICE ONCE SHE IS IN YEREVAN

Azg/arm
28 July 05

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice criticized Damascus last Friday
for closing its border with Lebanon. Mrs. Rice was right indeed while
uttering, “Good neighbors don’t close their borders to their
neighbors”. In Lebanon’s case, this truth is more evident as 90
percent of its overland border is shared with Syria. Border with the
other neighbor — Israel in south — remains closed since 1948.

Lebanon’s greatest relief, Providence’s gift so to say, is the outlet
to the Mediterranean, which saved Lebanon from supply shortage during
15 years of inner wars.

Condoleezza Rice is expected to arrive in Armenia in the current
year. One may ask whether she will repeat her words about
good-neighborly relations in the context of Turkish-Armenian closed
border. For landlocked Armenia Turkey’s 12-year-long blockade is
harder to endure than for Lebanon the Syrian one. But such a surprise
from US State Secretary is scarcely to be witnessed. Turkey is no
Syria and Armenia is no Lebanon. Syria should have been criticized and
America did criticize whereas Turkey should be handled with care.

By Hakob Avetikian

Members of Congress Increasingly Use Revolving Door to Launch Lucrative
Lobbying Careers

43 Percent of Lawmakers Who Left Office Since 1998 Have Become
Lobbyists, Public Citizen Analysis Shows

Public Citizen
July 27, 2005

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Forty-three percent of members of Congress who left
office since 1998 and were eligible to lobby have become lobbyists,
indicating that Congress has increasingly become a way station on the
path to the lucrative influence-peddling industry, according to a new
Public Citizen report released today.

The report, Congressional Revolving Doors: The Journey from Congress to
K Street, examines in depth the case of one former member who has done
particularly well after going through the revolving door. Just days
after he left Congress in 1999 amid allegations of an extramarital
affair, former U.S. Rep. Bob Livingston (R-La.) opened a lobbying shop.
In the first year he pulled in $1.1 million, even though he was
restricted from personally lobbying his former colleagues for a year.
(Former members often skirt the lobby prohibition rules by supervising
other lobbyists for the first year after leaving Congress.) The next
year, after the cooling-off period was lifted, his firm’s lobbying
revenues more than quadrupled to $4.8 million.

The report, based on hundreds of lobbyist registration documents as well
as industry and news media reports, is available at
, a new Public Citizen Web site launched
today and designed to track the influence of special interests in
Washington. The Web site contains a searchable database of former
federal officials and staff who have passed through the revolving door,
Public Citizen investigative reports on lobbying battles waged by
industry, detailed summaries of influence-peddling laws and
recommendations for reforming the system.

`People used to run for Congress to serve the greater good and help the
public,’ said Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook. `Now Congress has
become a way station to wealth. Members use it for job training and
networking so they can leave office and cash in on the connections they
forged as elected officials. No wonder the public is cynical about whose
interests lawmakers are protecting in Washington. Lobbying has become
the top career choice for departing members of Congress.’

According to the report:

* Forty-three percent of the 198 members who have left Congress since
1998 and were eligible to lobby have become registered lobbyists.
* Fifty percent of eligible departing members of the U.S. Senate have
become lobbyists (18 of 36) while 42 percent of eligible departing
members of the U.S. House of Representatives have become lobbyists (68
of 162).
* Almost 52 percent of the Republican members of Congress who left
Capitol Hill since 1998 registered to lobby (58 of 112) compared to 33
percent of the departing Democrats (28 of 86). This could reflect the
fact that after George W. Bush became president, Washington became a
hostile place for lobbyists whose contacts were Democratic. As part of
the `K Street Project’ pushed by Republicans, including House Majority
Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), lobbying firms that hired former Democratic
members of Congress were to be denied access and business by the
Republican majority.
* Of the 2000 departing class, the ratio was even more lopsided when
Republicans won the White House and retained control of Congress. More
than 62 percent of Republicans (23 of 37) who left that year became
lobbyists, compared to only 15 percent of Democrats (2 of 13).

Livingston exemplifies how a member-turned-lobbyist interacts with his
former colleagues. In six years, Livingston built his business into the
12th largest non-law lobbying firm in Washington and took in almost $40
million from 1999 through 2004, records show. Among his clients are
Turkey, Morocco and the Cayman Islands, which collectively paid his firm
$11 million from 2000 to 2004, with $9 million of that coming from Turkey.

Livingston delivered; he helped ensure that a $1 billion supplemental
appropriation for Turkey remained intact through the legislative
process, despite that country’s refusal to allow U.S. troops to use its
soil as a staging area for the Iraq invasion. He also helped kill an
amendment that would have formally recognized the Armenian genocide that
occurred between 1915 and 1923. Turkey has always opposed this recognition.

Livingston, his wife Bonnie and his two political action committees
(PACs) also contributed $503,449 to various candidates or their PACs
from 2000 through 2004. Some of that money went to people Livingston
later lobbied.

`The revolving door is spinning faster than ever,’ said Frank Clemente,
director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division. `When nearly half
the lawmakers in Congress use their position to move into a job that
pays so handsomely, it’s time to change the system.’

In light of the findings, Public Citizen recommends the following reforms:

* Extend the former members’ cooling-off period (the time during which
they are not allowed to lobby) to two years and include the supervision
of lobbyists as a prohibited activity.
* Require members of Congress to disclose their employment negotiations
while they are in office if they pose a conflict of interest, similar to
the requirement for the executive branch.
* Repeal the privileges that give former members of Congress special
access to former colleagues (access to the House and Senate floor and to
members-only gymnasiums and restaurants) if they register to lobby.
* Prohibit registered lobbyists from making, soliciting or arranging
campaign contributions to elected officials in the branches of
government they lobby (Congress, the executive branch or both).

Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization
founded in 1971 to represent consumer interests in Congress, the
executive branch and the courts.

Martirosyan on 9/10 Staples card!

Fightnews.com
Tuesday, July 26 2005

USA Olympian Vanes ‘Nightmare’ Martirosyan, a hard-hitting super
welterweight, will box on Top Rank’s big fight card which will feature
three-time world champion Erik ‘El Terrible’ Morales and former world
champion Manny Pacquaio at the STAPLES Center on Saturday, Sept. 10.

Martirosyan, handled by Shelly Finkel and trained by Freddie Roach, is
from Glendale, Calif.

Martirosyan is 2-0-0 as a pro and lives and trains in Glendale, Calif.
“I was born in Abovyan, Armenia,” said Vanes.

“My Dad was an amateur boxer and I guess he saw it in me too. He said I
had a lot of energy because I was always running around the house. He
took me to a local boxing gym and at the age of seven I began to box. I
wound up with 130 amateur fights and won 120 of those. I speak Armenian,
of course, English and I know a little Spanish. I can pronounce some
words in Russian too,” he said.

Neue Zürcher Zeitung
25. Juli 2005

Die Armenierfrage geht alle an

Heinz Keller (München)

Die im Bericht “Waadtländer Lust, vor fernen Türen zu wischen” (NZZ
7. 7. 05) geäusserte Haltung befremdet mich und erscheint mir
unangemessen.

Die armenische Problematik ist als von vitaler Bedeutung zu
betrachten, und zwar nicht nur für die Armenier selbst, sondern für
uns alle. Hier geht es um die Vertuschung von reichlich
dokumentierten Ereignissen über die Ausrottung eines Volkes, die
ihren Anfang im 19. Jahrhundert hatte und während des Ersten
Weltkriegs ihren Höhepunkt gefunden hat. Amerika und Deutschland
stehen zu ihren Greueltaten und bemühen sich um Wiedergutmachung
sowie Versöhnung, soweit dies möglich ist. Das armenische Volk ist in
dieser Angelegenheit auf die Hilfe von Ländern angewiesen, deren
Wertegemeinschaft es teilt.

PanArmenian News Network
July 25 2005

RA DEFENSE MINISTER: KARABAKH PROBLEM CAN BE SETTLED ON COMPROMISE

25.07.2005 03:25

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ If it is possible to solve the Karabakh problem we
will have to make concessions’, Armenian Defense Minister Serge
Sargsian stated when addressing the 3-rd Pan-Armenian Youth Forum. `I
formed my opinion long ago and I am convinced that the Karabakh
problem can be settled on the basis of compromise only’, he stated
adding that no single conflict in the world can be settled without
compromise. To note, during the parliamentary hearings Serge Sargsian
noted that the Armenian party has already made certain concessions
and that he is against the return of the territories. However he
noted that if Azerbaijan accepts the terms providing for independence
of Karabakh from Azerbaijan and gives the guarantees Armenia can
revert to the issue of the security belt.

PROGRESS IN SETTLEMENT

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
22 July 05

The visit of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to the region is over.
Summing up the results with the journalists in Yerevan, in the
evening of July 15 they flew back to their countries, regretting that
they could not accept the offer of the president of Armenia Robert
Kocharian to have a holiday near Lake Sevan, only the Russian
co-chair could not refuse the tempting offer. As to the official part
of the visit, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs Youri Merzlyakov
(Russia), Stephen Mann (US) and Bernard Fassier (France) met with the
president of Armenia Robert Kocharian. The personal representative of
the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk participated in the
meeting as well. They discussed issues concerning the present stage
of the settlement of the Karabakh conflict. The co-chairs informed
the RA President about the consultations in Baku and Stepanakert. The
OSCE co-chairs also met with the foreign minister of Armenia Vartan
Oskanian. After the official meeting the co-chairmen gave a press
conference. During the press conference in Yerevan they stated that
their visit aimed to clarify the pivotal elements in the settlement
of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. During the press conferences in
Baku, Stepanakert and finally in Yerevan they stated that there is
progress in negotiations, however, according to the Russian co-chair,
they need to clarify the formulations, which they did during their
meetings in the region. Reluctant to give any details about the
negotiations, the mediators only mentioned that there is progress in
the talks which was favoured by the willingness of both parties to
compromise. What does this suppose: holding a referendum in Karabakh,
returning territories or anything else? The negotiations being
confidential, the mediators did not tell anything. Moreover, they
asked the journalists not to ask similar questions. While the
co-chairs keep silent in order not to harm the talks, the Azerbaijani
mass media announce to the world that at present the issue of
returning territories is discussed. According to the Azerbaijani
, the question of returning five of the regions controlled
by Nagorno Karabakh Republic has been decided; it is no more a
subject of the talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group. According to
the same source, when the OSCE Minsk Group Russian co-chair Youri
Merzlyakov said, “in the talks for the settlement of the Karabakh
conflict a perfect agreement has been reached only on one element”,
he meant the issue of returning those five regions agreed to by the
parties. In the May 12 statement of the Azerbaijani State Agency the
anonymous source said that Armenia agreed to pull out its military
forces from the adjacent regions of NKR. The plan of gradual
withdrawal of the Armenian troops from the 7 regions of the occupied
zone was discussed during the meeting of the foreign ministers of
Armenia and Azerbaijan with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in London.
The Azerbaijani side extended the suggestion of changes into the
programme to the co-chairs who discussed it with Vartan Oskanian.
Then the summation, to which Armenia agreed, was extended to Baku.
The plan based on the formula 5+1+1 supposes the withdrawal of troops
from five regions first: Kubatlu, Zangelan, Fizuli, Jabrail and
Aghdam. After this the parties will sign a peace agreement. Then the
Armenian forces will be withdrawn first from Kelbajar, then from
Lachin. The same source mentions that the Azerbaijani side insisted
on the introduction of the following point in the document. “If after
signing the agreement the withdrawal of the troops does not take
place in the scheduled time, the signed document will automatically
lose its effect.” It does not matter whether anyone believes the
Azerbaijanis’ ravings or not. And there is no need to repeat once
again that before conceding any territory the Armenian party will
first settle the issue of the status of Nagorno Karabakh, let alone
the return of Armenian Getashen, Shahumian and other territories
occupied by Azerbaijan.

CHRISTINE MNATSAKANIAN.
22-07-2005

Armenian National Committee of America
888 17th St., NW, Suite 904
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 21, 2005
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

ANCA WELCOMES LEGISLATION BLOCKING U.S. AID FOR
CAUCASUS RAILROAD PROJECTS THAT EXCLUDES ARMENIA

— Measure Would Protect U.S. Taxpayers from having
to Subsidize High-Cost Route Circumventing Armenia

WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA) welcomes the introduction of legislation in the House of
Representatives prohibiting U.S. assistance for the building of
railroads traversing the Caucasus that circumvent Armenia. The measure,
entitled the “South Caucasus Integration and Open Railroads Act of
2005,” is being introduced by Congressman Joe Knollenberg (R-MI),
Frank Pallone (D-NJ), and George Radanovich (R- CA).

“We welcome this effort to protect U.S. taxpayers from subsidizing an
ill-advised and over-priced railroad project that – at the insistence
of Turkey and Azerbaijan – has been designed to exclude Armenia,” said
Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. “Constructing this
railroad around Armenia runs directly counter to U.S. foreign policy
and – as if that wasn’t bad enough – makes absolutely no financial
sense – which is precisely why its sponsors will surely turn to the
American taxpayer to foot the bill.”

The text of the legislation notes “the exclusion of Armenia from
regional economic and commercial undertakings in the South Caucasus
undermines the United States policy goal of promoting a stable and
cooperative environment in the region.” In its operative section,
the legislation prohibits U.S. assistance “to develop or promote any
rail connections or railway-related connections that do not traverse
or connect with Armenia, but do traverse or connect Baku, Azerbaijan;
Tbilisi, Georgia; and Kars, Turkey. Specific forms of U.S. assistance
prohibited would include: foreign economic and development aid,
Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Trade and Development Agency,
and the Export-Import Bank.

The ANCA raised this issue publicly as early as June 10th of this
year when Communications Director Elizabeth S. Chouldjian posed a
question to the Foreign Minister of Armenia, Vardan Oskanian, during
his briefing at a National Press Club. Minister Oskanian expressed
the Armenian government’s “concern about this recent consideration by
Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey to build a new railroad from Kars to
Tbilisi, linking to an existing Azerbaijani line. They are planning
on spending something from $600 million to $1 billion to put that
railroad in place. The problem is that there is such a railroad in
the region. There is an existing Kars, Gumri, which is an Armenian
city, Tbilisi, and next to Azerbaijan. The railroad is sitting there,
rusting now for fifteen years, because Turkey, for political reasons,
does not allow the trains to cross the Turkish Armenian border. Now,
having that in place and thinking of building a new one and spending
$600 million is nonsense.” He closed his comments, by stressing that,
“It is in no one’s interest – not the U.S. or European Union or the
countries involved. I have raised this issue with the Administration
and they understand, they promised to follow this, and to try to talk
them out of engaging in this type of senseless, useless activity.”

In May of this year, the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliev, Georgian
President Mikheil Saakashvili, and Turkey’s President Akhmed Nedget
Sezer announced their intention to construct the railway corridor
linking Turkey, Tbilisi, and Baku. The project would effectively
replace the Kars-Gyumri railroad route, which has been blockaded
by Turkey for more than a decade. The governmental and commercial
interests involved in the project, estimated at between $600 million
and $1 billion, will almost certainly turn to the U.S. government for
financial support, subsidies, favorable lending terms, and low-cost
risk insurance, as they did for the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline route.

#####

ARKA News Agency
July 19 2005

WORLD BANK YEREVAN OFFICE’S HEAD ROGER ROBINSON IS READY TO DISCUSS
ISSUES RELATED TO ASSISTANCE TO PROGRAM OF ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT IN
ARMENIA WITH WB AUTHORITIES

YEREVAN, July 19. /ARKA/. World Bank Yerevan Office’s Head Roger
Robinson is ready to discuss the issues related to assistance to the
program of electronic government in Armenia with the WB authorities,
Armenian Government’s Press Service reports quoting Robinson as
saying Tuesday at his meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Andranik
Margaryan. Noting that this idea is acceptable to the WB and this
program could be successfully implemented in other countries, Robinson
expressed hope that the WB administration would give its consent for
the program implementation.

The sides discussed further programs of Armenia’s cooperation with the
WB, their coordination by the RA Government, as well as the necessity
of including programs being implemented and expected to be launched
in one comprehensive program.

In this context, the RA Premier expressed a hope that the
implementation of the idea of E-Government will greatly contribute to
the resolution of the problem of coordination and create favorable
conditions for the private sector. Margaryan pointed out that the
Prime Minister’s Advisor for Information technologies and Cooperation
with International Organizations will be in charge of coordinating
the WB’s programs in Armenia. He stressed that the RA Government
attaches importance to the right assessment of potential and terms
of efficient implementation of programs. P.T. -0–