Author: Harutyunian Christine

A Message of peace on display
By Rosario Teixeira/ Special to the Independent

Chelmsford Independent, MA
Sept 16 2004

The 11th Peace of Art exhibit will be at the Kennedy School of
Government, Taubman Building, Cambridge, from Sept. 24 through 25 in
conjunction with the United Nations Association of Greater Boston
Film Festival.

This year, the event is subject to the theme “Enduring Hope: The
Tenacity of the Human Spirit.”

Chelmsford resident, artist Daniel Varoujan Hejinian is the
creator and founder of Peace of Art. He left Soviet Armenia in 1979
to pursue his artistic freedom in the United States.

He has been in Massachusetts ever since, and in the last 18
years he has resided in Chelmsford.

Peace of Art was previously exhibited at the Chelmsford Public
Library during the month of August. This is a traveling art exhibit
which addresses the universal human condition and it intends to
promote peace, independent of political associations and religious
dogma.

Cambridge is the city known for the place of residence of the
most Nobel Peace Prize winners, champions of peace and social
justice, therefore it was important for Peace of Art to be exhibited
here.

Currently the 10th Peace of Art exhibit is on display at the
Cambridge City Hall, located at 795 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge,
until Sept. 17.

The exhibit is available for viewing during regular City Hall
hours of operation.

Peace of Art exhibit represents the endurance of the human
spirit and a message of hope permeates through each piece in the
exhibit. In this collection, Varoujan addresses sensitive issues
around the globe, the specks of injustice, blotches of hunger and
homeless, weapons of mass destruction, sickness, despair, repressed
voices that have been silenced, blinded and deafen trying to survive.
It is through the creative process that the artist addresses issues
of his/her time and often the art work not only presents the problem
but points out toward a solution as well. The Peace of Art images
form a mosaic of humanity, reflections of ourselves and our society,
promoting dialogue and challenging the viewer to reach his/her own
conclusions. His paintings speak eloquently, as an inescapable mirror
where we see ourselves and our society.

“Artist Daniel Varoujan Hejinian uses the universal language of
art to communicate the universal language of the human spirit,” said
Pamela Frank, from the United Nations Association of Greater Boston.

In referring to “Peace of Life” she said that “this work speaks
to our changing world and our role as global citizens to value human
life” and it is in line with the theme of the film festival. “Peace
of Life” represents the preciousness of life. In this piece, a blind
man holds his eye ball in between his fingers attempting to see the
magical world. Often we are blinded by the events around the globe,
and we loose sight of the important things and how we can make a
difference.

“[…] it is important to make artwork accessible to as many
people as possible,” said Boston City Councilor John Tobin, chairman
of the Council’s Committee on Arts, Film, Humanities and Tourism.
“Mr. Hejinian’s series of sketches tackle some of the most important
issues of our time: war, fear, intolerance, hunger, violence, and
homelessness. The Peace of Art exhibit is especially important right
now in light of current events around the world.”

For more information about the artist visit
For information about Peace of Art, please
log onto , send e-mail to [email protected] or
call 508-580-3151.

Anadolu Agency
Sept 15 2004

5th Regional Conference On Migration To Be Held In Istanbul
Anadolu Agency: 9/15/2004

ANKARA – The 5th Regional Conference on Migration organized by the
Council of Europe (COE) will be held in Istanbul between September
30th and October 1st.

Sources said on Wednesday that the venue of the conference would
be Conrad Hotel, and gave the following information regarding the
participating countries:

-10 transition countries: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria,
Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia
and Ukraine,

-Six target countries: Norway, France, Germany, Britain, Greece
and Spain,

-Nine countries, not members of COE: Afghanistan, Belarus, Bangladesh,
China, Libya, India, Pakistan, Egypt and Morocco,

-Three countries from which people migrate: Armenia, Azerbaijan
and Georgia.

Nearly 60 participants from international organizations, universities,
nongovernmental organizations and COE Parliamentary Assembly are
expected to attend the conference.

Turkish Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu and COE Deputy Secretary
General Maud de Boer-Buquicchio will jointly open the conference.

Turkey, which is located in a region with a high flow of migrants,
has earlier offered to host the 5th Regional Conference on Migration,
sources added.

Armenian defence official denies he is unhappy about sending troops to Iraq

Mediamax news agency
14 Sep 04

Yerevan, 14 September: Armenian Deputy Defence Minister Lt-Gen
Yuriy Khachaturov has made a statement for the media which said the
following, in particular,:

“I am flatly against speculations about my words. If you conceive the
words of a person who participated in two wars and his attitude to
war as contradicting the will of the supreme commander-in-chief and
the defence minister, then this is not true. I, Yuriy Khachaturov,
have always been the soldier of this country and have proven this
throughout my military service.”

Armenian Deputy Defence Minister Lt-Gen Yuriy Khachaturov said
on 7 September that “he was not happy about the idea of sending
Armenian military experts to Iraq”. The general stressed that it
was his “personal opinion”. The deputy defence minister noted that
“the Armenian servicemen and the Armenian community of Iraq might
face problems”.

NATO exercises in Baku cancelled

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 14 2004

The NATO Commander on Europe has made a decision to cancel the
‘Cooperative Best Effort-2004’ exercises, initially scheduled for
September 14-26 in Baku.

NATO explained the step by the non-observance to the principle of
accessibility of the exercises for all countries cooperating with
NATO within the Partnership for Peace program.

The Azerbaijani embassy in Georgia earlier denied entry visas to
Armenian officers.

‘Cooperative Best Effort-2004’ exercises have already been held in
Georgia and Armenia.*

Minister outlines Karabakh solution to be considered by Azeri, Armenian leaders

ANS TV, Baku
8 Sep 04

[Presenter] Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on a visit to France
today [8 September] met the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairman from France,
Henry Jacolin, and Senate Speaker Christian Poncelet. ANS TV’s
correspondent Qanira Pasayeva has details from Paris. Good evening,
Qanira. Please, tell us what you have.

[Correspondent over video of Paris] Good evening, Natavan. First,
I would like to talk about the president’s meeting with OSCE Minsk
Group co-chairman from France, Henry Jacolin. This meeting lasted
about an hour and its interesting point was that after the meeting with
Jacolin, Ilham Aliyev had a 45-minute conversation with [Azerbaijani]
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.

In an interview with us, Jacolin did not go into detail about the
talks, however, he added that after the upcoming Astana [Kazakhstan]
meeting of the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan [at a summit of
the Commonwealth of Independent States], he would be able to speak
about the progress. He also added that for the first time, at the
Prague meeting of the [Azerbaijani and Armenian] foreign ministers
[on 30 August], very serious processes and issues were covered.

Elmar Mammadyarov left the conversation with the president a short
while ago, saying that the co-chairmen would report to the presidents
in Astana on their proposals. It is intriguing that one of these
proposals, to be debated by the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents,
is the liberation of Azerbaijan’s occupied districts around Nagornyy
Karabakh. The Armenian troops must be pulled out of these areas and a
guarantee must be given to the internally displaced persons that they
would return to those districts and would not come under attacks.
A similar guarantee will be given by Azerbaijan to the effect that
it will conduct discussions on the status of Nagornyy Karabakh.

Mammadyarov said that there would be other proposals. However,
the major proposal the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents will be
presented with by the co-chairs is the above mentioned one. When
we asked Mammadyarov if Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan
had accepted that this was to be presented at the meeting of the
presidents in this way, he said that Oskanyan had already agreed to it.

This proposal is not unlike the former stage-by-stage option, including
several components of the package option. However, we all expecting
for the outcome of the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents’ meeting,
Jacolin said. [Passage omitted: some other aspects of the meetings.]

Gang called in top doctor as negotiator
By Julius Strauss and Heather Thompson

The Telegraph, UK
Sept 3 2004

After herding more than 300 children and adults into the school gym,
the terrorists lost no time in telling the authorities who they
wished to negotiate with.

A Moscow-based paediatrician named Leonid Roshal was on the list. He
started talking to the hostage-takers by mobile phone immediately,
and yesterday morning arrived on the scene.

The rebels called specifically for Dr Roshal because they see him as
an honest broker who will not be commandeered by the Kremlin to
implement its will. His first priority will be to get the gunmen to
accept a shipment of food for the children, who have not eaten in 36
hours.

Aged 70, Dr Roshal gained international reknown in 2002 for the
crucial role he played in the 2002 Dubrovka theatre hostage-taking in
Moscow. One of few people to pass freely between Chechen terrorists
and Russian authorities during the three-day siege, Dr Roshal served
as a chief negotiator, medical support and main liaison, bringing
food, medicine and comfort to those inside and news to the rest of
the world. During the siege he treated hostages inside the theatre
and was photographed taking out the body of a woman who was shot by
the terrorists.

Before Russian special forces ended the stand-off by pumping
knock-out gas into the theatre, the doctor helped to secure the
release of eight children. Despite Dr Roshal’s insistence that he was
simply fulfilling his role as a paediatrician, he was awarded a
Russian Order of Valour later that year. Dr Roshal is currently the
head of the emergency surgery and child trauma department at the
Paediatrics Research Institute, a branch of the Russian Academy of
Medical Sciences.

He spent much of his 45-year career helping children in crisis,
travelling to disaster sites across eastern Europe and in Egypt,
Japan, Afghanistan and Turkey.

After participating in the relief effort following the devastating
1988 earthquake in Spitak, Armenia, he founded an international aid
organisation which aims to rescue children in trouble. By 2003, the
organisation had assisted children involved in more than 20 disasters
around the world.

An advocate of the much criticised Russian system of public health
care, Dr Roshal spoke out against a planned reform last April, in an
interview with The Daily Telegraph. “There’s no ideal health system
in the world,” he said, “but ours is as good as any. All we need is
more money.”

Russian-US forum on AIDS prevention in armed forces opens in Moscow

Interfax-AVN military news agency web site
31 Aug 04

Moscow, 31 August: An international seminar on HIV/AIDS prevention
in the armed forces opened in Moscow today, the press service of the
Russian Defence Ministry told Interfax-Military News agency.

The main goal of the forum, organized by the Russian Defence Ministry
and the US Department of Defence, is to discuss global advanced
experience in HIV/AIDS diagnostics and treatment in the armed forces,
a press service official said.

The three-day seminar will feature reports of Russian and US military
experts, officials of the Russian health ministry, the UN, and US
centres for disease control and prevention.

The event will also be attended by officials from Albania, Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Belarus, Croatia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia and Montenegro, Tajikistan, and Ukraine.

Music from all Quarters

Narooma News, Australia
Sept 1 2004

Four international artists will bring a unique musical experience to
listeners in the Narooma Golf Club Auditorium, at 2pm this Saturday
September 4.

The Tavantinsuyu En-semble – the name means “The Four Corners of the
Earth” – comprises violin, clarinet, viola and piano. They have a
wide repertoire of works from many parts of the world, which reflects
their diverse backgrounds. Their performances have been acclaimed as
exciting and “not to be missed”.

Ronald Woodcock (violin) has performed in over 89 countries, in
London, Paris, Vienna and Buenos Aires, and in remote centres such as
the Solomon Islands, Afghanistan, and Peru.

He studied at the Sydney Conservatorium, in Brussels on a Belgian
Government scholarship and in France with the great cellist Pablo
Casals.

Graham Evans (clarinet), once a member of the famous Irish Guards
Band, won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music, London, had an
adventurous career with Britain’s longest established chamber
orchestra, travelling throughout Europe and the United States, and
now performs and teaches in Brisbane.

Iola Shelley (piano), born in Wales, began piano lessons at four and
was the youngest student ever to receive the LRAM and ARCM Performing
Diplomas, aged 13.

She also studied cello, oboe and organ. She has an international
reputation as an accompanist and chamber music pianist, performing
with leading soloists from around the world

Louise Woodcock (viola) studied at the Capetown College of Music and
the Vienna Academy of Music. She has played with the Capetown and
Durban Symphony Orchestras, the Auckland Symphonia and the New Music
Group chamber ensemble, and was the founder of the Spring Chamber
Music School in Australia.

For this concert the Ensemble has chosen works ranging from the
romantic warmth of Max Bruch and the Latin American rhythms of
Salzedo to the intensity of Armenian composer Khachaturian, as well
as selections from George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, New Zealand
composer Douglas Lilburn’s moving violin and piano sonata and a short
piece by young Australian composer, Nigel Sabin.

Santa Fe New Mexican.com, new mexico
Aug 29 2004

Pawn in their game

BARBARA FERRY | The New Mexican
August 29, 2004

A queen ate Doritos. A bishop poked a rook with an umbrella. A pawn
sat down and declared, “I’m going to die.” It was, all in all, an
unusual game of chess, Saturday afternoon, when New Mexico state
champion and International master Jesse Kraii took on grand master
Varu Akobian using real, live, squirmy but patient children as chess
pieces on a giant board set up on the street in front of the Hotel
St. Francis.

The game was part of the first Santa Fe Chess Open, an event that
organizers hope will become an annual event. The two-day series of
tournaments, including 10-minute blitz chess, continues today. It is
sponsored by businesses along Don Gaspar Avenue.

On Saturday, star power was provided by 20 year-old Akobian, who was
born in Armenia, lived in Moscow and now resides in Los Angeles.
Akobian is ranked 16th by the United States Chess Federation.
Akobian’s heritage also provided the Russian Summer connection
organizers were seeking. Akobian has played in chess tournaments
around the world. “But I have never participated in anything like
this before,” he said.

Jeff Burch, president of the New Mexico Chess Organization, said
Akobian, a rising star in the chess world, was a big draw for local
players. “Anytime you can get a grand master, it’s great, but a young
grand master is even better,” Burch said.

The local hero was Kraii, who started playing chess while attending
Capshaw Middle School. Kraii teaches local kids to play chess and is
ranked 67th in the country. He is working on beating enough
top-seeded players to gain the coveted grand-master title.

Kraii, who led the white army, strolled around the board consulting
with his pieces, who carried white umbrellas topped with balloons.
“Are you ready to checkmate?” he asked them, getting a cheer out of
his team.

Akobian, commanding the black side of the board, dressed in black
from his shoes to his sunglasses, hung back, visualizing the board in
his head. Chess aficionados crowded around a board set up on an easel
that kept track of the game. “Black is burnt toast,” one observer
mumbled at one point, claiming that Akobian, unclear about the
position of his king, had made a blunder.

Each player had an hour to complete his or her plays, an eternity for
the uninitiated, and possibly for some of the pieces on the board.

Dave Thompson, whose children Emma, 6, and Samuel, 9, were pieces on
the white team, said the pace is one of the things he likes about
chess. “Kids today often don’t have patience. Chess slows them down.
It makes them think.”

In the end, Akobian, facing a checkmate, resigned with about nine
seconds on the clock.

“Chess is cool,” declared Taylor Vigil, 9, who plays for the Kearney
Elementary School team.

John Coventry, one of the event’s organizers, said the idea was to
“build Santa Fe’s scholastic-chess movement.” Another idea was to
raise money to restore Fountainhead Park, a narrow strip of stone
benches and tables on Don Gaspar Avenue that includes a chess table.
The event won’t make any money this year, though organizers were
pleased to see the city turned on the fountain on the corner of Don
Gaspar Avenue and Water Street for the first time in several years.

At noon today, Akobian will take on all comers. Anyone wanting the
privilege of being beaten (probably) by a grand master, can show up
with a board and $20 registration fee.

Akobian will play up to 50 people simultaneously, said Burch.
Tournament organizers have purchased prizes, such as biographies of
Russian chess masters, to give to players who beat Akobian. But Burch
said he doesn’t expect to be giving away many prizes.

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
08/27/2004
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://

1) Russia Halts Georgia Talks Over Embassy Protest
2) Pan-Armenian Educational Conference Ends in Yerevan
3) Second Annual Armenian Teachers’ Conference Comes to a Successful End
4) Deep Purple Heart Haze

1) Russia Halts Georgia Talks Over Embassy Protest

MOSCOW (Reuters)–Russia said on Friday it had pulled out of talks with
neighboring Georgia over disputes in separatist Georgian regions that have
stirred tension between the two states. The Russian Foreign Minstry cited loud
and abusive protests outside its Tbilisi embassy in stopping the talks, held
against a backdrop of bloodshed this month in the South Ossetia region.
Georgia
accuses Moscow of backing separatists in South Ossetia, which seeks union with
Russia, and in the Black Sea region of Abkhazia.
US-educated president Mikhail Saakashvili aims to end the two rebellions and
restore unity to Georgia, ruled from Moscow through seven decades of Soviet
power.
“While such scenes outside the Russian embassy in Tbilisi continue, it
will be
impossible to hold any contacts or talks with Georgia, either on military
issues or a ‘big’ agreement,” a Russian Foreign Ministry statement said.
It said hundreds of people were expected to take part in protests on Friday.
“There is no doubt that the disturbance is going on with the knowledge and
evident permission of the authorities,” it said, adding that the complicity of
the Georgian government was a breach of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic
relations.
It also said the embassy had stopped issuing visas to Georgians who want to
visit Russia, where tens of thousands of Georgians despairing of employment at
home work or do business.
Georgia is a sensitive issue for Russia, bordering as it does on the restive
south Russian region of Chechnya.
Saakashvili’s fiery rhetoric, including a warning to Russian holiday-makers
that they risk being shot at if they vacation at Abkhazian coastal resorts,
has
raised the stakes in the row, which came to a head this month with violence in
South Ossetia.
Russia has peacekeepers in both regions and, like Georgia, says it wants to
resolve the disputes peacefully.

2) Pan-Armenian Educational Conference Ends in Yerevan

YEREVAN (Yerkir)–The first-ever Pan-Armenian educational conference came to a
successful end in the city of Tsaghgadzor, with the participation of nearly
100
representatives from various countries. After a blessing by the Catholicos of
all Armenians Karekin II, the conference was underway with welcome messages
sent by President Robert Kocharian, as well as His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos
of Cilicia.
During the 3-day conference, the participants, which included principals and
teachers from diaspora schools, examined the current state of Armenian
schools,
focusing on the problems it faces and possible solutions.
With the goal of helping diaspora teachers, it was announced that re-training
courses will be offered in the upcoming year in the Spuirk educatonal center,
under the auspices of Echmiadzin.

3) Second Annual Armenian Teachers’ Conference Comes to a Successful End

ENCINO–The Board of Regents of Armenian Prelacy Schools’ second annual five
day seminar for Armenian teachers was an exceptional success with 96
participants.
The seminar, held at Holy Martyrs Ferrahian Armenian School, was attended by
the entire Armenian teaching staff of all the Armenian Prelacy schools and
kindergartens.
Also invited was relevant staff of other Armenian schools, Armenian Relief
Society Saturday Schools, and Davitian Mariamian Educational Foundation.
Experts presented on Armenian upbringing, educational methodology and
psychology, pedagogy, and Armenian language, literature, and history.
The entire program was funded once again by the Armenian Educational
Foundation at the request of the Board of Regents.

4) Deep Purple Heart Haze

BY SKEPTIK SINIKIAN

It’s official. As of this week, I am more interested in the results of the
Olympic Men’s badminton finals than I am in this year’s campaigns for
President. Unfortunately, the Olympics are going to draw to a close in a few
days but the Election isn’t until November. This means we have to endure
another two months of boring analysis and pointless verbal attacks none of
which include the word “shuttlecock.” In case you’ve been engrossed in NBC’s
mediocre coverage of the Olympics (Watching NBC, you would think that no other
country besides the United States had any athletes in the Olympics), then
you’ve missed out on Campaign 2004, the Road to the White House, better known
as Purple Heart-gate. Did Kerry really sustain wounds in battle in Vietnam or
did he inflict them upon himself? Did he or didn’t he have wounds that bled?
Are the other swift boat commanders telling the truth or are they part of the
Bush campaign machine? My answer to all these questions is a big, fat,
resounding “who cares?”
Some will say that Kerry brought this upon himself by peddling his wartime
resume like a recent college graduate at a job fair. Personally, I never
saw it
that way. I think others highlighted his service in Vietnam and he played
up to
it, but it was never his intention to run as a candidate whose sole claim to
fame was being wounded three times. The way I see it is like this. If a person
falls out of the top story of a ten story building and survives, then it’s a
miracle. If it happens again, then he’s lucky. And if it happens a third time?
Then the guy has a bad habit. So Kerry had a bad habit of getting injured in
Vietnam. The man was a magnet for shrapnel or maybe he was clumsy and kept
tripping over things. Others suggest that Kerry used certain loopholes in the
system to earn himself an early ticket home after only four months in
Vietnamthus proving that he is a liar and unfit to lead. But the important
question here is how capable he is to lead in comparison to the current
Commander in Chief. This seems like an appropriate time to remind Kerry’s
critics and anyone out there whose only source of news is Fox or CNN, that
comparing Kerry’s military record to Bush’s makes absolutely no sense. Kerry
actually went to Vietnam while Bush used his family influence to earn a sweet
post on the Air National Guard. Kerry suffered either minor or serious
injuries
which were either self inflicted or initiated in combat with hostile forces.
Bush’s most serious injury during his inconspicuous and forgettable service
during Vietnam was suffering hangovers from partying too hard.
All I have learned from these last two weeks is that the Purple Heart is a
military medal which recognizes the sacrifices of combat when a soldier or
officer has sustained a wound “from an outside force or agent.” Just having
sat
through this absolutely boring and insignificant debate about Kerry’s war
record I think entitles the entire country to a Purple Heart. And looking at
how President Bush is leading in the polls, I’ve also learned that the general
public (or at least those who respond to polls) is comprised of people with
the
collective IQ of a house plant. (My apologies if I insulted any house plants).
By the way, last week I went on a tirade lambasting the Armenian Assembly of
America (AAA) and its Executive Director for selling the community short in a
recent “Ha’aretz” article. In the article, Nathan Guttman expressed his
inaccurate view that the Armenian vote is insignificant in US elections. His
assumptions were reinforced by a quote by AAA Exec. Director Ross Vartian, but
last week, I screwed up. In copy editing my piece, I missed a tiny quotation
mark, which apparently made Vartian’s quote look worse than it was. Here’s the
excerpt from the article again with the proper quotation marks around
Vartian’s
statement. (I know I already printed this but people should read this
statement
over and over and wonder why this organization still receives donations from
anyone).
“So far, no Armenian group has voiced support for Bush. But the Armenian
community’s electoral power is not significant. There an currently an estimate
1-1.5 million Americans of Armenian descent, but most are second, third, or
fourth-generation immigrants and therefore, not all of them vote based on the
candidates’ views on faraway Armenia. ‘There are those who base their decision
on the Armenian issue, those who vote only based on their political views, and
those who vote based on different reasons altogether,’ explained Ross Vartian,
the executive director of the Armenian Assembly of America.”
Now Vartian’s quote may sound accurate and may seem as though it could have
been harmless but when coupled with his statements to the Armenian press (see
my column last week), it causes one to question whether the Assembly folks
truly believe in the cause for which they are allegedly fighting.
That’s it for this week folks. Keep writing me angry emails and don’t be
afraid to say what’s on your mind.

Skeptik Sinikian received a paper cut while fulfilling his duties as an
Asbarez guest columnist. He bled for his people and wants a Purple Heart. He
can be reached at [email protected] or at
<;

All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier
and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and
subscription requests.
(c) 2004 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved.

ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for
academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through
mass media outlets.