Author: Hunanian Jack

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

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Watch our latest videos on YouTube here:

HIS HOLINESS ARAM I GREETS THE ARMENIAN COMMUNITY
AT ST. HAGOP CHURCH IN KOKINIA

On Saturday 13 January 2010 in the afternoon, His Holiness Aram I met with
the Armenian community at St. Hagop Church in Kokinia suburb of Athens.
After welcoming the Catholicos, Bishop Khoren Doghramadjian, the Primate of
Greece, invited His Holiness to address the people.

His Holiness expressed his joy at being with the people. He said, "The
church cannot exist without people. Being church," he continued, "means
becoming the church of the people. The church is the place where believers
encounter God through prayer and discover Christian values. It is,
therefore, important for young and old to go to church and impart the values
that guide Christian life." He then concluded, "Therefore, being a spiritual
leader means listening to the people and being energized by them."

Following a brief evening service, His Holiness met with the people and
greeted everyone personally.

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View the photos here:
c/Photos/Photos432.htm
http://www.ArmenianOrthodox Church.org/v04/doc/Photos/Photos433.htm
*****
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.

CONFERENCE DEDICATED TO THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF POGROMS IN BAKU

Aysor
Jan 18 2010
Armenia

Tomorrow in the sessions’ hall of the National Academy of Sciences on
Baghramyan 24 will be organized a conference dedicated to the 20th
anniversary of the Armenian massacres in Baku. As the information
center of the RA NAS informs during the conference will be presented
the presentation of the documentary film of journalist Marina Grigoryan
called "Baku: January 1990: A Usual Massacre."

The opening speech will read Vladimir Barkhudaryan the academician of
Armenology and social sciences. On the conference will make speeches
Larisa Alaverdyan, Vladimir Movsisyan, Ashot Melkonyan, NKR ex-Foreign
Minister Arman Melikyan.

BAKO SAHAKYAN: INDEPENDENCE AND SECURITY OF ARTSAKH NOT AN ARTICLE OF COMMERCE

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.01.2010 10:42 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Bako
Sahakyan met Sunday in Stepanakert with the U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE
Minsk Group, Ambassador Robert Bradtke and the officials accompanying
him to discuss the current stage of Karabakh conflict settlement
process, reported the Central Information Department of the Office
of the NKR President.

President Sahakyan said the position of official Stepanakert on the
settlement of relations with Azerbaijan remains unchanged: the conflict
cannot be resolved without direct dialogue between Azerbaijan and
Artsakh. He also emphasized that progress is possible only in case
Azerbaijan gives up its non-constructive and aggressive approach to
the problem.

"Independence and security of Artsakh is not an article of commerce,"
the NKR President reiterated.

Robert Bradtke, for his part, stated that military solution of the
conflict is absolutely unacceptable.

The Nagorno Karabakh conflict broke out in 1988 as result of the
ethnic cleansing launched by Azerbaijan in the final years of the
Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from 1991 to 1994. Since
the ceasefire in 1994, most of Nagorno Karabakh and several regions
of Azerbaijan around it (the security zone) remain under the control
of Nagorno Karabakh defense army. Armenia and Azerbaijan have since
been holding peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group.

The OSCE Minsk Group was created in 1992 by the Conference on Security
and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE, now Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to encourage a peaceful, negotiated
resolution to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

The Helsinki Additional Meeting of the CSCE Council on 24 March 1992,
requested the Chairman-in-Office to convene as soon as possible
a conference on Nagorno Karabakh under the auspices of the CSCE
to provide an ongoing forum for negotiations towards a peaceful
settlement of the crisis on the basis of the principles, commitments
and provisions of the CSCE. The Conference is to take place in Minsk.

Although it has not to this date been possible to hold the conference,
the so-called Minsk Group spearheads the OSCE effort to find a
political solution to this conflict.

On December 6, 1994, the Budapest Summit decided to establish a
co-chairmanship for the process.

Implementing the Budapest decision, the Chairman-in-Office issued on
23 March 1995, the mandate for the Co-Chairmen of the Minsk Process.

The main objectives of the Minsk Process are as follows: Providing
an appropriate framework for conflict resolution in the way of
assuring the negotiation process supported by the Minsk Group;
Obtaining conclusion by the Parties of an agreement on the cessation
of the armed conflict in order to permit the convening of the Minsk
Conference; Promoting the peace process by deploying OSCE multinational
peacekeeping forces.

The Minsk Process can be considered to be successfully concluded if
the objectives referred to above are fully met.

The Minsk Group is headed by a Co-Chairmanship consisting of France,
Russia and the United States. Furthermore, the Minsk Group also
includes the following participating States: Belarus, Germany, Italy,
Portugal, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Turkey as well as Armenia
and Azerbaijan. Current Co-chairmen of the Minsk Group are: Ambassador
Bernard Fassier of France, Ambassador Yuri Merzlyakov of the Russian
Federation and Ambassador Robert Bradtke of the United States.

PhilBoxing.com
Jan 17 2010

MARTIROSYAN UPPENDS OUMA; BENAVIDEZ MAKES IMPRESSIVE PRO DEBUT

By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 17 Jan 2010

Undefeated super welterweight contender Vanes Martirosyan won a close
ten round decision in an action-packed bout against former champion
Kassim Ouma at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada,
Sunday morning, Manila Time.

Martirosyan figured in the main event in the inaugural telecast of a
new series `Top Rank Live’ on the Fox Sports Network and the fight was
worth its billing.

Ouma was the aggressor in the middle rounds in particular, coming
forward and throwing solid right hands but Martirosyan who is trained
by the celebrated Freddie Roach with Alex Ariza serving as
conditioning expert connected with some telling counter punches.

The young Armenian clearly faced the toughest fight of his career and
suffered a flash knockdown in the 9th round after Ouma picked up the
pace of the fight following the sixth round.

However, a big tenth round by Martirosyan sealed the deal with all
three judges scoring the fight and helping Martirosyan maintain his
unbeaten streak and retain his North American Boxing Federation and
North American Boxing Organization belts.

Two of the judges had Martirosyan winning 97-93 while the third judge
had the Armenian who fights out of the Wild Card Gym ahead 97-92 which
raised quite a few questions considering the fight that the Ugandan
Ouma gave Martirosyan including the knockdown.

BENAVIDEZ WINS

Top photo: Vanes ‘Nightmare’ Martirosyan wins a 12-round unanimous
decision over former world champion Kassim Ouma to remain undefeated
and retain his NABF/NABO belts on the premiere of "Top Rank Live" on
Fox Sports Net from The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas.

Standout amateur fighter Jose Benavidez(L) knocks out Steven Cox in
the first round to win his pro debut on the premiere of "Top Rank
Live" on Fox Sports Net from The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel in Las
Vegas.

Photos by Chris Farina / Top Rank.

Outstanding amateur Jose Benavidez made an impressive pro debut with a
1st round knockout over Stephen Cox (1-1-, 1 KO) in a scheduled four
round super lightweight bout at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las
Vegas.

Benavidez who is the reigning National Golden Gloves champion had no
problem adjusting to the pro ranks and used his jab effectively to set
Cox up before catching him with his power shots.

Benavidez’ first knockdown of his career came less than a minute into
the opening round as he caught Cox with a left hook on the temple.

Although Cox beat the eight count he continued to absorbed more
punishment before a vicious a body shot and left hook trapped Cox in a
corner prompting referee Kenny Bayless to stop the contest at 1:21 of
the first round.

ml

Courthouse News Service
Jan 17 2010

Armenian Immigrant Wins Asylum Appeal

By ELIZABETH BANICKI

(CN) – The 9th Circuit revived the asylum bid of an Armenian man
who claims he was persecuted because he organized opposition rallies
to protest a corrupt politician and government official’s violent and
intimidating leadership.
Armen Baghdasaryan ran a small business at an Armenian market
owned by General Hakopian, a prominent general in the Armenian
Ministry of Defense. The market had hundreds of vendors, all of whom
paid rent to Hakopian.
Baghdasaryan claimed Hakopian’s men demanded an additional $100 a
month, which he refused to pay and instead filed a complaint with a
local judge.
He was allegedly arrested by the tax authority for operating his
store without a license, even though no other vendor was required to
have one.
He said he paid a $500 bribe to be released and get the license
so he could go back to work.
He allegedly began organizing, rallying and striking with other
business owners to "fight against General Hakopian’s corruption." They
protested the bribes, which they believed were government-sanctioned.
When Baghdasaryan began receiving threats, he stopped protesting
and paid the bribes for several years, according to his petition. He
eventually sent his wife and two children to the United States for
safety, he said, and took up organizing again with the other
merchants.
He claimed he was taken by militia men, held for 20 days and
severely beaten, because government officials thought he was
"defaming" and "raising his head" against General Hakopian.
Baghdasaryan entered the United States on a fraudulent visa in 2001.
An immigration judge rejected his bid for asylum, finding "very
little indication" that the Armenian government’s alleged harassment
of him had anything to do with his political views. The Board of
Immigration Appeals agreed.
But the 9th Circuit reversed, finding that Baghdasaryan had, in
fact, been punished for his political opinion.
"Baghdasaryan was mistreated because of his political opinion,"
Judge Harry Pregerson wrote for the Pasadena-based panel.
"Whistle-blowing against government corruption is an expression of
political opinion."
The court sent the case back to the Board of Immigration Appeals
to determine whether the mistreatment Baghdasaryan suffered "rose to
the level of persecution."

2010/01/17/23758.htm

Interfax, Russia
Jan 15 2010

Talks on Karabakh were intensive in 2009 – Azerbaijan

BAKU Jan 14

2009 was characterized by intensive talks on the Nagorny-Karabakh
conflict, the press service for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry
addressing the results of 2009 reported on Thursday.

"That is indicated by the six meetings between the presidents of
Azerbaijan and Armenia and several meetings between the foreign
ministers involving the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group conducted
in 2009. At the same time, the international community gave a lot of
attention to the conflict," the report says.

"The international community recognizes the inadmissibility of
maintaining the status quo in the conflict and the need for its prompt
resolution," the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in its report.

NA Speaker leaving for Egypt

armradio.am
16.01.2010 10:44

Delegation headed by the Armenian National Assembly Speaker Hovik
Abrahamyan is leaving for Egypt today. Members of the Armenian
delegation will have meetings with the Chairman of the Egyptian
People’s Assembly Ahmed Fathi Sururi and Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif.

During the visit the delegation will also meet with representatives of
the Egyptian-Armenian community and will participate in the official
reception at the Armenian Embassy in Egypt. On January 18 the
delegation headed by Hovik Abrahamyan will arrive back in Yerevan.

The delegation headed by Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan comprises the Head
of the NA staff Gegham Gharibjanian, MPs Galust Sahakyan, Mkrtich
Minasyan, Hamlet Harutyunyan, Surik Poghosyan, Vardan Bostanjyan,
Hovhannes Margaryan, Arayik Grigoryan, deputy Minister of Foreign
Affairs Arman Kirakosyan, other officials.

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x118
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: [email protected]
Website:

PRESS RELEASE

Thursday, January 14, 2010

AGBU Asbeds of Los Angeles Host Annual "Evening with Intellectuals"
Program at Manoogian-Demirdjian School

On June 18, 2009, the AGBU Asbeds of Los Angeles invited the Turkish
historian Dr. Cengiz Aktar, from Bahcesehir University in Istanbul, and
Professor Kevork Bardakjian, from the University of Michigan, to speak
at their fifth annual "An Evening with Intellectuals" event.

A crowd of 350 guests packed the Agajanian Auditorium of the AGBU
Manoogian-Demirdjian School, showing great interest in the developing
juncture in Armenian-Turkish relations, the topic of Aktar’s and
Bardakjian’s discussions.

Asbed Executive Committee member Dr. Gabriel Aslanian served as emcee
for the evening and was joined by Berj Shahbazian, Chairman of the
Southern California District Committee, to welcome guests, including
members of the AGBU Central Board of Directors, Manoogian-Demirdjian
School faculty and board of trustees, former Asbed chairmen and
executive committees, reverend clergy and young professionals.

According to AGBU Asbed Chairman Kurken Berksanlar, the goal of their
organization is to keep the public informed on issues related to
Armenian national identity, history, culture, politics and current
affairs from various viewpoints. As he took the stage, he discussed how
Hrant Dink pursued Genocide recognition and how other like-minded
individuals are also opening the eyes of today’s Turkish citizens to
that reality.

Cengiz Aktar, a Turkish citizen, is one of the figures behind the
"Forgiveness Campaign," an effort to gain acceptance of the Genocide and
request pardon from the Armenian community. He is continuing in Dink’s
path of progressive Turkish intellectuals accepting the Genocide. Later,
he discussed ways to ask for forgiveness from "our Armenian brothers and
sisters."

His campaign, led by over 300 intellectuals, scientists and businessmen,
was written by Ali Bayramoglu and spread over the Internet for months,
giving Turks the opportunity to raise a different voice with over 30,000
signatures of support. Compared to the Turkish population of 72 million,
this is only a small percentage, but still a big step in
Armenian-Turkish relations on a broader level.

Aktar stressed the importance of the Internet in increasing the
availability of widespread information and opinions about the Genocide
to a diverse audience. As the press slowly becomes freer in Turkey,
expressing the unfortunate history of the Armenians is more apparent and
is gradually starting to change present relations in the country.

After Aktar, Professor Kevork Bardakjian took the stage and not only
condemned the Turkish government’s policy of Genocide denial, but also
spoke out against the creation of a new commission of historians in
Turkey that will let the past stay forgotten. According to Bardakjian,
today only a few Turkish individuals are starting to reveal their
Armenian identity and the roots of their family members. He also
discouraged Turkey’s potential entry into the European Union.

A reception followed the program where guests and participants continued
to discuss the issue of evolving Armenian-Turkish relations.

Established in 1906, AGBU () is the world’s largest
non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City, AGBU
preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through
educational, cultural and humanitarian program, annually serving some
400,000 Armenians around the world.

MARTHA COAKLEY CRITICIZED FOR ACCEPTING ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE AWARD
By Chris Helms, staff writer

Daily News Tribune
206801/Martha-Coakley-criticized-for-accepting-Ant i-Defamation-League-award
Waltham, MA
Jan 14, 2010 @ 03:57 PM

In the fall of 2007, when Watertown was the epicenter of a movement
to call attention to the Anti-Defamation League’s failure to call
the Armenian Genocide a genocide, Attorney General Martha Coakley
accepted an award from the ADL.

At least one Armenia-American wants Coakley, the Democratic nominee in
Tuesday’s special election for the U.S. Senate, to give back the award.

"She accepted this award from the ADL in the middle of the campaign
against the genocide denials of the ADL," said David Boyajian of
Belmont. "It was major news at the time in the Boston papers and
the international press, so she had to have known about it. She went
ahead despite all this and accepted. She should not have done that
when there was such a cloud hanging over the head of the ADL."

A spokesman for the Coakley campaign said she supports a Congressional
resolution making it official U.S. policy to refer to the mass deaths
of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire as genocide. The
spokesman referred questions regarding the award to the attorney
general’s press office.

Coakley accepted the honor in October 2007, two months after Watertown
cut ties with the ADL anti-bias program "No Place for Hate." At issue
was the ADL, a well-known civil rights group and strong opponent of
Holocaust denial, failing to acknowledge that the slaughter of 1.5
million Armenians by the Turks during World War I was genocide.

Watertown’s action sparked more than a dozen other communities to
leave "No Place for Hate." In time, even the program’s co-sponsor,
the Massachusetts Municipal Association, divorced itself from the
ADL program in protest.

It was during this furor that Coakley accepted the "Woman of Valor"
award from the ADL. In a press release issued at the time, Coakley said
"I am proud to be recognized by an organization that does so much to
better the community and to protect the rights of its citizens."

That makes Boyajian angry. He wrote a letter to Coakley which he says
she did not answer.

"I’m sure she knew the ADL was applying a double-standard," he said.

Boyajian said Coakley should not only return the award but also
ask the national office of the ADL to forthrightly acknowledge the
Armenian Genocide.

Boyajian said she should also support the Armenian Genocide recognition
resolution that each year is filed in Congress.

Polls show that Coakley goes into the weekend in a dead heat with
Republican Scott Brown. Boyajian said he didn’t know if Armenian
Genocide politics would influence Armenian-American voters.

"I know that Armenians are concerned right now, but whether it has
an impact on the race, I don’t know."

Sen. Ted Kennedy, whose death opened the seat, was well known as a
friend of Armenians and strong backer of Armenian Genocide recognition
by the U.S. government.

ARMENIA TO PAY TRIBUTE TO 156 FALLEN RUSSIAN ARMY OFFICERS

Aysor
Jan 14 2010
Armenia

A Memorial dedicated to fallen Russia-Turkey Wars soldiers will be
built in Armenian Gyumri town.

This will be a monument in memory of 156 Russian Army officers fallen
in Russian-Turkish wars of the 19th Century. The monument’s opening
will become a part of celebrations timed to 65th anniversary of the
World War II Victory Day.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who is on a two-day visit to
Armenia, thanked this initiative and stressed deep cultural cooperation
between the countries.