Author: Hunanian Jack

Le Monde, France
19 juillet 2004

Le premier ministre turc vient plaider, à Paris, pour l’entrée de son
pays dans l’Union

Istanbul de notre correspondante

Le premier ministre turc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, est arrivé lundi 19
juillet, pour trois jours à Paris où il veut avant tout plaider pour
la candidature de son pays à l’Union européenne.

Les pays membres de l’Union européenne doivent décider, en décembre,
s’il y a lieu d’ouvrir les négociations d’adhésion avec Ankara, sur
la base d’un rapport qui sera publié par la Commission européenne en
octobre.

En 1999, l’UE avait confirmé le statut de pays candidat de la
Turquie, soumise aux mêmes critères que les autres. Mais le débat sur
cette candidature a continué dans l’Union. Durant la campagne pour
les élections européennes, les partis de la droite française ont pris
position contre l’entrée de ce pays de 70 millions d’habitants,
musulman de surcroît, dans une Europe qui doit déjà assumer son
élargissement vers l’est.

La gauche soutient en principe la candidature turque, mais le “lobby”
arménien fait pression pour ajouter aux conditions imposées à Ankara
la reconnaissance du génocide. Le président Jacques Chirac, qui s’est
toujours montré favorable à l’adhésion dès lors que ce pays remplira
les conditions, a réaffirmé lors du sommet de l’OTAN à Istanbul fin
juin que la décision serait basée sur les conclusions de la
Commission, en ajoutant qu’il existe selon lui un “mouvement
irréversible vers l’adhésion de la Turquie”. M. Erdogan doit le
rencontrer à Paris, ainsi que le premier ministre, Jean-Pierre
Raffarin. Il s’entretiendra également avec Alain Juppé, ancien chef
de l’UMP, François Hollande du PS et François Bayrou de l’UDF.

PAYSAGE POLITIQUE MODIFIÉ

Depuis trois ans le Parlement turc a adopté des dizaines de nouvelles
lois et le processus de réforme a acquis un nouvel élan avec
l’arrivée au pouvoir du Parti de la justice et du développement (AKP)
en novembre 2002. Si la mise en `uvre des changements n’est pas
encore uniforme en raison de fortes résistances au sein de la
bureaucratie, certaines des réformes ont déjà radicalement modifié le
paysage politique. L’influence exercée par l’armée, par exemple, a
été réduite et des droits culturels, limités, ont été accordés aux
Kurdes. Bien qu’issu de la mouvance islamiste, Recep Tayyip Erdogan
dirige un parti réformiste, résolument tourné vers l’Occident. Son
gouvernement, appuyé par 369 des 550 députés turcs, a apporté au pays
une stabilité politique qui avait fait cruellement défaut durant une
décennie de coalitions bancales.

Tout en admettant que l’application de certaines lois laisse encore à
désirer, le gouvernement turc affirme, selon les termes du ministre
des affaires étrangères, Abdullah Gül, que le poids des réformes a
atteint une “masse critique” et que la plupart des exigences de l’UE
ont été satisfaites.

Après la libération de Leyla Zana et de trois autres anciens députés
kurdes, au mois de juin, le Conseil de l’Europe a retiré la Turquie
de la liste des pays déficients en matière de démocratie. L’attitude
positive adoptée par Ankara durant les négociations pour la
réunification de Chypre a également levé un obstacle important à
l’entrée de la Turquie en Europe.

Une décision négative des Européens risquerait de renforcer les
opposants à la démocratisation, qui accusent l’Europe de mener une
politique de deux poids deux mesures lorsqu’il s’agit de la Turquie.

Avec l’appui financier du Fonds monétaire international, avec lequel
elle avait signé un accord stand by de 19 milliards de dollars en
février 2001, la Turquie a commencé un vaste programme de
restructuration, accompagné d’une politique d’austérité budgétaire,
qui a permis de remettre l’économie sur les rails après la grave
crise financière de 2001. La croissance a atteint 5,9 % en 2003 et
l’inflation est à son niveau le plus bas depuis trente ans.

Entre 1985 et 2003, le nombre de sociétés françaises présentes en
Turquie est passé de 15 à 277 et la France demeure le premier
investisseur étranger. Forcé de se serrer la ceinture pour financer
ses lourdes dettes, Ankara a dû mettre un frein à ses projets
d’infrastructures, mais la France est très présente dans des secteurs
tels que l’automobile, avec Renault et Peugeot, l’agroalimentaire,
notamment avec Carrefour, et l’habillement. L’éventualité d’achat
d’Airbus sera vraisemblablement évoquée durant la visite de M.
Erdogan à Paris.

Nicole Pope

RIA Novosti, Russia
July 19 2004

RUSSIA CONTRIBUTES TO ARMENIA’S ECONOMIC GROWTH MORE THAN OTHER
COUNTRIES

YEREVAN, July 19 (RIA Novosti’s Gamlet Matevosyan) – According to 54%
of Armenians, Russia contributes to Armenia’s economic growth more
than other countries do. These are the results of the poll conducted
by the Armenian Center of Strategic and National Research from June
20 to July 12, 2004.

12% of the polled believe that the U.S. helps Armenia’s development,
2% think it is France, 1,5% are for Iran, 0.3% – for Turkey, Germany
and Georgia was called by 0.2% each, the center told RIA Novosti.

Meanwhile, 13.3% believe that no country contributes to Armenia’s
economic development.

32.6% of the polled think that Armenia should have close economic
relations with the CIS countries, 13.9% – with the European Union, 7%
– with the countries of the region (Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan and
Iran), 2.7% – with the U.S. and Canada and 35.3% – with all
countries.

According to 44% of the polled, the Armenian diaspora abroad is
playing a significant role in Armenia’s development, great role
according to 25.8%, small according to 23.1% and no role at all
according to 6.6%.

All in all, 1,127 people from Yerevan and all Armenian regions aged
18-90 were polled.

[Congressional Record: July 15, 2004 (House)]
[Page H5875-H5895]
>From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr15jy04-92]

FOREIGN OPERATIONS, EXPORT FINANCING, AND RELATED PROGRAMS
APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2005

Amendment Offered by Mr. Schiff

Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:

Amendment offered by Mr. Schiff:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert
the following:

prohibition on use of funds for certain purposes

Sec. 576. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be used by the Government of Turkey to engage in
contravention of section 1913 of title 18, United States
Code, (relating to lobbying with appropriated moneys), with
respect to H. Res. 193, Reaffirming support of the Convention
on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and
anticipating the 15th anniversary of the enactment of the
Genocide Convention Implementation Act of 1987 (the Proxmire
Act) on November 4, 2003.

The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the order of the House of today, the
gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff) and a Member opposed each will
control 5 minutes.
Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on this
amendment, and I claim the time in opposition.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman reserves a point of order.
The gentleman from California is recognized for 5 minutes on his
amendment.
Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, I want to begin by congratulating the gentleman from
Arizona (Mr. Kolbe) and the ranking member, the gentlewoman from New
York (Mrs. Lowey), for their outstanding work on the bill. I think they
both have done a great job in advancing America’s foreign policy
priorities at an especially difficult time in our history.
I was particularly please to see the committee wisely provides $65
million in economic aid for Armenia, $3 million more than the
administration’s request, and that the committee wisely restored the
parity in security assistance between Armenia and Azerbaijan by funding
military aid and education assistance to both Armenia and Azerbaijan at
$6 million.
Today, I offer a simple amendment that will honor the 11/2 million
Armenians who perished in the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923. I
consider this a sacred obligation, to ensure that the men, women and
children who perished at the hands of the Ottoman Empire are not lost
to history and that this Congress not fund shameful efforts to deny
that the genocide occurred.
Time is the ally of those who would deny or change history. Such has
it been, regrettably, by those who would continue to deny the
undeniable facts of the murder of 11/2 million people, the first
genocide of last century.
My amendment tonight seeks only to prohibit the use of funds to lobby

[[Page H5890]]

against H. Res. 193, the resolution which includes a reference to the
Armenian Genocide and reaffirms the support of Congress for the
genocide convention and commemorates the anniversary of our becoming a
party to this landmark legislation. It will not deprive countries of
funding that they need for legitimate purposes, but no appropriations
under this bill or any other bill should be used by other governments
to lobby this Congress against legislation, and particularly
legislation that reaffirms our commitment to the convention on genocide
and the recognition of the victims of the Armenian Genocide as well as
the victims of many other genocides in the history of mankind.
Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr.
Pallone).
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the amendment
offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff).
It is time for the United States to properly recognize the Armenian
Genocide, which is fully documented in the U.S. Archives and through an
overwhelming body of firsthand governmental and diplomatic evidence.
Despite the overwhelming evidence, the Turkish government and its
paid lobbyists have through threats and blackmail sought to prevent the
United States from properly commemorating the Armenian Genocide.
Morally it is wrong for the American people to be complicit in the
Turkish government’s efforts to deny the suffering and death of 1.5
million people. I would also like to point out that Turkey’s
recognition of the Armenian Genocide would represent a meaningful step
towards its acceptance into the European family of nations.
Finally, Mr. Chairman, it is time for this body to stop defending and
funding a government that continues to deny its own history and refuses
to break with the pattern of intolerance established by past Turkish
governments which dealt with minority issues by committing genocide
against Armenians, massacring and driving Greeks from its shores,
restricting the rights of Christians to worship, and denying the
existence of its Kurdish citizens.
I would like to add that I am joined in my support of this amendment
by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley).
Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
The CHAIRMAN. Does the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Kolbe) wish to
make his point of order?
Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I will not make a point of order on the
amendment. I will conclude the debate.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Chairman, how much time do I have remaining?
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff) has 2
minutes remaining.
Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Among historians there is no dispute about what happened to the
Armenian people. There is no dispute that it was genocide. Thousands of
pages of documents sit in our National Archives, newspapers of the day
were replete with stories about the murder of Armenians: “Appeal To
Turkey To Stop Massacres,” headlined the New York Times on April 28,
1915, just as the killing began.
On October 7 of that year, the Times reported that 800,000 Armenians
had been slain in cold blood in Asia Minor. In mid-December of 1915,
the Times spoke of a million Armenians killed or in exile.
In 1948, in the shadow of the Holocaust, the international community
responded to Nazi Germany’s methodically orchestrated acts of genocide
by approving the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the
Crime of Genocide. It confirms that genocide is a crime under
international law and defines genocide as actions committed with intent
to destroy a nation, ethnic, racial or religious group.
The United States under President Truman was the first nation to sign
the convention. Last year marked the 15th anniversary of President
Reagan signing the Genocide Convention Implementation Act.
Just over a year ago, I introduced H. Res. 193 with my colleagues,
the gentleman from California (Mr. Radanovich), the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Pallone), the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Knollenberg),
and other Members of this House. This should have been an easy
resolution for all of us now to support on the House floor. Genocide is
the most abhorrent crime known to human kind; and, unfortunately, it is
happening in the Sudan as we speak.
The reason we have not yet succeeded in passing this resolution is
simple. The government of Turkey refuses to acknowledge the genocide,
and the strongest nation on Earth fears their reaction if we do.
110 of my colleagues have co-sponsored this resolution, and I expect
it would pass overwhelmingly if given the chance. At the very least we
should not fund efforts to silence our voices.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Kolbe) is recognized
for 5 minutes.
Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, this is most unfortunate. We have just been handed this
amendment. It is a completely new amendment, quite different than the
one we had seen before. So we do not really know what the implications
of this are. I am trying to read it and think it through.
I am inclined to accept this and deal with its ramifications in the
full committee. Looking at it, let me say that it appears by saying
relating to lobbying with appropriated monies, but not having any way
of making that determination as to what that is, it does not have any
real impact. Nonetheless, I understand the symbolism of this, and I am
concerned about that in terms of our ally, Turkey. But I am prepared to
accept this amendment at this time. And as I said, we will deal with
its implications and ramifications at a later time.
Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the amendment offered
by my friend and colleague from California Adam Schiff.
This is an amendment to ensure that we never forget the struggles of
the Armenian people or that we never forget . . .
Ever since I was elected to the State Assembly and now in Congress, I
have been a strong supporter of the Armenian American community.
However, my strong support is not only because I represent a large
Armenian community in Queens but also because I see the strategic
importance of Caucasus region for the United States.
The contributions of the Armenian community to this great city cannot
be fully appreciated quantitatively.
It can only be realized by those who walk the streets of New York
every day.
I had the opportunity to travel to Armenia last summer.
Through meetings and discussions with elected officials and even
regular citizens, I have a clearer understanding of Armenia’s needs and
challenges.
I believe that as a nation Armenia is growing and with the support of
the United States and the Diasporan Armenian community–Armenia will be
able to overcome the economic and security challenges in the region.
I have continuously supported and encouraged closer ties between the
United States and Armenia because of the strategic position and also
because of the similar values of democracy and freedom.
The thorny path to liberty is a concept with which the people of
Armenia have been forced to contend for many years.
From the Armenian Genocide, to the republic’s absorption into the
Soviet Union, to the current struggle for Nagorno (NA-GORE-NO)-Karabakh
(KAR-AH-BAH), the path has not always been smooth.
I am pleased to say that the nation of Armenia does not need to
travel that thorny path alone.
I am proud to stand alongside them in an effort to reach their goals.
I assure you, it will never be forgotten.
Armenia remains a major focus in American foreign policy.
The United States recognizes the need to cultivate and support the
development of Armenia.
The United States has looked to Armenia to take the lead in bringing
peace and prosperity to the Caucasus.
The people of Armenia have overcome tremendous obstacles on the path
to liberty.
But again we can never forget the genocide and we must commemorate
it.
Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff).

[[Page H5891]]

The amendment was agreed to.

“ARMENIA CONDUCTS DYNAMIC FOREIGN POLICY AND IS A SUCCESS”

Azg/AM
16 July 2004

The Employee of the Eurasian Center for Strategic Researches Testifies
to That

Azg informed in its previous issue under the title “Turkey Doesn’t
Intend to Reconsider Its Hostile Policy Towards Armenia” that the
Turkish government refused to be a presiding country at PACE in
2007. the information was based on the massage send by Harut
Sassounian, publisher of the Californian Currier that was published in
our newspaper.

Sasunian, considering the abovementioned decision of the Turkish
governmenta victory of the Armenian diplomats, conditions it by the
statement made by RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian on June 14 in
Washington, saying that Armenia will exercise its right for veto
against Turkey’s candidacy. He comes to the conclusion that “This
unexpected step means that the U.S. and Turkey have failed in their
attempts to exert pressure on Armenia.”

Let’s remind that Oskanian explained his statement saying that “We
can’t allow the chairmanship of a country at PACE that is a mediator
in the Nagorno Karabagh conflict settlement, as the Chair has certain
rights and privileges that can be used against Armenia.” He not only
repeated this explanation but also added that “The country presiding
at PACE should have diplomatic relations with all the member-
countries,” on June 8 during the meeting with Yanesh Potochnik, EU
representative in Armenia.

It’s worth mentioning that these conclusions are affirmed in the
article by Hatem Jabbarlu, employee of Eurasian Center for Strategic
Researches, issued in Haberanaliz Internet newspaper on July 13
entitled “Armenian Obstacle for Turkey’s Presiding at PACE”. As the
Turkish leading newspapers didn’t comment on Oskanian’s statement, and
the center represented by Jabbarlu is a state structure, we want to
introduce the short variant of the article to your attention.

By Hakob Chaqrian

“Turkey was a candidate for chairmanship at PACE in 2007. The positive
changes made in the Turkish foreign police in the early 2000
contributed tothe creation of all the preconditions for that. But in
2004 articles on Armenia’s right for exercising veto against Turkey’s
candidacy appeared in the Armenian and Diaspora Press in the early
2004. RA Government and the state press didnâ=80=99t comment on that
issue, that is why the government tool advantage of the possibilities
of the independent press, being well aware that the comments of the
state bodies on the “veto” will cause a number of complications in the
foreign policy.

But on June 28-29 in the course of NATO Istanbul Summit Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian, meeting with the U.S. representatives, had
found the intention to exercise veto against Turkey’s candidacy for
PACE Chairmanship quite possible and conditioned that by the Turkish
policy conducted against Armenia.

This shows that besides the short-term and mid-term projects in the
foreign policy Armenia has elaborated long-term projects as well
against Turkey. The time showed that the people who in the 80-ies when
ASALA began acting spokeof the failure of this terrorist
structure. The main goal of ASALA was to state “Armenian Genocide” in
the agenda of the international publicity that was achieved, as a
result.

Moreover, when in 1987, when the issue of Turkey’s membership to
EUwasn’t even considered, the Armenian Diaspora managed to make the
European Parliament adopt a decision on the Armenian Genocide in
Turkey. At present, RA Government and the Armenian Diaspora,
cooperation, particularly with the French Socialistic Party, will
spare no efforts to prevent Turkey’s membership to EU, putting forward
the issue of the so-called genocide as a precondition for that.
Notwithstanding the fact that the population and the area of Armenia
is small in the South Caucasus, its serious economic problems, it
condacts more dynamic policy and acheives success against Turkey and
Azerbaijan, in particular. Armenia is capable of unfolding propaganda
against Turkey and Azerbaijan.”

Pasadena Star News
Article Published: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 – 10:10:37 PM PST

Chess players poised for a strategic move

By Naush Boghossian , Staff Writer

GLENDALE — Chess enthusiasts are getting ready to move from their normal
haunts in local cafes to the city’s new $540,000 chess park, which opens
Saturday evening.
More than three years in the making, the free park offers 16 boards amid
towering chess piece sculpted in a converted passageway along Brand
Boulevard.

“We’re definitely excited because there are a lot of kids who like to play
at their leisure and don’t have a permanent place to play,’ said Harout
Akopyan, 23, a coach for the All American Association Chess Club, which runs
chess schools for youngsters in Glendale, Reseda and Hollywood. “This park
is good for everybody.’

Glendale is something of a chess hub, since the game is very popular among
Armenians, who make up more than 70,000 of Glendale’s 200,000 residents.

In Armenia, people begin playing chess when they’re young, and the schools
there encourage competitions from a very young age. Akopyan’s club, which
serves about 150 children, continuously produces national champion chess
players.

Akopyan has 13 national championship titles himself.

The concept for a park came from local chess clubs, who encouraged the City
Council to maximize the potential of the little-used passageway.

“We’ve taken a piece of property that was underutilized and created an urban
park that is not only aesthetically attractive but serves the community,’
senior project manager Emil Tatevosian said. “We’ve realized that we have a
large chess community in the city, and this is a good venue for all of them
to come together.’

The new park is divided into zones, each accented with a chess piece King,
Queen, Bishop and Rook and has tables with inlaid game boards and benches.

And chess-themed light towers also will allow for nighttime games.

“There is potential to create a hub of activity there with the Alex Theater
and Brand Books, which is open until midnight,’ Tatevosian said.

The concept of having an area for chess players to gather and play is very
popular in other countries, said president of the L.A. Chess Club Mick
Bighamian.

But in Southern California where the only other chess park is in Santa
Monica players tend to gather at coffee shops, where the unwritten rule is
you have to spend money to be able to stay and play.

“I think this is a great movement as far as keeping the youngsters and
senior citizens to have something leisurely to do at no cost to them,’
Bighamian said. “And the park helps the promotion of chess to get the image
it truly deserves as a fun and challenging game.’

Naush Boghossian can be reached at (818) 546-3306 or by e-mail at
[email protected] .

Linking with ink: Armenian paper celebrates 70 years of news from the
Diaspora
By Monica Deady

Watertown Tab
Friday, July 9, 2004

To exist for 70 years in a world full of shifting, recycling and revamping
is not a small feat. The Armenian Weekly, a weekly ethnic newspaper written
and published in Watertown, has reached the regal age of 70, with plans to
continue on with its task of sharing news of Armenians worldwide.

The Armenian Weekly, published in English, was first published in Boston in
1934 as a means for the Armenian community to learn about what was affecting
the Armenian people throughout the United States and the world. What began
with four pages a week has increased to 20, with a circulation of about
1,700 and a readership of more than 7,000.

The paper moved to the Watertown office in 1985 to be closer to where the
population is centered. According to editor Jason Sohigian, who has been
editor since 1999, Watertown has the largest concentration of Armenians
outside of Los Angeles. It is published by the Hairenik Association of
Watertown.

“Our primary focus is the Armenian view,” Sohigian said, sitting in the
small newspaper office on the first floor of 80 Bigelow Ave. “I think the
Armenian interest or Armenian point of view is not really represented in the
other media. I think it’s a good chance for Armenians to discuss the issues
that affect the community.”

For example, Sohigian said the paper may cover topics like United States aid
to Armenia or dual citizenship.

“For us, I think the way we present things and the topics we choose to
present … it gives people something to think about,” said assistant editor
Sossi Essajanian, who said her family has always received the paper. “We
want not just a newspaper, but a collection of news and analysis.”

The paper, which is what Sohigian called “an organ” of the Armenian
Revolution Federation, an Armenian political party, tries to represent the
points of view of that party in Armenia, and publishes editorials, political
analyses, columns, short stories and poems.

Several newspapers are published as arms of the ARF party in many areas of
the world, Sohigian said, and the Armenian Weekly published in Watertown
focuses on the East Coast of the United States.

Most of the paper’s subscribers are in major cities, where Sohigian said the
Armenian population is concentrated, including Detroit, Chicago, New York
City, Providence, R.I., Boston and Worcester. He said they also have
subscribers from New Jersey, Florida and other parts of the world.

Members of the Armenian Caucus in Congress receive the paper as well,
Sohigian said.

Although the paper does not have any writers on staff, they have
contributors worldwide and longtime columnists, poets and volunteers who
help them with everything from art to translation to copy.

Sohigian said they accept press releases and often work them into stories
and will report on Armenian issues that are concerns to other regions of the
United States and the political activity in Washington, D.C.

“It’s kind of like a community service,” Sohigian said.

Throughout its publication, the paper has focused on youth writing through
the Armenian Youth Federation. Students are encouraged to submit writing,
and it is often one of the first places they are published.

One journalist, Mitch Kehetian, who says he saw his first byline in the
Armenian Weekly, has been a journalist for more than 50 years. He is
currently the editorial page editor at the Macomb Daily, a paper that covers
the northern suburbs of Detroit.

“I always read the local paper because it gives me a feel for the
community,” he said, and said the Armenian Weekly does the same thing.

Tom Vartabedian, a 37-year veteran reporter and photographer at the
Haverhill Gazette, has also been a correspondent for the Armenian Weekly for
34 years. When he was about 20 years old, he volunteered to be the Boston
chapter scribe for the Youth Federation and said his contributions to the
paper never stopped. He has been writing a weekly column since 1970.

“It gives me a chance to exercise my mind and contribute to an ethnic
newspaper,” Vartabedian said. “It’s a vehicle that connects one community to
another. It’s also a tool to publicize a community, and it’s an organ …
it’s our voice,” he said. “It’s a voice for all to be heard.”

“There are a number of things that create a community…” said Hayg Oshagan,
a member of the editorial board, “but having people spread in a geographic
space does not create a community. A community becomes a community when they
have a connection with one another.”

He said the Armenian Weekly is one of those things that can supply the
connections.

“A newspaper creates a forum across the whole region,” said Oshagan, who
worked on the paper for a few summers when he was in college and has been on
the board for about three years. Oshagan said some of the challenges of the
newspaper are finding stringers to work for them and getting the paper to
all of the subscribers in a timely manner, which can be delayed.

Still, he said over the years, he thinks the paper has found a “comfort
zone” and “a way of working well.”

“It connects [Armenians] with the past, it connects them with the present,
it connects them with their origins and their identity,” said Tatul Sonentz,
who has been contributing to the paper since the 1950s. “It will survive, I
believe, as long as there is a community.”

Photo: Assistant editor Sossi Essajanian looks over proofs of The Armenian
Weekly, which is celebrating 70 years of publication. – STAFF PHOTO
BY KATE FLOCK

Monica Deady can be reached at [email protected].

Mehr News Agency, Iran
July 5 2004

Hedayat’s “Buried Alive” Published In English and Armenian

TEHRAN July 5 (MNA) — Sadeq Hedayat’s collected stories “Buried
Alive” along with critical essays from the last half a century will
be published in English and Armenian by Varjavand Publications.
Jahangir Hedayat on Sunday said the book includes the original text
and Hedayat’s manuscripts since some changes have appeared in the
writer’s works in recent years.

Hedayat said, “In addition to `Buried Alive’, the book contains a
collection of critical essays written by the critics over the last 50
years.’

He said the English translation of the book was done by a Bryan
Spooner.

Hedayat says publishing translations of the book promotes Iranian
culture in other countries.

Sadeq Hedayat (1903-1951) was the foremost short story writer in
Iran. He was exposed to world literature especially European
literature, and read the works of Kafka, Poe, and Dostoyevsky.

He wrote collections of short stories and a novella, `The Blind Owl,’
which is regarded as Hedayat’s masterpiece and has been translated
into many languages.

Hedayat asphyxiated himself by turning on the gas in a small flat in
Paris.

ArmenPress
June 28 2004

AZERBAIJAN LAUNCHED DIPLOMATIC FIGHT AGAINST ARTSAKHTELECOM

BAKU, JUNE 28, ARMENPRESS: Azerbaijan continues its the diplomatic
fight against Artsakhtelecom (Karabagh Telecom), which has developed
international ties and is cooperating with about 63 companies now,
including AS EMT(Estonia), CosmOTE – Mobile Telecommunications S.A.
(Greece), ETISALAT (UAE), Globe Telecom (Filippins) GSM Kazakhstan
Ltd (Kazakhstan), H3G-A (Italy), Megaphone (Russia), OMNITEL
(Lithuania), Orange A/S-A (Denmark), SwissCom Mobile Ltd.-A
(Switzerland), T-Mobile Limited-A (Great Britain), AT&T Wireless PCS
LLC (USA) and several others.
According to Azeri Ekho daily, Azerbaijani diplomats working in
several CIS countries are instructed to press for annulment of
contracts with Artsakhtelecom. Particularly, Azeri Ambassador to
Ukraine Taliat Aliyev told Ekho that he has held meetings at the
Ukrainian ministry of foreign affairs where he expressed his
dissatisfaction about the contracts between Artsakhtelecom and
Kievstar. The ambassador has also met with Kievstar authorities and
explained that “Nagorno Karabagh is part of Azerbaijan and no one is
authorized to enter into relation with it without the permission of
Azerbaijan.” Azeri diplomat told Ekho that Kievstar assured that they
will annul the contract with Artsakhtelecom. Azeri diplomats are
taking similar actions in other countries.

Pravda.RU

WCO, EurAsEc sign memo of understanding

18:50 2004-06-26

The World Customs Organization (WCO) and the Eurasian Economic Community
(EurAsEC) that comprises Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and
Kyrghyzstan (Ukraine, Armenia, and Moldova have observer statuses) signed a
memorandum of understanding in Brussels on Friday. The document was signed
by WCO General Director Michel Danet and EurAsEC Secretary General Grigory
Rapota.

The chief of the WCO that groups 162 countries was pleased that the memo was
signed, the initiative that was supported by Russia’s State Customs
Committee.

Mr. Danet said to representatives of the EurAsEC countries that now on the
WCO could accept requests, raise funds and implement programs to reform the
national customs services thereby promoting economic growth.

“We have been cooperating with the WCO for two years now. EurAsEC has been
granted the status of its regional customs center,” said Mr. Rapota.

The five member-countries are working to create the single economic space
within EurAsEC, Mr. Rapota told RIA Novosti. “There is the council of
customs chiefs that is dealing with the problem. Since EurAsEC is not a
closed club it seeks cooperation with the whole of the international
community. The memorandum with the WCO is therefore a step towards achieving
this goal,” said Mr. Rapota.

Mr. Rapota emphasized that the WCO had singled out the Russian Customs
Academy as a regional center for training customs experts.

© RIAN

Sunday Herald, UK
June 26 2004

The lyon, the witch and the war zone

TV: The Lyon’s Den (Tuesday, Five, 9.55pm)
The Shield (Tuesday, Five, 10.50pm)
Wife Swap (Tuesday, Channel 4, 9pm)
By Damien Love

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: devote the next three
months to watching a somewhat hokey American drama about lawyers with
problems, which has already been cancelled in the States, and which
you therefore know is destined to come to an abrupt end, never to
return.
That’s where we are with The Lyon’s Den, the series Five is
parachuting into the void left now that Law And Order: Criminal
Intent has shambled off on its holidays. Incentives for watching
might not seem great, but it might be worth sticking with it,
precisely because of that. The Lyon’s Den was axed in the States
after only six episodes had been broadcast, while cast and crew were
still filming. The last seven episodes remain unaired in the US, but
Five will be broadcasting the 13-part series in its entirety, and so
we have this prospect: once we get to around nine or 10 weeks in, we
will be watching a programme made by people who actually know there
is no point in making it.

That throws open a tantalising possibility: maybe, just maybe, some
hints of the disappointment, depression, bitterness, anger and
cynicism swilling around might show up onscreen. It might not happen,
but since these are conditions seldom done well by – indeed, usually
denied by – American television, even the slightest chance of seeing
them is a rare opportunity.

For fans of disappointment, depression, listlessness, bitterness,
anger and cynicism, incidentally, the good news is that The Lyon’s
Den is paired with the return of The Shield. There was something
naggingly unsatisfying about how the bad-mood LA cop-show ended its
second series. After an awesome few episodes, it lost its apocalyptic
momentum. The writers went alarmingly soft on the murderously
screwed-up side of Michael Chiklis’s demon-dog cop, Vic Mackey,
killed-off what looked like its greatest villain – that Satanic
Mexican ganglord with cooker rings burned into his face, and let the
rogue cops’ climactic money train heist go off far too quietly.

As it turns out, however, when The Shield ended last year, it wasn’t
really ending, it was merely pausing for breath. This week, we are
right back among it. The money train story has only just begun, and
is about to get very messy. Most promisingly, it also looks like a
far more threatening villain might appear, or, rather, reappear.
Devotees will recall, back in series one, a fleeting Armenian psycho
who dressed like Jesus and delivered the immortal line: `Delicious
feet.’ Well, this week, dead Armenians are turning up all over … with
their feet lopped off.

The Shield still suffers from an unfortunate tendency to have all its
characters constantly explain to each other (ie, to us) exactly what
they’re doing, and exactly why, but at least they tend to be doing
interesting, scuzzy things, and move quickly while doing them. The
stark contrast between its crummy, dirty, speedy pace and the
civilised flow and ebb of The Lyon’s Den makes Five a schizophrenic
zone on a Tuesday night. It’s like walking from a dimly-lit
conference room into a car crash.

Rob Lowe stars in The Lyon’s Den as the stoutly-named Jack Turner,
saintly lawyer man-boy with principles and hair that says: `That’s
right girls, I still like a bit of grunge.’ He’s turned his back on
his amazingly powerful family connections and the high-powered,
high-paid jobs for which his brilliant mind is clearly suited to
instead work in a small legal clinic for poor clients. However, dark
wheels are turning, and, to ensure the future of the clinic, he is
forced to dirty his hands by becoming a partner at the parent
company, a gargantuan legal firm full of unhappy backstabbers
interested only in money and power, and not in helping save selfless
refugees from being stoned to death, like he is. In short, he must
enter the lion’s den.

The experience of watching The Lyon’s Den crumble toward oblivion is
made all the more potent if you are aware this is the series Lowe –
who also produced – made after he’d quit The West Wing in a bit of a
huff. Perish the thought that he ever entertained visions of taking
on The West Wing in a war for the hearts and minds of that show’s
fans. Still, in the first episode he does make a meal of referencing
his old programme. `I have zero interest in politics,’ he quips at
one point, managing not to wink at the camera.

Particularly, deliciously, sad, however, is the opening. The Lyon’s
Den is set in Washington DC, and begins with images of Lowe out for
an heroic morning run, lit by the amber dawn’s early light, and
dressed like Rocky. First time we see him, he is pointedly framed
with the White House behind, so he appears to be running away from
it. It’s hard not to read a sly, triumphant statement about
stretching his wings.

Unfortunately, this sequence is intercut with a man committing
suicide by throwing himself from a high window and splatting on the
ground. Given what we know of Lowe’s show’s fate, it alters the
visual metaphor rather drastically.

`You are a dickhead and a wanker and a cocksucker, I hate you and
your kids.’ Not my words, but the words of Lucy from Feltham, one of
the first wives to be swapped in the new Wife Swap, which is back and
exactly the same, if somewhat more self-conscious about it.

Lucy and husband Tony, who are happy to let their children run riot,
seem to have modelled themselves after the slobs Harry Enfield and
Kathy Burje used to do, which is their right in a democracy. Lucy
exchanges lives with Pat, who, along with husband Spike, runs her
house like a prison (Pat and Spike both work in the prison service),
with the added condition of shoving God down her kids’ throats at
every opportunity. In short: Lucy and Tony are the sort of people you
wouldn’t want living next door; Pat and Spike are the sort of people
you wouldn’t mind living next door, so long as you never, ever, had
to speak to them.

They still call this Reality TV, but in reality, these people would
never exchange a `hello’ – let alone lives. Observing an event does
indeed change it, and through the selection processes, editing,
music, and such techniques as the posing of leading questions (to
which we only ever hear the answers), this is as authored as any TV
fiction. Of course, it is far easier to produce, given nobody has to
fork out for sets, writers, decent cameras or actors. The Reality
rash which dominates both sides of the Atlantic probably has a lot to
do with why programmes like The Lyon’s Den now get binned midway
through their first run. Lowe’s series isn’t that bad. After all, it
took The West Wing a year to strike the balance between syrup and
salt, while institutions like Frasier, even Friends, didn’t really
hit their particular strides until into their second seasons. At the
moment, though, the big American networks (as opposed to the smaller
cable channels, which, less dependent on selling advertising, provide
homes for the likes of The Shield) seem interested in neither the
long term, nor nurturing talent.

Still, that’s not specifically Wife Swap’s fault. In terms of people
shouting, it remains as good as you’ll get this side of insulting a
strange couple in a pub on a Friday night. If still not quite as
exciting.