Author: Jabejian Elizabeth

MICROSOFT TO CARRY OUT SEVERAL LARGE PROGRAMS IN ARMENIA

Yerevan, February 5. ArmInfo. The Microsoft Corporation will carry
out large investments in Armenia due to the Agreement on cooperation
with the Armenian Government, recently signed in Edinburgh, the Head
of Microsoft- Armenia, Grigor Barseghyan, told ArmInfo.

According to him, before the Agreement signing, the Corporation
had already implemented a number of serious investment projects in
Armenia, among which is the creation of Microsoft-Armenia. Moreover,
serious investments in Armenia may be also considered a localization
of Microsoft software, in particular, Windows XP and Windows Vista.

Issue of the Armenia version of this program is expected in summer or
early autumn. It is scheduled to complete the works for localization
of the office package Office-2007 during this year. The local "Biline"
Company is the executor of all these works.

Generally, the policy of Microsoft envisages that all the orders
are carried out not directly but by the local companies. As a rule,
the Microsoft software, sold for $1, return $6-8 of interest to the
local partners in one or another country.

According to G. Barseghyan, the agreement, signed in Edinburgh, with
the RA Government, where the problems of information technologies
were discussed from the viewpoint of their use for the development
of democracy, education and other aspects, can be conventionally
divided into three big blocks. The first is the educational block. The
Microsoft is ready to present a full package of training programs
for secondary schools and HEE of Armenia. This package also envisages
a publication of new school books on information science. Methodical
materials for teachers will be also prepared and an access to "on-line"
resources of Microsoft will be provided. It is scheduled to organize
a subscription to MSDN Academic Alliance. The subscription is a
full package of the Microsoft software for organization of training
processes. Thus, all the computers in HEE will be legalized.

Moreover, all the teachers and students will be authorized to use these
products on their home computers free-of-charge. This initiative will
allow to sufficiently reduce the level of piratical use of Microsoft
programs in Armenia.

The second block of the agreement envisages implementation of a system
of electronic government (E-government) in Armenia. The Corporation
obliges to provide the RA Government with full information about these
systems and to render a technical assistance for their implementation
and use.

The last block of the agreement is aimed at supporting the local IT
industry, which includes an education of local companies by trainings
and seminars, a certification, as well as a powerful marketing
support. This block also envisages to create an innovation center of
Microsoft in Armenia. This will be an office, where it is scheduled
to install computers with all the Microsoft platforms, technologies
and solutions.

In its turn, the RA Government has committed itself to acquire
new computers only with an original Microsoft license software and
to protect the Corporation’s copyright. According to Barseghyan,
a working group will be created within the frames of the Agreement,
consisting of the representatives of Government and the Corporation,
who will outline specific steps for the program implementation within
the frames of the Agreement.

ARMENIAN CHURCH PARTICIPATES IN THE THEOLOGICAL DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE ORIENTAL ORTHODOX CHURCHES

ArmRadio.am
06.02.2007 17:27

The fourth meeting of the International Joint Commission for
Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental
Orthodox Churches took place in Rome, at the new offices of the
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

Joining the delegates from the Catholic Church were representatives
of the following Oriental Orthodox Churches: Coptic Orthodox Church,
Syrian Orthodox Church, Armenian Apostolic Church-Catholicosate
of All Armenians, Armenian Apostolic Church-Holy See of Cilicia,
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and
Eritrean Orthodox Church.

The Catholicosate of All Armenians was represented by Archbishop
Mesrob Krikorian, (Primate of Vienna and Patriarchal Delegate for
Central Europe and Scandinavia) and Archbishop Khajag Barsamian
(Primate of the Eastern Diocese of the USA). On behalf of the Armenian
Catholicosate of Cilicia Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan (Prelate of the
Eastern Prelacy in the USA) and Bishop Nareg Alemezian (Ecumenical
Officer) participated in the meeting.

The members of the international commission were received in audience
by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. His Eminence Anba Bishoy (Co-chair)
greeted His Holiness the Pope on behalf of the members of the dialogue
and thanked him for his efforts to promote dialogue with the Oriental
Orthodox. Addressing the group, Pope Benedict said, "Your meeting
concerning the constitution and mission of the Church is of great
importance for our common journey towards the restoration of full
communion. The Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches
share an ecclesial patrimony stemming from apostolic times and the
first centuries of Christianity." The Pope also expressed his concern
for the situation of Christians in the Middle East, calling upon them
to be " courageous and steadfast in the power of the Spirit of Christ."

"ZERKALO": DECISION OF US CONGRESS TO CAUSE TENSION

Ïðaâî Âûaîða, Azerbaijan
Democratic Azerbaijan
Feb 6 2007

If Congressmen take anti-Turkish position concerning "genocide of
Armenians" "Issue of the so-called "genocide" may be discussed in US
Senate and Houses of Representatives. But if decision against Turkey
taken it will cause tension". Accordingly to "Trend" Ambassador of
Turkey to Azerbaijan, Hussein Avni Karslioglu, informed it. He said
that Turkey takes necessary measures to prevent such tension and
believes that it won’t occure. Asked whether official Ankara will
manage to stop military and economic relations with Washington if Us
Congress recognizes the so-called "genocide of Armenians" Ambassador
refused to comment.

We should remind that after France recognition of "Armenian genocide"
Turkey stopped military cooperation with that country.

Ambassador spoke of situation in Kerkuk. He said that Turkey warned
its allies and USA that events in Kerkuk may cause serious problems.

Hussein Avni Karslioglu touched possibility of appointment of military
man of Turkey as deputy minister of defense of Azerbaijan.

Hussein Avni Karslioglu assured that these talks are not in line
with reality.

Speaking of time of transfer of Turkish Embassy to newly built building
he said that last works are still under way in building. But yet it
is not known whether some Turkish leaders will partake in opening
ceremony.

–Boundary_(ID_hQ6tzIpak/d21Pye qy/6OA)–

The New York Times
February 4, 2007 Sunday
Late Edition – Final

The Terminated

By CHRISTOPHER DE BELLAIGUE.

Christopher de Bellaigue is the author of ”In the Rose Garden of the
Martyrs: A Memoir of Iran.” He is currently writing a book on
eastern Turkey.

SKYLARK FARM
By Antonia Arslan.
Translated by Geoffrey Brock.
275 pp. Alfred A. Knopf. $23.95.

After a silence dictated by shame, pain and politics that lasted the
better part of a century, the suffering of Armenians massacred by the
Ottoman Turks and their Kurdish allies during World War I has
recently become an urgent issue. The parliaments of several countries
in the European Union, a club Turkey wants to join, have labeled the
massacres genocide. The Turks refuse to do so. Of all those involved
in this slow, bitter process of remembering, it is writers and
journalists, not politicians, who have touched the rawest nerves. On
Jan. 19, Hrant Dink, a prominent Turkish-Armenian who had promoted
both reconciliation and an honest appraisal of the past, was
murdered, apparently by a Turkish nationalist. Earlier, Orhan Pamuk’s
reference to the massacres in an interview and an allusion to the
Armenian ”genocide” in a novel by Elif Shafak led to the
prosecution of both on charges of ”insulting Turkishness.” Neither
was convicted (unlike Dink, who received a suspended sentence on the
same charge) but the country’s reputation has suffered.

The Italian writer Antonia Arslan’s first novel, ”Skylark Farm,” is
based — how closely, we are not told — on the experiences of her
Armenian grandfather’s family during those massacres. The farm of the
title is, in fact, a country house that Sempad, a well-to-do Armenian
pharmacist living in a town somewhere in Anatolia, is trying to
complete in time for the visit of his brother, Yerwant, who emigrated
years earlier to make his fortune in Italy. Absorbed in their
domestic affairs, Sempad and his family are oblivious to the signs,
unmistakable in hindsight, that Turkey’s government is preparing to
get rid of a minority population it suspects of abetting the empire’s
Russian enemies.

May 1915 comes around and what follows is, for any Armenian, a
dismally familiar story. Out at the farm, Sempad and his male
relations are murdered by Turkish soldiers. His wife, their daughters
and hundreds more women from the same town are then forced to walk
many miles through hostile country to Syria, where death camps await.
The marchers are ”escorted” by guards who connive with marauding
Kurdish tribesmen to take first the women’s possessions, then their
honor and finally — in many cases — their lives. It’s a despicable
story, and one that has been told, in Armenian and other languages,
in countless memoirs and histories.

In Arslan’s hands, the gruesome details of this tragedy are palliated
by an old-fashioned story of redemption. After the marchers set off,
Nazim, a Muslim beggar who used to inform on the Armenians for the
authorities, joins forces with a Greek woman to shadow them, slipping
them food and dressing their wounds at night, before finally using
guile and gems to buy the survivors’ release in Aleppo. As it
happens, the unappealing Turkish suitor of one of the family’s young
women has been posted to Syria. Once he regarded most Armenians as
worthy of elimination, but by the end of the book, even though his
sweetheart has died, he undergoes a conversion of his own, using
connections to secure passports for the surviving members of the
family so they can join Yerwant in Italy.

Although history keeps wrenching her back into shocking events,
Arslan seems instinctively a writer of magic and intuition.
Premonitions, dreams and religious faith provide her characters with
respite from the horror. A bereaved mother dies by allowing her heart
to break; a decent German official becomes an angel; and there is a
delightful image of those medieval knights-errant ”for whom
hospitable Anatolia, with its small courts rich in flowing water and
lovely maidens, proved more pleasing than their gloomy, distant
northern lands.”

Arslan reports dialogues involving the architects of the
deportations, including the interior minister, Talat Pasha, who
writes in a telegram: ”No mercy for women, old men or children. If
even one Armenian were to survive, he would later want revenge.”
This is a prophetic reference to Talat’s murder in exile at the hands
of an Armenian who chanced upon him in a Berlin street.

”Skylark Farm,” is an affecting book, and sensitively translated by
Geoffrey Brock, but it is marred by uneven writing. Arslan’s habit of
flashing forward at moments of happiness to the wretched times that
lie ahead detracts from the novel’s intensity without adding to its
resonance. And some of her deadpan descriptions of hideous events —
”This was sufficient time for the young bride Hripsime to recover
from her delivery and to see her baby die, skewered on a bayonet and
held aloft” — slue into bathos.

Putting down this book, it’s worth trying to separate Arslan the
promising novelist from Arslan the iffy historian. She describes the
Armenians as a ”gentle, daydreaming people” who would like nothing
more than to share their ancestral homeland, a platitude that ignores
the existence of Armenian political groups seeking independence from
the Turks. And in a novel containing footnotes to explain historical
events, readers might mistakenly assume Arslan’s Talat telegram is
irreproachably historical. The lack of a universally authenticated
document implicating the Ottoman leadership in a plan to kill the
Armenians is a central part of the Turks’ argument that the massacres
were not a premeditated genocide but a tragic and unintended
consequence of war.

Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS Military Newswire
February 1, 2007 Thursday 1:04 PM MSK

Defense Ministry denies reports Armenia is seeking NATO membership

Armenia is not going to join NATO, the country’s defense minister
said.

"Yerevan has said many times before, and confirms once again, that
NATO accession is not a goal of Armenian foreign policy," a Defense
Ministry statement released on Thursday says.

Earlier, several media outlets reported that issues concerning
Armenia’s accession to the NATO will be discussed at a seminar to be
held in Yerevan on February 5-7, citing the George C. Marshall
European Center for Strategic Studies, the statement says.

NTV MSNBC, Turkey
Jan 31 2007

Erdogan said that any failings of the part of police will be looked
into.

Güncelleme: 11:57 TSİ 31 Ocak 2007 ÇarşambaANKARA – The
murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was an attempt to
create an atmosphere of turmoil and isolate Turkey from the rest of
the world, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday
night.

Erdogan, speaking in an address to the nation, said that the Turkish
people should be wary of efforts of those who disguise themselves as
patriots while attempting to undermine the unity and solidarity of
the country.

The Prime Minister said that the security forces had acted swiftly to
arrest many of those suspected of involvement in the murder of Dink,
who was gunned down in Istanbul on January 19.

`It is one of our most important duties to enlighten all dimensions
of the killing of Dink and bring those who are responsible to the
justice,’ he said.

`On the other hand, our yielding tangible results is of vital
importance to prevent such heinous attempts targeting our
tranquillity and stability, unity and solidarity, freedom of
expression and democracy.’

Turning to the economy, Erdogan acknowledged that inequalities of
income still existed but said that his government had been working to
ensure a fair distribution of income.

`We will continue to take further steps to give each and every
citizen of this country the standards to live a humane life,’ he
said.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Arman Melikian: Most probably U.S. not to attack Iran
30.01.2007 16:50 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Most probably the U.S. will not attacks Iran, said
NKR President’s Aide for Foreign Policy Arman Melikian to a press
conference in Yerevan. In his words, it is an utmost dangerous step,
which can increase Iran’s role in the Middle East and Central
Asia. `The U.S. should avoid just this, moreover if the invasion is
scheduled on Iraq’s scenario. But indeed, there is some danger of
launching a war,’ stressed Melikian.

For attacking Iran the George Bush administration must get an
agreement from U.S. Congress, which is against Iraqi war.

OFFICIAL YEREVAN GETS NO NEW PROPOSALS FROM ANKARA

YEREVAN, JANUARY 30, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. "I find it
difficult to come to the political conclusions arising from Hrant
Dink’s death, and, telling the truth, I would not like to do it," RA
President’s Spokesman Victor Soghomonian said during the January 9
meeting with journalists.

Responding the Noyan Tapan correspondent’s question if after Hrant
Dink’s death Turkey took any step in the direction of normalization of
the relations with Armenia, V.Soghomonian said that no new proposals
were got from official Ankara. In V.Soghomonian’s words, the position
of Armenia is unchanging: Armenia is ready to establish with Turkey
relations without preconditions and Turkey opens the Armenian-Turkish
border without preconditions.

"We are ready to establish diplomatic relations with Turkey, found a
joint intergovernmental commission which may be engaged in any issue,
interesting for the two countries. Beside, not a narrow specialists’,
for example, historians’, but just an intergovernmental commission
must be createdd," the RA President’s Spokesman emphasized.

To recap, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul mentioned on Janaury
24 that "Turkey is ready to establish good-neighbourly relations with
Armenia, but it will not be possible if the two sides do not
cooperate." At the same time, in the Turkish Foreign Minister’s words,
Armenia "must not present unjust demands to Turkey," like the demand
to recognize the Armenian Genocide implemented in the Ottaman
Empire. The Turkish Minister again stated his government’s proposal to
found a joint commission of Armenian and Turkish scientists for
studying the Armenian Genocide issue.

California Courier Online, February 1, 2007

1 – Commentary
Turkey May Fall in its Own Trap
By Taking Genocide Issue to Court

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier

2 – Kentikian and Alvarez to Meet
In World Title Fight on Feb. 16
3 – Univ. of Judaism Presents
Armenian/Jewish Concert
4 – Kirazian’s New Armenian Sacred
Music Premieres in San Diego County
5 – Fifth Annual Graduate Student Colloquium
In Armenian Studies at UCLA on Feb. 2
6 – Armenians Prepare to Honor
Amb. Evans at Beverly Hilton
******************************************* ***********************
1 – Commentary
Turkey May Fall in its Own Trap
By Taking Genocide Issue to Court

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, California Courier

Exasperated by the international community’s ever-growing acceptance of the
Armenian Genocide, and discouraged by its failed attempts to quash any mention
of this issue, the Turkish government has decided to embark on a bold new
adventure, according to Turkish newspapers last week.
Admitting that Turkey has nothing to show for after spending millions of
dollars on anti-Armenian propaganda, Erdal Safak wrote in Sabah: "Turkey will be
waging a tooth-and-nail struggle in the international arena rather than
exhausting its breath on symposiums that the West doesn’t heed." He went onto state:
"Sources say Turkey is even considering taking the case to the Permanent
Court of Arbitration [the International Court of Justice]."
Acting as if he had just discovered a magic wand, Safak wrote: "We
wholeheartedly support this plan. There is no other way to put an end to the allegations
that bothered us just in April in the past, but recently have been bothering
us from the first day of each year. This is the only way to save our nation
from this huge trauma and the damage caused by the increasing feeling of being
faced with an ‘international conspiracy,’ fanned by new links in the chain of
countries which officially recognize Armenian claims [of genocide]."
The newspaper Hurriyet reported this new initiative under the following
colorful headline: "Ankara is getting ready to say: ‘let’s slug it out.’" Ugur
Ergan, the reporter for Hurriyet, wrote that the Turkish government’s
"Coordination Committee to Fight Against Alleged Genocide Claim" had met onDec. 26, 2006
and decided to change Ankara’s policy on the Armenian Genocide. This Council’s
membership consists of the ministers of Foreign Affairs, Justice, National
Education, and Culture, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, the Higher
Education Council, and representatives from various universities and organizations.
Stating that "brochures, symposia, and newspaper ads were not giving the
desired result in fighting the genocide claim," the Committee decided to pursue
all legal avenues against the Republic of Armenia as well as the Armenian
Diaspora.
In his remarks in Parliament on Nov. 14, 2006, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul
reportedly declared: "Genocide claims can be taken to International Courts.
Work is being carried out along those lines and Turkey’s point of view, being
accurate, should be approved through the decision of an international judicial
body." Gul reportedly discussed the possibility of taking France to the
European Court of Human Rights in order to block a proposed French bill that would
make the denial of the Armenian Genocide a crime.
The article stated that Turkey, after getting advice from domestic and
foreign jurists, would submit the Armenian Genocide case to the International
Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, under the provisions of the U.N.
Genocide Convention of 1948. Turkey and Armenia would supposedly select three
arbitrators each and these arbitrators would then appoint an independent and neutral
president.
Turkish officials propose that all archives, including those belonging to
Turkey, the ARF in Boston, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul, and all
foreign missions that operated in Turkey during the genocide, be compiled. They
suggest that "a wide-scale forensic study" be conducted, in order to determine if
there were any demographic changes and diseases during that period.
According to Hurriyet, after these documents are submitted to the court, the
two sides would present their respective cases and then wait for the court’s
judgment.
The Turkish government, according to this article, believes that the
Armenians "will be cornered" because they will be obliged to prove that in 1915 they
were subjected to genocide. "The Armenians have no documents in their handsto
prove this, whereas there are, in Turkey’s hands, very strong documents
demonstrating that the deportation was justified by legitimate self-defense,"
Hurriyet said.
If this report is accurate, it is simply amazing that the Turkish government
would approach such a serious matter so childishly. To begin with, Turkey
assumes that Armenia would fall for such an obvious ploy. Are Turkish leaders
foolish enough to believe that the Armenian government would accept going to court
in order to prove the genocide? The only reason Armenians would want to go to
court is to demand reparations and the return of the Armenian territories
currently occupied by the Republic of Turkey.
The key issue here is whether Turkey would agree, before the start of the
arbitration, to comply with the eventual decision of the arbitrators and return
all looted assets and occupied territories to Armenians, should the court so
decide. Unless Turkish officials accept this condition, their bluff would be
called long before they can brag about "cornering the Armenians."
I don’t believe the Turks are serious about taking the Armenians to court
over the genocide issue. This Turkish threat is just a public relations ploy in
order to tell the world that they were ready to go to court, but Armenians
refused to do so.
We already have one recent example of Turkey talking tough first and then
quietly eating its words. Several months ago, the Turkish Foreign Minister
pledged to take the issue of the Armenian Genocide to the United Nations. Shortly
after making that statement, the Foreign Minister declared that Turkey would not
go to the U.N., as he was afraid that the Armenian side would win in what he
called a "highly-politicized body."
I will not be surprised if the Turks very shortly also withdraw from this
foolhardy notion, lest they lose not just a court case, but also a large chunk of
territory!

************************************************* ********************************
2 – Kentikian and Alvarez to Meet
In World Title Fight on Feb. 16
By Torben L. of Denmark
CHICAGO – Last week, PRO7 released the news of a new boxing show
"ProSieben Fight Nights" in co-operation with Spotlight Boxing. The launchof the new
show will take place on Feb. 16 at 8.15 pm CET, where one of the main events
will be a fight for the WBA Flyweight Title between Susi Kentikian (14-0-0)
and Carolina Alvarez (8-0-1) of Venezuela.
The show will also include a WBO Intercontinental Middleweight fight between
Spotlight’s Sebastian Zbik vs. Alfonso Mosquera of Panama.
According to the press release, the four young German talents Kentikian,
Zbik, Köber and Tajbert will be the new "boxing" faces of ProSieben with three
shows planned from February to May so far.
The opportunity to appear live on prime time nationwide TV in a World Title
Fight, is no doubt a tremendous encouragement – and well deserved – for young
Kentikian. So far she has been overshadowed by Halmich, Menzer, Graf and Sahin
as far as TV exposure is concerned. Her TVappearances have been limited to a
couple of undercard fights on the German DSF sport channel and a
Intercontinental title fight against Maya Frenzel shown on EUROSPORT.
Despite the lack of TV exposure, the young Armenian has proved her huge
popularity among the German boxing fans recently. She caused an upset, whenshe
overtook both Ina Menzer and Alesia Graf in the 2006 Female Boxer of the Year
poll run by the only German hardcopy boxing magazine "BOXSPORT," and came second
only to Regina Halmich, who won the award for the 5th year running.
A current internet poll on the ZDF website shows a similar picture to the
question "Who will be the successor to Regina Halmich?"
Kentikian leads this poll in a "neck-to-neck" contest with Ina Menzer.
************************************************** ***********************
3 – Univ. of Judaism Presents
Armenian/Jewish Concert
BEL AIR, Calif. — The University of Judaism presents an evening of chamber
and choral music commemorating the Armenian Genocide and the Jewish Holocaust.
The concert will be held at the Gindi Auditorium of the University of Judaism
in Bel Air, on April 16, at 8 p.m.
Members of the Lark Society¢s Dilijan Chamber Players and The Center for
Jewish Culture and Creativity¢s Synergy Ensemble will combine to perform music
inspired by the 20th C. tragedies of these two communities. Also participating
will be a girls¢ chorus from the Lark¢s outstanding choral training program and
the Chamber Singers from Hamilton High School¢s acclaimed Academy of Music.
Music by the Armenian composers Komitas and Tigran Mansurian and the Jewish
composers Shulamit Ran (Israel/U.S.), Tsippi Fleischer (Israel), Charles
Davidson (U.S.) and Gideon Klein (Terezin Concentration Camp, d. 1944) willbe heard.
Among the contributors to the concert are: Leonard Nimoy, the Sigi Ziering
Institute, the Edmund D. Edelman Foundation for Music and the Performing Arts,
and Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.
The University of Judaism is located at 15600 Mulholland Dr., at the
intersection of the 405 Fwy. and Mulholland/Skirball Center Dr. in Bel Air.
For further information, contact: Neal Brostoff, (818) 716-6211; Dean Sam
Edelman (CAS), (310) 476-9777.
************************************************** ************************
4 – Kirazian’s New Armenian Sacred
Music Premieres in San Diego County
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – A new composition of Armenian sacred church music – the
Badarak or Divine Liturgy of the Armenian Apostolic Church – has been written
by San Diego-based composer George Kirazian and premiered by the choral group
Pacific Camerata in San Diego County last month.
In his 12-year labor of love, Kirazian composed his Badarak after years of
musical and liturgical study and church-going, and during his long service in
the choir of St. John Garabed Armenian Church in San Diego. He became
intimately familiar with the Yegmalian and Gomitas-composed Badaraks while singing in
the choir. With love and respect for those versions, he was inspired to
compose a new version of the music, combining both modern sensibilities and
traditional harmonies while retaining the original text. A few of his Sharagans
(hymns) have been performed at St. John Garabed Armenian Church in San Diego. Many
of the Sharagans are dedicated in name to those who served alongside him at
the church and to cherished family members.
A published author and English professor at Grossmont College for nearly 40
years, Kirazian has always dedicated himself to music since studying opera and
literature at New York University as a young student. Kirazian’s music and
spiritual journey in composing this new Badarak were featured previously inthe
publication Hope for the Family, where Kirazian was interviewed by the editor,
Rev. Fr. Stepanos Dingilian.
Selected Sharagans from Kirazian’s Badarak were recently performed by the
professional choral group, Pacific Camerata, at their "Sacred Spaces in Music"
concert, in two locations: St. Rafael Catholic Church in Rancho Bernardo onJan.
7 and the historical Church of St. Philip the Apostle in Lemon Grove on Jan.
12.
Both concerts were attended by an audience of hundreds – non-Armenian and
Armenian listeners alike – who were deeply moved and gave the composition along
period of applause, a standing ovation, and warm comments of support
afterwards. The music, melodically rich, with Armenian/Oriental Orthodox as well as
Western nuances, appealed to listeners of many religious and cultural
backgrounds.
One of San Diego’s premier choral ensembles, Pacific Camerata has been
performing a wide variety of Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music in churches and
halls throughout San Diego since 1994. They also performed selections from
the Badarak at the San Diego Museum of Art as part of their annual appearance at
the December Nights Holiday Festival in Balboa Park.
The Pacific Camerata, led by Dan Ratelle, will also be recording a CD of the
Badarak in-studio next month.
For more information, visit , or for performance
inquiries, email [email protected]
********’***************************************** ************************
5 – Fifth Annual Graduate Student Colloquium
In Armenian Studies at UCLA on Feb. 2
LOS ANGELES – The UCLA Armenian Graduate Students Association will host the
Fifth Annual Graduate Student Colloquium in Armenian Studies at UCLA on Feb,
2. This day-long academic event will begin at 10 AM, and will be held in Royce
Hall, room 314.
This year the organizing committee has set out to continue the fine tradition
that began in 2003 with the launching of the first-ever international
colloquium in Armenian Studies. UCLA is hosting this event to further foster the
development of Armenian Studies, facilitate interaction between graduate students
and faculty from various institutions, provide a medium for the exchange of
ideas, and contribute to the professional and academic advancement of graduate
students.
Guests will present papers from a variety of fields, including history,
communications, linguistics, literature, and cultural studies. Topics to be
presented are grouped within the following sessions: Sociopolitical Issues Relating
to the Armenian Republic, Armenian Thought and Culture through the Ages, and
Language and Literature. Presenters are graduate students coming from American
and international institutions, such as UCLA, UCSB, the University of Chicago,
and institutions in Armenia, France, Hungary, and Israel.
This year the organizing committee was led by Shushan Karapetian, a graduate
student in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. She was
aided by a number of graduate students from the AGSA, as well as faculty advisor
Dr. Peter Cowe. Graduate students from many disciplines were responsible for
the individual aspects of developing the event.
Armenian Studies at UCLA began in 1960. The discipline was augmented in 1962
with the appointment to the Department of History of Dr. Richard G.
Hovannisian, current holder of the Armenian Educational Foundation Chair inModern
Armenian History. In 1965, the fields of Armenian language and literature were
established with the arrival of Dr. Avedis K. Sanjian, who expanded these fields
over the next three decades. The Narekatsi Chair was founded in 1969 through
the efforts of National Association for Armenian Studies and Research. The first
chair-holder was Dr. Sanjian and in the year 2000 Dr. Peter Cowe was
appointed as successor. Dr. Anahid Keshishian is the program’s lecturer of Eastern
Armenian, and Dr. Hagop Kouloujian in Western Armenian. In 1998, Armenian Studies
was officially recognized as an undergraduate minor and currently proposals
are underway to institute a major in the field.
The Graduate Student Colloquium in Armenian Studies is yet another step in
the development of the rich tradition of Armenian Studies at UCLA. Organized by
graduate students, for graduate students, it provides an opportunity for
students to actively and significantly contribute to the academic environment on
campus.
The colloquium is made possible, in part, by the financial contributions ofa
number of departments, programs, and centers at UCLA, including the
departments of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, History, Comparative Literature,
Slavic Languages and Literatures, Art History, the Indo-European
Inter-Departmental Program, the Center of European and Eurasian Studies, the Center for Near
Eastern Studies, the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, the Center
for Religious Studies, the Graduate Division of UCLA, the friends of Armenian
Studies at UCLA, and the Campus Programming Committee.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
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6 – Armenians Prepare to Honor
Amb. Evans at Beverly Hilton
LOS ANGELES – In anticipation of the March 4 Gala Banquet to honor Ambassador
John Marshall Evans, the leadership and staff of the USC Institute of
Armenian Studies is hard at work to make this event truly memorable-a fitting tribute
to a morally and professionally exemplary public servant.
The Institute’s Gala Banquet will be held on March 4, starting at 5:30 p.m.
at the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel, 9876 Wilshire Blvd.
Saluting a person of Ambassador Evans’ moral caliber takes on special meaning
in these days of sorrow as Armenians and all people of goodwill mourn the
violent demise of Hrant Dink in Istanbul. The courage of Ambassador Evans to
speak truth to power in describing the 1915 genocidal cataclysm that befellthe
Armenian people has made him an icon of ethical integrity in today’s world of
doubletalk and moral relativism. On March 4, the Armenian community of Southern
California will come together to express to the Ambassador the heartfelt
gratitude of a people whose experiences of genocide are frequently distorted and
denied.
The 2nd Annual Banquet of the USC Institute of Armenian Studies will be an
occasion of both solemnity and celebration. In recognition of Ambassador John
Evans’ exemplary service to the United States of America and the Armenian
people, a distinguished coterie of nationally prominent individuals has agreed to
serve as honorary chairs of the Gala Banquet.
his group includes: Provost Max Nikias, Dean Peter Starr, Hon. Alice Hill,
Dr. Mihran Agbabian, Dr. Joseph Aoun, Mr. John Bedrosian, Esq., Mr. Gerard L.
Cafesjian, Gov. George Deukmejian, Amb. Edward Djerejian, Sen. Bob Dole, Mr.
Mark Geragos, Esq., Dr. Vartan Gregorian, Dr. J. Michael Hagopian, Mr. Kevork
Hovnanian, Hon. Paul Ignatius, Mr. Vahe Karapetian, Mr. Charlie Keyan, Mr. John
King, Mr. Richard Manoogian, Mr. Paul Orfalea, Mr. Edward Roski, Jr., Ms.
Louise M. Simone, Mr. Joseph Stein, Hon. Dickran Tevrizian, Mr. Jerry Turpanjian,
Mr. Ron Tutor, and Mr. Alex Yemendjian.
For information on sponsorships and reservations, call Savey Tufenkian at
(818) 956-8455, Elizabeth Agbabian (310) 476-5306, Aline Patatian (818) 262-2626,
Hermine Janoyan (818) 388-5918, or the Institute of Armenian Studies (213) at
821-3943.
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ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Jan 26 2007

ARMENIA’S BUDGET REVENUES AMD 220.7BLN IN 2006

YEREVAN, January 26. /ARKA/. The RA Taxation Service collected a
total of AMD 220.683bln taxes instead of the planned AMD 220.417bln,
Chief of the RA Taxation Service Felix Tsolakyan said, presenting the
2006 report.
He said that tax revenues actually increased by AMD 47bln compared to
2005.
Tsolakyan stressed that a steady increase in tax revenues have been
recorded in Armenia over the last few years.
He also pointed pout positive changes in the structure of taxes,
particular increase in the share of direct taxes (income and profit
taxes), which was ensured due to the economic growth and improved
administration, as well as taxation of the former shadow sector.
Tsolakyan stressed that the RA taxation Service focused its attention
on construction, mining industry, gas and public catering. P.T. -0–