Author: Jilavian Emma

PRESS RELEASE
Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
138 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
Tel: 212-689-7810
Fax: 212-689-7168
e-mail: [email protected]
Website:
Contact: Iris Papazian

CROSSROADS E-NEWSLETTER – March 10, 2005

DELEGATIONS OF CATHOLICATE OF ALL ARMENIANS
AND CATHOLICATE OF CILICIA ISSUE COMMON DECLARATION
A meeting of delegations from the Catholicate of All Armenians and the
Catholicate of Cilicia took place in Holy Etchmiadzin on March 4 and 5. The
meeting was held under the patronage of His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos
of All Armenians, and His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia, with the
aim of further developing the mission of the Armenian Church and to further
strengthen internal unity. The main purpose of the meeting was to prepare an
outline for discussions around the theme, “The Imperative of Renewal for the
Armenian Church.”
Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Bishop Michael Atchabahian, Mr. Rafayel
Babaian, Mr. James Kaloustian represented the Catholicate of All Armenians.
Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, Bishop Nareg Alemezian, Mr. Yervant Pamboukian
and Mr. Arsen Tanielian represented the Catholicate of Cilicia.
On Friday, March 4, His Holiness Karekin II met with the two delegations
and clarified his expectations as well as those of His Holiness Aram I.
The representatives prepared an outline containing nine main
points, as follows:
1. The canonical status of the Armenian Church: Ecclesiological,
administrative and canonical definition.
2. Christian and Armenian education: Mission and protection of
spiritual and cultural values.
3. Liturgical Life.
4. Formation of clergy and revitalization of monastic life.
5. Inter-church and inter-faith relations.
6. Attitudes towards modern social and moral issues.
7. Church-State and Church-Society relations.
8. The Church and the pursuit of the rights of the Armenian people.
9. Use of modern technology.
Each of these main points was divided into sub-categories and general
discussion were held around each, as an initial analyses and future adoption
of relevant approaches.

PLANS FOR COMMEMORATION OF THE 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CONTINUE IN NEW YORK
New York City will be the site of the joint united commemoration of the
90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The committee and sub-committees
of leading Armenian organizations are meeting weekly to plan commemorative
events at Times Square and St. Patricks Cathedral on Sunday, April 24. For
up-to-date information make regular visits to:

For inquiries send an e-mail to [email protected].

CATHOLICATE OF CILICIA PARTICIPATES
IN WCC ECUMENICAL OFFICERS MEETING
A meeting of the ecumenical officers of the World Council of Churches
took place in the council headquarters in Geneva in February. Bishop Nareg
Alemezian, Ecumenical Officer of the Catholicate of Cilicia participated in
the meeting and was elected as a member of the executive committee. Rev.
Hovagim Manougian represented the Holy See of Etchmiadzin.
Fifty religious and secular representatives from various churches in the
Middle East, Europe, Latin America, North America, Africa and Asia
participated in the meeting. The participants discussed issues concerning
the Ecumenical Movement on local, regional and international levels.

ST. GREGORY CHURCH MEMBERSHIP
APPROVES BUILDING EXPANSION
St. Gregory the Illuminator Church in Philadelphia, approved a motion
adopting the recommendation of the Building Committee, for expansion of
their facilities, during its recent General Membership meeting. The
expansion will provide the church with two new classrooms, a multipurpose
room, additional storage space, and renovations to Terhanian Hall. The
motion approved the start of a fundraising campaign for the addition and
renovation which are estimated to cost $1.4 million.

PRELACY LENTEN BIBLE STUDIES CONTINUE
Last evening the study of the Passion narratives continued under the
leadership of Dn. Shant Kazanjian, Director of the Armenian Religious
Education Council (AREC). Last night the Bible study focused on the Burial.
The final session of the series will take place next Wednesday, March 16
with the Resurrection as the focal point.
The Bible study takes place at St. Illuminators Cathedral, 221 E. 27th
Street, New York City, with a Lenten service at 7:30, Bible study at 8 pm,
and fellowship at 8:45. Co-sponsored by AREC and the Prelacy Ladies Guild, a
faithful group of attendees have followed the six-week program that began
with the prediction and interpretation and the events leading to the
Resurrection.
All are welcome to attend. Whether or not you have attended the previous
evenings, you will gather much from the final lecture next week.

LENTEN PROGRAM IN PHILADELPHIA
All of our parishes have lectures and/or Bible studies during Lent. Our
correspondent from Philly, Jeanette Nazarian, sent us the following:
In keeping with the tradition he initiated a few years ago, Der Nerses
Manoogian, pastor of St. Gregory the Illuminator Church conducted the weekly
Lenten lecture series again this year. Following a meditative Vesper service
that encourages the active participation of the congregation, the faithful,
after being fed spiritually, gather in Terhanian Hall to feed their minds
through the teachings of Der Hayr, and their stomachs through the generous
donation of Lenten meals by the church family.
The theme this year is the Armenian Church Canon. After a general
introduction, Der Hayr presents canons each week pertaining to the sacrament
of baptism, issues of marriage and divorce, sexual morality, the theological
foundation of orthodox Christian ethics, social and moral issues, as well as
religious and ritual practices of our faith.

PARISH ANNUAL MEETINGS
This Sunday St. Stephen Church, New Britain, Connecticut, will convene
its annual general membership meeting:

LAMENTATION & LIBERATION CONCERT
This information came to our attention recently about a concert, which
will take place Tuesday, March 29, at St. Peters Lutheran Church at Citicorp
Center, Lexington Ave. at 54th Street, New York City, at 8 pm. This is part
of a series under the title Lamentation & Liberation.
The program includes the world premiere of a work by Jakoulov entitled
Narek from the Book of Sorrowful Songs by Gregor Narekatsi. There are
several Armenians on the program including Tatyana Vartapetyan-Margulis,
cello; Aram Tchobanian, tenor; Vagharshak Ohanyan, baritone; Rubik
Vartanyan, duduk/zurna. Besides the Nareg piece the program includes works
by Bach, Beethoven, Kohn, Grunfeld, Ledec, Domazlicky.
For information: 212-239-5906.

ARA BERBERIAN, 74
We note with sadness the passing of Ara Berberian, whose beautiful bass
voice enriched the Metropolitan Opera for more than 20 years, in over 300
performances. Mr. Berberian died on February 21 at his home in Boynton
Beach, Florida. He was 74 years old.
Mr. Berberian shared his great talent generously with the Armenian
American community. He participated in a number of concerts and
commemorations sponsored by the Prelacy during the past 30 years. He is
survived by his wife, Ginny, and children Harry Artin, Ara Jon, and Suzanne.

SUNDAY OF THE ADVENT
This Sunday, March 13, the sixth Sunday of Lent, is Sunday of the Advent
(Galstyan Kiraki). We are now more than half way through Lent and Holy Week
is approaching. On Advent Sunday we are asked to ponder on the mystery of
the First Coming of Christ and especially His Second Coming, which is
mentioned in the prayers on this Sunday. Christ came to this world for the
salvation of mankind. He will come again for the judgment of sinners, and
when the righteous will become worthy of entering the Kingdom of God.
Advent Sunday has its own special hymn, which proclaims that the
apostles knew the mystery of the advent of Christ. The story of the
expulsion from paradise is repeated and an appeal is made to Christ to ask
the Heavenly Father to establish peace on earth.

ST. GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR COMMITMENT TO THE PIT
This Saturday, March 12, the Armenian Church commemorates one of three
days in the Armenian liturgical calendar in memory of St. Gregory the
Illuminator, the founder of the Armenian Church and considered to be the
greatest figure of the Armenian Church.
The three remembrances of St. Gregory are: Entrance into the Pit;
Emergence from the Pit, and Discovery of his remains. This Saturday is the
commemoration of his entrance into the pit.
Gregory stood fast to his faith and refused to renounce Christ. He
endured many tortures and his final punishment was banishment into a deep
pit (Khor Virap) where he remained for a period of 13 or more years.
Miraculously he survived the ordeal, thanks in large part to a woman (whose
identity is not known) who secretly lowered food into the pit.

PILGRIMAGE DAY IN ANTELIAS, LEBANON
Consecrated relics of St. Gregory are kept in Holy Etchmiadzin and the
Catholicate of Cilicia in Antelias, Lebanon. This Saturday is the major day
of pilgrimage at the Holy See of Cilicia. Thousands of pilgrims come to the
Cathedral of St. Gregory the Illuminator to have an opportunity to see the
sacred relic of the saint. It is brought out each year on the occasion of
the entrance into the pit. The golden arm, which contains the relics, is
also used every seven years during the consecration of the Holy Chrism
(Muron).

KHOR VIRAB TODAY
Khor Virab Monastery today is a major destination for tourists and
pilgrims who visit Armenia. The church complex was built on the exact
location where St. Gregory was imprisoned. The pit is still preserved and it
is possible for visitors to climb down on the ladder leading into the pit.
There are 27 steep steps down (yes, we counted them!).
The church of St. Astvatsatsin dates to the 17th century. The area is
one of the most beautiful in Armenia, and those of us who have seen Ararat
from the vantage point of both Turkey and Armenia can attest to the
indisputable fact that the view of Ararat from the Monastery of Khor Virab
situated on a hill near the Arax River is the most spectacular. It is
breathtakingly beautiful and a true spiritual experience.

And there took place a council of many bishops in the city of Caesarea so
that they might ordain Saint Gregory; and they handed on to him the honor of
the humility of Christ’s priesthood, and the highness of the episcopacy of
God’s glory-great honor and glory. Holding the holy gospel the assembled
bishops, of whom the chief was Leontius, placed their hands on him that he
might receive authority in heaven and on earth to receive the keys of the
kingdom of heaven, to bind and loose on earth.
Description of the ordination of Gregory to the episcopacy, as recorded by
Agathangelos

Visit our website at

Ukraine, Iran discuss pipeline construction

UNIAN news agency
5 Mar 05

KIEV

The deputy fuel and energy minister of Ukraine, Serhiy Titenko, and
the deputy minister for international affairs of the Oil Ministry of
the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mohhammad Hadi Hezhad-Hoseyniyan,
discussed the prospects of cooperation in the field of oil and gas at
the third meeting of the joint Ukrainian-Iranian energy committee in
Kiev on 4 March, UNIAN learnt from the press service of the Fuel and
Energy Ministry of Ukraine.

During the meeting the parties agreed to explore the possibility and
demand for a natural gas transportation project [from Iran] to Ukraine
and through Ukrainian territory to Europe.

The prospects for participation by Ukrainian companies in the
implementation of oil and gas projects on the territory of Iran were
also discussed at the meeting. The national joint-stock company
Naftohaz Ukrayiny [state oil and gas company] informed its
counterparts about the decision to open its mission in Iran. Following
the meeting, the parties signed a protocol on facilitating the work of
companies belonging to both states in their countries.

UNIAN reported earlier that on 24 February 2005 Ukrainian President
Viktor Yushchenko and the special envoy of the Iranian president on
the issues of the Caspian Sea and the CIS countries, Mahdi Safari,
discussed the construction of a pipeline from Iran through Ukrainian
territory to Europe. The pipeline would begin in Iran and pass through
the territory of Armenia, Georgia, Russia and Ukraine. A section [from
Iran] to Armenia should be built by the end of 2006.

[Passage omitted: Ukraine’s annual gas needs.]

US report says Jehovah’s Witnesses in Armenian jails

Arminfo
1 Mar 05

YEREVAN

Ten members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses sect, who had refused to serve
in the army before the law “On alternative service” came into force
are still imprisoned in Armenia, the US Department of State said in
its annual report on human rights published today.

Three members of the sect had been held in preliminary custody by that
moment, while 17 “Witnesses” had been released and kept under house
arrest after serving a third of their prison terms, the source said.

The law “On alternative service” came into force on 1 June 2004. Under
the law the young people whose faith and religious beliefs go against
compulsory military service are exempt from serving in military units.

ANCA URGES WHITE HOUSE TO PUT END OT TURKEY’S SHAMEFUL DENIAL OF
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 25. ARMINFO. Armenian National Committee of America
has urged the Georgia Bush administration to be decisive in putting an
end to Turkey’s shameful policy of denial of the Armenian Genocide,
ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikyan said in a meeting with US Ambassador to
Armenia John Evans.

ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparyan says that being in the US at
present Evans is well informed of his country’s national policy on
Armenia and the region. He says that ANCA appreciates Evans’
statements on the Armenian Genocide and considers the fact that this
position reflects the new level of the White Houses’ and whole
American people’s understanding of the problem.

Zaman, Turkey
Feb 25 2005

Turkish-American Partnership for Eurasia
By Foreign News Services

Turkey and the US have made an agreement to form a permanent
“consulting forum” on Russia, Caucasus and Central Asia in the frame
of dual “strategic partnership”.

The Turkish ministry of Foreign Affairs deputy General Director for
Russia, Central Asian and Caucasian countries Halil Akinci met with
Ambassador Laura E. Kennedy, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
for European and Eurasian Affairs. The situation of Georgia, the
developments in Russia and Caucasian countries, Upper Karabagh and
the relations with Armenia and energy issues were discussed in the
meeting. Akinci’s meetings were announced as “US-Turkey Strategic
Dialogue” by the US State Department and it is noted that Akinci and
Kennedy talked about Eurasian issues. The statement reads that to
establish a forum for more cooperation on common interests, solutions
to disagreements, energy, and reforms has been agreed on. Their next
meeting will be held in Turkey.

Changes to OSCE “required and necessary” – Slovene chairman

STA news agency, Ljubljana
24 Feb 05

Vienna, 24 February: Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, the OSCE
chairman-in-office, on Thursday [24 February] addressed the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly to present the organisation’s current plans and
activities.

“These are interesting and dynamic times in the OSCE. Changes are
required and necessary,” he stressed.

According to Rupel, “the OSCE is facing a difficult moment or an
opportunity, depending on how you look at it. Significant changes in
Europe, with EU and NATO enlargement and new challenges to security,
have changed the way that we look at security in Europe and, as a
result, the role of the OSCE”.

The panel of eminent persons, which is expected to unveil proposals
for OSCE reform at the summer session of the parliamentary assembly,
will present its vision for a new impetuous for political dialogue,
explained Rupel.

“The panel met for the first time in Ljubljana last week and has
already begun to consider some fundamental issues. As the focal point
for the panel I have encouraged the seven members…[ellipsis as
published] to think outside the box and to consider root and branch
reforms for the OSCE,” he said.

According to Rupel, the panel was asked to consider the strategic
vision for the OSCE, how the organization can stimulate high-level
political dialogue, what participating states can do through the OSCE
that they can not do through other channels and the role of the OSCE
after EU and NATO enlargement.

The OSCE chairman also summarized his recent meetings with officials
in Ukraine, Russia, Serbia-Montenegro, Germany, Uzbekistan and
Kazakhstan, making special mention of the organisation’s active role
in determining a future status for Kosovo.

“Expectations are high among Kosovo Albanians about their political
future…[ellipsis as published] I impressed upon the Kosovo Albanian
leadership the importance of protecting the rights of non-Albanian
ethnic communities. At the same time I stressed to the Serb minority
the need to be involved in the political life of Kosovo,” he said.

The participants were also addressed by Austrian President Heinz
Fischer and President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Alcee
Hastings, while Rupel met with Armenian Parliament Speaker Artur
Baghdasarian on the sidelines of the meeting.

As church group blasts Israel, Jews should reach out to Christians

Jewish Telegraphic Agency
February 23, 2005

By Dexter Van Zile

BOSTON, Feb. 23 (JTA) – Jews in the United States have every reason to
express shock over the World Council of Churches’ decision to encourage
members to follow the lead of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in divesting
from Israel.

The dominoes are falling against Israel. First, U.S. colleges embraced
the cause of divestment, next the Anglican Church announced that it was
studying the issue, then the Presbyterian Church (USA) adopted the
policy – and now the World Council of Churches on Monday encouraged
denominations to do the same.

It looks bad, but Jews need to understand that lay members of Christian
churches remain firm in their support for the Jewish state. Jews need to
reach out to Protestants in the pews of the churches that fund the WCC,
telling them that the council isn’t worthy of their support and that
it’s time to start a divestment campaign of their own – against the WCC.

Jews might be surprised at the response they get. U.S. Christians
stopped listening to the WCC long ago. Many still have not forgiven the
WCC for giving $85,000 to the Patriotic Front of Zimbabwe in 1978,
months after the group shot down an airliner, killing 38 of the 56
passengers on board. Terrorists killed 10 survivors.

American Christians know the WCC has a history of supporting violent
`liberation’ movements in Central America, Africa and East Asia.

They know the WCC ignored the plight of dissidents behind the Iron
Curtain and `built bridges’ with killers and tyrants, just as leaders
from the Presbyterian Church (USA) recently extended offers of
friendship to Hezbollah, a group that killed 241 U.S. Marines in 1983.

The reaction of Presbyterian lay members was so strong that two church
employees were fired for meeting with Hezbollah, demonstrating where the
denomination’s true power and conscience rest – in the pews, not in the
minds of the movement’s theologians.

American Protestants know the WCC turns a blind eye to the violence
perpetrated by the Muslim regime in Sudan, instead focusing its
criticism on Israel. They know this without having to read the study by
the Institute on Religion and Democracy that reports that between 2000
and 2003, the WCC issued 36 human-rights complaints against Israel and
two about Sudan, where close to 2 million black Africans, many of them
Christian, were killed and tens of thousands were enslaved in a
self-declared jihad waged by the Islamist regime in Khartoum.

They know the WCC is foolish to praise the leaders of the Presbyterian
Church (USA) for embracing divestment, even after the denomination
released a survey showing that 42 percent of the church’s members oppose
the decision and only 28 percent support it.

Knowing all this, lay Protestants in the United States long have
regarded the WCC as irrelevant.

But it’s a mixed blessing. Because they have grown used to ignoring WCC
pronouncements, Protestants do not understand the lethality of the
organization’s one-sided condemnations of Israel. They do not understand
that the WCC’s soft-pedaling of terrorism against Israel only encourages
more terrorism against Jews.

Because U.S. Christians spend more time listening to the pastors in
their pulpits than to their denominational leaders, they don’t know that
some of their theologians harbor ill will toward Israel and an obsession
with the Jewish state’s alleged misdeeds that borders on the pathological.

Because U.S. Christians always have enjoyed religious freedom in
America, they do not understand the oppression suffered by Christians in
the Middle East and the threat faced by Jews in Israel.

Once U.S. Christians understand these things – and groups like ours are
making a full-court press to educate them – they will know which
organizations are the true, legitimate targets of divestment.

They just have to be told. Their own leaders will not tell them, so
their Jewish friends and neighbors – and their Christian allies – will
have to step into the breach for the sake of Israel, the United States
and all of our children.

Dexter Van Zile is a member of the Judeo-Christian Alliance, an
initiative of the David Project that promotes a fair and honest
discussion of the Middle East conflict in Protestant churches. He also
is a member of the United Church of Christ, which will consider
divestment at its General Synod in July.

New York Times
Feb 23 2005

In Quest of the Perfect Roast Chicken

By JULIA MOSKIN

ROAST chicken used to be a rare treat at American dinner tables, a
ceremonial meal fit to honor a visiting preacher or a patriarch’s
birthday. Today we are eating far more chicken but cooking it less
and less.

American consumption of chicken overall has more than doubled since
1970, according to the Agriculture Department, and supermarket
rotisserie chickens make up a substantial part of that increase. The
Grocery Manufacturers of America, an industry research group, says
that Americans now spend more than $2.5 billion on supermarket
rotisserie chickens every year. The Costco chain, which sold no roast
chickens a decade ago, sold 22 million in 2004 alone.

“I consider the perfect roast chicken my own Holy Grail,” said Ly
Phan, a Vietnamese-American living in Brentwood, Calif. But, she
said: “I don’t want to learn to make it. I just want to be able to
buy it.”

A reliable place to buy a good roast chicken has become an important
quality-of-life matter for those too busy to cook. “I buy a chicken
here every Sunday, and I eat it all week,” Paul Griscom said at the
Whole Foods Market at Columbus Circle. “I used to live close to
Fairway, and I was nervous about moving away from those chickens. But
the ones here are even better.” At Whole Foods and elsewhere, the
price of a whole roasted organic chicken is almost the same as a raw
one.

Roasting a chicken at home may become a domestic throwback, like
darning socks or putting up peaches.

Mr. Griscom said that he doesn’t know how to roast a chicken. “I
know, it’s supposed to be so easy,” he said. “But how would I know
when it was done?”

In New York City buying a great rotisserie chicken means choosing
your quest. You can find a great chicken: organic, free-range,
antibiotic-free, minimally seasoned and expertly roasted, with a
rounded chickeny flavor. Or you can find a great recipe, an explosive
convergence of lime and lemon juice, soy sauce, garlic, cumin, apple
cider vinegar, chili paste and countless other possibilities that
produce highly seasoned meat and skin. Chicken goes global in New
York: the city’s favorite birds are Peruvian and Dominican, kosher
and halal, Chinese and Tuscan and flavored with things like annatto
(the Puerto Rican-style ones at Casa Adela on the Lower East Side)
and yogurt (the Afghan birds at Kabul Cafe in Brooklyn).

Across the country a passion for roast chicken seems to transcend the
normally stubborn ethnic boundaries of American cuisine: chicken
chains have cult followings. Los Angelenos worship Zankou’s Armenian
chicken and its pungent garlic sauce; Brasa Roja’s chickens with
salsa verde are loved in Chicagoland; and in Dallas, Cowboy Chicken
is famous for Tex-Mex enchiladas stuffed with leftover meat from its
hickory wood-roasted chickens.

Allegiances can be fierce. Williams Bar-B-Cue, a legendary chicken
joint on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, closed last month, and
locals took it like a death in the family; it had been roasting
chickens at the same spot since 1952. The tangy crisp skin and
pleasingly greasy meat of the Williams chicken and its pseudobarbecue
flavor were addicting. “The smell of Williams is a neighborhood
institution and should be preserved at the Smithsonian,” declared
Adam Peretz, mourning outside the store last week.

New York’s new chicken capital is Jackson Heights, Queens, where
Mario’s Colombian chickens duke it out with the Peruvian ones at La
Casa del Pollo and Pollo Don Alex. Raul Rojas, the owner of Super
Pollo on Northern Boulevard, said that Peruvians are the acknowledged
masters of pollo brasado. “We are the only ones who use soy sauce,
because we have the Japanese population,” he said. “Soy and garlic
make the best chicken.”

Colombian cooks often add a little vinegar to the marinade for roast
chicken, he added.

The birds of New York’s army of Latin American cooks, often marinated
in citrus, are juicy and savory. Mario’s (Colombian), Los Pollitos
(Mexican-Ecuadoran) and El Malecon (Dominican) compete by adding
complex rubs and darkly lacquered skin. Most of the Latin American
chickens have fabulous skin, but the breasts tend to be dry.

(Chinese-style roast chickens, which are mildly flavored with star
anise and soy, have the tenderest meat. They are steamed before
roasting.)

Gilbert Arteta, who grew up near Medellín, Colombia, said the smell
of chicken roasting over a wood fire makes him homesick. “It’s only
the chicken that does that to me,” he said. Mr. Arteta lives near a
Chicken Out in Gaithersburg, Md., and said he loves the smell,
although the chicken itself does not do much for him. “It’s not like
the chicken I grew up with,” he added.

Chicken Out, a 26-unit chain in the Washington suburbs, makes a
pleasant chicken that tastes like chicken, not like rosemary or
roasted garlic or cumin. The restaurants use only chickens that are
antibiotic-free and fed on organic grain and, most radically, they
must be sold immediately from the rotisserie. After an hour they are
recycled into chicken salad or chicken pot pie.

Recycling leftover roast chicken has become an American culinary
subspecialty.

“We go through three or four chickens a week,” Marisol Castellano
said, pushing a full cart through the Hackensack, N.J., Costco last
weekend with four children in tow. “I buy eight chickens at a time,
and then I put them in pasta and sandwiches, sometimes empanadas or
quesadillas or chilaquiles.”

Three cookbooks on “cooking” with rotisserie chicken have been
published since 2003, and recipes for chicken salad have become an
art form on Internet recipe sites.

If you are buying rotisserie chickens with an eye to leftovers, it is
a good idea to look for birds with as little seasoning as possible,
no twiggy herb crusts or maple glazes to assert their flavors in
another recipe.

Places with high turnover have the moistest chicken: once cooked, it
dries out quickly. Bigger birds are less likely to be overcooked. And
if crisp skin is your goal, unwrap the chicken as soon as you can.
Even a few minutes in an airtight container can be enough to steam
the skin soft.

22 February 2005
U.S., EU Cooperate on Reform in Eurasia
State Dept. fact sheet issued in connection with Bush trip to Europe
The following fact sheet was issued by the State Department’s Bureau of
European and Eurasian Affairs in connection with President Bush’s February
21-24 trip to Europe:
Fact Sheet
U.S. Department of State
Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs
Washington, DC
February 17, 2005
U.S.-EU COOPERATION ON REFORM IN EURASIA
The United States and the European Union (EU) share a common goal of
promoting successful transitions to democracy and market-based economies in
Eurasia. We share a common goal in combating threats to regional stability
and the transition process: crime and corruption; illicit narcotics; weapons
of mass destruction; and trafficking of persons. We coordinate our policy
messages and our assistance programs in order to maximize their impact.
Recent successful examples of U.S.-EU cooperation in promoting
democratization, free media, respect for human rights and key economic
reforms include:
* In Georgia, the U.S. and EU have worked closely together to support a
smooth transition for that country’s new leadership in the wake of the
“Revolution of the Roses.” We continue to work together to support the
aspirations of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia to further integrate into
the Euro-Atlantic family. The EU’s European Neighborhood Policy and NATO’s
Partnership for Peace promote the values we share in common with Europe, and
build deeper connections between the nations of the South Caucasus and the
more established democracies of the West;
* In Ukraine, we joined forces to promote free and fair local and
presidential elections in 2004, which contributed to the Ukrainian people’s
rejection of electoral fraud and to the historic repeat vote on December 26.
In Belarus, the EU and United States have coordinated at an unprecedented
level, including by conducting a joint diplomatic mission to Minsk in the
Spring of 2004 to send a clear and united message on democratization, and by
enacting travel restrictions on those officials implicated in election
malfeasance and human rights violations. In Moldova, we also coordinated
travel restrictions against the leadership of the Transnistrian separatists,
and are promoting a free and fair campaign and parliamentary election on
March 6;
* The U.S. and EU recognize the challenge to security and stability of the
South Caucasus and Black Sea regions posed by the unresolved conflicts in
the area of Eurasia. We support the territorial integrity of Moldova,
Georgia, and Azerbaijan and cooperate to facilitate international efforts to
achieve peaceful political settlements to the conflicts over Transnistria,
South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Nagorno-Karabakh;
* In Central Asia, the United States and European Union work together to
support democratic and economic transition, protection of human rights,
promoting good governance/rule of law, increased regional trade, and
humanitarian and human development. We also cooperate in the effort to
combat trade in opium and heroin from Afghanistan-a serious threat to peace
and stability and a growing public health concern in the region. The U.S.,
European Commission, and EU member states, working with the United Nations
agencies, closely coordinate our assistance programs to boost Central Asian
states’ capabilities to meet this threat. U.S. and EU assistance efforts
have provided much-needed training, equipment, physical infrastructure, and
more effective government institutions.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: )

NKR PARLIAMENT APPEALS TO PEOPLE IN CONNECTION WITH 17TH ANNIVERSARY
OF REVIVAL OF NAGORNY KARABAKH

STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 21. ARMINFO. On the occasion of the 17th
anniversary of the session of the Council of National Deputies of
Nagorny Karabakh Autonomous Region (Feb 20 1988) historical for
Karabakh, the NKR Parliament has appealed to the people.

According to ARMINFO’s special correspondent to Stepanakert, the
document, in particular, says that NKR National Assembly again
confirms the readiness of the people to construct an independence
democratic state on the basis of the right to self-determination; the
NKR authorities adhere to the peace settlement of Karabakh conflict
under the aegis of OSCE Minsk Group. The NKR NA again calls the
Azerbaijani authorities to refuse from useless policy of confrontation
and to exert efforts for establishment of peace and stability in the
region, creation of an atmosphere of trust and tolerance; it appeals
to the parliamentarians of all the states calling for contribution to
international recognition of NKR.

Talking to ARMINFO, Chairman of the given session Vigen Hayrapetyan
says that convening the extraordinary session of the Council of
National Deputies of NKAR on 20 February 1988 was a historical
necessity and any delay threatened with annihilation of
Armenians. Then, the special purpose subdivisions of Azerbaijan and
the Soviet Army were ready to carry out mass repressions in respect to
Nagorny Karabakh, he says. However, it was the decision of the
session, support of progressive political forces and the international
community that prevented mass violence against the local population.