Author: Kajoyan Gevork

Azerbaijan hails Karabakh talks

Interfax
Dec 8 2004

Baku. (Interfax-Azerbaijan) – The way negotiations on settling the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are being handled meets the interests of
Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev told a Cabinet session on Tuesday.

“Steps have been taken to put an end to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
that I think have had a positive effect on the negotiating process.
The ways the talks are proceeding meets our interests. The fair
position of Azerbaijan has started to enjoy broader support among
international organizations. As a result, positive trends at the
negotiations have increased,” Aliyev said.

“Azerbaijan, which suffered from the conflict, is waging a “Cold War,”
if I can put it this way. And I would like to say that we have been
successful. Our propaganda campaign in international organizations and
at the bilateral level has intensified. I am confident that all this
will allow us to meet our objectives. It means that international legal
norms should be applied, all occupation troops should be withdrawn
from our territories, and the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan
should be restored,” the president said.

“2004 has seen majors moves to enhance the army’s capabilities. Army
spending from the state budget will go up 30% next year. This
figure may later be increased by 50%, 100% or 200%, should it prove
necessary. Azerbaijan’s economic capabilities make this increase
possible, and Armenia, which occupied our territories, cannot compete
with us. Armenia’s budget totals $500 million today, while Azerbaijan
spends $250 million on its army,” Aliyev said.

Armenian ministers says Sofia talks on Karabakh fruitless

Yeni Musavat, Baku
7 Dec 04

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan has said that the meeting
with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov in Sofia on 6
December was fruitless since no specific decision was made. Oskanyan
also criticized the OSCE Karabakh mediators for making no proposals
at the meeting. For his part, the Azerbaijani minister said that
Yerevan should abide by international law rather than coming up with
ideas based on “realities achieved by force”. However, the Russian
co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Yuriy Merzlyakov, said that
the mediators were upbeat about the Sofia talks and promised that
the sides would make public their positions soon. The following is
an excerpt from Alakbar Raufoglu’s report by Azerbaijani newspaper
Yeni Musavat on 7 December headlined “Mammadyarov-Oskanyan dialogue
resumed” and subheaded “Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers
agreed in Sofia to continue ‘Prague process'”; subheadings have been
inserted editorially:

The Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers, Elmar Mammadyarov
and Vardan Oskanyan, met in Sofia yesterday [6 December].

[Passage omitted: reported details]

Another meeting planned

The Sofia meeting lasted for only about 25 minutes. The ministers
who first had one-to-one talks then continued the discussions with
the participation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen. No statement
was made for the media after the meeting.

A press release circulated by the press centre of the Azerbaijani
Foreign Ministry yesterday evening just reads that “the sides discussed
a number of issues related to the [Nagornyy Karabakh] settlement and
regarded as necessary to actively and effectively continue the talks
in the near future”.

They decided to hold another round within the format of the Prague
meeting on the sidelines of a Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council
session in Brussels on 9 December.

After the meeting, Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov delivered a
speech at the 12th session of the OSCE foreign ministers. He drew
attention to the fact that Armenia which has occupied Azerbaijani
territories is striving to build up its military aggression. It
is pursuing an active settlement policy in Nagornyy Karabakh and
around it and “this is a serious violation of international law and
specifically runs counter to the Geneva Convention of 1949”. Baku
backs a settlement that is in line with relevant UN Security Council
resolutions and OSCE documents.

“We are ready to normalize relations with Armenia. But Yerevan should
not come up with realities achieved by force and the ideology of
territorial claims, but abide by international law and democracy,”
the minister said.

Armenian minister says talks were fruitless

“The results of the Sofia meeting will help continue the Prague process
which has already assumed a long-term nature. We touched on specific
issues and exchanged views during the talks,” Vardan Oskanyan said
in an interview with Armenian journalists yesterday evening (Arka
news agency).

He said that they had decided to continue the dialogue “at the
level of the current realities” at the meeting with his Azerbaijani
counterpart. The sides think that “the Prague process creates hopes
for good results”.

The meeting mainly focused on the presidents’ positions on the
Prague talks.

“We have already received relevant instructions from the heads of
states and from now on will discuss those details,” Oskanyan said.

He said that he had got the Armenian president’s blessing and
instructions before he visited Sofia, however, this was fruitless.

“We conduct discussions and talks, but finally we cannot make a
specific decision,” the Armenian minister said.

The meeting also discussed the recent increase of tension on
the frontline and also UN discussions on the illegal settlement
of Armenians on the occupied territories in Karabakh. Azerbaijan
informed Yerevan of its position on the two issues. “We decided that
these issues should be approached seriously and their influence on
the negotiating process should be taken into consideration. I hope
an end will be put to these issues,” Oskanyan said.

OSCE mediators upbeat on Sofia talks

The co-chairmen made no proposals during the Sofia meeting.

“We did not see any proposal. The mediators again just arrived and
left,” Oskanyan said.

[Passage omitted: no specific news can be expected from the dialogue
in the near future, if the co-chairmen continue their efforts this way]

“The co-chairmen are upbeat about the Sofia discussions. The sides
will meet in the near future and will make public their positions,”
the Russian co-chairman of the Minsk Group, Yuriy Merzlyakov, said
in an interview with Ekspress.

Va a:

Agenzia Nazionale/Stampa Associata ANSA (Roma)
Palais des Nations/Salle de presse
Av. de la Paix 8-14
1211 Genève 10

All’attenzione
della redazione centrale di Roma
e delle redazioni periferiche

Gentili signore e signori,

Abbiamo letto con amarezza il dispaccio ANSA di ieri, 1° dicembre 2004,
concernente l’eventuale adesione della Turchia all’UE.
Abbiamo dovuto constatare – nonostante il 16 novembre 2000 la Camera dei
Deputati della Repubblica italiana abbia riconosciuto inequivocabilmente il
genocidio degli armeni (Allegato A Seduta n. 813 del 17/11/2000) – che,
all’atto di esprimere tra virgolette il genocidio degli Armeni occorso
all’inizio del XX secolo, l’ANSA adotta un atteggiamento fuorviante e
pericoloso, di esclusiva derivazione propagandistica propria alla politica
revisionista condotta, fin dalla propria nascita, dallo Stato turco.

Nel 1985 la Sottocommissione per le minoranze delle Nazioni Unite ha definito
col termine di genocidio l’olocausto degli Armeni, ai sensi della Convenzione
delle Nazioni Unite del 9 dicembre 1948 per la prevenzione e la repressione
del crimine di genocidio. Inoltre, la quasi totalità degli esperti
internazionali in materia concorda, senza la minima ombra di dubbio, sul
fatto che quanto subito dagli Armeni tra il 1915 e il 1923 è da qualificarsi
oggettivamente come genocidio.

Vi preghiamo quindi cortesemente di rettificare il vostro dispaccio del 1°
dicembre e di non più tollerare in seno alla vostra agenzia l’utilizzazione
di termini eufemistici o riduttivi, come l’uso di virgolette o corsivi, al
momento di citare il genocidio degli Armeni.
In questo modo si potrà rispettare interamente la vera essenza di questo
crimine, e si darà un contributo fondamentale alla lotta contro il
revisionismo.

Cordialmente

Sarkis Shahinian
Associazione Svizzera-Armenia
Co-presidente

ANSA Notiziario Generale in Italiano
Mercoledì, 1 Dicembre 2004
 
UE:TURCHIA, ANKARA DOVRA’ RISOLVERE ANCHE PROBLEMI MINORANZE ;
SI PRECISANO CONDIZIONI PER OTTENERE AVVIO NEGOZIATO
 
ANKARA
 
(ANSA) – ANKARA, 1 DIC – La Turchia, per ottenere la data di
avvio del negoziato di adesione con l’Ue, deve impegnarsi a
risolvere al piu’ presto possibile i problemi ancora aperti con
le sue minoranze etniche e religiose, come curdi, ortodossi ed
aleviti e a normalizzare le sue relazioni con l’Armenia. E’
quanto riportano oggi i quotidiani turchi Cumhuriyet e Milliyet
che fanno riferimento alla bozza di un documento, trapelato a
Bruxelles nei giorni scorsi, che contiene alcune linee guida per
i capi di stato e di governo che il 17 dicembre dovranno
decidere la data di avvio del negoziato con Ankara e le sue
condizioni.
 
   In particolare, per quanto riguarda la questione curda, l’Ue
sembra orientata a chiedere ad Ankara -secondo i due giornali-
“passi piu’ attivi”, e “negoziati con le organizzazioni
curde” al fine di mettere fine al conflitto. Secondo Cumhuriyet
l’Ue si spingerebbe fino a chiedere “un accordo di cessate il
fuoco con il Pkk” (una cosa che -secondo gli analisti-
difficilmente la Turchia potra’ mai accettare).
 
   Per quanto riguarda i cittadini turchi di religione ortodossa
(sono circa 2000), l’Ue chiede ad Ankara di riaprire la scuola
religiosa ortodossa di Hebeliada (un’isola vicino Istanbul)
chiusa da diversi anni e alla cui riapertura si oppongono gli
ambienti islamici ortodossi che hanno influenza sull’attuale
governo turco.
 
   Per gli aleviti, che si considerano una religione separata
dall’islam e che lo stato ed il governo turco continuano ad
assimilare ai musulmani, l’Ue intende chiedere un riconoscimento
della loro identita’ separata, in quanto “minoranza non
musulmana”, con le conseguenze che cio’ comporta.
 
   Quanto ai rapporti con l’Armenia, con cui la Turchia non ha
relazioni diplomatiche e contatti aerei solo 4 volte la
settimana, l’Ue chiede, come misura urgente, l’apertura di un
passaggio di confine ed un avvio di normalizzazione delle
relazioni avvelenate dal rifiuto di Ankara di riconoscere il
“genocidio” degli armeni del 1915 ad opera degli ottomani e
dalle conseguenze della guerra azero-armena del Nagorno
Karabakh, oggi sotto sovranita’ armena.
 
   (ANSA).

BAGRAT YESAYAN PRESENTS ACTIONS OF ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES DIRECTED AT
STRUGGLE AGAINST CORRUPTION TO ARMENIAN COMMUNITIES OF WESTERN NEW
YORK

November 30 (Noyan Tapan). On November 12-21, Adviser to RA President
Bagrat Yesayan visited the eastern states of the US at the invitation
of the Central Committee of Dashnaktsutyun of the US eastern region.
The purpose of the visit was to acquaint the Armenian communities of
the United States with the actions and measures undertaken by the
Armenian authorities for struggle against corruption, as well as the
tasks of the Diaspora in this context.

Bagrat Yesayan mentioned that Armenia has passed the certain way in
the formation of the legislative field. And all the prerequisites of
the free market for investments have already been established, and
even according to international organization, Armenia is considered as
a country with liberal economy. Bagrat Yesayan considers the step of
Armenia’s joining a number of international structures, such as GRECO,
as important.

In connection with the role of the Diaspora B. Yesayan mentioned that
living in the countries with the full-fledged democratic and civil
society, the compatriots in the Diaspora may greatly contribute to the
matter of the formation of the healthy public thought due to their
experience and personal example.

Taking occasion Bagrat Yesayan visited the Armenian Office in the UN,
where he spoke with Ambassador Armen Martirosian about the internal
problems of Armenia, as well as issues regarding Armenia within the
framework of the UN.

According to “Hayrenik” (“Motherland”) newspaper, the solemn
arrangement dedicated to the 114th anniversary of ARF was organized by
the Chicago Committee “Christopher” on November 20. And here Bagrat
Yesayan touched upon the issues regarding struggle against corruption
and answered the questions of participants of the arrangement.

OSCE expert group may be set up to disclose Armenia’s illegal settlement policy

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Nov 26 2004

Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and his Deputy Araz Azimov held
a private meeting with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs Steven Mann,
Yuri Merzlyakov and Henry Jacolin in New York on Wednesday.

The present-day situation with the talks over the settlement of
the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper Garabagh was in focus of
the meeting.

The Azerbaijani side expressed concerns over the settlement of
Armenians in the occupied lands of Azerbaijan.

Minister Mammadyarov said that 13,000 Armenians have been settled in
the Lachin District alone.

“Armenia is violating relevant resolutions adopted by the UN Security
Council and international humanitarian laws and poses a threat to
the OSCE-mediated peace talks.”

The Minister said that an independent expert group should be set up
within the OSCE to disclose the facts related to Armenia’s policy of
settlement in the occupied Azeri lands.*

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS REFRAIN FROM FLYING TO AZERBAIJAN

ArmenPress
Nov 25 2004

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 25, ARMENPRESS: Two members of the Armenian
parliament refused to fly to the capital of the rival Azerbaijan to
participate in a NATO-sponsored seminar. The chairman of an Armenian
parliament committee on defense and national security issues, Mher
Shahgeldian, one of the two, told reporters today that Azerbaijani
parliament leadership ignored a letter by the chairman of Armenian
parliament who requested a tight safety measures for the two Armenian
parliamentarians.

Shahgeldian said the letter had been sent because of a serious incident
that occurred when three Armenian top officers had been in Baku earlier
this year also attending a NATO seminar and a recent extradition of
a Bulgarian journalist of Armenian origin.

“The Armenian delegation was prepared to fly to Baku, a hotel was
reserved and tickets booked,” he said, adding that the decision to
refrain from flying to Baku was made by the parliament forces.

ARMENIAN FM ARRIVES IN BURKINA-FASO TO PARTICIPATE IN 10TH SUMMIT ON
FRANCOPHONIA

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 24. ARMINFO. The head of the Armenian foreign
ministry Vardan Oskanyan arrived today in Burkina-Faso where he will
participate in the 10th summit on Francophonia.

The press services of the foreign ministry told ARMINFO that
Armenia will be ceremonially granted status of observer in the
organization during the event. Armenia has already joined several
parallel international organizations like the international union of
Francophone countries or the international assembly of Francophone
parliamentarians. The status of observer, to be followed by full
membership, will enable Armenia to make contacts with member states
and develop relations with African states which are at the core of
the organization. During the 10th summit of Francophonia, presidents
of countries will also participate, particularly from France and
Livan. Together with Armenia, Georgia, Austria, Hungary and Corvatia
have also applied for the status of observer.

To remind, the permanent council of Francophonia decided in its Paris
sitting to grant Armenia status of observer in the International
Organization of Francophonia. Concurrently, Armenia was officially
invited to participate in the 10th summit of Francophonia in Burkina
Faso. The Armenian delegation will for the first time participate in
the summit of the international organization of Francophonia. The
organization comprises 51 states. Five countries have already been
granted status of observer – Check, Lithuania, Slovenia, Slovakia
and Poland. -A-

Armenian media condemn attack on newspaper’s car

Noyan Tapan news agency
24 Nov 04

Yerevan, 23 November: “The lives of journalists in Armenia are in
danger,” the National Press Club said, referring to the explosion of
an office car of Aykakan Zhamanak newspaper.

In its statement, the National Press Club described the incident as
yet another act of terror against freedom of speech. If until now
“they have limited themselves to destroying journalists’ equipment and
beating them up with truncheons, now explosives are replacing this”,
the statement said.

The National Press Club expresses its solidarity with the staff
of Aykakan Zhamanak and urges the authorities to restore law and
order in Armenia, “otherwise, the wheel of terrorism will take an
unpredictable path”.

NBC4.TV, CA
Nov 25 2004

Suspect In 2000 Road Rage Death Enters Plea
Suspect Captured After International Manhunt

POSTED: 1:46 pm PST November 24, 2004

LOS ANGELES — An Armenian arrested in Yerevan recently and handed
over to U.S. authorities pleaded not guilty Wednesday to murder and
other charges related to an alleged road rage slaying in Universal
City on April 29, 2000.

Shahen Eghia Keshishian, 32, remains jailed in lieu of more than $1
million bond, pending a Dec. 8 appearance in Van Nuys Superior Court.
He is charged with one count of murder, vehicular manslaughter and
leaving the scene of an accident, said Deputy District Attorney
Dmitry Gorin.

The commercial truck driver was at the wheel of a new Chevrolet
Suburban when he and his passenger were seen throwing eggs at Michael
Craven’s Jeep, according to Los Angeles police.

“The victim and suspect pulled to the shoulder (and) Keshishian
suddenly accelerated and intentionally ran over the victim,” according
to an entry on the LAPD’s most wanted list.

The encounter occurred on the southbound Hollywood (101) Freeway,
south of Barham Boulevard, according to Glendale police. Craven,
a 44-year-old freelance film editor from Canoga Park, died while
being taken to the hospital.

Keshishian was charged June 23, 2000 with Craven’s slaying, and
charged separately by federal authorities in November 2000 with
unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

Along with the LAPD’s most wanted list, Keshishian also had been named
as a fugitive on the FBI’s Web site. The entry now reads “Captured.”

Keshishian’s arrest by Armenian authorities in the capital of Yerevan
earlier this month and his subsequent return to Los Angeles was the
fruit of an FBI, LAPD and Glendale police effort. Assisted by other
U.S. law enforcement agencies, the LAPD determined last month that
Keshishian was hiding in Armenia, once part of the former Soviet
Union, where he was detained for overstaying his visa, according to
Glendale police.

Before his arrest, Glendale police officers who had gone to Armenia
to assist in the training of officers in that country worked out a
deal with Armenia’s National Security Service to help find Keshishian.

Watertown TAB & Press, MA
Nov 19 2004

St. Stephen’s preschool opens
Friday, November 19, 2004

The preschool addition of St. Stephen’s Armenian Elementary School
formally opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by about 150
parents, teachers, students and dignitaries last month.

Construction began on June 14 and was completed by August, ready
for the start of the school year in September.

“Since 1997, the student population of the school has increased
tremendously,” Principal Houry Boyamian said.

At first, she said, all students in preschool through fifth
grade were taught at the school’s main campus, housed at the Armenian
Educational and Cultural Center on Nichols Avenue. Because of the
increase in student population, the board decided to renovate the
church-owned building behind ACEC, previously rented by Project Save
Armenian Photographic Archives.

The preschool building currently has 75 students, and with the
addition of another large classroom, can accommodate more children
next year.

Ara Krafian, the parent of three students and an alumna, donated
his professional services to the addition, from planning through the
construction phase. Another parent volunteer, Karnig Ostayan, donated
services and materials and assisted with the management of the
construction phase. John and Alice Karnikyan and Nadia Karnik of
Stormtite donated all the siding for the addition in memory of their
parents.

Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, prelate of the Eastern Prelacy of
the United States, presided over the ribbon-cutting following church
services at St. Stephen’s Armenian Church. Following the
ribbon-cutting, Choloyan and the Rev. Antranig Baljian of St.
Stephen’s blessed the Preschool Afeyan Building.

“It almost makes me wish I were a child again so I could go to
school here in this beautiful building,” said Choloyan.

St. Stephen’s Armenian Elementary School was founded in 1984
with a handful of students. Today it has 186 students. The school is
celebrating its 20th anniversary this year with a series of programs
and a special gala at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge on Jan.
29.

For more information about the school or to make donations visit
, or call 617-926-6979.

Submitted by St. Stephen’s Armenian Elementary School