Author: Kanayan Tamar

“Vigil remembers genocide”
Hymns and poems are used to commemorate the Armenian genocide that occurred
89 years ago.
By Aaron Burgin

Published: Friday, April 23, 2004 — USC Daily Trojan

Adrineh Khatchikian’s voice lifted the spirits of a somber crowd of
200 Armenian students, faculty and other onlookers commemorating the
genocide that nearly wiped out a population of Armenians almost 90
years ago.

Singing “Kroonk,” a hymn written by famed Armenian monk and songwriter
Komitas, Khatchikian was part of the annual vigil held at Hahn Plaza
created to inform people about the Armenian genocide, said Dina
Yadegarian, president of the Armenian Student Association

April 24 is the official memorial date for the estimated 1.5-million
Armenians killed between 1915 and 1922 at the hands of the Talaat
Pasha and the defunct Ottoman Empire.

Commemorations were held at USC on Thursday, however, to ensure that
most of the campus’ Armenian student population, mostly commuters,
could participate, Yadegarian said.

Some who participated in the vigil, such as Markar Markavian,
performed musical pieces for the event.

Markavian performed “Dele Yaman and “Kroonk” on the tar, a traditional
Armenian musical instrument, bringing some of the onlookers to tears.

Several speakers, including ASA chaplain Father Vazken Movsesian and
poet Lory Bedikian, addressed the crowd with a message of hope for the
future and a possible recognition of the genocide by the Turkish
government, which does not recognize the genocide.

Movsesian, known as “Father Vazken” to students, said that there was
an air of excitement surrounding the solemn occasion.

“It is a very momentous occasion, because, despite the atrocities, the
Turkish government’s plans were foiled just by the presence of
Armenians,” Movsesian said. “It just shows our strength as a people,
and our resolve to keep the memory of our people alive.”

Bedikian, a University of Oregon alumna, read two poems in honor of
her grandmother, Sion Abajian, who, at 100 years of age, is one of the
few living survivors of the genocide.

She urged passersby to stop to recognize the event and to read the
posters, brochures and pamphlets that told the story of the Armenians.

The “ghosts” she spoke about in her poem that haunt her grandmother
came from the lack of official recognition of the genocide.

“It makes you feel like being the victim of a crime,” Bedikian
said. “You feel alone and isolated.”

In his speech, Movsesian said that the lack of acknowledgement of the
genocide led to other genocides throughout the 20th century.

“It adds insult to injury because of what we’ve gone through, the lack
of recognition made the way for the Holocaust, Rwanda, Ethiopia and
all sorts of atrocities,” he said.

“Hitler himself said, ‘Who remembers the Armenians?'” Movsesian said.

In terms of recognition by the U.S. government, the House of
Representatives recognized the Armenian genocide on April 24, 1975 by
designating April 24 as a “National Day of Remembrance of Man’s
Inhumanity to Man.”

Student Senate also recognized the Armenian genocide on April 24,
1983.

Only with recognition, Movsesian said, can the healing process
actually begin, adding that only then could the Armenian deaths not be
in vain.

All of the speakers said the event was not meant to incite hatred
toward anyone, but to recognize the events that occurred and the
people who suffered and continue to recognize their legacy.

Armenians who attended the commemoration looked on with grave faces as
the speakers each addressed the audience with their words of
encouragement and remembrance of their ancestors lost during the
genocide.

Arpine Shakhbandaryan, a student who attended the vigil, said she
could only remember as far back as her great-grandparents’ generation,
something that her friends who were with her could relate to.

She said the main reason she was there was because too many of the
original survivors died without seeing any changes.

“I’m angry and frustrated because most of those who survived are
either of old age or dying without seeing justice,” she said. “We’re
going to continue to battle so that these memories aren’t forgotten.”

Vazken said he believes that the Armenians’ strong Christian faith and
belief in the resurrection will carry the day.

Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity as its national
religion.

“We are the only nation who have adopted Christianity, never to enjoy
a day of peace in their existence,” Movsesian said. “We’ve always been
the object of persecution and opposition.”

“However, Armenians strongly believe in the Christian notion of the
resurrection, and we will always be strong and rise above all the
adversity that has befallen our people.”

A1 Plus | 21:41:03 | 23-04-2004 | Politics |

AMERICAN CITIZEN TO FACE TRIAL

On Friday, Armenian Prosecutor General Office confirmed the fact of
American citizen Arthur Vardanyan arrest.

The office source says formal charge is already brought to
Vardanyan. He is charged with two counts of repeatedly using his
Armenian passport while being a US citizen, illegally crossing
Armenian borders, participating in the opposition staged rallies and
making inciting calls to coup.

ArmeniaNow.com, 23 April 2004

Random or Planned?: Attack on former politician raises questions

(From media and ArmeniaNow news sources)

An attack on a prominent oppositional figure on Thursday has sparked outrage
by anti-government sympathizers who see the act as a premeditated order by
authorities.

Ashot Manucharyan, who in the late 1980s was a member of the “Karabakh
Committee” and later was Minister of Interior and then National Security
Advisor during the first term of President Levon Ter Petrosyan was severely
beaten while walking on Tumanyan Street in Yerevan in mid-afternoon.

Gayane Markosyan, a human rights activist who was with Manucharyan at the
time, said three unknown men attacked Manucharyan. She described the men as
having shaved heads. One of the attackers, Markosyan said, pushed her aside,
while the others kicked and beat Manucharyan. The victim was taken to
hospital, where he underwent surgery and is being treated for broken jaw
bones.

Since a falling out with Ter Petrosyan in 1994, Manucharyan has been out of
the public light, but is believed to be influential still among the current
opposition.

He has been active in Intellectual Forum, a gathering of moderate
oppositionists who do not support a specific party, but are opposed to the
current administration. Manucharyan was reportedly on his way to a Forum
meeting when the attack occurred.

An associate of Manucharyan, who was active with him during the Karabakh
Movement told ArmeniaNow the attack on Manucharyan is “without doubt”
connected to the present opposition movement.

“The attack,” Manucharyan’s comrade said, “represents a level of desperation
(by authorities) that is frightening.”

Poet Silva Kaputikyan, who has become an opposition celebrity after, in
protest of violence against the opposition, returned a State award she was
given by President Robert Kocharyan, gave a response to Manucharyan’s
attack.

“Beating in Armenia has become the basic means of politics and the most
influential part of state terror,” Kaputikyan said. “All cases when force
has been used should be viewed from this standpoint.”

Police have not released information about the attack, except to say that an
investigation has been opened.

Ashot Kocharyan, spokesperson for Robert Kocharyan, said the President would
not be making an official statement concerning Manucharyan, but said that he
could speak for the President in saying that he “condemned” the attack.

The attack on Manucharyan came during a week in which at least 76 arrests
were made on oppositional sympathizers, bringing the total number of such
arrests to more than 500 arrests since regular demonstrations began three
weeks ago.

—

CENN – APRIL 22, 2004 DAILY DIGEST
Table of Contents:
1. EBRD To Increase Central Asian Antipoverty Programs
2. Construction of Modern Nuclear Power Plant a Viable Option
3. IUCN Promotes Environmental Flows at CSD-12 Meeting in New York
4. Announcement of the Ministry of Environment of Georgia

1. EBRD TO INCREASE CENTRAL ASIAN ANTIPOVERTY PROGRAMS

Source: EurasiaNet.org,

European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) President Jean
Lemierre said on 19 April that the bank plans to boost investment in the
seven poorest countries in which it operates. In a press release issued
on 19 April, the EBRD said the so-called “early transition countries”
(ETCs) are Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Georgia, and Moldova. In these countries, where more than 50 percent of
the population lives below the poverty line, the bank will provide
private-sector credits of 500,000 euros to 2 million euros
($593,000-$2.4 million) to develop the banking sector and aid the growth
of small and medium-sized businesses. To this end, the EBRD is appealing
to donors to provide additional funds that would allow the bank to
increase investment in the seven ETCs from the current 90 million euros
to 150 million euros. DK

2. CONSTRUCTION OF MODERN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT A VIABLE OPTION

Source: Armenpress, April 21, 2004,

Armen Movsisian, the Minister of Energy Sector of Armenia stated that
Armenia’s nuclear power plant will operate until an alternative energy
source, with the capacity of producing the same amount of energy at
equal cost is found. He added that the European Union’s proposed $100
million in assistance covers only an eighth of the total funds necessary
to find an alternative energy source.

He suggested that the construction a modern nuclear power plant in
Armenia presents a more viable solution than the option of producing
alternative energy; however, Movsisian noted that Armenia’s budget is
unable to cover the immense cost in building a new plant.

Asked about the handling of nuclear waste, the minister said that by way
of a grant from the French government, dry warehouses currently in use
were built for that specific purpose.

3. IUCN PROMOTES ENVIRONMENTAL FLOWS AT CSD-12 MEETING IN NEW YORK

Source; IUCN, April 21, 2004

What is vital for healthy functioning river systems and critical for
achieving economic prosperity and the conservation of biodiversity? The
answer, offered by IUCN at the meeting of the 12th session of the UN
Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-12), is environmental flows.
`Environmental flows’ means enough water is left in our rivers and is
managed to ensure downstream environmental, social and economic
benefits. Following a delegates’ debate on balancing water issues, IUCN
held a highly interactive side event on Environmental Flows for
Sustainable Development. Close to 60 participants discussed the
importance of environmental flows for people and nature, considered
experience already gained in achieving environmental flows, and explored
the next steps in promoting and implementing environmental flows for
sustainable development. IUCN’s guide `Flow – The Essentials of
Environmental Flows’ was also presented. CSD-12, held from 19-30 April
in New York, focuses on water, sanitation and human settlements.

4. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT OF GEORGIA

Source: `Sakartvelos Respublica’ (`Republic of Georgia’), April 22, 2004

In accordance with the Georgian legislation, Ltd `Gachiani – 2004′
submitted EIA report to the Ministry of Environment of Georgia to obtain
an environmental permit for the activity of first category – Project on
the Enterprise for Extracting Copper from the Amortized Utilizable Acid
Accumulators in Gardabani Region, Village Gachiani.

In accordance with the Georgian legislation, entrepreneur Leri
Zeinkalashvili submitted EIA report to the Ministry of Environment of
Georgia to obtain an environmental permit for the activity of first
category – Project on Mini Manganese Washing Enterprise in Chiatura.

EIA reports are available at the press-centre of the Ministry of
Environment (68, Kostava str., VI floor) and at the Department of
Environmental Permits and State Ecological Expertise (87, Paliashvili
Str., Tel: 25 02 19). Interested stakeholders can analyze the document
and present their comments and considerations until June 8, 2004.

Public hearing will be held on June 8, 2004 at 12:00, at the conference
hall of the Ministry of Environment.

—
*******************************************
CENN INFO
Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN)

Tel: ++995 32 92 39 46
Fax: ++995 32 92 39 47
E-mail: [email protected]
URL:

CENN – APRIL 21, 2004 DAILY DIGEST — ARMENIA
Table of Contents:
1. Dalma Gardens Will Be Seized
2. Armenian President Says Iran Pipeline To End Energy Dependency
3. Armenian Paper Critical of State Policy on Iran Gas Pipeline
4. Armenian Industrial Production Up 10.5% in Q1
5. Development Bank Looks East to Aid Poor Nations

1. DALMA GARDENS WILL BE SEIZED

Source: A1 Plus, April 20, 2004

Dalma Gardens’ renters have today assembled at Municipality again. Their
problem is not settled, the territories will be taken away and the
tenants demand to prolong the contracts by 25 years.

Karen Davtyan, head of Department Real Estate Management of
Municipality, says there is a special decision of Government under which
a part of gardens is to remain as a green area and the rest will serve
other purposes.

Mr Davtyan informed they follow the above decision. “Policemen have come
today with tractors to destroy our green territories”, renter Azat
Khachatryan says. Then they left warning to raze the green zones if the
appropriate decision wasn’t produced the next day.

“No Court accepts any document on Dalma Gardens to launch legal
proceedings”, renter Yntsa Hovhannissyan says.

Tenants assure policemen have today blocked the roads to Leningradyan
street and Hrazdan Sport Complex to hamper the renters to come to their
gardens.

2. ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SAYS IRAN PIPELINE TO END ENERGY DEPENDENCY

Source: Mediamax News Agency, April 20, 2004

On April 20, 2004, in Yerevan Robert Kocharyan, the President Armenian
stated that a gas pipeline to link Iran and Armenia will only be used to
meet Armenia’s energy needs. “We do not discuss any other options with
the Iranian side,” Robert Kocharyan said in reply to a question about
the possible use of the pipeline for shipping gas to Europe.

Mediamax quoted Kocharyan as telling a news conference in Yerevan today
“the construction of the gas pipeline is very important as this will
make Armenia independent in terms of energy supplies”.

3. ARMENIAN PAPER CRITICAL OF STATE POLICY ON IRAN GAS PIPELINE

Source: Haykakan Zhamanak, April 17, 2004

Text of Erdzanik Abgaryan’s report by Armenian newspaper Haykakan
Zhamanak on 17 April headlined “Kocharyan is giving a big gas pipeline
to a Turk as a gift”.

It is no secret that the European Union has a positive attitude towards
the idea that the Central Asia-Iran-Armenia gas pipeline should go via
Armenia, suggesting the closure of the Armenian Nuclear Power Station,
which meets the interests of the people’s security. Iran’s position on
this issue is absolutely good.

But it is strange and tragicomic that the special representative of the
EU for the South Caucasus, Heikki Talvitie, and Iran’s Foreign Minister
Kamal Kharrazi have tried to persuade the Kocharyan administration to
agree to build the gas pipeline via Armenia. So the gas pipeline caused
a stir last week.

[Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan] Oskanyan, who fails all strategic
issues together with his chief [Armenian President Robert Kocharyan],
visited Tehran and finally buried the hope that the gas pipeline will be
constructed via Armenia. Information sources disseminate contradictory
information about that visit and it may be concluded that the Armenian
authorities and their secret services were behind that flow of
disinformation. But on 13 April Iran’s Oil Minister [Bizhan Namdar-]
Zanganeh announced that a contract on the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline is
already ready and he will soon visit Armenia for signing it. Saying that
the volumes of Iranian gas supplies are limited by 1,500m cu.m.
annually, Zanganeh in fact confirmed that the constructed pipeline will
not be a transit one. That is, Armenia is withdrawn from this
international programme just the same way as it was withdrawn from other
international and regional programmes. As a result of it, the Armenians
will be deprived of those significant sums that would be charged for
transit, and of many jobs, and it is even more tragic that Armenia will
be sidelined from all international interests.

As can be seen, the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline will also be under
Russia’s control as Russia’s Itera will be the gas pipeline’s operator.
We do not accuse Russia, we accuse its Armenian stooges: Kocharyan and
his administration who betrayed our national interests. Nevertheless, it
is obvious that Russia’s diplomatic position on this gas pipeline is
based not only on its aspiration to preserve its monopoly on gas
supplies to Europe, but also on its aim to establish deeper relations
with the Turks and Azerbaijanis. The point is that the Russians also
know that the Central Asia-Iran-Europe pipeline will be undoubtedly
constructed. And if not via Armenia, it may be constructed via Turkey or
Azerbaijan.

So withdrawing Armenia from the regional and international cooperation
programmes, as well as from the Central Asia-Iran-Europe gas pipeline
system, Russia simply cooperates with Turkey and Azerbaijan in the issue
of sidelining Armenia from the world processes. So we can say that the
“national” socialist Dashnaks and the law-abiding persons who have
turned the National Assembly into barracks, headed by Kocharyan, are
handing the strategic interests of Armenia to the Turks on a plate. And
today’s opposition, at its mass rallies, is obliged to disclose this
crime along with other crimes of the Kocharyan administration that
flouts the interests of the Armenian people and statehood.

5. ARMENIAN INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION UP 10.5% IN Q1

Source: Interfax, April 19 2004

Industrial production in Armenia in the first quarter 2004 increased
10.5% year-on-year to 69.5 million dram, not including industrial
production in the electricity sector, Economic Development and Trade
Minister Ashot Shakhnazarian told journalists.

He said that the mining and diamond cutting industries accounted for the
largest share in industrial production in the reporting period.

The minister said that exports of industrial products from Armenia
increased 27% year-on-year to amount to 43.2 million dram in the first
quarter this year. The official exchange rate on April 16 was 558.16
dram to the dollar.

6. DEVELOPMENT BANK LOOKS EAST TO AID POOR NATIONS

International Herald Tribune, April 20, 2004

LONDON With the most advanced economies in the former Communist bloc set
to join the European Union next month, the multinational bank that was
set up to aid the transition to capitalism said Monday that it would pay
greater attention to poorer countries farther to the east.

The agency, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, will
not immediately cease operations in the eight Central and Eastern
European countries that, along with Malta and Cyprus, are set to join
the EU on May 1, 2004. But in those countries, the bank’s “role should
naturally fall away over the years to come,” said Prime Minister Tony
Blair of Britain, who addressed the agency’s annual meeting in London on
Monday.

The development bank, which operates in 27 countries, said Monday that
it had created a new program aimed at increasing its lending in seven of
the poorest ones – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic,
Moldova, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – where more than 50 percent of the
population lives below the poverty line.

In those countries, governments are too indebted to raise new financing,
and foreign investors are often unwilling to enter, given the myriad
risks – not least, in countries such as Uzbekistan, where George Soros
and other investors have complained of a woeful human rights record.
Meanwhile, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, and the subsequent ouster
of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan – which borders on two of the seven
countries, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – heightened the awareness in some
Western capitals of the strategic importance of former Soviet Central
Asia, in particular.

Jean Lemierre, the bank’s president, who was elected to a second
four-year term on Monday by the bank’s board, said the bank would step
up its efforts to finance small businesses, cross-border trade and
small-scale infrastructure projects, among other things.

“The bank is ready to take on the financial as well as reputational risk
as we seek to invest more in countries at the earlier stages of
transition,” Lemierre said.

The bank said it aimed to increase its combined investment in the seven
countries to about E150 million, or $181 million, a year from the
current E90 million. Because its investments typically result in
additional private-sector activity, the bank said it expected the
overall effect to be greater than that.

The bank will take on added risk in part by adhering to local law,
rather than international law, in some of its investments in the seven
countries. Bankers said that should not pose a threat to the bank’s
financial health because the activities in the seven poorest countries
account for only a fraction of the overall investments; the bank made
E3.7 billion worth of new investments last year.

Yet new lending in the seven poorest countries had actually been
dwindling. By 2002, said Michael McCulloch, a consultant to the bank on
its new initiative, these countries were actually paying more to service
previous commitments to the bank than they were receiving in new
investment flows.

In the relatively well-to-do Eastern and Central European countries that
are joining the EU, the agency has typically invested in large projects,
often in cooperation with private-sector lenders. With their financial
markets gained in depth and breadth, domestic and regional banks lend to
smaller borrowers. But the seven poorest countries have few lenders
willing to finance projects in the E500, 000 to E2 million range, the
bank said, yet these will be crucial to the development of their
economies.

As the bank shifts its emphasis a bit to the east, its horizon is
growing. Jean-Claude Juncker, the chairman of its board of governors and
prime minister of Luxembourg, urged other governors to complete the
process of accepting Mongolia as a country of operation for the bank.
The United States, among others, has already approved Mongolia as a
country of operation.

—
*******************************************
CENN INFO
Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN)

Tel: ++995 32 92 39 46
Fax: ++995 32 92 39 47
E-mail: [email protected]
URL:

A1 Plus | 21:34:19 | 19-04-2004 | Politics |

VARDAN OSKANYAN SPEAKING ON POLITICAL SITUATION IN ARMENIA

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan, speaking at a news conference on
Monday, said the opposition had a right to stage rallies. At the same time,
he says the right is not in force if the opposition activity contradicts
Armenian Constitution and the law.

It means if people are unhappy about the president’s work, they can do
little but let him hang on until his presidential term expires.

“There can’t be any change in our attitude toward political situation in the
republic, our stance is grounded on national interests”, Oskanyan said.
However, our home situation can prompt something to our foreign opponents:
they may take more uncompromising stance on certain issues.

Armenian National Committee of New York
PO Box 693
Woodside, NY 11377
[email protected]

PRESS RELEASE
April 17, 2004

Contact: Tony Vartanian
[email protected]

NEW YORK TIMES REVERSES POLICY ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

— ANCA Welcomes Historic Move by Newspaper to Properly
Characterize Armenian Genocide

WOODSIDE, NY – In a move aimed at reaffirming its past record on
the first genocide of the 20th Century, the New York Times has
lifted its long-standing policy against the use of the term
“Armenian Genocide,” reported the Armenian National Committee (ANC)
of New York.

According to a news release by the International Association of
Genocide Scholars, The New York Times revised guideline for
journalists states that “after careful study of scholarly
definitions of ‘genocide,’ we have decided to accept the term in
references to the Turks’ mass destruction of Armenians in and
around 1915.” The policy goes on to note that “the expression
‘Armenian genocide’ may be used freely and should not be qualified
with phrasing like ‘what Armenians call,’ etc.”

The New York Times guidelines continue, noting that, “by most
historical accounts, the Ottoman empire killed more than one
million Armenians in a campaign of death and mass deportation aimed
at eliminating the Armenian population throughout what is now
Turkey.” Finally it advises journalists that “while we may of
course report Turkish denials on those occasions when they are
relevant, we should not couple them with the historians’ findings,
as if they had equal weight.”

“We welcome this decision taken by the New York Times as a
meaningful step toward ending official U.S. complicity in the
Turkish government’s campaign to deny the Armenian Genocide,” said
ANC of New York Chairperson Tony Vartanian. “We appreciate the
tremendous contribution of all organizations, historians and
activists who, over the years, worked to provide the necessary
information to the New York Times so that they can make this
informed, but long overdue decision. Armenian Americans feel a
tremendous sense of pride that the Times – the paper of record – no
longer actively participates in the denial of this great crime
against humanity.”

The New York Times recently released guidelines returns the
newspaper to its policy of accurate reporting established during
the years of the Armenian Genocide. According to Peter Balakian’s
New York Times best-seller “The Burning Tigris,” the Times
“published 145 articles on the Armenian massacres in 1915 alone (an
article about every two and a half days).” The term “genocide”
would not be coined for similar crimes against humanity until the
1940’s.

For more than two decades, the ANC, working with its network of
grassroots activists around the country, initiated several
nationwide campaigns to press The New York Times to end its
practice of dismissing the Armenian Genocide as simply an Armenian
historical claim. During an ANCA campaign in 2002, activists
specifically asked the Times:

** What standard does the New York Times use in the
application of the word genocide in its news stories?

** What is the New York Times specific policy on the use of
the term genocide in its coverage of the Armenian Genocide?

Armenian Weekly editor Jason Sohigian has written extensively to
the New York Times, working to provide timely information and input
to the editorial staff.

Last year, the ANC of Eastern Massachusetts spearheaded the
successful effort to urge the Boston Globe to suspend its policy
against the use of the term “genocide” when referring to the
Armenian Genocide. The decision was made in July 2003, setting a
precedent for its parent company – The New York Times – to
reexamine its policy.

The Armenian National Committee is the largest Armenian American
grassroots political organization in New York and nationwide. The
ANC actively advances a broad range of issues of concern to the
Armenian American community.

#####

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT RECEIVED WORLD BANK ARMENIAN OFFICE HEAD RODGER ROBINSON

YEREVAN, APRIL 15, ARMENPRESS: Armenian President Robert Kocharian
received today the Resident Representative of World Bank Rodger
Robinson. The two men discussed World Bank projects in Armenia and
prospects for their development.

They also spoke about including new fields in these projects,
particularly social and industrial infrastructures. Both sides
expressed their satisfaction with the current level of cooperation and
noted that WB has played a major role in the reform processes in
Armenia.

14.04.2004 07:52:00 GMT
Armenia trade deficit grows 13.5% in Q1

Yerevan. (Interfax) – Armenia’s trade deficit grew 13.5% year-on-year in the
first quarter of 2004 to $140.7 million.

Foreign trade amounted to $445.9 million, up 14.5%, First Deputy Trade and
Economic Development Minister Ashot Shakhnazarian said at a press conference
Tuesday.
Exports increased 9.6% to $152.6 million and imports rose 9.1% to $293.3
million.

BC-NA-GEN–US-People-Dr Death,0244

“Dr Death” convinced he will die in prison, has few regrets

LAPEER, Michigan (AP) – Assisted suicide advocate Jack
Kevorkian, behind bars for the videotaped lethal injection of a man
in 1998, says he expects to die in prison, but has few regrets.
In a telephone interview with The Daily Oakland Press of Pontiac
published Sunday, the 75-year-old retired pathologist said he does
not see his work as a failure.
“There’s no doubt I expect to die in prison,” said Kevorkian.
“All the big powers, they’ve silenced me. … So much for free
speech and choice on this fundamental human right.”
Kevorkian is serving 10 to 25 years for second-degree murder in
the 1998 videotaped poisoning of Thomas Youk, who had Lou Gehrig’s
disease and was shown on CBS’ “60 Minutes” receiving a lethal
dose of potassium chloride.
Kevorkian said there has been no outcry over his imprisonment
because his supporters are “frightened.”
“The American people are sheep. They’re comfortable, rich,
working. It’s like the Romans, they’re happy with bread and their
spectator sports,” he said. “The Super Bowl means more to them
than any right.”
Kevorkian has said he assisted in at least 130 deaths, but has
promised he will not assist in any more suicides if he is released
from prison. He said in the interview that he stands by that
promise.

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

APTV 04-11-04 1659EDT