Author: Karagyozian Lena

PRESS RELEASE
Armenia Fund, Inc.
111 North Jackson St. Ste. 205
Glendale, CA 91206

Tel: 800-888-8897
Fax: 818-243-7222

Contact: Sarkis Kotanjian
E-mail: [email protected]

Armenia Fund Unveils 2005 Telethon Logo – Build a New Horizon
Thanksgiving Day Telethon Launched

Los Angeles, CA – Armenia Fund, Inc. launched Telethon 2005 – Build a
New Horizon – with a logo unveiling ceremony and reception on Wednesday,
September 14, at the Casa Adobe de San Rafael in Glendale, California.

The logo and the theme `Build a New Horizon’ was created by local
graphic artist Helena Gregorian. The orange and white logo features the
four key elements of Telethon 2005 – agricultural development,
construction of water distribution systems, health care and education.

Produced by Armenia Fund, Inc., since 1996, the Telethon has become a
Thanksgiving Day tradition for Armenians around the world. Through the
annual Telethons Armenians around the world are able to participate in
the important task of nation-building by supporting large-scale
infrastructure development and humanitarian projects in Armenia and
Karabakh.

The Telethon 2005 launch brought together representatives of all large
Armenian organizations and a number of local elected and appointed
officials of the cities of Glendale, La Canada, Pasadena and Burbank as
well as California State Representatives.

Elaborating on this years Telethon theme the Chairperson of Armenia
Fund, Inc., Maria Mehranian said: “This year our fundraising focus will
be on Martakert – the Northern region of Karabakh that has been the
hardest hit and is in the most need of revitalization. One of the most
urgent needs for the population of Martakert is Healthcare and that is
what our focus will be in the U.S. Western Region.’

Among other priority projects such as Drinking Water, Agricultural
Development and Education, this year’s Telethon will raise funds for the
Martakert Regional Hospital and Ambulance System that will service
20,000 in more than 50 villages in all five sub-regions of Martakert.

Ara Aghisian, Vice Chairman of Armenia Fund, Inc., announced upcoming
Telethon 2005 events and activities including a November 18 gala dinner
at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel featuring President of the Republic of
Karabakh, H.E. Arkady Ghoukasian and the Foreign Affairs Minister of the
Republic of Armenia, H.E. Vartan Oskanian.

Scheduled for Thanksgiving Day, November 24 from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
(PST), Telethon 2005 is a 12-hour, live broadcast airing in over 25
cities throughout the United States as well as Europe, South America,
the CIS and the Middle East.

For more information on Armenia Fund, Telethon 2005, please contact
Armenia Fund at 818.243.6222 or visit the newly updated website at

Armenia Fund, Inc., is a non-profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation
established in 1994 to facilitate large-scale humanitarian and
infrastructure development assistance to Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.
Armenia Fund, Inc. is the U.S. Western Region affiliate of `Hayastan’
All-Armenian Fund.

ARMINFO News Agency
September 30, 2005

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT APPOINTS NEW ARMENIAN AMBASSADOR TO MAROCCO

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 30. ARMINFO. President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan
dismissed Armenian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to
Marocco Sergey Manasayan. Armenian Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary to Egypt Ruiben Karapetyan (residence in Cairo) will
combine his job with the post of Armenian Ambassador to Marocco. The
Presidential press-service told ARMINFO.

ArmInfo News Agency
Sept 29 2005

AZERBAIJAN’S DEFENCE EXPENSES WILL BE EQUAL TO ARMENIA’S WHOLE
BUDGET: AZERI PRESIDENT

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 29. ARMINFO. In the future Azerbaijan’s defence
expenses will be equal to Armenia’s whole budget, Azeri President
Ilham Aliev says in an interview to YLE (Finland).

Speaking about the Karabakh peace process Aliev says that Baku wants
to settle the conflict peacefully but sees that this is impossible
and has no other choice. That’s why Azerbaijan’s military spendings
are growing – next year the country will redouble them and in the
future they will equal the whole budget of Armenia. “We still want
peace in the Caucasus but can put up with occupation,” says Aliev.

He says that OSCE MG is the key player in the Karabakh peace process.
Aliev says that there are many ways to settle the conflict provided
that the international law is applied and territorial integrity is
part of this law. “On our side are the international law, political
processes and economic potential so we will get what we want,” says
Aliev.

The solution is simple – the Armenian leadership should pluck up
courage to leave the occupied territories and to create normal living
conditions including for its own people. This will lead to the
opening of communications and borders and the normal process will
resume. “I hope that we will see this day soon,” says Aliev.

Armenpress

OSKANIAN SOUNDS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT KARABAKH RESOLUTION PROSPECTS

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS: Armenian foreign minister Vartan
Oskanian echoed today president Robert Kocharian, who sounded cautiously
optimistic on Tuesday about prospects for the resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Speaking to a joint news conference in Yerevan with Heikki Talvitie, EU’s
special representative for the South Caucasus, Oskanian said there was a
positive shift in the negotiating process, but warned that both sides would
have to exercise efforts to catch the rare chance to register further
progress. According to Oskanian, this prospect is likely to come after
parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan. Oskanian described Talvitie’s
impression from a visit to Baku earlier this week ‘interesting,’ underlining
there was ‘a momentum’ for the conflict resolution. Oskanian also said the
date and venue of his next meeting with Azeri counterpart, Elmar Mamedyarov
was not clear yet.
Talvitie added that the EU was interested in establishing stability in
this region and that all sides should work to achieve it. Asked to comment
on a yesterday European parliament resolution reiterating that Turkey must
recognize the Armenian genocide before the start of EU accession talks,
Talvitie said: “if accession talks begin Armenia-Turkey relations will be on
their agenda. This will give an opportunity to regulate their sensitive
relations.”
Oskanian in turn urged EU to keep this issue high on its agenda, saying
the more EU discusses it the more it will contribute to normalization of
Armenian-Turkish relations. Referring to constitutional reform process in
Armenia Talvitie said the EU supports the process “as it would be a
significant step forward in terms of making the basic law of the country
more democratic.”

Iranian Cultural Heritage News Agency, Iran
Sept 28 2005

Tjeknavorian Commemorates Mozart in Iran

Photo: Loris Tjeknavorian is appointed to commemorate the 250th
anniversary of Mozart in Iran.

Tehran 28 September 2005 (CHN) — Loris Tjeknavorian is appointed by
Peter Marboe, secretary of the International Mozart Festival to
perform for the 250th anniversary of the great Austrian composer,
Mozart, in Tehran.

27th of January 2006 is the 250th birthday of Mozart. Every year his
birthday is celebrated with concerts, operas, and special festivals
around the world. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 27, 1756 –
December 5, 1791) is among the most significant and enduringly
popular composers of European classical music. His enormous output
includes works that are widely acknowledged as pinnacles of
symphonic, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music. Mozart himself
is universally recognized as a musical genius, having learnt to
compose at the age five and showing an encyclopedic grasp of every
musical form of his time despite having lived only for 35 years.

For his 2006 birthday, Loris Tjeknavorian, world-renown Iranian
musician, has been appointed by Peter Marboe, secretary of the Mozart
Foundation and his International Festival, to perform in
commemoration of Mozart in Tehran, Iran.

`With the cooperation of Iran- Austria Cultural Center and the
Roodaki Center in Iran, we, alongside other countries of the world,
will perform a concert in Vahdat Hall for the commemoration of the
250th celebration of this great composer,’ said Tjeknavorian to CHN.

However, as Tjeknavorian explained, since the birthday of this
musician coincides with the mournful days of Imam Hossein (the third
Imam of Shiite Muslims)’s martyrdom, the ceremony will be held on the
day of Mozart’s death, 5th of December, in Iran.

Loris Tjeknavorian was born in Iran in 1937. After studying violin
and piano at the Tehran Conservatory of Music, he studied composition
at the Vienna Music Academy where, in 1961, he graduated with honors.
Shortly after his graduation four of his piano compositions and his
ballet Fantastique were published by Doeblinger in Vienna.

>From 1961 to 1963 Tjeknavorian taught music theory at the Tehran
Conservatory of Music. At the same time, he was appointed director of
the National Music Archives in Tehran and was in charge of collecting
and researching traditional Iranian folk -music and national
instruments. In 1963, back in Austria, Prof. Carl Orff granted him a
scholarship, which allowed him to reside in Salzburg and to complete
his opera “Rostam and Sohrab”.

Tjeknavorian has conducted international orchestras throughout the
world: in Austria, UK, USA, Canada, Hungary, Copenhagen, Iran,
Finland, USSR, Armenia, Thailand, Hong Kong, South Africa, Denmark,
Israel, etc. His own compositions have been performed by major
orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the London
Philharmonic Orchestra, the Halle Orchestra, the Philharmonic
Orchestra Helsinki, the American Symphony Orchestra in New York, the
Tehran Symphony Orchestra, the Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra, the
Haifa Symphony Orchestra, the Mexico Symphony Orchestra, the London
Percussion Virtuosies, the Strasbourg Percussion Ensemble and English
Chamber Orchestra, etc.

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AZIMOV: “AZERBAIJAN HAS NEVER DEMANDED CHANGE OF OSCE MG MANDATE”

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Sept 27 2005

“The aim of the Vienna meeting of the OSCE Minsk Group Co – Chairs
will be exchange of information on the course of the process and
the current state of the Karabakh settlement,” stated Azeri Deputy
Foreign Minister Araz Azimov in the interview with APA agency.

In his words, meetings of the kind are conducted regularly. While
commenting on the issue referring to transferring part of OSCE MG
authorities to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe,
Azeri Deputy Foreign Minister said Azerbaijan had never demanded
change of the OSCE MG mandate. “We are not even going to make such
demands. Azeri top officials have repeatedly pointed out the importance
and need for OSCE Minsk Group activities”, stated Azimov.

In his words, the OSCE MG Co-Chairs speak up for launching the
activities within a limited format: “We understand them and welcome
the approach. From the point of view the current stage of the conflict
settlement is in working out preliminary principles and organizing
discussions for coming to a political arrangement on an agreement’s
preparation. The format might be widened at the next stage”, added he.

RA NA ADOPTED ADDRESS TO PRESIDENT ON CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM

Pan Armenian News
28.09.2005 03:25

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ September 28 the Armenian National Assembly with
90 votes “for”, no “against” and abstentions adopted the address to
Armenian President Robert Kocharian to hold the referendum on the
constitutional amendments. Justice and National Unity opposition
factions did not take part in the voting. Today the Armenian
parliamentarians adopted the package of amendments to the Organic Law
of the country and the law “On Referendum”. As Vice Speaker Tigran
Torossian told journalists, the President is entitled either to sign
or decline the address within three weeks. According to T.

Torossian, the referendum will be held no sooner than 45 days and no
later than 60 days after the signing. In his turn Parliament Chairman
Artur Baghdassaryan informed that the referendum will be held in
the third decade of November. He also stressed that the spreading
of propaganda among the population is the task not only of parties
serving on the coalition but also of all the political forces and
public organizations, IA Regnum reports.

2005.09.26 Anglican Journal:

Primate, church leaders visit Armenia

SOLANGE DE SANTIS
STAFF WRITER

Looking for support and greater dialogue with Canadian churches, the
Canadian diocese of the Armenian Orthodox Church invited a group of church
leaders, including the Anglican primate, Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, to
visit Armenia in late August.
Throughout 70 years of Soviet rule, the Armenian Orthodox Church was
repressed and it is now “trying to rebuild,” said Archbishop Hutchison in
an interview, noting that the trip was completely sponsored by the Armenian
church.
“The church survived and a core of the faithful survived. It is a
Christian country surrounded by Muslim countries. The borders to Azerbaijan
and Turkey are closed and the border with Georgia is not as free-flowing as
it might be,” said Archbishop Hutchison.
In Canada, he pointed out, the Anglican church has aided Armenian
churches by providing space for new Armenian congregations and Archbishop
George Carey visited Armenia when he was Archbishop of Canterbury.
The delegation also included Archbishop Brendan O’Brien, president
of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops; Archbishop Sotirios, Greek
Orthodox Metropolitan of Canada; and Richard Schneider, president of the
Canadian Council of Churches.
The hosts were Bishop Bagrat Galstanian, primate of the Armenian
church in Canada, and his assistant, Deacon Hagop Arslanian.
While in Armenia from August 24-31, the group met with His Holiness
Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, at the
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, a cathedral complex near the capital of
Yerevan that is the center of authority for the worldwide church.
Last year, the Canadian parliament acknowledged the genocide of
1915, during which 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Turkish forces, and
“that means a great deal to them,” said Archbishop Hutchison, who
participated in a wreath-laying at a memorial for genocide victims.
The visit coincided with the 90th anniversary of the genocide and
the 1600th anniversary of the invention of the Armenian alphabet, he noted.
The group also met with political leaders and visited major
historic and religious sites.
The primate discussed with the Armenian church two possible projects
for the Anglican Church of Canada: a bursary to support a theological
student studying in Canada and advice from Canada’s well-developed military
chaplaincy to support a new chaplaincy in Armenia.

Anglican Journal, October 2005

Anatolia news agency, Ankara, in English
25 Sep 05

Turkey: Views expressed at Ottoman Armenians conference, protesters
throw eggs

Istanbul, 25 September: “Ittihat and Terakki Party (Party of Union
and Progress) had a plan to purify whole Anatolia from the non-Turks,
starting from the Aegean Region, before the World War I, and this
plan was carried out in entire Anatolia during the years of the war
(World War I)”, argued Associate Professor Taner Akcam of Minnesota
University.

Taking the floor on the second day of the conference titled “The
Armenians during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire” held at
Istanbul’s Bilgi University, Akcam said that the relocation decision
was made at the end of long discussions and debates.

“The Ottoman documents indicate that the decision to relocate the
Armenians was made to end a deeper problem defined as the ‘eastern
problem’ and to end the dissolution process of the Ottoman Empire.
This decision was not a result of a need that erupted during the war.
There are many documents in hand with respect to the destruction of
Armenians,” claimed Akcam.

On the other hand, Dr Ahmet Kuyas of Galatasaray University referred
to the four members of the Ittihat and Terakki Party, and said that a
serious massacre was made those days. According to Kuyas, the
architect of this massacre was Enver Pasha. Kuyas expressed his view
that the other three people who were responsible for these massacres
were Talat Pasha, Dr Bahattin Sakir and Dr Nazim.

Also speaking at the conference, Professor Baskin Oran of Ankara
University’s Political Sciences Department said: “Concept of class,
criticisms of Ataturk, Cyprus, socialism, communism and Kurdistan are
no more taboos in Turkey. There was only one taboo left, and it was
Armenian issue. Now, it is no more a taboo.”

Referring to Armenian Diaspora, Oran said: “Diaspora talks about
‘recognition, compensation and territory’, and this prevents
‘recognition’. Nobody in Turkey can think of paying compensation for
things that an empire (Ottoman Empire), the alphabet of which you
have abandoned, did. Moreover, territory claims are nonsense.”

Oran pointed out that assassins of Turkish diplomats should not
remain unpunished, and added, “assassins of 35-40 Turkish diplomats
were not punished or sentenced to minor punishments. And, this caused
as much reaction in Turkey as the 1915 incidents caused in Armenia.
And, this was the factor which increased this taboo in Turkey.”

Before the conference started, a group of people who were the members
of the Grand Unity Party (BBP) threw rotten tomatoes and eggs to
participants and the building where the conference is being held.
Also, the audience was protested by the group.

Agence France Presse — English
September 24, 2005 Saturday 7:36 AM GMT

Disputed conference on Armenian massacres begins in Turkey

ISTANBUL

A disputed conference questioning Turkey’s official line on the
massacres of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire began on Saturday
amid protests by nationalist groups against the participants and the
government.

Some 30 members of the ultra-right Nationalist Action Party (MHP)
called out “cad” and booed the participants as they entered the venue
of the two-day conference which brings together academics and
intellectuals disputing Turkey’s version of the 1915-1917 massacres.

“The Armenian genocide is an international lie” read a giant banner
carried by some 150 members of the minor left-wing Workers’ Party
(IP).

“The government must resign, treason will not go unpunished,” chanted
the protestors.

Several posters depicting Turks killed by Armenians were pasted on
the security barriers surrounding the venue where some 200 police
officers were put on duty.

The conference was to have opened on Friday, but a court suspended
the event late Thursday following a complaint by a group of
nationalist lawyers who called the organizers “traitors.”

The event had already been postponed once in May when Justice
Minister Cemil Cicek branded it as “treason” and a “stab in the back
of the Turkish nation.”

But the two universities organizing the conference, Bogazici and
Sabanci, refused to back down, rescheduling the event for Saturday
and Sunday.

The conference was moved to the Bilgi University which opened its
doors for the event out of solidarity in order to circumvent the
court ruling that barred the event from taking place at the original
venue.

The court decision was heavily criticised both by the Turkish
government and the European Union with which Ankara is set to begin
accession talks on October 3.

The Armenian massacres constitute one of the most painful periods of
in the history of the two peoples.

Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their people were slaughtered in
mass killings under the Ottoman Empire, forerunner to the present-day
Turkish republic.

Ankara categorically rejects claims of genocide and argues that
300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife
during World War I, when the Armenians took up arms for independence
in eastern Anatolia and sided with Russian troops invading the
crumbling Ottoman Empire.

The government, however, has encouraged researchers to discuss the
issue, arguing that it is a matter for historians and not politicians
to pursue.