Author: Karakhanian Suren

ARMAN MELIKIAN AND ANDRZEJ KASPRCZIK DISCUSS SITUATION ON CONTACT LINE OF ARMED FORCES OF NKR AND AZERBAIJAN

STEPANAKERT, APRIL 6, NOYAN TAPAN. Arman Melikian, the NKR Foreign
Minister and Andrzej Kasprczik, the personal representative of the
OSCE Chairman-in-Office, discussed the situation on the contact line
of armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan and prospects of
settlement of the Karabakh conflict at the meeting taken place in
the NKR Foreign Ministry. As Noyan Tapan was informed from the NKR
Foreign Ministry’s Information and Analytical Department, the two
also discussed a number of other issues of mutual interest.

GEDIMINAS KIRKILAS: ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT BY LITHUANIA
WOULD HAVE BEEN RIGHT STEP

07.04.2005 07:25

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ «We the politicians should work for the Genocide
not to repeat,» head of the defense department of Lithuania Gedeminas
Kirkilas stated. In his words, everyone should condemn the Genocide.
«We want to contribute to Armenia in accession to the EU for wars
and genocides not to repeat in the future,» he noted. The Lithuanian
Minister informed that no document on acknowledgement of the Armenian
Genocide circulates in Lithuania, however he as a politician considers
that the acknowledgement of the Genocide by Lithuania would have been
a right step, Regnum news agency reported.

–Boundary_(ID_FzCqAqqTWxBbLnn+I361vQ)–

AZERI AND ARMENIAN STUDENTS TO MEET IN FLETCHER SCHOOL OF LAW AND DIPLOMACY

07.04.2005 04:12

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ April 6 a forum devoted to the Azeri culture
will be held in the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy,
Massachusetts. Armenian and Azeri students of the School will take part
in the forum, reported Vugar Mamedov, a student of the School, leader
of West, South, Asian and Caucasian Forum. Political scientists and
conflict specialists will also participate in the meeting. It should be
noted that the Fletcher School has been organizing «events on dialogue
of cultures» between Azeri and Armenian students for a long period
of time. The forum is headed by Fletcher School professor, political
scientist Andrew Hess. A similar event was last held March 10.

–Boundary_(ID_ZHeHr1fVS5FS6VNxKviTeg)–

MULTI-LISTING SYSTEM OF REAL ESTATE SALES INTRODUCED FOR FIRST TIME IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, APRIL 6, NOYAN TAPAN. The National Association of Realtors and
Valuers (NARV) introduced for the first time a multi-listing system
(MLS) of real estate sales in Armenia. According to director of the
NARV Realtor Activities Committee Gayane Madatian, MLS is a real
estate database collected by a group of brokers. She explained that
in order to sell or rent real estate through the system, an exclusive
contract has to be signed with the real estate company, which means
that the client temporarily transfers his/her property right to the
given company. The real estate company is obliged to advertize this
real estate and spread a maximum of information about it among buyers
and realtors. If the client does not sign an exclusive contract,
the real estate agency considers the data on property to be its
inner information and does not spread it. According to G. Madatian,
the firm tries to sell the real estate at the highest possible price
which corresponds to market demands. The exclusive contract aslo
determines the brokerage payment to be made to the firm – in the
amount of 2.5-5% of the sale price of the real estate. The average
term of a contract is 3-6 months. It was noted that if the client
rejects the contract prematurely, he/she shall pay 2% of the sale
price. The NARV representative announced that over the last 12 months,
about 180 exclusive contracts have been signed by 28 organizations –
the assocciation members.

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 60; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

April 6, 2005
___________________

FR. BEDROS ORDAINED IN NEW YORK CITY

By Jake Goshert

Tears of joy were visible on the faces of Ara Kadehjian’s family as they
approached to kiss his hand. Their joy was understandable, since in the
past few moments they had seen their son, husband, and brother reborn as
Fr. Bedros.

His ordination to the priesthood on Saturday and Sunday, April 2 and 3,
2005, was the culmination of years of work, study, and devotion. But it
was not the end of his responsibility.

“Fr. Bedros, an important responsibility is now given to you. You are
going to be a leader of the Armenian Church in this new era in this
blessed land of America,” said Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, who ordained
Fr. Bedros at New York City’s St. Vartan Cathedral. “This ancient but
living Armenian Church is in your hands, in our hands. Now you are one
of the ones with the responsibility for not only preserving our ancient
heritage, but adding something on top of it.”

The son of Papken and Shaken Kadehjian, Fr. Bedros and his wife, Yn.
Tina, recently had their first child: a daughter, Arev. Charles
Pinajian, a parish leader from the St. Leon Church of Fair Lawn, served
as godfather of Fr. Bedros’ ordination, and Fr. Mardiros Chevian, dean
of St. Vartan Cathedral, was the sponsoring priest. Fr. Bedros’
ordination was praised by his family, ordination godfather, and
sponsoring priest, as well as other leaders of the Armenian Church,
under whom Fr. Bedros studied and grew.

“It’s a great joy whenever a young man comes forward and receives the
sweet yoke of the Lord, to serve His church,” said Fr. Daniel Findikyan,
dean of St. Nersess Seminary. “It must be a great sign of the life that
comes from the Easter season when we see a young man who works and
studies so he could serve our church.”

Fr. Bedros is now in his traditional 40-day seclusion at the seminary.
He will celebrate his first Divine Liturgy at St. Vartan Cathedral on
May 15.

SHARING A PASSION

During the banquet following his ordination, Fr. Bedros spoke about
clergymen as friends and guides, sharing their love of Christ with those
around him. Quoting a passage from the book “Sleepers” by Lorenzo
Carcaterra, he read about a priest in a tough New York City parish who
loved blues music and comic books, and bought pizza for the poor
children he served.

“This priest was able to share his faith with young people. Young
people do look up to priests and there were many priests who were role
models for me,” Fr. Bedros said, citing Fr. Vahan Hovhanessian and Fr.
Nareg Berberian — both of whom knew Fr. Bedros as a young man growing
up at St. Vartan Cathedral and in Queens — as two priests who showed an
interest in growing the next generation of clergy. “They didn’t make us
feel like they were high and above us. They just opened up my eyes more
to see the possibility of going into the priesthood.”

It was their encouragement, and that of then-dean of St. Nersess
Seminary, Dn. Hratch Tchilingirian, that lead Fr. Bedros to the
priesthood after a trip to Armenia.

“Sometimes priests receive ‘the call’ after something tragic or
extraordinary, or after seeing a vision,” Fr. Bedros said. “But I
believe the Holy Spirit works in many different and mysterious ways. He
can even work through other clergy and lay leaders, and that’s how ‘the
call’ occurred with me — by people taking an interest and encouraging
me to pursue the priesthood.”

DOMELESS CHAPEL

Fr. Bedros recognized the importance and power of the church inside a
run-down, dirty, roofless neighborhood chapel in the small Armenian town
of Abaran. He had traveled to the newly-independent Armenia in 1992 as
part of St. Nersess Seminary’s Mission to Armenia. The group traveled
around the country, cleaning, rehabilitating, and holding services in
churches long-shuttered by the communist authorities.

During the trip, the young participants in the program — seminarians
and altar servers — would stay in the homes of locals. In Abaran, Fr.
Bedros and another altar server from St. Vartan Cathedral stayed in the
home of a woman who had keys to a small neighborhood church. The two
visitors asked the woman to take them inside the long-closed church,
whose dome and cross had been torn down by communist atheists to show
that religion was no longer important.

Word quickly spread through the village and the two altar servers
quickly found themselves surrounded by the villagers, eager to have some
sort of worship service. So they began singing the deacon and choir
parts of the Divine Liturgy.

“When you see the somberness in the room, and you see the way little
kids were standing at attention with candles they ran home to get, it
does something to your heart and soul that I can’t describe in words,”
Fr. Bedros said. “These types of events, they just do something to you.
You can really feel the Holy Spirit when you’re there, surrounded by
people and sharing your faith with them.”

UNITING A COMMUNITY

Building a community and sharing his love for the church is what Fr.
Bedros sees as his mission as a priest. His current work as the interim
coordinator of the Diocese’s Mission Parish Project has brought home to
him that parishes serve different types of people: American-born,
Armenians who have settled in America years ago, more recent immigrants,
and non-Armenians.

“The challenge to clergy is that we have to talk and serve and work with
all these people and become one family,” Fr. Bedros said. “We have to
make the Armenian Church talk to us and become a part of our lives.
Priests have to engage people, to help them feel the same love and
devotion we have for our faith.”

E-mail photos available on request. Photos also viewable in the News
and Events section of the Eastern Diocese’s website,

PHOTO CAPTION (1): Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese
of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), puts priestly vestments on
newly ordained Fr. Bedros Kadehjian during his ordination on Sunday,
April 3, 2005, at New York City’s St. Vartan Cathedral.

PHOTO CAPTION (2): Charles Pinajian, who served as godfather, and Fr.
Mardiros Chevian, dean of St. Vartan cathedral and the sponsoring
priest, look on during the ordination of Fr. Bedros Kadehjian.

PHOTO CAPTION (3): Archbishop Barsamian anoints Fr. Bedros Kadehjian
during the second day of his two-day ordination service at St. Vartan
Cathedral in New York.

PHOTO CAPTION (4): The newly-ordained Fr. Bedros Kadehjian addresses
the crowd inside New York City’s St. Vartan Cathedral on Sunday, April
3, 2005.

PHOTO CAPTION (5): Family and friends line up to kiss the hand of Fr.
Bedros Kadehjian following his priestly ordination by Archbishop Khajag
Barsamian on Sunday, April 3, 2005.

PHOTO CAPTION (6): Archbishop Barsamian blesses Yn. Tina Kadehjian
during her husband’s priestly ordination at St. Vartan Cathedral on
Sunday, April 3, 2005.

PHOTO CAPTION (7): Yn. Tina Kadehjian and the parents of Fr. Bedros —
Papken and Shaken Kadehjian — watch the ordination ceremony at St.
Vartan Cathedral on Sunday, April 3, 2005.

PHOTO CAPTION (8): Fr. Bedros Kadehjian blesses the crowd at a banquet
honoring him following his ordination to the priesthood by Archbishop
Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Eastern Diocese, in New York City’s St.
Vartan Cathedral on Sunday, April 3, 2005.

— 4/6/05

# # #

“Strong authorities, week opposition in Azerbaijan” – OSCE chairman

Baku, April 2, AssA-Irada

Ways of settling the Upper Garabagh conflict and parliamentary
elections due in Azerbaijan this November were discussed by the OSCE
chairman-in-office Dimitrij Rupel and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov in Baku on Saturday.

Rupel told a news briefing following the meeting that the OSCE would
like for peace talks to intensify. The OSCE chairman said that during
the meeting Mammadyarov expressed “new and interesting views”, which
need to be discussed with Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian.

Touching upon the parliamentary elections, Rupel noted that he has
presented to Mammadyarov several OSCE proposals, but did not elaborate.

“There are very strong authorities and week opposition in Azerbaijan,”
said Rupel, underlining that the OSCE will express equal attitude both
towards the authorities and opposition and try to achieve conduct of
fair and free elections.

The goal of Rupel’s visit to Azerbaijan as part of his tour of
the South Caucasus region is to get familiar with the current
socio-political situation in the country and preparations for the
upcoming parliamentary elections, as well as to discuss the Upper
Garabagh conflict and ceasefire violations.*

Nashua Telegraph, NH

High court to hear church sale case

By ALBERT McKEON, Telegraph Staff
[email protected]

Published: Saturday, Apr. 2, 2005

Preservationists and former parishioners of St. Francis Xavier Church in
Nashua have taken one last stand against the building’s sale.

Opponents of the transaction between the Roman Catholic Diocese of
Manchester and a proxy for the Armenian Orthodox Church have appealed to the
state Supreme Court. Judges at the superior and probate court levels have
rejected the dissenters’ arguments.

Meanwhile, Archbishop Torkom Manoogian, the Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate
of Jerusalem, has approved a Nashua-area developer’s purchase of the church
and his stated intent to use the building for an Armenian Orthodox parish.

Developer Vatche Manoukian received Manoogian’s blessing, attorney Gerald
Prunier said. Manoukian has a $1 million purchase-and-sale agreement with
the Manchester diocese and intends to donate the St. Francis Xavier property
to his faith, according to Prunier, who represents Manoukian.

But the transaction is on hold. Dissenters who first fought the diocese over
St. Francis Xavier’s closing in 2003 and then over the proposed sale are
taking one last legal action.

`They’re unanimous; they don’t want to give up,’ attorney Randall Wilbert
said of his group of clients. The group consists mostly of former
parishioners of the French Hill neighborhood parish, and a few who admire
the building’s architectural value.

`The struggle ahead is difficult,’ Wilbert said. `It’s certainly the last
hurrah. They can accept that, but they want to try everything.’

Wilbert filed the appeal two weeks ago. He has asked the state’s high court
to interpret a statutory trust that governs stewardship of the church.

The trust stipulates that Bishop John McCormack, leader of the Manchester
diocese, must act in the interest of former parishioners and forward the
proceeds from a sale to their new parish. When St. Francis Xavier closed, it
technically merged with St. Louis de Gonzague Church, and many parishioners
moved there.

In dismissing the plaintiff’s suit, a Hillsborough County Superior Court
judge said he could not speculate whether McCormack would use the proceeds
for any other purpose, and said the diocese is, to date, following the
conditions of the trust.

Albert McKeon can be reached at 594-5832 or [email protected].

Armenian president, US military official discuss Karabakh settlement

Mediamax news agency
30 Mar 05

Yerevan, 30 March: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan today discussed
issues of settling the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict with Deputy
Commander of the United States European Command Charles Wald, who is
on a working visit to Yerevan.

Gen Wald said that the USA and Europe were interested in preserving
peace and stability in the South Caucasus.

The sides also discussed issues of bilateral military-technical
cooperation between Armenia and the USA, the press service of the
Armenian president told Mediamax new agency today.

Lincoln Journal Star (Nebraska)
March 25, 2005 Friday
City Edition

Lecture at Lied on U.S. foreign policy

Lincoln, NE

Pulitzer-winner Power to speak at Thompson Forum.

Samantha Power, Pulitzer Prize-winning author on the subject of
genocide, will speak on “U.S. Foreign Policy and Human Rights” at
3:30 p.m. today at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

Power’s talk is part of the E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues. It
is free and open to the public.

A pre-forum talk will be at 3 p.m. in the Lied Center’s Steinhart
Room. The talk will be streamed live on the Web at and
carried live on KRNU radio at 90.3 FM and on Channel 21 on Lincoln
Time Warner Cable.

Power is the founding executive director of the Carr Center for Human
Rights Policy and adjunct lecturer in public policy at the Kennedy
School of Government at Harvard University. She won the 2003 Pulitzer
Prize for general nonfiction and the National Book Critics Circle
Award for “A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide.”

The book is a scholarly analysis of the U.S. policy toward genocide
in the 20th century that asks: Why do American leaders who vow “never
again” repeatedly fail to stop genocide?

In the book, Power traces the United States’ policy on genocide: the
Turks’ slaughter of Armenians in 1915, the Holocaust, Cambodia,
Saddam’s gassing of the Kurds, the ethnic cleansings of Yugoslavia,
and the Hutus’ genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda.

Power was a journalist for U.S. News & World Report and The
Economist, for whom she covered the war in Yugoslavia from 1993 to
1996. In 1996, she joined the International Crisis Group as a
political analyst, helping launch the organization in Bosnia.

She has begun work on a book on the causes and consequences of
“historical amnesia” in U.S. foreign policy.

ARMENIA SUPPORTS UN REFORM PROGRAM

Pan Armenian Network, Armenia
March 23 2005

Yerevan chooses between two variants of the program of reforms
proposed by the UN Secretary General.

Kofi Anan~Rs project for UN structural reforms was passed to the
member states of the United Nations Organization. Like the other 190
acknowledged countries of the world, Armenia has to decide whether
the initiative of the Secretary General meets current demands.
Armenian representation at UN has already submitted its proposals to
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The essence of Anan~Rs proposal is the expansion of
Security Council structure which currently consists of 10
non-permanent and five permanent members ~V USA, Russia, France, Great
Britain and China, all of them having the veto. After the Second
World War serious geopolitical changes marked the appearance of other
powers on a global and regional scale. Anan proposes to take into
account the mentioned fact and submits two variants for
consideration. The first variant envisages increased number of
permanent members by involving Brazil, Germany, India, Japan, Egypt
and an African country with black population. According to the second
variant the Security Council becomes a three-level organ. The first
level are the current five permanent members, the second level ~V 7-8
~Ssemi-permanent~T members elected once in 5 years with a right to be
reelected. The third level is the non-permanent members that are
changed once in two years by the principle of regional
representation.

For Armenia the first variant is more preferable first of all because
thanks to the first variant friendly countries will enter the
Security Council. We have quite a lot of resources to cooperate with
Brazil where there is an influential Armenian community. India
opposes to Pakistan ~V the strategic partner of Azerbaijan. This
circumstance of course brings together Deli and Yerevan. As for
Egypt, it was perhaps the only Islamic country that supported Armenia
during consideration of the issue concerning ~Ssecurity zones~T around
Karabakh. Besides, quite a number of Armenians live in Egypt. German
parliament that is going to accept Armenian genocide can also partner
Armenia in concrete situations. Specifically, it is known that
official Berlin in every way intends to prevent military actions
against Iran by United States.

The second variant proposed by Anan has no bright prospects and may
bring to an unpredictable situation. This variant makes it easy for
Turkey and Pakistan to enter the Security Council as the two largest
Islamic non-Arabian countries. It should be mentioned that in the
first variant the Islamic world is represented in the Security
Council not by the ~SIslamic conference~T organization with which we
have tense relations but with the League of Arab countries with which
Yerevan productively cooperates.

The vote of Armenia is only one of 128 votes necessary to approve the
program of reforms. For the present there are serious doubts about
the approval of the first variant. The thing is that many influential
countries have pretensions against countries which Anan sees among
members of the Security Council: for instance USA and Italy against
Germany, China against Japan, Pakistan against India, Mexico and
Argentina against Brazil. Africans cannot decide who is going to
represent the ~Sblack continent~T ~V UAR, Nigeria or Kenya?

Another important point in the project submitted by Anan is the
decrease of the Commission on Human Rights. This initiative is again
out of our interests. As it is known, Armenia has been elected to the
53-state commission for two terms. This enabled us to gain certain
influence on large countries. Particularly, China had to pay
attention on us when the Commission considered their question. This
created a base for Armenian diplomacy for efficient cooperation with
countries with which we have few things in common. Their votes
however mean a lot. Taking into account the circumstance we can
suppose that Armenia should not welcome the idea of reduction of the
UN Commission on Human Rights. ~SPolishing~T of the program of reforms
on the level of representations of member-states will last till the
end of summer. The final text of the program should be ready before
the September summit for the approval of heads of states. From 2006
UN will start a new life. Will the world become more secure after
that? We never know…

22.03.2005, “PanARMENIAN Network” analytical department