Author: Khondkarian Raffi

Baku Today, Azerbaijan
May 2 2004

Baku Eats Humble Pie For Its PACE Delegates

Baku Today 03/05/2004 00:15

Azeri parliamentarians’ failure to attend PACE’s 29 April meeting on
Cyprus issue was not out of Azerbaijan’s state policy, but a `careless’
attitude of the MPs, Anadolu news agency quoted Azeri ambassador to
Turkey Mammad Aliyev as saying on Saturday.
The ambassador sought to assure Turkish reporters in Ankara that the
happenings in PACE did not mean that his country had backed down
supporting the Turkish Cypriots.
`Azerbaijan will continue to support the Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus as much as it can,’ the ambassador said.
Only one out of nine Azeri MPs showed up at PACE’s meeting, which
adopted a resolution with 47-23 votes. While the resolution paid
tribute to Turkish Cypriots for their backing Annan’s reunification
plan and stressed the need for ceasing the Turkish side’s isolation, it
turned down a suggestion on the Turkish Cypriots’ independent
representation at the Parliamentary Assembly.

The resolution said that representatives of the Turkish Cypriot
community could participate at the PACE only as part of integrated
Cypriot delegation.

The event prompted dissatisfaction in Turkey, as the Turkish media
lashed out at Azerbaijani MPs for being indifferent to the problems of
Turkish Cypriots.

The Azerbaijani government also was quick to accuse its delegation of
negligence in order to sooth ire in Ankara.

Ali Hasanov, head of socio-political department at presidential
apparatus, criticized members of the Azerbaijani delegation at the PACE
for their `irresponsibility.’

`Turkey has a good reason to feel offended,’ Hasanov said in an
interview with ANS on Saturday.

He expressed hope that the `misunderstanding’ in PACE would not serve
to besmirch relationship between Azerbaijan and Turkey.

But Samad Seyidov, head of the delegation, said there was no reason to
exaggerate the event, as he did not see a big problem in the
Azerbaijani delegation’s absence at the PACE meeting.

`Some people are trying to make use of this for their interests,’ he
said, but would not elaborate.

Samadov said since 47 PACE deputies voted for and only 23 against the
resolution, Azerbaijani parliamentarians’ presence could have changed
nothing anyway.

Another member of the Azerbaijani delegation, Asim Mollazade from the
opposition Popular Front Party, even slammed his Turkish counterparts
at PACE for their poor performance on the Cyprus issue and claimed that
the Turkish MPs were trying to put blame on Azeris for their failure.

`I have appealed to Turkish Foreign Ministry several times and said
their delegation to the Council of Europe cannot represent Turkish
interests properly in the high European body,’ Mollazade told ANS on
his arrival to Baku from Strasbourg.

On contrary to the statements that the Azeri delegation did not show up
at the PACE meeting because of misunderstanding, Mollazade said there
were some political reasons they did not attend the meeting.

`If we had supported Turkish Cypriot delegates at CE, a new precedent
would have emerged and Karabakh Armenians could have made use of this
to demand representation at the Parliamentary Assembly,’ Mollazade told
ANS.

Arab News
May 2 2004

English Versus Arabic
Bushra Al-Subaie – Al-Watan

Many may think that the controversy about teaching English has ended. A
decision has been made to introduce the language into our elementary
schools. Contrary to that opinion, the argument may have now begun in
earnest. Education should not be allowed to become subject to emotions,
either by those who wholeheartedly object to the idea based on
incorrect assumptions or those who think English provides a magic
solution to all our problems.

We ought to mention that the controversy over teaching English has been
going on without the matter’s ever having been debated scientifically.
The result is the absence of any reliable conclusions on which actions
and decisions could be based.

I recently saw a study involving students at King Saud University in
Riyadh and also at a Jordanian university. Students were asked for
their opinion of English. Interestingly, 45 percent of the students
interviewed said they would prefer their children to attend
international schools where English was the language of instruction.
Among the Jordanians 96 percent and the Saudis 82 percent thought
Arabic was better for teaching religious and literary subjects while
English was better for scientific subjects. They said this was because
of the dearth of translation activity in the Arab world and the fact
that scientific subjects are often written in English.

Many may be unaware that such opinions about Arabic reflect
psychological rather than actual attitudes. Countries such as Armenia,
with a population of only three million, as well as Turkey, Indonesia
and the two Koreas all teach scientific subjects in their native
languages.

While preferring to have their children taught in English rather than
Arabic, the students also expressed the idea that English would broaden
their horizons and allow them a better chance to excel in cultural and
general knowledge subjects that do not rely on memorization. It is also
important for the job market.

>From a social perspective, people look favorably upon those with a good
command of English. At the same time, Arabic has many advantages over
English in certain areas; this was illustrated by a study of two groups
of students, one studying medicine in English and the other studying
medicine in Arabic. The study revealed that comprehension was higher
among the students studying in Arabic.

At King Saud University, 60 percent of the students said they were more
comfortable and understood more if the lecture was in Arabic. Studying
in English cost them more time and effort whereas teaching in Arabic
would save them about half the time they spend in trying to understand
the subject.

The studies show that Arab countries are wasting huge resources trying
to address the problem of weak performance by their students as a
result of studying in languages other than Arabic. It is a matter that
calls for a serious review of educational priorities.

Glendale News Press
LATimes.com
May 4 2004

Mall owner bankrolling referendum
General Growth providing ‘major funding’ for effort to overturn
council’s Americana approval.

By Josh Kleinbaum, News-Press

DOWNTOWN GLENDALE – General Growth Properties, which owns the
Glendale Galleria, is providing most of the funding for a referendum
effort to overturn the City Council’s approval of a $264.2-million
retail and residential development in downtown Glendale.

General Growth formed Glendale Citizens for a Well-Planned Town
Center on Monday. The committee is trying to gather 8,117 signatures
from local registered voters to bring the Town Center issue to a
citywide vote.

“We have been approached by numerous Glendale residents and
businesses, urging us to join their signature-gathering effort to
place the Town Center project before Glendale voters,” General Growth
spokesman Arthur Sohikian said.

Sohikian described the committee as “a coalition of Glendale
residents and downtown businesses with major funding by General
Growth Properties.”

The group has until May 27 to get the necessary signatures, which are
being collected by paid workers all over town.

General Growth has opposed the Town Center, now known as the
Americana at Brand, since buying the Galleria in October 2002,
claiming that it will lose up to $4 million per year in revenue to
the new project. The company also is considering challenging the
project’s environmental impact report, which analyzes the project’s
effect on the city.

“I am very disappointed at them,” Mayor Bob Yousefian said. “This is
going to bring a lot of ill will toward the Galleria, which is not a
good thing for the city. I think it’s pretty obvious, they’ve stepped
in it this time.”

The referendum targets three ordinances approved by the City Council
on April 27 – one allowing housing in the area, one implementing a
specific plan to create the appropriate zoning, and one stating that
the zoning cannot be changed during the construction period.

“Let the Glendalians decide whether they want the project or not,”
said Vrej Agajanian, a member of the committee and host of an
Armenian-language television show. “If they want it, it is fine.”

Agajanian said that developer Rick Caruso prevented Glendale citizens
from expressing their opinions to the City Council by bringing
members of unions to the council meetings and having his people fill
out speaker cards for Americana supporters.

At public meetings for the Americana in the past month, support for
the project has been overwhelming.

“Now we’re in a situation where we’re going to be running a
campaign,” Caruso said. “They’re running a campaign to kill the
project, we’re running a campaign to save the project. Since there
was so much support in the community and on the council, they’ve got
a tough campaign.”

Why Parliament’s Armenian resolution really mattered

By ALAN WHITEHORN
The Globe and Mail
Tuesday, Apr. 27, 2004

The April 24 genocide remembrance day is one of the three most important
days in the contemporary Armenian calendar, along with Christmas and
Easter. This year the commemoration is particularly poignant with the
passage in the House of Commons this past week of Bill M-380 recognizing
the Armenian genocide of 1915.

It is somewhat intimidating to try to summarize the Armenian genocide in
the grim counting of the dead. In the absence of a vast sea of
tombstones, our shared memory must be the collective marker denoting
their fate.

My own family is part of the Armenian diaspora. My father, an
Anglo-Canadian, met my mother, an Armenian, in Egypt half a century ago,
and they came to Canada as immigrants. We share many new experiences in
our adopted home, but we also remember our ancestral roots.

My grandmother was an orphan of the genocide who never knew her real
name or age and spent many years in refugee camps. As her grandchild, I
have often thought about how we try to understand such enormous
suffering, and such vast indifference by too many.

Our reactions to genocide inevitably shift over time. Initially,
enormous shock, trauma and deep anger are the primary responses. Later,
a search for personal and international recognition and justice comes to
the fore. Still later, there emerges an attempt to understand both the
particular and the more universal aspects of genocide.

It is sometimes helpful to think in terms of key persons when trying to
understand the grand epic accounts of history. In this case, I think of
three men that symbolize three different responses to genocide. Each
person was cited in Samantha Power’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book A
Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide.

The first is Soghomon Tehlirian, a young Armenian. By age 19, he was the
sole survivor in his family. His mother, father, brothers and sisters
were all killed. He himself had been shot in the arm, wounded in the leg
by a sword and beaten unconscious, awaking to discover that the entire
caravan of thousands of Armenians from his home town had been
slaughtered.

He fled the killing fields and journeyed through the Near East and the
Balkans to Western Europe. The year 1921 found him in Berlin, still
distraught and suffering from epileptic seizures. One day, he recognized
an exiled Ottoman official, Talat Pasha, a former minister of the
interior in the Ottoman Empire and one of the key figures in the
triumvirate that, he believed, planned the genocide.

Mr. Tehlirian shot and killed Talat Pasha on a street in Berlin on March
15, 1921, and was immediately arrested. A sensational trial took place
in June of that year. Could surviving mass murder (the term “genocide”
had yet to be born) drive a person to commit an act of violence? Was he
guilty of murder – or was he exercising personal clan justice for the
death of his entire family? Is the murder of a tyrant ever justified? Or
were his acts those of a terrorist? The jury found him not guilty.

Raphael Lemkin, an aspiring law student in Poland, read about the trial;
it prompted him to wonder: How could we have a law for the murder of one
person, but not for the murder of one million persons? Conceptually,
there was no word for such a crime – thus, there was no way for
applying, let alone enforcing, collective law and justice. Mr. Lemkin
wrestled through the 1930s with the need for a legal term to convey the
magnitude of such a crime.

Then came the Nazi invasion of Poland. Mr. Lemkin, as a Jew, was at
grave risk. He fled Nazi-occupied Europe, found his way to sanctuary in
the United States, and wrote a monumental book exhaustively documenting
the Nazi record – and making the world aware of the term “genocide.”

Mr. Lemkin would become an adviser to the Allies at the Nuremberg
Tribunal, which attempted to introduce justice after the fact. More
importantly, he would become a one-man crusade to oversee the passage in
the United Nations on Dec. 9, 1948, of the Convention on the Prevention
and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The very next day, the UN
Charter of Human Rights, drafted by Canadian John Humphrey, was passed.
Together these two documents provided the underpinnings for a charter of
rights for all humanity.

However, it was not sufficient to introduce a new term for an
unthinkable crime, nor was it enough to pass a pioneering convention in
international law. Clearly, something would have to enforce
international law and ensure justice for the world community.

This leads us to Roméo Dallaire, a Canadian general who left the
comfortable confines of Canada to serve overseas. In 1994, he was
working for the UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda. As some of that
country’s political leaders urged the Hutu majority to annihilate the
Tutsi ethnic minority, General Dallaire pleaded for more troops and
greater authority to intervene militarily. His pleas were ignored by
Western governments, the UN headquarters, most of the Western media and,
tragically, even by survivors of earlier genocides. The result was
800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead.

Too many of us in the world had succumbed to the “sin of indifference.”
We had not learned sufficiently well the lessons of the First World
War’s Armenian genocide, nor the Second World War’s Holocaust.

This is why last week’s parliamentary recognition of Armenia’s genocide
matters so much. We all must resist the sin of indifference.

Alan Whitehorn is a professor of political science at the Royal Military
College, cross-appointed at Queen’s University.

ARKA News Agency
April 26 2004

RA President takes part in charity concert of famous singer Charles
Aznavur in Paris

150 culture figures of russia will take part in Russian Culture Days
in Armenia

Monument-Khachkar Memorial to 1915 Armenian Genocide victims placed
in Akhaltskha City (Georgia)

President Bush fails to honor pledge to recognize Armenian Genocide
for the fourth time

Armenian-Russian culture links have great perspectives – Robert
Kocharian

The Caucasus Media Institute organizes three-day practice courses
online journalism

The RA President Robert Kocharian goes to Paris with an official
visit

*********************************************************************

RA PRESIDENT TAKES PART IN CHARITY CONCERT OF FAMOUS SINGER CHARLES
AZNAVUR IN PARIS

YEREVAN, April 26. /ARKA/. RA President Robert Kocharian and first
lade Bella Kocharian took part in charity concert of famous singer
Charles Aznavur in Paris. All assets from the concert will be
transferred to the fund Aznavur to Armenia. Kocharian also met with
UNESCO Secretary General Kuetiro Matsuro.
On April 25, the President Kocharian left for working visit in Paris.
Kocharian will meet with the President of France Jack Shirak.
On April 27 delegation headed with Kocharian will leave for Warsaw
for participation in the work of European economic forum.
The President of Armenia will also take part in working sitting
Caucasus and will participate in opening of plenary sitting. L.D.
–0–

*********************************************************************

150 CULTURE FIGURES OF RUSSIA WILL TAKE PART IN RUSSIAN CULTURE DAYS
IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, April 26. /ARKA/. 150 culture figures of Russia will take
part in Russian Culture Days in Armenia, RA Minister of Culture and
Youth Affairs Tamara Poghosian stated at the press conference in
Yerevan. According to her, Russian Culture Days are the event in
cultural life of Armenia and the level of Armenian-Russian culture
cooperation obliges to conduct the program of activities at the
highest level. She said that activities on this program will take
place not only in Yerevan, but in Vanadzor, Gyumri and Spitak.
The Head of Russian Delegation Vladimir Kozlov in his turn said that
present program envisages not less than 15 large activities,
including Russian Movie Day, concerts of Vivaldi orchestra, Russian
song, Semen Altov, Alexander Buinov and others. L.D. –0–

*********************************************************************

MONUMENT-KHACHKAR MEMORIAL TO 1915 ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS PLACED
IN AKHALTSKHA CITY (GEORGIA)

YEREVAN, April 26. /ARKA/. Monument-Khachkar Memorial to 1915
Armenian Genocide victims was placed in Akhaltskha City (Georgia).
Khachkar was placed at the highest hill of the city, by Surb Nshan
Church.
The same day, on April 24, Tbilisian Church Surb Echmiadzin finished
a liturgy, which was followed with procession to Pantheon of famous
figures of Tbilisi.
>From the beginning of the 19th century till 1920, the Ottoman Empire,
legal successor of which is today’s turkey, regularly tormented and
persecuted Armenians. The top of barbarity was in 1915 when over a
million of Armenians was massacred in different regions of West
Armenia, part of the Empire.
The fact of the Armenian Genocide has been recognised by many
countries, including Uruguay (the first state that recognised the
genocide in 1965), Russia, France, Argentina, Greece, Lower Chamber
of Italy, 31 states of the U.S. L.D. -0–

*********************************************************************

PRESIDENT BUSH FAILS TO HONOR PLEDGE TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
FOR THE FOURTH TIME

YEREVAN, April 26. /ARKA/. President Bush, ignoring calls from over
190 U.S. legislators, failed, once again, to honor his campaign
pledge to properly characterize the Armenian Genocide as “genocide,”
reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). In a
statement issued today, on April 24th, the annual day of remembrance
for the Armenian Genocide, the President again resorted to the use of
evasive and euphemistic terminology to obscure the reality of
Turkey’s Genocide against the Armenian people between 1915-1923. This
year’s statement praised the Turkish Armenian Reconciliation
Commission (TARC,) the failed State Department funded initiative
devised to derail progress toward international recognition of the
Armenian Genocide. The effort was universally rejected by Armenians
in the U.S., Armenia and around the world. “We do appreciate that
President Bush has, once again, taken the time to mark April 24th as
a day of remembrance. Armenian Americans, however, remain deeply
troubled that for the fourth year in a row, despite his repeated
calls for ‘moral clarity’ in the conduct of our international
affairs, he has allowed pressure by a foreign government to reduce
the President of the United States to using evasive and euphemistic
terminology to avoid properly identifying the Armenian Genocide – an
important chapter in America’s emergence as an international
humanitarian power – as what is was: a genocide,” said ANCA Executive
Director Aram Hamparian. “The President’s failure to honor his
campaign promise to recognize the Armenian Genocide is compounded by
the fact that, in this statement, he commends the thoroughly
discredited Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission, a transparent
partnership between the U.S. State Department and the Turkish
government to block the growing international recognition of and
justice for Turkey’s crime against the Armenian nation.” “It is also
plainly disingenuous for the President to ‘call on both Armenia and
Turkey to restore their economic, political, and cultural ties,’ when
it is the Turkish government that has illegally imposed a decade-long
blockade of Armenia, and it has been Armenia that has called for the
normalization of bilateral relations without preconditions. This
formulation suggests either a lack of understanding of the region or
a deliberate effort to artificially play down Turkey’s belligerent
posture while simultaneously devaluing Armenia’s very meaningful
contributions to regional stability.” The Bush Administration is
formally on record in opposition to Congressional legislation
recognizing the Armenian Genocide. For the position of the Democratic
Presidential hopeful John Kerry regarding Armenian Genocide
ecognition, please visit. L.D. -0 –

*********************************************************************

ARMENIAN-RUSSIAN CULTURE LINKS HAVE GREAT PERSPECTIVES – ROBERT
KOCHARIAN

YEREVAN, April 26. /ARKA/. Armenian-Russian culture links have great
perspectives, RA President Robert Kocharian’s statement considering
Russian Culture Day in Armenia says. `Armenian-Russian culture links
have many-years’ history and cooperation development based on this
heritage is the wealth that we must keep for future generations’, the
statement said.
On April 26-30 Russian Culture Days will be held in Yerevan, during
which the multifaceted Russian art will be presented to the Armenian
public. These days will be in the frames of culture cooperation
between RA and RF Culture Ministries in 2003-2005.
A big gala concert will open the Russian days in Demirchyan Sport and
Concert Hall. Russian Song ensemble with Nadezhda Babkina, musical
bands Vivaldi Orchestra and Phonographjaz-Band’, satirists Semen
Altov and Efim Shifrin will perform on the concert. A Russian play
will be presented in Stanislavky Russian Dramatic Theater.
The Russian Cinema Week will be presented by such films as Slav
Woman’s Marsh, Sunstroke, Break Point, Carmen, Ark. The Union of
Painters of Armenia hall will host the exhibition presenting the
works by Chairman of Union of Painters of Russia Valentin Sidorov. As
planned the Russian art will also be presented in Spitak, Gyumri and
Vanadzor. L.D. -0 –

*********************************************************************

THE CAUCASUS MEDIA INSTITUTE ORGANIZES THREE-DAY PRACTICE COURSES
ONLINE JOURNALISM

YEREVAN, April 26. /ARKA. The Caucasus Media Institute organizes
online journalism three-day vocational training courses to be held
from 1 June to June 3. As the CMI told ARKA, the courses will have
the following thematic: principles of the published information, how
to write information: issues of structure and ethics, how to make the
information more readable and interesting, efficient use of the text
in print, images and animation. Best sample technique will allow
demonstrating how to make the material, more readable and
interesting. The issue of selection of the materials for Internet
publication, productive use of images will be touched upon.
The participants will be involved in-group workshops. The courses
will be lead by representative of Dublin University,
journalist-adviser Harry Quinn. The potential participants should
submit applications.
CMI was organized in April 2002 with the purpose of development of
the mass media on the Southern Caucasus, rising of the journalists’
vocational level: introduction of the journalism international
standards in the South Caucasus, enhancing of the journalists vision,
as well as teaching them the current events analyses methods. T.M.
-0–

*********************************************************************

THE RA PRESIDENT ROBERT KOCHARIAN GOES TO PARIS WITH AN OFFICIAL
VISIT

YEREVAN, April 26. /ARKA/. The RA President Robert Kocharian went to
Paris with an official visit. According to the RA President’s Press
Service Department, Kocharian to meet the president of France Jacques
Chirac. Besides, President Kocharian and his wife will Mrs. Bella
Kocharian will be present on the concert of a world famous singer
Charles Aznavour at the Palais des Congres in Paris. President
Kocharian will also meet with the Director of the Bouigue company,
Olivier Bouigue.
According to the press release, On April 27, President Robert
Kocharian, accompanied by the Armenian Ministers of Foreign Affairs,
and Trade and Economic Development will leave for Warsaw to
participate in the European economic forum.
The President will participate in the Caucasus working session and
attend the opening plenary session. Robert Kocharian is also expected
to meet with the Executive President of the World Economic Forum
Claus Schwab. While in Warsaw, President Kocharian will have
bilateral meetings with President Alexander Kwasniewski of Poland and
Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia.A.H. –0–

The Providence Journal (Rhode Island)
April 22, 2004 Thursday
West Bay

Rite to commemorate Armenian Genocide

CRANSTON – Mayor Stephen P. Laffey will preside tomorrow evening at a
ceremony in front of City Hall to mark the 89th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Turkish Empire.

About 1.5-million Armenians were slaughtered by the Turks between
1915 and 1923, an episode that the Turkish government to this day has
refused to acknowledge.

“The people of Armenia, adults and children alike, peacefully
practiced Christianity and were imprisoned and killed for it,” Laffey
said. “Since then, many people have turned a blind eye to the events.
That’s a dangerous course of action one which could doom history to
repeat itself.”

Laffey will be joined in the 6 p.m. ceremony by a member of the
clergy and a survivor of the genocide.

A1 Plus | 21:53:20 | 23-04-2004 | Social |

ECONOMIC COURT’S DECISION REMAINS UNCHANGED

The Court of Appeal left unchanged Economic Court decision on A1+ TV Company
suit against Radio and Television National Commission.

The company demands the commission to present justification for its refusal
to give A1+ broadcasting license at tender held in June and July of 2003.

The courts made their decisions in a clear breach of the law. It is
specified in the law that the commission ought to present written
justification for its denial to give license to any company within ten days
after the decision.

A1 Plus | 19:48:07 | 23-04-2004 | Politics |

HARUTYUN SHIKLANYAN UNHAPPY ABOUT BRITISH AMBASSADOR’S WORDS

Harutyun Shiklanyan, 81, has decided to return the medals received from
British Ambassador in 2003 for the bravery shown in World War II.

“I can’t come to terms with the fact of humiliation of my nation he said
referring to British Ambassador’s recent statement that the 1915 events
shouldn’t be called genocide. I think after such a statement several
thousands people had to gather outside the Embassy in a protest”, he says.

A1 Plus | 13:58:33 | 22-04-2004 | Politics |

CANADIAN PARLIAMENT RECOGNIZED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Canadian Parliament passes historic recognition of the Armenian Genocide by
a massive margin of 153 to 68.

Motion M-380 seconded by Sarkis Assadourian, M.P. Brampton Centre won the
resounding approval of the House of Commons.

The successful motion called on the House of Commons to acknowledge the
Armenian Genocide of 1915 and condemn this act as crime against humanity.

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
04/22/2004
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://

1) Country with a Conscience, Canada Passes Armenian Genocide Legislation
2) Sen. Kerry Calls for International Recognition of Armenian Genocide
3) European Armenian Federation Hails Canada
4) Turkey Chides Canada over Armenia Genocide Vote

1) Country with a Conscience, Canada Overwhelmingly Passes Armenian Genocide
Legislation

OTTAWA (Combined Sources)–The Canadian Parliament on Wednesday ignored
long-standing government policy and angered Turkey by formally declaring that
Ottoman Turks committed genocide against Armenians in 1915. The non-partisan
vote was 153 for and 68 against. When the result of the vote was announced,
the
House of Commons chamber, packed with Armenians from Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto
and other Canadian cities, burst in applause, shouting “bravo.” Tears of joy
could be seen in the eyes of many Armenians.
Motion M-380, which reads: “That this House acknowledges the Armenian
genocide
of 1915 and condemns this act as a crime against humanity,” was moved by MP
Madeleine Dalphond-Guiral and was seconded by MPs Sarkis Assadourian, Jason
Kenney, and Alexa McDonough. Voting, which began at 6:15 PM, lasted 30
minutes.
The governing Liberal leadership paved the way for this vote by allowing a
“free vote,” meaning that individual members are allowed to vote their
conscience, without any pressure or negative repercussions from their
respective party leaderships. Although Minister of Foreign Affairs Bill Graham
used every means available to him to defeat the Motion, he was unable to
change
the historic outcome.
In the vote, several leading members of the Liberal Party, including
parliamentary secretaries, voted in favor; however, no full cabinet minister
voted against.
Aris Babikian, of the Armenian National Committee of Canada, pointed out that
several key cabinet ministers, including Justice Minister Irwin Cotler and
even
Prime Minister Paul Martin, were absent for the vote.
“It’s a terrible double standard for Paul Martin to force his ministers to
vote against it and not even show up himself,” said Tory foreign affairs
critic
Stockwell Day. “That is a hypocritical double standard.”
At a celebration party after Tuesday’s vote, Babikian said he owed this
victory to his grandfather who “lost six brothers and sisters in the genocide”
and “saw his own six-year-old sister burned to death.”
On February 21, the Parliament held its first reading of Bill M-380, which
included an hour of debate on the measure. Among those speaking in favor of
the
Resolution during the first reading were Derek Lee, Eleni Bakopnaos, Francine
Lalonde, Stockwell Day, and the Hon. Lorne Nystrom.
The second reading of M-380, to recognize the Armenian Genocide, took
place on
April 20. During the one-hour debate, only one member of the House spoke
against the motion. The other seven speakers were favored of the motion.
In the last two days, the Turkish Embassy and its public relations firms had
launched a concerted campaign against the adoption of the bill. A delegation
from the Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC) was on hand to counter
the Turkish Embassy’s campaign of falsification and distortion of the
historical facts. An ANCC team has been in the nation’s capital for the past
several weeks representing the community’s views on this matter.
The passing of this resolution was the culmination of a 25 year process which
encompassed similar resolutions being passed by city councils, provinces, and
the Canadian Senate (July 13, 2002).
Dr. Girair Basmadjian, president of the Armenian National Committee of Canada
(ANCC), was elated by the result of the vote. “As an Armenian, I was moved and
felt grateful for the respect that was shown by the Canadian Parliament to the
memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide. As a Canadian, I am proud that
the House of Commons adopted this historic motion.”
“This is a victory for truth and justice.” stated Dr. Basmadjian.
“Implicated in this course of action for over two decades, the ANCC has
constituted the driving force behind the process towards the adoption of this
motion,” commented Basmadjian. “The accomplishment of this task was made
possible through the mobilization, as well as the implication of our grass
roots members who made sure that all Members of Parliament were aware of the
importance of this issue for our community.”
The ANCC was actively involved in promoting the passing of the motion. For
the last six months, the ANCC worked very closely with parliamentarians and
foreign affairs critics of all the political parties represented in the
House.
ANC of America Executive Director Aram Hamparian also lauded Canada’s
lawmakers. “The Canadian Parliament, in rejecting intense Turkish government
pressure, took an important step in further isolating Turkey for its shameful,
international campaign of genocide denial.”
The ANCC mailed a specially-prepared brief to all members of the House. The
ANCC also mobilized the Canadian-Armenian community to counter the Turkish
Government’s propaganda campaign through e-mails, postcards and telephone
calls
to parliamentarians.
Canada, a NATO ally, now joins a long list of nations including France,
Italy,
Greece, Switzerland and Russia which have recognized the Armenian Genocide of
1915-1923.

2) Sen. Kerry Calls for International Recognition of Armenian Genocide

DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL OUTLINES STRONG HISTORY OF SUPPORT FOR
ARMENIAN
AMERICAN CONCERNS IN APRIL 24TH STATEMENT

SENATOR’S RECORD ON ARMENIAN ISSUES DETAILED ON

WASHINGTON, DC (ANCA)–Democratic Presidential hopeful, Sen. John Kerry,
called
for international recognition of the Armenian Genocide today, in a statement
issued to Armenian Americans marking the 89th anniversary of that crime
against
humanity.
An outspoken advocate of US recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Senator
Kerry stated, “I join Armenian Americans and Armenians worldwide in mourning
the victims of the Armenian Genocide and I call on governments and people
everywhere to formally recognize this tragedy. Only by learning from this dark
period of history and working to prevent future genocides can we truly honor
the memories of those Armenians who suffered so unjustly.”
Earlier this week, Senator Kerry joined 22 of his Senate colleagues
calling on
President Bush to “refer to the mass slaughter of Armenians as genocide in
your
commemorative statement.” He was amongst the earliest cosponsors of the
Genocide resolution (S.Res.164), which marks the 15th anniversary of the US
implementation of the Genocide Convention.
“With this most recent statement honoring the victims of the Armenian
Genocide, Sen. Kerry builds on his two decade long record of support for
proper
US recognition of this crime against humanity,” stated Aram Hamparian,
Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA.) “This
election season, we look forward to ensuring that our community is fully aware
of the Senator’s record on the Armenian Genocide and all issues of concern to
Armenian American voters.”
In the statement, Sen. Kerry outlined his longstanding support for a broad
range of Armenian American concerns. “In 1992, I authored an amendment to the
Freedom Support Act making US aid to Azerbaijan conditional on it taking steps
to end its blockades against Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh. I supported the
Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act in 1996, which prohibits US assistance to any
country that restricts the delivery of US humanitarian aid to another country.
In 2003, I cosponsored legislation to extend “permanent normal trade
relations”
(PNTR) to Armenia. This January, I joined Senators Barbara Boxer, George
Allen,
Paul Sarbanes, Russ Feingold, and Jon Corzine in asking the President to urge
Turkey to lift its embargo of Armenia.”
Senator Kerry’s complete record on Armenian American concerns is posted on
the
Armenians For Kerry website– The website includes
previous statements by the Senator and provides ways for Armenian American
supporters to become active in the Kerry campaign through donations or other
volunteer efforts.
The complete text of Sen. Kerry’s statement follows.

Statement by Democratic Presidential Candidate John Kerry In Remembrance of
the Armenian Genocide:

“April 24th marks the 89th anniversary of the beginning of the Armenian
Genocide. Between 1915 and 1923 the rulers of the old Ottoman Empire killed or
deported over 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children in a systematic
policy of ethnic extermination.”

“I thank Armenian Americans for their persistence in the struggle to gain
international recognition of this atrocity. By keeping the memory of this
tragedy alive, Armenian Americans remind us all of our collective
responsibility to insure that such horrors are not repeated.

“I am proud of my work with the Armenian American community to gain broader
recognition of the Armenian Genocide, including fighting alongside Senator
Robert Dole in 1990 for designation of April 24 as a national day of
remembrance for this tragedy.”

“I have been an unwavering supporter of many other important Armenian issues.
In 1992, I authored an amendment to the Freedom Support Act making US aid to
Azerbaijan conditional on it taking steps to end its blockades against Armenia
and Nagorno Karabagh. I supported the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act in 1996
which prohibits US assistance to any country that restricts the delivery of US
humanitarian aid to another country. In 2003, I cosponsored legislation to
extend “permanent normal trade relations” (PNTR) to Armenia. This January, I
joined Senators Barbara Boxer, George Allen, Paul Sarbanes, Russ Feingold, and
Jon Corzine in asking the President to urge Turkey to lift its embargo of
Armenia.”

“I join Armenian Americans and Armenians worldwide in mourning the victims of
the Armenian Genocide and I call on governments and people everywhere to
formally recognize this tragedy. Only by learning from this dark period of
history and working to prevent future genocides can we truly honor the
memories
of those Armenians who suffered so unjustly.”

3) European Armenian Federation Hails Canada

BRUSSELS–The European Armenian Federation applauded Canada’s passage of
Armenian Genocide legislation on Wednesday, congratulating those organizations
and individuals who doggedly pursued official recognition, as well as
parliament members who backed the motion, ensuring its passage by a vote of
153
to 58.
“In restoring truth, Canada also restores justice and paves the only possible
way to a frank and fair reconciliation. That’s why we ask the European
Union to
demand without delay Turkey to acknowledge and to give reparation for the
Armenian Genocide before examining its application for membership,” said the
director of the European Armenian Federation Laurent Leylekian.

4) Turkey Chides Canada over Armenia Genocide Vote

ANKARA (Reuters)–Turkey on Thursday condemned the Canadian parliament’s
decision to recognize the 1915 killing of Armenians by Ottoman forces as
genocide and warned of damage to bilateral ties.
“We strongly condemn the approval by Canada’s Federal Parliament of this
decision which follows (the pressure of) marginal groups despite our
objections,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“This decision will benefit neither Canadian Armenians nor Armenia.
Responsibility for all the negative consequences of this decision belongs to
the Canadian politicians,” it added.
The ministry did not say what these consequences might be, but Fazli Corman,
the Turkish embassy councilor in Ottawa, earlier cited the example of Canadian
companies seeking to sign contracts in Turkey.
Canadian Foreign Minister Bill Graham said the motion would not alter
Ottawa’s
official policy, that while the events of 1915 were a tragedy, they did not
constitute genocide.
Canada’s embassy in Ankara issued a statement calling for reconciliation
between Turks and Armenians. It also urged their governments to deal with the
issue of the alleged genocide and to work for greater stability in their
“volatile region.”
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry accused “narrow-minded Canadian politicians” of
fomenting ethnic and religious hatred between “people of different ethnic
backgrounds who live in peace.”
Earlier this week, Turkey also criticized a reference to the alleged genocide
on an Armenian monument unveiled in Poland. The word “slandered” the Turkish
nation, the Foreign Ministry said, and hurt Turkey’s historically warm ties
with Poland.
Parliaments in Russia, France and Switzerland, have also adopted motions
describing the events of 1915 as genocide.
Turkey froze official visits to France and temporarily blocked French firms
from entering lucrative defense contracts in 2001 after the French parliament
backed the Armenian case. France is home to Europe’s biggest Armenian
Diaspora.

The US Congress dropped a similar resolution in 2000 after the White House
warned it would harm US security interests in the Middle East.

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