Author: Nadirian Emma

Intense Galas goes for the jugular
By SCOTT D. LEWIS

Oregonian, OR
Sept 14 2004

Diamanda Galas’ two weekend shows as part of PICA’s Time-Based Art
Festival were a study in contrasts. The contrast between intense,
and really intense, that is.

Friday night’s show nearly filled the Newmark Theatre and was
decidedly the more intense of her riveting performances, with Galas
plowing through her recently released “DEFIXIONES: Will & Testament”
double album. The piece, dedicated “to the forgotten and erased of the
Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek genocides that occurred in Asia Minor,
Pontos and Thrace between 1914 and 1923,” was performed with Galas
clawing at a black grand piano, transfixed at two side pulpits or
clenching her microphones and prowling on a runway toward the audience.

The stage was blackened, three candelabras glowed at the back, and
Galas, cloaked in layered black gauze, appeared both bewitching and
as though caught in a spell.

That spell, which proved itself to be more a case of passionate
possession, quickly enveloped the theater’s three levels and left
nearly all in a sustained, cerebral trance.

Armed with a 31/2-octave vocal range, “six languages and gibberish” and
methodically researched and dissected subject matter, Galas shrieked,
screeched, growled, hissed and howled the cases of souls slaughtered
and forgotten.

And even if her texts are foreign, her pieces are difficult, and
her singular, dervish-banshee singing can be unsettling. When Galas
performs, her intent is definite, and her delivery is inescapable
and unforgettable.

Sunday’s show was sold out — and stunning.

Seated at the piano for the evening, Galas turned toward her dark
bluesy side and paced through a gripping set of standards, murder
ballads and original songs.

In Galas’ hands and throat, the somewhat chipper “My World Is Empty
Without You,” became turbulent and tortured, sounding as if the world
in question was really the underworld.

With her husky, seasoned voice, unique arrangements and absolute
focus, Galas sounded like the vampiric lovechild of Tom Waits and
Nina Simone, throwing in a few rounds of seizure-inducing screeching
for good measure.

Her take on Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” could leave
Elvis stirred and shaken, and her version of Shel Silverstein’s
“25 Minutes to Go” peeled back the campfire favorite to reveal the
silly tune for what it really is — the panic of a person on the way
to be executed.

After multiple standing ovations and encores, Galas ended her stellar
show with an otherworldly version of “Gloomy Sunday” and made her
way to the lobby for a casual meet-and-greet with fans both old and
certainly new.

Iran’s Khatami reiterates needs to revive spirituality

IRNA web site, Tehran
10 Sep 04

Yerevan, 10 September: President Mohammad Khatami said here Thursday 9
September that followers of all holy religions should try to revive
spirituality throughout the globe to restore peace and security
worldwide.

The president made the remarks here, before leaving for Belarus on
Thursday, in a meeting with Garegin II, Catholicos of all Armenians.

“If the world is now exposed to terror, horror, war and injustice,”
president Khatami said, “This is because it has forgotten the God
and spirituality.”

The meeting was also attended by the representatives of Iranian
Armenians in the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis) who are
accompanying President Khatami in his tour of three regional countries.

Garegin II, in return, expressed satisfaction over Tehran-Yerevan
good relations and Tehran’s proper treatment of Iranian Armenians.

Later in the day, the president and his entourage left Yerevan for
Minsk, capital of Belarus Republic.

What underlies the bestial carnage of the Caucasus?

Mmegi, Botswana
Sept 10 2004

QUESTION TIME
PATRICK VAN RENSBURG

“DON’T these people have children, too”, Beslan residents asked each
other last week when Chechen rebels took a thousand of them hostage,
mostly Ossetians, and half of them children, resulting in the death
of several hundreds, and injury to many more.

What is it all about?

Towards the end of the 1914-1918 World War, when Lenin’s Bolsheviks
seized control from the Tsars of the Russian Empire that covered most
of Central and Eastern Europe and North Asia, it became the Soviet
Union based on semi-autonomous Republics that the colonies were
turned into.

Historically, the Caucasus, which separates the Caspian Sea and the
Black Sea, was a battleground of Chechens, Armenians, Georgians,
Azeris, Ingushis and Ossetians, in which the Tsars waged brutal wars.

Religious differences, Christian versus Muslim, often masked material
reasons for conflicts like access to land and other natural
resources. Sometimes, the ethnic differences were a more direct spark
of conflict.

The Russians, it seems, were especially contemptuous of the “swarthy”
Chechens, particularly those to the south of Chechnya, who were
Muslim. The Third Imam of Chechnya and Dagesta on the Caspian Sea,
Imam Shamil, had introduced Sharia Law and strengthened the hold of
Islam over his people in the mid 1800s.

Even after Imperial Russia conquered Chechnya, its brutality
continued, with burning of villages, hounding of Muslim clerics and
forced emigration to the Ottoman Empire, to the south, of many
defeated opponents.

A journalist of Southern African origins, Vanora Bennett, in her book
‘The Return of War to Chechnya’, written in the early 1990s, claims
that “what the Russians remembered with great bitterness” over the
years of their imperial occupation of Chechnya, were “dramatic
mountain kidnappings” by Chechen guerillas “of highly placed Russian
officers and their relentless bargaining over the price of the
release of their hostages”.

Even under Soviet rule, especially under Stalin, the Georgian, the
Chechens reportedly had bitter experiences. In her book, Vanora
Bennett records that Stalin had ordered that on 23 February 1944,
Chechens and Ingushis should collect on their village squares to
celebrate Red Army Day. Throughout their territories, she writes,
600,000 were rounded up by soldiers and packed off in cattle trucks
into exile in the Soviet interior in Central Asia.

The reason, reportedly, was that Stalin accused them of having
collaborated with Nazi Germany. Apparently, a decade after Stalin’s
death, many deported Ingushis and Chechnyans “crept home”.

In 1991, the Soviet Union began to collapse. As a semi-autonomous
Soviet Republic, Chechnya declared its independence.

It was a country divided between its north and south, between
Christians and Muslims. In 1993, its leader, Dudayev, is reported to
have dissolved the Chechen Parliament, and to have ordered the
execution of many opponents. By the end of 1993, opposition to
Dudayev had developed into a small-scale civil war, as a result of
which Northern Chechens called for Russian support.

Russian military intervention was questionable in international law,
critics argue, even if Chechnya was part of the CIS – Commonwealth of
Independent States. It would have been wiser for Russia to have
internationalised intervention and set aside historical prejudice and
national self-interest.

Chechens claim that 300,000 Russian soldiers presently “inflict a
regime of terror” in Chechnya, whose population has been reduced from
two million, 10 years ago, to 800,000 now. Thirty five thousand
children have been killed, they claim, and another 42,000 injured.

For all that, hostage taking, suicide bombings, planting bombs in
passenger aircraft and calculated, direct harm to children are
criminal acts, that must become punishable by life imprisonment,
anywhere, under international law.

The Russians are attracting some criticism for seeking to identify
Chechen nationalism with international terrorism. Separatist Chechens
see this, and Russian refusal to promote negotiations, as attempts to
undermine the legitimacy of their claims to national independence.
They accuse President Putin of personal antagonism towards legitimate
Chechen independence aspirations.

Are Chechnyan rebels, who now specialise in the evils of
hostage-taking, knowingly following ancestors who kidnapped Tsarist
generals in the Caucasian mountains 150 years ago, or is it but a
curious coincidence?

The truth is that today’s enemies are numb to the horrors of the most
extreme brutalities against each other, or between their respective
allies. The Beslan hostage taking shows that Chechen rebels no longer
kill only purebred Russians.

What they seek is the widest publicity, hoping that it will draw
attention to the oppression they suffer. The media are not without
blame for turning their reading and viewing public into spectators of
massive televised death. Maybe, through repetition viewers are being
made immune to its horrors.

I write this week’s column in Galway, less than 100 km from Northern
Ireland, which has also been the scene of great violence over a far
longer time, but that for some time, now has experienced calm. The
violence here wasn’t between people of different faiths, but between
Catholicism and Protestantism, which – as in the former Soviet Union
– has masked material differences of a political and economic nature
between the leaderships, here, of two conflicting Christian factions.

President Putin has inherited the outcomes of mistakes of his
predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, in respect of Chechnya. Russia has little
materially to gain from the war-torn region.

Putin would gain immensely in international stature if he were to
invite the UN to involve itself in making and keeping peace in the
Caucasus.

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
09/10/2004
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1) ANCA Fellowship Established in Memory of Hovig Apo Saghdejian
2) Armenian Americans Reach out to Republicans at National Convention
3) Tbilisi Condemns Resumption of Sokhumi-Moscow Railway
4) Armenians and Georgians Clash in Ninotsminda
5) Kocharian, Allies Review Proposed Reforms
6) Austria Says to Wait for EU Turkey report

1) ANCA Fellowship Established in Memory of Hovig Apo Saghdejian

— Over $50,000 Donated for Innovative Fund to Open Doors to Public Service
for
Young Armenians

WASHINGTON, DC–The family of Hovig Apo Saghdejian, the 23-year-old student
and Armenian community activist who lost his life this July in a car accident,
has established a trust fund in his memory to advance the Armenian Cause by
helping to bring promising young Armenian Americans to Washington, DC to
pursue
careers in public service.
Hovig’s sudden and tragic death has been a great loss for his family,
friends,
and the Armenian American community–in the Central Valley and around the
nation. He was an exemplary son, brother, grandson, nephew, and friend, who
left a legacy of love for his family and friends, and of selfless devotion to
his fellow Armenians and his cultural heritage. This proud son of the Armenian
nation was laid to rest at Fresno’s historic Ararat Masis Cemetery, in the
shadow of Armenian national hero Soghomon Tehlirian.
In his memory, Hovig’s father Apo, his mother Rosine, and sister, Nayiri have
asked that donations be made to the Hovig Apo Saghdejian Fellowship of the
ANCA
Capital Gateway Program. These funds will be held in perpetuity, with all the
income from fund using to finance the participation of young Armenian
Americans
in the ANCA Capital Gateway Program (CGP). This innovative program provides
qualified college students and graduates the opportunity to secure part-time
internship and full-time government, public policy, and media-related job
opportunities in the nation’s capital.
The Hovig Apo Saghdejian Fellowship fund, which has already collected over
$50,000, will on an ongoing basis, sponsor a Fellow, covering his/her housing
and providing a full range of support services–from improving the design of
their resumes and sharpening their interview skills, to making the right
introductions and integrating them into the growing network of Armenian
American public policy professionals in the nation’s capital. As one Hovig Apo
Saghdejian Fellow secures a full-time public policy job and graduates from the
program, another will be brought to Washington, DC to take his or her place,
ensuring a succession of fellowships that will, over the years, place
dozens of
Armenian American youth in the key positions from which they can support
issues
of concern to Armenian Americans. Typically, a Fellow is able to secure a
full-time position within three months.
For detailed information about the Capital Gateway Program, visit:

“The ANCA is deeply grateful that Hovig’s family has chosen to honor their
son’s memory–and to mark the loss of this exceptional young man–by opening
doors for the youth of our community to the new opportunities we are creating
here in Washington, DC to advance the sacred cause of our ancient nation,”
said
ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian. “We are deeply appreciative of the outpouring of
support for the Hovig Apo Saghdejian Fellowship, and invite Armenian
Americans–in Fresno and around the nation–to continue building this fund in
the service of coming generations.”
Hovig Apo Saghdejian was born on December 31, 1980 in Fresno, California. He
completed his elementary education at the Armenian Community School of Fresno.
After graduation from the Armenian school, Hovig attended Kastner Intermediate
and later Clovis West High School, where he received his high school diploma,
as an Advanced Placement Scholar with Honors.
Early in life, Hovig became a member of the Homenetmen Armenian General
Athletic Union and Scouts, and he joined the ranks of the Armenian Youth
Federation (AYF). These were the stepping-stones on which Hovig continued to
live his life. After graduating from Clovis West in 1998, Hovig attended
Fresno
City College, California State University of Fresno, and the University of
California, Berkeley, where he majored in Interdisciplinary Studies, with an
emphasis on economics, philosophy and film studies. While attending college,
Hovig was active in the Armenian Student’s Association. He also received
numerous honors, such as the Armenian Relief Society Merit Scholarship and
Foundation West Merit Scholarship.
Hovig had a passion for his Armenian culture that was instilled by his family.
As an active member of AYF and Homenetmen, as both a Scout and athlete, he
contributed to the welfare of the Armenian American community and reinforced
his commitment to his Homeland. He visited Armenia with the Land and Culture
Organization, and traveled to Beirut, Lebanon with the Hamazkayin Cultural
Society to broaden his cultural understanding.
As a devoted son of the Saghdejian family, Hovig lived a life of
commitment to
the Armenian Cause and his ancient Armenian homeland. He breathed life into
the
ideals of his youth by working to preserve and reinvent Armenian identity in
America, while bringing a sense of optimism to the people of Armenia for a
better future. As a volunteer with the Land and Culture organization, Hovig
traveled to Armenia during the summer of 2003 to work as a volunteer in
Ayroum,
developing infrastructure and self-sustainability for the impoverished
population of this village. Beyond the value of the hard work that contributed
significantly to the well being of the villagers, Hovig’s efforts helped bring
hope to all he came in contact with that the future held better things for the
people of Armenia. Commenting on his time in Ayroum, in a testimonial on the
Land and Culture website, Hovig explained that, “I know that when I reflect
back on this experience I will feel ecstatic about the work we accomplished,
the things we saw, and the bonds we forged.”
Hovig performed his civic duties by being politically involved, not only with
the ANCA, but also with Congressman George Radanovich and State Assemblymember
Steve Samuelian on campaign and public policy projects.
Hovig enjoyed life, family, and friends. He had a very special bond with his
parents, Apo and Rosine, and sister, Nayiri. He spent his spare time helping
his mother at the Adult Day Care Center, and his father with the family
business. Besides being confident, intelligent, and a driven young man, Hovig
was also lovable, caring, witty, comical, laid back and very, very
charming. He
was a fine young man who always wore a smile on his face and somehow always
managed to brighten up a room.
Those who would like to contribute to this effort should make checks payable
to the ANCA Endowment Fund, with “Hovig Apo Saghdejian Fellowship” in the memo
section, and addressed to:

ANCA Endowment Fund
Hovig Apo Saghdejian Fellowship
888 17th St. NW, Suite 904
Washington, DC 20006-3307

A Word of Thanks

On the sad occasion of the passing of Hovig Apo Saghdejian, his parents Apo
and Rosine Saghdejian and sister, Nayiri Saghdejian would like to express
their
deepest thanks to His Eminence Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, the Board of
Trustees of the Holy Trinity Mother Church, Fr. and Yeretzgin Vahan Gosdanian,
Fr. Hrant Yeretzian, Archpriest Nareg Shrikian, Fr. Hrant Arabian, Fr. Yeghia
Hairabedian, Very Reverend Bernard Geokezian, Very Reverend Mgrdich Melkonian,
Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Bureau, ARF Central Committee Western
USA, Fresno ARF Soghomon Tehlirian Gomidehoutiun, Fresno AYF Kevork Chavoush
Chapter, Fresno ARF Krisdapor Badanegan Chapter, ANCA Western Region, ANC
Fresno Chapter, ARS Western Region Central Executive, Fresno ARS Mayr and
Sophia Chapters Executives and Members, Homenetmen Western Region Central
Executive, Fresno Homenetmen Sassoun and San Francisco Homenetmen Executives
and Members, Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Association Western
Region Central Executive, Fresno Hamazkayin Taniel Varoujan Chapter Executive
and Members, Land and Culture, Yerkir-USA, Kessab Research Association, Dr.
Ara
Soghomonian, and to all those who personally, through letters, phone calls,
flowers and in-lieu-of-flowers donations, shared in their deep sorrow.

2) Armenian Americans Reach out to Republicans at National Convention

NEW YORK–Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) activists joined
Republican Armenians from throughout the country this past week, descending
onto the Big Apple to interact with elected officials and spread their message
among the thousands of party faithful that filled the convention halls and
hospitality suites at the quadrennial Convention of the Republican National
Committee.
The Armenian American participation at the Convention highlighted the
leadership of dozens of Congressional Republicans on issues of special concern
to the Armenian American community, including Congressional Armenian Issues
Caucus Co-Chairman Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), and George Radanovich, the lead
author of the Genocide Resolution. On the Senate side, leading advocates of
Armenian issues include Senators Mitch McConnell, who chairs the panel that
writes the foreign aid bill, George Allen, and John Ensign. The
Administration,
in contrast, has been less supportive on Armenian American issues, having
opposed a number of key initiatives, including those recognizing the Armenian
Genocide.
Armenian Americans took full advantage of opportunities in and around Madison
Square Garden, meeting with State delegations, attending receptions and
speaking directly to key Party officials. During these interactions, they
explained issues of concern to Armenian Americans, ranging from recognition of
the Armenian Genocide, to increased aid, expanded trade, the lifting of the
blockades, and self-determination for Karabagh. They noted, as well, the large
and politically active Armenian American communities in several key swing
states, including Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada and
Oregon.
At a Veteran for Bush event on August 31 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in
Manhattan, the keynote speaker, Congressman Duncan Hunter, Chairman of the
Armed Services Committee, was interviewed by ANCA activists. He commented on
his long-standing relationship with Armenians, and noted that he had recently
joined the Armenian Caucus. When asked about Genocide Resolution, the
California Congressman stressed, “It did happen–the Armenian Genocide.” He
related a story of Armenian friends who were his family neighbors who had
taught him about how the Ottoman government had attempt to annihilate its
Armenian population during World War I.
At the USS Intrepid, now permanently docked as a museum at a pier on the
Hudson River, the Massachusetts delegation sponsored an event featuring
Governor Mitt Romney. Attending the event was Congressman Joe Knollenberg of
Michigan, who also spoke to ANCA activists on various Armenian issues,
including the resolution of the Mountainous Karabagh conflict. Congressman
Knollenberg stated that he believed in the right to self-determination of the
people of Artsakh and would continue to defend this principle. The ANCA of
Michigan recently held a community briefing and fundraiser for the
Congressman.
Congressman Buck McKeon (R-CA), who represents the Santa Clarita area of Los
Angeles, commented to ANCA representatives that he is committed to issues of
concern to Armenian Americans. He also related stories of his longstanding
relationships, both personal and professional, with Armenian Americans back in
his home district.
ANCA activists also met with Mayor Scott Avedisian of Warwick, Rhode Island,
the youngest Mayor in the history of that city. Mayor Avedisian credited the
local ANCA chapter’s hard work and support in his campaign victory and
encouraged Armenians from all party affiliations to become more involved in
politics to ensure that the Armenian American viewpoint is heard. The Mayor
congratulated Glendale Mayors Rafi Manoukian and Bob Yousefian for joining the
“small but growing club of Mayors of Armenian ancestry in the United States.”
“We’re fortunate to have so many great Armenian Americans involved in the
Republican Party, from both the East coast and the West coasts,” commented
Doug
Geogerian, ANCA-ER Executive Director. “This convention was a tremendous
opportunity for us to thank our Republican friends and encourage others to
support our issues.”
ANCA activists Sevag Demirjian and several other volunteers joined Georgerian
as part of the ANCA delegation at the Convention throughout the week. Also
playing a central role in this effort was Massachusetts delegate, John
Meurgerian, who is a former ANCA “Leo Sarkissian” intern and recently returned
from serving in Iraq with the Army’s 4th Infantry. Other delegates included
community activist Bob Simonian, who earlier this year worked on securing
Genocide recognition statements from the Governors of various states who
previously had not had a stance on this human rights issue.

3) Tbilisi Condemns Resumption of Sokhumi-Moscow Railway

TBILISI (Civil Georgia)–After 11 years of not operating, the railway
connection between Moscow and Sokhumi, the capital of Georgia’s breakaway
Abkhazia, resumed on September 10, despite protests from Georgia.
The rail link connecting Georgia and Russia ceased operating after Abkhazia
seceded from Georgia in a violent conflict 11 years ago.
“With the restoration of the railway link, both Moscow and Sukhumi violate
all
the existing agreements. This is nothing more but disrespect of the country’s
[Georgia’s] sovereignty,” Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolutions
Goga
Khaindrava said on Friday.
In December 2002 Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze and his Russian
counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed to re-open the link between the two
countries
via Sukhumi, with the Georgian side demanding return of the Georgian displaced
persons to Abkhazia’s easternmost Gali region as a precondition

Claims of Pre-election Sabotage

Abkhazia’s Security Minister Mikhail Tarba accused Georgian special services
of plotting sabotage and terrorist acts in the breakaway region on the eve of
the presidential elections, scheduled in the breakaway region for October 3.
“The Georgian special services aim to disrupt the forthcoming presidential
elections and trigger destabilization in Abkhazia,” Abkhaz news agency
Apsnypress reported on September 9 quoting Tarba as saying. “The lives of the
presidential candidates are in real danger,” he said, adding that the Georgian
armed groups have been noticed in the regions of Gulripshi and Ochamchire of
breakaway Abkhazia. Meanwhile, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said on
September 10, that Georgia does not intend to launch hostilities with Sokhumi,
adding that a resolution can be found via negotiations; he added, however,
that
Georgia should strengthen its military forces.
He also called on the Russian politicians to refrain from unilateral moves
towards Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
“Everybody should understand that Grozny [capital of Chechnya] and
Vladikavkaz
[capital of Russia’s North Ossetia] belong to Russia, while Sokhumi [Abkhazian
capital] and Tskhinvali [South Ossetian capital] are part of Georgia. So, you
[the Russians] can arrive here as tourists,” Saakashvili said.

4) Armenians and Georgians Clash in Ninotsminda

YEREVAN (Yerkir)–Two ethnic Georgians initiated a clash between Georgians and
ethnic Armenians in the southern Georgian region of Ninotsminda on
September 6.
After drinking in a restaurant, the chief of the Georgian National Security
Ministry’s local branch, and the deputy head of the Ninotsminda district
council, attempted to fill up their car at a local gas station without paying,
saying that Ninotsiminda belongs to Georgians and everything should be free
for
Georgians.
After being denied free gas by the Armenian employee, the Georgian officials
attacked and beat him. The local police interfered, but were unable to stop
the
shoot-out that followed a fistfight. The Georgian officials were arrested and
transported to Akhaltsikha.

5) Kocharian, Allies Review Proposed Reforms

YEREVAN (Armenpress)–President Robert Kocharian met with coalition government
leaders on Friday to review proposed constitutional reforms and issues
relating
to the upcoming National Assembly session.
After the meeting, the president’s chief constitutional attorney Armen
Harutiunian said that discussions on proposed reforms would have to continue.
“We still don’t know how the process will unfold,” he said.

6) Austria Says to Wait for EU Turkey report

VIENNA (Reuters)–Austria’s foreign ministry stuck by a wait-and-see position
on Friday on Turkish membership in the European Union, after Vienna’s finance
minister said he opposed starting membership talks with Ankara.
A foreign ministry spokesman declined to comment directly on remarks by
Austrian Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser, a former member of Joerg
Haider’s
anti-immigrant Freedom Party (FPO).
“The position of the foreign ministry is the old one, that we have to wait
first for the Commission report on Turkey and only then can a decision be
made,” the spokesman said.
The EU executive is due to recommend next month whether Turkey has made
sufficient progress on democracy, human rights and the rule of law to open
accession talks next year.
Austria’s centre-right government coalition, which includes Haider’s FPO, has
long been reserved about Ankara’s bid.
Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, whose conservative People’s Party dominates
the
two-party coalition, on Friday said the issue must still be discussed
thoroughly.
“The discussion is just beginning,” Schuessel told a news conference, before
Grasser spoke at a meeting of EU finance ministers in the Netherlands.
“I think Turkey’s membership of the EU would not be helpful. I am amazed that
in the debate going on in Europe that practically no one has the courage to
say
that openly,” Grasser told reporters.
Grasser, who is now an independent, said Turkey was “certainly not ready for
Europe.”
EU diplomats said in June that Austria had tried to water down the EU’s
commitment to open entry talks with Turkey. The effort, which was rebuffed,
came when EU ambassadors prepared a draft declaration ahead of the 25-nation
bloc’s summit in June.
Polls have consistently found a majority of Austrians against Turkey entering
the EU.
A survey in May in the news magazine Format found 56 percent of those polled
said they could not imagine Turkey in the EU, 26 percent said they saw it as
possible and 13 percent could imagine full Turkish membership.

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Georgian officials, ethnic Armenians clash in southern Georgia

Yerkir web site, Yerevan
11 Sep 04

Yerevan, 10 September: Two ethnic Georgians initiated a clash between
Georgians and ethnic Armenians in Ninotsminda, southern Georgia,
on 6 September.

After getting drunk in a restaurant, the chief of the Georgian
State Security Ministry’s local branch, and the deputy head of the
Ninotsminda District council, tried to fill their car up at a local
petrol station for free, saying that Ninotsminda belongs to Georgians
and everything should be free for Georgians.

After they were denied free petrol by an Armenian employee of the
petrol station, the Georgian officials attacked and beat him. The
local police interfered but the fist fight turned into a shooting. As
a result, the Georgian officials were arrested and transported to
Akhalkalaki.

Ceremony for Donation of Karabian Papers
To be Held Sept. 18 at Madden Library

Fresno State News, CA
Sept 7 2004

A ceremony for the donation of former California Assemblyman Walter
Karabian’s papers to the Central Valley Political Archive of the
Henry Madden Library at California State University, Fresno will be
held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 18, at Fresno State.
Karabian, who was born and raised in Fresno, will donate papers from
his 1966-74 state Legislative service.

In addition, panel discussions will be held focusing on Karabian’s
career with an emphasis on his opening the doors of politics to young
Latinos, his commitment to his Armenian heritage and his various
legislative contributions such as the Species Preservation Act, the
ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment and the California
Invasion of Privacy Act.

Art Torres, Democratic Party chairman, as well as other former staff
members to Karabian will participate in the panel discussions.

This event is be open to the public and will be held in the Music
Building East Wing, Concert Hall Room M126. Additionally, an exhibit
featuring items from the Karabian Collection will be on display on
the first floor of the Madden Library.

The Karabian papers received at the CVPA measure approximately 30
linear feet and include correspondence, press files, photographs,
campaign material, articles, speeches, memorabilia and other records
documenting Karabian’s legislative and civic activities.

After leaving the Legislature, Karabian has practiced law and is a
partner in the Los Angeles law firm Karns & Karabian.

For more information, contact the Central Valley Political Archive at
(559) 278-8573.

Iraq multinational force will remain at current strength at least until after 2005 elections

Associated Press Worldstream
September 3, 2004 Friday

WARSAW, Poland — The Polish-led multinational force in Iraq will
remain at its current strength of 6,500 until at least after national
elections planned there in January, member nations agreed at a
conference in Warsaw, an official said Friday.

The agreement came as military representatives from the 16 nations that
contribute troops to the force responsible for an area in south-central
Iraq wound up two days of talks on the future composition of the
contingent, said Col. Zdzislaw Gnatowski, a spokesman for Poland’s
army chief of staff.

“All contributor nations pledged at the conference to keep their
contingents at the current level until the elections,” he said.

Poland and Ukraine, whose forces make up nearly half of the
international contingent, have said they will likely scale back their
involvement following the elections, which they expect will have a
stabilizing effect on Iraq.

At the conference, delegates from Armenia said their country would
also begin contributing troops to the multinational force, with a
contingent of 50 soldiers to start in January, Gnatowski said.

Gnatowski also said plans are underway to move the force’s
headquarters from the archaeological site of Babylon, and to hand over
responsibility of the neighboring Karbala province to Iraqi forces.

BUKINIST BOOKSTORE SUED BY JEWISH COMMUNITY

A1 Plus | 15:17:34 | 02-09-2004 | Social |

On Thursday, Gherch Burstain, chair of Jewish Mordekhay Navi community
in Armenia, speaking at a seminar on ethnic minorities held in Yerevan,
voiced alarm at appearing signs of anti-Jewish sentiments in the
republic saying they can become dangerous.

In his opinion one of these sentiments’ reasons is that Armenians
are ill-informed about other nations’ history. He said people’s
insufficient knowledge in this area stirs up ethnic hatred.

Burstain said in recent days the community launched a legal action
against Bukinist bookstore for disseminating anti-Jewish literature
that is intended for planting hatred against Jews and damage relations
between the two nations.

Head of the Ethnic Minorities Coordination and their Rights Awareness
program Stepan Safaryan said the delay in the Ethnic Minorities Law
adoption is hobbling solution of these problems.

Stepan Safaryan is convicted that urgent solution of ethnic minorities’
problems is one of the means to obtain the CE confidence toward
Armenia.

Azerbaijan leader calls for further Karabakh talks
By Sevinzh Abdullayeva and Viktor Shulman

ITAR-TASS News Agency
September 2, 2004 Thursday 7:22 AM Eastern Time

NAKHICHEVAN /Azerbaijan/, September 2 – Azerbaijan President Ilkham
Aliyev said it was necessary to continue talks over settling the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Aliyev said so as he spoke with reporters in Nakhichevan, an autonomous
republic in southwestern Azerbaijan which borders on Armenia.

“If I have not rejected negotiations yet, it means I’m hoping that
they will yield a result,” he said.

He emphasized that he had repeatedly stated that he “was not going
to take part in the talks merely for the sake of imitating them.”

“If I see at some point that the negotiations are ineffective and
I don’t believe in their future, Azerbaijan will be the first to
withdraw from the negotiating process; but at present, they are
needed,” the president said.

“Negotiations run around concrete topics,” he said expressing the
hope that they would yield results.

21st century mogul

Lion’s shareholder Kirk Kerkorian driven by the deal

Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) 80^th Anniversary Supplement

Variety
April 19-25, 2004
Pgs. 5, 58, 62, 66

By Jack Egan

At 86, Kirk Kerkorian is six years older than MGM, which he owns for the
third time since first venturing into the Lion’s den back in 1969. In
the interim he’s sold MGM twice – to broadcast pioneer Ted Turner and to
Italian financier Giancarlo Parretti – only to buy it back later at
bargain prices, making a pretty penny along the way. A strategic
speculator of the first order, Kerkorian has had the knack of almost
always buying low and selling high, whether it’s airlines, studios or
casinos.

`Kirk Kerkorian’s not a builder like Lew Wasserman was with MCA – he’s
an investor, and a very good one,’ observes Tom Pollock, who worked
under Wasserman as head of Universal, and now has his own production
company. `If you had bought MGM stock every time Kirk bought, and sold
every time Kirk sold, you’d have done very well.’

Indeed, when it comes to the movie business, the view is that
Kerkorian’s done far better on the business side than the movie side.
Under his ownership, the Lion has been a revolving door for production
chiefs – James Aubrey, Frank Yablans, David Begelman and Frank Mancuso,
to name just a few. And overall they turned out far more misses than
hits. MGM’s only consistent success has been with the inexhaustibly
lucrative James Bond franchise, which MGM inherited when Kerkorian
bought United Artists in 1981 and merged the two companies to create
MGM/UA.

Indeed, Kerkorian’s own rise from a Fresno community of Armenian
emigrants to self-made billionaire, which makes Horatio Alger seem like
an underachiever, is a better plotline than many of the movies the
studio has released while he’s owned it. Along the way he’s been a
successful pugilist and an intrepid World War II flyboy.

Beyond Hollywood

Ultimately he’s been a master of maneuver, parlaying a single aircraft
purchased for $60,000 in 1947 into what is today a $6 billion empire.
(Forbes Magazine’s 2004 tally of the world’s billionaires ranked
Kerkorian 65^th with his entertainment, casino and other investment
stakes estimated at around $6 billion. He was 33^rd on Forbes’ most
recent list of the 400 richest Americans, making him the most moneyed of
today’s Hollywood moguls.)

Kerkorian’s kingdom these days goes well beyond Hollywood. Through his
Tracinda holding company, named after daughters Tracy and Linda, he owns
55% of MGM Mirage, the world’s biggest and most successful hotel-casino
operation. The empire stretches as far as Stuttgart, Germany, worldwide
headquarters for Daimler-Chrysler, of which Kerkorian owns a sizable
chunk. (Chrysler’s biggest shareholder when it combined with Daimler in
1998, he reportedly made billions of dollars on the transaction, but is
suing Daimler for $1 billion for allegedly defrauding shareholders by
misrepresenting the terms of the original deal. A verdict in the
recently concluded trial isn’t expected until the fall.)

Despite or perhaps because of Kerkorian’s reputation as a master
dealmaker, it’s taken a while for Kerkorian to gain respect in
Hollywood. Initially he was dismissed by many in Tinseltown as a gambler
who treated MGM like a lucky slot machine. Or he was viewed as a
short-term operator, slicing and dicing MGM, selling off Dorothy’s ruby
slippers along with the rest of the once-storied studio’s fabled assets.

Meanwhile, his penchant for privacy has caused him to be characterized
as reclusive and mysterious, a Wizard of Odd. Those who’ve known him for
a long time scoff at such a caricature, viewing him as a wiz of finance.

`Kirk is not a Hollywood person, he’s a money person,’ DreamWorks
partner David Geffen says. `He’s a businessman, he’s not nostalgic and
sentimental. And he’s not reclusive. He’s just very low profile, that’s
a big difference – he’s just not interested in attention of any kind.’

Far from reclusive

`He’s not reclusive, he’s not Howard Hughes,’ agrees MGM chief executive
Alex Yemenidjian, a close friend and a longtime business associate, for
whom Kerkorian has been a mentor. `He’s just private, and quite shy.’

Far from being invisible, he is often seen around Los Angeles, having a
drink at the Polo Lounge or dinner at Dan Tana’s. He’s even been seen
standing for a movie at the local cineplex.

`In all the years, he’s never asked me to have a screening for him, not
once,’ says Yemenidjian. `He prefers to go see movies in the theater,
even ones from MGM, just like an ordinary person.’

In Las Vegas he’s also been seen waiting in line for a show or restaurant.

Though he’s 86, age hasn’t withered Kerkorian’s physical fitness nor his
legendary acuity; he’s said to do the numbers for a deal in his head.

`He’s the youngest man of his age I’ve ever known’ says a marveling
Geffen. `He never stops.’

Kerkorian supposedly jogs daily and is an avid singles and doubles
tennis player, hosting a weekend round robin for a group of close
friends at his Beverly Hills mansion.

`His tennis game is better than it was nine months ago,’ says
Yemenidjian, a regular at the get togethers.

On the business side, Yemenidjian says he talks with Kerkorian on the
telephone twice a day or even more, `but only about the big picture.’
Which means wheeling and dealing. Kerkorian leaves day-to-day operations
of his enterprises almost entirely to his managers.

Unlike many donors, Kerkorian hides his light under a bushel, refusing
to receive any acknowledgement. `He feels if you receive something in
return, it’s not really charity,’ adds Yemenidjian.

Armenia has been the biggest beneficiary of Kerkorian’s munificence.
According to James Aljian, chairman of Kerkorian’s Lincy Foundation
(also named for his two daughters), gifts and loans to Armenia over the
past two years total $150 million.

The money has gone to rebuild the country’s roads; put up 3,500 housing
units in an area that had been devastated by a major earthquake in 1988;
and restore an opera house, museums and many other civic buildings in
Yerevan, Armenia’s capital. Offers to name various landmarks after
Kerkorian, from the biggest boulevard in Yerevan to the country’s main
airport, were turned down. One school that recently renamed itself
Kerkorian College was quietly asked to rescind the honor.

Selfless munificence

And despite the historic enmity between Armenia and Turkey, Kerkorian
gave $1 million to Turkey after its devastating earthquake in 2002.

Many charities, over a wide range of interests, in this country have
benefited from his generosity. Prominent is the Motion Picture and
Television Fund (MPTF), which runs a home and hospital for Hollywood’s
elderly in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley.

Kerkorian was a major donor in two of the fund’s largest campaigns, for
the Wasserman campus and the Fran and Ray Stark Villa. `What’s so
interesting is that he never asks for anything in terms of recognition,’
says Ken Scherer, executive director for the MPTF.

Kerkor Kerkorian (his given name) was born in Fresno in 1917, and grew
up amid a small colony of Armenian immigrants who had left their
homeland and moved to the San Joaquin Valley around the turn of the
century.

His parents were raisin farmers. When times got tough, the family moved
to Los Angeles in the 1920s. Kerkorian dropped out of what he called `a
semi-reform school’ at 13. With the onset of the Depression, he got a
job in Sequoia National Park working for the federal Conservation Corps.

A first lucky break came when he was taken under the wing of legendary
aviator Florence `Pancho’ Barnes, Hollywood’s first woman stunt pilot.
He showed up without a dime at her San Fernando Valley ranch, and she
put him up free at what she called her Happy Bottom clubhouse for
down-on-their-luck pilot friends.

In return for working her alfalfa fields, Kerkorian received free flying
lessons, which he would put to good use. A successful stint as a
welterweight boxer followed; he won 30 of 33 bouts and earned the
nickname `Rifle Right’ for his precise punch, a prescient predictor of
his later success in bearing down on targets as an investor.

The aviator

During World War II, he enlisted in the British Royal Air Force,
attaining captain rank ferrying planes from Canada to England over the
dangerous North Atlantic.

After the war ended, he sold scrap airplanes in South America, earning
enough to buy a transport plane for $60,000. He used that to launch a
pioneering charter service between L.A. and Vegas. The fledgling
enterprise eventually grew into Trans Intl. Airlines. Kerkorian sold
that for $104 million to Transamerica Corp. in 1969. That sum proved to
be a more than sufficient grub stake to strategically target Hollywood
and Las Vegas as a serious investor.

In 1969, Kerkorian began accumulating shares of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (he
attained a controlling stake five years later). That same year he
splashily opened the International Hotel in Las Vegas, the most massive
hostelry to be launched up to that point in the burgeoning gambling
capital. Kerkorian eventually sold it to Hilton.

Over the next three decades he accumulated an ever-expanding portfolio
of properties., buying and selling virtually every big-name hotel in town.

Under the MGM Grand umbrella (the gambling company had years before been
cleverly rebranded with the movie studio’s universally known name),
Kerkorian constantly reshuffled his Vegas holdings, at one time owning
virtually every well-known hotel in town.

The culminating coup came in 2000 when Kerkorian bought entrepreneur
Steve Wynn’s Mirage Resorts for $6.4 billion. Overnight that transformed
his already sizable MGM Grand company into what is today the world’s
biggest and most highly regarded gambling company, MGM Mirage.

Exit strategy

For Kerkorian, the third time around with MGM has not yet been the charm
he might have hoped. He’s estimated to have invested some $3 billion and
not yet hit the jackpot.

The guessing around town and on Wall Street is that he’s been trying to
find a way out. `He’s looking for an exit strategy, which is what all
the recent maneuvering has been about,’ says Hal Vogel, an expert on
entertainment companies, head of Vogel Capital and a longtime Kerkorian
watcher. `That may take some time, because for various reasons nobody
today can do a deal that size, but Kerkorian is nothing if not patient,
and since he’s taking a big slug of capital out, he can afford to wait a
bit.’

Kerkorian is working to refinance his MGM stake, much as shareholders
would refinance their house. That’s what the latest MGM dividend ploy is
all about. Yet to be officially announced, the plan is to pay a $6 to $9
cash dividend per share to MGM stockholders. Since he owns over 70% of
the company, that would net Kerkorian somewhere between $1 billion and
$1.5 billion. And under current tax laws, that’s tax free. The company,
one of the few anywhere that can say it’s debt free, would borrow to
finance the pay-out at current low interest rates.

Over the last few years MGM has been holding talks with a number of
other entertainment companies, such as Time Warner, about either being
acquired or merging. And last year, in a surprise move, Kerkorian
entered the bidding war for Vivendi Universal with a $10.5 billion offer
that along with others wound up being topped by GE. `The Vivendi bid was
also a form of exit strategy,’ notes Vogel, `since it would have allowed
him to profitably reshuffle the MGM assets, but only at the right price.’

So will there even be an MGM five years from now? `I’m not an
odds-maker, but I hope so,’ says Yemenidjian, who says he’d rather look
for acquisitions than find a way to merge. But then he hedges his
statement. `Ultimately I’ll have to do what’s best for my shareholders.’

And in one word, that’s Kerkorian.

PHOTO CAPTION (Pg. 5) – The Last Tycoon: Kirk Kerkorian arrives at the
J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building in Wilmington, Delaware to testify in
his lawsuit against Daimler Chrysler in December. As Kerkorian goes, so
does MGM.