Author: Nahapetian Lilit

Houston Press (Texas)
August 11, 2005 Thursday

Down Is Up
System of a Down is rock’s least likely success story

by By Michael Roberts

They used to call us nue-metal,” System of a Down singer-guitarist
Daron Malakian told the ecstatic crowd at a stop on his band’s spring
tour. “Now they call us prog-rock. I think they’ll call us anything
that’s popular.” Then, after a pause and the subtlest of grins, he
announced, “But actually, we’re just a bunch of mo-rons. ” Months
later, as System headlines its biggest junket to date, Malakian is
being touted as the mastermind of Mezmerize, which has been embraced
by critics and fans alike. The CD debuted in May atop the Billboard
album chart, further raising expectations for Hypnotize, a companion
disc scheduled for a November release. Malakian isn’t particularly
comfortable with this attention, and he’s just as wary of questions
about his in-concert comments from earlier this year. “I never
remember anything I say on stage,” he warns. Upon having his
statement repeated to him, however, he laughs with relief. “I can
stand behind that,” he declares.

No wonder, since his offhand remark effectively satirizes the media’s
continuing attempts to pigeonhole System. “Lately, we’ve been doing
interviews, and people have been like, ‘You guys are really leading
the way for the new prog movement,’ ” he notes. “And I’m like,
‘What?’ Because a couple of years ago, these guys were comparing us
to Limp Bizkit and Korn, and now that we’re still here and those
bands aren’t, they’re talking about prog. It’s just kind of
aggravating that people always have to have something to compare us
to, or bunch us up with. I’m not saying we’re the most original band
in the world, but I don’t really feel that we fall into a heavy-metal
category or a pure rock category. There’s a lot of stuff mixed up
into one.”

As for the humorously self-deprecating “mo-rons” remark, it hints at
a truth about the group that’s frequently overlooked. Although System
is clearly one of the smartest acts in popular music, socially
astute, hyper-articulate fare like “B.Y.O.B.” is as popular among
just plain folks as it is with left-wing activists and Mensa members,
for reasons that the live show makes clear. Vocalist Serj Tankian’s
sweeping theatricality, bassist Shavo Odadjian’s elastic
head-bobbing, drummer John Dolmayan’s hyperkinetic rhythms and
Malakian’s aggressive riffology suggest that they remain very much in
touch with their inner mo-ron — the part of them that loved sound
and fury long before it signified anything.

“It’s important not to take yourself too seriously,” Malakian says,
“and I think sometimes people take us a lot more seriously than we
take ourselves, especially when it comes to politics. Politics, for
me, is a reflection of the world I live in. But love is just as
important as politics to me. They both exist in the world, you know?
And if you don’t reflect the entire world around you, then you’re
leaving something out.”

System is all about inclusion. The music bears the mark of so many
varied influences that, Malakian maintains, “I think you could call
us anything you want and you’d be right.” That’s one reason numerous
labels initially kept their distance from System, even though these
“four Armenian guys from L.A.,” as Malakian calls them, had built a
sizable audience among habitues of the mid-’90s Hollywood club scene.
Producer Rick Rubin eventually signed System to his imprint, American
Records, but reviewers didn’t quite know what to make of the
quartet’s 1998 self-titled debut.

“They’d say, ‘It kind of sounds like this,’ or ‘It kind of sounds
like that,’ ” Malakian recalls, “and by the time they were done,
they’d named five bands that had nothing to do with one another.” He
wasn’t bothered by Dead Kennedys references, since he acknowledges a
certain commonality between Tankian’s nasal wailing and that of DK
leader Jello Biafra, but he felt nue-metal allusions constituted
“guilt by association.”

Still, this tag likely helped convince radio programmers to give
System a chance, and the airplay lavished on strong cuts such as
“Spiders” and “Sugar” — not to mention the publicity garnered for
its star-making turn during the 1998 edition of Ozzfest — helped
break the band nationally. Malakian and company responded with 2001’s
Toxicity, an even better recording than its first, albeit one whose
appearance was awkwardly timed; the disc arrived in stores the week
of 9/11. Shortly after the terrorist attacks, representatives of
Clear Channel, the owner of more U.S. rock radio stations than any
other company, placed the group’s entire oeuvre, including the
brilliant single “Chop Suey!,” on a list of tunes that shouldn’t be
aired. This misguided, arguably racist move, which took place around
the same time that Tankian posted criticism of American foreign
policy on System’s Web site, hardly stopped listeners from seeking
out Toxicity. As Malakian points out, “We were being censored, but
people were still going out and buying the record. And to be honest
with you, radio was playing it like crazy.” He adds that “the more
they try to shut somebody’s mouth, the more people are going to want
to hear what the person has to say. It’s a big mistake from the
beginning.”

Toxicity created such a big noise that System promptly issued 2002’s
Steal This Album!, a first-rate collection of random tracks from
throughout its existence that spawned another hit, the appropriately
explosive “Boom!” The period of relative quiet that followed was
broken in a major way by Mezmerize, and many admirers characterized
it as a coming-out party for Malakian. Granted, Malakian’s voice is
more prominent than before, and “Old School Hollywood,” a wry
recapitulation of a celebrity baseball game that mentions Tony Danza
and Frankie Avalon, finds him employing the first person in an
extremely direct manner. Yet he sees the theory that he’s suddenly
taken control of System as being fatally flawed.

“Yeah, I’m singing more, and yeah, I sing just as much on Hypnotize,”
he confirms. “But that’s the only difference. I’ve always written and
produced and put down the path for System when it comes down to the
songs: first record, second record, third record, these records.
Almost every chorus — about 80 percent of every System of a Down
chorus that you sing — is a vocal line that I wrote, with words that
I wrote. I just didn’t sing them. And this time, the songs called for
more of an interaction between me and Serj, so suddenly people think
I’m doing more. People get very focused on the vocalist, and end up
thinking the vocalist is doing everything in the band, which isn’t
necessarily the case.”

It’s unusual for Malakian to trumpet his role in System, primary
though it is. He’d much rather talk about people he respects — an
honor roll that runs the gamut from Mahatma Gandhi to Charles Manson.
Malakian tweaked political correctness on Toxicity via “ATWA,” a
track inspired by some of Manson’s environmental musings, and
Mezmerize’s liner sports an epigram from the “Helter Skelter” man:
“In your world you can take a pen and write on a piece of paper and
destroy 200,000 people or more and it’s ok because you don’t have to
see it.”

“I have no interest in murder, and I have no interest in people
dying,” Malakian stresses. “But I’m interested in people’s minds, and
sometimes Manson puts thoughts together that I find really
interesting. Have you ever seen his unedited videos? He starts making
a lot of sense. I’m sure people are scared of that, but to me, it’s
scarier to watch George Bush try to make sense.”

Even so, Malakian’s rhapsodic waxings about another hero — former
Los Angeles Laker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — reveal more about him than
does his Manson jones. Malakian often saw Abdul-Jabbar play during
the Lakers”80s heyday, and he says, “I like that he was the captain
of his team, and he wasn’t so much of a showboater. You just don’t
see players like him anymore — players who keep quiet, play their
fuckin’ game and don’t act like a rock star.”

Malakian takes the same approach to System of a Down. “When people
come to our shows, I don’t want it to only be serious moments about
politics,” he allows. “I want them to have a good time. That’s what
it comes down to for me.” System of a Down appears Saturday, August
13, at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, 2025 Lake Robbins Drive,
The Woodlands, 281-363-3300. The Mars Volta and Bad Acid Trip are
also on the bill.

Wednesday 10, August 2005

Experts Warn Of IT Staff Shortage In Armenia

By Nane Atshemian

Armenia’s information technology industry, the most advanced in the
region, is beginning to experience a shortage of skilled labor that
could stall its further growth unless urgent government measures are
taken to reform the education system, IT experts warned on Wednesday.

They said that the number and especially the professional level of young
people graduating from the IT programs of local universities is
increasingly lagging behind the needs of one of the most dynamic sectors
of the Armenian economy.

The sector has seen substantial growth over the past decade, creating
thousands of well-paid jobs in the unemployment-stricken nation. Foreign
and mostly U.S. companies in computer software development and other
IT-related activities have been the main driving force behind the
growth. At least a dozen of them have branches in Armenia.

The existence of relatively cheap and skilled workforce in country that
was once dubbed the Silicon Valley of the Soviet Union has been
principal factor behind the foreign investments. But According to the
director of the Armenian Enterprise Incubator Foundation (EIF), a World
Bank-funded agency promoting the sector’s development, Armenia will risk
losing this trump card unless it embarks on a sweeping overhaul of its
system of higher education.

`There are now IT companies that are looking for 50 to 100 specialists,’
Bagrat Yengibarian told RFE/RL. `There is a great need in specialists.
Our task is to create conditions in the university system that will
enable companies to hire qualified specialists. We can not make Armenia
attractive by saying that the private sector itself should prepare
specialists.’

`Big Western firms like Lycos and Synopsis can enter our universities
and train their future cadres. But smaller companies interested in
Armenia cannot do that,’ Yengibarian added.

The main sources of IT-related knowledge in Armenia are the computer
science departments of Yerevan State University and the Armenian State
Engineering University. The number of applicants seeking to study there
has risen dramatically in recent years, with high school graduates
attracted by the prospect of finding a job in a sector where the average
monthly wage is currently worth $500. Experienced Armenian programmers
may well earn $1,000 or more these days.

However, the post-Soviet decline in overall educational standards in
Armenia coupled with a lack of government funding for universities has
clearly taken its toll on the quality of IT learning in Armenia.

`Our universities are only now beginning to teach modern technology,’
said Arman Valesian, chairman of the organizing committee of an annual
computer programming contest sponsored by the EIF and other IT
associations. `Kids mainly learn it on their own or through private
courses. If they could do that in university it would be much easier for
the industry to hire staff. But companies now spend at least three
months to retrain university graduates [before hiring them].’

The latest programming contest began this week, featuring about 200
participants below the age of 30. Thirty best-performing programmers
will be short-listed for a special training course to be taught by
specialists from Armenian and foreign IT firms.

`The younger they are, the more flexible is their mind,’ Valesian
observed. `For example, we have a 16-year-old boy who solved five
problems in 75 minutes.’

Analysts say another problem is that despite declaring the sector’s
development a top priority of its economic policy, the Armenian
government has yet to embark on a radical re-orientation of the
education sector toward IT or at least to expand its existing computer
science programs. Armenia’s state-run technical colleges, which were
primarily designed to serve the now defunct Soviet-era heavy industry,
continue to release every year hundreds of mechanical and other non-IT
engineers whose chances of finding a job are slim.

Yengibarian, the EIF director, believes that the government should come
up with an IT development plan tied to a broader strategy for the
country’s economic development. That strategy, he said, should provide
answers to the following questions: `In which direction will Armenia
move in the next ten years? Are we going to prioritize cheap or
qualified labor? What steps are we going to take to ensure that the
university system does not lag behind development?’

(Photolur photo)

Bus Fare Increase In Yerevan Raises Questions

By Ruzanna Stepanian

Municipal authorities defended a 30 percent increase in the key public
transportation fare in Yerevan which took effect on Wednesday and
appeared to cause widespread discontent among commuters.

A ride on a privately-owned minibus, the principal means of
transportation in the Armenian capital, will now cost 130 drams (30 U.S.
cents). The decision to raise it from 100 drams, taken by Mayor Yervand
Zakharian on Tuesday, was expected for the last few weeks.

`To be honest, the measure was long overdue. We didn’t resort to it in
view of the people’s living conditions,’ Vrezh Asatrian, a senior
official at the Transport Department of the Yerevan municipality, told
RFE/RL.

Asatrian claimed that the tariff hike was requested by over 50 private
firms that operate minibus lines across the city of one million. `They
argued that the prices of fuel, spare parts and bus repair have gone
up,’ he said. `Their concerns are justified.’

However, minibus drivers disputed the claim, saying that the higher fare
could mean fewer passengers and reduce their revenues. `There is no way
the route operators could do that,’ said one of them. `It’s the
municipality that took such a decision.’

Citing municipality officials, Armenian newspapers reported earlier that
the price rise will be primarily aimed at boosting the revenues of
state-owned buses that find it difficult to compete with private
carriers. Most of those buses were purchased from Belarus last year with
a loan borrowed by the Armenian government from the Russian-based
Interstate Bank of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The smallish buses were never likely to be cost-effective and the city
authorities have trouble repaying the loan. A top executive of a
state-run company operating them was fired recently for failing to
generate enough revenues. But Asatrian denied any connection between
this and the fare increase.

Critics say that instead of raising fares the authorities should have
limited the disproportionately large number of the mostly old minibuses
that only aggravate the city’s chaotic traffic. The minibus business is
highly lucrative and is mostly controlled by government-connected
individuals.

(Photolur photo)

Church Restoration Raises Hopes For Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation

By Selcan Hacaoglu, Associated Press Writer

(AP) – Rainwater seeps through the conical dome of Akhtamar’s
thousand-year-old church, washing away biblical frescoes from one of the
finest surviving monuments of ancient Armenian culture. Bullet holes
pock the sandstone walls. After a century of neglect and decades of
political wrangling, Turkey has begun restoring the church, a renovation
that comes as Turkish leaders face intense pressure from the European
Union to improve their treatment of minorities.

The 2 million Turkish Lira ($1.5 million) restoration, ordered and paid
for by the Turkish government, began in May and is raising hopes that a
small, cautious thaw in relations between Turkey and neighboring Armenia
could expand.

The church is the lone building on a tiny island in a lake. It is
covered in scaffolding as masons replace fallen roof stones to stop the
rainwater and rebuild the basalt floor, which was dug out by treasure
hunters. Experts also will try to restore the frescoes in the interior.

“This is our positive approach, our message,” says Turkey’s prime
minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has staked his rule on winning
membership in the EU.

The European Union urged Turkey last year to consider registering
Akhtamar in UNESCO’s World Heritage List and is pressing the country to
reopen its closed border with Armenia and re-establish diplomatic ties
with its neighbor. Turkey has taken cautious steps toward improving
connections Armenia and a member of Erdogan’s political party visited
its capital earlier this year, but relations remain extremely cool
because of animosities over ethnic bloodletting a century ago.

Eastern Turkey was once a heartland of Armenian culture and more than a
million Armenians lived in the area at the turn of the 19th century. But
they were driven out by what Armenia contends was a policy of genocide
by Turks, a charge the Turkish government vehemently denies.

Akhtamar, called the Church of Surp Khach, or Holy Cross, was one of the
most important churches of those ancient Armenian lands. It was built by
Armenian King Gagik I of Vaspurakan and inaugurated in A.D. 921. Gagik’s
historian, Thomas Ardzruni, described the church as being near a harbor
and a palace with gilded cupolas, peacefully surrounded by the lake.
Only the church survived.

By 1113, the church had become the center of the Armenian Patriarchate
of Akhtamar and an inspiration to mystics in the area. The island was
the center of a renowned school of scribal art and illumination. The
region was a thriving center of Armenian culture, but was engulfed in
ethnic conflict as the Turks’ Ottoman Empire splintered at the end of
World War I.

Armenians say 1.5 million of their people were slaughtered by Turks.
Turkey strongly denies there was any genocide, arguing that the death
toll has been inflated and saying that the Armenians who were killed
died as a result of civil unrest.

Today, there are virtually no Armenians in eastern Turkey, and Akhtamar
has been empty for decades. Some of its reliefs are stained with paint
and eggs thrown by vandals. Bullet holes, apparently from shepherds who
used the site for target practice, mar the walls.

The church is considered one of the most important examples of Armenian
architecture. Elaborate reliefs project up to 10 centimeters (4 inches)
from brownish-red sandstone walls, almost like sculptures. Some depict
biblical stories such as Jonah being swallowed by the whale and Daniel
in the lion’s den. Others show cows, lions, birds and other animals to
remind worshippers that the church is an image of paradise.

Erdogan’s government asked the Armenian Christian patriarch in Istanbul,
where nearly all of Turkey’s remaining 65,000 Armenians live, to name an
architect to help with the restoration. Zakarya Mildanoglu, the
architect picked, says he hopes the restoration helps improve relations
between Armenia and Turkey, but adds: “We need to be patient. Things
that happened a century ago cannot be healed overnight.”

Mesrob II, the Armenian patriarch, wants the government to open the
church for religious services and special festivities once a year. The
church is officially closed to services since there are no Armenian
Christians in the region. “I think that Akhtamar is a symbol for
perfection in Armenian architecture and also mysticism,” Mesrob II says.

Azeri Opposition Group Attacked For `Ties With Armenian Intelligence’

(AFP) – Some 200 supporters of a pro-government group in Azerbaijan
attempted to storm the headquarters of an opposition party Wednesday in
a new sign of tension ahead of November 6 parliamentary elections, an
AFP correspondent on the scene said.

Protestors chanted “Shame!” as they pushed against a police cordon in
the ex-Soviet republic’s capital Baku while trying to break into the
opposition National Front party building. The crowd, from the Muasir
Musavat (Modern Unity) party, said they were incensed by an opposition
leader’s alleged contacts with agents from Azerbaijan’s neighbor
Armenia.

The leader of the Yeni Fikir opposition movement, Ruslan Bashirli, was
arrested last week and charged with allegedly accepting Armenian money
to finance a revolution in Azerbaijan. Yeni Fikir has an office in the
National Front headquarters.

The opposition has denied the accusation, which is potentially damaging
because of tense relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, rivals that
fought a war in the 1990s over the territory of Nagorno Karabakh. The
last two days have already seen scuffles and stone throwing between pro-
and anti-government supporters in Baku.

Europe’s top election-monitoring body, the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), on Tuesday condemned violent attacks
directed at the opposition. The head of the OSCE office in Baku,
Maurizio Pavesi, called on the authorities to prevent “violent and
unauthorized public meetings” or risk causing the “deterioration” of the
electoral campaign.

PRESS REVIEW

Most Armenian newspapers have suspended their publication due to the
period of summer holidays.

TURKEY FUNDS RECONSTRUCTION OF ARMENIAN CHURCH

09.08.2005 05:02

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Resulting from downpours biblical frescos at Surb
Khach church in Akhtamar Island gradually disappear. After a
century-long indifference and decades of political variance, Turkey
has decided to lend an ear to EU calls to protect national minority
rights in Turkey. This May the Turkish Government provided 2 million
Turkish liras ($1.5 million) to repair Surb Khach church. The move
gives careful hope for the warming of Armenian-Turkish relations. In
late July Armenian Patriarch of Turkey Mesrop Mutafyan met with
representatives of the construction company that is restoring the
church. Planned restoration works and participation of Armenian
architects were discussed at the meeting. «Surb Khach church is
important both to Armenians and Turks,» noted Zeydanli company
head. In his words, Patriarch Mesrop Mutafyan has advised to contact
Armenian architect Zakaria Mildauoghlu, reported RFE/RL.

Pro-government youth group clashes with opposition in Azerbaijan

By AIDA SULTANOVA
.c The Associated Press

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) – Members of a pro-government youth group
briefly clashed with opposition activists in Azerbaijan Monday,
accusing them of co-operating with Armenian security agents. No one
was hurt.

About 150 activists of the Muasir Musavat party picketed outside the
building housing the opposition youth movement Yeni Fekir.

The two sides then began throwing eggs, plastic bottles, dirt and
stones until police intervened to separate them and the activists
dispersed.

Tensions in the oil-rich Caspian Sea nation are rising ahead of
November parliamentary elections. Opposition parties fear the
government of President Ilham Aliev could rig the voting and have
rallied almost weekly.

Yeni Fekir’s leader, Ruslan Bashirli, was arrested last week on
charges of participating in a secret meeting with Armenian agents in
Georgia in July and receiving US$2,000 (euro1,600) for organizing an
uprising in Azerbaijan.

Both Yeni Fekir and Armenian officials deny the charges. The group
says Bashirli had gone to Georgia for what he believed was an
international conference on democracy and was slipped the money while
drugged. The group blames the incident on Azerbaijan’s secret
service.

Azerbaijan and Armenia are longtime foes and fought a bloody six-year
war over the disputed ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh,
which is now controlled by ethnic Armenians.

Defense lawyer Elchin Gambarov, who said he met with Bashirli in jail
on Monday, called his client a political prisoner. He said Bashirli
had told him that authorities promised to free him in 24 hours if he
admitted his guilt.

“Ruslan has been named an enemy of the people without a trial and
without any evidence,” Gambarov said. “This dirty campaign recalls
the repressions of 1937” – when tens of thousands were caught up in
purges under Josef Stalin.

Ali Kerimli, the leader of the opposition National Front Party, which
closely cooperates with Yeni Fekir, said the clash was a
government-sponsored attempt to tarnish the opposition’s image.

“The authorities are provoking a civil confrontation and they are
responsible for it,” Kerimli said.

08/08/05 12:23 EDT

Ex-UN oil-for-food chief resigns

Benon Sevan addressing Kofi Annan: “The charges are
false and you, who have known me all these years,
should know they are false.”

BBC News
2005/08/08

The former head of the United Nations’ oil-for-food
programme has quit the UN, lashing out at Secretary
General Kofi Annan for “sacrificing” him.

Benon Sevan’s decision comes a day before a third
report on the scandal-plagued programme is published.

It is expected to accuse Mr Sevan of receiving cash in
return for allocating Iraqi oil contracts in the
mid-1990s.

The oil-for-food programme allowed Saddam Hussein to
sell limited amounts of oil to buy humanitarian goods.

Mr Sevan’s lawyers have already said the report will
falsely accuse him of receiving cash kick-backs for
helping a company obtain lucrative oil contracts under
the scheme.

Mr Sevan, a Cypriot who had worked with the
organisation for four decades, tendered his
resignation in a letter addressed personally to Kofi
Annan.

‘False charges’

“I fully understand the pressure you are under […]
but sacrificing me for political expediency will never
appease our critics or help you or the Organization,”
he wrote.

Mr Sevan was suspended in February but was retained an
honorary post so that he could help the investigation,
receiving a nominal annual salary of $1.

The report is the third in a series produced by an
independent inquiry committee established by the UN.

In his letter he insisted he was innocent of any
charges that would be made against him.

“The charges are false and you, who have known me all
these years, should know they are false,” he wrote.

In February, the independent panel investigating the
allegations of corruption in the oil-for-food scandal
had said that Mr Sevan had received payments of cash
as well as oil allocations.

Mr Sevan said the real oil-for-food scandal was the
way the programme was misrepresented by those who were
against the UN.

He said he was disappointed by Mr Annan’s “failure to
defend the historic achievements of the oil-for-food
programme.”

Story from BBC NEWS:

Roots of terrorism reach into the past
By Harout H Semerdjian

Asia Times
August 5, 2005

The roots of Islamic terrorism are not in the founding of the modern
nation- state of Israel or in the US-led war in Iraq, as some wrongly
assert. These events have merely fueled worldwide Islamic terror in
the name of Allah, or God, and once again exposed the hostile face of
Islamic fundamentalism. The recent acts of international terrorism
are a modern-day demonstration of the deadly magnitude of terrorist
objectives, particularly as they transpire on North American and
European soil. What we are experiencing today, however, is not a new
phenomenon in world history.

With the birth of Islam in the 7th century came its steadfast
dissemination, often through violence and jihad, or holy war. Over
centuries, millions have converted to Islam through good faith while
others have done so through subjugation and force under the ultimatum
of the medieval sword. On Western soil, this form of terror is largely
a new reality to cope with and is now even deemed a threat to the
very existence of civilization.

The eminent French writer Victor Hugo once appropriately remarked
that “If a man has his throat cut in Paris, it’s a murder. If 50,000
people are murdered in the East, it is a question.” For centuries
entire indigenous populations in the Middle East and elsewhere have
been exterminated in the name of religion. While the patterns of such
events are not exactly the same as what we are witnessing today in the
form of Al-Qaeda-inspired violence, the thought process behind the
systematic and orchestrated murder of innocents is. In the last 200
years, such sadistic acts have been further exacerbated by the advent
of nationalism. Unfortunately, the breadth and scope of these crimes
have been ignored by European powers due to a combination of short-term
interests and short-sighted policies, often yielding tragic results.

The first people in the modern-era to collectively fall victim to
Islamic terror were the Armenians of the Islamic Ottoman Empire. What
is today the eastern portion of the Republic of Turkey was for three
millennia the homeland of the Armenians. This land that had nurtured
generations of these people 2,000 years before the Turkic invasions of
the 11th century, became a distant land for them almost overnight in
1915. The outcome was one of the worst quantitative measures of terror
and genocide in human history, resulting in the massacre of 1.5 million
people and the destruction of an astounding 4,000 Christian churches
and monasteries. An entire people was systematically targeted and
annihilated on the grounds of their religion and what it represented
in the confines of the Islamic empire.

While this forgotten genocide, long ignored by the West, was a
calculated result of Turkish nationalism and racist policies of
Turkification, Islam was the ideological weapon for mass annihilation
and slaughter. “Whoever kills seven Christians will go to heaven,”
Islamic clerics and town criers would call out. For backward, rural
Kurdish and Turkish religious communities, killing gavour (infidel)
Armenians was an opportunity for salvation, while for the Turkish
government it was the ultimate weapon for genocide.

This is the same logic and method recently employed by Al-Qaeda,
the Taliban and other deadly Islamic terror groups to incite their
people against peaceful populations. Religion is a powerful ideology,
and ideology has proven to be the single most destructive element
in history. Today’s Turkey – a member of NATO – is considered a
strategic US ally in the Middle East. It is in this very context
of alliance that the United States should expose this dark chapter
in world history and require Turkey to own up to its Ottoman past,
and hence secure a more reliable and responsible partner in the
region. This is particularly important if this partner is said to be
committed to fighting extremism and terrorist-prone elements within
its own borders and in surrounding regions.

In Israel today, Islamic terror against the Jewish “infidels”, as
Islamists have long labeled them, has claimed the lives of hundreds
of innocent civilians. Afghan Mujahideen, the Islamic world’s favored
religious fighters, have long been known to assist the struggles of
Islamic countries and regimes. Recently, Azerbaijan hired hundreds
of such mercenaries to fight the Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. These very mercenaries were later exported to Chechnya to
fight against Russians in the name of Islam. In Africa, the Islamic
Janjaweed militias of Sudan are annihilating thousands of indigenous
Sudanese in Darfur.

Needless to say, the pinnacle of recent Islamic terror for the West
was September 11, on the very soil of America – the nation that
has been a global safe haven over the years to refugees fleeing
war, ethnic conflict and religious discrimination, including large
numbers of Muslims. Despite being a prime target of terror, America
still continues, though often controversially, to aid and assist
Arab and other Muslim countries. This is primarily because America
distinguishes Islamic extremists and terrorists from Islamic moderates,
who understand that the real message of Allah as one of peace.

Islam is a noble religion based on respect, love, charity, good
morals and values. In fact, the Koran calls the Christians and Jews,
the two other Abrahamic faiths, the “Peoples of the Book” who ought
to be protected. During the Turkish genocide of Armenians, it was
the Muslim Arabs of the Levant and Mesopotamia who honorably gave
shelter to the homeless and ravaged survivors. Islam has given the
world a tremendous amount of knowledge, piousness and wisdom. Meantime,
however, exploiters of the religion have unleashed an incredible degree
of havoc on peaceful populations in the name of their faith. What we
have witnessed among certain Muslim regimes over the past century
is nothing more than an abuse of Islam for reasons of expedience and
convenience. Their actions have been atrocious, immoral, and bellicose
acts of desperation to dominate and dictate.

The war that rages today within our own borders is a new, globalized
variant of international terrorism. This latest extent of Islamic
terror, quite ironically, has been advanced by modern, Western
technology. This is a clear contradiction of the terrorists’ struggle
against modernization – and hence a clear sign of convenience of
choice by the fighters as well as an indication of the incoherence
of their jihad.

The events of the last century, and particularly in the last
decade, should embolden the West’s commitment to fighting worldwide
terrorism. This, however, cannot and should not be done without careful
consideration of the historical development of today’s problems. The
way Islam has been exploited in the past has not been rectified one
iota by the inability of the international community to call a spade a
spade, or for that matter, a genocide a genocide. Truth has over and
again been sacrificed to the expediency of political alliances and
short-term interests, and thus the collective sense of being “beyond
reproach” has prevailed in many countries where those who mastermind
mass violence have lived. Herein lies the root of the reprehensible
thinking that a people, a race, or a country “have gotten what they
deserved” upon completion of a violent or terrorist act. Ironically,
the same expediencies mentioned above may lie at the very root of the
terrorist problems we are encountering today. US President George W
Bush has rightly demonstrated increased determination in countering
and fighting terrorism; hopefully he can match that resolve with an
equal will to understand its real causes, and to remedy some of its
most blatant manifestations through clear recognition.

We need to strengthen this effort by promoting education and
knowledge about historic and current issues of vital importance. The
key in countering current acts of violence lies in understanding and
absorbing lessons of history, and helping to set the historical record
straight. Our fortitude and capacity to acknowledge past acts of terror
will assist our current efforts in countering terrorism. Additionally,
our findings and know-how in this regard should be exported abroad
in defense of commonly upheld and applied standards of humanity. We
are not there yet – neither in reality nor in the perception of the
majority of our counterparts in the international community. Our
global partners in this effort deserve our assistance and support,
as well as the chance to benefit from our own introspection.

Harout H Semerdjian is a Research Associate at Harvard University’s
Kennedy School of Government. He holds dual MA degrees from the
Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy and the University of California,
Los Angeles. He may be reached at [email protected]

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
07/28/2005
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Corrections:

In the article “Commemorating the Spirit of Lisbon Five,” which appeared in
our July 27 issue, in referring to the members of the Lisbon Five, we
inadvertently wrote: “The five members of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation. . . “. That should have read “The five members of the Armenian
Revolutionary Army.”

In the same article, the second to the last paragraph was incomplete, and
should have read: “Praising those Armenian establishments that instilled such
national spirit and faith in our youth in the past, the speaker stressed the
necessity of maintaining that pure outlook, unfettered nationalism, and noble
path.”

1) Looking for Commitment in All the Wrong Places
2) Turkey Can Never Be European, German Politician Says
3) US Intends to Help Azerbaijan in Democratic and Economic Reforms
4) Swiss-Turkey Relations Hit New Low
5) UN Nuclear Agency Chief Discusses Medzamor Safety in Armenia
6) Armenian Chess Player Wins Bronze Medal

1) Looking for Commitment in All the Wrong Places

European Turk parliamentarians set Prime Minister Erdogan straight

ANKARA (Aztagdaily)–During a meeting with Ethnic Turk European
parliamentarians, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked for their
cooperation in working against recognition of the Armenian genocide in their
respective parliaments.
Erdogan targeted parliamentarians from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, and Sweden
during a meeting in Ankara, asking them to counter efforts by diaspora
Armenians to pass Genocide-related legislation.
The parliamentarians expressed apprehension, stating that given European
“predisposition” on the issue of the Armenian genocide, Turkish lobbying
efforts would not be
successful.

2) Turkey Can Never Be European, German Politician Says

(Reuters)–Turkey should never join the European Union because it lies mostly
outside Europe geographically, and accession talks should not begin on October
3 unless Ankara first recognizes the sovereignty of Cyprus, according to the
vice president of Germany’s CDU/CSU party, Wolfang Schauble.
Schauble made these remarks in the Polish daily, Rzeczpospolita, on July 25
following Germany’s decision last week to push for elections on September 18,
which are widely expected to sweep the center-right CDU/CSU group into power.
“The EU should not extend beyond the boundary that we call the European
continent. Otherwise people will stop identifying with it. And if so, Turkey,
the vast part of which lies outside Europe, cannot belong to the union,” he
proclaimed.
Schauble explained that the October 3 membership talks could proceed with
Ankara as planned “if by this time Turkey formally recognizes the sovereignty
of our European partner Cyprus.”
However, he added that Ankara should be made aware the negotiations are
open-ended and could possibly lead to a privileged partnership status rather
than full membership.
The vice president in charge of foreign affairs and justice brushed aside
worries that blocking Turkish entry might send a hostile message to the
Islamic
world and aggravate Washington, which has pressed for Turkish accession in
recent years.
Schauble indicated that Ankara’s NATO membership and the fact that 20 million
Muslims reside in the EU “is proof that we, Christians and Muslims, can live
together sharing the same fundamental values.”
The vice president also added that “the US will agree that it is us, the
Europeans, who know best which institutional form to give to our relations
with
Turkey.”

3) US Intends to Help Azerbaijan in Democratic and Economic Reforms

BAKU (Armenpress)–The United States is deeply committed to helping Azerbaijan
succeed in democratic and economic reforms, said Under Secretary for Global
Affairs of the United States Dr. Paula Dobriansky at a July 27 press
conference
in Baku.
Dobriansky spoke highly of the value of bilateral relations between the
United
States and Azerbaijan, specifically noting Azerbaijan’s contribution to
coalition efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the two countries’
efforts to make the East-West Energy Corridor a reality.
Commenting on Azerbaijan’s many challenges in advancing democracy, Dobriansky
said, “It is the sincere desire of the United States government that this
decree be implemented fully at all levels of government in all regions of
Azerbaijan,” adding that the US funded exit-poll, conducted by independent,
objective organizations, will help deter electoral fraud.
Meanwhile, Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammedyarov will discuss the
regulation of the Karabagh conflict during his upcoming visit to
Washington, DC
from August 1-5.
Mammedyarov, who is traveling to Washington at the invitation of Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice, will attend meetings at the White House, Pentagon, and
several think-tanks.

4) Swiss-Turkey Relations Hit New Low

BERN (Armenpress)–Swiss parliamentarian Erwin Jutzet was quoted on July 27 by
SwissInfo as saying that Turkey should recognize the Armenian genocide and
stop
blackmailing Switzerland. Meanwhile, the Swiss ambassador in Ankara has had to
defend himself against a barrage of criticism concerning the Swiss
investigation of a Turkish politician.
“Turkey has to stop reacting so sensitively to such events,” Jutzet, the
president of the House of Representatives’ foreign-policy commission, told the
Tages-Anzeiger newspaper on Wednesday.
“It would do better to recognize once and for all the genocide of the
Armenians.”
On July 26, Turkey presented a protest note concerning the investigation of a
Turkish politician on suspicion of violating Swiss anti-racism laws, to the
Swiss ambassador in Ankara and the Swiss foreign ministry in Bern.
Dogu Perincek, leader of Turkey’s Workers’ Party and the subject of two
criminal investigations, has twice denied that the killings of Armenians
around
the time of World War I amounted to genocide.
Jutzet stated that it was up to Turkey to make a move “instead of always
taking offense and resorting to blackmail.” He added that the constant denial
of genocide could have ramifications for Turkey’s much sought-after entry into
the European Union, and “if Switzerland were to turn its back on Turkey, it
would be a bad sign for EU entry.”

5) UN Nuclear Agency Chief Discusses Medzamor Safety in Armenia

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–Mohamed El Baradei, the director general of the
International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), praised Armenian authorities for their “good”
cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog group as he ended a
two-day visit to Yerevan on Thursday.
El Baradei said the ongoing efforts to further improve the safety
standards at
the Medzamor nuclear power station were an “important focus” of his talks with
President Robert Kocharian and other Armenian officials. He also said the
Armenian leadership plans to keep the Soviet-built facility operational for
another decade despite lingering Western concerns about its security.
“We identified issues that need to be worked on, particularly in the area of
nuclear safety,” El Baradei said. “I reviewed with [Armenian officials] the
progress we are making in improving safety at Medzamor and the steps that need
to be taken to improve it further.”
“I think the cooperation [between Armenia and IAEA] has been good,” he added.
“I think there has been a commitment to continue to strengthen safety at
Medzamor. We will continue to work with Armenian authorities to improve safety
there.”
Kocharian was likewise quoted by his press office as telling El Baradei that
he is “satisfied” with his government’s cooperation with the Vienna-based
agency. Yerevan continues to pay “special attention” to enhancing the
operational safety of Medzamor’s sole reactor, he said.
IAEA has regularly inspected the reactor, which meets nearly 40 percent of
Armenia’s electricity needs, ever since its re-activation in 1995 and has so
far not reported serious violations of safety standards there. The head of its
European department noted “a great deal of understanding” with the Armenian
authorities during a visit to Yerevan in October 2002.
However, the European Union and the United States continue to press for
Medzamor’s closure, saying that its light-water reactor is one the most
dangerous facilities of its kind in the world. EU and US financial assistance
has been key to the nuclear safety measures taken there over the past decade.
El Baradei said he did not discuss with Kocharian possible dates for the
plant’s decommissioning. “I think the Armenian authorities would like to
continue to operate the reactor for around ten years,” he said. “It is for
Armenia to decide when to shut down the reactor. Of course, there is concern
about its safety and that is why we are working with them to make sure that
safety is improved to an acceptable international level.”
Deputy Energy Minister Areg Galstian announced late last month that
Yerevan is
already making preparations for the start of what promises to be a very costly
decommissioning process. He said it will be complete by 2016.
El Baradei’s itinerary in Armenia also included visits to Medzamor and an
oncology clinic in Yerevan that has just been supplied by IAEA with modern
radio-therapy equipment. The 62-year-old Egyptian, who looks set to run IAEA
for a third term despite US opposition, said he also discussed his agency’s
“active program to protect against illicit trafficking of nuclear material”
through Armenia. It was not clear if IAEA views the country as a potential
transit route for illegal supplies to neighboring Iran whose controversial
nuclear program is facing close international scrutiny.

6) Armenian Chess Player Wins Bronze Medal

YEREVAN (Armenpress)–Winning the bronze medal in the World Chess Championship
on July 28 in the French city of Belford, Samvel Ter-Sahakian, age 12,
defeated
his competitor by gaining 8.5 points in the last round. Last year,
Ter-Sahakian
earned second place in the same category.

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ARKA News Agency
July 27 2005

IAEA GENERAL DIRECTOR MOHAMED EL BARADEI ARRIVES IN YEREVAN

YEREVAN, July 27. /ARKA/. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
General Director Mohamed El Baradei arrived in Yerevan on Wednesday.
Armenian Foreign Ministry’s Press service says ElBaradei will tour
Armenian Nuclear Power Plant as part of his visit to Armenia. A
series of meetings with Armenian officials are also planned. The IAEA
head is set to meet Armenian President, Prime Minister, Foreign
Minister and Armenian Apostolic Church leader Catholicos Garegin II.
M.V. -0–

Neue Zürcher Zeitung
25 Juli 2005

Türkischer Aussenminister übt scharfe Kritik an der Schweiz
Wegen Verfahren gegen Politiker

Der türkische Aussenminister Abdullah Gül hat mit scharfer Kritik auf
die Ermittlungen reagiert, welche in der Schweiz gegen den Chef der
türkischen Arbeiterpartei aufgenommen wurden. Dieser hatte den
Völkermord an den Armeniern geleugnet. Gül bezeichnete die
Einvernahme des bekannten Politikers in der Schweiz als nicht
hinnehmbar.

(ap) Es sei unmöglich, dass die Türkei solche Aktionen gegen den
Vorsitzenden einer politischen Partei des Landes akzeptieren könne,
wurde Gül am Montag in der türkischen Zeitung «Hürriyet» zitiert.
Zudem fragte sich der Aussenminister, ob solche Massnahmen zu einem
Land wie der Schweiz passten.

Äusserungen bei Medienkonferenz inkriminiert
Gül reagierte mit seinen Aussagen auf ein Strafverfahren, das in der
Schweiz gegen den Vorsitzenden der türkischen Arbeiterpartei, Dogu
Perincek, geführt wird. Perincek hatte am vergangenen Freitag in
Opfikon-Glattbrugg an einer Medienkonferenz zur Feier des 82.
Jahrestag des Lausanner Vertrags über die internationale Anerkennung
der Türkei den Völkermord an den Armeniern als Lüge bezeichnet.

Schon länger belastete Beziehungen
Die Staatsanwaltschaft Winterthur/Unterland eröffnete darauf von
Amtes wegen eine Untersuchung und führte mit Perincek eine
Einvernahme durch. Die Beziehungen zwischen der Schweiz und der
Türkei sind bereits durch ein anderes Verfahren belastet, in dem es
um eine mögliche Verletzung der Rassismusstrafnorm geht.

Handelsminister verschiebt Schweiz-Besuch
Im Visier der Strafverfolgungsbehörden ist dabei der türkische
Historiker Yusuf Halacoglu, der ebenfalls den Völkermord an den
Armeniern öffentlich geleugnet haben soll. Auch dieses Verfahren
wurde von Gül bereits öffentlich kritisiert. Der türkische
Handelsminister verschob im Juni aus Protest dagegen kurzerhand eine
geplante Reise in die Schweiz.

THERE ARE NO ARMENIANS AMONG VICTIMS OF TERROR ACTS IN EGYPT

YEREVAN, JULY 25. ARMINFO. According to the preliminary report by
Armenia’s Foreign Ministry there are no Armenians among the victims of
the recent terror acts in Sharm el-Sheik Egypt.

To remind, 88 people were killed and over 200 wounded in the acts both
local residents and tourists from the UK, GErmany, Italy, the US.

Pleading responsible for the acts are the Brigade of Abdullah Azam and
the Holy Warriors of Egypt.

Some 6,000 tourists have left the popular resort since the acts.