Author: Nalbandian Albert

Armenian National Committee of Fresno-Central California
PO Box 626
Fresno, California 93709
E-mail: [email protected]
Tel: (559) 233-2315

PRESS RELEASE
April 28, 2010
Contact: Hygo Ohannessian
Tel: 559 233 2315

FRESNO COMMUNITY COMMEMORATES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AT CITY HALL

FRESNO, CA—On Saturday, April 24th, the Armenian National Committee of
Fresno-Central California (ANC Central CA) commemorated the 95th Anniversary
of the Armenian Genocide with its annual "Walk for Remembrance" which
culminated at Fresno City Hall. There, the over 500 local residents were
joined by city officials and community leaders to pay homage to the victims
and call for Congressional recognition of this crime against humanity.

"Today we are gathered to pay homage to those that gave the ultimate
sacrifice and celebrate those that were able to survive — and to those of
us that are members of the diaspora, to make certain that we educate the
next generation," remarked Fresno City Council Member Andreas Borgeas who
served as the event’s emcee.

He was joined by US Representative Jim Costa (CA-20-D) who recalled his
efforts to urge Turkey to confront its genocidal past.

The community keynote address was delivered by former ANC regional Board
Member and Chairperson Raffi Hamparian. He reminded those gathered of the
community’s responsibility to the few remaining survivors to continue to the
fight for recognition and justice.

As part of its weekend commemoration events, the Fresno Armenian community
also hosted a lecture by Dr. Taner Akcam at Saint Paul Armenian Church.

The Armenian National Committee of Fresno-Central California advances the
social, economic, cultural, and political rights of the area’s Armenian
American community and promotes increased Armenian American civic
participation at the grassroots and public policy levels.

ARMENIAN MINISTER OF DIASPORA HRANUSH HAKOBIAN PAYS WORKING VISIT TO ISRAEL

NOYAN TAPAN
MAY 5, 2010
TEL AVIV

TEL AVIV, MAY 5, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Armenia’s Minister
of Diaspora Ms. Hranush Hakobian is on a working visit to Israel.

According to the Ministry of Diaspora, during her visit Hranush
Hakobian will meet with Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Yuli Edelstein,
Immigrant Absorption Minister Sofa Landver, Chairman of the Jewish
Agency for Israel Natan Sharansky, and Executive Director of the
American-Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Arnon Mantver.

Minister Hakobian had meetings with the Armenian Patriarch of
Jerusalem, Archbishop Torgom Manukian, Honorary Consul of Armenia to
Israel Tsolak Momjian, and members of the Armenian community of Israel.

On May 5 Hranush Hakobian will leave for the Kingdom of Jordan.

PUSHING THE PENTAGON TO PREVENT GENOCIDE
Nathan Hodge

Wired News
ng-the-pentagon-to-prevent-genocide/
May 4 2010

When the Pentagon released its master strategy document earlier this
year, the document contained an interesting phrase: The military
needed to focus on "preventing human suffering due to mass atrocities
or large-scale natural disasters abroad."

The insertion of that line into the Quadrennial Defense Review
marked a paradigm shift: Previous versions of the strategic plan
included no such references to stopping "mass atrocities" as a
military imperative. It was a quiet victory for advocates of a new
vision of U.S. national power that would make genocide prevention a
military priority.

And while genocide-prevention hasn’t been fully embraced by every arm
of the military, it’s building momentum. In an event tomorrow at the
U.S. Institute of Peace, the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the
Harvard Kennedy School and the U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability
Operations Institute (PKSOI) will unveil the Mass Atrocity Response
Operations military planning handbook, a step-by-step guide written
by and for military planners that outlines how to stop a genocide.

How, exactly, would it work? Ideally, the handbook’s designers have
argued, you stop a genocide before it happens, through diplomatic
action, political pressure or pre-emptive deployment of a protective
force. But sometimes you may have to go in heavy. Scott Feil, a retired
Army officer who is a member of the project’s core planning group,
has argued that a 5,000-strong task force from a modern military
would have been sufficient to stop the killing in Rwanda.

It’s part of a larger effort by the Carr Center and PKSOI to sell
the concepts of genocide prevention within the Pentagon and the
national-security establishment. As an earlier planning primer
noted, the words genocide and mass atrocity have long been absent
from military planning documents, but the Carr Center and PKSOI
have lobbied to include these concepts in documents like the QDR. In
parallel, they’ve also worked to introduce their "annotated planning
framework" to the people who matter most: The military’s powerful
regional combatant commands.

Why is this important? For starters, it could become the launching
point for future military interventions. In delivering an annual threat
assessment to Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Director of
National Intelligence Dennis Blair said: "Looking ahead over the next
five years, a number of countries in Africa and Asia are at significant
risk for a new outbreak of mass killing. All of the countries at
significant risk have or are at high risk for experiencing internal
conflicts or regime crises and exhibit one or more of the additional
risk factors for mass killing. Among these countries, a new mass
killing or genocide is most likely to occur in Southern Sudan."

In other words, the U.S. government needs to be prepared for — and
perhaps militarily plan for — intervening to stop mass killings. That
doesn’t necessarily mean U.S. boots on the ground: Intervention,
broadly speaking, could include a diplomatic offensive to prevent an
outbreak of violence. Or it could mean convincing regional security
organizations — the African Union, for instance — to deploy their
own peacekeepers. But as the earlier MARO primer noted, U.S. combatant
commands are likely to end up as "first responders" in some capacity
if such an incident happens.

The "G word" is still politically fraught. Most recently, President
Barack Obama had to dance around the subject in a statement to mark
Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, which commemorates the mass killings
of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in 1915.

TAX AND DUTY PAYMENTS TO ARMENIAN BUDGET TOTAL AMD 218,106 BILLION IN FOUR MONTHS

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 3, 2010 – 14:49 AMT 09:49 GMT

Armenia’s State Committee of Revenues continuously records
overfulfilment of the planned indices. The press service of the
Committee reported that the tax and customs payments to Armenia’s
state budget totaled AMD 218,106 billion in January-April 2010,
exceeding the planned indices by 22,071 billion.

The indices in January-April of 2010 exceeded those of the same period
of last year by 37.534 billion. Meanwhile, the indices of this year
are overfulfilled by around 11.2 billion, as compared with the same
period of 2008.

Overfulfilment was recorded also in social payments. Specifically,
AMD 35.8 billion was collected in January-April 2010 that is 5 billion
higher than the scheduled index. The collected social payments during
the four months of 2010 exceeded those of the same period of last
year by 6 billion.

ARMENIA’S FARMERS: GOT MILK?

by Olivia Katrandjian
The Civilitas Foundation

Milk production is one of the main sources of income for rural communities
in Armenia. Although production has increased by more than 50 percent over
the last 15 years, the country remains a net importer of milk and relies
heavily on imported dairy products. There is a serious demand for milk and
milk by-products in Armenia – major dairy producers say they would buy
three times the amount of milk available today.

Due to a lack of capacity, however, the industry functions at less than 30%
of its potential.

Sargis Manukian, an Armenian farmer, learned from a friend about the
Civilitas Foundation’s Dairy Production Assistance Program, which sells
milking machines to farmers on a microfinance basis.

`He has been calling me three times a day asking what he needs to sign up,’
said Sona Nazaryan, a staff member at Civilitas in Yerevan. `One day he came
from Stepanavan, which is almost 100 miles away.

He didn’t have an appointment – he just phoned and said `I’m downstairs.’ I
told him that without the papers, I couldn’t write up a contract.’

`Don’t you worry, I have all the papers with me!’ he said.

`What about the letter from the person who guarantees there is a market for
your milk?’ Sona asked. How could he have the letter? She hadn’t given it to
him.

`Of course!’ he said. He pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket.
It was blank except for the village mayor’s stamp and signature. `Here is
the paper! Whatever you write, he guarantees it.’

After filling out the paperwork and getting an actual guarantee, Sargis got
his milking unit. He has been using it for over a month now and has already
made his first payment.

He is one of many farmers to benefit from the program, which provides
milking machines to Armenian farmers through a loan guarantee system. The
farmers agree to pay back the purchase price of the unit in installments
with no interest. The payback rate is 100 percent. The repaid funds are used
to purchase additional units, thereby increasing the number of
beneficiaries.

The Civilitas staff have become dairy `experts’. `The current average milk
yield estimation shows that at least 35 cows are required for one farming
household of six to sustain itself,’ says Hayk Petrosyan, Programs
Coordinator at Civilitas. `Yet, the average milk-producing household has
only three to 10 cows. Farmers rely on manual labor to milk their cows,
which has prevented them from increasing the size of their herd. A milking
unit allows a farmer to improve efficiency and increase quantity of produced
milk, thereby increasing yearly net income by approximately 30 percent.’

With support from the Polish Government, Civilitas is also building milk
cooling and collection centers in two villages. A cooling center will enable
these communities to store enough milk to make it economically beneficial
for the dairy producer to come pick it up. Each center involves 75 percent
of each village’s population. The centers will be completed in May and
used on a loan basis with no interest.

Civilitas not only supplies the equipment but also provides training for
the farmers on the use and maintenance of the milking machines and cooling
centers. This helps the farmers become self-reliant. A self-reliant farmer
is an economically self-sufficient one. Self-sufficiency, in turn, allows
the farmer to participate in and build a civil society. Armen and Nadya
Ekserciyan of Argentina also believe in this notion, which is why they were
the project’s first sponsors.

Armenia emphasizes importance of boosting relations with China through
economic ties

May 2, 2010 – 15:35 AMT 10:35 GMT
PanARMENIAN.Net –

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, who is in China to participate in
the world Shanghai Expo 2010, visited the industrial park of Suzhou
city to familiarize himself with the operation of HIGER bus plant, one
of the largest Chinese enterprises. The Armenian President was met by
Suzhou Deputy Mayor Zhou Weiqiang and HIGER corporation General
Manager Wu Wenwen. Mr. Wenwen said that HIGER, a leader in car
production in China, intends to start its activity in Armenia,
creating new possibilities of cooperation with the republic.

Later the same day, Serzh Sargsyan visited Suzhou Science & Culture
Arts Centre. Besides, the President met with Suzhou Mayor Yan Li. He
briefed the Armenian President on the city’s achievements and
expressed readiness to establish bilateral relations with Armenia. In
his turn, Serzh Sargsyan emphasized the importance of boosting the
Armenian-Chinese relations through economic ties, the press service of
the RA President reported.

VIOLATION OF THE LAW ON COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS COMPENSATED IN ARMENIA FOR THE FIRST TIME

ARMENPRESS
APRIL 29, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, APRIL 29, ARMENPRESS: Violation of RA Law on Copyright and
Related Rights is compensated in Armenia for the first time. two shops
came to an agreement with Microsoft after negotiations and paid to the
company 5 million USD as a compensation for selling not licensed discs,
Narine Lazarian, expert of the ‘Business Software Alliance’ (BSA)
international organization, Microsoft’s representative for copyright
and legal interests, said at a press conference today. She informed
that BSA held checking February in 10 shops of the central district
of Yerevan in association with RA Police, department of fighting
against organized crime. 4 of the shops were selling computers, and
six of them- discs. The aim of the checking was making clear whether
those trade organizations were selling licensed products or not.

According to Narine Lazarian, Microsoft always settles issues
with companies through negotiations and only after the failure in
the process of negotiations, Microsoft applies to the police for
gathering proves.

Microsoft has filed 24 applications, which refer to not only discs
selling shops or computers, but also middle-sized and large-scale
enterprises operating in Armenia, which use software by Microsoft. 3
criminal cases were evoked against disc selling shops located in the
center of Yerevan: Microsoft did not manage to reach an agreement
with these companies.

Narine Lazarian informed that the total amount of the incurred loss
from 6 discs shops of Armenia is assessed 33.1 million AMD (86.000
USD). She says in addition to the 5000 USD, the company has already
received, the other issues will be settled through legal proceedings.

The expert did not mention the names of the shops, as the cases are
still under preliminary investigation.

Narine Lazarian says in order to prevent such cases and call the
trespassers to account, it is better to adopt the bill, currently
under discussion at the National Assembly, which is initiated by Karen
Vardanyan, ARF faction member. The bill is aimed at safeguarding the
rights of authors, performers, filmmakers, software and database
developers for their creations in the spheres of culture, art,
science, as well as protecting the interests of consumers and ensuring
competitive conditions for entrepreneurs.

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x118
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: [email protected]
Website:

PRESS RELEASE

Thursday, April 29, 2010

AGBU Young Professionals of Los Angeles Raise Funds for Pan-YP
Environmental Project

Reported by Aleen L. Khanjian

Pasadena, CA – On March 16, 2010, the AGBU Young Professionals of Los
Angeles (YPLA) kicked off the year with its first event by hosting a
pre-St. Patrick’s Day Mixer at Neomeze. Located in the heart of Old Town
Pasadena, Neomeze is a hip, Mediterranean-style bar and lounge that
served as the perfect venue for the more than 200 young professionals,
who met, mingled, and enjoyed the cool ambiance. The mixer was carried
out, all in the name of fundraising for a worldwide AGBU Pan-YP
Environmental Project in Khachik, Armenia.

Neomeze owner Hagop Giragossian, who opened his doors to the group, has
been a generous supporter of AGBU through the years. "We have partnered
on fundraising projects with YPLA in the past and are always open to
doing so in the future," stated Giragossian. As a token of this
partnership, Giragossian had promotional AGBU YPLA St. Patrick’s Day
t-shirts made for attendees of the event.

AGBU YPLA Chairwoman Sevana Melikian was pleased with the turnout as
well as the funds raised for the pan-AGBU YP initiative. "In an effort
to go with a ‘green’ theme, we thought a St. Patrick’s Day event would
be an appropriate way to raise funds for the environmental project that
will be taking place in Khachik this spring," said Melikian. "Our Vice
Chair Narine Zardarian did a great job in organizing this event. We had
a great turnout and look forward to planning more events like these
throughout the year." Having served as YPLA’s former liaison on the
global Pan-AGBU YP Committee, Melikian was on hand to educate attendees
about the environmental work being carried out in Armenia.

Also in attendance was AGBU YP Liaison Kim Yacoubian from the AGBU
Central Office in New York. "I was thrilled to see the turnout and
mingle with a number of YPs in Los Angeles," stated Yacoubian. "YPLA’s
fundraising efforts are to be commended as this project serves a noble
purpose. It is a crucial incentive for the young people of Khachik,
Armenia to remain in their village, rather than move to Yerevan or,
worse, emigrate. It is through projects like these that we can help
maintain Armenia’s border villages and ensure the security and
sovereignty of its borders. YPLA has kicked off the fundraising for this
project in a profound way. I am glad I was here to see it all take
place."

Khachik is a village consisting of 300 families in the Vayotz Dzor
region of Armenia, located approximately 2.5 hours from Yerevan.
Residents of Khachik live in very tight quarters, with nowhere to escape
from their daily hardships. AGBU YP Groups from around the world are
pooling their resources to raise money to build an environmentally
friendly "green space" in the village – a place where locals can take
their children for picnics and where youth can gather and feel like they
have a place to call their own. Additionally, the park-like "green
space" could also serve as a source of income where individuals and
families would be able to set up coffee and tea stands in order to sell
their local produce.

This spring, AGBU YP members of the Yerevan Chapter, along with locals
and the youth, will work toward turning this desolate area into a green
haven for the young, as well as the old. They will plant trees, design
green areas, install picnic tables and gazebos, and build a small
playground. Partner organizations on this project include Armenia’s
Ministry of Environment and the Center for Agribusiness and Rural
Development.

YPLA is the Los Angeles Chapter of the AGBU Young Professionals – a
growing network of individuals between the ages of 22 and 40, who
individually and collectively mirror the AGBU’s mission to preserve and
promote the Armenian identity and heritage by adding dimensions to the
lives of young professional Armenians through educational, cultural,
social and humanitarian programs. YPLA puts on monthly activities,
including social-networking and professional career-building events,
signature weekend getaways, hiking and camping trips, international
video-conferences, service-oriented activities targeted toward Armenian
youth, benefit events, as well as casual get-togethers, where young
Armenians can come together to exchange ideas and get to know each other
better. YPLA is always looking for individuals who would like to
volunteer their time either as a board member or on an event-by-event
basis. For more information on how to get involved with YPLA, please
contact: [email protected].

Established in 1906, AGBU () is the world’s largest
non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City, AGBU
preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through
educational, cultural and humanitarian program, annually touching the
lives of some 400,000 Armenians around the world.

ISSUE OF SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE INCLUDED INTO AGENDA OF ISRAELI PARLIAMENT WITH SUPPORT OF ARABIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS

APA
April 28 2010
Azerbaijan

Baku. Lachin Sultanova – APA. A decision has been passed to include
the issue of the so-called Armenian genocide into the agenda of the
Israeli parliament.

APA reports quoting IzRUS portal that 12 voted for and 8 against the
decision. Members of Meretz and Avodah parties, former journalist
Uri Orbach (Jewish Home) and Arabian parliamentarians voted for the
decision. The representatives of Israel – Our Home party were the
main opponents.

The initiator of the proposal on the recognition of the happenings
of 1915 as "Armenian genocide", Haim Oron from Meretz party said the
Knesset’s commission for organizational issues will determine which
parliamentary commission will hold initial discussion.

"The issue may be discussed in two commissions – either in the
foreign affairs and security commission, or education commission. The
issue will be likely discussed in the foreign affairs and security
commission," he said.

Zeyev Elkin, member of Likud Party, who supports Haim Oron, and
Robert Ilatov, head of Israel-Azerbaijan interparliamentary group,
who strongly objects to the discussion of the so-called genocide,
are the members of the foreign affairs and security commission.

JOURNALIST DOGANSOY: "FALSE ALLEGATIONS BECAUSE I AM TARGETED"

BIAnet.org
April 27 2010
Turkey

Journalist Fuat Dogansoy disclaimed the news about himself published
in Vakit newspaper saying that "he was caught with drugs in Finland".

Dogansoy believes to be targeted.

Erol ONDEROGLU [email protected] Istanbul – BIA News Center27 April
2010, Tuesday Journalist Fuat Dogansoy said that the news about him
published in the national Vakit newspaper stating that "he was caught
with drugs in Finland" did not reflect the truth.

Dogansoy assumes that he became a target because of his news for
the Fırat News Agency (ANF) saying that games were being played on
the Armenians and that there are secret deals between the Turkish
Armed Forces (TSK) and the USA. He had furthermore reported about
assassination attempts directed at leaders of the separatist Kurdistan
Workers’ Party (PKK) which is listed as a terror organization in
many countries.

Dogansoy: Neither police statement nor news in the papers Dogansoy
called bianet in regard to the allegations recently published about
him. He said that the Police in Finland did not make any statements
related to the allegations and that nothing was published in the
Finnish newspaper that was quoted as the source of the supposed
information.

Dogansoy had been subject to an assault on 15 March 2009 when he
prepared a documentary entitled "2 July – Documentary of Death"
about the Sivas Massacre. The Sivas massacre in central Anatolia
was an attack against Alevi intellectuals and artists. 37 people
lost their lives when the Madimak Hotel was set on fire on 2 July
1993. Dogansoy recalled that despite the attack a trial was launched
against him based on article 216 of the Turkish Criminal Court (TCK)
on "inciting hatred and hostility amongst the public and humiliation
of the public." The Governor of Sivas had made an announcement to
diclaim Dogansoy’s allegations of the assault.

Subject of investigation into "Revolutionary Headquarters" Dogansoy
furthermore said that an investigation was initiated into his alleged
connections to the Revolutionary Headquarters organization.

When asked if he responded to the investigation, Dogansoy replied,
"Should I respond when people involved in the Revolutionary
Headquarters case are kept in prison for ten months for nothing?" The
journalist dismissed the claims that he had any connections to the
Revolutionary Headquarters organization. (EO/VK)