Author: Navasardian Karapet

Embassy of The United States
Yerevan, Armenia
On June 3, U.S. Ambassador John M. Evans released an op-ed on Iran’s nuclear
program and the U.S. offer to join negotiations if Iran fulfills its
international obligations by suspending its enrichment-related and
reprocessing activities.

Iran’s Choice
For more than a year, the United States has worked to build an international
consensus that while Iran is entitled to peaceful nuclear power, it must not
be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. The United States has supported EU-3
negotiations with Iran and is now prepared to join them if Iran fulfills its
international obligations by suspending its enrichment-related and
reprocessing activities as requested by the IAEA Board of Governors and the
UN Security Council. This is a moment of opportunity and America has acted
to give diplomacy its very best opportunity to succeed.
Iran now faces a clear choice. The positive choice will lead to many
benefits and greater security for the Iranian people, the region and the
world. The negative choice is for Iran to continue on its current path,
which will lead only to great costs and increasing international isolation.
The positive, peaceful choice is a genuine commitment to suspend all
enrichment-related and reprocessing activities and return to full
cooperation with the IAEA. This choice would lead to negotiations that can
provide peaceful nuclear energy for the Iranian people and could include
progressively greater economic cooperation with the rest of the world.
Secretary Rice met on Thursday with her counterparts from France, UK,
Germany, EU, Russia and China in Vienna to finalize a package to encourage
Iran to make the right choice and suspend enrichment. This presents an
opportunity for Iran to clarify its intentions to the world. If Iran’s
intentions are peaceful, it will choose the path of negotiations with the
international community.
Our willingness to join the negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program does not
mean that we are normalizing our relationship with Iran, because the nuclear
issue is not the only obstacle standing in the way of improved relations. We
have many fundamental differences with Iran’s regime. The Iranian government
is the lead state sponsor of terror, is involved in violence in Iraq, and is
undercutting the restoration of full sovereignty in Lebanon. The Iranian
regime denies basic human rights to its people and represses democracy
activists and reformers. These policies are out of step with the
international community and are barriers to a positive relationship between
the Iranian people and the people of the United States and the rest of the
world.
We hope that Iran will make a positive choice and return to nuclear
negotiations in good faith, so that the international community will have an
opportunity to raise this broad range of issues. President Bush wants a new
and positive relationship between the American people and the people of
Iran – a beneficial relationship of increased contacts in education,
cultural exchange, sports, travel, trade and investment.
If Iran chooses the path of negotiations, we are now ready to join with our
international partners in direct talks with Iran for the first time in more
than 25 years. This represents strong leadership for diplomacy by the United
States and removes Iran’s last excuse. Iran now has an opportunity to make a
serious, responsible choice in the best interests of its own people and the
community of nations.
As the United States works with the EU-3 and the rest of the international
community to encourage Iran to choose the right path, the U.S. government
calls on all countries to support this international effort towards peace.
Should Iran choose to continue its current activities and refuse to
participate in negotiations, Iran’s neighbors, the region, and the
international community will face a threat to their peace and stability.
John M. Evans
U.S. Ambassador to Armenia

AZG Armenian Daily #100, 01/06/2006

Neighbors

EMPLOYEES OF AZERBAIJANI PAPERS BEING ARRESTED IN IRAN

Ekho newspaper of Baku reports that the employees of
Azerbaijani newspapers are being arrested in
northwestern Iran. In particular, the staff of Yarpag
newspaper of Tabriz was arrested, employee of Yarpag,
Seid Mughanli, told Ekho. In Mughanli’s words, the
authorities in Iran are trying to find out what is the
reason of continuing rallies of the Azerbaijanis.

“Problems of ethnic Azerbaijanis had no solution for a
long time,” Mughanli says. “The reason behind the
protest rallies is considered to be insulting
publications and caricatures of Azeris but statesmen
see it in enduring ban on Azerbaijani language in
Iran.”

The Australian, Australia
June 2 2006

Darchinyan going for knockout
June 02, 2006

AUSTRALIA’S flyweight world champion Vic Darchinyan plans to wow a
worldwide audience this weekend by knocking out Mexican Luis
Maldonado in his first fight in Las Vegas.
The big punching 30-year-old Sydneysider has the opportunity to boost
his burgeoning profile in front of a massive global television
audience in the main preliminary fight to the third clash between
World Boxing Council lightweight champion Diego Corrales and Jose
Luis Castillo.

International Boxing Federation and International Boxing Organisation
flyweight world champion Darchinyan boasts an impressive record of
25-0 (20 KOs).

Darchinyan has won all four of his world title fights inside the
distance and stopped his last seven opponents. While he has fought in
the US twice before, and visited Las Vegas on several occasions, the
bout at the Thomas and Mack Centre on Sunday (AEST) represents his
debut in the famous fight city.

“For my career this is a very good opportunity for me, to show people
how good I am,” Darchinyan said from Las Vegas.

“I’m fighting with an undefeated Mexican, who has been a professional
boxer longer than me. When I knock him out, I believe people will
start recognising me and start talking about me and they will give me
much respect.

“It’s an incredible opportunity. If you can fight in Vegas, you can
fight anywhere in America. The main support on a big show promises
many things for me.”

Darchinyan’s American promoter Gary Shaw is believed to have
provisionally arranged for him to appear on another big Vegas
promotion in August.

Honed by what Darchinyan and his trainer Jeff Fenech believe is his
best preparation ever, the Armenian-born champion claimed he was
punching harder than ever.

“Every fight I’m becoming more powerful, my punch is becoming
stronger,” Darchinyan said. “I believe I will knock him out and I
will show my power because I can feel my power now. I’m getting
stronger and stronger.

“From my sparring and preparation I feel very good, I don’t have any
sore or hurting places on my body.

“I came to America very fit, I did sparring in Phoenix in 40 degree
heat and I can feel my fitness is good.”

Maldonado 28, has an impressive record of 33 wins (25 KOs) no losses
and one draw.

However, he has fought only once outside Mexico and does not appear
to have met the same calibre of opposition as Darchinyan.

“He’s a typical Mexican fighter, but I think he’s a little smarter
than most,” Fenech said.

“He doesn’t always try to knock people out, but he wears them down,
but I’m very confident.”

Maldonado is a switch hitter and will enjoy a height advantage over
Darchinyan, who relishes the prospect of fighting a taller adversary.

“I love it when someone is bigger than me, taller than me, in my
weight division. I’m already big (for a flyweight),” Darchinyan said.

“If he stays in front of me and fights with me I will love it.”

YEREVAN: SHUSHI KEYS ARE IN HANDS OF GENUINE MASTERS OF THE CITY – KARABAKH ARMENIANS

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.06.2006 16:01 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ There is no need to look for keys of Shushi – it
is in the hands of genuine masters of the city – Karabakh Armenians,
political scientist Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan told a PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter. In his words, Tabriz, like other Turkic-speaking towns of
Iran, does not need liberation. “These are ancient Iranian settlements,
whose residents were forced to change their language owing to long-term
occupation by Turks. Ethnic Persians live there. Baku knows it well,
thus they separate Turkic-speaking Iranians from themselves and call
them “Hamshari”, he noted.

Azerbaijan is trying to contribute to collapse of the IRI to please
the US. “Iran is a tradionalist country, which worthily survived
thousands of years of success and failure. It will without fail cope
with the flow of false accusations, poured on it from Washington,
Ankara and Baku,” Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan said.

We remind former Azeri Minister of Education Firuddin Jalilov said that
Keys of Shushi should be sought not in Russia or the US. They are in
Tabriz. Liberation of Tabriz from Persians is liberation of Karabakh.”

ARMENIA, WITH EYE TO SEPARATIST ENCLAVE, PRAISES MONTENEGRO INDEPENDENCE VOTE

AP Worldstream
May 31, 2006

Armenia praised Montenegro’s independence referendum Wednesday in
a statement suggesting it hopes the vote will lend legitimacy to
the sovereignty claims of an ethnic Armenian enclave in neighboring
Azerbaijan.

“We welcome the decision of the authorities and people of Montenegro
on the creation of an independent state,” Foreign Ministry spokesman
Vladimir Karapetian said.

He said Armenia “attaches special importance” to the fact that the
plan to split with Serbia was decided in a referendum, calling it
proof that plebiscites are an internationally recognized way to
“express the rights of the people and resolve such problems.”

Karapetian did not mention Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave within
Azerbaijan that has been controlled by ethnic Armenians since a
1988-1994 war, but his comments suggested Armenia sees the Montenegro
vote as a precedent for the region, whose claim to sovereignty is
not internationally recognized.

In December 1991, amid the breakup of the Soviet Union, voters in
Nagorno-Karabakh overwhelmingly approved a referendum on independence
from Azerbaijan. Its leaders say it wants to be independent or join
Armenia.

But votes in Nagorno-Karabakh have not been recognized by the
international community, which would also be extremely unlikely
to consider a new referendum legitimate if it were not supported
by Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan vehemently opposes sovereignty for Nagorno-Karabakh and
tension remains high, with sporadic clashes between the Azerbaijani
military and Armenian and Karabakh forces that occupy Nagorno-Karabakh
as well as seven neighboring districts of Azerbaijan. International
efforts to promote a resolution have so far failed.

REPRESENTATIVES OF OVER 120 ORGANIZATIONS FROM ARMENIA, RUSSIA AND IRAN TO PARTICIPATE IN CONSTRUCTION – 2006 CONGRESS

Noyan Tapan
Jun 1 2006

YEREVAN, JUNE 1, NOYAN TAPAN. Representatives of more than 100
Armenian enterprises of almost all sectors of the construction and
investment market, as well as representatives of 20 large companies,
unions and associations of builders from Russia, Iran and Ukraine will
take part in the 2nd international congress “Construction – 2006”
in Tsakhkadzor on June 2-5. According to the Master international
integration assistance center – the organizer of the event,
the congress participants will discuss such issues as ways of
developing architecture and design, interior and exterior design,
new technologies of production and use of building materials, stone
working and heat supply and climatization of buildings, and the
real estate market. The official sponsors of the event are the RA
Ministry of Urban Development, Yerevan Mayor’s Office and the Union
of Manufacturers and Businessmen of Armenia.

‘BLACK BOXES’ IN SATISFACTORY CONDITION

AZG Armenian Daily
31/05/2006

The “black boxes” of the crashed A320 of Armavia air carrier are in
satisfactory condition. According to “Ekho Moskvi” Radio Station,
the “black boxes” are opened by the specialists of the Inter-state
Aviation Committee. ITAR-TASS informed that the testimonies from the
“black boxes” will be decoded in a month.

On May 27, the “black boxes” were taken to Paris from Moscow for the
specialists to open them. After that, the chips from the “black boxes”
will be taken to Moscow for decoding.

WHOSE SOCIAL PROBLEMS IS LABOR PARTY SOLVING?

Lragir.am
01 June 06

The post of the chair of Health and Social Committee will be given
to the United Labor Party, the political party of Gurgen Arsenyan,
on an arrangement made inside the government. The leader of the ULP
told the news reporter of Lragir.am on May 31 that they are going to
nominate Mnatsakan Petrosyan, member of the ULP faction.

This is very interesting because Mnatsakan Petrosyan is genuinely
concerned about the social problems of citizens. Quite recently,
the National Assembly passed the law on cutting the lump-sum tax
on the import of cigars to Armenia. No doubt, the law improves the
social state of cigar importers, cutting the lump-sum tax from 1.5
million to half million drams per 1000 cigars. Moreover, the cigar
importer is a citizen of Armenia, consequently Mnatsakan Petrosyan
started thinking about the social state of the citizens long before
taking up the post of chair of committee. It is also possible that
he was nominated thanks to this.

The point is that Mnatsakan Petrosyan is nominated by the ULP
faction. It is said that Gurgen Arsenyan, the leader of the ULP
faction, imports cigars to Armenia. Gurgen Arsenyan is also said to
own the building built in front of the Conservatoire, which is going
to be a cigar club. However, it is also possible that all this is an
exaggerated picture of the possibilities of Gurgen Arsenyan, which
is far from being true. Consequently, the nomination of Mnatsakan
Petrosyan has nothing to do with the cigars, and it was done for
the sake of the Republic of Armenia and for the sake of well-being
of citizens.

PRESS RELEASE
Black Maria Gallery
3137 Glendale Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90039
Contact: Zara Zeitountsian
Tel: 323. 660 9393
Fax: 323. 669 2821
E-mail: [email protected]
web:

Black Maria Gallery Will Host

Exhibition to Raise Funds for a Cross-Cultural Mission in Turkey
– Installation will Feature New Sculptures by Kardash Onnig –

Los Angeles – Black Maria Gallery announced a major installation by Kardash
Onnig, featuring new and recent works by the New York-based sculptor.
Opening on Thursday, June 8, at 7 PM, the exhibition will continue until
Sunday, June 11.

The installation at Black Maria Gallery will serve to raise funds in support
of a peace mission that Kardash plans to undertake in Turkey. The mission
will include the creation of linkages with Turkish artists and cultural
leaders, collaborative projects designed to promote cross-border dialogue,
and a teen apprenticeship program in sculpture and carving taught by Kardash

Kardash’s installation is part of his evolving “Tools” project, now entering
its third decade that consists of sculptures based on the idea of the
quaternary.

“It’s all about universality,” Kardash explained. “Virtually every culture
on the planet has symbols and metaphors deriving from the quaternary, or the
principle of four. Think of the four seasons, the four elements, the four
corners of the world. In other words, our most profound cultural aspirations
speak of the universal, of embracing the whole, whereas we’re stuck in
two-dimensional modes of thinking such as nationalism or corporate
globalization, and we worship two-dimensional devices, such as our
technological wonders that actually prevent us from experiencing things
beyond our cocoons. The ‘Tools’

Project is my way of shattering the barriers of two-dimensionality, of
crossing borders, to both acknowledge and experience ‘the other.'”

Kardash said his project owes much to his travels throughout the world. He
has lived and worked in a number of diverse societies, and many of his
sojourns have inspired him to undertake various teaching and writing
initiatives. For the past 20 years he has conducted a Teen Apprenticeship
Program in New York, fostering unfettered artistic expression grounded in
advanced techniques and discipline. He has also authored several monographs
and children’s books, all of which share a message of nonviolence and
cultural concordance through mutual understanding.

“Ninety-one years have passed since the Genocide of Armenians in Ottoman
Turkey, yet Armenian-Turkish dialogue is not only nonexistent today, it’s an
enormous taboo,” Kardash explained. “But I’m not pursuing a specifically
political mission by trying to create links with Turkish cultural workers
and teaching sculpture to talented kids. I’m just doing my thing as a
sculptor and as someone genuinely interested in advancing peace across
national divides. In the past, I’ve conducted similar programs in
Nagorno-Karabagh and elsewhere, and I’m not interested in only the
Armenian-Turkish issue. I believe the canvas of peace and mutual
understanding should be spread throughout the world, irrespective of one’s
background.”

Kardash’s installation at Black Maria Gallery will include an interactive
feature whereby visitors will be encouraged to move around his sculptures to
form distinct “ensembles” and set-ups. These movements will be taped by an
overhead camera and projected onto a screen in the main space of the
gallery. There will also be shown a mini documentary on Kardash, including
clips of the artist discussing the concept of the quaternary.

Black Maria is located at 3137 Glendale Boulevard in Atwater Village.
Gallery summer hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 1 to 6 PM. For more
information, call 323. 660 9393

# # #

French Jewish students concern over genocide debate

By Shirli Sitbon in ParisUpdated: 30/May/2006 13:59

The French National Assembly

PARIS (EJP)— The French Union of Jewish Students, UEJF, has
criticised a group of MPs after they abruptly dropped a discussion on
deniers of genocide.

On Thursday, the parliamentarians were due to discuss a new law
designed to sanction deniers of the 1915 Armenian genocide.

But the debate in the National Assembly was aborted shortly after it
began.

`Referring to possible Turkish political and economical sanctions to
avoid voting the law is an offence to the memory of 1,5 million
Armenians who were exterminated in 1915 and to their descendants,’
UEJF said in a press release.

`The UEJF deplores that the requirement of truth and moral duty aren’t
the first ambitions of the whole of our country’s political leaders,’
the organisation added in its reaction.

Turkish appeasement?

Right and Left wing MPs blamed each other for deliberately avoiding
the discussion in order to please Turkey after Turkish prime minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan had threatened to sanction France if its
parliament voted the new law in.

French Minister of Foreign Affairs Philippe Douste-Blazy said recently
he believed the new legislation on the Armenian genocide would have
been `an unfriendly gesture against Turkey’.

Patrick Devedjian, a right-wing MP of Armenian extraction denounced a
political manoeuvre.

The law was supposed to complete former legislation, voted in on
January 29, 2001, which recognises the Armenian genocide but does not
condemn its deniers.

The new legislation would make Armenian genocide denial as an offence
and recommends a year imprisonment and a 45,000 euro fine for
convicted revisionists.

Dozens of French historians criticised the law, saying legislation
should never obstruct their work. The same historians are opposed to
laws on holocaust denial have recently published a petition against
them.

Jewish support

The Jewish community has on numerous occasions supported the Armenian
community when it demanded the genocide would be clearly recognised.

The umbrella association CRIF and Bnei Brith France organised several
meetings and conferences on the Armenian and on the Rwanda genocides,
evaluating they should both be recognised just as the holocaust is.

The UEJF is deeply involved in dialogue between Armenians, Jews and
Tutsis. In February, it organised a mission to Rwanda and its
president Benjamin Abtan declared that `following the journey, the
students’ conviction in inter-memory dialogue has strengthened.’

Bnei Brith France told EJP it stood by the Armenian community although
it failed to issue an official reaction or a press release.

`We have stood by the Armenians for a long time and we’ll maintain our
position until this genocide is finally recognised,’ Marc Lumbroso,
BBF chairman said.

`Obviously this is a sensitive issue, since it concerns France’s and
Israel’ s relations with Turkey,’ stressed Lumbroso, `but we maintain
our support.’

Other community leaders explained they preferred not to criticise the
French decision to drop the debate on the Armenian genocide.

`We are French citizens and this is a delicate matter that we don’t
have to comment on,’ a Jewish official that remained anonymous said.