Author: Navasardian Karapet

Turkish premier chides Polish envoy over Armenian genocide decision

NTV television, Istanbul
24 Apr 05

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s harsh statement to the Polish
ambassador made a mark during the reception held at the National
Assembly on the occasion of 23 April, National Sovereignty and
Children’s Day. Erdogan told the ambassador: You played into some
people’s hands by recognizing the Armenian genocide. You should not
have done this to us.

As in past years, this year too, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and CHP
[People’s Republican Party] Chairman Deniz Baykal did not attend the
reception. Erdogan, who arrived late and stayed a short time at the
reception, reacted against the ambassador of Poland, which recognized
the Armenian genocide in recent days. Erdogan told the ambassador: You
upset me. Poland supported us greatly with regard to the EU but you
should not have done this to us. Erdogan also claimed that Poland was
deceived by a very small group.

Aljazeera.net, Qatar
April 24 2005

Armenian genocide issue still haunts Turkey
By Christian Henderson

Sunday 24 April 2005, 21:39 Makka Time, 18:39 GMT

Armenians mark what they call the genocide anniversary

On 24 April 1915 Turkish Ottoman authorities arrested and deported
250 Armenian leaders marking the start of what Armenians say was a
genocide that killed 1.5 million of their kin.

Armenians say they were victims of an ethnic-cleansing campaign
planned by Turkish nationalists as the Ottoman Empire crumbled amid
the first world war.

They say between 1915 and 1923 hundreds of thousands of Armenians
were forcibly marched through the Mesopotamian desert where they died
of dehydration and starvation.

Turkey denies this. It says thousands of Armenians and Turks died in
a civil conflict that erupted after Armenians sided with invading
Russian forces.

To this day, the historical events surrounding the killings remain
hotly contested.

Fierce debate

Many academics say the Armenian version of events holds water.

“Among most bona fide historians this is non-debate. Turkish
nationalist historians still reject this,” Donald Bloxham, a history
lecturer at Edinburgh University, said.

Historian Bernard Lewis (R) has
backed Turkey’s view of events

Bloxham, who has just completed a book entitled The Great Game of
Genocide: Imperialism, Nationalism and the Destruction of the Ottoman
Armenians, said: “The Turkish version just doesn’t stand on any
level.”

On the other hand, there are several historians, such as Middle
Eastern scholar Bernard Lewis, whose works support the Turkish
account of events.

“There is an explainable, understandable history of a two-sided
conflict. It was not genocide,” Justine McCarthy of the University of
Louisville wrote in the Turkish Daily News in 2001.

Pressure growing

However, there is increasing international and domestic pressure on
Turkey to recognise the killings as a genocide, suggesting that, in
this instance, history is not on Turkey’s side.

Last week a record 32 US senators and more than 100 legislators wrote
to US President George Bush asking him to recognise the genocide.

“The memory of the Armenian genocide underscores our responsibility
to help convey our cherished tradition of respect for fundamental
human rights and opposition to mass slaughters. It is in the best
interests of our nation and the entire global community to remember
the past,” the senators wrote.

Armenians hope George Bush
will use the term ‘genocide’

The Armenian lobby in the US is hoping Bush will use the word
genocide in a speech commemorating the anniversary of the 1915
killings.

“The overall aim of the community is to get recognition of the
genocide,” Elizabeth Chouldijian of the Armenian National Committee
of America said.

Whether Bush is willing to offend an important strategic ally in
order to appease a relatively weak domestic lobby, remains to be
seen. Turkey has traditionally been an important Nato ally and a key
military partner with the US.

“The president speaks of moral clarity over international issues and
we ask him to have moral clarity over this issue too,” Chouldijian
told Aljazeera.net.

European voices

Pressure on Turkey is also growing elsewere.

The Polish parliament and the Russian Duma have adopted resolutions
that will call on the international community to recognise the
genocide. In Germany, officials have said they will urge Turkey to
acknowledge the incident as such.

France’s Jacques Chirac visited a
memorial to the dead in Paris

In France, home to the largest Armenian community in Europe, French
President Jacques Chirac accompanied Armenian President Robert
Kocharian to a monument for victims of the killings in Paris on
Friday.

In Belgium, the parliament voted on Saturday to make denying the
Armenian genocide illegal.

In addition to international pressure, there are an increasing number
of Turkish intellectuals and academics who are breaking a taboo and
calling for the events to be recognised as genocide.

The Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk received death threats after he
recently told a Swiss newspaper that “no one dares say that a million
Armenians and 30,000 Kurds were killed in Turkey”.

Tense relations

The issue has strong resonance in the foreign affairs of both Turkey
and Armenia.

Relations between the two countries are tense. Ankara refuses to
establish relations with Yerevan because of the genocide row and
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 because of its war with
Azerbaijan, depriving the tiny, landlocked country of a key trade
route.

Armenia says that as long as Turkey fails to recognise the genocide,
then it will feel threatened by its neighbour.

“Without recognition of the fact of genocide and an admission that it
was wrong, we cannot trust our neighbour, which has a tangible
military weight,” Armenia’s foreign minister, Vardan Oskanyan, said.

Harry Tamrazian, head of the Armenian service at Radio Free Europe,
said: “This is very important for Armenia. The very fact Ankara
refuses to recognise the Armenian genocide is very disturbing for
Armenian security.”

Armenians say they want to seek compensation for the genocide,
something that observers say unnerves Turkey.

“When any genocide is committed, it is a crime and there must be
repercussions. Once the genocide is recognised, then the next step is
looking into what the consequences are according to international
law,” Chouldijian of the Armenian National Committee of America says.

Crucial to EU talks

Tamrazian echoes Chouldijian.

“They are afraid of dealing with the consequences. Once you recognise
the genocide, they think Armenians will ask for compensation,” he
told Aljazeera.net.

As Turkey prepares for EU accession talks, the Armenian genocide is
something Ankara cannot avoid.

Turkey is a key US strategic
partner and Nato ally

“There is a European moral standard that says if you want to be a
member of the Western world, then you have to allow a discussion, a
debate, of the past, and second you have to be ready to rectify the
wrongdoings of the past,” Turkish historian Taner Akcam said at a
recent conference on the genocide in Armenia.

Some EU members say Turkey must examine its past before it joins the
bloc, something that irks Turkey.

To which Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer responds: “It is wrong
and unjust for our European friends to press Turkey on these issues.

“These claims upset and hurt the feelings of the Turkish nation. What
needs to be done is research and investigate and discuss history,
based on documents and without prejudice.”

Turkey has offered to open its Ottoman archives to a joint commission
of Turkish and Armenian historians to research the genocide issue,
something that the Armenian government has dismissed, saying that
incriminating documents have been removed.

Kurdish issue

The Armenian issue also raises questions over the nature of the
Turkish state.

“The Armenian genocide issue is a living one,” says Edinburgh
University’s Bloxham.

“Turkish ethnic nationalism was the ideology behind the genocide, it
is this same ideology that has been behind its problems with the
Kurdish population,” he said.

“So to question this ideology and the genocide would also confront
ethnic nationalism, and Turkey would then have to confront its
relationship with the Kurds.”

Hidden agenda?

For their part, Turks say European countries are using the Armenian
genocide issue to hinder Turkey’s attempt to join the EU.

Pulent Akargly, an MP with the Turkish National Party, says: “Turkey
will never accept genocide allegations just because European and
American parliaments say so.”

Armenians in Yerevan observe
the anniversary of the events

Akargly says Turkey has the strength to dismiss such demands.

“They can make pressure but this will not have any serious impact on
Turkey. Because Turkey is a country of 70 million with a strong army
and a strong market in a strategic area, I believe that more and more
the EU and the US need Turkey more than we need them.”

Akargly also accuses Europe and the US of gross hypocrisy, saying:
“The Western world has to recognise genocide with what they have done
in Latin America. Then what has been done during the Crusader period,
then what has been done in black Africa and Arab Africa and during
Vietnam.”

Different voices

But as Turkey undergoes EU-driven reform, many in the country say
that challenging the nationalist historiography will become easier.

“I think we will hear different voices,” Etyen Mahcupyan, a Turkish
journalist of Armenian descent, recently told Radio Free Europe.

“We will see that at least part of the public thinks differently –
very differently, in fact – from the state. We will then obligatorily
see a discussion take place between state and society. This is, in
fact, democratisation.”

Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic
April 24 2005

Armenia: Armenians Mark 90th Anniversary Of Start Of Massacres
By Ron Synovitz

Armenians from around the world today commemorated the 90th
anniversary of what they call “Genocide Day” — the start of mass
deportations and killings of their ethnic kin during the final years
of the Ottoman Empire. For decades, survivors of those events and
their descendants have lobbied for international recognition that
“genocide” occurred. But successive Turkish governments have denied
the kllings were aimed at exterminating the Christian Armenian
population.

Prague, 24 April 2005 (RFE/RL) — It was a somber occasion as
Armenians from all over the world gathered in Yerevan to commemorate
the 90th anniversary of what they call “Genocide Day.”

On April 24, 1915, Ottoman authorities arrested some 250 Armenian
community leaders in Yerevan. It was the start two of years of mass
expulsions and killings of Christian Armenians by Ottoman
authorities.

Ceremonies in Yerevan today included the laying of a wreath at the
“genocide memorial” by Armenian President Robert Kocharian. Memorial
masses also were being celebrated at Yerevan’s Saint Gregory
cathedral, as well as in churches all over Armenia.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen perished as a result
of orchestrated killings as the Ottoman Empire — the predecessor of
modern Turkey — was crumbling.Armenians say up to 1.5 million of
their kinsmen perished as a result of orchestrated killings as the
Ottoman Empire — the predecessor of modern Turkey — was crumbling.

Authorities in Ankara have consistently denied that version of
events. Turkey says about 300,000 Armenians and thousands of Turks
were killed as a result of “civil strife” when Armenians rose against
their Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian troops.

In Yerevan yesterday night, more than 10,000 people marched with
torches to demand that Turkey recognize the killings as genocide.

Armenians say they hope their mass demonstrations will increase the
pressure on Turkey. There are some signs that the effort may be
working.

Yesterday, the Conference of European Churches called on Turkey to
recognize the genocide claim.

On 22 April, French President Jacques Chirac accompanied President
Kocharian to a Paris monument for victims of the massacre.

And in Germany, members of parliament from across the political
spectrum appealed to Turkey to accept the massacre of Armenians as
part of its history, saying the move would help Ankara’s EU
aspirations.

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan also says recognition of
genocide will help Turkey’s bid for European Union membership.

“Genocide today is still a threat for the international community.
That issue has been addressed by the UN and others. Secondly, there
is the issue of Turkey’s accession into the European Union. That’s
why this issue has also come to the forefront. Because if Turkey
would like to join the European Union, the EU must ask. That’s what
they are doing now — so that Turkey comes to terms with its past,”
Oskanyan said.

Polish Nobel laureate and former president Lech Walesa has gone
further. He says Armenians have the right to demand that the European
Union bar Turkey from joining the bloc unless it admits to genocide.

On 19 April, Poland joined a list of 15 countries that have
officially acknowledged the killings as genocide when its parliament
passed a resolution condemning the Armenian massacres. The Polish
decision has drawn protests from Ankara. Turkish officials call the
move “irresponsible,” and say it will hurt relations.

Armenian President Kocharian has been making some conciliatory
gestures toward the government in Ankara. He says Yerevan will not
ask for financial compensation if Turkey recognizes the killings as
genocidal. Kocharian says recognition is a “moral issue” rather than
a financial one.

Many members of the Armenian diaspora worldwide converged on Yerevan
to take part in today’s ceremonies. Among them is Rubina Pirumyan, a
Los Angeles resident of Armenian descent who took part in the
demonstration marches:

“Today for me is a very special day. I’ve been doing this for years
and years — commemorating the memory of the genocide, of the victims
of the Armenian genocide. And I am excited today because I am walking
with the youth of Armenia,” said Pirumyan.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently proposed the
creation of a joint Armenian-Turkish commission to review the
historical dispute. Several Turkish officials have said they think
the study will confirm Turkey’s arguments.

Pan Armenian News

KOCHARIAN TO REPLY TO TURKISH PREMIER LETTER NEXT WEEK

23.04.2005 06:11

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian President Robert Kocharian will officially
respond to the letter of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan next
week, said Armenian leader’s Press Secretary Victor Soghomonian, RFE/RL
reported. It should be noted that April 13 Erdogan sent a letter to the
Armenian President proposing «to form a joint commission for study of events
of 1915 using not only the archives of Armenia and Turkey, but also other
countries, to present the results of the research to the international
community». In the Turkish Prime Minister’s opinion, such an initiative
«will shed light to the disputable historical period, as well as will become
a move toward the normalization of the relations between the two countries.»
It should also be noted that Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margarian
rejected the similar proposal of Turkish FM Abdullah Gul.

PRESS RELEASE
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Address: Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
Contact: Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
Tel: (374 1) 517 163
Fax: (374 1) 517 301
E-Mail: [email protected]
April 24, 2005

His Holiness Karekin II Visits Armenian Genocide Memorial

On April 24, His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians,
accompanied by His Excellency Robert Kocharian, President of the Republic of
Armenia, visited the “Tsitsernakaberd” Armenian Genocide Memorial in the
capital city of Yerevan on the occasion of the 90th Anniversary of the
Genocide of the Armenians. His Holiness presided during a solemn Repose of
Souls service offered in memory of the 1.5 million victims of the first
genocide of the twentieth century.

Accompanying the Catholicos of All Armenians and the President were:
President of the National Assembly Artur Baghdasarian, Prime Minister
Andranik Margarian, President of the Constitutional Court Gagik Harutiunian,
RA Government Ministers and high-ranking clergymen of the Armenian Church.

On the occasion of this solemn anniversary of the Genocide, archbishops and
bishops of sister Christian Churches have traveled to Armenia as guests of
the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin to participate in the 90th Anniversary
commemoration events. Representatives from the Syrian Orthodox Church,
Roman Catholic Church, Russian Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox Church,
Romanian Orthodox Church, Georgian Orthodox Church, the Church of England
and the Conference of European Churches joined His Holiness during the
service.

In the evening of April 24, His Holiness Karekin II will preside during an
Ecumenical Requiem Service in Yerevan at the Saint Gregory the Illuminator
Cathedral. The guest clergymen from abroad will join with the Armenian
Church clergy and faithful in offering prayers in memory of the countless
victims of genocides of the twentieth century.

Institute for War and Peace Reporting
(CRS No. 283, 21-Apr-05)

Armenia: a Spring Awakening?
First rumblings of the contest to be the next Armenian president.
By Susanna Petrosian in Yerevan

After a lull of a year, Armenia’s domestic politics are livening
up again. New opposition movements are being formed and the speaker
of parliament is showing signs of political ambition.

For the moment, though, these political stirrings – both by emerging
groups and established opposition parties – have largely left the
public unmoved. According to Natalya Martirosian, coordinator of
the Armenian office of the Helsinki Citizens Assembly, a new group
calling itself Bekum, or Breakthrough, could emerge as a potent force
for change.

“The creation of Bekum is one of the potential steps towards change
in this country,” she told IWPR.

Bekum was set up by a number of non-government organisations, NGOs,
which want to see swifter progress towards a civil society.

At the beginning of April, another group called the National League for
Armenian Independence was formed, with the declared aim of opposing any
political decision that it believes poses a threat to the country’s
independence. The group pledged to use all constitutional means to
ensure that “passive social protest becomes active”.

There has been a marked revival in the activity of mainstream
opposition parties, too. The opposition New Times and Republic Party
both held conferences recently, while the Justice bloc held a forum
at which there were calls for the resignation of the administration
of President Robert Kocharian.

Aram Karapetian, leader of the New Times party and an unsuccessful
candidate in the 2003 presidential election, believes that the
evolutionary approach is not working and the only way forward is
the kind of peaceful revolution that occurred in Georgia, Ukraine
and Kyrgyzstan.

“I am sure that we will succeed in uniting the dissatisfied masses,
pressure from which will force the government to step down. Victory
is inevitable,” said Karapetian.

The leader of the Republic Party, former prime minister Aram Sarksian,
voiced similar views, “In Armenia, we have reached a situation where we
need not just a change of power, but revolution. Many people agree with
this, and we need only to get together at a certain time and place.

“A nationwide revolution will take place unexpectedly – and not one
window pane will be broken.”

Leaders of the nine-party parliamentary faction Justice are taking a
less radical position. They believe that the government can still be
removed by constitutional means, with the best option being to hold
a national referendum expressing no confidence in the president.

“We favour a calm and peaceful solution to events,” said Justice
faction secretary Viktor Dallakian.

For the moment, President Kocharian appears more secure than his
counterparts in other parts of the former Soviet Union. He is three
years away from the end of his second and final presidential term in
2008. To achieve the kind of national ballot it wants, the opposition
would have to get parliament – with its pro-government majority –
to agree amendments to the law governing referendums.

The opposition has been boycotting sessions of parliament for more than
a year. Despite this, opposition deputies make monthly statements and
are given a small amount of airtime once a week on national television.

Pro-government politicians say the current opposition poses them
no threat. “There will be no outside-inspired revolution in Armenia
because, unlike other former Soviet republics, Armenia cannot create
problems for the superpowers,” said Galust Saakian, leader of the
Republican Party of Armenia faction, a pro-government group (not to
be confused with the Republic party).

“Both the opposition and the government will be careful not to erase
15 years of statehood for the sake of satisfying the great powers
and other dubious forces,” said Prime Minister Andrannik Margarian
robustly.

Government supporters say Armenia lacks the same kind of problems that
made revolutions possible in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. Moreover,
they believe a prerequisite for this kind of revolution is the catalyst
provided by elections, which in Armenia’s case are more than two
years away.

“It’s highly unlikely that there’ll be a new scenario in Armenia,”
said Samvel Nikoyan, a pro-government member of parliament.

Kocharian was in confident mood when he spoke to students in Yerevan
on April 11, telling them, “I call on the opposition to stop worrying
about the fact that they are weak and have achieved nothing. They
have achieved nothing because the country and government is better.”

However, some observers reading the political runes in Armenia say
they see signs of nervousness at the top, and even the start of a
campaign to succeed Kocharian from inside the ruling elite.

At the end of March, Kocharian was invited to Paris by French president
Jacques Chirac. But for the first time in his seven-year presidency,
Kocharian declined an invitation to go abroad.

Although official sources cited a leg injury as the reason, the
opposition press wrote that the president had no health problems,
so there was speculation that the delay had a political rather than
a medical cause. The Armenian president finally left for France on
April 20.

His trip took place just as National Assembly speaker Artur Bagdasarian
– whose position makes him the second most senior official in Armenia’s
hierarchy – was making his presence felt.

Two weeks ago, an article written by Bagdasarian appeared in the press,
discussing the need to hold democratic presidential and parliamentary
elections in Armenia.

Many observers believe that Bagdasarian’s article is essentially a
pre-election political manifesto. “The revolution has already begun:
read Bagdasarian’s article carefully,” said opposition leader Aram
Sarkisian. Bagdasarian’s Orinats Yerkir or Country of Law party has
also been courting other parties, including opposition groups.

Even some of Bagdasarian’s colleagues from the ruling coalition say the
speaker is beginning an election campaign. “He has turned parliament
into an election headquarters,” said Galust Saakian.

Bagdasarian recently made a high-profile trip to Moscow, where he
discussed economic matters with Russia’s minister of transport and
the co-chairman of the Armenia-Russia intergovernmental commission,
even though these issues are the business of the government rather
than parliament.

With Kocharian’s return from France, political commentators are
waiting for the next episode in this slowly evolving political drama.

Susanna Petrosian is a journalist with Noyan Tapan news agency.

Agence France Presse
20 avril 2005 mercredi 8:51 PM GMT

The Polish Government recognizes the Armenian Genocide: Ankara very
discontent

Le parlement polonais reconnaît le “génocide” arménien: Ankara très
mécontent

ANKARA 20 avr 2005

La Turquie a vigoureusement dénoncé une décision mercredi de la diète
polonaise de reconnaître comme un “génocide” les massacres
d’Arméniens en 1915, pendant l’empire ottoman, évoquant un “acte
irresponsable” contraire aux relations bilatérales ancestrales.

“Nous condamnons et rejetons la décision”, indique un communiqué du
ministère turc des Affaires étrangères.

Fustigeant un “acte irresponsable” qui va à l’encontre des “relations
d’amitié de 800 ans” entre les deux pays, le texte souligne que cette
décision a “profondément attristé le peuple turc”.

“Les historiens peuvent prendre la meilleure décision (…) au sujet
d’événements qui ont provoqué de grandes souffrances parmi les
populations turques et arméniennes”, précise le document qui regrette
que le parlement polonais se soit engagé dans une initiative semant
“la haine et la vengeance”.

Les Arméniens affirment que jusqu’à 1,5 million des leurs ont péri
lors de massacres orchestrés par l’empire ottoman, auquel a succédé
la République turque.

Ankara soutient que 300.000 Arméniens et au moins autant de Turcs ont
été tués au cours de troubles suscités par le soulèvement des
Arméniens, qui ont fait cause commune avec les armées russes en
guerre contre l’empire ottoman, et lors d’une déportation vers la
province ottomane de la Syrie qui a suivi cette sédition.

La Turquie a récemment proposé la création d’une commission conjointe
afin d’enquêter sur les massacres des Arméniens.

Erevan n’a pas encore répondu à cette proposition, selon Ankara.

La Turquie et la Pologne ont traditionnellement de très bonnes
relations. La Pologne avait été le premier pays à ouvrir une
ambassade à Ankara après la proclamation de la République de Turquie
en 1923.

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Reuters, UK
April 21 2005

Armenians’ national anguish stalks Turkey EU bid
21 Apr 2005 09:23:41 GMT

Source: Reuters

By Hasmik Mkrtchian

YEREVAN, April 21 (Reuters) – Armenians will throng through their
capital this Sunday to commemorate what they say is Turkey’s genocide
of 1.5 million of their people and which 90 years on is casting a
shadow over Ankara’s European ambitions.

Armenians say their kin were systematically exterminated by Ottoman
Turkey’s rulers during and soon after World War One and that modern
Turkey ought to recognise that as a genocide. Ankara refuses, saying
there was no plan to wipe out Armenians.

It is an old debate but the Oct. 3 date for the start of Turkey’s
talks on entry to the European Union has put the issue — and this
tiny ex-Soviet republic on Turkey’s eastern border — onto the European
political map.

“I have no doubt the question of genocide will be on the agenda for
the talks between the EU and Turkey,” said Armenian Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanyan.

“We, of course, would like the EU to put (recognition) forward as
a condition,” said Oskanyan, who grew up in Syria after his family
fled their home in southern Turkey.

The problem for Ankara is that some European politicians — notably
in France, home to an influential, 400,000-strong Armenian emigre
community — agree with him.

NATIONAL SECURITY

A Christian nation of 3.2 million people almost encircled by hostile
neighbours, Armenia says persuading Turkey to own up to genocide is
an issue of national security.

“Without recognition of the fact of genocide and an admission (from
Turkey) that it was wrong, we cannot trust our neighbour, which has
a tangible military weight,” said Oskanyan.

Armenia nervously eyes its neighbour — home to the biggest army in
NATO after the United States — across a 355-km (220-mile) frontier
that zigzags through the snow-topped Caucasus mountains.

The two countries have no diplomatic relations and Turkey shut the
border in 1993 out of solidarity with Turkish-speaking ally Azerbaijan,
which was then fighting a territorial war with Armenia.

Meanwhile, the simmering conflict with Azerbaijan fuels suspicion
of Turkey. Ankara helps train Azeri troops, which still exchange
occasional potshots with Armenian forces across a tense cease-fire
line.

But security aside, Armenians see the events of 90 years ago as a
national tragedy that they want the world — and Turkey in particular
— to acknowledge.

Armenia, supported by many Western historians, says between 1915
and 1923 up to 1.5 million Armenians were either killed or died from
disease and starvation as an intended result of forced relocations
implemented by Turkey’s nationalist government.

Most Turkish historians say Armenian nationalists sided with Russian
troops when they invaded eastern Turkey. Many died, Turkey says,
but they were the victims of a war, not genocide.

Organisers of this Sunday’s anniversary in Yerevan say 1.5 million
people — representing the number Armenians say died — will converge
on a memorial to the victims, a granite obelisk on a hill overlooking
the city.

Marianna Yeremyants, a 50-year-old Yerevan resident, said she would
be joining the procession.

“When he was defending his plans (to exterminate the Jews) Hitler said:
‘Who remembers the Armenian victims?'” said Yeremyants.

“Maybe, if the Armenian genocide had been condemned right away,
there would not have been a Holocaust,” she said.

(Additional reporting by Gareth Jones in Ankara and Timothy Heritage
in Paris)

Armenians refuse to attend regional conference in Azeri capital

Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
19 Apr 05

[Presenter] The Armenian delegation will not participate in the TRACECA
[Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia] conference scheduled for
21-22 April. The Armenians have refused to come to Baku. TRACECA’s
national secretary for Azerbaijan, Akif Mustafayev, says that unlike
Armenia, Turkmenistan has not disclosed its position yet.

[Correspondent] The Armenian delegation will not participate in the
conference of the intergovernmental commission of TRACECA member
countries to be held in Baku on 21-22 April. Official Yerevan,
which refused to take part in the event at the last moment, has
sent a relevant note to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, as well as
member states of the organization. TRACECA’s national secretary for
Azerbaijan, Akif Mustafayev, said that this was a deliberate step of
official Yerevan.

[Akif Mustafayev] We are the source [as heard]. We said that they have
not come. I should say openly – maybe their refusal to come is not in
our favour. I do not know that. The future will show. They are setting
conditions, they are discrediting us. Maybe, I should not say something
that runs counter to Azerbaijan’s interests – Armenia has been raising
the issue for several years now in order to close down the permanent
secretariat, i.e. the headquarters in Baku and open it in another city.

They explain this by saying that they cannot visit. They say that they
are full members and still they cannot visit. They have repeatedly
raised this issue and sent official notes. The Armenian Foreign
Ministry sent a note to all states. But they failed.

[Passage omitted: Turkmenistan is tight-lipped about its participation;
details of the conference]

Fighting outside the box
JONATHAN HARNISH/daily bruin senior staff

The UCLA Daily Bruin, CA
April 20 2005

Kahren Harutyunyan, a junior at UCLA, defies most stereotypes
typically associated with boxers. He enjoys spending time reading
poetry and listening to classical music just as much as he does
training in the gym. He has also won the North American Boxing
Organization junior bantamweight title.

By Andrew Finley
DAILY BRUIN SENIOR STAFF
[email protected]

To psyche himself up for the biggest fight of his career, a title bout
with Tatsuo Hayashida earlier this month, Kahren Harutyunyan pressed
the play button on his CD player and immersed himself in the music.

It wasn’t his motivational technique that distinguishes the 23-year-old
UCLA student from other boxers. It was his choice of music.

Harutyunyan, a junior, listened to the soothing sounds of Antonio
Vivaldi, like he does before every fight, prior to unleashing a fury
of punches en route to a 12-round decision victory over Hayashida for
the North American Boxing Organization junior bantamweight title. His
love of classical music and his enthusiasm for the arts are two
of the reasons that Harutyunyan defies every stereotype associated
with boxers.

“It really hurts me that boxers are perceived as uneducated people,”
Harutyunyan said. “Because of fighters who have done stupid things
in the past, there’s this image of a boxer as a street fighter.”

An Armenian artist

Hailing from a family of musicians, Harutyunyan, an Armenian native,
never fit those stereotypes.

He played the violin as a child. He reads epic poetry. And he values
his time at the library or local museums just as much as he does his
training time in the gym.

JONATHAN HARNISH/daily bruin senior staff

Kahren Harutyunyan, a junior at UCLA, captured the North American
Boxing Organization junior bantamweight championship earlier this
month.

——————————————————————————–

Even the way that Harutyunyan was introduced to boxing distinguishes
him from his peers.

Making a living in the music industry in Armenia was difficult, so
when Harutyunyan was 10 years old, his father pushed him to pursue
sports instead. With the public tennis and swimming clubs closed
because of lack of funding, boxing was the most convenient option. It
also offered some long-term benefits.

“My dad wanted me to learn to get beaten up and not to beat up,”
Harutyunyan said. “It gets you ready for life, physically and
emotionally.”

Once Harutyunyan left Armenia as a 15-year-old, it sparked his passion
for the arts. Upon arriving in Los Angeles in 1997, Harutyunyan was
told that he would quickly ingratiate himself into American culture
and forget about his childhood friends within a couple of years. The
prospect worried him immensely.

“I was really scared about losing my cultural identity,” he said. “I
thought to myself: I don’t want to forget all my friends. I don’t
want to forget about my background.”

So Harutyunyan started reading Armenian history and poetry and studying
the things that would preserve what he cherished most. It wasn’t long
before his taste in literature branched out to other regions of the
world. After reading Dante Alighieri, Homer and Leo Tolstoy, he then
picked up American literature and eventually settled on English as
his major at UCLA.

He would go to museums with his older sister, Lilit, an art historian,
and he discovered his preference for modern art. Though his enthusiasm
for the arts is important to him, he never lost sight of his passion
for boxing.

Within a week of arriving in the United States, he had already found a
boxing club where he began working out. He has maintained his training
ever since.

Weighing his priorities

It’s not just Harutyunyan’s eclectic interests that set him apart
from other boxers. His diminutive stature also helps him stand out.

Standing at 5-foot-4 and weighing just 115 pounds, the Armenian
native doesn’t fit with fans’ images of a big, bruising fighter. His
undersized frame deceives those who only recognize the sport’s
heavyweight division.

“People that have never met him think a boxer is going to be this
big, heavy guy,” Lilit said. “After seeing him, they’re like, ‘Oh,
is he the boxer?’ It’s a surprise.”

Harutyunyan, however, has worked hard over the past few months to
turn his size into an advantage.

Upon returning to Los Angeles after spending New Year’s in Armenia,
Harutyunyan received a call from his manager, Armeni Hakop, who
told him that he had set up the junior bantamweight title fight
with Hayashida for April 1. The match-up offered Harutyunyan the
most lucrative payout and prestige available at the time. The only
obstacle was his weight.

After indulging in his native food in Armenia, Harutyunyan weighed
in at 130 pounds – 15 too many for the junior bantamweight division.
Hakop gave him a little over a month to get his weight down.

Harutyunyan’s training schedule, already remarkably structured,
became even stricter leading up to the fight.

As a student at UCLA, he already was accustomed to waking up at 4
a.m. to run a few miles, coming home to sleep for a couple hours before
eating breakfast, going to class, and then training afterwards. It
was his diet where he made the most changes, thanks to help from his
parents and sister, which ensured he lost the weight.

Two weeks before the fight, they stopped eating meals whenever he
was around. They wouldn’t even cook in the house, just to make him
feel as though he wasn’t missing out on anything.

“We didn’t want him to smell anything delicious,” Lilit said. “It
was very hard and gets on his nerves.”

Eliminating most carbohydrates and sugars from his diet, Harutyunyan
found organic substitutes instead. Still needing to train religiously,
he refused to starve himself or throw up after meals. Instead he
did just about everything else to shed a pound or two, even cutting
his hair extra short and trimming his nails. When he stepped on the
scale for the official weigh-in, it read 114 pounds. The discipline
had paid off.

“He didn’t lose any power or shape,” Hakop said. “He did everything
right.”

Once in the ring, Harutyunyan did everything right too. In the third
round, he scored a knockdown by landing a counter right cross that
sent Hayashida to the canvas. Throughout the fight, he successfully
dictated the pace with a barrage of hooks and jabs. Meanwhile,
outside of a rough fifth round, he was able to largely stay out of
Hayashida’s punching range.

“He put on a boxing clinic,” said Freddie Roach, Harutyunyan’s
trainer. “To hit and not get hit is the key, and Kahren was hitting
on all cylinders.”

The victory propelled Harutyunyan to a No. 7 world ranking in his
division and has given him the opportunity to set his sights on the
world title. Should he triumph in his next few fights, he will likely
fight for that championship, which carries with it roughly $25,000 in
prize money and a world of respect and admiration. It’s this latter
goal that Harutyunyan says provides the most motivation.

“My major goal is to be successful in college and get a degree to
break the stereotypes, and to motivate other boxers to get a degree.”

Harutyunyan’s bookshelf and music collection are breaking the
stereotypes. His success inside and outside of the ring may be
providing the motivation.

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