Author: Navasardian Karapet

Agence France Presse
August 1, 2004 Sunday

Les chretiens d’Irak (ENCADRE)

BAGDAD, 1er aout

BODY: Les minorites religieuses en Irak, notamment les chretiens,
representent environ 3% de la population, soit quelque 700.000
personnes sur un total de 24 millions d’Irakiens, majoritairement
musulmans chiites et sunnites.

La Constitution provisoire irakienne, qui a ete signee en mars et qui
regira l’Irak jusqu’a la tenue d’elections generales, garantit “la
liberte de toutes les religions”.

L’article 7 precise de la Constitution provisoire indique que
“l’islam est la religion officielle de l’Etat et une source de la
legislation”.

“Cette Constitution respecte l’identite islamique de la majorite de
la population irakienne, tout en garantissant la liberte totale de
toutes les autres religions et de leurs pratiques religieuses”.

La Constitution de juillet 1970, adoptee sous l’ancien regime,
garantissait la liberte de religion et prohibait toute discrimination
religieuse.

Elle reconnaissait d’autre part que le peuple d’Irak est compose de
“deux nationalites principales”, arabe et kurde, et d'”autres
nationalites”, dont les droits etaient consideres comme legitimes. En
decembre 1972, la direction du parti Baas alors au pouvoir avait
precise par decret qu’il s’agissait des Assyriens, des Chaldeens et
des Syriaques.

Les Chaldeens, qui representent avec leurs 600.000 membres la
majorite des chretiens d’Irak, forment une communaute catholique de
rite oriental. L’eglise chaldeenne est issue de la doctrine
nestorienne a laquelle elle a renonce au XVIeme siecle tout en
conservant ses rites. L’ex vice-Premier ministre Tarek Aziz,
aujourd’hui detenu, est le plus connu des Chaldeens.

Les Assyriens, qui seraient environ 50.000, sont les chretiens qui
sont restes fideles a la doctrine nestorienne. L’eglise nestorienne
etait entree en dissidence en l’an 431 apres le concile d’Ephese,
affirmant qu’il y avait deux personnes distinctes dans le Christ :
une nature humaine et une nature divine et non pas une seule personne
ayant a la fois la nature humaine et la nature divine, comme
l’affirment les catholiques.

On trouve encore en Irak des Syriaques catholiques et orthodoxes, des
Armeniens catholiques et orthodoxes et, depuis une epoque plus
recente (Mandat britannique) des protestants et des catholiques de
l’Eglise latine.

De nombreux chretiens irakiens parlent encore l’arameo-syriaque, la
langue du Christ. Dans les annees 1970, des revues culturelles
bilingues (arabe-syriaque) ont ete publiees et des programmes
d’expression arameenne ont fait leur apparition a la radio et a la
television.

Dans le Kurdistan (nord), les chretiens sont au nombre de 150.000
environ, majoritairement chaldeens.

Les chretiens sont representes par un seul ministre au gouvernement
interimaire d’Iyad Allaoui, auquel la coalition dirigee par les
Etats-Unis a remis le pouvoir le 28 juin.

La pauvrete et les guerres ont conduit depuis le debut des annees
1980 de nombreux chretiens a quitter l’Irak. Pres d’un demi-million
sont partis depuis une quinzaine d’annees.

Washington Times, DC
Aug 2 2004

Militants strike churches in Iraq

By Betsy Pisik
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

BAGHDAD – Muslim militants bombed Christians in Baghdad and the
northern city of Mosul yesterday, in near-simultaneous explosions
timed to coincide with Sunday services.
Eleven persons died and more than 40 were wounded in the attacks
on five churches in the two cities. It was the first major assault on
churches in Iraq since the 15-month-old insurgency began.

Hind Zakko and her father, Joseph, were listening to the Sunday
sermon at the Assyrian Catholic Church in Baghdad when they heard the
explosion rip through the old building and felt shards of stained
glass on their heads.
“It was horrible; it was so loud,” said Miss Zakko as she dabbed
blood from her father’s head, hands and neck, which had small cuts.
“Look at you,” she fussed. “Who would do this? Who would bomb a
church?”
Militants targeted four churches in Baghdad and one in Mosul.
U.S. forces, Iraqi police and civilians also were attacked
yesterday.
Three roadside bombs nationwide killed four persons, including a
U.S. soldier, and wounded six, police said. A suicide car bombing
outside a police station in Mosul killed at least five persons and
injured 53.
The bloodshed came after a night of clashes between U.S. troops
and insurgents that killed 12 Iraqis and wounded 39 in Fallujah.
Because Sunday is a normal workday in Iraq, Sunday worship
services typically are held in the evening.
“It’s a new step down for the people who are doing this. Those
people inside were praying,” said Col. Mike Murray, commander of the
3rd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division, which has primary
responsibility for patrolling Baghdad.
Behind him, two priests in black robes embraced near a ruined
Catholic church, one of them seemingly oblivious to the slash across
his cheek and blood staining his white collar.
U.S. surveillance helicopters took to the skies, as ambulances
crisscrossed the streets of the capital to get to hospitals.
Christians poured into the streets as the sun set, shocked that
anyone would target houses of worship.
“I don’t think we feel safe anymore,” said Samer Sabberi, a
17-year-old Christian who lives next to a graceful Armenian
cathedral. “My family didn’t talk about it, but now they have been.”
In Mosul, a car bomb blew up next to a Catholic church while
worshippers were coming out of Mass, police Maj. Raed Abdel Basit
told Reuters news agency. Several rocket-propelled grenades also were
launched at the church.
The church attacks did not appear to be suicide bombings, U.S.
military and Iraqi officials said.
Up to 1 million Christians are thought to be living in Iraq, most
of them in or around Baghdad.
Under Saddam Hussein, they were allowed to worship freely, and
there were no overt acts of hostility or aggression.
But Christians have been complaining of harassment for months.
Many have left for Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.
There have been a series of attacks this summer on Baghdad’s
liquor stores and music shops, most of them owned by Christians.
Fundamentalist Muslim groups have warned owners of these
businesses to close operations.
“This [attack] isn’t against Muslims or Christians, this is
against Iraq,” Deputy Foreign Minister Labid Abawi told the
Associated Press.
The Vatican called the attacks “terrible and worrisome,” said the
Rev. Ciro Benedettini, its spokesman.
Muslim clerics condemned the violence and offered condolences to
the Christian community.
“This is a cowardly act and targets all Iraqis,” Abdul Hadi
al-Daraji, spokesman for radical Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, told
Al Jazeera television.

ERDOGAN’S VISIT TO BE A SERIOUS TEST FOR TURKISH-IRANIAN RELATIONS

Azg/am
30 July 2004

Turkey’s American Policy is an Obstacle on This Path

On July 27 the prime minister of Turkey Ragep Tayyip Erdogan left for
Tehran on a three-day official visit. He was welcomed in the Sadabad
palace and had a half an hour private talk with the first
vice-president of Iran Islamic Republic Mohammad Reza Arif.

According to Turkish press, the talks were mainly on the PKK successor
People’ s Congress of Kurdistan, and the Iranian side met the wish of
Turkey and promised to enroll the Kurdish Congress into the list of
terrorist organizations. The same newspapers write that the Turkish
PM is successful in his talks on reassessing the price of the Iranian
gas. It seems that Turkey may go further attempting to transfer
Iranian gas to Europe via its territory.

Iran will not benefit from declaring the PKK a terrorist organization
because it will awake Kurdish aggression in the country and the USA
will use this situation for its purposes.

Taking into consideration the fact that Iraq is within reach and that
the Kurdish leaders of Iraq Jalal Talabani and Masud Barzani that are
under Washington ‘s control and have close ties with the PKK, we think
that Iran should refrain from pleasing Turkey and taking that
decision.

Otherwise, the USA will only be glad if Iran meets Turkey’s wish. The
USA can’ t put up with the idea that the Iranian gas will go to
Turkey, as this will bring Turkey and Iran to economic cooperation.

But the perspective of the Iranian gas to be exported to Europe is
even torturous for the USA as it wants to see Iran weak, with unstable
inner political life and isolated from the world. This is especially
true now when the two bordering countries of Iran Afghanistan and Iraq
are occupied and the American military bases are located in the
Caucasus and the Middle East.

It was not a coincidence that just a day before Erdogan’s visit
Washington threatened to bomb Iran to prevent the opening of the
nuclear power plant. Israel joined America in expressing displeasure
over Erdogan’s visit.

It is obvious that the Turkish-Iranian cooperation will involve Syria
as well and thus it cannot be acceptable for both Israel and the USA.

It seems that the Great Middle East project should also contradict
Iran. Erdogan’s visit to Tehran may be considered a success unless
his plans were to incline the Iranian government to the project and
please America.

By Hakob Chakrian

Glendale News Press
LATimes.com
July 29 2004

Gang leader gets 10 years

Gunman who pleaded no contest to shooting will also have to pay $23K
for crimes. Streets safer since his arrest, police say.

By Gary Moskowitz, News-Press

PASADENA – Glendale Police officers were pleased Wednesday to see a
Los Angeles Superior Court judge order Arman Sharopetrosian to pay
about $23,000 in restitution for a gang-related shooting.

But even more than that, the officers say they value the fact that
Sharopetrosian, 26, is serving a 10-year sentence in state prison,
because the rate of shootings in Glendale has gone down since the
reputed gang boss began serving time.

And, a prominent local Armenian gang is now without one of its top
members who was allegedly involved in at least three major
gang-related shooting incidents in the 1000 block of Linden Avenue in
Glendale in 2002, Glendale Police Det. Robert Breckenridge said
Wednesday.

“After Arman was arrested in January 2003, then everything died down
in regards to shootings [on Linden Avenue],” Breckenridge said. “I
don’t believe we have had any in that block since. We know there have
been fewer since then. And since then, we have arrested and convicted
a half-dozen guys who admitted in court to being [in a gang] and all
tied to Arman’s group.”

On May 21, 2002, 27 shots were fired on Linden Avenue, and three
handguns and an automatic machine pistol were later recovered. On May
25, 2002, three shots were fired, and on June 2, 2002, 12 shots were
fired.

“All of those shots we believe were between rival groups, and a gang
leader was at those locations, and we believe it was Arman and his
group,” Breckenridge said.

Sharopetrosian was not convicted in connection with those shootings.

Sharopetrosian pleaded no contest and was convicted last week in
Pasadena to 10 years in state prison for shooting at an occupied
vehicle, having a gun, and assault with a deadly weapon for an
alleged car-to-car shooting in the 1000 block of West Glenoaks
Boulevard in August 2001.

Sharopetrosian was also found guilty of failing to file taxes in
2000, officials said. A judge determined that his activities were
done to benefit a local Armenian gang.

None of the shootings that Sharopetrosian was found guilty of or is
believed to be involved with resulted in any killings, only injuries,
Breckenridge said.

“It’s very major to us because [Sharopetrosian’s arrest] is setting
the tone we want in the community,” Breckenridge said. “The tone [is]
that these individuals who are gang members and are feared by others
are being sentenced to prison terms, and that police are actively
pursuing them and catching them.”

Sharopetrosian was arrested in January 2003 on suspicion of credit
card fraud. He had a prior arrest for a car-to-car shooting in August
2001, officials said.

Sharopetrosian’s brother, Michael Sharopetrosian, 31, was arrested
earlier this year on suspicion of money laundering, tax evasion and
credit-card fraud, activities police suspect were tied to his brother
and gang activities, Sgt. Ian Grimes said Wednesday.

“He is a crook that is well-known in the community,” Grimes said
Wednesday. “We want people to know that people who are involved with
these types of activities will be caught and that we are aggressively
pursuing them.”

In July 2002, Glendale Police arrested Emil Airapetian on suspicion
of dropping a loaded firearm during a foot pursuit in Glendale.
Airapetian was later convicted and is now in state prison.
Sharopetrosian was with Airapetian the night he was arrested,
officials said.

KFSN (ABC Local), CA
July 28 2004

Preserving The Past

It’s old versus new in downtown Fresno. The latest conflict is on the
corner of Van Ness and Kern over the historic, but crumbling, Arco
Garage.

It’s a battle between progress and the past, and it’s being fought
all over downtown Fresno.

In 1931, it was the one-stop shop for car maintenance – known then as
the l.C. Wesley Super Garage.

It was the ultimate convenience for downtown workers – drop off your
car in the morning and pick it up at the end of the day. But, beyond
it’s colorful past, the Arco Garage was Fresno’s first glimpse of art
deco design.

Four years ago, the county tried to tear down the Arco Garage to make
way for an office building. Today, supervisors are once again
debating it’s future, whether to keep it, sell it to the historical
society, or a developer who envisions loft-style apartments.

Fresno’s track record for preserving the past by saving historic
buildings is not pristine:

The old courthouse – torn down.
The old city hall – torn down.
The old McMahon’s is being torn down.
The historic Armenian Church, replaced by a parking lot.
Even on Tuesday, the city turned down a plan to restore the vacant
Hotel Fresno.
As for the modest two-story Arco Garage, even the Downtown
Association is not so sure it’s worth preserving, but does like the
idea of more housing and saving Fresno’s architectural history.

The county will get the property appraised and take up the issue
again in September.

If it goes to the Historical Society, it will remain parking.

If the developer gets it, he says people could be living there within
a year.

Armenian president, army chief of staff discuss improving armed forces

Arminfo
23 Jul 04

Yerevan, 22 July: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan had a working
meeting with Col-Gen Mikael Arutyunyan, deputy defence minister and
chief of the general staff of the Armenian armed forces, today.

Arutyunyan told reporters today that he discussed with the president
the current situation in the region, the conclusions of the general
staff of the Armenian armed forces drawn up on the basis of the
analysis of the current situation and operational and tactical
training in the Armenian armed forces.

Moreover, the sides discussed issues of logistical supplies to the
armed forces, their funding, discipline, law and order in the armed
forces, as well as the results of the work of the intergovernmental
Armenian-Russian commission on the activities of the 102nd Russian
military base in Armenia.

“The president set several tasks to improve operational and tactical
training in the armed forces, especially organizational issues of
conducting in the near future major events in a unit of the Armenian
armed forces operating in the eastern (Azerbaijani) sector,”
Arutyunyan said.

La Nouvelle République du Centre Ouest
20 juillet 2004

Folklore arménien, demain

Le festival d’été continue son tour du monde des folklores avec la
représentation de l’ensemble « Bert » d’Arménie, demain à 21 h,
devant l’hôtel de ville. En cas d’intempérie, la représentation aura
lieu à la salle de spectacle.

Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
July 15 2004

It’s finally dawned on us, we’re off to Athens
By John Huxley

Rising stars … members of the coxed eight rowing team for the
Athens Olympics return to shore after their final dawn training
session at Haberfield yesterday. Photo: Steve Christo

Oarsome? Well, Australia’s coxed eight rowing team certainly hoped so
as they completed their final dawn training session on Iron Cove at
Haberfield yesterday before heading overseas for the Olympic Games in
Athens next month.

“Yes, it’s really gone very well,” said their coach, Tim McLaren.
“Whether we come first or last, I think we’re satisfied that
preparing at home, on Sydney Harbour, was the best thing for us.
Nothing should faze us now.”

With barely four weeks to go until the start of the Games,
Australia’s team of some 470 athletes and 300 officials is already on
the move. The champion hurdler Jana Pittman has been based in
Switzerland for several weeks and will compete this weekend in Spain.

After competing in the United States recently, Ian Thorpe has
rejoined the swimming team, which goes into camp in Germany at the
end of the month. The taekwondo team is currently in Korea. The
cycling team – currently grounded – also plans to move to Germany for
its final preparations.

And weightlifting officials are still looking in his native Armenia
for the sole male team member, Sergo Chakhoyan, who has gone missing.

The rowers, too, had the option of competing and training overseas,
but declined.

“It was a mix of things,” explained McLaren. “The conditions, the
facilities, the fact that a few of our guys are married men with
family, who didn’t want to spend months away.”

Instead, after a couple of days of rest and recreation at home with
their families – “necessary psychological refreshment, after all the
hard work”, says coach McLaren – they will swap their winter gear for
summer gear and fly out on Monday.

They plan to rendezvous in Singapore before catching a plane to their
interim, lakeside headquarters near Varese in northern Italy. They
are not due to arrive in Greece until a fortnight before the Games
start on August 13.

Most of the nine-man squad are members of the UTS Rowing Club. Those
who weren’t relocated to Sydney to train.

The team includes a record three brothers – Geoff, James and Stephen
Stewart, the sculling and rowing medallist Bo Hanson and former
Oarsome Foursome member Mike McKay, who will be competing in his
fifth Olympics.

McLaren believes the team will go well. “It’s a good mix of guys with
plenty of experience and guys rowing at the Games for the first
time.”

Is he concerned at early reports of his winds – and rough waters – at
the Schinias Rowing Centre, north-east of Athens?

“Not at all. After training on Sydney Harbour during winter, we’re
confident we can handle anything.”

ARMENIA’S SPEAKER HOPES FOR DIALOGUE WITH OPPOSITION BY LATE SUMMER

Aravot, Yerevan
14 Jul 04

Armenian parliament chairman Artur Bagdasaryan has said the
authorities should resume dialogue with the opposition by the end of
the summer. He said that every effort would be made to persuade the
opposition deputies to end their boycott of parliament. Asked about
problems in the governing coalition, Bagdasaryan said that a split
could not be ruled out, although there were no serious disagreements
at present. The following is the text of Margarit Yesayan’s report in
Armenian newspaper Aravot on 14 July headlined “Coalition split not
ruled out”; subheadings inserted editorially:

An interview with the chairman of the National Assembly, Artur
Bagdasaryan.

Dialogue with opposition

(Aravot correspondent) How do you assess the domestic political
situation in Armenia? Do you think the current stage of relations
between the opposition and authorities is normal?

(Artur Bagdasaryan) I think that the domestic political situation is
calm. We shall restart dialogue with the opposition by the end of the
summer. There have already been conversations with several opposition
figures. We should work together to try to ensure that all 131
deputies play a full part in the National Assembly’s legislative work
from September. Of course, there will be people who will not want to
return to this work, but we shall try do everything possible for their
return. The policy of declaring war is unacceptable. We should find
mutually acceptable solutions. Even world wars end by means of
dialogue. The conflict between the opposition and authorities should
also end by means of dialogue. I should say that the people are not
inspired by this boycott. During my travels in the regions people
demand that all the deputies of the National Assembly should work. The
leaders of the opposition should accept and understand that parliament
is a place for making laws and they can greatly help this structure to
work properly. I want to ask them, would an election code adopted
without the opposition really be better than one passed with its
involvement? I am someone who is sure that the participation of the
opposition in legislative work will promote the passing of better
laws.

(Correspondent) There are rumours that by the end of August or at the
beginning of September radical changes will take place in the
government. Do you think it possible?

(Bagdasaryan) We should accept the reality that nobody will remain in
his post forever and staff changes are always possible, stemming from
the situation in one sphere or another. Such rumours are often
artificial, they are directed against individual officials and I do
not think it is right.

OSCE criticism does not mean end of European integration

(Correspondent) The president of the republic backed the statement of
other CIS presidents on the activity of the OSCE, which was assessed
as a demarche against Europe. As for you, you say everywhere that all
roads lead to Europe. What has brought about this contradiction?

(Bagdasaryan) There is no contradiction. Armenia has adopted the path
of European integration. Certainly there are numerous obstacles and
difficulties on this path. And we should overcome this. As for the
statement you mentioned, the point is not about Armenia’s cooperation
with the OSCE. The point is about some disagreements on some
problems. Naturally, every country should submit its own viewpoint,
because we are a nation, we have statehood, we are an independent
state and we should be able to express our positions strictly on
existing problems.

(Correspondent) The president’s audit service is going to supervise
the entrance exams to higher education institutions, as it did the
final exams for top students. Is the Audit Chamber of the National
Assembly not going to come forward with the same initiative?

(Bagdasaryan) The Law-Governed Country Party (Orinats Yerkir) will do
everything possible to end the “entrance exam” concept in Armenia. We
need just a year to achieve this. We have said and continue to say
that we need to get rid of the state order system in our higher
education institutions. Only clever children should study for free and
not the children of rich or influential people. The fuss surrounding
entrance exams is the result of two factors – the state order and
military service. In September-October we shall adopt a law “On
university and post-university education” which will get rid of the
state order concept.

Coalition split cannot be ruled out

(Correspondent) Is it possible that some problems will merge and cause
a split in the coalition?

(Bagdasaryan) The rumours about a coalition split are exaggerated, but
it cannot be ruled out, if there are strict disagreements of principle
for the parties. Nobody is stuck to his post. At present there are no
serious disagreements. There are serious problems, serious
displeasure, but all of them may be overcome and today we have been
able to overcome them by means of discussions.

KARABAGH CEC TO USE MOBILE VOTING FACILITY

STEPANAKERT, JULY 16, ARMENPRESS: Ahead of August 8 elections to
local self-government bodies of Nagorno Karabagh local authorities
have taken a decision to use a mobile voting facility for physically
disabled and those who cannot come to the polling station for other
valid reasons. Under the decision at least two members of the polling
station commission and one observer should administer mobile voting
jointly within the geographical territory covered by a polling
station.

The decision to use mobile voting facility was announced July 15 by
Sergey Davtian, the chairman of Karabagh Central Election Commission
(CEC), who warned the CEC members against campaigning in favor of a
candidate and expressed hope that the polls will be conducted in a
transparent atmosphere.

Armenpress correspondent in Nagorno Karabagh also reported, citinga
report by local prosecutors that the number of crimes decreased by 54
in the first six months of the year making 281 against 335 of last
year’s same time span. But according to the report, concurrently the
number of grave crimes rose. The prosecutors also succeeded in
bringing to the net some 100 people engaged in business and collected
2.5 million drams in penalties.