Author: Tamamian Anna

PRELATE GETS JOYOUS WELCOME
By K.O. Jackson

Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, IN
Dec 5 2006

Talk explores health link to faith
Clint Keller/The Journal Gazette

His Holiness Aram Ivisits with Dorothy Koomjohn Escosa, left, and
Adrienne Schwartz, 9, at the home of Zohrab Tazian.

Seeing, they say, is believing.

So is kissing the right hand of His Holiness Aram I, the spiritual
leader of the Holy See of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

His Holiness made his first visit to Indiana on Monday and was greeted
by more than 300 people at the home of businessman Zohrab Tazian.

"This is like the pope coming to America for Armenians," says John
Escosa, of Stedman Studios who was there to shoot photos of His
Holiness’ visit. "My mother’s name is Dorothy Koomjohn. Her parents
are from Armenia. This is big. This is hard to believe."

When His Holiness – carrying a gold-tipped staff and wearing a gold
double eagle necklace that reached down toward his stomach – entered
Tazian’s foyer, there was slight applause from people lined up to
bow and kiss his right hand.

When the greetings were finished, Aram I, blessed bread and water
that were placed in the lobby. He then led people in a prayer and song.

Following that, he sat with local and out-of-town religious leaders
and laymen discussing issues facing the church.

Aram I was the first orthodox and youngest person to be elected
moderator of the central and executive committees of the World Council
of Churches – the organization’s highest-ranking position.

Dr. Raffy Hovanessian traveled from Munster to meet Aram I.

Hovanessian said there are about 10 Armenian families in Fort Wayne,
but this event brought people from all over the state to Fort Wayne.

"He is blessing the house. This is a first for Armenian Catholics.

This is very special."

His Holiness spent about five hours in the city before heading to South
Bend to address a "Faith and Healing: Interdisciplinary Conference on
the Dynamics of Religious Coping," at the University of Notre Dame. The
university co-sponsored his visit with the Indiana University School
of Medicine. The conference ends today.

During the weekend, he also addressed U.S.-Armenian students in
Detroit, encouraging them to take the renewal of the Armenian Church
seriously. "We must remind ourselves that we are the first Christian
nation which accepted Christianity as a state religion, but at the
same time, we must realize that our church direly needs renewal,"
he told students, according to a written statement at

"By renewal I don’t mean changing the language of the liturgy or
introducing some changes in the administration or the structure of the
church. This would be a very superficial and one-sided perception of
renewal. By renewal I understand making our church a people’s church
impacting the life of our people. By renewal I mean making our church
responsive to the needs and expectations of our people. By renewal I
mean reaffirming the missionary, evangelistic and educational outreach
of the church. Therefore the renewal must be perceived as a process
permeating the entire life of the church."

During his Fort Wayne visit, Aram I spoke about the connection between
faith and health. "Healing is a spiritual process and the greatest
healer was Jesus Christ. You can’t draw a line between medicine and
faith. The mind, soul and body are one. There has to be a holistic
approach. You cannot separate them."

Bishop John M. D’Arcy of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Catholic Diocese,
says His Holiness’ words of faith and healing are starting to be
heard in the medical community.

"More doctors are starting to realize the connection," he says. "It
is a great code of Christian education."

In addition, His Holiness, who leads more than 1 million followers
worldwide, says the church "needs to have courage to face challenges.

This is the Christian way. It is our responsibility to show the right
way; the Christian way," Aram I said, while joking that leading Notre
Dame’s football team is one of his secrets.

"My people, 1.5 million, were massacred during World War I. The church
has a bridge to build. It’s not an easy task but we have to do it.

"Reconciliation is the role of the church. These are the challenges
of the church today."

Father Paul Bebis, of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, says
His Holiness’ visit was "huge. He is a spiritual leader for us all.

He is the head of the church. That is why we are all here."

Photo: 16167411.htm

ALL COUNTRIES WANT TO LEAVE IRAQ EXCEPT ARMENIA

A1+
[04:15 pm] 05 December, 2006

Different countries of the world, U.S. partners in the war against
Iraq, want to take their troops out of Iraq. Meanwhile, RA National
Assembly discusses the issue of prolonging the term of Armenian
peacekeepers in Iraq for another year.

The decision was introduced in the NA by Serge Sargsyan, RA
Defense Minister. In Mr. Sargsyan’s opinion it will increase the
professionalism of the Armenian servicemen and the reputation of
Armenia in the international sphere.

The RA Defense minister also added that taking into consideration the
experience of other countries he doesn’t want Armenia to be regarded
as an unconfident partner.

"MOSSAD" ENGAGED IN TERRORIST ATTACKS

A1+
[05:38 pm] 05 December, 2006

Today "Urbat" Club hosted Mukhlis Faraun, the acting Charge d’Affaires
of Syria to Armenia who announced, "All the forces which are in Iraq
today are occupants".

"I understand why Armenians have appeared among these forces but I
can say definitely that Armenians have killed no one in Iraq".

Mr. Faraun maintains that the Palestinian and Iraqi territories are
occupied. "There is an almighty power wishing to become the owner of
all our lands. Today Iraq counters two problems, and there are two
forces in the country. One of them struggles against the American
troops and the other realizes terrorist attacks. They are sponsored
by certain forces who intend to instigate civil war in Iraq and divide
the country into two parts".

The acting Charge d’Affaires of Syria is convinced that MOSSAD
is involved in all terrorist attacks in Iraq. "None of the Arabs
would dare to place a bomb near a church or to organize a terrorist
attack. Syria has always struggled and will still struggle for its
freedom and will never obey anyone. I don’t like to abuse others and
I hate being abused".

As for the Armenian-Syrian relations, Mr. Faraun complains that there
is no link or road bridging the two countries.

Mr. Faraun thinks highly of the Armenian people especially noticing
their great respect and love towards the Syrians. "My neighbours
were Armenians.

Their meals, namely pungent peppers and other spices spoilt my
stomach". Regardless of this problem, Mr. Faraun hasn’t changed his
opinion towards Armenians, "All the Armenian servicemen leaving for
Iraq can stop at my place in Syria, have coffee and gin with me and
then head to Syria".

OSCE TO DISCUSS ‘FROZEN CONFLICTS’ AT BELGIUM MEETING
By Jan Sliva, Associated Press Writer

Associated Press Worldstream
December 4, 2006 Monday 11:50 AM GMT

Belgium’s foreign minister believes "hope is emerging" for a lasting
solution to the ongoing conflict in Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh
region, as an international security organization opened a conference
Monday.

"Frozen" conflicts, or long-lasting disputes in ex-Soviet republics,
are on the agenda at the two-day meeting of foreign ministers from
the 56-member Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The meeting will also assess Kazakhstan’s candidacy for 2009
chairmanship of the trans-Atlantic security group, backed by Russia
and many other European states but opposed by the United States.

The group will focus on conflicts in the separatist Georgian
regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, in the pro-Russian separatist
Trans-Dniester province of Moldova, and in the Nagorno-Karabakh.

"Hope is emerging especially as concerning Nagorno-Karabakh," said
Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht, whose country holds the
Vienna, Austria-based OSCE’s rotating presidency. "The question of
frozen conflicts cannot be definitively solved here in Brussels, but
(all sides) need to restart negotiations that were broken off."

Armenia and Azerbaijan are discussing terms of holding a referendum on
the status of the Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous region in Azerbaijan
that has been under control of Armenian and ethnic Armenian Karabakh
forces since the 1994 end of a separatist war.

Years of negotiation have produced little visible sign of progress in
resolving the dispute, which prompted Azerbaijan to close its borders
with Armenia. But the presidents of both countries said this week
that significant progress has been made.

Goran Lennmarker, chairman of the OSCE’s parliamentary assembly,
described the shift as a ‘golden opportunity’ which must be seized
at the meeting.

The ministers will also debate the application of Kazakhstan to assume
the rotating one-year chairmanship of the organization in 2009.

The OSCE is split on Kazakhstan’s candidacy, with ex-Soviet republics
and many other European nations backing it but the United States and
Britain wary of the Central Asian country’s human rights record.

One possibility, OSCE officials said, would be to push Kazakhstan’s
presidency back to 2011 and press the country to conduct more reforms
in the meantime. Western nations are eager to increase cooperation
with Kazakhstan, which has huge natural gas resources, but there is
concern about the authoritarian rule of President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

"I fully support Kazakhstan’s bid for chairmanship bid," Lennmarker
said.

The OSCE, a leading international security organization founded in
1973, is concerned particularly with conflict prevention, election
observing, crisis management and rehabilitation of post-conflict areas.

SITUATION WILL BE SO COMPLICATED THAT THEY WILL MANAGE IT ALONE

Lragir, Armenia
Dec 4 2006

Revolutions in the CIS states are not over, and will resume in places
where they will be unable to conduct normal elections. Aram Karapetyan,
the leader of the Nor Zhamanakner Party, made this forecast December
4. He considers himself as one of the persons who guaranteed the
success of the rose revolution in Georgia. Aram Karapetyan invoked
his "contribution" during the news conference in which he spoke
about his expectation from the parliamentary election in 2007. He
said efforts should be made to turn the election into a change of
power. Aram Karapetyan did not exclude the force-majeure, of course,
and the early election that might follow. He said the Nor Zhamanakner
Party is preparing for both possible developments. Aram Karapetyan
says his political party is the only party which is opening offices
at places. However, in Armenia, it is more important to prepare for
the next day rather than the election, Aram Karapetyan says.

"The next day is the street, disobedience, actions. I am stating now
that we are preparing for such actions, for the next day," says the
leader of the Nor Zhamanakner Party. In this case, it is interesting
to know if Nor Zhamanakner is preparing for the "next day" alone or
in some other opposition format, and if this political party is ready
to do what it is going to do, that is prevention of fraud and change
of power in case it remains alone on the "next day".

NO SETTLEMENT DOCUMENT WILL BE SIGNED WITHOUT NKR AGREEMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
30.11.2006 17:50 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ At present a shift is noted for the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic to become party to the talks, Chair of Parliament
Standing Commission on Foreign Relations Armen Rustamyan stated at
a news conference in Yerevan. In his words, the issue is always on
the bargaining table. "There are no cases in international practice
when an interested party to the conflict does not take part in the
talks. As for statements that the NKR participated in the talks
before 1998, I should remind that at that time NKR President and
Shushi Administration Head Nizami Bakhmanov took part in the talks
and their participation was not equivalent. I hope that the OSCE MG
will not object to NKR involvement in direct talks with Azerbaijan
and will do their best to that end," Rustamyan underscored, adding
that no settlement document will be signed without NKR agreement.

At that head of the Parliament Commission noted that the referendum in
NKR, like those in other unrecognized republics of the former USSR, is
very important to the international community. "It is the will of the
people, which cannot be ignored. It is reflected in the Helsinki Final
Act of 1975. Returning to the principle of territorial integrity I will
remark that for observing it the USSR needs to be restored, as the
borders of all states, in whose territories conflicts are available,
were determined by administrative division of the USSR. Thus, if that
state does not exist, the borders become invalid," the MP said.

ILHAM ALIYEV: WE ARE ALREADY ACHIEVING THE FINAL STAGE OF NEGOTIATIONS

ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Nov 29 2006

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev takes a normal view of the results
of his meeting with Armenian President Robert Kocharyan in Minsk,
Tuesday. President Aliyev made this statement to AzTV, APA reports.

"The negotiations for settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani, Nagorny
Karabakh conflict, have been held under ‘Prague Process’ for already
three years. A considerable number of meetings of the presidents and
foreign ministers have been held during this period of time. These
meetings, naturally, discussed the ways of the problem’s settlement.

We have overcome definite stages and are approaching the final
stage of the negotiations," Ilham Aliyev said. In the course of
the 3-year-long negotiations, all the issues were discussed and the
positions of the parties were determined. "At present, we are at a
stage when the future of the negotiation process depends on us. From
this point of view, I take a normal view of the results of the last
meeting, on the whole. We had very serious negotiations during our
last meeting and discussed the disputable issues. We have managed
to settle a number of issues recently. We have managed to agree on
some uncoordinated issues. However, there are some principal issues
we have different opinions on and we have discussed them as well.

Azerbaijan’s position was left unchanged. We are for the conflict’s
settlement with observation of the principle of Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity. UN Resolutions must be fulfilled. The
Azerbaijani lands must be liberated from the occupants and over 1
million of our citizens must return to their lands. The recently
activity of international organizations suits us. They expressed
their position on the conflict with observation of the principle of
territorial integrity of our country. Of course, this strengthens
our position," Ilham Aliyev stated.

TURKISH BUSINESSMAN THINKS GEORGIA’S PRIVATISATION POLICY IRRESPONSIBLE
By M. Alkhazashvili
(Translated by Tiko Giorgadze)

The Messenger, Georgia
Nov 29 2006

In an interview with newspaper Kviris Palitra, Turkish furniture
manufacturer Sedat Shahinkai says the Georgian government has been
passing irresponsible privatisation policies. According to him,
investors are being selected based on how much they will pay without
regard for how interested they are in establishing a successful
business in the country.

Shahinkai thinks that in using these methods, the Georgian government
will not be able to develop business and establish a strong economy.

He believes that the major defect of Georgia’s economic policy is
to sell state property to companies registered in off-shore zones,
warning that the mistakes in the privatization process will create
problems for the country.

According to Shahinkai, the Laz Diaspora (an ethnic group in Turkey
closely related to the Georgians) have not been able to invest in
Georgia, while Russian and Armenian companies were able to make
serious investments in the Georgian economy.

ISTANBUL UNDER CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM AND SECULARISM
By Thomas Grove

Reuters, UK
Nov 29 2006

ISTANBUL (Reuters) — When Ottoman Sultan Mehmet conquered
Constantinople in 1453, his first destination was Haghia Sophia,
the towering seat of Orthodox Christianity.

In front of what was then the largest church in the world, he knelt,
sprinkled soil on his turban as a sign of humility and recited the
Muslim prayer of faith, turning the church into a mosque: "There is
no God but God, and Mohammed is His prophet."

When Pope Benedict visits on Thursday, he will enter what is now
Aya Sofya museum in the renamed city of Istanbul, reflecting the
transition from Christian to Muslim to secular.

While evidence of faith is everywhere in this city, which has been the
capital of both Christian and Muslim empires, the modern republic’s
secularism has robbed the city of its role as a religious capital.

The two empires have left behind a patchwork of faiths, with Christians
— Greek, Armenian and Syriac Orthodox and Roman, Armenian and
Chaldean Catholics — and a tiny Jewish community living among the
mostly Muslim population.

CONSTANTINOPLE

The Roman Emperor Constantine, who embraced Christianity, made the
ancient site between Europe and Asia the capital of the Roman Empire
in 330 AD and it became known as Constantinople.

Constantine imported the holiest relics, including wood said to be
from Noah’s Ark for the doors of Haghia Sophia and a piece said to
be from Christ’s cross to keep behind its altar.

When the Orthodox Church broke away from Rome over the issue of papal
authority in 1054, Constantinople became the undisputed political
and religious centre of the Greek-speaking world.

The city was sacked in 1204 by Western Catholic crusaders, cementing
the split between Catholic west and Orthodox east.

In 2004, the late Pope John Paul expressed "disgust and pain" for
the sacking of the city by the Fourth Crusade.

After 1453, the Ottomans made the city preeminent in the Muslim world
as older centres Damascus and Baghdad faded.

Their practice of bringing minorities into the capital to work as
artisans ensured a rich cultural mix, and each minority was allowed
to govern itself according to its religious laws.

"The Ottomans were masters of pragmatism and their solution for
religious minorities was to let them rule their own affairs," said
Benjamin Fortna of the University of London’s School of Oriental and
African Studies.

SECULARISM

After Turkey’s defeat in World War One and its subsequent war with
Greece, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk founded modern Turkey in 1923 and
established a secular republic that officially removed religion from
public life.

He dissolved the Caliphate, moved the capital to Ankara and officially
changed Constantinople’s name to Istanbul.

Aya Sofya, which had up until then served as a mosque, was closed
and reopened as a museum in 1934.

Large-scale exchanges of ethnic Greeks and Turks in the 1920s depleted
the Christian population in Istanbul, without easing tensions between
the two countries,

A two-day pogrom against Istanbul’s ethnic Greeks in 1955 drove out
even more of them, although the city remains the seat of the Christian
Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch.

Some 100,000 Christians now live in Turkey, far from the 2 million
a century ago.

46 OF 100 WOMEN IN ARMENIA ARE SUBJECTED TO FAMILY VIOLENCE

Regnum, Russia
Nov 26 2006

According to a poll conducted in Armenia, 46 of 100 women have been
subjected to family violence, 67 were subjected to gender-based
infringement. UNDPA Resident Representative in Armenia Consuelo
Vidal made the announcement at a news conference dedicated to the
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
on November 25. According to her, most women were subjected to
gender-based violence did not turn to appropriate institutions
for help.

The UN representative stressed that despite the fact that in Armenia
women’s rights are protected by law and they enjoy equal rights with
men, but in reality they are subjected to violence in family, at work
and in society. To eradicate this evil it is necessary to change the
way of thinking in family and in society. UN institutions active in
Armenia have continued rendering assistance to find roots of violence
against women and conducting activity in eradicating the violence.

Consuelo Vidal also noted that since November 25 to December 10
(International Human Rights Day) in Armenia actions against
gender-based violence will be held.

At the news conference, an address by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against
Women. It particularly says: "Fighting this scourge requires us
to change a mindset which is still too common and deep-seated. To
demonstrate, once and for all, that when it comes to violence against
women, there are no grounds for tolerance and no tolerable excuses. …

Together, we must work to create an environment where violence against
women is not tolerated."