Author: Tamamian Anna

ORPHAN; TEEN PENS; HER LIFE’S JOURNEY
by Katrina Jones

The Gold Coast Bulletin (Australia)
September 2, 2006 Saturday
Main Edition

Words Of Inspiration

MARSHA Nicole Woods has lived a life worth writing about.

At just 17, the high school student decided to do just that, publishing
a book entitled A Hope and a Future.

Nicki’s story begins in Russia when she was left at an Armenian
orphanage as a baby.

After her third birthday, she was adopted by American missionaries
and moved to Japan.

Nicki was immersed in Japanese for six years, and also studied English.

With her parents, she moved to missions in Ethiopia and Hong Kong
before arriving in Sydney on her 10th birthday.

In January last year, Nicki and her family moved to Reedy Creek.

And, while the journey can be summed up in words, life for the Year
10 Hillcrest Christian College student has been far more complex.

"I’ve lived an interesting and different life to most people my age,"
said Nicki.

"And I just wanted to write about it to be encouraging and to tell
people that your life is never boring."

One period she recalls in the book was her time at the orphanage.

"I was worried I would get turned out because most kids were kicked
out of the orphanage at three," she said.

"In my brain it was a scary thought.

"Then I was taken in by a family and it was so nice to have a mum
and a dad teaching me right from wrong and amazing to have a brother."

The teenager said she was glad her parents did not conceal her
adoption.

"I’m so glad they were open and honest.

"Even as a kid, they would tell me again and again how much they
loved me, and were grateful to God for leading them to me.

"To know that my birth mother did the right thing in taking me to an
orphanage rather than just abandoning me somewhere and it makes me
appreciate Mum and Dad all the more as they had to work so hard to
make me their daughter.

"As Dad says, ‘Nicki, you weren’t expected; you were selected’."

Nicki said she was encouraged by family and friends to write her story.

"Friends told my dad he should write a story of my life but he said
it needed to come from me.

"When it was suggested, I thought, ‘Well, yeah, I could do that’.

"So I sat down one day, wrote a bit, showed my parents who encouraged
me to keep at it."

Eighteen months later, Nicki had a finished item.

But it wasn’t all easy.

"Trying to remembering the beginning of my life was hard and I had
to get a lot of information from parents.

"Each week I had to set aside time to write and put it together.

"I really had to make it part of my weekly schedule."

A Hope and a Future is available from Hillcrest Christian College or
online through Amazon for $9.95.

MEPS PREPARE CRITICAL REPORT ON TURKEY
By Honor Mahony

EUobserver.com, Belgium
Aug. 30, 2006

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Almost a year after Turkey officially opened
EU membership talks with Brussels, MEPs are preparing a report strongly
critical of the country’s progress on human rights issues.

The 11-page draft report, drawn up by Dutch centre-right MEP Camiel
Eurlings, says the the European Parliament "deplores the fact that
only limited progress has been reported over the last year as regards
fundamental rights and freedoms" and "deplores the absence of progress
in the area of freedom of religion since parliament’s last report."

It notes in the preamble that "freedom of expression is far from
satisfactory" and that "corruption remains a serious problem."

The resolution also stresses that EU member states’ negotiations with
the country, opened last year in October, represent an "open-ended
process and does not lead a priori and automatically to accession."

Managing Turkey Tapping into a hot discussion held earlier this
year on whether the EU will manage to take on board the huge and
poor country, the draft also states the "EU’s capacity to absorb
Turkey while maintaining the momentum of integration is an important
consideration…".

The key topic of Ankara’s non-recognition of Cyprus also features with
the report reminding Turkey that changing this remains a "necessary
component of the accession process."

However, it does also note some positive aspects of Turkey’s EU efforts
saying that it "welcomes the adoption of the law on internally placed
people" and "recognises the improvements in legislation … as regards
the policy of zero tolerance towards torture."

The report, which appears annually, is causing the usual ripples
in the EU assembly with MEPs proposing 343 amendments – around 115
pages. Currently, they are trying to forge agreement on eight pages of
"compromise amendments."

MEPs from across the political spectrum are trying to get their view
point into the report with comments on the new anti-terror laws in
Turkey, on honour killings, on the genocide in Armenia and on changing
the electoral threshold for representation in the parliament.

The Cyprus issue The report is due to be voted on in the foreign
affairs committee on Monday (4 September) and will then be put before
the whole of the parliament, probably in late September.

The parliament is keen to get its vote and opinion on the table as
quickly as possible so it can influence the European Commission’s
annual report on Turkey’s accession progress – due out on 26 October.

For its part, the commission’s report is set to be highly critical of
Ankara’s continued refusal to implement the Ankara protocol with the EU
having repeatedly urged Turkey to lift its embargo on Cypriot-flagged
vessels and aircraft as part of the country’s membership negotiations.

Turkey’s signature of the protocol extending a customs accord with
the EU to the bloc’s 10 new states – including Cyprus – should result
in the embargo being lifted.

Ankara has indicated that any concessions to Nicosia would be
dependent on moves by the EU to end the economic isolation of the
Turkish-populated north of Cyprus – a stance Brussels has rejected.

A critical report by Brussels and continued resistance by Ankara on
the Cyprus issue is set to bring the whole issue to a political head
later this autumn.

THE QUESTIONS WERE NEVERTHELESS ASKED

Lragir.am
29 Aug 06

Hrair Karapetyan, the chair of the parliamentary faction of ARF
Dashnaktsutyun answering the questions of news reporters at the Pastark
club confirmed the statements of the leader of Orinats Yerkir Arthur
Baghdasaryan that as part of government Orinats Yerkir did not remain
silent and criticized negative phenomena. However, Hrair Karapetyan
added, "During the meetings of the coalition the questions were not put
as sharply as now when Orinats Yerkir is opposition." At the same time,
Hrair Karapetyan thinks it is natural that the same party puts forward
the same question differently in the government and in the opposition.

SLOVENE, AZERBAIJAN PRESIDENTS DISCUSS ENERGY COOPERATION

STA news agency, Ljubljana
28 Aug 06

Brdo pri Kranju, 28 August: Azeri President Ilham Aliyev stressed that
good possibilities are opening up for cooperation between Azerbaijan
and the EU in the field of energy, as he met his Slovene host and
counterpart Janez Drnovsek in Brdo pri Kranju on Monday [28 August].

The presidents also shared a view that the two countries have a
lot of leeway in developing cooperation in the fields of politics,
business and culture.

Drnovsek told the press after meeting Aliyev that they also discussed
the situation in Nagornyy Karabakh, a disputed region in the west of
Azerbaijan settled mainly by ethnic Armenians.

Drnovsek said that he hopes the situation in the region, with ownership
claims coming from Azerbaijan and neighbouring Armenia, would be
resolved soon and offered Slovenia’s help in solving the issue.

According to Drnovsek, it is also in the EU’s interest to solve
the issue as soon as possible. He believes that the leaders of the
neighbouring countries are capable of solving it by themselves.

Aliyev meanwhile presented Azerbaijan’s take on the Nagornyy Karabakh
issue, stressing that his country wants to solve the dispute –
a threat to the development of the entire region – in line with
international standards.

Azerbaijan also insists that Armenia unconditionally withdraws its
forces from the region, Aliyev added.

He also pointed out that with its natural resources Azerbaijan presents
an important state for securing Europe’s energy independence.

Drnovsek said that there is a great potential for Slovene companies
to take part in Azerbaijan’s development.

As an EU member, Slovenia is also ready to help the Asian state in
building institutions in line with European standards and pass its
experience on establishing contact with the EU, he added.

Trade between the two countries amounted to a mere 5m euros in 2005,
yet the number presents a substantial increase on the figure in 2004,
which stood at 1.8m euros.

In the first four months of 2006, Slovene exports to Azerbaijan
amounted to 1.12m euros, a 54.7 per cent increase year on
year. [Passage omitted]

STOP IRAN’S ETHNIC CLEANSING IN IRAQ

The Conservative Voice, NC
Aug. 28, 2006

Indications are that Ahmadi-Nejad is planning three massive campaigns
of border adjustments and ethnic cleansing on a scale that will make
Slobodan Milosevic look like a petty thief. Ahmadi-Nejad’s threats
against Israel represent only the tip of the iceberg of his plan
to create a new "National Socialist" Middle East. In most danger
following Israel are Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the Persian Gulf states,
Lebanon, and Azerbaijan

First, Iran will drive all the Sunnis from Iraq, and use Iraq to
consolidate Iranian control of Lebanon, Syria, and the Persian Gulf.

To do this, Iran will alter Iraq’s borders and will probably annex
outright eastern Iraq including the Basra region that contains 60%
of Iraq’s proven oil reserves.

In order to partition Iraq, Iran will also encourage Iraqi Kurds, with
whom Tehran already has a political agreement aimed at disenfranchising
the Sunnis, to drive all the Sunnis from Mosul and Kirkuk. The
Kurds would then proclaim an independent Kurdistan, with Kirkuk as
its capital. Kirkuk contains Iraq’s largest oil reserves, following
Basra. Thus, the Sunnis would be deprived of all substantial income
from oil revenue.

Iran’s ethnic cleansing in Iraq would have catastrophic consequences
for the region. For one thing, Iran then would be in a strong
position after challenging Iraq’s borders to challenge Saudi Arabia’s
borders. Specifically, Iran/Iraq would then stir up irredentist
sentiment among Saudi Arabia’s large Shia community abutting Iraq,
which contains the bulk of Saudi oil reserves. Iran could make a
power grab for this territory, which would touch off another round
of ethnic cleansing as the Iraqi-Saudi border is adjusted.

For another ethnic cleansing opportunity, Iran could spur Shia
militancy in the Persian Gulf states like Bahrain. As these states fall
into Iran’s orbit, massive refugee flows of Arabs could ensue.Israel,
Palestine and Lebanon.

Second, Iran will drive all the Jews from Israel, along with the
secular and Christian Palestinians, from "Palestine." Ahmadi-Nejad
already openly boasts of "wiping Israel from the map." His pro-Shia
ethnic cleansing for Iraq, Israel and Palestine would put severe
pressure on the Shia in Lebanon, now under Iran/Hezbollah control,
to follow suit with their own copycat ethnic cleansing campaign.Iran,
Azerbaijan and Central Asia.

Third, Iran will then turn on its domestic Azeri community — some
30 million strong and increasingly pro-Turkey.Iran’s Azeris want
no part of an Iranian empire in the region, which at some point
entails Iranian confrontation with Turkey and Azerbaijan. Iran is
already an ally of Armenia, much to the discomfort of Turkey and
Azerbaijan who are locked in a bitter dispute with Armenia over the
future of Nagarno-Karabakh. Iran’s Azeris identify more with Turkey
and Azerbaijan than with Tehran.

In this final round of ethnic cleansing, Iran will send large numbers
of Azeris to Turkey and Azerbaijan to remove a potential threat to
the stability of Iran’s theocratic regime. In a recent provocation,
a leading official Iranian newspaper printed a cartoon depicting
Iran’s Azeris to Turkic-speaking cockroaches, a provocation that led
to days of rioting and several deaths in Iran. Remember, whatever
Ahmadinejad does to the Sunnis, Jews, and non-Islamist Palestinians,
he will do to the Azeris.

To put it another way, if Ahmadinejad chooses to pursue ethnic racist
national socialist policies abroad, beginning in Iraq, he will do
so at home as well. Of course Ahmadi-Nejad’s entire ethnic cleansing
plan is insane. So was Hitler’s plan, but he went ahead anyway.

KAZAKHSTAN AND CHINA JOIN KARS-AKHALKALAKI-TBILISI-BAKU RAILWAY PROJECT

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Aug. 28, 2006

Kazakhstan and China join Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku railway
project, Turkish transportation minister Binali Yildirim said,
APA reports.

He said that as a modernized version of Great Silk Way, this route
will be long-time and beneficial one.

They route will allow traveling from Kars to Kazakhstan, and then,
to Shank hay and Hong-Kong.

Through this railway to be balanced with Marmray project, a train
will be able to head for China through Turkey.

"Body passengers and freight will be carried by through this pipelines
expected to be completed in two years.

Per year 20mn tonnes of freight are expected to be transported through
this pipeline. 18 mn tonnes of freights will be carried in Turkey".

He also said that railways in Eastern gate remained unused because
of Armenian-Turkish problems.

"That is why we can’t contact the Caucasus and Far East. Azerbaijan,
Georgia and Turkey is working on this issue.

Kazakhstan’s and China’s joining will give an impetus to the project.

Azerbaijan will directly gain support of Turkish Republics".

Turkey will construct 76-km part of the railway from Turkey and
Georgia. Georgia will build 25 km.

The part between Tbilisi and Baku will be repaired. Turkey will spend
250 mn.

Glendale News Press, CA
Aug. 26, 2006

Man found guilty of killing girl
Judge in Armenia takes 30 minutes to render his decision, sentencing
Glendale man to 10 years.
By Tania Chatila

GLENDALE – A judge in Armenia found 25-year-old Artur Khanzadyan of
Glendale guilty on Friday of murdering his girlfriend nearly a year
ago, then hiding her body in the trunk of his car, police said.

Judge Mushegh Harutunyan sentenced Khanzadyan – whose trial in
Vanadzor, Armenia lasted two days – was to 10 years in an Armenian
prison for the murder of 24-year-old Odet Tsaturyan with the act of
jealousy, Glendale Police Officer John Balian said.

"I’m glad justice was done, he was sentenced and he will serve time,
but I just think it would have been better if it was here…. He
probably deserved much more than that. It was a heinous crime,"
said Amanda Ryan Romo, a former teacher of Tsaturyan’s.

Tsaturyan, also of Glendale, left her family’s home at about 5 p.m.
on Sept. 6 for a party she never arrived at.

That same night, Khanzadyan, left his home at 6:30 p.m. and did
not return.

Police believe Tsaturyan got into an argument with Khanzadyan before
leaving her house that day, then agreed to meet him in Southwest
Glendale, where her abandoned car was found on Sept. 13.

She was likely strangled to death that night, but her body was found
three days later in the trunk of Khanzadyan’s 2005 Audi, which was
parked on a residential street in Azusa, Glendale Police Det. Craig
Tweedy said.

Khanzadyan fled to Armenia where he was arrested by Armenian
authorities in late November.

Three Glendale detectives – including Tweedy – traveled to Armenia
to try to get Khanzadyan to voluntarily return to the United States,
where he was charged with second-degree murder. But Khanzadyan – a
citizen of Armenia – would not return on his own will and Armenian
officials were not willing to denaturalize him to have him brought
back, Tweedy said.

The U.S. does not have an extradition treaty with Armenia.

Glendale Police enlisted the help of Rep. Adam Schiff in trying to
get Khanzadyan returned, but to no avail.

"I would have strongly preferred to have him brought back here
for trial, where he would have faced life in prison or even death,"
Schiff said. "But I am glad he was found guilty and will serve time in
Armenia. And I hope he serves the full sentence…. This is something
we’ll be watching."

Tweedy and Glendale Police Det. Tigran Topadzhikyan flew to Armenia
on Sunday night to help the prosecution in the trial.

The Glendale Police Officers Assn. and Glendale’s St. Peter Armenian
Church Youth Ministries’ Center raised $1,500 to also send Tsaturyan’s
father, Shagen Tsaturyan, to the trial.

"The father said that he was thankful for the detectives going out
there," Balian said. "It was in his hometown."

During the trial, Khanzadyan’s defense attorney, Karine Gasparyan,
argued that he accidentally killed Odet Tsaturyan by placing his hand
over her mouth, Tweedy said.

Gasparyan said Khanzadyan tried to resuscitate her, but was unable
to, Tweedy said. Gasparyan also argued that the injuries to Odet
Tsaturyan’s neck were from Khanzadyan’s efforts to administer CPR,
and not from him strangling her, Tweedy said.

She also argued that a head injury Khanzadyan suffered as a child
causes him to think irrationally, and that if Odet Tsaturyan was alive,
she would have never accused him of intentionally trying to harm her,
Tweedy said.

The judge took about 30 minutes before rendering a verdict and a
sentence on Friday, Tweedy said.

But before the verdict was read, Khanzadyan had a chance to speak
before the court, Tweedy said.

He apologized to those affected by incident, but denied intentionally
killing Odet Tsaturyan, Tweedy said.

"I hope in the future when we have people who commit murder in our
community flee to Armenia, we have more success in bringing the back
to face charges here," Schiff said.

Still, the sentencing offers some kind of closure, Romo said.

"[Odet Tsaturyan] was bright, intelligent, dedicated to school work,
dedicated to making something better of herself …. She was really
driven," Romo said.

"I saw somebody dedicated to her job, coming to school and making
something better of herself."

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT ALLOCATES 300 MLN DRAMS AS COMPENSATION TO FARMS
AFFLICTED BY DROUGHT IN NAGORNO KARABAKH

YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, NOYAN TAPAN. At the August 24 sitting, the
Armenian government made a decision to allocate 300 mln drams (about
750 thousand USD) from its 2006 reserve fund to the RA Ministry of
Finance and Economy for the purpose of paying compensations to farms
in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) that most suffered from drought
and fires in the summer of 2006. NT was informed about it from the
RA Government Information and PR Department.

NORWAY GETS A HOLOCAUST MUSEUM

Jewish Telegraphic Agency, NY
Aug. 23, 2006

The home of Norway’s wartime leader, a Nazi collaborator, was turned
into a Holocaust museum.

The villa of Vikdun Quisling, who was executed in 1945 after leading
a puppet government that supported the Nazis, now houses the Center
for Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities, inaugurated
Wednesday by Norway’s Queen Sonja and Princess Mette-Marit. The center
will focus on the Holocaust and feature displays on the persecution
of minorities in Africa, Armenia, Cambodia, the Balkans and Rwanda.

The renovated villa was given to the Jewish community by the Norwegian
government five years ago.

Some 800 Jews, about half the country’s prewar population, were killed
in the Holocaust.

‘ASTARAK-KAT’ COMPANY ACTIVATES CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PROGRAM

Yerevan, August 23. ArmInfo. At the ‘Caucasian Center of Study
Resources – Armenia’ was held a seminar dedicated to corporate social
responsibility (CSR). Employees of the Center, representatives of
social organizations and Armenian businessmen took part in the
seminar. Methods of CSR application in foreign states and other
important issues were considered. On the event were represented the
terms of CSR application at ‘Ashtarak-Kat’ CJSC.

It should be noted that in July 2006 the Shareholders’ Council of
Ashtarak-Kat approved the principles of corporate management of the
company. According to the adopted document, corporate management
principles provide for the moral and ethical norms of business
behavior. The corporate management principles are based upon the CSR
terms, the 1994 Swiss declaration by the major entrepreneurs of the
world and the UN Global Agreement.