Author: Tamamian Anna

COMMENTARY: HARD LESSONS FROM PBS DOCUMENTARY SAGA
By Vicken Babkenian

The California Courier,
June 5 2006

Why is it that the producer of an outstanding documentary on the
Armenian Genocide has had to rethink his relationship with the
Armenian community?

Andrew Goldberg wrote, directed and produced The Armenian Genocide.

He is an Emmy Award winning filmmaker, having produced three other
Armenian themed documentaries. He has worked with CNN, ABC News,
MSNBC, Fox News and PBS.

The controversy surrounding Goldberg’s film began when it was revealed
that a panel discussion, featuring two denialists, was to be aired
by PBS after its broadcast of the documentary. Many members of the
Armenian community, including leading newspapers and organizations,
launched a campaign to voice their profound opposition to the
panel discussion. Criticism was mainly directed at Jacoba Atlas, a
programming executive at PBS, calling for her resignation for having an
“anti-Armenian Genocide” stance.

Criticisms were also directed at Andrew Goldberg – despite
his opposition to the panel – for perceived shortcomings in his
documentary. Allegations were made that Goldberg had ‘caved in’ to
pressure from PBS to revise the contents of the documentary, with
some Armenian journalists asserting that its inclusion of footage on
Turkish denialists was a direct outcome of this pressure. He was also
accused of “seeking fame and fortune at the expense of the truth,
and exhibiting a carreerist attitude.”

Networks make programming decisions, and one may infer the views of
their executives from such decisions. By broadcasting Armenian Journey
in 1988, The Great War in 1991, Images of the Armenian Spirit in 2003,
and now The Armenian Genocide, PBS has done much to support programming
on the Armenian Genocide.

According to Andrew Goldberg, he was not forced, coerced or pressured
by PBS to make any changes – his work, rather, was the outcome of an
ongoing collaboration with PBS. Further, the editorial body for The
Armenian Genocide included Peter Balakian, Ronald Grigor Suny and Muge
Gocek. It is true that requests for script changes were made by PBS,
but ultimately it was the editorial body which made the decisions
about content. As a result, the Turkish denial presented in the film
was very well contextualized and, in a sense, “quarantined.”

Armenian Genocide denial was made easily identifiable to the uninformed
viewer for what it was – intellectual and moral garbage.

Despite an industry-wide reluctance to deal with such a contentious
subject, Goldberg was able to use his experience and marketing
savvy to have the Armenian story told to millions of people in the
United States and around the world. In the campaign for recognition,
Andrew has been an invaluable ally in the battle of “Memory against
Forgetting” and “Knowledge against Ignorance.” Thanks to Andrew,
millions of people saw Raphael Lemkin – the man who coined the term
“genocide” – utter the words “It happened to the Armenians.”

Armenians should be careful not to antagonize those who are their
allies in the fight for recognition. Constructive criticism is fine;
unjustified personal attacks and insinuations are not.

As a result of these and other hurtful actions, Andrew has decided
to halt producing documentaries on the Armenian Genocide. It seems
that he will not be making a sequel to The Armenian Genocide, which
had been in the pipeline.

What precedent have Armenians set for other non-Armenians who may
want to help them in their struggle?

Vicken Babkenian Armenian Genocide Research Unit Australian Institute
for Holocaust and Genocide Studies Shalom College, University of New
South Wales Sydney, Australia.

Armenia Fund USA, Inc.
152 Madison Ave, S-803
New York, NY 10016, U.S.A.
T/1-212-689-5307
F/1-212-689-5317
http://ww w.armemeniafundusa.org

All-Armenian Fund International Affiliates’ Annual Meeting Convenes

~15th meeting of the Board of Trustees assesses the progress of the
organization and sets priorities for the future development of Armenia and
Karabakh~

NEW YORK, New York – Leadership from Armenia Fund USA traveled to Yerevan,
Armenia for All-Armenian Fund International Affiliates’ annual meeting which
convened on May 5, 2006. The conference brought together the leadership of
all 18 affiliates from all over the world to review progress of the
organization since the last annual meeting and set priorities for
development. Chaired by the President of the Republic of Armenia His
Excellency Robert Kocharian, the meeting took place at the Government
Reception House in Yerevan creating a momentum for sharing a common mission
among all affiliates – the task of ensuring the well-being of Armenia and
Nagorno-Karabakh through large-scale infrastructure and socio-economic
development and sustainability. Apart from assessing the benchmarks of
success, the meeting also approved the 2005 report of the Executive Board,
discussed agenda items important for ensuring the successful implementation
and continuity of current projects, took decisions on the 2006 beneficiary
program, as well as elected new members to the International Board of
Trustees.

Before starting the session, led by the prayers of His Holiness Karekin II,
Catholicos of All-Armenians, the Board Members and the leadership of the
Fund paid tribute with a moment of silence to the victims of Armavia Flight
967 that just days earlier had claimed the lives of more than ten dozen
people. The Republic had announced a two-day national mourning after the
terrible catastrophe.

The approval of the 2005 annual report of the Executive Board, prepared by
an independent French-American accounting firm, addressed the financial
standing of the organization, and presented the Fiscal Year 2005 financial
audit of All-Armenian Fund on the one hand, and of the construction
procedures of projects on the other. The report summarized funds received
and expenses incurred for the fiscal year concluding that the financial
standing of the organization “is clearly in accordance with International
Financial Reporting Standards”, which, most significantly, gave account of
the transparency and maintenance of internal procurement standards.

An important agenda item under discussion during the annual meeting was the
“Rebirth of Artsakh” Regional Development Program for Nagorno-Karabakh -a
three year, three region comprehensive development plan approved last year
to provide socio-economic assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh. The participants
confirmed the continuity of the program and provided information on
preparatory works done to this date. The participants also took decisions on
directing Telethon 2006 to the implementation of the “Rebirth of Artsakh”
program. Funds raised through the fundraising telethon will be directed to
the rehabilitation, reconstruction and development of the Hadrout and
Mardakert regions in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The meeting also touched upon the rural poverty eradication program
introduced during the meeting by Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic
of Armenia Mr. Vartan Oskanian, a Trustee of the Fund. Hayastan All-Armenian
Fund was tasked with the coordination of the Rural Development Scheme for
159 border villages in Armenia. The program is an integrated approach toward
poverty reduction in the rural villages of Armenia, particularly those
located close to the border. It is a broad effort to provide the necessary
development support in the form of technical and infrastructure intervention
to ensure the economic sustainability of rural communities. Apart from
overall socio-economic development impact, the program is expected to
leverage effects of rural poverty on migration, geopolitical security and
regional stability. A commission was set up to study the program and the
timing in detail, put forth suggestions on jointly implementation of the
program with other projects of the Fund and integrate efforts toward
regional development.

A meeting of all affiliates of Hayastan Himnadram took place on May the 4th
at the campus of the American University of Armenia to exchange views and
discuss common operational challenges. During the meeting representatives
from respective affiliates introduced progress reports and project
coordination details. Armenia Fund USA, led by Chairman of the Board of
Directors Mr. Kevork Toroyan and Executive Director Ms. Irina Lazarian,
introduced details on the implementation of the Agricultural Initiative for
Mardakert region of Nagorno-Karabakh and parameters of cooperation with
local authorities to ensure maximum efficacy of the program. The Initiative
is the economic underpinning of the “Rebirth of Artsakh” Regional
Development Program launched by affiliates in spring of 2006, and is a
strategic plan to increase rural household income by boosting region’s
agricultural economy.
Armenia Fund USA representatives concluded the trip with visits to
project sites, as well as meetings with Karabakh farmers to listen to their
concerns and input about the new program.

The annual meeting elected three new members to the International Board of
Trustees, among them Mark Geragos, U.S. based attorney who has been very
supportive of the Fund’s overall efforts in the United States, Hasmik
Terterian of Armenian Relief Society and Mike Kharapian of Ramkavar
Liberal-Democratic Party.

ABOUT ARMENIA FUND USA: ARMENIA FUND USA, founded in 1992, was one of the
first of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund’s 18 international affiliates and serves
constituents in all states east of the Mississippi. As a non-profit,
non-governmental, nonsectarian organization, the Fund represents all
Armenian constituents.

Armenia Fund USA is the largest contributor among the 18 international
affiliates – supporting strategic infrastructure projects in Armenia and
Karabakh, and having helped build 138 miles of roads, 100 miles of
waterways, 36 schools, 3 electric transmission networks, 210 residential
buildings and 15 healthcare institutions.

Armenia Fund USA’s Mission is the development of strategic socio-economic
infrastructure in Armenia and Karabakh, focusing on major projects such as
major highways, schools, drinking water to communities and humanitarian
programs in education, training and medical facilities. The Fund has adopted
a policy to go “Beyond Bricks and Mortar” to provide sustainability for
projects it sponsors.

ARMENIAN THEMES NOT COMPULSORY FOR TAKING PART IN GOLDEN APRICOT
FESTIVAL’S “ARMENIAN PANORAMA” CONTEST PROGRAM

YEREVAN, JUNE 1, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Like the previous
years, works by Armenian film directors living in different countries
will compete in the Golden Apricot (Voske Tsiran) Yerevan Third
International Film Festival’s “Armenian Panorama” contest program. As
cinema critic Mikael Stamboltsian, Director of festival programs,
mentioned in his interview to Noyan Tapan correspondent, though the
compulsory condition for taking part in the program is being Armenian,
they are free in the issue of choosing themes. “In the creative
respect the subject’s being Armenian becomes senseless as for the
spectator the most important is the film’s quality and not the
director’s origin or the circumstance of his being an Armenian,”
M.Stamboltsian emphasized. The Director of festival programs did not
give any comment or estimation on the selected films. He just said
that in the creative respect the films do not essentially differ from
the works presented in the previous years: “There are succeeded and
interesting films, there is also the opposite. Everything will be
cleared up after the festival.” M.Stamboltsian said that 25 films,
from Canada, USA, France, Holland, Russia, Serbia and Armenia will
compete in the three nominations of this program. One film, “Wedding
Box,” is a joint Russian-Kyrghyzian-German-French production. Its
scenario was written by Yekaterina Trdatova from Moscow.

TRUCKLOADS OF RUSSIAN MILITARY AMMUNITION LEAVE GEORGIA FOR ARMENIA

Kavkas-Press
31 May 06

Tbilisi, 31 May: Ten truckloads of firearm ammunition left the Russian
military base in Akhalkalaki today. The Georgian Defence Ministry’s
public relations department told Kavkas-Press that the convoy had
left Georgia at 0600 [presumably local time] this morning and headed
for Gyumri in Armenia.

Yesterday, another echelon of hardware left the Akhalkalaki base for
Tsalka [railway station]. Ten towing vehicles will leave Tsalka in
a few days’ time to travel to Russia through Azerbaijan.

ARMENIA JOINS QUIT AND WIN ANTI-SMOKING CAMPAIGN

Armenpress
May 31 2006

YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS: Armenia joined an international
anti-smoking campaign, Quit and Win, in 2004. The campaign is held
once in every two year in all big cities of the planet . In 2004 some
100 countries and more than 1 million participated in it.

In 2004 in Armenia 450 people responded to the call to quit smoking
and 111 managed to resist the temptation to smoke doing the campaign’s
span , but only 35 quit smoking for ever.

This year the anti-smoking campaign was held from May 2 to May 29
and out of 588 smokers 25 resisted the temptation and after passing a
special test they reached the final stage . Some of the winners were
given precious presents. Two, a male and a female, will also travel
to Finland to take part in an international prize winning event.

However, according to Armenian doctors, the number of smokers in
Armenia is on the constant rise Some experts estimate that more than
half of all males are smokers. They say the number of smoking women
also increases, the bulk of them in Yerevan.

ARMENIAN COMMUNITY OF BUENOS AIRES MARKS REPUBLIC DAY WITH GREAT LUSTRE

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 31 2006

BUENOS AIRES, MAY 31, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The Armenian
community of Buenos Aires marked on May 28 with great lustre the 88th
anniversary of the First Republic and Sardarapat battle. Celebrations
started in the morning in the “Armenia” street closed for traffic which
was decorated with Armenian and Argentinian flags and flowers. The
street was full of dense crowd, representatives of all the community
structures, hundreds of pupils of Armenian schools, Armenian scouts
were present. Armenian and Argentinian marches were performed by the
orchestra of the Internal Affairs Ministry of Argentina. After the
Surb Liturgy celebrated at the Saint Gregory the Illuminator church,
the community representatives and RA Ambassador to Argentina Vladimir
Karmirshalian laid wreaths to the memorial complex dedicated to the
Sardarapat battle. The RA Ambassador addressed speech of gratitude to
the gathered about thousand people. An open-air concert organized by
Armenian schools took place. Then the celebration was removed to the
“Armenia” cultural association’s (ARF) center, on the threshold of
which a bas-relief picturing the historic way the Armenian nation
has passed after proclaiming the First Republic of Armenia will be
placed. The solemn placing of the monument bas-relief took place
with the participation of the community structures’ heads and the RA
Ambassador. As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA Foreign Ministry’s
Press and Information Department, during the solemn reception taken
place in the “Tutunjian” hall of the center, the RA Ambassador to
Argentina, heads of the ARF South American Central Committee addressed
speeches of gratitude to those present (700 people).

Then a festive concert took place with the participation of the “Nor
Araks” orchestra, “Masis” dance group and “Hay Stars” estrada ensemble.

TOWARDS DEMANDING ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Written by Houry S. Mayissian (Lebanon)

Newropeans Magazine, France
June 1 2006

Amid a diplomatic row with Turkey, the French National Assembly
debated a draft law last week that makes denial of the Armenian
Genocide punishable by law. Although voting on the bill was postponed,
it remains the first practical step by the international community
towards demanding accountability for the Armenian Genocide from Turkey.

The French bill, the first of its kind in the world, was introduced
by the opposition Socialist party. It proposes up to five years
imprisonment and a 45,000 euro fine for deniers of the Armenian
Genocide. The French government, however, made it clear on several
occasions that it is opposed to the resolution that would undermine
French-Turkish relations.

In the run-up to the debate on May 18, Turkey once again put on
one of its finest shows of diplomatic pressure and threats, usual
reactions to any Armenian Genocide resolution under study by the
international community.

Considering the seriousness of the bill, however, this time Ankara
went as far as threatening France with trade sanctions, threatening to
recognize what they called a “genocide” committed by France in Algeria,
stirring French businessmen involved in Turkey to lobby against the
bill, sending a special parliamentary delegation to Paris and calling
back its Ambassador to Paris for “consultations”; All this apart from
the regular letter and email campaigns, demonstrations and verbal
warnings by Turkish officials.

The Turkish pressures paid off partly but the bill was not scrapped
altogether as Ankara would have wished it to. It was debated, but
the vote was postponed due to alleged time limitations. Even though
the Armenian Genocide resolution was the second issue on the agenda
of the National Assembly’s May 18 session, speaker Jean-Louis Debre
reportedly extended the time limit of the first agenda, not leaving
enough time for discussing the bill.

The move led to an outcry by many French lawmakers. Nevertheless
Debre postponed the vote on the bill after 30 minutes of discussions.

The resolution is expected to return to the assembly’s agenda in
autumn.

Those opposing the resolution in France sighted fears of strain in
relations between Paris and Ankara. French Foreign Minister Philippe
Douste-Blazy was quoted telling the National Assembly: “The Armenian
cause is just and should be defended and respected. But the bill you
have submitted today would, if passed, be considered as an unfriendly
gesture by a large majority of Turks, whether you want this or not.”

After postponing the vote, Debre, in his turn, told France Inter Radio
that laws can’t make history and urged parliaments not to interfere
with the job of historians. Herve de Charrette, the deputy chairman
of the French Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Commission, echoed a
similar statement.

Both reasons might seem justifiable or understandable to some French
lawmakers, but the fact is both are baseless arguments. Yes, if the
law is adopted French-Turkish relations will be strained as they
were in 2001 when France recognized the Armenian Genocide. Yes,
Turkey will cancel contracts with French businessmen, probably call
back its Ambassador for a while, maybe even recognize the so-called
Algerian “genocide”, but the fact of the matter is all this will
only be temporary measures and after a couple of months things will
be back to business as usual as happened 5 years ago.

French lawmakers know well that a Turkey aspiring to become a member
of the European Union can’t afford to boycott France for long, whether
diplomatically or economically, given that the latter is one of the
major players of the EU. It is Turkey that needs to appear favorable
to France and not the opposite.

The second reason is all the more baseless. The Armenian Genocide is
not an issue of the past, it does not belong to history and certainly
not to historians. Historians have long said their word on the issue:
what happened was Genocide. This makes the matter all the more a very
contemporary and political issue that the international community
needs to address.

It is true that more than ninety years have passed since the Armenian
Genocide was planned and executed by Ottoman Turkey during World War
I. However, as a result of that Genocide, the majority of the Armenian
population of the world continues to live outside Armenia; relations,
even diplomatic ties, between Turkey and Armenia still do not exist;
the destruction of Armenian monuments and heritage in Eastern Turkey
continues; and finally Armenians have yet to wait for an official
recognition and reparations by Turkey.

The UN Genocide Convention clearly provisions punishments for the
committers of acts of Genocide and reparations to the victims. Sadly,
despite the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by many countries,
the international community has yet to demand accountability from
Turkey, the successor of the Ottoman Empire that carried out the
systematic annihilation of over one and a half million Armenians,
looting their properties and historically Armenian lands.

It is here that the significance of the proposed French law comes to
the fore. It is the first law ever to go beyond merely recognizing
the Armenian Genocide and to react to the ongoing Turkish denial to it.

An Armenian Genocide recognition law adopted by France in 2001 states:
“France publicly recognizes the Armenian Genocide of 1915.”

It does not mention or condemn the perpetrators, let alone refer to
the continuous denial by Turkey of the Armenian Genocide.

The 2001 law was a historic step in the process for the international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Yet, recognizing Genocide without
willing to do anything about it is saying: “Yes, we acknowledge you
were subjected to genocide, but we’re not doing anything about it
except saying it out loud”!

It is time that France and the international community realize that
it is specifically this attitude that makes it ok for Turkey to deny
the Armenian Genocide. It is because the international community has
never demanded accountability that Ankara can so freely deny this
historical fact.

A recent example of ongoing, everyday Turkish denial was the attempted
trial of well-known Turkish author Orhan Pamuk on charges of “insulting
Turkish identity” following his comments to a Swiss newspaper that
one million Armenians were massacred by the Ottoman Empire. Pamuk
did not even have to use the word Genocide to be deemed a traitor by
many Turks.

And to think that many Turks both in Turkey and France protested
against limitations of free speech by the proposed French bill,
is to witness hypocrisy in its finest forms.

Despite Turkish pressures and threats the French bill will sooner or
later be debated by the French National Assembly. It will present the
perfect opportunity for France to lead the international community
into taking practical steps towards legally demanding accountability
from Turkey for the Armenian Genocide.

EACH OUTSIDE-THRUST PLAN OF NK CONFLICT SETTLEMENT IS VERY DANGEROUS – RUSSIAN DM
Author: R. Abdullayev

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
May 31 2006

Each plan of settlement thrust from the outside is not only
counter-productive, but also very dangerous, Trend quotes Sergey
Ivanov, Defense Minister and Vice Premier of Russia, commenting May
31 the totals of CIS Defense Ministers session.

“The final plan of settlement, first of all, shall be based on
agreement of the two parties, and in case such agreement is achieved
the warrant-countries will do their best to ensure meeting these
assumptions”, – Ivanov said.

He said also Russia had several times opined on Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. “Moscow greets peaceful political settlement of this
conflict. Alongside the US and France, Russia is a co-chair of OSCE
Minsk Group. I know OSCE Minsk Group is regularly talking to Azerbaijan
and Armenia on the matter”, – Ivanov added.

“However, one should be followed with another, not the contrary. Some
people say, let Russia, US and France develop the model, thrust it
on the parties and execute it. It is not good”, – The RF official said.

“I cannot estimate the progress or its absence, but consider it the
only right way”, – Ivanov concluded.

YUNUSOV: AFTER CONFLICT SETTLEMENT RUSSIA WILL BE FORCED OUT OF SOUTH CAUCASUS

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.05.2006 13:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Russian leadership and experts say Russia
is not interested in frozen conflicts, head of the Department of
Conflictology at the Baku Institute of Peace and Democracy, political
scientist Arif Yunusov stated. “In some cases I believe in sincerity
of such statements but unfortunately the line pursued by the Russian
leadership proves the opposite,” he remarked.

In Yunusov’s words, geopolitical confrontation has developed in the
post-soviet space between the western states, first of all the United
States, and Russia.

“Russia understand perfectly that after the settlement of conflicts,
for example the Nagorno Karabakh one, Russia will be forced out of
the region. It’s not a secret. Russia doesn’t possess sufficient
fund to counteract these plans. Even if it possessed such, it lacks
understanding of the necessity of spending funds for strengthening
its influence in the post-soviet republics, the Azeri political
scientist emphasized.

Yunusov is convinced that the soviet standpoint on the post-soviet
republics reigns in Russia while the frozen conflicts, including
the Nagorno Karabakh one, are an excellent factor for Russia for
maintaining influence until it becomes strong enough to re-boost its
influence in the post-soviet space, reported Day.az.

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
May 29 2006

PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV: `WE WILL NEVER ALLOW NAGORNO-KARABAKH TO BE
SEPARATED FROM AZERBAIJAN’
[May 29, 2006, 22:24:54]

`Our lands are under occupation, and therefore, we, of course, demand
from Armenia first to leave the occupied territories on its own
accord.

Azerbaijan is getting stronger and stronger. We shall use all
opportunities – political, diplomatic, economic, transport and if
needed, the military opportunities. It is our right. Nobody needs
war. Who can wish bloodshed and people’s death? But on the other
hand, if negotiations will remain ineffectual, what is our choice
then? We shall not have any choice. Therefore, the matter is already
taking a very serious turn. I `d like to repeat once again that the
latest visit to Azerbaijan by the Minsk Group co-chairmen, the visit
by high-ranking diplomats, the talks give hope for peaceful
settlement’, said President llham Aliyev in a ceremony marking 28
May, Republic Day.

According to the President, as long as such opportunities are not
exhausted, Azerbaijan will use them.

`But we will never allow the second Armenian state to appear in the
Azerbaijani land, and will never allow Nagorno-Karabakh to be
separated from Azerbaijan’, the President said.