Author: Tambiyan Samvel

A1+

| 19:48:03 | 20-09-2005 | Social |

REFUGEES TO BE EVICTED FROM EREBUNI HOTEL

«Our greatest misfortune is to remain alive. We have no rights to fall ill,
feed and choose. Even if we appeal to the court we will be evicted», the
refugees residing in the second building of Erebuni Hotel said today.

35 families live in the hotel at present. 17 of them are refugees from
Gyumri. In 2004 the families were informed that the building was sold to
Ginekar LTD, which allocated $200 thousand to the resident. The sum was
divided among the refugees while the families from Gyumry received nothing.
In their words, they were offered «checks» valuing in $4600 but they
refused.

The Fund of Tourism Development headed by the father of Erebuni Hotel
Director has brought a suit against the residents of the second building of
the hotel. The residents turned to the Court of Appeals.

Earlier they appealed to President Kocharian, RA NA Chairman Baghdassaryan,
the Prime Minister, Ombudsman and some deputies, who said they cannot help.

The residents of the hotel said that in case they are evicted they will
pitch a camp near the government building and live there.

Pan Armenian News

DAYS OF BELARUSIAN CULTURE TO BE HELD IN ARMENIA SEPTEMBER 29 – OCTOBER 3

21.09.2005 02:39

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Days of Belarusian Culture will be held in the Republic of
Armenia September 29 – October 3 and next year the Days of Armenia will be
held in Minsk, RA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Belarus
Suren Harutyunian stated during a press conference on September 20. In
Harutyunian’s words, the opening ceremony will take place in the State
Theater of Opera and Ballet. Pesnyary company, a chamber orchestra, National
Dances group will present their art to the Armenian audience. An exhibition
will be as well organized. The Belarusian delegation will be headed by
Minister of Culture Leonid Gulyako, reported IA Regnum.

Calgary Herald, Canada
Sept 20 2005

A systemic sonic assault

Heath McCoy

CREDIT: Jenelle Schneider, Calgary Herald
Serj Tankian and System of a Down rocked the Saddledome on Monday.

System of a Down performed Monday at Pengrowth Saddledome.
Attendance about 12,000

The opening chords of acoustic, protest song Soldier Side sounded
first, guitarist Daron Malakian singing the lyrics sweetly behind the
curtain.

Then the curtain dropped.

Malakian screamed maniacally, shredding away in true virtuoso,
metal-head fashion on his axe, joined by his System of a Down
bandmates. Machine-gun drum fills and barreling bass rhythms,
courtesy of John Dolmayan and Shavo Odadjian, respectively, filled
the Saddledome Monday night as 12,000 fans lost their minds.

Singer Serj Tankian led the band through a raging take of B.Y.O.B.,
from the Armenian-American band’s Mezmerize, which happened to be THE
album for the summer of 2005.

Nobody released a record as vibrant, as intense, or as
burned-into-your-brain infectious as Mezmerize. Even those typically
scared by the dizzying onslaught of thrash beats and shrieks could
not resist grooves as insanely catchy as the chorus of B.Y.O.B.

Opening with such power, System of a Down did not let up for the
remainder of the evening. Tankian led the band through Revenga next,
its lusty, gypsy refrain belonging to an Armenian circus tent as much
as to an arena rock show (but making the transition beautifully).

“We are here to feed all you starving rock ‘n’ roll children!”
declared Malakian, as his band proceeded to fulfil that promise with
one metallic morsel after another. Highlights included Needles with
its demented, Frank Zappa-esque rallying cry. This quirkiness
continued on the band’s scathing media-critique Violent Pornography.
Then there was the group’s slam on military machismo, Cigaro, first
delivered as a ballad, before the band launched into the thrash
attack heard on Mezmerize.

System also previewed a song from Hypnotize, the second act of
Mesmerize, which is set to hit stores in November. After the intro, a
few bars of Neil Young’s My My, Hey Hey, Malakian led the band
through the anthemic Kill Rock ‘n’ Roll.

Opening the show was The Mars Volta, an eight-piece prog-metal
jam-band from Texas that rose from the ashes of the acclaimed At The
Drive-In. A number of critics have declared this band brilliant,
which is the biggest crock you’ll ever read. Mars Volta’s sonic
blitzkrieg is ambitious to be sure, as drums thunder and guitar riffs
slither forth, like psychedelic beasts. The flutes and saxophones are
a nice touch, too. Singer Cedric Bixler has his moves down, wielding
his microphone stand like he’s warding off evil spirits.

It’s a shame about his high-pitched wail of a voice which is truly
grating.

It’s an even bigger shame that, instead of writing songs, the band
takes us on endless, jam-metal tangents. It’s about as pretentious as
it gets.

But no matter. System of a Down was the attraction and they made the
evening.

PERINCEK: SWITZERLAND IS BIASED ON ARMENIAN ISSUE

The Anatolian Times, Turkey
Sept 20 2005

SWISS POLICE WARNS PERINCEK NOT TO SPEAK ON ARMENIAN ISSUE

LAUSANNE – “Switzerland accused Turkey of committing genocide without
verifying historical facts and in a biased way,” Labor Party (IP)
leader Dogu Perincek said on Sunday.

Perincek took the floor at a conference on the issue of the so-called
Armenian genocide in Switzerland, where he arrived to give evidence
to Lausanne Prosecutor.

It was learned that prior to his arrival to the hall to address the
conference, Swiss Police warned Perincek not to deny the “so-called”
Armenian genocide. They told Perincek not to speak on so-called
Armenian genocide. The police also warned that in case Perincek speaks
on Armenian problem and in case this includes an element of crime,
this would be added to the ongoing investigation .

In July, Perincek was interrogated as he said that the so-called
Armenian genocide had never been happened. Lausanne Prosecutor’s
Office called on Perincek to come to the office on September 20th,
to interrogate him for a second time.

At the conference, Perincek called on Switzerland to make a serious
investigation about the Armenian issue. He said it was unjust to
declare a nation “committing genocide” without thoroughly examining
the events that had happened 90 years ago.

Perincek said Turks never committed genocide, on the contrary Armenians
–under the command of Russians– had committed genocide on Turks
who were trying to defend their country.

Swiss police covered Perincek’s speech and videotaped it to add it
to prosecutor’s investigation.

Perincek will hold a press conference in Zurich on Tuesday and give
his testimony in Lausanne Prosecutor’s Office on September 20th.

Perincek earlier had been detained in Winterthur city of Switzerland
as he said, “Armenian genocide is nothing but an international lie”
at a news conference, but he was released after being interrogated.

A legal procedure was also opened in Switzerland against Prof. Dr.

Yusuf Halacoglu, the Chairman of the Turkish Historical Society,
because of his statement refuting the so-called Armenian genocide
allegations.

SPEECH OF ALIYEV RE ARMY BUILDING IN AZERBAIJAN

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Sept 16 2005

This meeting is dealing with the process of army building in
Azerbaijan. Today we are going to exchange views on the work done in
this sphere, tasks we have to solve and steps we have to take. In
all, the process of building disciplined army in Azerbaijan is
progressing rapidly and quite successfully. This process assumed a
system character after national leader of our people Heydar Aliyev
returned to power. Azerbaijan is living in a state of war, and our
lands are under occupation. This requires particular attention, and
as a Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the, I am engaged in these issues
every day as they are the most important to us. Azerbaijan should
restore its territorial integrity. We are exerting our efforts to
resolve the conflict peacefully, through negotiations. As you know,
however, no result has been achieved for many years of negotiations.

In all, finding fair solution to the conflict is possible, and I
am sure will do achieve this. The international law norms are on
Azerbaijan ‘s side, Nagorno-Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan,
and our territorial integrity is recognized and supported by the
global community. The historical justice is on our side also.

It is no secret, the Armenians appeared in Nagorno-Karabakh in 1828,
and I remember a monument to 150th anniversary of the Armenian’s
settling here was erected in 1978. True, the Armenian separatists
destroyed the monument after they occupied the region, but this is
history, and everybody knows that. In other words, Nagorno-Karabakh
is an integral part of Azerbaijan from both legal and historical
standpoints.

Over the last years, Azerbaijan has achieved economic superiority
as well. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, economic situation
was the same in both countries. Azerbaijan, however, has made a great
progress. There was a drastic growth in the state budget in 2004-2005,
and Azerbaijan’s superiority will even increase considering the
country’s promising prospects.

Besides, four UN SC resolutions demanding unconditional release of
the occupied territories from Armenian armed forces is in force.

Recently, the issue has been included once again in the UN GA agenda.

This is our great diplomatic success. Upon our request, the
Organization of Cooperation and Security in Europe immediately
engaged in the issue sent a fact-finding mission to the region. The
mission’s final report confirms illegal settling of thousands
of ethnic Armenians in the occupied territories. This indicates
Armenian utterly ignores the demands of the international community,
and the international law norms. In January this year, the Council
of Europe adopted unambiguous and very fair resolution on the
problem. It is to the effect that Armenian unleashed an aggression
against Azerbaijan, occupied its territories and carried out ethnic
cleansing resulted in over million of Azerbaijanis becoming refugee
and internally displaced. The Organization of Islamic Conference
renders had always supported Azerbaijan’s position. Members of GUAM,
the organization playing an important role in regional politics –
I am sure this role will increase – also unambiguously called for
respect to territorial integrity of countries. In other words, all
the international organizations overtly expressed their positions on
the problem. Of course, we will try the issue remain in the agenda,
but we have to confess the proposals and resources of the international
organizations concerning the problem are being exhausted.

The OSCE Minsk group has recently intensified its activity. We can
see their visits to the region and negotiations, new approaches –
this is a positive fact. I also believe the continuation of the
Prague process is also very positive one. I hope the Prague process
will go on. Both countries, Armenian and Azerbaijan are involved in
this process. As I repeatedly noted, the Prague process implies a
step-by-step solution. However, solution to the problem has not been
found. What should Azerbaijan resort to in this case? Azerbaijan has
been pursuing its peacekeeping policy for years, but the problem is
not settled. That is why the question of reinforcing of our military
potential is quite natural. First Azerbaijan is a country in a state
of war. Our lands are under occupation. This is our #1 problem, and our
#1 task is to strengthen our country’s military potential. On the other
hand, our economic potential is strengthened due to successful economic
reforms being implemented in Azerbaijan. Our budget is rapidly growing
and expected to exceed $3 bln 500 mln next year. This entails increase
in military spending: $175 mln in 2004, $300 mln in 2005 and $600 mln
in 2006, and this is not the limit. As you know, I have set the task:
our military budget should reach the whole budget of Armenia, or even
exceed it. We will do achieve it. It concerns Armenia and several
international organizations. There are many things that troubling us
also, including Russia’s moving its bases from Georgia to Armenia, and
military exercises in Armenia. That is why we will take adequate steps.

I would like to touch on one more issue. The world Armenian lobby,
its patrons and politicians from several countries are acting to prove
that democratic development and protection of human rights allegedly
takes place in Nagorno-Karabakh, not in Azerbaijan.

Firstly, Azerbaijan is a country with intensively developing
democracy. Everybody recognizes that, secondly, the Nagorno-Karabakh
regime is an illegal structure. It is not recognized by anyone. The
hypocrite politicians ignore that it is the area of cultivation and
illegal trafficking of drugs, deployment of terrorist organizations
and violation of human rights. We cannot put up with this erroneous,
dangerous and unjust thesis.

Recently Armenian officials made statements against the realization of
a new project in the region, the construction of a railway to connect
Azerbaijan and Turkey through Georgia. They stated Azerbaijan did
not have a moral right to fund the Kars-Tbilisi0-Baku railway.

Very funny statement. Firstly, it is our own business, secondly,
it is a n international regional project now involving Georgia and
Turkey, and later the Central Asian countries. We will do that,
and no Armenian lobby will be able to prevent us from that.

We do have a moral right to liberate our lands from the occupation
forces, and we will do so. We are pursuing an independent policy. We
rest on the good will of the Azerbaijani people. We will do strengthen
our both economic and military potential, our army and patriotic
spirit within society, and we finally achieve our goal.

SECURITY FORCES MENTIONED IN BEIRUT’S EXPLOSIONS

Arabic News
Sept 18 2005

Lebanon-Syria, Politics, 9/17/2005

Lebanese parliamentarians on Saturday loomed to the responsibility of
the Lebanese security forces which worked during the Syrian presence
period for the al-Ashrafeyah explosions which took place on Friday
evening and killed one person and injured other 22.

Beirut’s parliamentarian Atef Majdalani, who belongs to al-Mustaqbal
( future) parliamentary bloc which is led by Saad al-Hariri, said
that this explosion is “part of the coward terrorist series which
will not stop before the discovering of the reality in the operation
of assassinating the former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri.”

For his part, Tripoli parliamentarian and member of the parliamentary
majority Elias Atta Allah said that even though former security
leaders are in prison, their security departments are still active.

Worthy mentioning that four leaders of the Lebanese security forces
close to Syria were arrested two weeks ago after they were accused
of being involved in the assassination of al-Hariri on February 14.

Al-Ashrafeyah explosion took place after the lifting of the banking
secrecy from the accounts of 8 Syrian and Lebanese figures suspected
to be involved in the assassination, at the request of the UN
investigating committee.

The Christian part of Beirut has witnessed 11 explosions since the
assassination of Hariri. Two of these explosions claimed the life of
the Lebanese journalist Samir al-Qasir and the leader of the former
Lebanese communist party George Hawi, opposers of the Syrian existence
in Lebanon.

The Lebanese security sources said the explosion resulted from a bomb
of 10 to 20 kg weight, adding that it was implanted under stairway
of a building rather than inside or under a car as stated earlier.

The explosions which took place near a branch for the Lebanese
Bablous Bank in al-J’eitawi suburb in al-Ashrafeyag area of a
Christian majority.

The explosion resulted in the collapse of the facade of one building
and destruction of its balconies, adding that the Lebanese security
forces cordoned the site of the explosion.

Lebanese security and medical sources said that the explosion resulted
in killing one elderly man (Armenian) and injuring of 22 persons one
of them is in a critical condition.

The explosion also resulted in setting fire in three cars which were
stationed near the site of the explosion and damages were inflected
in the nearby buildings.

Naxcivan, Karabakh attributed to Armenia by mistake – US envoy to
Azerbaijan

ANS TV, Baku
14 Sep 05

We regret that [the Azerbaijani exclave of] Naxcivan and the occupied
territories have been presented as Armenian land on the official
website of the US embassy in Yerevan, Tahir Tagizada, head of the
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s press service, has said.

Tagizada said Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, who is
currently on a visit to the USA, will be informed about this after his
return and the issue will be discussed with the US side.

The US ambassador to Azerbaijan, Reno Harnish, has said that the
website’s description of Naxcivan and Nagornyy Karabakh as Armenian
land was just a mistake.

[Passage omitted: Harnish comments on exit polls to be held in Azerbaijan]

OSCE HOLDS HUMAN RIGHTS TRAINING FOR LAW ENFORCERS

Civil Georgia, Georgia
Sept 13 2005

Twenty law enforcement officials in Samtskhe-Javakheti started a
three-day OSCE course on international standards for human rights
protection, including the rights of ethnic minorities, the OSCE
Mission to Georgia reported on September 12.

The training course aims at improving the capacity of judges,
prosecutors, lawyers and police officers in the region, which is
mainly populated by ethnic Armenians.

Experts from various Georgian NGOs and the Public Defender’s Office
are presenting the course, which also focuses on combating torture
and ill-treatment.

PresseMesse, Buchclub, Orhan Pamuk

_ php?id=94857&template=b2_tpl_home_detail_
( =94857&template=b2_tpl_home_detail)

12.09.200 5

Parallel zur Frankfurter Buchmesse findet in diesem Jahr erstmals
die PresseMesse statt. Der “Kontakter” hat nachgefragt, welcher Ruf
der Gemeinschaftsschau in der Branche vorauseilt.

“Ein Blick auf die Referentenliste zeigt, dass hier nicht
die Geschaftsfuhrer der großen deutschen Verlage auf der
Buhne stehen. … Holger Busch, Geschaftsfuhrer Marketing und
Anzeigen im VDZ erklart: ‘Fur Publikumszeitschriften ist jeder Tag
Messetag.’ Interessierte Leser brauche man nicht unbedingt auf der
Buchmesse zu suchen. Schließlich seien Zeitschriftensortimente an
jedem Bahnhofkiosk einsehbar. Interessant sei die Veranstaltung eher
fur Herausgeber von Fachzeitschriften, meint Busch. … Sabine Voss,
Leiterin des Berliner Buros der Deutschen Fachpresse, beurteilt
die Situation zunachst ahnlich. Allerdings glaubt sie, dass die
PresseMesse in einigen Jahren fur alle Special-Interest-Anbieter
eine Chance darstellen kann – nicht nur fur diejenigen, die ihre
Magazine ausschließlich uber Abonnements verkaufen. Es werde etwas
Zeit brauchen, meint Voss, bis sich die PresseMesse etabliert.”

Die Marketing-Offensive des Bertelsmann-Buchclubs ist Thema im
“Handelsblatt”:

“Nun soll der Verlustbringer mit einer Fokussierung auf das
Buchgeschaft und neueren Laden aus den roten Zahlen kommen. Von den
300 Laden in Deutschland sind aber nur 80 renoviert. ‘Der Club galt
lange als Nachspieltheater’, sagt Clubchef Marc-Oliver Sommer. Kunftig
will er stattdessen exklusive Bucher verlegen wie zum Beispiel eine
aufwendige Neuausgabe von Dantes ‘Gottlicher Komodie’ mit Bildern
des spanischen Malers Miguel Barcelo. Den Billigheimer wollen die
Bertelsheimer nicht mehr machen. ‘Wir sind kein Discounter und werden
auch nie einer sein’, sagt Sommer.”

Es sei kein Zufall, dass der Friedenspreistrager Orhan Pamuk ebenso
wie sein Vorganger, der 1997 mit demselben Preis ausgezeichnete
Yasar Kemal, mit der Justiz zu tun bekommt, meint die “Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung”.

“Das macht sozusagen den Ehrentitel turkischer Autoren aus, dass
sie seit den Tagen des Tanzimat, der Reformen in der zweiten Halfte
des 19. Jahrhunderts, immer wieder mit Verbannung, Gefangnis oder
juristischen Nachstellungen zu rechnen haben. Pamuk hatte die
Armenier-Massaker beim Namen genannt und die ungloste Kurdenfrage
in einer Art und Weise angesprochen, die dem Staatsanwalt mißfiel.
Zuvor hatte es schon ein Kesseltreiben gegen den Autor wegen seiner
Äußerungen gegeben; er spielt namlich so gar nicht die nationale Leier,
deren Tone man noch immer gerne hort in der Turkei.”

–Boundary_(ID_hli3WezMttKCAnWK4+R4HA)–

ARMENIANS GATHER TO DISCUSS PAST AND PRESENT (HAIGAZIAN UNIVERSITY)
By Jessy Chahine

The Daily Star – Lebanon
Sept 13 2005

Daily Star staff
Tuesday, September 13, 2005

BEIRUT: In a three-day conference entitled “The Armenians of Lebanon:
Their Past and Present,” a number of experts from various countries
gathered yesterday at Haigazian University to discuss aspects of the
current status of an influential yet minority group in the country.

Starting on Monday, 16 papers will be presented by scholars coming from
Canada, the U.S., France, Argentina, Egypt, Syria, Armenia, Germany,
Italy and of course, Lebanon in the presence of a number of invitees
from the academic community in Lebanon, both Armenian and non-Armenian.

In his welcome speech, Dr. Paul Haidostian, the president of Haigazian
University, said: “It was recognized that despite the undisputedly
important role that the Armenian community plays both within Lebanon
and the rest of the Diaspora, its history, culture and other aspects of
its community life have not been studied adequately to date according
to internationally accepted scientific standards.”

Among the topics that will be covered during the conferences will be
the political, socio-economic history of the community within both
the Lebanese and pan-Armenian contexts, the aspects of the influx
and exodus of Armenians to and from Lebanon, the Armenian identity,
literature, music, and contemporary concerns of the community.

A doctor in Human Geography, Aida Boudjikanian, the opening session’s
keynote speaker, held a lecture showing the different roles and
functions that Lebanon has held for Armenians spanning four centuries.

“The significance lies not only in their variety but in their
length and continuity or succession in time. In the 19th century,”
Boudjikanian said. “For Lebanese Armenians, Lebanon will always
represent, in my opinion, the country of consensual co-existence,
a social and political model,” she said, explaining that “all the
leaders, civil and religious, commonly share the advocacy for the
success of this experience and the success of the State of Lebanon.”

“For the Armenian Diaspora, Lebanon represents a land of reference and
history, a land of cultural heritage. Every summer, groups of young
Armenians coming back from around the world gather in Lebanon to delve
back into their culture, to learn and practice their ancestral language
and visit the country,” Boudjikanian said. The last statistics in
Lebanon date back to 1975 and place the community at 186,000 Armenians
in Lebanon, according to Boudjikanian, who gathered the data.