Author: Toneyan Mark

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 60; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

October 8, 2004
___________________

HOLY CROSS CHURCH MARKS 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF CONSECRATION

On Sunday, September 19, 2004, the Holy Cross Church of Armenia in upper
Manhattan marked the 75th anniversary of its consecration.

To mark the occasion, the parish, which has about 90 active
parishioners, welcomed Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), who celebrated a
special Divine Liturgy, and held a banquet which brought out more than
200 people.

The historic church in upper Manhattan has seen its share of joys and
challenges. But the parishioners have always retained their devotion,
said the church’s pastor for the past three years, Archbishop Anania
Arabajyan.

“It is a very faithful parish. They’re strong believers and they help
keep the Armenian tradition alive,” he said. “They’re strongly
dedicated to the church and are always doing the work to keep it alive.”

HONORING THE STEWARD

One long-time parishioner at the Holy Cross Church was honored during
the anniversary celebration. Archbishop Barsamian presented the St.
Nersess Shnorhali Medal and a pontifical encyclical from His Holiness
Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, to Holy Cross parishioner
Deacon Krikor Anoushian.

“He is truly a devout and dedicated steward, not only of his parish but
of the Armenian Church in general,” the Primate said. “A tireless
worker, his passionate service has been an example for his fellow
parishioners.”

A parishioner at Holy Cross for more than three decades, Anoushian
currently serves as a deacon on the altar, is the parish council
treasurer, and a Diocesan delegate. He is also a leader of the Komitas
Choir.

“He is important to the life of our church,” Archbishop Arabajyan said.
“He is originally from Turkey, where the Armenians have the tradition of
being close to their parishes. He came here and brought his dedication
and faith with him to this church.”

— 10/08/04

E-mail photos available on request. Photos also viewable in the News
and Events section of the Eastern Diocese’s website,

PHOTO CAPTION (1): During a banquet marking the 75th anniversary of the
consecration of the Holy Cross Church of Armenia in Manhattan,
Archbishop Anania Arabajyan, parish pastor, congratulates Krikor
Anoushian after Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate, presented him with
the St. Nersess Shnorhali Medal and a pontifical encyclical from His
Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, on Sunday, September
19, 2004.

CHARITY UNDERTAKING FOR VAZGENASHEN

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
08 Oct 04

At the initiative of the public organization `Youth Centre’the youth
union ` GAKHEX’, Republic of Armenia, provided a large number of books
fromits library to the school of the village of Vazgenashen. Also a
certain number of books was provided by the scientific and educational
foundation `Noravank’. Several days ago the members of `Youth Centre’
and the expert of the department of relationships with public
organizations of the mentioned foundation Karen Avetissian visited
Vazgenashen to deliver the donation to the school. The other part of
the books will be delivered later. At the meeting in the study of the
director of the school the head of the community Andranik Babayan was
also present. The young people were interested to know about the
problems and development programs of the village at the same time
expressing their will to help them within their abilities. The
director of the school Mher Poghossian and the head of the community
thanked the youth organizations. It should be mentioned that this is
not the first undertaking of the `Youth Centreâ=80=9D. Several months
ago the organization acquired clothes and shoes and provided to the
resettlers of the village. The chairman of the centre Lousine
Grigorian assured that the process will be continuous. The
organization also delivered a souvenir and sports equipment to the
school.

LAURA GRIGORIAN.
08-10-2004

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
Oct 7 2004

AZERBAIJAN PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV AND PRESIDENT OF BULGARIA GEORGI
PARVANOV MEET IN PRIVATE
[October 07, 2004, 13:54:05]

Following the official welcoming ceremony, President of the Republic
of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of Bulgaria
Georgi Parvanov have held a one-on-one meeting at the Presidential
Palace.

The Azerbaijani leader pointed out the importance of the Bulgarian
President’s visit and expressed confidence that it would give a
powerful impetus to development of political, economic and
humanitarian relations between the two countries. He appreciated the
OSCE-presiding Bulgaria’s effort to settle the Armenia-Azerbaijan
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, and expressed hope for its
intensification in the future.

President Georgi Parvanov pointed to existence of a huge potential
for development of the bilateral relations, and expressed a desire
for close cooperation with Azerbaijan in process of integration into
Europe.

The parties also exchanged views on a number of other issues of
mutual interest.

People remain in limbo a month after Russia closed border with Georgia – TV

NTV, Moscow
6 Oct 04

[Presenter] Hundreds of people have been caught between two
states. Russia announced the closure of its border for people crossing
from Georgia. Tbilisi promised to solve the problem quickly. But
passengers on scheduled buses and lorry drivers have been living in
their vehicles for over a month.

Here reporting from the so-called neutral territory is Nugzar
Kereselidze.

[Correspondent] In the Dariali Gorge on the Georgian military road 50
lorries and buses have been caught in a stubborn trap. Having passed
through the Lars border crossing in Georgia they did not manage to get
across the so-called neutral zone of a sector of the Russian-Georgian
border under review when Russia closed its frontier. The official
reason for the closure of the border was the Beslan tragedy, and the
necessity to apprehend all the people involved in the terrorist
attack. The closure was made unexpectedly in the course of a few
hours. For this reason hundreds of vehicles piled up on both sides. In
the course of the next few days their number even increased, partly
because the Georgian authorities gave a promise, as is said, to come
to an agreement about opening the border. However, a month later
passengers from Armenia are living in buses. There are many women and
children among them.

[Unidentified woman] People have been here for a month and two
days. They are living or surviving. It’s worse than survival. There
are children, sick people and old people. And the older people are
suffering. In the evening it’s cold. Really cold.

[Correspondent] When the passengers ran out of the food they had
brought with them the drivers came to their aid with food that was
beginning to go off. What had actually gone bad was thrown into the
river Terek. A businessman from Yerevan, (?Artur Bagasyan), had to get
rid of 30 tonnes of peaches.

Several vehicles from Azerbaijan, Belarus and other countries turned
round and went to Russia through South Ossetia using the Roki tunnel
where the border had not been closed. This caused bewilderment in
Tbilisi.

[Korneli Salia, chief of headquarters at the Georgian Department of
State Border Protection, captioned] Russia did not close this sector,
which we don’t understand. It turns out that Russian official bodies
support the separatists prospering in South Ossetia.

[Correspondent] More and more freight has now started passing into
Russia through South Ossetia, despite the fact that a lot of money has
to be paid for escorts and security. But businessmen have no
choice. They agree to pay more rather than lose everything.

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
375010 Telephone: +3741. 544041 ext 202
Fax: +3741. .562543
Email: [email protected]:

PRESS RELEASE

5 October 2004

Minister Oskanian Meets Finland’s Erkki Tuomioja

On 5 October, Foreign Minister Oskanian received Finland’s Foreign Minister
Erkki Tuomioja, who is on a regional visit to countries of the South
Caucasus.

The parties exchanged views on bilateral relations and international issues
of common interest. They stressed the importance of integration of South
Caucasus countries into the EU New Neighborhood program. Concerning this
issue, Minister Oskanian briefed Finland’s Foreign Minister on a recent
EU-Armenia cooperation council meeting in Brussels and agreements reached in
its framework.

In the context of European integration, the parties discussed the progress
and drawbacks of democratic reform in Armenia.

The parties also reflected on regional issues. Armenia’s Foreign Minister
offered a briefing on the current status of Nagorno Karabagh conflict
settlement and Armenia’s position on the issue.

The parties also discussed prospects of normalizing Armenia – Turkey
relations and stressed the importance of EU’s positive contribution to this
end.

At the end of the meeting, Minister Oskanian expressed his deep appreciation
for Minister Tuomioja’s visit both in the context of European dimension of
Armenia’s foreign policy and in terms of development of bilateral political
and economic relations.

After the meeting, Armenia’s and Finland’s Foreign Ministers signed an
Agreement between the Governments of the two countries on the Promotion and
Protection of Investments.

Prior to the signing ceremony, Finland’s Foreign Minister visited
Tzitzernakaberd Genocide memorial.

ARTSAKH IS PRICELESS

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
28 Sept 04

Recently OSCE cochairman Stephen Mann has stated that the meeting
of the mediators with the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in
Astana were aimed to reveal the presence of political will in the
two leaders. The American cochairman expressed the opinion that
regional development passes by Armenia. Pipelines, roads, railways
are built, and Armenia misses the chance of benefiting from the
economic integration in the entire region. As it would be expected
the reaction to the statement of Mr. Mann did not wait long. On the
same day foreign minister of Armenia Vardan Oskanian gave a press
conference and announced that Armenia cannot be frightened or worried
by stating that Armenia remains outside the implementation of oil
and gas and transport projects. According to the foreign minister
of Armenia, we have proved to the world that without railways and
pipelines Armenia is able to not only survive but even develop going
on to in the next hundred years as well. And to connect the question
of status of Nagorni Karabakh to some oil or gas pipeline and turn it
into an object of trade is simply impossible for, as Vardan Oskanian
emphasized, “Nagorni Karabakh is priceless and is not an object to
be sold, therefore we do not accept the argument that by defending
its interest the Armenian side loses the opportunity to take part in
large regional programs.” In reference to the construction of the
railway, the Georgian-Turkish agreement and other projects passing
by Armenia the foreign minister thinks that it is a mistake. “Whoever
connects these questions to the problem of Nagorni Karabakh, I state
that there can be no relation between these as Artsakh is priceless,”
said Mr. Oskanian. Making use of the meeting with the representatives
of the mass media, the foreign minister of Armenia also summed
up the results of the four meetings of the foreign ministers of
Armenia and Azerbaijan. Although presenting details of procedure
rather than content, he informed that the preliminary stage of the
process of talks was concluded by the Kocharian-Aliev meeting in
Astana and the four meetings of the foreign ministers in Prague. Now
the negotiation parties have taken a so-called “time out” to think
for a while and then enter the second round of negotiations between
the foreign ministers. According to Mr. Oskanian, the second round
will be on a higher level in terms of quality and will be closer to
the settlement of the problem than the first one. “At the beginning
of the second round the presidents will say what they will do on the
content basis of the talks between the foreign ministers. Those might
be changed, accepted or refused.” During the press conference the
former PACE reporter Terry Davis report on Karabakh was also touched
upon. Mr. Oskanian characterized the report as unacceptable because
it reflected the personal position of the reporter. “It is the opinion
of one person and is a subjective opinion; it is not possible to agree
with it as the picture is not presented truly,” said Vardan Oskanian.
Although the new reporter, British member of parliament David Atkinson
is not of better disposition towards Armenia and Artsakh judging by,
according to Vardan Oskanian, his numerous statements made before
his appointment, Vardan Oskanian, nevertheless, hopes that the new
reporter will be maximally unbiased in preparing his report. Of course,
the Armenian party should contribute to this directly. “Therefore it
is necessary to try to explain, present the situation as objectively
as possible in order for the report not to affect the process of
negotiations. Today this is our problem,” announced Vardan Oskanian.

CHRISTINE MNATSAKANIAN. 28-09-2004

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 23 2004

S Caucasus PA not to be set up unless Upper Garabagh conflict is
settled, says Vice Speaker

Baku, September 22, AssA-Irada
Vice Speaker of the Milli Majlis (parliament) Ziyafat Asgarov
received Denis Sammit, executive director of the London Information
Network on State Building and Conflicts, on Wednesday.
Asgarov said that he has been informed about the proposal made by the
Network to establish the Parliamentary Assembly of South Caucasus
countries.
Noting that this is impossible unless the Upper Garabagh conflict is
settled, the Vice Speaker directly blamed the leadership of Armenia
for failure to solve the conflict. `How can we set up a Parliamentary
Assembly together with a terrorist state?’, underscored Asgarov,
stating that no relations will be established between Azerbaijan and
Armenia until the conflict is settled. Sammit, in turn, said that
there is a very complicated situation in South Caucasus due to
ongoing conflicts. Stating that he understands well international
organizations’ failure to settle the conflict, Sammit advised the
governments of the two conflicting sides to make joint efforts with
international organizations and NGOs in this respect.*

EU to follow authorities-opposition dialogue

AzerNews
23 Sept 04

The European Union is ready to cooperate with Azerbaijan within the
European Neighborhood Policy both in the political and economic
fields, the European Commission (EC) President Romano Prodi told a
press conference following his meetings with Azeri

government officials in Baku on Friday. Prodi visited Baku as part of
his tour of the South Caucasus region on September 16-17. The EC
President saidhe discussed the next steps following the EU’s recent
decision to include Azerbaijan in the program with President Aliyev,
Prime Minister Rasizada, Parliament Speaker Alasgarov and Caucasus
Clerical Leader, Sheikh Pashazada.

“We would like to see the benefit of extended Europe both for
ourselves and the “new neighbors.” Prodi noted that Azerbaijan will
“experience the advantage of entering the European Union’s 500
million-people market”. He added that implementation of the mentioned
policy is possible not exclusively for any country in the region but
only for all regional countries. “The EU has expressed a very clear
and firm position: by the “new neighborhood policy” we imply all the
three regional states – Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia.”

Progress

The European Commission President Prodi said with regard to democratic
reform ongoing in Azerbaijan that the European Union believes that the
country has achieved considerable progress in this area. “We openly
state that important progress has been achieved in Azerbaijan in the
area of democracy and it needs to be further developed.” Prodi said
that in his meeting with President Ilham Aliyev “a full range of
issues on freedoms, democratic development and transparency of
elections was discussed”. “Our position is unequivocal and clear:
these are our priorities, which are very important, as the EU is based
on them”, the EC President said. He said the EU will follow the
relations between the authorities and the opposition in
Azerbaijan. “There is no democracy without opposition and the EU will
definitely keep in spotlight the relations between the authorities and
opposition and trends for their getting closer.”

Prodi underlined, however, that “in all South Caucasus countries, we
(European Union) did not fully agree with the results of elections,
which raised our concerns from various standpoints”. Touching upon the
Upper Garabagh conflict settlement, he said the European Union
supports a dialogue between the Presidents and Foreign Ministers of
Azerbaijan and Armenia. However, the EUhas no plans to interfere with
the negotiations. Nonetheless, the EU is ready to assist in
establishing peace and providing assistance to refugees if the
conflicting sides reach an agreement.

EC offers assistance

The EC President Prodi said in a meeting with teachers and students of
the Baku State University on Friday that conflicts in the Caucasus are
unacceptable. Prodi stated that resolution of the Upper Garabagh
conflict depends on the conflicting sides. He said he supports the
peaceful settlement and that such conflicts have also arisen among the
European Union member-states in the past and were resolved within the
framework of economic reforms. In a meeting with Prodi on the same
day, Sheikhulislam Allahshukur Pashazada said that Armenia tried to
misinform the international community that its conflict with
Azerbaijan started on a religious basis. Pashazada pointed put that
this was not true and said the fact that Azerbaijanis are not willing
to live side by side with Armenians is the latter’s delusion. “25,000
Armenians are living in Azerbaijan today. However, there is not a
single Azerbaijani living in Armenia,” Pashazada stressed. Prodi said
that his visit to Baku aimed to put forward new proposals on
cooperation and pointed out that not only economic and but also
political relations between the EU and Azerbaijan will expand. “The
European community is open to your community. The involvement of
religion in this dialogue is therefore necessary,” Prodi said and
added that the EC could assist in solving conflicts in the region.

INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC SUPPORTS FAIR POSITION OF AZERBAIJAN

AzerTag
September 22, 2004

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Republic Elmar Mammadyarov
has met with the special envoy of the OSCE Acting Chairman on
Azerbaijan and Armenia Phillip Dimitrov, responsible representative of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria on Caucasian questions
Dimiter Dimitrov and the special representative of the working
chairman of OSCE Andzey Kaspshik.

As was informed to AzerTAj from the press center of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, the visitors, having conveyed greetings of the Acting
Chairman of OSCE, Solomon Passi, have expressed confidence of
rendering assistance to achievement of the certain motions in the
field of peace settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh
conflict.

Warmly greeting the guests, Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmar
Mammadyarov has noted value of the visit of Phillip Dimitrov in our
country. Having estimated the negotiations carried out in Prague on
settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh conflict as
satisfactory, The Minister has especially noted importance of
acceleration of process of negotiations after the meetings, which have
been carried out by presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Astana.
The head of foreign policy department has emphasized his trust not
only local, but also the international public renders positive
influence on settlement of the conflict on the basis of norms and
principles of international law.

The parties also have exchange of views on some other questions
representing mutual interest.

US mediator says time ripe for Karabakh peace talks

Ekho, Baku
22 Sep 04

An interview with the US co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Steven
Mann, was published on the web page of the BBC Russian Service
yesterday [21 September].

[Correspondent] At what stage is the Karabakh peace process now?

[Mann] We, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, have held four rounds of
talks to study the problem only to answer this question and understand
what stage it is at. There is a new leadership in Azerbaijan now, and
the Armenian leaders are already in power for the second term. This
means that politically both sides are living through the period of
more stability now than in the past few years. That is we have an
opportunity to resume the study of the problem.

[Correspondent] Do you think that there is a good opportunity for
negotiations?

[Mann] There are all objective opportunities for this. To be frank, as
there was a season of elections in Armenia, one could not hope for a
serious breakthrough in the peace talks. The case was the same during
the transition of power in Azerbaijan. All this is left behind
now. There are all opportunities, if the two capitals have the
political will, of course.

[Correspondent] Do Baku and Yerevan have the political will?

[Mann] We are trying to assess this. Our talks in Astana were aimed at
this. This will be discussed with the OSCE Minsk Group as well. We
tell both governments that the time is not on your side. It will get
worse both for Armenia and Azerbaijan.

[Passage omitted: reported details of the conflict’s impact on
Azerbaijan and Armenia covered from Azad Azarbaycan TV on 21 September
2004]

The sides should pass through the negotiating process and find a
solution which the two sides will agree on.

For this, leaders of all parties from both countries should promote
the idea of dialogue. I am convinced that this meets the strategic
interests of both sides. From the practical viewpoint, these steps
will have to be taken if the governments are really interested in
establishing peace and putting an end to this humanitarian, social and
economic tragedy.

[Correspondent] What are the sides to the conflict expecting from the
Minsk Group?

[Mann] You should ask the sides to the conflict to answer this
question. The Minsk Group’s mandate is not to reach a solution and
impose it on the sides. The mandate is not to be a judge between
Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Our mandate implies creating an atmosphere in which the two sides
could hold serious peace talks. The Minsk Group’s mandate is also to
adopt together with the sides a decision acceptable for all. We cannot
do anything else. Responsibility for the conflict resolution rests
with Armenia and Azerbaijan. This is a fundamental issue. Of course,
the governments of the co-chairing countries of the Minsk Group – the
USA, Russia and France – are sincerely interested in the resolution of
the conflict and we will do our best to support the sides’ decision.