Author: Tumanian Talar

PRESS RELEASE
Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
138 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
Tel: 212-689-7810
Fax: 212-689-7168
e-mail: [email protected]
Website:
Contact: Iris Papazian

July 26, 2006

FIVE STUDENTS ARE GRADUATED FROM SIAMANTO ACADEMY

NEW YORK, NY-"When I was attending Siamanto Academy many moons ago, I was
told by many people how important my education from Siamanto was for me and
my future. At the time of my graduation, I remember wondering where my
Armenian education would fit in the grand scheme of things and what
significance it would have in the years to come. Over time, I came to
realize that the well-intentioned people were right. I see that Siamanto had
done more than teach me the Armenian language, history and faith. It had
provided me with an Armenian identity that I have carried with me at every
stage of my life."
Tamar Harutunian, Esq., a Siamanto Academy graduate, began her message
to the 2006 Siamanto Academy graduates with those words providing an
eloquent beginning to the commencement exercises that took place on June 24
at the Armenian Center in Woodside, New York. The graduates of 2006 are:
Tamar Samuelian, Shogher Baronian, Mesak Sarkissian, Chris Biramian and
Vatche Asadourian. Mrs. Ani Nercessian, principal of the Academy, opened the
program and invited Rev. Fr. Mesrob Lakissian, pastor of St. Illuminator’s
Cathedral, New York, to offer the invocation.
The keynote speaker continued her inspiring words directed at the
graduates and their families: "You see, our Armenian schools provide us with
an education that we cannot find at any other institution. There we learn
about a people who have persevered throughout centuries of struggle and have
found the will to survive by teaching future generations in their homes and
schools. By attending Siamanto you learned about the people to whom you
belong, and thus you have learned quite a bit about yourselves. As you go on
to the next phase of your lives, such as college, take this knowledge with
you and let it provide you with a sense of belonging to the Armenian family
you have found here. Also, remember that like any family, this family needs
your love, care, and support. It falls upon each of us to continue to
support our Armenian schools so that the coming generations may also learn
about themselves and the Armenian identity will continue to be preserved.
Congratulations to all and best of luck."
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the
Siamanto Academy, under the sponsorship of the Armenian National Education
Committee (ANEC). A three-year, weekly, comprehensive course of study in
Armenian language, literature, Christian studies, history and culture,
entitles students to college credit recommendations.
Following Ms. Harutunian’s speech, each of the graduates gave a brief
message about their years at the Academy. Their fond memories focused on the
cultural knowledge they acquired and the many friendships they forged. Their
statements were witty, eloquent and truthful, reflecting their appreciation
of their unique experiences. It was followed by a short program of
recitations and solo musical performances.
Mrs. Nayiri Balanian, chair of ANEC, congratulated the students and
said, "As our Lord Jesus Christ sent His apostles to spread the Good News,
baptize and spread Christianity, the Siamanto Academy tells its graduates to
go and remain good Armenians and spread love towards Armenia among all
Armenians, and also keep the memories of St. Gregory the Illuminator, Saints
Sahag and Mesrob, and other great Armenians, alive. Always remember the love
and care that you received at the Academy, take it with you, but remember
the responsibilities that you have as an educated Armenian."
Each of the graduates was presented with an ancient Armenian coin
donated by Mr. Gary Setian of Massachusetts, a copy of The Flames of Artsakh
by Peter Khanbegian and Meg, Yergou, Yerek, by Nayiri Balanian.
It was a special day for Rev. Fr. Mesrob Lakissian, because these
graduates began their study at the Academy when he was the principal of the
Academy. Der Hayr conveyed the congratulations and blessings of the Prelate,
Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan and the Vicar General, Bishop Anoushavan
Tanielian.
The Siamanto Academy is designed for high school students who are
graduates of Armenian schools. The Academy offers accredited, college-level
courses in Armenian studies. With an accomplished faculty of Christian
educators, literature professors, historians, and guest speakers who
specialize in various disciplines, the Siamanto Academy is a gateway to
higher cultural awareness, preparing students for effective leadership in
our community.
Armenian school graduates are invited to enroll in the Siamanto Academy,
which will resume classes in September. Send inquiries to
[email protected] or 212-689-7810.
The Armenian National Education Committee, the sponsor of the Siamanto
Academy, is under the sponsorship of the Armenian Relief Society (Eastern
US) and the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America.

ALREADY ORCHARDS BURN IN KARABAKH

Lragir.am
24 July 06

They have not seen such fires in Karabakh for ages. Wheat fields burn
or are set to fire every year, but this year’s rates are too high. The
reporter of the Lragir in Karabakh says wheat fields are burnt every
day. Experts say the reasons are both objective and subjective. First,
this summer is extremely hot and dry. They say, however, that this
summer they failed to make sufficient efforts to prevent fires.

Perhaps, the most realistic observation was made by the OSCE monitoring
group. Despite the claims of Azerbaijan, the observers said there
are no cases of arson. However, they said a more dangerous thing –
the Armenian side including the Karabakh side fail to make sufficient
efforts to prevent and extinguish fires. It means someone failed to
carry out their duties and save the country from fire. The damage is
great. Besides the wheat fields, orchards burnt as well. The reporter
of the Lragir saw the burnt orchards. If one fails to fulfill their
duties, they are punished, but not in our country where an official
is assessed by connections rather than performance.

URGENT FUNDS NEEDED FOR HEALTH FOR THE LEBANESE PEOPLE

AZG Armenian Daily #138, 25/07/2006

Urgent!

WHO appeals for US$ 32.4 million as part of UN appeal

Geneva – Today WHO is appealing for funds for the health of the people
of Lebanon, who require urgent and secure access to health care.

To date, the current conflict has resulted in more than1200 injured
and 346 killed. Several hundred thousand people have fled their homes,
including to neighbouring Syria. Insecurity in South Lebanon, the
destruction of bridges, roads and other infrastructure, and lack of
electricity are threatening people’s health.

The injured need access to equipped, safe and functioning
hospitals. Those who are displaced need access to clean water,
sanitation, immunization and other services. People who are chronically
ill, with diabetes or heart disease require continued access to their
life-saving medicines. Particularly vulnerable are the wounded, women
and children, the elderly and the chronically ill. Access to health
care, food, shelter, water and sanitation are all critical lifelines.

The WHO, on behalf of the partners working on health issues, is
requesting US$ 32.4 million to serve the health needs of 800,000 people
over the next three months. This includes joint actions and activities
with partners including UNICEF, UNFPA and UNRWA. For WHO-specific
activities, WHO is requesting almost US$ 14 million. This appeal is
part of the total United Nations’ Flash Appeal for Lebanon, which
seeks a total of US$ 150 million.

"As more people are displaced and as more infrastructure is destroyed,
the health needs will grow. International concern for the people caught
in this conflict is high. Funding from the international community for
health will save lives and reduce suffering," said Dr Ala’ Din Alwan,
the WHO Director-Generals’ Representative for Health Action in Crises.

WHO is leading the "health cluster"- the coordination body for health
action in this crisis, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health
(MoH). The funds will increase the health cluster support to the MoH
in tackling several vital areas of health:

– Coordinate the humanitarian response in the health sector;

– Assess the heath impact, damage to health infrastructure and
emergency needs of the health systems;

– Monitor the health threats and risks, including the enhancement of
the disease early warning surveillance and response systems;

– Address gaps in health services delivery and support in the
re-establishment of essential and emergency medical , public health
and environment health services;

– Establish mobile health care units and strengthen functional health
centres capable of delivering maternal and child health, reproductive
health, mental health services and chronic disease management;

– Urgent immunization services campaigns for internally displaced
people, and host communities if needed;

– Establishment and maintenance of vaccine storage and the vaccine
cold chain.

Current priorities are to ensure safe evacuation for the injured
to hospitals where their injuries may be treated. WHO is tracking
medicines and surgical supplies, and warns that it is difficult
to move these into the areas where they are needed. Safe water and
sanitation is also urgent for those who are displaced and living in
about 110 different public locations. To lower the risks of diarrhoeal
and other water-borne diseases, WHO with its partners is distributing
chlorine to disinfect water. WHO has also strengthened its presence in
the region by sending several experts. As many as 150 000 people are
thought to have crossed the border into Syria, WHO is set to assist
the Syrian authorities meet the health needs of these people too.

For more information, contact:

In Geneva: Fadela CHAIB, Communications Officer, telephone +41 22
791 3228, email [email protected]

In Cairo: Ibrahim KERDANY, Communications Officer for the WHO Regional
Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, telephone: +202 27 65037 mobile –
+ 20 10 6019087 email: [email protected]

Sacha BOOTSMA, Information and Communications Officer, telephone
(+20-10) 182 64 23, email: [email protected]

In Beirut: Altaf MUSANI: Regional Adviser for the WHO Regional Office
for the Eastern Mediterranean, mobile telephone: (+20-10) 258 58 22
email: [email protected].

ARMENIAN MEMORIAL PLANS OUTLINED

The Boston Globe
July 16, 2006 Sunday
THIRD EDITION

July 7. I’d like to make sure Globe readers understand some facts
about our plans for this important space.

The park is a gift from the Armenian-American community to the people
of Greater Boston, the Commonwealth, and all who visit here. We have
not and will not seek public funds for the design, construction,
or upkeep of the park.

Parcel 13 is roughly a half acre. The vast majority of this space
will be open lawn, trees, benches, and a labyrinth of inlaid stones.

The design includes a geometric sculpture on a 225-square-foot
reflecting ng pool. The sculpture would represent all immigrant groups
who have left their countries of origin and reestablished here in
new and different configurations.

We have also established a $500,000 endowment for an annual lecture
series at Faneuil Hall on human rights, in cooperation with the
Bostonian Society.

We loook forward to being a small part of the renaissance of Boston’s
waterfront and downtown made possible by the Central Artery Project.

JAMES M. KALUSTIAN PRESIDENT ARMENIAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION Arlington

Four presidents won’t take part in informal CIS summit in Moscow

Prime-Tass Business News Agency, Russia
Prime-Tass English-language Business Newswire
July 21, 2006 Friday 9:11 PM EET

Leaders from four countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS) are not expected to take part in the organization’s informal
summit taking place in Moscow Friday and Saturday.

Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko will not take part in the summit
because he has decided to stay home given the "political situation"
in Ukraine, Irina Gerashchenko, Yushchenko’s press secretary, said
Friday, ITAR-TASS reported.

Ukrainian politicians have so far failed to form a coalition government
and appoint the prime minister since the parliamentary election
in March.

Yushchenko plans to send Russian President Vladimir Putin a letter
explaining the reasons for his decision and assuring him that Ukraine
considers Russia a strategic partner, Gerashchenko said, adding that
the Ukrainian president would also invite Putin to visit Ukraine.

The press service of Armenia’s President Robert Kocharyan also said
Friday that Kocharyan would not take part in the summit because he
had come down with a cold, ITAR-TASS reported.

Additionally, the executive office of Georgia’s President Mikhail
Saakashvili also said Friday that Saakashvili had postponed his visit
to the summit, ITAR-TASS said. The executive office did not give a
reason for the postponement.

Merab Antadze, former Georgian deputy foreign minister who is slated
to be appointed conflict resolution minister as a result of the
cabinet’s dismissal on Monday, said Monday that Saakashvili’s visit
had been postponed because the summit’s schedule did not allow the
Russian and Georgian presidents to meet personally. However, they
are expected to meet in the near future, he said.

According to various Russian media reports, Turkmenistan’s President
Saparmurat Niyazov does not usually take part in CIS informal summits
and will not attend the current one as well.

Turkmenistan is an associate member of the CIS, while Ukraine, Armenia
and Georgia are full members. Turkmenistan withdrew from full CIS
membership in 2005.

Bulgarian nationalist chief ordered to cease discriminatory remarks

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
July 21, 2006 Friday 4:53 PM EST

DPA x Bulgaria Justice Bulgarian nationalist chief ordered to cease
discriminatory remarks Sofia A local court in Sofia ordered Friday
Volen Siderov, the chairman of the Bulgarian nationalist party Ataka
(Attack), to cease making discriminatory remarks.

Siderov’s remarks had exceeded "the measure of freedom of speech,"
the court said. The case, brought by an Armenian women, was based on
remarks made by Siderov about minorities.

Presently, Siderov faces seven other lawsuits for inciting
discrimination towards ethnic and sexual minorities.

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
—————————————— —-
PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
Government House # 2, Republic Square
Yerevan 0010, Republic of Armenia
Telephone: +37410. 544041 ext 202
Fax: +37410. 562543
Email: [email protected]

INFORM ATION FOR JOURNALISTS

17-07-2006

Minister Oskanian to Visit Bosnia and Herzegovina

On June 17, Minister Oskanian will depart for Sarajevo, where he will
meet with his counterpart Mladen Ivanic. A joint press conference will
follow the meeting. Later the same day, Minister Oskanian will leave
for Banja Luka to participate in the opening ceremony of the Davis
Cup Tennis Tournament where the Armenian national team will be playing.

On June 20, Minister Oskanian’s visit to the Common Institutions of
Bosnia and Herzegovina is scheduled, as well as meetings with Adnan
Terzic, Chairman of the Council of Ministers, representatives of the
Parliamentary Assembly, and the members of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Presidency.

Fires in NKR – Baku’s Awkward Attempt to Draw Veil over Aggression Act

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.07.2006 16:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "From the beginning of June 2006 the fires on
Nagorno Karabakh territory bordering with Azerbaijan have been taking
place. The situation is a subject of serious anxiety for Karabakh
authorities as it poses a threat for the security of the NKR and
its population," says the statement issued by the NKR Ministry of
Foreign Affairs.

"A special commission for studying circumstances and revealing reasons
of the inflammation was established in the NKR. Representatives
of ministries and departments responsible for security issues were
in the commission. For the purpose of localization the centers of
the inflammation and non-admission of fire spreading the subunits
of fire-prevention service and the NKR Department for Emergency
Situations, as well as the leadership of local administrations and
population were mobilized. A twenty-four-hour duty was organized in
all the communities with the object of averting emergency situations.

Nevertheless, the situation in these regions, which in connection
with the ongoing fires is becoming worse, is fraught with unfavorable
long-term consequences for agriculture and food security of the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic. The number and area of the fires of wheat fields
in the adjoining with Azerbaijan territories have sharply risen.

As a result of the work of the NKR special commission, the
incontestable data, indicating the fact that the reasons of the
fires were intentional hostile activities of Azerbaijani side,
were received. By these actions the official Baku pursues a goal to
undermine the economy of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and prevent from
advancing development. For screening its activities the authorities
of Azerbaijan from the very outset launched a wide-ranging propaganda
trying to lay the blame on Karabakh side both in local and foreign
mass media, which is a continuation of a propaganda and psychological
war against the people of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and is an
awkward attempt to draw a veil over the aggression act.

We would like to remind that as early as 2001 the leadership of the
Nagorno Karabakh Republic suggested through the OSCE Minsk Group
Co-Chairmen on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement a package of
steps on establishing confidence between the parties to the conflict,
in particular, cooperation on non-admission of ignition of pastures
and agricultural lands in the adjoining regions to Azerbaijani side.
Unfortunately, at that time the initiative of the official Stepanakert
was not supported in Baku and was not honored with proper attention by
the OSCE Minsk Group. Moreover, as early as June 15, 2006, the NKR
Ministry of Foreign Affairs addressed to the Office of the Personal
Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in Office with a request to conduct
a crisis-monitoring in the territory bordering with Azerbaijan to
estimate the real situation on the spot and disprove far-fetched
accusations of Azerbaijani side.

We would like to draw the attention of the international community
and, in particular, the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group to the
circumstance that if they do not to take measures concerning the
hostile activities of Azerbaijan the official Stepanakert will have
the right to undertake adequate corresponding activities for ensuring
security of the republic," the statement says.

EU warns Ankara over ruling

Turkish Daily News
July 13, 2006

The European Commission lamented on Wednesday a Turkish court ruling
against an ethnic Armenian journalist for "denigrating the Turkish
national identity," warning that the case could cloud Ankara’s
EU hopes.

Commenting on an appeal court ruling on Hrant Dink, EU Enlargement
Commissioner Olli Rehn called on the Turkish government to bolster
freedom of speech in the country.

"I am disappointed by this judgment which limits the exercise of
freedom of expression in Turkey," he said, following Tuesday’s court
ruling, the first such judgment based on Article 301 of Turkey’s new
Penal Code.

He noted that the ruling "will set the trend for lower jurisdiction
to follow when applying Article 301 in the future," adding: "This is
all the more serious since there are still a number of similar court
cases pending."

"I would therefore urge the Turkish authorities to amend Article 301
and other vaguely formulated articles in order to guarantee freedom
of expression in Turkey," he said.

He underlined that freedom of expression is a key principle of the
EU’s so-called Copenhagen political criteria, which Ankara must adhere
to if it one day wants to join the currently 25-nation bloc.

"In any case, the commission will review the situation in light of
the Copenhagen political criteria in its upcoming Progress Report,"
Rehn said, referring to an annual report on Ankara’s EU preparations
due in October.

Dink now faces the risk of going to prison if he commits a similar
offense over the next five years.

MULTIPLIER EFFECT MEETING AT THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE INFORMATION OFFICE

Lragir.am
13 July 06

To promote the public awareness about Council of Europe work in
the field of fight against trafficking in humans and establish a
partnership for distribution of relevant Council of Europe documents
and publications, the Council of Europe Information Office in Armenia
(IOCE) organised one of its traditional multiplier effect meetings
for the main NGOs active in anti-trafficking efforts in Armenia.

The meeting, which took place on 13 June, at IOCE library, was
organised within the frames of Council of Europe priority campaigns
for 2006 and brought together around 20 local NGO members as well
as representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and
UNDP. Special Representative of the Council of Europe Secretary General
Ms Bojana Urumova opened the event by focusing on the significance
of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking
in Human Beings. CoE expert Ms Gulnara Shahinyan elaborated more on
the work done in the Council of Europe towards preparation of the
Convention and explained to the participants the specific role and
mission of the Convention at the European level. IOCE Director Ms
Susan Marukhyan moderated discussions and answered questions regarding
Council of Europe information policy, anti-trafficking campaign and
other priority themes.

At the end of the meeting the participants had an opportunity to
watch a new documentary entitled "Not for Sale" produced by IOCE
in cooperation with Internews Media Support NGO. It was agreed to
continue cooperation within CoE anti-trafficking efforts.

Council of Europe Information Office in Armenia

Yerevan. 13.07.2006