Author: Virabian Jhanna

PRESS RELEASE

FEDERATION OF ARMENIAN ORGANISATIONS IN THE NETHERLANDS (FAON)
24 April Committee
Weesperstraat 91
NL – 2574 VS The Hague
Contact: M. Hakhverdian
Tel. 070 4490209
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

PRESS RELEASE

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE COMMEMORATION CONCERT

ARMENIAN FEDERATION: Recognition of Genocide is necessary for the
security of Armenians

WIM KORTENOEVEN (CIDI): Israeli position in relation to the Armenian
Genocide is incorrect

Leiden, 17 April 2005 – During the well attended commemoration concert
on 17 April in the Pieterskerk Church in Leiden on the occasion
of the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the Federation
of Armenian Organisations in the Netherlands (FAON) called upon the
international community, and specially Turkey to recognise the Armenian
Genocide. This in the first place to guarantee the security of the
Armenians. The Genocide cost the lives of 1.5 million Armenians. Also
other Christian minorities such as thousands of Assyrians were victims
of the atrocities by the Young Turk regime during the WO I. The
Armenian genocide is still a hot item because of the Turkish denial.

These days the necessity of recognition of the past by Turkey is
often discussed within the framework of Turkey¹s ambition to become
a member of the European Union, but one must never forget why this
recognition is in the first instance necessary. That is to prevent
the recurrence. As long as in Turkey the history is not accepted,
the danger remains that it will again lead to tragedies.

Recognition and commemoration were main issues of this impressive
commemoration with lots of classical Armenian music, whereby in
addition several speakers addressed the audience. From the scientific
community the director of the Institute of Holocaust and Genocide
Studies Dr. Houwink ten Cate underlined the importance of education
and impartial research. In a personally tinted story and using one
of his poems Dutch comedian Seth Gaaikema (who is of Armenian decent)
indicated his solidarity with the destiny of the Armenian people and
of all nations that became victim of the atrocities of genocide. The
Chairman of the Council of Churches of the Netherlands, Mr. Ton van
Eijk declared support of the Council of Churches and indicated that the
World Council of Churches called upon all churches to pray on Sunday
24 April in their churches for the 1.5 million victims of the Armenian
Genocide. Mr. Wim Kortenoeven of the CIDI (Centre Information and
Documentation on Israel) spoke with remarkable clarity about the need
of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. He criticised the Israeli
position in relation with the Armenian Genocide, which is based on the
purpose to not endanger the relations with Ankara. According to him
this policy is particularly incorrect, because the Jewish and Armenian
people has the same fate, both being victim of a genocide. Also there
were speeches of the consul of Armenia in the Benelux countries
Mrs. Hasmik Soghomonian and the priest of the Armenian church in
Amsterdam, father Datav vardapet Muradian.

Many visitors were very impressed by the exhibition on the Armenian
Genocide coming from Information and Documentation Centre Armenia of
Berlin. The exhibition was inaugurated by the Armenologist professor
Dr. J. Weitenberg and which can be still visited till 21 April in
the Pieterskerk church in Leiden (daily from 1:30 to 5 pm).

–Boundary_(ID_4tY0iOUlNiOquhD6UEwInw)–

CAMPUS LIFE: Drumming up support, awareness for Darfur
By Jocelyn Hanamirian, Princetonian Staff Writer

The Daily Princetonian
Tuesday, April 5, 2005

Students heading to late meal walked to a different beat last night,
as a circle of students jammed on African drums on the south lawn of
Frist Campus Center. Led by New Jersey-based artist Dorothy Sikora,
about 20 students made the campus resound with the first sounds of
Embracing Darfur, a week of events organized by the Princeton Darfur
Action Committee (PDAC).

The week was scheduled to coincide with the anniversary of the Rwandan
genocide, which began April 7, 1994. In November, PDAC organized
An Evening for Darfur, a night of dance and vocal performances that
raised more than $5,000 for Oxfam.

“This time around it’s really more focused on raising attention and
awareness and getting people to focus on the issues,” said Katrina
Rogachevsky ’07, co-director of PDAC. “We feel that attention on this
has flagged, but the problem has not gone away.”

On Sunday, there was a screening of “Stopping a Genocide,” a
documentary on Darfur, followed by a talk by the film’s director,
Cornell University professor John Weiss.

Monday began the weeklong sale of green elastic Darfur wristbands
bearing the slogan “Not on My Watch. Save Darfur.” The profits from
the sale of the bands, each costing $3, will benfit the International
Rescue Committee.

On Thursday night at the Street, the wristbands will function as
passes for all eating clubs except Cottage and Ivy.

With the drum band, the committee hoped to attract passersby to pick
up a flyer, get involved and “get ethnically close to Africa,” said
Katherine Ensler ’08, a member of the committee.

“Often in attempts to raise awareness of humanitarian issues,
people lose sight of the amazing culture that is behind it all,”
Rogachevsky said.

“There’s always a picture of Africa that is out there. But I think
it is nice for people to learn that there is all this war, but that
there were people living normal lives before the war,” said Kithinii
Muriira, a freshman from Kenya.

Activity on Frist’s south lawn continued after the drum circle with a
rally led by speakers Ali Ali Dinar, grandson of the last Sultan of
Darfur and a professor at Penn, and Brian Steidle, an African Union
observer in Darfur.

African hip hop artists Balozi Dola and Chosan entertained students
after the speeches, Dola rapping mostly in his native Swahili.

“Stop the genocide. Stop the massacre. Stand up for Darfur,” Chosan
chanted to applause.

Embracing Darfur continues tonight with a screening tonight of “The
Killing Fields,” a film about Pol Pot’s “Bloody Zero” campaign in
Cambodia. On Thursday there will be a lecture by Brian Sims of the
State Department at 4:30 p.m. in Robertson Bowl 16. Friday is the
final day of events, with a screening of “Ararat,” a film about the
Armenian Genocide, at 8 p.m. in McCosh 50, and artists Dola Belozi
and Chosan will perform at 10 p.m. at Campus Club.

“We’re talking about genocide on a larger level. We’re really talking
about the current place where [genocide] is going on in the world,
but we’re also talking about genocide in general and the roots of
that,” Rogachevsky said.

With the diverse selection of speakers and films, PDAC co-director
Amity Weiss ’07 sees the week as “opening more of a dialogue and being
interested in genocide as an issue that America has an obligation to
deal with.”

Students were visibly moved by both of Monday’s speakers.

“In the newspapers they don’t emphasize as much that the government
is responsible,” Kamilla Hassen ’08 said in response to Dinar’s words.

Steidle spent six months on one of several AU teams dedicated to
monitoring the ceasefire that was announced in Darfur on April 8 of
last year. As the U.S. representative on his team, Brian witnessed
countless acts of brutality during his time in Sudan, often agonizing
over the fact that his position prevented him from intervening.

“We wrote our reports, we took our pictures and we went home,” Steidle
told the crowd. Steidle closed his speech to the visibly moved crowd
by urging, “Tell your professors, tell the lawmakers that this is
important to you and that this needs to stop.”

Azerbaijan to raise illegal excavations issue at PACE

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
posted April 18 2005

Baku, April 15, AssA-Irada — The issue on the illegal archaeological
excavations by Armenia in the occupied town of Shusha will be raised at
the April 25-28 session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe (PACE).

A representative of the Azeri delegation at PACE Rafael Huseynov
says he has prepared a separate document on the matter to be further
submitted for discussion to the PACE committee on science, education
and culture.

Azerbaijan will try to achieve adoption of the document at least on
the committee level, said Huseynov.*

Rumsfeld Baku visit leaves questions behind
by Baku Sun 18/04/2005 09:42

Baku Sun, Azerbaijan
April 18 2005

BAKU – In a display of the Caspian region’s strategic importance to
America, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld took time out from a
fast moving tour of America’s war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, to pay
a third visit to Azerbaijan Tuesday night, his first arrival in a year.

According to local reports, during his roughly three-hour visit
Rumsfeld met with his Azerbaijani counterpart Defense Minister Safar
Abiyev and addressed Azeri peacekeepers in Iraq and the current pace
of settlement talks regarding the Karabakh conflict.

While brief, the trip generated huge interest among Azerbaijani
media, with some reports calling the visit “shrouded in secrecy.”
Local analysts blamed the suspicion on recent international
speculation that the United States seeks to establish a major
military presence in Azerbaijan. The so-called Caspian Guard will
reportedly be headquartered in Baku and comprised of American
troops trained for rapid response missions for regional crises. The
guard is part of Rumsfeld’s overall strategy to re-craft America’s
overseas military units from bulky Cold War bases to more deployable
units flexible enough to put together different force packages for
different operations. While specific information on the unit is hard
to obtain, a recent report in the Wall Street Journal quoted Chief
of U.S. European Command, General James Jones addressing the U.S.
Congress about the guard. Jones said the U.S. plans to allocate some
$100 million to cover the guard’s first 10 years of activities.

The guard will reportedly be one of the U.S. European Command’s
10 posts, with the Caspian region included in its area of
responsibility. The command center will boast the most up-to-date radar
equipment and also focus on dealing with potential terror attacks on
the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline.

The center will boast the capability to assist the Azerbaijani
government in monitoring ship navigation related to Caspian oil
operations and also help the government’s battle against drug and
weapons trafficking.On Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan
Reno Harnish reacted to questions about the guard by attempting to
cool rumors that Washington intended to position military forces
in Azerbaijan.

“Washington hasn’t any plans on the accommodation of any military
forces in Azerbaijan to safeguard the security in the Caspian,”
Russia’s news agency Interfax quoted Harnish as saying.

At the Airport

After meeting with American troops in Iraq, Rumsfeld arrived at
Heydar Aliyev International airport Tuesday where he met with Harnish,
General Abiyev, and Azerbaijan Ambassador to the U.S. Hafiz Pashayev.

Abiyev said he stressed to Rumsfeld the need for Washington to abolish
Section 907 to the Freedom Support Act.

The two also exchanged views on the peaceful resolution to the Karabakh
conflict, with Abiyev explaining that no considerable progress had
been made to settle the conflict. Abiyev noted that Armenia had not
given up its policy of aggression and continues to receive weapons
with the aid of its allies.

“The BTC pipeline will be commissioned shortly. However, the unresolved
status of Karabkh represents the greatest threat to the project,”
he said.

Rumsfeld said he met with Azerbaijani peacekeepers during his visit
to Iraq and thanked Abiyev for their outstanding service. He highly
valued Azerbaijan’s integration into Europe and stressed that the
U.S. backs Baku in this area.

After the meeting, Rumsfeld left Baku for Pakistan, where President
Ilham Aliyev had left for on an official mission earlier in the day.

ARMENIAN DAYS IN SWEDEN

A1plus
| 11:38:18 | 18-04-2005 | Social |

In the Swedish town Uppsala the event called «Armenian days» has
started. The main aim of the program is to introduce the 1st Genocide
of the 20th century to the Swedish political and social wide sections
and to demand Turkey to recognize the Genocide.

The exhibition called «Cultural Genocide» was opened by Sessile
Vixtrem, delegate of the Rix Dag.

The exhibition prepared by the Armenian Architectural Investigation
Center was first shown in the European Parliament in September on
the initiative of the European Armenians Committee.

Ulf Byorklund, professor of the Stockholm University Philosophy
faculty, made a speech with the theme «Armenia, Armenians and
Diaspora ~V after the Genocide». After that Jan-Bet Savos, science
investigator of the Stockholm Souderton University made a speech with
the theme «The Turkish Archives and the Genocide». The speaker has
worked on different archive materials for a along time.

The Armenian duduk and the Armenian music also sounded in Sweden,
and Armenian film were shown.

The «Armenian» events will last till April 24 in Sweden. On that day
the memorial evening devoted to the 90th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide will be solemnly celebrated.

–Boundary_(ID_sUNMzQJCgO3L5YrnLT9c2Q)–

Förintelsen Turkiet helst vill glömma

Efter massakrerna på armenier 1915 användes ordet “folkmord” första
gången på svenska. Men turkiska myndigheter förnekar än i dag att
något folkmord ägt rum.

DAGENS NYHETER
ESSAN DEN 9 MARS 2005

I år är det 90 år sedan folkmordet på armenier ägde rum. Mitt under
första världskriget organiserades vad de osmanska myndigheterna i
nuvarande Turkiet betecknade som en tillfällig förvisning av misstänkt
förrädiska icke-muslimska folkgrupper. Den urartade i allmän massaker
på kristna, oberoende av samfundstillhörighet.

I december 2004 beslutade EU att inleda förhandlingar med Turkiet om
medlemskap. Frankrike och Nederländerna krävde då att folkmordsfrågan
skulle tas upp i förhandlingarna. Bakgrunden är att Turkiet har under
alla år förnekat att det rört sig om ett folkmord. Generationer av
turkiska diplomater har lagt tid och energi på att ifrågasätta och
bemöta försök att seriöst diskutera händelserna. Det turkiska
historiska sällskapets president, Yusuf Halacoglu, har manat turkiska
historiker till ett än mer aggressivt bemötande av forskning om
folkmordet. Bara några dagar efter EU:s beslut upprepade han att inga
historiker har “hittat ett enda dokument eller någon källa som
omnämner folkmord”.

Sanningen är att bevisen för handlingarna är oändliga – men orden som
då användes var “utrotning”, “förintelse” och “brott mot
mänskligheten”, ordet folkmord uppfanns något senare.

Nyheterna om massakrerna publicerades omgående i världspressen och var
en ständig del av nyhetsflödet från mars 1915. Detta till skillnad mot
det nazistiska folkmordet under andra världskriget, då tyskarna under
lång tid kunde hemlighålla de värsta illdåden. I Turkiet fanns många
tyska militärer, diplomater och biståndsarbetare liksom amerikanska
missionärer och sjukvårdspersonal, för att inte tala om påvens
representanter.

Flyktingar av flera nationaliteter lyckades fly till ryska eller
brittiska områden och gav hårresande vittnesmål om ovanlig
brutalitet. Till att börja med handlade det om massakrer på armenier,
assyrier och kaldéer under den turkiska ockupationen av den
västiranska provinsen kring staden Urmia i början av 1915 och om
belägringen av civila armenier i staden Van i april 1915. Dessa
aktioner utfördes av osmanska soldater tillsammans med en del kurdiska
frivilliga förband.

Världsopinionen påverkades till den grad att England, Frankrike och
Ryssland gjorde ett gemensamt uttalande som publicerades den 24 maj
1915.

De förklarade att redan det som dittills kommit till omvärldens
kännedom kunde klassas som brott mot mänskligheten och civilisationen
och att “hela regeringen så väl som dess inblandade agenter skulle
hållas personligen ansvariga för dessa massakrer” och ställas inför
rätta.

Under sommaren 1915 strömmade ännu fler uppgifter ut till omvärlden,
samtidigt som överfallen mot kristna spred sig systematiskt över hela
östra Turkiet. Ett dåd som väckte osedvanliga reaktioner var mordet på
den armeniska, katolska ärkebiskopen i Mardin, Ignatius Maloyan, 11
juni 1915.

Han mördades samtidigt med flera hundra andra armenier, syrianer och
kaldéer efter att ha tvingats marschera i kedjor genom stadens
gator. För några år sedan helgonförklarades Maloyan av påven.

En del osmanska ämbetsmän protesterade mot dödandet av oskyldiga och
lojala undersåtar, men de högsta befattningshavarna flyttades till
andra poster medan oppositionella lägre tjänstemän omkom under
märkliga omständigheter. Efter första världskrigets slut ställdes
flera högre tjänstemän och politiker inför rätta av de allierade,
anklagade för att ha beordrat massakrerna eller deltagit i
dem. Somliga hann få sina straff och rättegångsprotokollen
publicerades då i turkiska tidningar. Den forne guvernören av
provinsen Diyarbakir, Reshid Bey, en ovanligt blodbesudlad person,
begick självmord efter att rättegången påbörjats. Flera hundra höga
ungturkpolitiker, regeringstjänstemän, polismästare och arméofficerare
arresterades och hölls länge i förvar i ett fångläger på Malta i
väntan på kommande rättegångar. Men i samband med en fredsuppgörelse
mellan de allierade och den nya republiken Turkiet frigavs de helt.

Rättegångarna som förberetts kom aldrig igång. Turkiet var angeläget
om att få dessa krigsförbrytare utlämnade, och de allierade gick med
på det för att etablera goda relationer med Kemal Atatürk, republikens
president.

Historisk forskning om folkmordet har hindrats av att den inte kunnat
använda källorna i de turkiska arkiven. Men det finns annat
material. En hel del framgår av rapporter från tyska, österrikiska och
amerikanska diplomater. Under och direkt efter kriget publicerades en
mängd vittnesbörd och sammanställningar av utländska missionärer,
lärare, läkare och sjuksköterskor som befann sig i området när
massakrerna ägde rum.

Svenskan Alma Johansson arbetade sedan många år i Mush vid ett tyskt
hem för föräldralösa armeniska barn. Hon lämnade uppgifter om hur alla
barnen begärts överlämnade till en hög officer och hur de sedan dödats
i en byggnad utanför staden. Hon lämnade vittnesmål till tyska och
amerikanska diplomater som publicerade uppgifterna, och gav sedan ut
sin berättelse på svenska.

Redan under kriget beställde det brittiska parlamentet en
sammanställning av dokument om massakrerna. Uppdraget utfördes av två
välkända historiker, Lord Bryce och Arnold Toynbee. De hämtade
materialet huvudsakligen från rapporter och brev skrivna av
amerikanska och brittiska missionärer. Efter att Hjalmar Branting läst
denna dokumentsamling använde han ordet “folkmord” i ett massmöte i
Stockholm 1917 till förmån för de kristna flyktingarna – veterligen
den första gången termen använts i svenska språket.

Även tyskarna publicerade en omfattande dokumentsamling. Den kände
orientalisten Johannes Lepsius, ledare för det tyska armeniska
förbundet, fick uppdraget att sammanställa diplomatiska källor om hur
Tyskland reagerade på massakrerna och fördrivningen av kristna. Det
uppenbara syftet var att i framtiden kunna hävda att turkarna ensamma
stod för brotten, och att tyskarna förgäves försökt stoppa, begränsa
eller mildra turkarnas operationer. En del av materialet har justerats
för att ta bort sådant som skulle ha visat tysk inblandning.

Dokumenten visar dock att den tyska regeringen visste att kampanjen
leddes av den ungturkiska regeringen, att anklagelserna om att de
kristna började ett väpnat uppror var överdribna, och att massakrerna
inte bara gällde armenier utan även syrianer, assyrier, kaldéer såväl
som katolska och protestantiska konvertiter.

Under senare år har en del av de vittnesmål som publicerades i samband
med kriget utgivits på nytt i svensk översättning. Dessa böcker är
främst sådana som behandlar situationen för syrianer assyrier och
kaldéer eftersom så många av dem numera lever i Sverige. Joseph Nacim
var en kaldéisk präst från Urfa. Hans bok är delvis en självbiografisk
berättelse om hur han flydde från massakrerna, bland annat ger den
unika inblickar i mordet på den kaldéiske ärkebiskopen av Siirt, Addai
Sher, som också var en berömd vetenskapsman, välkänd i dåtidens
Europa. Ärkebiskopen hade gömts av kurdiska vänner, men gömstället
upptäcktes och både han och hans beskyddare avrättades. Yonan Shahbaz,
en assyrisk-amerikansk baptistmissionär verksam bland assyrier i en
ort utanför Urmia i nordvästra Iran, vittnar om hur militären
tillsammans med kurder attackerade byar och städer och om hur främst
assyriska kristna flydde till de amerikanska och franska
missionsstationerna i staden Urmia. Turkisk militär gick in i den
franska missionen och grep präster och ledande assyrier som sedan
torterades och avrättades.

Till de märkligaste dokumenten från 1915 hör olika krönikor skrivna av
präster. Tre franska dominikanmunkar sattes i husarrest i ett katolskt
kloster i staden Mardin. Två av dem skrev långa och detaljerade
redogörelser över händelserna. Viktigast är den av Jacques Rhétoré,
känd expert i semitiska språk och som tillämpade sin vetenskapliga
exakthet i försök att beräkna befolkningsförluster. Syriansk-ortodoxa
överlevande har sammanställt muntliga historier om de olika drabbade
byarna. Tillsammans ger dessa verk en heltäckande bild av vad som
hände i varje stad och större by med kristen befolkning i provinsen
Diyarbakir, Turkiets Killing fields.

De kristna befolkningsförluster som anges av personer på platsen var
höga. Diyarbakirs provinsguvernör Reshid Bey uppgav för regeringen att
120.000 kristna hade deporterats från provinsen fram till september
1915. Rhétoré anger de totala kristna förlusterna fram till slutet av
1916 för provinsen Diyarbakir provins till 144.000, medan en brittisk
utredare 1919 uppgav att befolkningsförlusten uppgick till 157.000.

Men om allt detta vet dagens turkiska medborgare i stort sett inget,
inte ens de fåtaliga kvarvarande kristna har tillgång till
fakta. Händelserna omnämns inte i skolböckerna och de turkiska
yrkeshistorikerna har prioriterat andra forskningsuppgifter. På sin
höjd vet vanliga turkar i de berörda områdena att armenier, syrier,
assyrier eller kaldéer bott där tidigare, men säger ofta att de inte
vet varför de kristna lämnade orten. De som har velat sätta sig in i
de kristnas situation hänvisas framförallt till det officiella
Turkiska historiska sällskapet, som inrättades av Atatürk. Sällskapet
bidrar till mörkläggningen och ifrågasättande av folkmordet med två
huvudargument. Det första går ut på att bagatellisera det som hände.
Sällskapets president påstår att endast 23.000 armenier dog under
kriget, och att den siffran bleknar i jämförelsen med den vida större
skadan på flera miljoner turkiska döda som föll offer för angrepp där
kristna deltog som frivilliga. Det andra argumentet går ut på att de
kristna själva, utan minsta anledning, skulle ha organiserat ett
väpnat uppror mot den osmanska staten och ha konspirerat med
fiendemakten. Följaktligen borde de behandlas som landsförrädare.

Inom Turkiet reses nu krav om att inrätta en kommission som skall
undersöka folkmordet. En kommission är en god tanke – bara det inte
blir i det turkiska historiska sällskapets regi. En internationell och
oberoende kommission har större förutsättningar att kunna föra en
seriös diskussion om vad som erbjuds i de turkiska arkiven. Först då
kan moderna turkar få en mindre ensidig

By David Gaunt [email protected], historiker vid Sodertorns hogskota
;a=388480

PRESS RELEASE
Sarkis Yedelian, Independent Councillor, City of Ryde
P.O. Box 631 GLADESVILLE NSW 2111,
Ph:(02) 9879 4159 BH, Mob. 0412 048 330
Email: [email protected]

(Clr. Yedelian’s photo can be downloaded from
or send in an email with a request of needed resolution)

————————————————————————

18 April 2005

Plaque to be dedicated to the 90th anniversary of Armenian Genocide

RYDE City, Australia

The City of Ryde has become the first local government area in
Australia to officially recognise the genocide of Armenian people
between 1915-1922 that claimed 1.5 million Armenian lives. At the
initiation of Councillor Yedelian, who himself had members of his
extended family fall victim to the genocide, Council has resolved that
24 April each year be recognised as a day of remembrance of the
genocide. The 90th anniversary of the genocide will be commemorated
this year.

In addition, Council also resolved to call upon the Commonwealth
Government to officially condemn the genocide.

After consultation with Councillor Yedelian, The Mayor and General
Manager of Ryde City, decided that,

Council now will install a plaque in Memorial Park, Meadowbank in
commemoration that will also provide a place of reflection for all
residents.

The plaque will be installed in a small garden in Memorial Park
Meadowbank. The entrance to the park is off Meadow Cres with the
garden on the right hand side of the beginning of the World War two
Memorial walkway (plinths with stones on).

It is dated to be recognised on Sunday 24th April, 2005.

You are all invited for the unveiling of the Commemorative Plaque,

Date & Time: Sunday 24 April 2005, 12.30 pm

Place: Memorial Park Meadowbank, Meadow Cres. Ryde NSW Australia.

The wording of the resolution of the Council, which was moved by
Councillor Mr. Sarkis Yedelian on 12/4/2005 at Ryde City Council and
passed unanimously.

That this Council:

(1) acknowledges this year as marking the occasion of the 90th
anniversary commemoration of the Genocide of the Armenians perpetrated
by the then Ottoman Government between the years 1915-1922;

(2) joins with the Armenian community of Ryde in honouring the memory
of the 1.5 million men, women and children who died in the first
genocide of the twentieth century;

(3) recognises 24 April every year as a day of remembrance of the
Armenian genocide;

(4) condemns the genocide of the Armenians and all other acts of
genocide committed as the ultimate act of racial, religious and
cultural intolerance;

(5) calls on the Commonwealth Government to officially condemn:

(i) the genocide of the Armenians

(ii) any attempt to deny such crimes against humanity.

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
April 16 2005

US embassy unaware of State Secretary’s visit

The US embassy in Baku has not received any information about the
planned visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the South
Caucasus countries, US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Reno Harnish told
journalists.

Harnish noted that the visit would be useful for solving a number of
problems, including the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Co-operation
between Azerbaijan and the United States is expanding and the planned
London meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers is
expected to yield positive results, the ambassador said.

Some media outlets in Azerbaijan reported on Thursday that
Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to visit the Caucasus states early in
May.

A1plus

| 15:43:02 | 15-04-2005 | Politics |

THE AUTHORITIES HAVE NO WILL POWER

On the initiative of the `Cooperation for the sake of Open Society’ a round
table was organized today with the theme of the RA Law about `Organizing
meetings, marches and demonstrations’. A suchlike discussion was also held
last year when the organizers and the participants underlined that they are
not satisfied with the current legislative situation and offer to
immediately improve the Law.

A year has passed, but no points have been changed in the Law, points most
of which do not correspond to the RA Constitution and the Human Rights
Convention. Ileyn Konkievich, deputy head of the OSCE Yerevan office was
also present at today’s discussion. He is surprised by the fact that the NA
has taken no legislative initiative by now.

Why? We asked this question RA Justice Minister David Haroutyunyan. In the
OSCE resolution adopted last October the responsibility of changing the law
was imposed on the RA Government. Avoiding answering the main question the
Minister hinted that it is these discussions that will bring us to
legislative initiatives.

`I would like to share the optimist of the Minister if the offers which
sounded here are included in the legislative initiative without violations.
But this is where I seriously doubt the will power of our authorities as the
offers sounding here have been sounding for a long time. I do not see the
will power in the NA’, this was what Vardan Pogosyan said in answer to David
Haroutyunyan.

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
April 15 2005

Armenia still withholds Azeri captives

BAKU

The fate of three Azerbaijani soldiers withheld by Armenia in
Khankandi for about two months remains uncertain.
“Although an agreement was reached to return them at a meeting of
the relevant Azeri-Armenian commission, Armenia is not attending to
the problem”, says coordinator of the international working group on
prisoners, hostages and missing people on Azerbaijan Avaz Hasanov.
Hasanov told journalists that Armenia has been ignoring appeals from
international organizations and hopes are now bound with the
newly-appointed head of the International Committee of the Red Cross
on Upper Garabagh. The working group has already appealed to him over
stepping up activity aimed at releasing the Azeri soldiers soon,
Hasanov said.
In compliance with the ceasefire signed in 1994 and international
norms, both sides are required to return prisoners and hostages
immediately.*