Author: Virabian Jhanna

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Armenian-American Community of Central California
Contact: Tom Bulger
March 24, 2004
Tel: (559) 291-8215

CENTRAL CALIFORNIA BLOOD DRIVE TO HONOR MEMORY OF ARMENIAN MARTYRS

The Armenian-American Community of Central California will
commemorate the 89th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide with a blood drive in
mid-April.
Friends and descendants of those who died for their faith in the
dark days of the Ottoman Empire will give the gift of life in the Third Annual
Armenian Martyrs’ Day Blood Drive on Sunday, April 18.
The drive will be held from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the campus of
Fresno’s First Armenian Presbyterian Church, 430 South First Street, midway
between historic Huntington Boulevard and the Kings Canyon Promenade.
The event is co-sponsored by the Central California Blood Center
and the Board of Deacons at FAPC, California’s oldest Armenian religious
institution. Prospective donors are warmly invited to participate and should call
(559) 291-8215 to register in advance and/or obtain information.
The blood donation process (registration, screening, collection,
and refreshments) takes about one hour to complete. Donors must be in good
general health, weigh a minimum of 110 pounds, and be at least 17 years old.
Senior citizens are especially encouraged to donate, as there is no upper age
limit.
Donors should eat a healthy meal and drink plenty of water within
four hours prior to their donation. Donors can give blood every eight weeks,
the time necessary for the body to completely replace a pint of blood. A
Social Security Number is required for registration and first-time donors must
present photo identification upon registration.
The Central California Blood Center has been a part of the San
Joaquin Valley for 50 years. The Center is responsible for drawing and
distributing blood and blood components in Fresno, Madera, Mariposa, Tulare, and Kings
Counties. The non-profit Center serves 30 hospitals and a population base of
more than 1.5 million people in the five-county area. The Blood Center must
collect more than 5,000 units every month to meet the medical needs of the
Central Valley.
Chartered by 40 immigrants on July 25, 1897, First Armenian
Presbyterian Church grew dramatically in the early decades of the 20th Century as
tens of thousands Armenians fled from ethnic cleansing in their ancestral
homeland and settled in the heartland of the Golden State. The congregation is a
member of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Armenian Evangelical Union
of North America.
Dean Eller is the Chief Executive Officer of the Central
California Blood Center. Reverend Mgrdich Melkonian is the Senior Pastor of FAPC and
Thomas Bulger is Chair of the Board of Deacons.
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PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of Canada
Contact; Deacon Hagop Arslanian, Assistant to the Primate
615 Stuart Avenue, Outremont-Quebec H2V 3H2
Tel: 514-276-9479
Fax: 514-276-9960
Web:
Email: [email protected]

COMMUNIQUÉ
FROM THE THREE ARMENIAN CHURCH DIOCESES OF NORTH AMERICA

On behalf of the three Diocesan Councils governing our respective
Armenian Church dioceses of North America, we were deeply disappointed
by the news that the Catholicate of the Great House of Cilicia had
confirmed the election of a “prelate,” who will preside over a
hypothetical jurisdiction in Canada.

Such a jurisdiction is of course subject to the same objections as the
Cilician See’s other, non-canonical jurisdictions, located elsewhere
in North America. Indeed, we recall that the establishment of a
Cilician “prelacy” in Canada two years ago was lamented in many
quarters.

This latest development has destroyed all our hopes that, through
cooperation and reasoned persuasion, a mutually satisfactory
resolution might be found for both sides. We feel disappointed and
full of sorrow.

The present historical epoch presents numerous, long-awaited
opportunities for the Armenian people, our church, and our nation.
Seizing these opportunities to advance the general welfare of all
Armenians demands from us an unselfish commitment to solidarity and
unity.

The Armenian Church, under the benevolent leadership of the
Catholicate of All Armenians at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin,
has played a pivotal role in earlier ages of national renewal.
Historically, the church has been able to call on Armenians of good
will, from all walks of life, to join together in pursuit of loftier
objectives. The key to such calls-the factor which lent them
credibility-was the spiritual integrity of the church itself,
embodiedin its institutional unity.

We regret to say that the cause of church unity has been jeopardized
by the recent action of the Cilician See-and this is truly a reason
for sorrow, on the part of the Armenian people generally.

FEATURE-Who’s the rebel now? Lines blur in Chechnya

By Oliver Bullough

GROZNY, Russia, March 23 (Reuters) – For Moscow, it is simple: Chechen
rebels are terrorists and must be destroyed.

But on the ground in Chechnya, government supporters and rebels are
sometimes hard to tell apart.

Rebels who change sides are absorbed into the pro-Russian government’s
ranks without question. Many do not demand independence, while the
government is increasingly assertive towards Moscow.

Moscow’s bearded footsoldiers in the region, with their mismatched
uniforms, Kalashnikovs, and habit of firing volleys of gunfire as
wedding parties drive past not only look like the people who defeated
Russia in 1996 — they are the same people.

In Argun, just east of the regional capital Grozny, one 25-year-old
member of the thousands-strong Security Service said most of his
comrades were rebels who had changed sides.

“We nearly all were,” he said, as he leaned against a wall and
chain-smoked. “I only changed sides three months ago, before that I
was up in the hills, dodging the federals.”

Higher rank personnel are crossing over as well.

Top rebel Magomed Khambiyev surrendered this month, faces no criminal
charges and has asked to join Moscow’s side. Officials in Chechnya say
they would welcome him.

Pro-Moscow Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov’s son Ramzan — the
region’s second most powerful man as head of the Security Service —
said he wanted rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov to come and join the
government as well.

“He is a good military man, let him train our soldiers,” said the
burly 27-year-old in his home village of Tsenteroi in the foothills of
the Caucasus mountains.

REBELS?

President Vladimir Putin vows to destroy the “terrorist” Maskhadov,
and refuses to negotiate with him. His peace plan centred around a
referendum last year to anchor Chechnya in Russia and internationally
criticised elections won by Kadyrov.

Maskhadov spearheaded the drive that forced Moscow first to the
negotiating table and then to grant Chechnya de facto independence in
1997, but Ramzan Kadyrov spoke highly of the former Soviet colonel.

“Maskhadov is an educated man…We need such people and it’s right to
make use of them. He should not be president, but he should be
military commander,” he told reporters.

Politically, the two sides are closer than Putin says. Rebels who ran
Chechnya until Putin sent troops back in 1999 now speak vaguely of
compromise — some form of autonomy within Russia perhaps, with
current guerrillas invited to participate.

Kadyrov, on the other hand, is making increasingly tough demands of
Moscow.

Last month, he demanded Russia pay transit fees for the gas that
crosses Chechen territory on its way to Georgia, Armenia and
Azerbaijan, Russian newspapers reported.

He wants control of the military campaign to be handed to his
government, and his long-term demand that all revenues from Chechen
oil should revert to Grozny is a major stumbling block in Moscow’s
attempts to define Chechnya’s status.

LINES BLURRED

Hardline rebels, who have staged a string of suicide bombings in the
Caucasus and Moscow, refuse to consider any compromise with
Russia. But moderates take a line more conciliatory than Kadyrov’s.

“No one is talking about independence any more,” top rebel envoy
Akhmed Zakayev told Reuters in a recent interview in London, where he
is in exile.

Kadyrov says only former rebels have insight into rebel plans required
to catch their former comrades-in-arms. But Zakayev says the presence
of former separatists in Kadyrov’s ranks has undermined Moscow’s rule.

“Money for our armed forces comes from Russia, it comes via Kadyrov’s
administration. There is not one minister, manager or village head who
does not give us money,” he said.

“While the Kadyrov administration continues, we will never have
trouble with our finances.”

03/22/04 21:03 ET

Georgian leader offers help in Karabakh settlement

Arminfo
20 Mar 04

YEREVAN

The major problem in the South Caucasus is the Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said in an interview
with [Armenian] Noyan Tapan news agency, Armenian Public TV has
reported.

Mikheil Saakashvili stressed that Georgia was ready to render any
possible assistance for the speediest settlement of the Karabakh
conflict. But only Armenia and Azerbaijan can resolve it once and for
all, Saakashvili said.

Karabakh main goal of EU envoy’s visit to Azerbaijan – paper

525 Qazet, Baku
19 Mar 04

Text of unattributed report by Azerbaijani newspaper 525 Qazet on 19
March headlined “Heikki Talvitie has arrived in Baku” and subheaded
“The Baku government wants the European Union to be a mediator in the
Nagornyy Karabakh settlement”

The special representative of the European Union for the South
Caucasus, Heikki Talvitie, arrived in Azerbaijan on 18 March. On the
first day of his visit, Talvitie met Russian ambassador to Azerbaijan
Nikolay Ryabov, US ambassador Reno Harnish, Turkish ambassador Ahmet
Unal Cevikoz and Norwegian ambassador Steinar Gil.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has told Azartac news agency that
Talvitie is to meet state and government officials within the
framework of the visit and discuss Azerbaijan’s integration into the
West, the acceptance of European values and issues of democracy. Ways
to settle the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict will be the main focus of the
discussions.

The ministry also said that the EU might play an important role in the
Nagornyy Karabakh settlement because this organization was of special
importance to the OSCE Minsk Group. The EU might participate in talks
together with the OSCE Minsk Group cochairmen and entitle one of the
cochairmen to speak on behalf of the EU.

UNEMPLOYMENT REDUCED

Azat Artsakh – Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (NKR)
15-03-2004

According to the data of the NKR National Statistics Service, the
average number of workers on the play-roll employed in the branches of
the NKR economy was 32 686 in 2003 which increased by 1881 or 6.1
percent. The number of people employed in the sphere of industry grew
by 1420 or 11.8 percent. By January1, 2004 4272 people have been
registered at the department of work and employment of the NKR
Ministry of Social Security of which 3314 or 77.6 percent have the
status of unemployed. The number of citizens looking for jobs in
Stepanakert is 2364 of which 2361 or 99.9 percent are unemployed. The
number of people looking for jobs dropped by 9 percent, and the
unemployment rate dropped by2.6 percent from January 1, 2003. The
level of unemployment as the correlation of the unemployed registered
in the employment agencies and the economically active population
(employed and unemployed) totaled 5.7 percent in 2003 against the 5.9
percent of 2002.

AA.
15-03-2004

ArmenPress
March 9 2004

11 PERCENT OF GEORGIANS THINK ARMENIA A RELIABLE PARTNER

TBILISI, MARCH 9, ARMENPRESS: According to the findings of a
survey, conducted in Georgia by the Gallup International, 66 percent
of respondents think that the US is Georgia’s most reliable partner,
49 percent think it is Russia, however, 65 percent view Russia as a
potential threat.
Twenty-two percent trust the EU, 19 percent Germany, 11 percent
think Armenia is Georgia’s reliable partner and 5 percent look at it
as a threat. Seven percent of respondents consider Turkey as a
reliable partner while 13 percent as a threat. Fifteen percent trust
Azerbaijan and three percent view it as a threat.