Author: Zakarian Garnik

New Zealand Herald
Jan 15 2005

System of A Down all fired up

System of A Down

by Rebecca Barry

It’s common to hear American rock stars bagging the war in Iraq.

But few have System of A Down’s personal connections. Daron Malakian,
guitarist and songwriter for the American metal band, has family
living in Iraq.

“It’s brought out a lot of good songs,” he says, chatting from his LA
living room. “The last few years of my life have been a crazy
rollercoaster ride. There’s these people who go, ‘Yeah, go ahead and
bomb them’ and my grandmother lives there.”

A handful of those songs are about to be road-tested when the band
play the Big Day Out but fans will have to wait for the album if they
want to hear the rest. Then they’ll have to wait again.

SOAD plan to release two albums, Hypnotize and Mesmerize, six months
apart. It was a decision born out of sheer necessity – Malakian had
spent so long writing that by the time the band had reached the
studio, there were too many good songs to ignore.

“We don’t believe in double albums,” he says. “I think the attention
spans of people these days can’t cope with them.

“In the 60s and 70s kids were frying their brains on acid and a bunch
of them would sit down and commit themselves to listen to Tommy or
something. I dunno, maybe there’s not enough kids on acid anymore.”

Aside from 2002’s odds-and-sods collection, Steal This Album!, it’s
been a long time since fans have had any new music from the band.

“It takes me such a long time to write songs,” he says. “They have to
be great, I have to wait until I’m a huge fan of them. I would rather
write four, five, six great songs than 10 shitty ones.”

Malakian is coy about revealing too much but he says there will be
more vocal interaction between himself and frontman Serj Tankian, and
that emotion will remain at the core of their sound. And if it’s
possible, he promises Hypnotize/Mesmerize will outdo the
schizophrenic nature of their breakthrough Toxicity, an album that
incorporated Slayer’s breakneck riffs, Faith No More’s complex sense
of melody and the Armenian folk music the band members – also
including bassist Shavo Odadjian and drummer John Dolmayan – were
brought up listening to.

Their uniquely abrasive style quickly soaked up a huge following and
Toxicity sold more than four million copies worldwide. Malakian
laughs when he recalls someone urging them to tour in Iceland because
they were apparently as big as Michael Jackson there.

But before that, it was a different story.

“People would say to us, ‘You guys will never get signed’. We
accidentally became rockstars I guess. It’s strange to think that
four Armenian guys who make the kind of music we do would be in this
position.”

Now that they are, SOAD use their profile to throw a spotlight on the
issues they are passionate about, and that’s not just the war. (One
of the band’s most memorable projects was a collaboration with
anti-Bush campaigner Michael Moore for their music video, Boom!.) The
band are also committed to raising awareness about the genocide of
the Armenian people early in the century. However Malakian, who was
born in Hollywood, is the only member of the band not to have visited
his country.

“We have plans to play there. But it’s an emotional thing. I’m
worried that if I go there – with the troubles with Turkey and
everything – that I’ll leave feeling more depressed.”

It’s not the only thing on his mind. Malakian admits to feeling
“freaked out” by the tragic events that saw ex-Pantera guitarist
Dimebag Darrell gunned down at a concert last month. The incident
reminded him that fame is a part of the job he will never get used
to. Just from chatting for a few minutes, it’s easy to tell Malakian
is a genuine, down-to-earth, nice guy.

“None of us think, ‘Hey, I’m a rockstar. I’m Daron and I’m no
different to who I was before. But it’s weird when you’re signing
autographs and these kids come up to you and their eyes turn
different. We saw this girl break a CD once and she was slicing her
body and going ‘Shavo! Shavo!’ And you can tell it freaks him out
because Shavo’s face turns white.

“I get so [expletive] nervous because I just feel like, wow, nobody’s
special. Some guys know all there is to know about plumbing. I know
just a little bit about music.”

THE PROTEST GROUP

WHO: System of A Down

MEMBERS: Singer Serj Tankian, guitarist Daron Malakian, bassist Shavo
Odadjian and Drummer John Dolmayan.

ALBUMS: System of A Down (1998), Toxicity (2001), Hynotize/Mesmerize
(due this year).

FORMED: Southern California in the mid-90s.

TRIVIA: Serj Tankian has looked at buying property in New Zealand.

Stirring read worthy of a tepid shower

Canberra Times – Australasia
Jan 15, 2005

A ROOM in the miserable Kum Hotel on Gallipoli in mid-winter seems a
fitting place to have written this review of Fred and Elizabeth
Brenchley’s biography of T.W.White. A pioneering Australian airman,
captured in Mesopotamia, Tom White spent three years as a prisoner of
the Turks before escaping. He endured much worse than the Kum’s tepid
showers and monotonous breakfasts. As White recounted in Guests of the
Unspeakable, his vivid memoir of harsh captivity and daring escape,
being a prisoner of the Turks involved discomfort, danger and, for
many, death. The Brenchleys’ book reminds us of how terrible it was to
be a prisoner of the Turks: almost as bad as being captured by the
Japanese. Nearly one in three of the 268 Australians captured by the
Ottomans died in captivity: only two out of the nine air mechanics of
the Australian ”Half Flight” captured at Kut survived. And these
prisoners got help from friendly neutral diplomats: imagine if they
had not.

White’s Flight is a stirring read. White was one of several intrepid
officers who planned and executed escapes from Turkish captivity, only
three successfully. His escape entailed months of feigning illness to
secure a transfer from the notorious Afion camp in Anatolia to a
hospital in Constantinople, from where he found a ship sailing for
Odessa. There he saw the aftermath of the Bolshevik revolution before
reaching British troops in Bulgaria.

The Brenchleys tell an extraordinary story of cruelty and indifference
on the Ottoman side (including the great Armenian genocide which began
about April 25, 1915) and the unwavering optimism and courage of young
men who took on and outwitted the regime’s goons. White’s ability to
survive on the streets of Constantinople, amid the intrigues and
uncertainties of the final months of the Ottoman Empire, was an
astounding piece of effrontery.

The Brenchleys essentially paraphrase White’s own memoir, adding
little of interest except sentimental family and political
history. Soon after his liberation, White married Vera Deakin, who ran
the Australian Red Cross’s formidable London operation, one that did
so much to save the lives of prisoners of war in the Great War. It is
a great pity the Brenchleys contented them- selves with presenting
such a superficial picture of this determined woman, especially given
the abundant sources available.

White is one of those people whose main claim to our attention is an
escapade in his youth. As a federal politician from the 1930s, he was
notable only as an adversary of Menzies. Though admired for
championing various causes, his trenchant opposition ensured that he
was more often seen as a critic than as a creator. The Brenchleys are
sloppy over details – the Australian Flying Corps is referred to
variously as the RFC, the RAF and even the RAAF – and they don’t
explain why the Turks were regarded as ”unspeakable”. But they give
a fair picture of the spirited prisoners who refused to give in to
cruel and corrupt captivity.

Peter Stanley is principal historian of the Australian War
Memorial. His book, Quinn’s Post, Anzac, Gallipoli, will be published
in April.

Blabbermouth.net, NY
Jan 13 2005

“The Silent Force”

SYSTEM OF A DOWN guitarist and chief songwriter Daron Malakian has
told The Sydney Morning Herald that he is putting the finishing
touches on two new studio albums – “Mesmerize”, due this spring, and
“Hypnotize”, due this fall. He said he’s not a perfectionist: “I just
want it to be right, I don’t nitpick at shit. I get the production
credit on the record, and I get to be the [AC/DC guitarist] Malcolm
Young of SYSTEM OF A DOWN.

“I respect those people. You look at SLAYER and you see Kerry King. I
look at SLAYER and I see [songwriter-guitarist] Jeff Hanneman.”

By his own reckoning, Malakian writes about 95 per cent of SYSTEM’s
music, including the lyrics. He bristles slightly at the suggestion
that his band is a dictatorship.

“It’s a democracy, everyone respects the way the band works, I don’t
step over anybody,” he said. “I really don’t want to sound like I’m
discrediting my band members here because I’m not. It’s really how
SYSTEM works. Serj [Tankian] writes songs but not in bulk the way I
write songs … It works as a team.”

Although frontman Tankian co-founded the activist group Axis of
Justice with AUDIOSLAVE’s Tom Morello, Malakian is uncomfortable with
SYSTEM being tagged a “political” band.

“We just sing about what the world, about what’s around us,” he said.
“We have political songs and we have songs about, y’know,
psycho-groupie-cocaine crazy.

“Somebody asked me, ‘Are you guys about sex, drugs, rock’n’roll,
politics, having a good time?’ I said, ‘Yes!’ We’re not about a
history lesson, like, ‘You gotta learn all about the Armenian
genocide’ or all about politics. We’re not only about that and we’re
not only about sex, drugs and rock’n’roll, we’re like a f—ed-up
mutation of all that shit.”

Colleagues, students mourn ex-U. professor

The Salt Lake Tribune
1/11/2005

By Jessica Ravitz ([email protected])

As word of the tragic fire spread Monday, past students and colleagues
mourned the loss of Leonardo “Nardo” Alishan, a poet and former
University of Utah professor.

“His untimely death has robbed us all of a wonderful person and
beautiful mind,” wrote Lucian Stone Jr. – once Alishan’s graduate
student, now a visiting professor at Ball State University in Indiana –
in a Monday e-mail that circulated across the country.

Alishan, who taught at the U. from 1978 to 1997, died early Sunday after
a three-alarm fire raged through his Salt Lake County duplex. He was 53.
The cause of the fire, which started around 2:30 a.m., is under
investigation.

“It’s a shocking thing,” Bernard Weiss, a professor of Arabic and
Islamic studies, said Monday. “He was a very gifted teacher. He lived
and breathed literature.”

After leaving the university, where he had earned awards of distinction,
Alishan focused on his poetry, for which he received great recognition.
His most recent book, Through a Dewdrop, was published in 2002.

Alishan was born to Armenian parents in Tehran, Iran. He came to the
United States in 1973 and earned a doctorate in comparative literature
from the University of Texas at Austin before moving to Utah to teach.
His family – his parents and a brother – left Iran after the Islamic
revolution of 1979, when Ayatollah Khomeini deposed the Shah. They later
joined Alishan in the Salt Lake Valley, where the three preceded him in
death. He is survived by three grown children, who live in California.
Service details are being determined.

RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY UPS SCALE OF COMBAT TRAINING – EXPERT

Strana.Ru web site, Moscow
28 Dec 04

The Russian Defence Ministry has increased the scale of international
and domestic combat training over 2004 against the backdrop of various
scandals, major administrative reshuffles in the ministry amidst growing
social and economic tension in the Armed Forces, argues a Russian
expert. Nikita Petrov recalls that President Vladimir Putin has
assessed the work of the military department in 2004 as “satisfactory”
and tries to present his view of what went on behind the stage. The
following is the excerpt of an article entitled “Defence Ministry:
Year of Scandals and Exercises” carried by Russian Strana.Ru web site
on 28 December; subheadings have been inserted editorially:

Scandals

The year 2004 began for the Defence Ministry with a scandal (the
Auditing Chamber accused the Defence Ministry of systematic financial
violations and nonspecific expenditure of funds – it was a matter of
almost R14bn) and is ending with a scandal, precedents for which in
the Russian Armed Forces don’t come to mind. The latest scandal was
about personnel: the head of RF Armed Forces Main Combat Training
Directorate, Col-Gen Aleksandr Skorodumov, submitted his
resignation. The Russian Armed Forces’ main “warrior” departed,
slamming the door loudly and clearly spoiling slightly the pre-holiday
mood of Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov and his closest entourage.

The general openly accused the department heads of the disintegration
of the Armed Forces and of such unpleasant things as, for example, the
procedure for appointments to high command positions “through good
connections”.

Commander-in-chief of the Ground Troops and Deputy Defence Minister
Army Gen Nikolay Kormiltsev departed with approximately the very same
words one and a half months before this (President and Supreme
Commander Putin appointed a new Commander-in-chief of the Ground
Troops on 5 November. The choice fell on Col-Gen Aleksey Maslov, who
previously held the posts of the chief of staff and first deputy
commander of the North Caucasus Military District. Reports appeared
alleging that until recently Hero of Russia, Commander-in-chief of the
Air Force Army Gen Vladimir Mikhaylov was also planning to leave his
command.

But of course, the scandal of the year in the Defence Ministry was the
removal of Army Gen Anatoliy Kvashnin from the post of chief of the RF
Armed Forces General Staff, which happened this summer. It ended the
many months of conflict between Ivanov and his former first deputy,
who had his own views, which he didn’t hide, on ways of organizational
development and on further prospects of the Russian Armed Forces.

The head of the Russian military department achieved Kvashnin’s
removal under the pretext of an urgent General Staff reform –
observers began speaking about a possible purge within the walls of
the “main military brain”. Kvashnin’s first deputy, Yuriy Baluyevskiy,
who for the most part had worked on RF Armed Forces international
cooperation, was appointed in his place.

Strictly speaking, the “purge” (as, by the way, also the General Staff
reform in the strictest terms) ended with this. Now observers are
saying that Ivanov simply got rid of Kvashnin, who was inconvenient
for him, and put in his place Baluyevskiy, who goes along with
everything (the scandalous nature of this decision also lies in the
fact that Baluyevskiy’s last command position in the troops was as a
company commander).

The year also proved rich in scandals for Commander-in-chief of the
Navy Fleet Adm Vladimir Kuroyedov. In particular, the Admiral
“expertly” set up RF President Putin during ballistic missile launches
from a submerged condition, which were executed in February during the
joint strategic command and staff drill of Leningrad, Moscow and
Volga-Ural Military Districts and Northern Fleet. The main objective
of these manoeuvres, which were called Bezopasnost-2004, was to check
combat readiness of the navy’s forces and its naval strategic nuclear
component.

Up to 10 surface ships and support vessels participated in the
exercise on the part of the fleet. They included the heavy
aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov,
heavy nuclear powered guided missile cruiser Petr Velikiy, six
strategic missile submarines and multipurpose nuclear submarines, ASW
aircraft, ship-based helicopters and fighter aviation of the Northern
Fleet Air Force, and around 5,000 servicemen.

According to the scenario of the manoeuvres, the crew of the strategic
missile submarine Novomoskovsk was to execute the firing of an RSM-54
intercontinental ballistic missile (Skiff by NATO classification)
against the Kura combat field on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Strictly
speaking, the commander-in-chief of the Navy was at fault not only for
the fact that it was his subordinates who were unable to launch the
missile with a nuclear warhead at the necessary moment, but also for
the fact that a specially invited RF President Putin with his entire
retinue was awaiting this launch directly at sea. And Admiral
Kuroyedov found nothing more suitable than to explain to the press and
public that the President had been freezing in the cold wind awaiting
specifically a “simulated launch”.

The commander-in-chief of the Navy thundered once more to the entire
world, declaring that the heavy nuclear powered guided missile cruiser
Petr Velikiy, the Northern Fleet flagship, could blow up at any moment
because of her “terrible condition”. The scandal turned out to be
grandiose and also moved to the international level – the
international public and particularly Scandinavian countries
neighbouring on Murmansk Region, was very concerned with the condition
of the nuclear powered cruiser and with the prospect of getting a
“second Chernobyl”.

But despite all these “mistakes”, Kuroyedov wasn’t dismissed. (Passage
omitted) Moreover, his contract was extended for a minimum of another
year after he already had reached the maximum age of 60 for military
service.

The arrest and conviction in Qatar of two Russians accused of
murdering Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, one of the leaders of the Chechen
separatists, was yet another weighty scandal, and again at the
international level. The foreign mass media wrote that these people
were officers of the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence
Directorate and were working in Qatar “by personal direction” of
Defence Minister Ivanov. Strictly speaking, it also was scandalous
that despite all of Russia’s requests and persuasions, on 30 June a
Qatar court sentenced the Russians to life imprisonment, which under
local laws meant 25 years. At the end of the year, however, Russian
diplomacy and special services achieved a clear success – the Russians
returned to Russia after having been sentenced in Qatar literally a
few days before.

We also will note on this list repeated statements by senior Russian
military leaders and by the defence minister himself about “the
possibilities of Russia’s delivery of preventive strikes” against
terrorist bases “no matter where they might be” (and such bases also
can be in the United States). Observers noted that such “words without
actions” only do harm to Russia’s image. And we will recall the
constant statements by official Moscow about the presence of
ultramodern models of arms in Russian Army and Navy arsenals for which
there are no analogues in the world or defence against them. At the
rates of the state’s deliveries of new equipment to the troops – this
year, for example, it is only four new tanks – such statements at the
very least generate incomprehension both in Russia as well as in the
West.

Administrative reform

Organizing the military department structure in accordance with
demands of the administrative reform conducted this year in Russia’s
system of executive authority also affected the generals. Under the
new structure, the head of the Defence Ministry was left with four
deputies in place of the nine which existed before this. Today this is
Chief of General Staff and First Deputy Defence Minister Col-Gen Yuriy
Baluyevskiy, First Deputy Col-Gen Aleksandr Belousov, Chief of Armed
Forces Armaments and Deputy Defence Minister Army Gen Aleksey
Moskovskiy and Chief of Armed Forces Rear Services and Deputy Defence
Minister Army Gen Vladimir Isakov.

In the military department itself there appeared a central apparatus,
the numerical strength of which was set at 10,000 persons; a defence
minister’s staff; as well as various services both within as well as
under the ministry itself. Also included in the senior leadership of
today’s Defence Ministry are chiefs of the services which were created
– Col-Gen Anatoliy Grebenyuk, chief of the troops billeting and
construction service; Army Gen Nikolay Pankov, personnel and education
service; Lyubov Kudelina, economics and finance service; and Andrey
Chobotov, chief of the defence minister’s staff.

Additionally accruing to the Defence Ministry in 2004 were the former
Federal Service of the Railway Troops, which in the military
department became simply the Railway Troops, and the former Federal
Service for Special Construction (now the Federal Agency for Special
Construction under the Defence Ministry). The military department
also received management and financial flows of federal services for
the state defence order, for military-technical cooperation, and for
technical and export control. Added to them as well was control over
the Federal Agency for Atomic Energy within the context of the nuclear
weapons complex.

Speaking at the traditional November RF Armed Forces leadership
conference, Ivanov declared that further optimization of the Armed
Forces composition, structure and numerical strength was named in
particular as one of the most important in determining missions for
the concluding year of 2004. This task, which involved the conduct of
table of organization measures, was fulfilled in practically all
military command and control entities, branches, combat arms, military
districts and fleets. According to the RF defence minister’s data, the
overall strength of the Armed Forces, counting the Railway Troops
integrated into their makeup, will be 1,207,000 servicemen and 876,000
civilian personnel as of 1 January 2005.

The missions and priorities of entities of operational command and
control of troops and of the client are being separated in the Defence
Ministry for the first time beginning this year. The first entities
concentrate efforts on planning and ensuring that the existing arms
and military equipment inventory is kept in a combat-ready condition,
and the unified entity for orders concentrates on planning and
supporting developments and deliveries of new and modernized
arms. Thus, the orders management system will be centralized and
removed from the sphere of activity of command elements of branches
and combat arms. This in turn should permit essentially realizing a
unified military-technical and pricing policy, reducing the number of
different types of arms and military equipment being developed,
conducting unified bidding, and creating conditions for the transition
to a unified system of technical support of the Armed Forces and other
troops – in general, saving money for the country.

One of the most important aspects of Defence Ministry work in 2004
(and this is presented this way by the military department itself) was
implementation of the federal targeted programme “Transition to
Manning a Number of Formations and Military Units with Servicemen
Performing Contract Military Service” for 2004-2007.

One of the results of this activity is to be the creation of
preconditions for reducing the term of conscripted military service to
one year as of 2008. Ivanov believes this “will have a positive
effect on the accumulation of militarily trained manpower mobilization
resources in the Armed Forces reserve”.

Within the scope of implementing the federal targeted “contract”
programme, the transition of the 42nd Motor-Rifle Division stationed
on the territory of Chechnya to a contract method of manning will be
completely finished already by the end of this year. This division
will be the second formation after the 76th Airborne Division manned
exclusively by contract servicemen (this year the airborne personnel
were inspected repeatedly at all levels – it’s believed that the
experiment with a fully contract division “succeeded”).

As a result, the Defence Ministry is completely giving up the practice
of sending servicemen performing conscripted service to
Chechnya. Without doubt, this indeed will increase the effectiveness
of operations of military units and subunits in the region and will
permit reducing losses among personnel taking part in eliminating the
illegal armed groups and task forces.

Specialists are placed on guard, however, by the fact that R17bn
(according to other data, R20.9bn) have been allocated for measures
for the transition to contract manning for 2005. If annual
expenditures per contract soldier are taken as R100,000, and this is
only on the order of R8,000-9,000 per month, then it’s possible to
hire 170,000 soldiers. This is approximately a fourth of the present
draft contingent, and not at all the planned 50 per cent, but for that
money you can’t even recruit a fourth of a fourth.

Against this background, hopes for entry into force of the Law “On
Alternative Civilian Service” as of 1 January 2005 weren’t borne out –
less than 500 persons will serve on an alternative basis in this
draft. In any case, it’s becoming more difficult to man the Armed
Forces from year to year. In the opinion of the military, the stable
trend towards a reduction in the proportion of citizens “really called
up for military service” especially exacerbates the situation. Today
military commissariats place only every ninth young lad of draft age
in formation (10 years ago this proportion was three times
higher). The rest either are exempted entirely from military service
on legal grounds or have the right to a deferment. Therefore the
Defence Ministry and power committees of both houses of Parliament
supporting it are developing a strategy for reducing the number of
grounds for deferment – today our country has 34 categories of
citizens who legally are not called up for military service.

Exercises

Against this background, the scale of combat training clearly is
growing in the Russian Armed Forces. The new wave of NATO enlargement
which occurred this year – NATO was joined in particular by the former
Soviet Baltic republics – was among the preconditions for this. Let’s
recall that Russia didn’t agree that there was a need for this
enlargement and considers it “erroneous”. Nevertheless, the Defence
Ministry is working actively with NATO, and specifically along the
combat training line – the sides are training to operate together.

The military department itself considers the following to be the most
important events carried out in the army and navy in 2004. They
include, for example, the conduct of a large number of large-scale
naval exercises, including in coordination with naval forces of NATO
member countries. Among them were those such as the Russian-Italian
exercise in the Ionian Sea involving a detachment of Black Sea Fleet
ships headed by the Guards guided missile cruiser Moskva, and the
Russian-French exercise in the North Atlantic (on its completion, the
nuclear submarine Vepr paid an unofficial call on the French Navy Base
of Brest, which was the first call by a Russian nuclear submarine on a
foreign port in history).

In addition, the Russian-American Northern Eagle-2004 manoeuvres also
stood out this year. The large ASW ships Severomorsk and Admiral
Levchenko took part in them on the Russian side. Detachments of
Russian combatant ships also took part in the NATO combat operation
Active Endeavour, aimed at strengthening the regime of
nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery
vehicles. The heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Flota Sovetskogo
Soyuza Kuznetsov went out on combat patrol duty (before this our
aircraft carrier had performed missions only of one combat patrol duty
– in the winter of 1995-1996). Strategic missile submarines executed
ten launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles during 2004. In
the outgoing year RF Navy ships performed an overall total of more
than 50 deployments, within the scope of which there were 27 calls on
ports of 17 states.

Intensive combat training – large-scale exercises – also was conducted
this year in other branches and arms of the Armed Forces. For example,
operational-tactical exercise Mobilnost-2004 was conducted. It
rehearsed problems of the mobility of mixed forces and the
redeployment of permanent readiness subunits and units from the
European part of the country to the Far-Eastern region for performing
missions of ensuring Russia’s military security. A total of around 800
servicemen with arms and combat equipment from the makeup of permanent
readiness units were redeployed by air transport. Around 50 aircraft
of Air Force Military-Transport Aviation and of the Transport Ministry
and over 100 pieces of armoured and motor vehicles were in action in
the exercise.

The Defence Ministry considers the special tactical exercise
Avariya-2004 to be another important event of this year. It was
conducted jointly with the Federal Agency for Atomic Energy at one of
the military department’s facilities situated in Murmansk Oblast. The
objective of the manoeuvres was the practical rehearsal of problems of
organizing protection of nuclear weapons against attempts at
unsanctioned access and of mopping up in the aftermath of an accident
in case terrorist acts were committed. There were 2,000 servicemen and
over 500 pieces of special equipment in action in the exercise. One
feature of the exercise was the presence of 49 representatives from 17
NATO member states as observers. At the end of the exercise Ivanov
noted that despite statements being heard abroad from time to time
about problems allegedly existing in Russia with the security of
nuclear weapons, the NATO people were able to be convinced of the
opposite with their own eyes.

We also will note the August joint exercise Rubezh-2004 with permanent
working bodies of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and with
armed forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organization member
states. One version of a possible exacerbation of the
military-political situation in the Central Asiatic collective
security region was made the basis of its concept. It envisaged
coordinated actions of bandit force elements to conduct terrorist acts
and destabilize the situation on the territory of region states. A
total of over 1,000 servicemen, around 100 pieces of armoured
equipment and over 30 aircraft and helicopters were in action in the
joint exercise. We also will note that the 201st Motor-Rifle Division
stationed in Tajikistan and covering Russia’s southern borders was
reorganized as a Russian military base this year.

In 2004 there was a command and staff drill with command and control
entities and alert duty forces of the Joint Air Defence System of CIS
member states. This multilateral drill was conducted in accordance
with the plan of joint activities for 2004. In addition to the Russian
side, air defence command elements of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan and Ukraine and these states’ air defence forces assigned
to the joint system took part in the drill. The actions of drill
participants were coordinated from the Russian Air Force Central
Command Post.

Finances

But the most acute problem of today’s Russian Armed Forces remains the
socioeconomic situation of servicemen and their families. Based on
results of the outgoing year, it can be said that it only has
deteriorated. Ivanov cited the following data at the November RF Armed
Forces leadership conference. As of today over 34 per cent of
servicemen’s families have income per family member below the
subsistence level prevailing in the regions. Around 90,000 are not
provided with permanent housing and approximately 45,500 are not
provided with official housing (Chief of Defence Ministry Main
Billeting and Maintenance Directorate Col-Gen Vlasov recently declared
that the Armed Forces need on the order of 500,000 apartments for the
country). “Naturally, we can’t be reconciled with such a state of
affairs, and specific steps are being taken to improve the situation,”
declared the defence minister.

The following evidently should be included among such steps. The
federal law “On the Mortgage Savings System of Housing Support for
Servicemen” was adopted this year. It places an entirely new mechanism
in effect for providing servicemen with housing. Its chief merit is
that it is called upon simultaneously to motivate a serviceman’s
presence in Armed Forces ranks.

Thus, the state will open savings accounts for officers and contract
personnel beginning in 2005. The new system is intended for those who
enter officer service after 1 January 2005 and for contract privates
who have served at least three years – this is approximately 60,000
persons. A savings account will be opened for each one into which
money will be transferred annually. The bill’s authors figure that
after 20 years the accumulated amount should suffice to buy an
apartment with an overall area of 54 square meters. And servicemen are
motivated to accumulate, which means also to serve longer – developers
of the law presume that after 30 years the money then will suffice for
96 square meters. A serviceman will be able to receive the money only
after 20 years of service, or after 10 years if he is discharged for a
valid reason – for state of health, in connection with a reduction, or
because of family circumstances.

If an officer leaves the Armed Forces after having served less than 10
years, his savings simply “burn up” and are returned to the state. By
the way, if an officer doesn’t wish to wait, then in just three years
he receives the right to buy an apartment with the help of a mortgage,
and the state will pay the interest on the credit. The defence
minister asserted: “It’s understandable that the results of the effect
of the new system will tell only after a few years, but the increase
in waiting lists for obtaining housing nevertheless will be halted,
especially as in parallel with this servicemen will be provided as
before with housing certificates and with official apartments which
are being built”.

We also will note the strange “situation of the year” with pay and
allowances. On 4 November military department head Ivanov signed an
order according to which all generals, officers and warrant officers
in the Defence Ministry central apparatus will receive increased pay
(in addition to the pay, they will continue to receive an additional
payment for rank, seniority and subsistence allowance). In the troops
they already have begun calculating that “according to the new way” a
major general will receive approximately R15,000 instead of the
previous R12,000, a colonel will put R10,000 in his pocket instead of
the previous R7,000-8,000, and a lieutenant around R6,000 instead of
R3,000-4,000.

As it turned out, though, the Armed Forces had misheard. According to
the defence minister’s order, it was a matter of increasing pay and
allowances of servicemen only in the Defence Ministry central
apparatus. Let’s recall that this “circle of the chosen” numbers only
on the order of 10,000 persons. Under the new conditions Ivanov
himself (together with the other power ministers, we will note) will
earn R92,880 per month (instead of the previous R17,950). Everyone
who is lower will receive appreciably less than the minister, but
these amounts, too, are impressive against the background of military
officers’ paltry incomes (R4,000 for a platoon commander).

The Defence Ministry declared that it had been forced to undertake
that increase: the “brain of the Army” – the General Staff – and other
key structures of the military department are scattering because of
the small pay rates. But experts believe that Ivanov thereby is
creating “two armies – a staff army with good pay and a pauper,
trench, army.” We will note that criticism of actions taken by the
military department heads forced them to declare that a draft
regulatory legal instrument is being prepared envisaging a similar
increase in pay and allowances for servicemen performing contract
military service at the tactical level.

The year 2004 also will go down in Russian Armed Forces history as a
year of cancellation of practically all benefits for servicemen and
their families. Compensation is envisaged in place of what was taken
away, but one and one-half months before the innovations enter into
force no one is explaining to them what the amount of such
compensation will be.

And so from 1 January 2005 servicemen will begin to travel on public
transport on “their own hard-earned money”. Servicemen now have the
right to receive an interest-free loan of 12 pay rates once during
service for acquiring essential property – as of 1 January 2005 the
amount of and procedure for such payment will be determined by the
government. Rations or compensation amounting to their cost are issued
to the military today. As of January of next year rations will be
envisaged only for those serving in the Far North, and compensation is
envisaged for everyone “in an amount to be determined by the
government.” Servicemen’s rights to free financial assistance to
purchase housing (75 per cent of the cost of housing for those who
have served from 10 to 25 years, or 100 per cent for those who have
served over 25 years) and to priority entry into housing cooperatives
have been cancelled. Restrictions on time periods for mandatory
provision of housing to servicemen on arrival at the chosen place of
residence after discharge are removed as of 1 January – previously
this was legislatively prescribed to be done no later than within a
three-month period. Free treatment in military medical establishments
for servicemen’s wives and children and the provision of places in
kindergartens and schools for their children on a priority basis are
being cancelled.

All this of course hardly will increase the country’s defence
capability.

BEST WISHES FOR A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR

IN THIS ISSUE:

*** THE WORLD AS CHILDREN SEE IT

*** PYUNIK FOR THE DISABLED

*** DRAFT CONCEPT OF THE ROA LAW ON LOBBYING WAS DISCUSSED

*** INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY EVENTS

*** GREATMED NGO EXPANDS ACTIVITIES TO PROMOTE HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

*** NGOs JOINTLY PROMOTE VOLUNTARY MOVEMEMENT IN ARMENIA

*** YEREVAK NGO STRENGTHENS ITS CAPACITIES TO PROVIDE EFFECTIVE SOCIAL
SERVICES AND INFORMATION

*** JOINT COMMON ACTIONS OF THE CRINGO NETWORK

*** THE WORLD AS CHILDREN SEE IT

This was the title of the photo exhibition unveiled by the Manana Youth
Educational Cultural Center NGO in the Armenian Center for the Contemporary
Experimental Art on December 15. Photos taken by the 8-20 year old members
of the of the NGO’s Photojournalism Club were presented. The photos reflect
tree cutting, absence of waste removal, destroying architectural values, the
negative influence of human beings on nature, and children’s poverty. On the
opening day of the exhibition, four films by members of the NGO’s Young
Cinematographers’ Club were also shown. Devoted to life conditions of
children, the films were produced on the occasion of the International Day
of Children’s Communication with UNICEF assistance. The NGO members have
also successfully participated in 16 international festivals and have won
prizes and awards. As stated by one of the Center’s members, “We try to
understand the world, rediscover it, be amazed it and enjoy it by making the
moment of the photo frame lasting.”

Contact: Ruzan Baghdasaryan
Manana Youth Educational Cultural Center NGO
2 Baghramyan St., #25
Tel.: (374-1) 52-48-89; 58-34-97
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

*** PYUNIK FOR THE DISABLED

Because rehabilitation equipment used by disabled people in Armenia was in
disrepair, the Pyunik Union of the Disabled NGO created a wheelchair repair
workshop. The opening ceremony of the workshop was held on December 2. The
project was realized thanks to the Embassy of the Sovereign Military Order
of Malta in Armenia and Aghavni French-Armenian Charitable Organization.
Wheelchairs and parts needing repair will be collected from individuals,
organizations and hospitals and sent to the workshop. After repairs, they
will be returned to the disabled. Free repair services will be provided to
any disabled person in Armenia needing assistance. Within the framework of
the project, two disabled people will also be employed. Based on the
workshop, a local industry of wheelchairs manufacturing is planned to be
created. Pyunik celebrated December 3 – the International Day of Disabled –
by organizing an exhibition of paintings and handicrafts of gifted disabled
young people at the United Nations/Armenia offices. The same day, the Pyunik
Center hosted a performance by its younger beneficiaries.

Contact: Hakob Abrahamyan
Pyunik Union of the Disabled NGO
16 Tsitsernakaberd St.
Tel.: (374-1) 56-07-07
E-mail: [email protected]

*** DRAFT CONCEPT OF THE ROA LAW ON LOBBYING WAS DISCUSSED

On December 17, the United Nations Development Programme, in cooperation
with the ROA Ministry of Justice and the ROA Ministry of Trade and Economic
Development, held a discussion of the draft concept of the ROA Law on
Lobbying. Representatives of the Government, National Assembly, local and
international organizations, trade unions and business associations, as well
as experts participated in the discussion. The aim of the discussion was to
review the approaches and suggestions on the draft concept of interested
NGOs including those representing interests of the private sector. The
international experience of regulating lobbying, ways, restrictions, rights
and responsibilities of lobbyists, licensing and accreditation issues were
discussed. Special importance was attached to the suggestions made on
Non-Profit lobbying. Developing the regulatory framework for lobbying will
enable citizens to participate in decision making processes. Providing equal
opportunities and transparency of participation will promote establishment
of democratic values in Armenia.

Contact: Vahan Asatryan
United Nations Development Program
Tel.: (374-1) 52-86-72, 52-86-97
E-mail: [email protected]

*** INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY EVENTS

ž On December 8-9, the opening ceremonies of the Human Rights Libraries in
Artashat and Gavar of the Armenian Constitutional Rights Protecting Center
(ACRPC) NGO were held. Representatives of state governing, local
self-governing bodies, as well as local and international organizations and
Mass Media were invited. The libraries were opened within the framework of
the Developing Human Rights Library Network In Armenia project, implemented
by ACRPC with support of the Department of State Public Affairs of the US
Embassy in Armenia. Currently the Network is comprised of five libraries
functioning in Vanadzor, Dilijan, Hrazdan, Artashat and Gavar. The libraries
include reading rooms, almost 15,000 items and are equipped with modern
computer technologies. More information on the Library Network can be found
at the ACRPC website:
ž On December 10, ACRPC, in cooperation with the UN Development Program and
UN Department of Public Information, held several events in Hrazdan,
including a forum, visiting the Hrazdan Human Rights Library, showing
thematic films, recitations and musical performances. This year, Human
Rights Day is dedicated to human rights education by UNESCO and UN High
Commissioner of Human Rights. During the events, special attention was drawn
to education, awareness raising and raising the level of public’s legal
consciousness.

Contact: Gevorg Manukyan
Armenian Constitutional Rights Protecting Center (ACRPC) NGO
Vanadzor, Shirakatsi 1st lane, building 2
Tel.: (374-51) 2-29-67
E-mail: [email protected]

*** GREATMED NGO EXPANDS ACTIVITIES TO PROMOTE HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

The Greatmed Scientific and Medical NGO carries out scientific, medical and
health awareness activities contributing to mother and child healthcare and
clean environment. Emphasizing the issue of disseminating health knowledge,
particularly promoting healthy lifestyles in remote regions of Armenia,
through a grant received from AAA NGOC, Greatmed members have undergone
vocational training, subscribed to a number of health information resources,
and produced the Healthy Lifestyle brochure, including such chapters, as
personal hygiene, food, sight, hearing, mental activity hygiene, sexual
education and more. The brochure was disseminated in Ijevan, Dilijan, Berd
and Noyemberyan towns of the Tavush region. On December 17, the opening
ceremony of the Greatmed Dilijan branch was held, which will allow the NGO
to expand its activities and contribute to organizing health and environment
related events in the Tavush region, involving the regional population in
these activities.

Contact: Seyran Kocharyan
The Greatmed Scientific and Medical NGO
74 Lisinyan St.
Tel.: (374-1) 56-09-55
E-mail: [email protected]

*** NGOs JOINTLY PROMOTE VOLUNTARY MOVEMEMENT IN ARMENIA

On the initiative of the Armenian Habitat Charitable NGO and Clean Yerevan
project (Our City Is Our Home Foundation), a number of local and
international organizations united in support of the development of
voluntary movement in Armenia. On the occasion of the International Day Of
Volunteers, they organized an event on December 17. Its message was
promoting volunteerism as a major factor for social, economic and cultural
development of Armenia. Various voluntary activities in Armenia were
presented, gratitude was expressed and music and refreshments were provided.

Contact: Haykuhi Khachatryan
Armenian Habitat Charitable NGO
Tel.: (374-1) 55-61-14
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

*** YEREVAK NGO STRENGTHENS ITS CAPACITIES TO PROVIDE EFFECTIVE SOCIAL
SERVICES AND INFORMATION

On December 17, the presentation of the Noyemberyan based Yerevak NGO’s
capacity building project was held. Local and international organizations
and businessmen of the region were invited. With the assistance of AAA NGO
Center, the NGO has improved its computer center, replenished its legal and
business libraries and published a brochure on NGO activities in three
languages. During the December 17 event, fundraising was held, which will
contribute to developing a film on the Yerevak NGO.

Contact: Sasha Gishyan
Yerevak NGO
Noyemberyan, 14 Zoravar Andranik St.
Tel.: (374-66) 2-26-05, 2-27-05

*** JOINT COMMON ACTIONS OF THE CRINGO NETWORK

On the occasion of the International Day of Human Rights, the Caucasus NGO
Network on Refugees and IDPs (CRINGO Network), held a Negotiation Day and
Solidarity Day. The main idea of Negotiation Day was to address refugee
rights as a part of human rights. Event participants – NGO representatives,
government agencies and international organizations – discussed their roles
in promoting regional cooperation and long-term solution of refugee issues,
as well as social, economic and legal protection, moral-psychological and
cultural issues of refugees. In the end of the event, further actions of the
Network were defined, including legislative amendments, involvement of local
self-governing bodies and solution of cross-border problems.

Solidarity Day included an exhibition of children’s paintings on the topic
The World Without Violence, drawn by children from art and other schools in
Yerevan, Gyumri, Vanadzor and Stepanakert. Of the 50 paintings presented, 12
were selected as winners by a jury. These paintings will be published as a
2005 calendar.

Contact: Karen Asatryan
CRINGO Coordination Board Member
44 Aram St.
Tel: (374-1) 53-05-71
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

__________________________________________________________________________

Armenian NGO News in Brief is a publication of the NGO Training and Resource
Center (NGOC) issued in the Armenian, English and Russian languages for
electronic dissemination inside and outside Armenia. Primary funding for
the NGOC, which is a project of the Armenian Assembly of America, is
provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Individual NGOs are welcome to submit information for publication to the
NGOC. The NGO Center is not responsible for the clarity of information
provided by individual NGOs.

Dear Readers,

The not-for-profit, non-governmental sector of Armenia is rich with diverse
civic initiatives and activities. This electronic publication, though far
from covering all activities of the sector per any given period of time, is
intended to contribute to raising awareness, both inside and outside
Armenia, of the activities of Armenian not-for-profit, non-governmental
organizations.

Your comments and feedback about this electronic publication are greatly
appreciated.

Thank you.
NGOC staff.

Contact Information:

In Armenia:
Armenian Assembly of America
NGO Training and Resource Center
39 Yeznik Koghbatsi St.,
Yerevan 375010
Tel.: (3-741) 54-40-12; 54-40-13; 53-92-04
Fax: (3-741) 54-40-15
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

In the United States:
Armenian Assembly of America
NGO Training and Resource Center
122 C Street NW, Suite 350
Washington, DC 20001 USA
Tel: (202) 393-3434
Fax: (202) 638-4904
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

Official slams CIS leaders’ lack of will regarding security efforts

ITAR-TASS news agency
28 Dec 04

Moscow, 28 December: The political leaders of a number of CIS
countries and the structures subordinate to them are only giving a
“semblance of activity” within the framework of the CIS, Collective
Security Treaty Organization [CSTO] Secretary-General Nikolay
Bordyuzha believes.

“The will of the heads of CIS states is needed for concrete activity
to develop. If they themselves have doubts, then as a rule, the
structures subordinate to them give only a semblance of activity,” he
said at a news conference at the ITAR-TASS offices today.

As confirmation of his words, Bordyuzha cited the fact that “most
decisions taken within the framework of the CIS are initialled only by
representatives of the statutory bodies of CSTO states” (a regional
organization comprising Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Russia, Tajikistan). However, he added, representatives of Azerbaijan,
Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, as a rule, refrain from participating in
the adoption of specific decisions, including those relating to the
defence and security of the CIS.

L’invité de la semaine Charles Akopian

L’Humanité
21 décembre 2004

Secrétaire général de la fédération du Gard du Secours populaire
français. « Ce ne sont pas des pauvres, des exclus ou des tricheurs
que nous recevons. Chacun a une histoire, des savoir-faire, des
richesses qui souvent ne demandent qu’à être (r)éveillées. »

Le 21 décembre 1988, 2 500 enfants de Nîmes et des villages
environnants ravagés par les inondations du 3 octobre avaient pris
place dans six TGV spéciaux pour vivre une journée de rêve à Paris.
Ils ne montaient pas les mains vides : au pied de la tour – Eiffel,
la noria des bus déversait les jouets que les sinistrés gardois
avaient collecté et offraient aux enfants d’Arménie, victimes du
terrible séisme qui le 7 décembre avait fait des dizaines de milliers
de morts. Illustration d’une solidarité humaine, chaleureuse et –
fraternelle prenant en compte le drame et ses répercussions : il
s’agissait, après consultation d’enseignants et de psychologues,
d’offrir aux enfants d’autres images fortes afin que ces dernières
remplacent celles du drame vécu. Illustration aussi d’une solidarité
en mouvement où il n’y a pas d’un côté celui qui donne et de l’autre
celui qui reçoit !
Les « bénéficiaires » de la solidarité sont avant tout des êtres
humains, que notre société malheureusement qualifie plus qu’elle ne
nomme. Ce ne sont pas des pauvres, des exclus ou des tricheurs que
nous recevons. Chacun a une histoire, des savoir-faire, des richesses
qui souvent ne demandent qu’à être (r)éveillées, et peut prendre part
à la grande chaîne de l’action solidaire. De même nos bénévoles
reconnaissent souvent être eux-mêmes : des bénéficiaires de la –
solidarité en vivant ce qu’ils partagent au SPF. Ainsi la solidarité
et la mise en mouvement pour la solidarité nous semblent
indissociables. Agréés d’éducation populaire, nous pensons que «
faire pour sans faire avec, c’est faire contre ». La solidarité
chaleureuse, inventive, n’a rien à voir avec la solidarité –
clinique.
Dans cet esprit, au Secours populaire, on ne distribue pas ! Toutes
nos actions, notre pratique quotidienne, consistent à multiplier ces
« espaces de solidarité multiforme », véritables lieux de victoires
sur le repli sur soi, où l’écoute, l’accompagnement pour l’accès aux
droits, l’orientation, nourrissent des échanges afin d’envisager
ensemble des solutions, des démarches. Bien sûr, la réponse à
l’urgence est irremplaçable : des enfants, des jeunes, des personnes
seules, des familles, des « travailleurs pauvres » et de plus en plus
de personnes âgées dans notre pays ne mangent pas à leur faim, ou
n’ont pas les moyens suffisants pour assurer la soudure jusqu’à la
fin du mois. Et nous répondons concrètement à cette demande. Mais
lorsque, avec une maman venue demander à manger pour ses enfants,
nous réussissons à monter un projet familial de départ en vacances,
qu’elle fait les démarches nécessaires, et réussit à concrétiser ce
qui était hors de ses préoccupations prioritaires en venant nous
rencontrer, nous avons ensemble construit un avenir meilleur.
Elle est belle cette solidarité qui fait passer du « je » au « nous »
et s’efforce de donner des outils (même modestes) pour s’en sortir.
Alors, pourquoi pas avec vous si vous vous sentez concernés, chez
vous, dans votre localité, sur votre lieu de travail ou d’études ?
Nous ferions tellement plus si vous étiez des nôtres ! Les portes du
Secours populaire français sont grandes ouvertes : ne ratez pas ce
merveilleux rendez-vous qui durant toute l’année 2005, année du
soixantième anniversaire de l’association, va décliner la solidarité
sur tous les tons, avec force passion, imagination et dévouement, car
en attendant une vie meilleure, c’est aujourd’hui qu’il faut tordre
le cou à la misère dans ce monde qui vraiment ne tourne pas rond.

–Boundary_(ID_k03dnKes24RFfMH51kTinQ)–

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
12/17/2004
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://

1) EU-TURKEY: Europe Capitulates without Immediate Conditions
2) Thousands of European Armenian Demonstrate against Turkey-EU Accession
3) Turks Eye Europe for Jobs
4) Gasparian Strikes Back
5) New York Times Journalist Skews the Truth about the Lives of Young
Armenians
6) Former ARS Sponsored Student Gives the ARS a Boost
7) AYF New Jersey “Arsen” Senior Chapter Member Wins Afghanistan’s First
Marathon
8) ANC Mixer Attracts Community Leaders
9) Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on EU’s Door
10) Irritants II
11) Armenian Youth Protest at Netherlands Consulate

1) EU-TURKEY: Europe Capitulates without Immediate Conditions

“These were not negotiations; this was surrender. The idea of an integrated
Europe has been seriously compromised”

BRUSSELS–The European Council, in a meeting on Friday in Brussels, voted to
open discussions, without any preconditions, on Turkey’s future admission to
the European Union. The process is set to begin on October 3, 2005.

Debates preceding the European Council vote were heated, with Turkey’s
failure to recognize Cyprus being the primary obstacle. The specific point of
contention was the Turkish Prime Minister’s refusal to sign a draft Customs
Agreement on Friday between Turkey and the ten new members of the European
Union. In the end, the European Council yielded to Turkish demands,
agreeing to
postpone this signature until sometime before next October.

The draft EU entry terms Turkey has agreed to dictate the following:
Turkey must sign a customs accord extending to all EU members, including
Cyprus; the accord must be signed by the start of entry talks, proposed for
October 2005; membership talks will be open-ended; there is no guarantee of
full membership if conditions are not met; if negotiations do fail, Europe
will
not turn its back on Turkey; Turkey must continue with political and economic
reforms; some safeguards may remain over migration of workers from Turkey.

A Turkish official quoted Erdogan as saying at one point: “You are choosing
600,000 Greeks (Cypriots) over 70 million Turks, and I cannot explain this to
my people.”

The Council decided to open talks with Turkey despite the fact that Turkey
fell short of meeting the clearly identified expectations of the European
Parliament, as adopted in a resolution this past Wednesday. Among these are
calls for Turkey’s recognition of the Armenian genocide, recognition of an
independent Cyprus, progress on the Kurdish question, and human rights
concerns. Significantly, European Council members did not even raise the
Parliament’s recommendations at their meeting.

In a dramatic development that lowers the bar for Turkey’s eventual
acceptance
into the Union, the Council abandoned its traditional consensus model, in
which
one nation could essentially veto Turkey’s membership. In its place, they
stipulated that fully one third of the EU member states would need to object
before negotiations are halted.
“These were not negotiations; this was a surrender. The idea of an integrated
Europe has been seriously compromised,” declared Laurent
Leylekian, Executive Director of the European Armenian Federation. “This
unfortunate result is due to the weakness of the European Union’s political
structures and the failure of leadership on the part of European heads of
state
in standing up to Ankara’s inflexibility and outright rejection of European
values.”
“We are, of course, gratified that our efforts over the last several years
have successfully placed the Armenian genocide and Turkey’s blockade of
Armenia
on the agenda of the highest levels of discussions concerning Turkey’s
possible
acceptance into the European Union. However, in light of the failure of
European leaders to stand up against Turkey’s aggressive and denialist
government, we call on citizens of the European Union to safeguard Europe’s
values through the exercise their democratic rights.” added Leylekian.

2) Thousands of European Armenian Demonstrate against Turkey-EU Accession

BRUSSELS (Combined Sources)–Thousands of Europeans of Armenian origin
demonstrated during a European Union summit in Brussels on Friday calling on
Turkey to admit to its genocide against Armenians.
The protesters, who arrived from throughout 10 European countries
specifically for the gathering outside EU headquarters, insisted such an
acknowledgment must be a precondition for Turkey to begin talks on joining the
EU.
“We wish to let the 25 EU countries now gathered know that citizens of
Armenian extraction want Turkey to acknowledge genocide as a precondition for
opening membership negotiations,” said one of the protest organizers.
Busloads of demonstrators arrived from Paris, while planes were chartered
to ferry in others from around Europe.
Speakers addressing the crowd included Garo Hovsepian, mayor of a district
of the French Mediterranean city of Marseille. He said a delegation had been
received here by the Dutch, who currently preside over the EU.
Meanwhile in Armenia, more than 200 young people demonstrated outside the
European Union Commission’s office in the capital Yerevan.
“European countries must not weaken because of false reforms in Turkey and
must not integrate into their ranks a country that committed the great crime
against humanity, genocide,” they declared in a letter to the commission
office.
“In agreeing to start negotiations, European countries are taking on
responsibility for this crime,” it added.
France, in 2001, became the third European Union nation to pass a measure
describing the 1915-1917 Ottoman Empire massacres of Armenians as genocide.
The European Parliament, in 1987, adopted a resolution which stated that
the
“tragic events of 1915-1917 against the Armenians based on Ottoman territory
constitute a genocide” according to the United Nations definition.

3) Turks Eye Europe for Jobs

(Bloomberg)–Almost half the respondents in a poll of 1,326 Turkish people in
20 Turkish cities said they would like to work in another European Union
country should Turkey become a member of the bloc, Stern magazine reported.
Twenty percent of the people surveyed between Nov. 8-19 by Nuremberg-based
Gesellschaft fuer Konsumforschung said they would like to work in Germany
while
29 percent said they would like to work in another EU country. Of those
wishing
to work in Germany, 71 percent would like to bring their family, the poll
showed, Stern said in an e-mailed statement.
Seventy-six percent of the respondents said they want Turkey to join the
EU, 42 percent said Germans would like Turkey to become a member, and 38
percent said Germans are opposed to Turkey’s membership. Stern said the
poll is
representative of 65 percent of Turkish people living in cities. Its margin of
error is 5 percent.

4) Gasparian Strikes Back

YEREVAN (Armenpress)–Armenia again stressed that a “package solution”
must be
sought in resolving the Mountainous Karabagh conflict rather than the
“step-by-step approach,” singled out by Azeri President Ilham Aliyev last
week,
while he expressed doubts about Armenia’s ability to implement independent
policy, saying “Armenia is Russia’s advanced post in South Caucasus.”
“Armenia’s position concerning the Karabagh negotiations is clear and
hasn’t changed. We once again assure that negotiations in Prague were based on
the package solution, and we are ready to continue them as we have stated many
times,” said Armenia’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamlet Gasparian. “If the
Azerbaijani side… is confused and doesn’t know with whom to hold the
negotiations, we will again have to point to Stepanakert. We hope they know
where Mountainous Karabagh is situated.”
While the “package solution” proposes settling key problems, including
status, security guarantees, and troop withdrawal, with a single,
comprehensive
agreement, the “step-by-step” approach
calls for Armenia to surrender specific buffer zones to Azerbaijan, in
exchange
of deployment of international peacekeepers in Mountainous Karabagh.

5) New York Times Journalist Skews the Truth about the Lives of Young
Armenians

Quite a stir has developed in response to Susan Sach’s article, Young
Armenians Puzzle over Their Homeland, published in both The New York Times and
International Herald Tribune, and was rerun in Asbarez on December 11.
It all began with an announcement on an Armenian internet-forum on
November 4,
about a New York Times journalist who had arrived in Armenia to find out how
the Armenian youth live. “She just wishes to communicate in a natural
environment,” read the posting.
For Sachs, the natural environment was apparently a smoky corner of the Red
Bull bar, a favorite hangout for university students. The meeting was planned
and conducted there.
Participants met Sachs, talked about a variety of issues, then forgot about
her fairly soon.
The peace broke in the December 9 issue of the New York Times, bearing the
rather depressing title: “For Young Armenians, A Promised Land without
Promise.” The article was also reprinted in the International Herald Tribune
under the title “Young Armenians Puzzled Over their Homeland.”
Sachs, incidentally, works as an Istanbul correspondent for The New York
Times.
Zara Amatuni, 21, one of the students who participated in the
forum, is
quoted in the article as saying, “We can fit in anywhere…The only place we
can’t is Armenia.”
Amatuni, however, surprised when the article hit, said Sachs “omitted all the
good that was said and left only what was interesting to her. I said I
would do
my best to stay here because it is my country. Moreover, a lot of improvements
have already taken place. But she did not publish that statement.” Amatuni,
who
has been debating about the article on forum, said the worst
part
is that Sachs agreed with her on every point, but later convoluted the story
and chose to ignore the central topics covered during their discussion.
In her attempt to depict totally desperate Armenian youth who are ready to
seek a future anywhere but in Armenia, Sachs introduces 22-year-old programmer
Viktor Aghababov, who plans to travel to Moscow in search of better luck,
revealing that his monthly salary is $650.
To the average American or European who has no idea about the cost of living
in Armenia, the figure is dismal. In reality, however, a $650 salary in
Armenia
is more than enough to maintain a relatively high standards of
life–especially
for a twenty-two year old.
Aghababov simply calls the article a “provocation,” and questions why Sachs
did not report that all the participants particularly expressed that
Armenia is
developing.
The interviewees, who say they did not know their photos and names would be
published, say their rights were violated and plan to submit a letter of
complaint to the New York Times editorial office.

6) Former ARS Sponsored Student Gives the ARS a Boost

–“I will never be able to repay the ARS,” said Ajemian.

GLENDALE–The Armenian Relief Society (ARS) of Western US Regional Executive
received an encouraging boost just in time for the holidays. An exciting
office
dedication at the ARS regional headquarters in Glendale, along with an elegant
luncheon, with over 400 members in attendance, marked a memorable end to a
great year.
As a former ARS sponsored student, Abraham Ajemian, with his wife Antaram,
returned the favor by sponsoring one of the ARS offices. Last May, as Mr. and
Mrs. Ajemian accompanied ARS members on a trip to ARS project sites in Armenia
and Karabagh, they were inspired to do more for the ARS, in addition to the
eight orphans they were already sponsoring through the ARS Sponsor-A-Child
program.
The ARS General Accountant/Controller of the Western Region, Jasik Jarahian,
arranged for the sponsorship of one of the offices located on the second floor
of the ARS Western Region headquarters building in Glendale. The generous
donation of $20,000 was officially made during a luncheon, with ARS Regional
Executive Vice-Chair, Sona Madarian, calling it “a day of celebration.”
Speaking on behalf of the Regional Executive, Madarian said, “There were,
there are, and there will be those who believe in the ARS, because they
appreciate the ARS’ accomplishments. Our work speaks for itself.”
Prelate Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, along with parish priest of St.
Mary
Church in Glendale Rev. Ardag Demirjian, officiated the blessing of the newly
refurbished office on December 5.
As Vice Chair of the ARS Central Executive Hasmig Derderian, along with
Madarian, placed the ARS emblem and tri-color ribbons on the couple, the
sponsors cut the ribbon to the office. In attendance were ARF Central
Committee
representative Karo Khanjian, Chair of the Armenia Fund West Coast Board Maria
Mehranian, Hamazkayin Cultural and Educational Association’s Regional
Executive
representative Hrayr Shirikian, representatives of the Homenetmen Ararat
Chapter, as well as over 100 former sponsors, current and former members of
ARS
Regional Executives, and current members of ARS chapter executives.

7) AYF New Jersey “Arsen” Senior Chapter Member Wins Afghanistan’s First
Marathon

US soldier Mike Baskin, a senior member of the AYF NJ “Arsen” Chapter, won
Afghanistan’s first marathon on December 12. The AYF, along with the rest of
the country, is proud both of Mike’s accomplishment and duty to his country.

TIRIN KOT, Afghanistan (AP)–A US soldier won Afghanistan’s first marathon on
December 12, battling the country’s thin mountain air for more than three
hours
before crossing the finish line, where he promptly burst into tears
remembering
four comrades killed in recent fighting.
A total of 184 soldiers and civilians working for the US military took
part in
the race at Firebase Ripley, a remote camp near Tirin Kot in central Uruzgan
province, facing high altitude and a bumpy track as well as the threat of
attack.
Plastic palm trees among the gun stores and bunkers near the course lightened
the mood for the runners, who the Afghan National Olympic Committee said were
competing in the first marathon in the war-ravaged country’s history.
But the darker side of their mission resurfaced as the winner labored across
the finish line after five long laps of the airstrip to cheers and handshakes
in 3 hours, 12 minutes and 15 seconds–an impressive time for the conditions.
“I just thought about those four guys when I crossed, that they won’t be
going
home with us, and it kind of hit me,” 1st Lt. Mike Baskin, a native of
Santiago, California, told an Associated Press reporter.
The race, which ended nearly three hours before 20,000 people began the
Honolulu marathon, was the idea of members of the US Army’s 2nd Battalion, 5th
Infantry Regiment, based at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, who didn’t want to
miss out on the competition.
The unit, part of the 25th Infantry Division, is operating in one of
Afghanistan’s most hostile areas. It suffered its latest casualties when a
bomb
ripped through a patrol near Deh Rawood, another town in Uruzgan, on Nov. 24,
killing two soldiers. A similar attack killed two other soldiers in October.
Helicopters flew troops in from across Afghanistan for the race. Before the
start, the assembled runners cheered as two military jets thundered low over
the base, which lies 4,500 feet above sea level, and into the surrounding
mountains.
The competitors, shorn of their guns and flak jackets, toiled around the
circuit in shorts and T-shirts under cloudy skies and in temperatures of about
13 Celsius (55 Fahrenheit).
Some of the course was gravel, but most was covered by fine dust that a rare
overnight shower had turned to mud in patches. Its single hill was dubbed
Diamond Head for the Honolulu landmark, an extinct volcano.
The first woman to finish was Spc. Jill Stevens, a 21-year-old from Utah,
whose helicopter battalion is deployed at Bagram Air Base near Kabul.
All 153 finishers were presented with the same medals, certificates
and
black sponsored T-shirts as their Honolulu counterparts, and their times
are to
be recorded and listed in the same booklet.

8) ANC Mixer Attracts Community Leaders

GLENDALE–Over 90 community leaders and elected officials gathered at The
Cove
Thursday evening for a mixer hosted by the Armenian National Committee,
Glendale Chapter. The event provided guests an opportunity to meet the new
Executive Director, Alina Azizian, as well as the 2004-2005 board members.
Guests included State Senator Jack Scott, representatives from Congressman
Adam Schiff’s office and Assemblyman Dario Frommer’s office, Mayor Bob
Yousefian, and Councilmembers Rafi Manoukian, Frank Quintero, and Dave
Weaver.
Other guests included: Glendale Unified School District Superintendent Dr.
Michael Escalante, GUSD Assistant Superintendent Alice Petrossian, Glendale
Fire Chief Christopher Gray, Assistant Fire Chief Donald Biggs, Assistant
Police Chief Ronald DePompa, City Attorney Scott Howard, City Manager James
Starbird, Glendale Teachers Association President Sandra Fink, Armenian
National Committee of America Western Region Executive Director Ardashes
Kassakhian, Glendale Unified School District Board chairman Greg Krikorian,
and
board members Chakib Sambar and Pam Ellis, Glendale Community College Board of
Trustees members Ara Najarian and Anita Quinonez Gabrielian, and numerous
commissioners from the various city commissions.
“During the holiday season, it’s difficult to get so many busy people in the
same room,” commented Azizian, “but we had a fantastic turnout. It was
great to
meet the people that help make this city so wonderful. We have a great
coalition of community leaders working together to make this city even better,
and I look forward to working with them.”
Board members also spent the evening informing the community about the five
sub-committees within the ANC Glendale Chapter. Board Chairman Pierre
Chraghchian noted, “This year we have established five separate committees to
handle fundraising, media relations, community relations, elections, and
Genocide commemoration.” With the busy election season around the corner and a
new director to run the operations, the five subcommittees will play a key
role
in the organization.
Alina Azizian was appointed in November as the organization’s first Executive
Director. The Armenian National Committee, Glendale Chapter, is located at 721
South Glendale Ave. in Glendale. You can reach ANC Glendale at
818.243.3444. To
find out more about the subcommittees (or to join), please email
[email protected].

9) Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on EU’s Door

BY SKEPTIK SINIKIAN

This last week has been an action packed one vis-à-vis Turkey’s attempts to
storm the gates of the European Union. The media wishes the public to believe
that this is an issue of a Christian Boys Club wanting to admit the Bad Boy
Muslim–painting this issue with a brush that is reminiscent of private clubs
in America denying African-Americans or women access during the pre-civil
rights era. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Reporters, like their readership, are like children. They like a good
story. If the news isn’t interesting, they have to find an angle that is. The
media and particularly the American media try to portray this as an issue
where
Turkey is this poor misunderstood child that has always lived in the
neighborhood but the other kids just don’t want to play with him. Turkey sits
inside his house, staring out the window at the kids playing soccer (or foot
boll in Europe) in the park, and when he runs out to join them, he’s ridiculed
and told to go home. (Cue the violins…wait for it…) Poor, sad Turkey. (wow!)
What will Turkey do? All it wants to do is play with the other children.
This is the story the media wants you to buy. This is the after school
special that wrenches people’s hearts. “The must-see political issue of the
winter” –European Times. “Turkey’s performance as the lonely outcast has EU
written all over it”–USA Tomorrow. “This tale of hope and courage is perfect
for the Holiday Season and reminds all we need to be more tolerant. Two thumbs
up, way up!” –State Department and Ebert.
Well, sometimes real life is scarier than anything Stephen King can
cook
up. Here’s the story that you won’t hear. You know that kid that lives in
that
house at the end of the street? Yeah, that kid who just sits there and stares
at us from his window and never goes to school? Well, you know why the other
kids never let him play with them? Sit down and let me tell you the real
story
of what happened–the Nightmare on Anatolia Street.
Years ago, there was a family that lived in that house. This was before
anyone had even moved into this neighborhood and before we had built the
bridge
across the creek that connects us to them. Well, that house has been there for
a long, long time. And actually, that mansion-sized house there was the
site of
about three or four different houses…at least until they came. Everyone liked
the family who lived there. The Armens were a polite family. They were hard
working, industrious, always went to church, and never bothered anybody. Then,
one day, a new family moved in from across town…way across town. They called
themselves the Seljuks or Ossmans or something, but nowadays they go by the
name Turk. Well, the Armens didn’t want the Turks moving in but these guys
were
from a rough part of town. In fact, the reason they even moved to Anatolia
Street was because they were pushed out by some rough gang called the Mongols.
They were pretty pissed off when they moved out here and they took it out on
the poor Armens. Pretty soon, they’d moved into the Armen house too and made
the Armens into their butlers, maids, chauffeurs, and gardeners. If it wasn’t
for the Armens, that house would have collapsed. One day, they tried to even
move into Mr. Austria’s house, but the neighborhood council met and pushed
them
back to their original property borders.
The Turks tried to fit in with the rest of the neighborhood, but the
more they tried, the more they stuck out like sore thumbs. There was that one
annual block party many years ago when the Turks came over to Balkans house
and
allegedly tried to kidnap their youngest son or daughter. I’m not sure about
the details now. It was so long ago. But the point is that the Turks never
quite fit in.
Well, over time, because the neighborhood kept growing, there came a
point where all of the bad things that the Turks had done to the Armens were
forgotten. The poor Armens had become so used to being butlers and gardeners
that hardly anyone, except the old timers, even really remembered that the
Armens used to own that property. Every now and then one of the Armen’s
younger kids would move away from the house never to come back. They’d tell us
stories of horrible abuse and domestic violence, but no one wanted to rock the
boat by going over there and telling the Turks how to live their lives.
Then things got really bad. One day, while the garbage man was
collecting
trash, he saw what he thought was a bloody rag in the trash and it looked like
human blood. He decided to call the cops. And so the cops showed up and asked
the Turks a bunch of questions. But in the end, there wasn’t enough
evidence to
do anything about. Plus, like I said, this was a quiet neighborhood and
everyone had their own problems to deal with.
Every now and then, when I’d walk home from school and walk past that
house, I’d see ol’ Mrs. Armen either watering the lawn or taking out the
trash.
She had this sad look on her face. And she was always, and I mean ALWAYS
bruised. She’d look at me with these eyes that seemed to call out for help,
but
I was a kid and there’s nothing I could have done. But after what happened a
few years later, I wish I had. I wish someone had.
It was around the time when things were really bad in the neighborhood.
The Kërmans weren’t getting along with the Francois family and there was
always
bickering going on between one family or another. The Turks had their own
problems. Mr. Turk had lost his job, three of his sons had moved back home
from
college, and were helping him get his house in order, and the Armens were
being
beaten worse than before. Then one night, we heard a series of blood curdling
screams and everyone was woken from their sleep. The screams went on for a
good
hour and everyone rushed out of their homes to see what had happened. On the
front lawn of the Turk Household was Mr. Armen, Mrs. Armen, and their 9 month
old baby sprawled across the lawn, both bodies bruised as usual but unusually
bloody and from what we could tell, the entire family lay there lifeless. Mr.
Turk stood over them with his hands covered in blood, a look of insane rage in
his eyes and kept staring around at everyone. Some say it was only a matter of
time before something happened. Others think the Armens were stupid to stick
around when all the signs were already there. But can you blame a family for
staying in their own household? Wasn’t it our fault that we didn’t act when we
saw all the signs? The cops came by and arrested Mr. Turk. His sons escaped
but
were hunted down in the following months by vengeful relatives of the Armens.
The cops kept Mr. Turk for questioning but somehow he was able to post bail.
Over time, the case dragged on and on and after another disaster hit the
neighborhood and another after that, no one seemed to even remember what had
happened on that tragic night. Or at least no one wanted to remember because
what Mr. Turk did was pure evil, but what the rest of us didn’t do to stop it
was even worse.
Some say that the Turk has the rest of the Armen family members still
buried in his backyard. No one, not even the cops are willing to go over and
reopen the investigation. Every time I walk by that house, I know that a
murderer lives there. And even though all the heads of the different
households
will politely nod their heads in greeting when they see Mr. Turk or his
wife or
his poor lonely child in the street, at night, when they are home with their
own children, and they’re tucking them away in their beds, they tell them
“Stay
away from that Turk house. Those people are murderers. They’re not like us.”

Skeptik Sinikian would like to be your neighbor or roommate. If you don’t
drink or smoke and keep to yourself, contact him at [email protected] or
visit his blog at

10) Irritants II

By Garen Yegparian

Today we’ll hit some more items that leave me peeved!

Why don’t we hold “louder” remembrances of the Sumgait massacres? I’ll bet
you
can’t even remember the month and year they occurred! Such activities would
certainly keep Azerbaijan’s diplomatic corps and their hirelings occupied with
denial instead of being able to act preemptively to Armenia’s detriment.

Why don’t we create more of a fuss over Azerbaijan’s disruptions of the
ceasefire? This too would keep Azerbaijan’s representatives skittering like
cockroaches to do damage control.

Why didn’t we picket or otherwise counteract the Holocaust memorial held
in LA
last April featuring that despicable, genocide-denying-Holocaust-survivor of a
Congressman from the bay area, Rep. Tom Lantos? There were full page ads in
the
LA Times with that cretin’s picture. I shudder as I remember it!

Why is the Soviet spelling of our language still in use both in Armenia and
diaspora? That divisive, orthographically destructive obscenity should be sent
off to join the dinosaurs!

Why don’t we CELEBRATE, and yes I mean exactly that, the assassination of
Talaat Pasha and his ilk? Imagine. We’d be drinking toasts all night to
Shiragian, Tehlirian, Torlakian, Yerganian, and the others. It’d be great!

Why do we keep purchasing massive quantities of made-in-Turkey products? I
know, I know, this is a rerun, but well worth bringing up again because
it’s so
abhorrent!

Why are we not cynical about the publication of General Antranig’s biography
in Turkish earlier? Is the translation true to Chelabian’s original? Did the
author pre-approve it? How could that happen when Antranig is one of the
biggest ogres in Turkish eyes? What’s up?

Why do we tolerate vermin such as those Armenians who are willing to become
willing tools of Turkish and American diplomacy by lending their names to TARC
(Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission) or anything like it that might
come as recently reported by Harut Sassounian. These people are traitors, pure
and simple. We ought to shun them completely. The let’s see what kind of
legitimacy they can bring to such debauched initiatives.

Enough, more in a few months.

11) Armenian Youth Protest at Netherlands Consulate

LOS ANGELES–Over 100 Armenian American youth protested at the Netherlands
Consulate General Offices on Thursday, December 17. The protest was in
reaction
to the impending European Union accession talks with the Republic of Turkey.
The Dutch currently hold the six-month EU presidency. Official representatives
of the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) met with the Consul General of the
Netherlands and expressed their opposition to Turkey’s possible membership in
the EU. In an official letter, the AYF outlined numerous human rights
violations by Turkey and specifically called on European leaders to hold
Turkey
accountable for perpetrating genocide against Armenians between the years of
1915-23. Spanning across two blocks of Wilshire Blvd. during the afternoon
rush
hour and holding placards with various slogans such as “No EU for Turkey” and
“First Justice, then EU,” the protesters joined in the international Armenian
effort to voice opposition to Turkish membership in the EU and to bring into
the limelight Turkey’s gross violations of basic human rights.

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Loss of school
By Hovhannes Yeranian

Yerkir
17 Dec 04

Last representative of the Armenian classic theater, Khoren Abrahamian
has passed away. The brief description of his of his acting history
would be accurate play, perfect match to scenic psychology and role.

It was a school that the actor had inherited from his teacher,
Armen Gulakian. A school that needed continuation, but found no
organizer. Today we can only learn the school by studying Khoren
Abrahamian’s play records.

Some ten days before his death, Abrahamian said in an interview
that he needed a studio, where he would train over ten gifted young
people. Who was he applying to? Neither he knew, nor do we.

Recently, the press commented on the fact that Abrahamian’s last
service at the opera house was followed by a concert show. We believe
artificial funerals should be ended and Armenian sons and daughters
should be laid in the Grigor Lusavorich church, where people can come
and pass last respects.