Author: Zakarian Garnik

Pictorial Gazette, CT
June 29 2004

>From Armenia, a novel product

By: Jason Fell 06/29/2004

ESSEX – “It’s really amazing how a couple bucks and a little
confidence can change the lives of people that live across the
world,” says Peter Kwasniewski.

He should know. Kwasniewski has dreamed up a business that not only
benefits the owners, but a number of families in a mountain village
in Armenia.
Peter just launched Peter K Designs, an online business retailing
designer belts and dog collars, which are hand-stitched by Armenian
women from the village of Noembrayan, in the country’s northeast
corner. The unusual partnership was conceived after Peter and his
wife Stephanie returned from a two-year stint in Armenia with the
Peace Corps.
It happened like this. While working with the villagers – Peter as a
business consultant and Stephanie as an English teacher-trainer –
they noticed that a number of women and girls were exceptionally
skilled in the art of petit needlepoint and embroidery, which is
similar to cross-stitching only the stitches are much smaller. The
women would try to sell 6-by-11-inch embroidery designs – which took
about 150 hours to make – to foreign merchants who occasionally
traveled through the village looking for craft items. If the women
were lucky, they’d get $4 for each item. Sometimes the merchants
would just take the work, promising to pay later but would never
return.
Armenia is a country about the size of Maryland and is located in
southwestern Asia, just east of Turkey. Since gaining independence
from the former Soviet Union in 1991, villages across the country
have been struggling to maintain normal living standards.
“When the Soviets left Armenia, they took with them the knowledge of
running everyday operations,” Peter explained. “The Armenians didn’t
know anything because they never had to. Everything was done for
them.”
Noembrayan, where Peter and Stephanie worked, is located near the
border with Azerbaijan. The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan,
over control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, has also contributed to
the country’s economic and social decline. According to recent
studies, 50 percent of the population lives below the poverty line,
while the unemployment rate is about 20 percent.
“There’s a lot of anger and frustration there,” Stephanie said,
“especially with the men. Many of the jobs available now, culturally,
the men are not allowed to do. Men can’t run a shop or work in a
restaurant. Many sit around the village all day or play backgammon. A
number of men have moved out of the country, mainly to Russia or the
United States, in hopes of finding work. The women are left trying to
provide for their families.”
Peter and Stephanie were impressed not only by the craftsmanship of
Noembrayan women but also their strong work ethic.
“These women would do anything to make money,” Peter said. “Somehow I
knew this was an unfinished part of my life. I knew their struggles.
I wanted to do something to not only ensure they wouldn’t be
exploited but also to put a significant amount of money in their
pockets.”
And help is precisely what he’s doing. Even before they returned to
Essex, Peter and Stephanie began selling the embroidered rectangles
to friends in the United States, who framed them as works of art. The
couple soon discovered, however, that the market for these was
limited. So they decided to develop a new business strategy.
Friends Bob and Eva Potts introduced Peter to Cecil Lyon, owner of
Leather Man Ltd. in Old Saybrook, producer of a nationally known line
of embroidered belts. Lyon suggested having the embroidery put on
belts. Peter liked the idea, feeling belts had better commercial
possibilities, because the designs were unique.
Having maintained relationships with the villagers, Peter employs 85
women – he hopes to someday employ 200 to 300 – to make the
needlepoint for the belts and dog collars. He supplies them with the
materials and pays them for their work once he receives it. Then
Peter will purchase the finishing materials, the leather straps and
brass findings and buckles, from Leather Man. Finally, all components
will be sent to Cindy Layton of Cindy’s Loft in Deep River to be sewn
together.
“Since I haven’t sold anything yet, I’ve fronted a lot of my own
savings to pay these women,” Peter said with a laugh. “But I know the
women are happy to have the work. They’re competing with each other
since the pay is by far better than what they’re used to.”
The belts and dog collars will be available exclusively online. They
come in a variety of motifs, including cities of the world, golfing
and sailing and can be monogrammed with up to three initials.
According to Peter, the industry standard for embroidered belts is 17
stitches per inch, but his are 24 stitches per inch, or 576 stitches
per square inch.
“These belts are finer than other belts available now,” Peter said.
“The detail is fabulous.”
Although the Web site is up and running, the belts and collars have
not yet been finished. Peter hopes to be able to start filling orders
within a couple weeks. He expects to sell each belt for $165 and each
dog collar for $60.
“If I’m helping these women to save money to send their children to
college or to put food on the table, that makes me happy,” Peter
said. “I’m hopeful this will start working out very soon.”
For further information about Peter K Designs, either call 767-3176
or log onto

The Ledger, FL
June 26 2004

Winter Haven Boxer Will Compete in Athens for Haiti

By DURWARD BUCK
Ledger Correspondent

WINTER HAVEN
As though hit with a stiff punch to the jaw, Andre Berto was stunned.

The 20-year-old Winter Haven resident did not react immediately when
an arbitrator’s decision stripped him of the opportunity to compete
for a slot on the U.S. Olympic boxing team for this summer’s Games.

Right after the decision in Cleveland on Feb. 27, Berto flew to
Houston to spar with professional welterweight champion and friend
Winky Wright of St. Petersburg.

“When I got off the plane and saw all the boxers and all the people
there who are my friends, I just broke down,” said Berto, known to
friends as Mike but in boxing circles as Andre because that’s the way
his boxing entry forms were filled out.

“I cried my heart out,” he continued. “It was the most stressful week
of my life. After preparing for this for 10 years, they told me I
couldn’t fight in the trials. It was a double-elimination tournament,
so why didn’t they let me keep on fighting?”

The question need not be asked anymore.

Berto is going to be able to live out his Olympic dream after all. He
just won’t be doing it with the U.S. team.

Following his disqualification from the U.S. team, Berto’s camp
sought help from Haiti. Berto, who is a Polk Community College
student, is the son of Haitian immigrants, father Dieuseul and mother
Wilnise. His parents moved from Miami to Winter Haven when he was 10.

Because his parents were born in Haiti, Berto was granted dual
citizenship as an American and Haitian. He traveled to Tijuana,
Mexico, to fight in the 42-country Americas Olympic Qualifying
Tournament — this time as a member of Haiti’s team.

The 152-pound welterweight earned a spot in the Olympics by reaching
the tournament finals in early March.

In a twist, Vanes Martroysian, a 19-year-old standout from Armenia
who earned U.S. citizenship so he could box for the United States,
defeated Berto, 24-21, in the final of the Americas qualifier.

That matters little now.

Berto, who beat Martroysian in the second round of the U.S. team
trials in February before the result was erased, is scheduled to go
to Athens, Greece, in August as Haiti’s one-man boxing team.

Ranked No. 1 in the United States as an amateur welterweight, Berto
was a heavy favorite in the U.S. team trials. But his ranking didn’t
carry any weight with the referee, who disqualified him with 27
seconds left in his opening match against Juan McPherson of
Cleveland.

This set off a wild series of appeals, counter-appeals, two more
appeals and finally the binding decision by an arbitrator in Federal
Court — the one that led to Berto’s disqualification and the tearful
breakdown in Texas.

“It was 10 years of training and fighting down the drain,” Berto
said.

It was the most talked-about fight at the trials.

“We drew the toughest guy we could have in the first fight,” said
Tony Morgan, Berto’s trainer and coach at Winter Haven’s Police
Athletic League gym.

Morgan said the 5-foot-9 Berto won the first three rounds of the
four-round fight by a significant margin.

“McPherson’s corner knew his only chance was to take Mike out, and he
was standing when the bell rang for the fourth round,” Morgan said.
“He came charging across the ring, but Mike met him with a solid
right hand that really hurt him. McPherson clinched, but the ref
broke it up.

“Then with 30 to 40 seconds left, Berto caught him again with a hard
right to the head and McPherson clinched around Berto’s waist and
walked him clear across the ring, with Berto trying to shake him off.
Berto finally spun him off and McPherson fell on the ring — on his
butt — and lay motionless.

“The guy’s corner was yelling for him to stay down,” Morgan said.
“The ref called it a foul and disqualified Berto. He could have taken
away points, but he didn’t.”

After looking at a video of the fight, Morgan filed a protest and won
it. Berto fought again the next day, beating Martroysian in a
decision.

But McPherson’s representatives filed a counter-protest — a puzzling
decision because the mild concussion he sustained in the fight
prevented him from getting into the ring again for at least 30 days.
The issue was finally settled by the arbitrator.

However, the arbitrator couldn’t stop Berto from chasing his dream
when Haiti came to the rescue.

“It was like I had another breath, a new life,” said Berto, who will
be the first boxer from Polk County to compete in the Olympics. “I
think of it as such a blessing.”

The “blessing” has Berto refocused. The Olympics are fast approaching
and he is in training.

He wakes up each day at 7 a.m. and runs 2 miles at a brisk pace. He
eats breakfast, then works out with weights for two hours.

After a noon lunch, he begins again. He hits bags, does concentration
drills with big mitts, does movement and agility drills and then
spars. All in all, the training lasts five to six hours daily.

At the end of a day, he’ll watch either a movie or a boxing video
until 9 p.m. Then it’s bedtime.

The training intensifies in the final month before a fight. The
running will increase to three miles a day and six miles once a week.

He’ll continue to spar with Wright for as many as nine rounds.

The reward is worth the price, Berto says. And the pride is boiling
over with his parents, friends and, of course, the country he is
representing.

Haitian Olympic Committee President Gady Prophete was eager to have
Andre Berto represent his country.

“They are so happy,” said Dieuseul Berto, who has acted as an
interpreter for his son’s camp and Haitian organizers. “They have
never had a boxer like this before.”

Berto certainly has credentials. He is a United States Golden Glove
champion and was a semifinalist in the World Cup Boxing
Championships.

Despite their success as a duo, Morgan and Berto have a friendly
disagreement over just how much success they’ve had.

“His record book, with all his fights in it, was lost,” Morgan said.
“I’d say he has won around 100 fights and lost 10.”

Berto says with a smile: “I think it is more than that — maybe
120-10.”

Whatever the numbers are, one thing is for sure — Berto has come a
long way. He was a kid who was so aggressive at age 10 that his
family took him to a psychiatrist because he was getting into so much
trouble at school.

His fiery temper was channeled into sports, especially boxing.

As for his home life, the Berto family practices many of its Haitian
traditions.

“In my home we speak French, Creole and English,” Berto said. “In
high school I took Spanish,” he added, laughing.

He should probably consider brushing up on some Greek because that’s
where the next great moments of his life are likely to take place.

“I always have loved the Olympics, and I watched them when I was
younger and I dreamed of one day going,” Berto said. “But I never
really thought it was actually going to happen. It was just a dream.”

It’s not just a dream anymore.

Leading his new dream list: standing on the gold medal stand at the
birthplace of the Olympic Games.

RIA Novosti
June 23, 2004

ESTABLISHMENT JOINTLY WITH RUSSIA OF ANTI-TERRORIST CENTRE IN
SOUTHERN CAUCASUS PROPOSED IN GEORGIA

TBILISI, June 23 (RIA Novosti) – A regular round of the
Georgian-Russian consultations on military questions will be held in
Moscow on June 23-24.

As Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported, the Georgian side
is ready to propose new initiatives, which can speed up the process
of the withdrawal of the Russian military bases from Georgia, to the
Russian counterparts.

Listed among them is establishment of a joint Anti-Terrorist Centre
(ATC) in the Southern Caucasus.

The Georgian delegation will be headed by Deputy Minister of Foreign
Affairs Merab Antadze.

The agreement on withdrawal of four Russian military bases from
Georgia was signed at the summit of the Organisation for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Istanbul in 1999. In keeping with the
accords reached, the Russian side has already dismantled two of its
bases – in Vaziani and Gudauta (Abkhazia).

As for the remaining two Russian bases in Batumi and Akhalkalaki on
the border with Armenia, the Istanbul agreement provides for holding
additional talks between the Georgian and Russian sides to set the
deadline for their withdrawal.

In the Russian side’s opinion, it will take about 11 years to pull
the above-said bases out, whereas the Georgian side believes that
three years are enough for it.

International Herald Tribune

NATO: Why not really make Russia a partner?

Ian Bremmer and Nikolas Gvosdev IHT Tuesday, June 22, 2004

WASHINGTON ‘You’re not our enemies anymore,” Secretary of State
Colin Powell told the Russians last month. Yet two years after the
NATO-Russia Council was unveiled as a new “bridge of security across
Europe,” 47 percent of Russians still consider the North Atlantic
alliance a threat to their national security.

As long as the NATO-Russia partnership remains solely a matter of
declarations and consultations, the opportunity to fundamentally
reshape the security not only of the Euro-Atlantic community but the
entire Eurasian land mass is being missed. Diplomats are squabbling
over four Belgian aircraft flying patrol over the Baltic states,
while real threats percolate along the soft underbelly of Eurasia –
terrorism, organized crime (especially smuggling and the drug trade)
and unstable states.

NATO’s primary purpose is to provide security. The alliance is there to
prevent any country – including Russia – from using force to dominate
its neighbors. But it is not NATO’s job to make Russia “disappear”
as an economic power in the region. If the United States wants to
extend a zone of peace and security across Eurasia, NATO cannot be
seen as a lever to keep Russia on the sidelines.

The “Great Game” geopolitical rivalry between Russia and the West
for influence across the Eurasian steppe is over. Russia failed in
its attempt to monopolize the region’s transportation links, and the
construction of the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline is one signal victory. But
Central Asia’s gas reserves are controlled by Gazprom and, as in Soviet
times, will continue to pass through Russian-controlled routes. There
is nothing further to be gained by continuing to compete with Russia.

This is the reality: Moscow has sufficient economic and strategic
leverage to frustrate further Western plans for the region if Russian
interests are not taken into consideration. Russia will continue to
play a critical role in the Caucasus and Central Asia irrespective
of American intent. Cooperation with Russia is the only way forward.

Russia continues to have the most effective network of contacts
in Eurasia. First steps have already been taken in coordinating
intelligence collection, marrying Russia’s human intelligence
capabilities with American technological capacity. Why not build upon
this foundation and create a new security organization, grounded in
the NATO-Russia Council, that would develop joint institutions for
our joint security challenges?

Recent events in Georgia demonstrate how the lack of coordination
between Washington and Moscow can cause serious misunderstandings
and frustrate effective cooperation. When Americans hint that
the real purpose of U.S. forces in Georgia is to combat Russian
influence rather than root out terrorist cells, Moscow responds
with suspicion. Russia has a shared interest with the United States
in promoting a Georgian administration that can effectively crack
down on organized crime and radicals, and it demonstrated this by
helping to end the stand-off between President Mikheil Saakashvili
of Georgia and the defiant leader of Adzharia, Aslan Abashidze.
But cooperation will be limited if Russia believes America’s true
intent is to leverage Russia out of the region altogether.

Too often, security initiatives in Eurasia have had an “us or them”
approach. In the Kyrgyz Republic, both the United States and Russia
maintain military bases, although both ostensibly serve the same
purpose – to prevent the spillover of Islamist terrorism into Central
Asia. Indeed, Russia opened its base at Kant in autumn 2003, its
first post-cold war deployment, in response to the arrival of the
U.S. military. These forces have no mechanism for joint action –
not even the ability to communicate by cellphone.

Creating a joint U.S.-Russia base under the aegis of a NATO-Russia
partnership, a proposal the Kyrgyz president, Askar Akaev, endorses,
could lay the basis for practical cooperation that could then
be extended, both to the countries where Russia has prevailing
influence (such as Armenia) and those seeking greater integration
into Euro-Atlantic structures (such as Georgia, Uzbekistan or even
Azerbaijan). It would send a clear message to all countries in the
region that cooperation with Russia does not jeopardize their progress
to full membership in the Euro-Atlantic community.

It could also pave the way for greater regional stability. Take the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict – if it can be resolved, a major source
of instability and a threat to the export of hydrocarbons from the
Caspian basin would be removed. Given the lack of trust on both sides,
the only effective peacekeeping force would be a joint Russia-NATO
operation – one that could give assurances to both the Armenians
and Azeris. The peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Kosovo – the
first time that Russian and NATO forces collaborated in that manner –
provide a foundation for extending such cooperation.

The American ambassador to Russia, Alexander Vershbow, has declared
that “NATO sees Russia as a partner.” If that is the case, then it
is time to institutionalize cooperation between Russia and the West
to deal with common threats.

Ian Bremmer is president of the Eurasia Group and a senior fellow at
the World Policy Institute. Nikolas Gvosdev is executive editor of
The National Interest. NATO looks east

WE HAVE BUILT FOUNDATIONS OF DEMOCRACY, FM SAYS

ArmenPress
June 18 2004

YEREVAN, JUNE 18, ARMENPRESS: Armenian foreign minister Vartan Oskanian
said today the main task set by Armenia is to build a democratic,
economically prospering state, living in peace. Speaking at he first
meeting of the Armenian Assembly of Parliamentary Friendship, uniting
Armenians, elected to various countries’ legislative bodies, Oskanian
said Armenia has progressed in all these directions since restoring
its independence, reaching a point requiring additional efforts to
continue and consolidate the progress.

Oskanian said despite weighty achievements on the road of building
a truly democratic state, Armenia is still half-way from this
destination, having passed only the easiest part of it.

According to the minister, the two-digit economic growth rates of
the recent years is not yet sufficient to have a positive impact on
the lives of all segments of the population. “This means we have to
exercise greater efforts year after year to be able to maintain the
onward trend,” he said.

In a reference to Karabagh problem Oskanian said negotiations go on
to reach a final peace deal with Azerbaijan. “Armenia has entered in
a stage that it needs every kind of assistance. We have built the
foundations on which we have to construct our home of democracy,
economic development and peace,” he said.

Single Economic Space, Eurasian community parallel processes – Kazakh leader

Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency, Almaty
18 Jun 04

Astana, 18 June: Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev does not agree
with an opinion on mutual exclusion of the two integration associations
– the Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC) and the Single Economic Space
(SES).

“Both these integration associations do not exclude one another, and
each association is developing in its own way,” the Kazakh president
said speaking at an international forum entitled “Eurasian integration:
tendencies of modern development and challenges of globalization”
in Astana today.

The development of the EAEC and the SES is fitting well into a
multilevel thesis which has different speeds of integration in the
framework of the CIS, Nazarbayev said.

The SES includes Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus.

The EAEC includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and
Tajikistan.

Nazarbayev noted that the EAEC was viable and developing organization
of cooperation of the Eurasian five countries.

“The EAEC countries account for over 80 per cent of external trade
operations and over 60 per cent of customs tariffs have been agreed
in the framework of the CIS,” Nazarbayev said.

At the same time, there are quite a lot of times when we are not
satisfied with the EAEC because we are solving issues slowly which
have to be solved [quickly], Nazarbayev said.

[Passage omitted: The Russian, Belarusian, Armenian, Tajik and Kyrgyz
presidents took part in the forum]

World Armenian Congress head calls for Caucasian dialog
By Dmitry Nezdorovin

ITAR-TASS News Agency
June 15, 2004 Tuesday

SOCHI, June 15 — Dialog must become a token of peace and accord in
the Caucasus, president of the World Armenian Congress Ara Abramyan
said at the 9th Russian press festival in Sochi on Tuesday.

“The interest of the World Armenian Congress in the Krasnodar territory
is not accidental. The territory has the largest Armenian community,
all in all about 500,000 people,” Abramyan said.

“The World Armenian Congress plans to hold an Armenian-Azerbaijani
youth forum in Sochi in October-November with the support of UNESCO.
The young people will discuss what prevents them from being good
neighbors,” he added.

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan
June 14 2004

ARMENIAN DIASPORA CAN NOT DAMAGE US STRATEGIC INTERESTS
[June 14, 2004, 12:54:17]

While the Americans prepare to forthcoming November presidential
elections, ethnic groups existing in the country propagandize their
role, as electorate. And it speaks that in the year of elections,
opportunity of influence of Diasporas grows twice. Ethnic groups
for strengthening the positions take part in pre-election campaign of
candidates financially and morally; try to receive from them guarantees
for the further realization of their interests. What will be the
role of Turkish and Azerbaijan Diaspora in this year elections? The
conversation of correspondent of AzerTAj with the first graduate –
Azerbaijani of the authoritative American Fletcher School of Law and
Diplomacy Elin Suleymanov is on this topic.

– What you can tell, basing on your experience in the USA, about
influence of ethnic minority on the policy in this country?

– As a whole, the democratic system in America is arranged so,
that in lobbyism not only the ethnic groups, but even the groups
incorporated around of certain interests here can be engaged. For
example, there are separate lobbyists of businessmen, workers of
education, public health services. For us, interesting and in some
cases dangerous is the influence of ethnic groups on foreign policy.
The general influence of ethnic minority on the policy on the USA
is positive. But, unfortunately, the Armenian Diaspora, opposing
Azerbaijan, is one of the most radical groups in America. The Armenian
Diaspora in itself is not monolithic group. Among them there are both
radicals, and conservatives. When the question concerns Azerbaijan and
Turkey, between them there is a common understanding – all of them
act from destructive position. Despite of it, their efforts cannot
render essential influence on strategic policy of the USA. Despite
their attempts, they cannot damage Turkish-American relations, or
the Azerbaijan-America partnership intensively developing in the last
ten years.

And in the year of elections the Diaspora becomes stronger. To take
presidential elections of this year: interrogations testify that both
democrats, and republicans have equal opportunity for victory. It means
that both sides need a lot of voices of voters. Thus, the candidate
of both sides can get under influence of this or that electorate. In
such situation, influence of not only traditional Jewish, Greek,
Ukrainian or Armenian Diaspora grows, the important role can play
also the Turkish and Azerbaijan Diaspora. For this purpose, it is
necessary to mobilize forces inside the Diaspora and effectively to
use available opportunities.

– On what depends the efficiency of Diaspora? From the finance,
number of members or organization?

– All elements listed by you are important. But the most important is
organization. And plus the national spirit prevailing inside. Members
of community should understand, whom they are and be adhered to the
Motherland. The Diaspora comprises people. If people do not wish to
help the native land or will overlook about the national morals, any
finance or organization cannot create effective Diaspora. The Armenian
or Jewish Diaspora is not large in number. Turks and Azerbaijanis
have advantage on them. However, because of lack of organization
and financial sources, their influence is poorly felt. But I should
admit that it is a long process. The strongest Diasporas in the USA
were formed during 2-3 generations. We are beginners on this way.

– You spoke about the national spirit. Whether it is possible to
count satisfactory national spirit among the Turks and Azerbaijanis?

– Turks and Azerbaijanis should work together. All should understand,
that there are not closer people in the world than we are. It is felt
among the Turks and Azerbaijanis living abroad. I hope, that we and
henceforth shall continue our joint business. But sometimes there are
such Turks or Azerbaijanis who, having left the Motherland, lose all
links with it. Others speak supposedly that “I am offended by the
country”. But I cannot understand, how it is possible to turn away
from the Native land? And there are such that at all do not wish to
join Diaspora. As they said, they wish only to receive the American
citizenship. Naturally, each person has personal interests. But I
think, that in a circle of personal interests of our compatriots
living abroad, it should enter and interests of the Motherland. To
achieve it, we should pass still a long way.

-Recently, due to joint efforts of Turkish and Azerbaijan Diasporas,
in the Congress, there happened extremely important event for
Azerbaijan. In the Congress, the working group on work with
Azerbaijanis has been created. What can you say on prospects of
this group?

-The event really represents for Azerbaijan great value. This
fine result is caused by efforts of the Azerbaijan state applied
in last years on mobilization of our compatriots living abroad,
growing cooperation between the Turkish and Azerbaijan Diasporas, and
also activity of our students training here. Creation of group is a
parameter of growing strategic value of our state in Washington. It is
no secret, that creation of special working group on such small state,
as Azerbaijan is rare case for the USA. Co-chairmen of working group –
the representative of Pennsylvania State, congressman Kurt Weldon and
the representative of Texas – Congressman Solomon Ortiz are influential
members of US Congress. Attacks to them recently have increased on the
part of the Armenian community. In Washington, even in constituencies
of the congressmen the forged are distributed on them. It is necessary
for members of the Turkish and Azerbaijan Diasporas to render
congressmen maximal support. Without our support, the working group
does not have future. This group can have great prospects. I assign
on working group large hopes both in strengthening links between the
Congress and Milli Majlis, and in wide representation of interests
of Azerbaijan in Washington. But, as I have already noted, without
support of members of Diaspora, the congressmen can meet difficulties.

– I want to return again to the presidential elections. One of
present candidates – the democrat John Kerry is the representative of
state Massachusetts, where it is a lot of Armenians, in the Senate.
Protection of interests of the Armenian voters, statement in the
Congress from the anti-Azerbaijan position and bills became a component
of activity of the senator Kerry. In what degree can the position of
Azerbaijan suffer, if he will win elections?

– I lived last 2 years in the state of Massachusetts. I would
not estimate John Kerry as the politician with completely the
anti-Azerbaijan position. He is pro-Armenian. But between these
two concepts there is a difference. To tell the truth, John Kerry
supports close relations with the Armenian circles and protects their
interests. It should cause our concern. But it is not necessary to
forget also, that foreign policy of the USA is a stable concept. This
country pursues its strategic interests. Even if the new owner of
the White House will try to introduce in foreign policy the USA new
tendencies, as a whole, the direction of policy remains as usual.

Part of the city of Boston refers to Watertown, almost all inhabitants
here are the Armenians. Having got here, you feel as in Armenia. They
even have named one of streets Artsakh. Local Armenians think as
Armenians, instead of Americans. John Kerry should understand, that
these people would never support national interests of America. They
protect only narrow lobbyist interests. Such policy is unpromising.

-Have you been subject to pressure of the Armenian community during
study in Boston?

-Certainly. At the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts
University, which I have graduated, annually receive education 30
Armenian students. The Armenian Diaspora finances this program.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Vardan Oskanyan also is the
graduate of this school. For 2 years of study there, I became the
witness of good organization of the Armenians. All of them use the same
expressions, act from common position. We tried to popularize here the
position of Azerbaijan. So, the last year the ambassador of Azerbaijan
in Washington Hafiz Pashayev made a speech in School before wide
audience. And this year the deputy foreign minister Araz Azimov visited
the School. Now the administration of School searches for ways of the
organization of the Azerbaijan program. Using financial opportunities
of the State Department, the government of Azerbaijan or the School,
we are going to direct annually here students from Azerbaijan. As a
whole, it would be good, if the Azerbaijan delegations, even one or
two once a year read lectures in the known educational institutions
of America, partook at conferences. Thus, the future politicians of
the USA will study Azerbaijan still in their student years.

GENOA HOSTS MYSTERIOUS MANDYLION PANEL
by Elisabetta Povoledo

ANSA English Media Service
June 14, 2004

Genoa

(ANSA) – Genoa, June 14 – More than a thousand years ago, in 945,
a triptych with the sacred image of Christ and the two panels that
served as doors to cover it were split up.

The central panel of the miraculous imprint of Christ s own face,
or Mandylion as the Byzantines called it, was taken from Edessa to
Constantinople and then on to Genoa, where it has been venerated for
more than 600 years in the church of San Bartolomeo degli Armeni. The
two doors ended up in the monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai.

This year, panels and image have been reunited in the Ligurian capital
as the centerpiece of an intriguing exhibit that runs to July 18 at
the city s Diocesan Museum: “Mandylion, concerning the Holy Face,
from Byzantium to Genoa.”

“It was my idea to write the mayor of Genoa about having the icon and
the panels meet,” said Gerhard Wolf, director of the Kunsthistorisches
Institut in Florence, and the curator of the exhibit. The aim was
to stimulate new discussion about the icon, which has been virtually
ignored by scholarship save for a book written 30 years ago by Colette
Dufour Bozzo of the University of Genoa, who co-curated the show.

The bishop of the Egyptian monastery and his entourage will visit
the exhibit in July, and Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, of the Genoese
diocese, will return the courtesy call.

“We didn t just put objects together but persons, and it s right that
we worked to do this,” Wolf said. “As art historians we can’t change
the world, but we can contribute to more cross-cultural dialogue.”

In keeping with the theme of the “voyage,” which is the leitmotif
of the celebrations of Genoa as one of Europe s two capitals of
culture in 2004 (they other is Lille, France), the exhibit follows
the Mediterranean journey of the Mandylion from one Middle Eastern
capital to a Western one.

“In this sense the show is very topical because it touches on issues
like multicultural conflicts,” said Wolf. It also underscores the
common roots of eastern and western Christianity.

In addition the show brazenly deconstructs, literally, one of the most
venerated icons in Christendom, separating the various elements of
the image (frame, fabrics, gold screen) to the delight of Byzantine
scholars who flocked to Genoa last month for a rare chance to see
the figure in a state of undress and probe its parts.

A three-day conference was held for the occasion bringing together
top-notch scholars who spoke on matters arcane and otherwise.

The Mandylion is an impression of the face of Christ. The story goes
that King Abgar of Edessa, who ruled the ancient titular archiepiscopal
see in what is now Sanli Urfa in South Turkey in the first decades
of the first millenium, was ill and sent a letter to Christ asking
him to come to the city.

Christ said he couldn t come but sent back a painted portrait that
Jesus miraculously created by washing His face and drying it with a
towel, on which the likeness appeared.

The icon, of which another copy is in the Vatican, is known as the
Mandylion by the Byzantine word used to describe this particular image.

It was venerated in Edessa – where it was a palladio, or protective
image, placed at the gates to the city – for centuries before it was
transferred to Constantinople in 944, where again it was adopted as a
protective image for the imperial city and placed in the royal chapel.

It came to Genoa in the late 14th century as a gift from the Byzantine
Emperor John V Palaeologus to the Captain Leonardo Montaldo, a crusader
who later became a Genoese Doge.

So the story of the Mandylion is closely tied to the contacts that
the crusaders had with Genoa.

Shortly before his death, Montaldo bequeathed the image to the
Monastery of St. Bartholomew of the Armenians, where it has been
housed and venerated since then. Until the recent show at the Museum,
and with the exception of the 2000 Jubilee, the relic had only been
shown to the public for eight days a year, in early June.

The two tempera doors that have been brought here from St. Catherine
s on Mount Sinai date from 945 and show King Abgar in the likeness of
Constantine VII Porphirogenitus, the emperor of Byzantium, receiving
the Mandylion. Dating and corresponding size make it a good bet that
the so-called Abgar Diptych may have originally been one with the
Mandylion, or so some scholars believe.

The story of the Mandylion and its voyage is illustrated in the small
gold relief panels on the frame that surrounds it. One image, showing
a wild-eyed demon being freed from a sailor s body in the presence
of the sacred icon traveling with a bishop, has been chosen for the
exhibit s logo.

Professor Mario Milazzo of the University of Milan carried out carbon
testing on the image. The results suggested that the image dates from
1250-1280. “We used to think it was very ancient, now there s some
doubt, clearly from the esthetic point of view it seems to have been
over painted,” Wolf said. The wood frame was found to date to around
100 years later.

There s bound to be friction between faith and science, and the
church hasn t always enthusiastically embraced requests for scientific
testing on images or religious relics like the Turin shroud (which,
incidentally was believed to also have been in Edessa before it came
to Constantinople and then to France and Italy).

But Wolf said that the Barnabite Fathers who care for the icon had
been open-minded both about letting the image be tested, and then
letting it go on show in the Diocesan Museum.

“They were a little skeptical at first and were worried that the image
could be desecrated, but they came to understand that the exhibit
was more like a trip that offered space for reflection in which to
emerge oneself in the icon,” said Wolf.

But the idea was not just to carry out scientific tests on the
icon. “It wasn t a question of determining what style it had been
painted in but rather to probe the theological, anthropological,
historical and politics aspects of the image,” Wolf said, a task that
was amply carried out in the impressive catalogue by Skira.

Testing done on the cloth that was glued to the back of the icon in
1370-80, depicting a winged animal within two wheels, a reference
to the Imperial cosmology of kings, was found to date to the 10th
century when the silk industry was booming in Islam.

Scholars posit that this cloth may have come directly from Edessa. “We
joke that this is more authentic than the Mandylion,” Wolf said during
a tour of the exhibit.

The exhibit also shows the precious objects found inside the case
with the Sacro Volto, like reliquaries from Byzantium and famous 11th
and 12thcentury illuminated manuscripts that illustrate the history
and legend of the image. Other works have iconographic ties with
the Mandylion.

The exhibit also includes a sculpted copy of the Mandylion that stood
atop of the city gates in the 16th century (there were nine gates
in all).

“By putting the face atop the gates, Genoa became the new Edessa,”
Wolf said.

PRESS RELEASE
The National Citizens’ Initiative
75 Yerznkian Street
Yerevan 375033, Armenia
Tel: (+374 – 1) 27.16.00, 27.00.03
Fax: (+374 – 1) 52.48.46
E-mail: [email protected]
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June 10, 2004

National Citizens’ Initiative Considers Karabagh Conflict

Yerevan — The National Citizens’ Initiative (NCI) today convened a
specialized policy meeting on “Resolving Karabagh: The Current Stage
of the Search.” In view of a history rich in diverse approaches and
scenarios, negotiations in various formats, and peace prospects and
inclinations, the roundtable brought together competent policy makers,
public figures, relevant experts, and academic circles, together with
representatives of the mass media and NGO communities, to examine
conflict resolution and its peculiarities in the Karabagh case.

What does the decade-old cease-fire promise, is a mutually acceptable
solution feasible in the foreseeable future, do the authorities
representing Armenian national interests enjoy a broad public mandate
in and for peace talks, might an unfavorable arrangement be imposed
on the Armenians? These and other issues critical to the future of
Karabagh and the entire Armenian nation forged the day’s agenda.

Raffi Hovannisian, founder of NCI and the Armenian Center for National
and International Studies (ACNIS), opened the discussion. “The
nationwide quest for Artsakh and its liberty has come to symbolize
a broader commitment to Armenia’s sovereignty, democracy, and vital
interests. To what extent, over the past 16 years, have we remained
faithful to and worthy of these high concepts, widely shared precepts,
and our fallen compatriots?,” he queried.

“We assemble today to contemplate the political, strategic, diplomatic,
and legal components of Artsakh’s struggle. As always, we will endeavor
to assess conflict and its resolution through the tri-prism of state,
nation, and citizen and in light of the permanent challenges of
identity and security,” Hovannisian said.

In a paper on “The Karabagh Challenge: Deadlock or New Departure
Point?,” Karabagh presidential adviser Manvel Sargsian focused on
the changes in approach to the Karabagh conflict which have created a
new situation characterized by the unprecedented activity of European
structures. “The European organizations that have taken the initiative
from the OSCE Minsk Group seek to find a solution based on humanitarian
approaches such as human rights and legitimacy,” he maintained.

General Arkadiy Ter-Tadevosian, chairman of the Armenian Defense-Sport
Association, covered regional stability and security in his address
on “Military Balance as the Principal Guarantee for Peace in the
Region.” “To preserve the equilibrium, we need not only to enhance
the combat-readiness and mobility of the armed forces to correspond
to 21st-century benchmarks, but also to strengthen bilateral
politico-military cooperation with all friendly countries, actively
cooperating at the same time within the multilateral frameworks of
the CIS and NATO’s Partnership for Peace
program,” the general summarized.

The first session concluded with an intervention by Aram G. Sargsian,
former adviser to the Armenian president and current member of the
Armenian parliament’s Standing Commission on Foreign Affairs, on “The
Evolution of Scenarios for Regulation of the Karabagh Conflict.” He
opined that Armenia should officially recognize the legal authenticity
of the documents adopted by Mountainous Karabagh in its secession
from Soviet Azerbaijan. “The solution should be moved to the arena of
international law, and a legal case obviating Azerbaijani arguments
presented, as political solutions lead to gridlock,” he asserted.

Law and philosophy professor Alexander Manasian addressed “The
Legal Foundations for Solving the Karabagh Question” to open the
afternoon session. The Karabagh problem should not be an object of
political speculations, he stated. It should instead be under constant
state guidance for the working out of a clear-cut and comprehensive
program. “Though our position is considerably strong from the viewpoint
of international law, it is the Azerbaijani party that always acts as
winner on the diplomatic and propaganda fronts, since we lag behind
in anti-propaganda activities for want of an integrated conception
of general approaches to the problem.”

Armen Aghayan, political secretary of the “Protection of Liberated
Territories” public organization, offered a special comment on the
Arax River area as a matter pivotal for conflict resolution in and
around Karabagh. “A successful outcome of the issue’s solution turns
on which party will supervise the four regions adjacent to the Arax.”

The remainder of the session was devoted to exchanges of views and
policy recommendations among the public figures and policy specialists
in attendance. Noteworthy were interventions by former prime minister
Khosrov Haroutiunian of the Christian Democratic Union; Hovhannes
Hovhannisian of the Liberal Progressive Party; former defense minister
Vazgen Manoukian of the National Democratic Union; Grigor Haroutiunian
and Ruzanna Khachatrian of the People’s Party of Armenia; Shavarsh
Kocharian of the National Democratic Party; former minister of state
Hrach Hakobian; Colonel Gegham Haroutiunian of the Republic Party;
Giro Manoyan of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation; Mushegh Lalayan
of the Republican Party; Petros Makeyan of the Democratic Fatherland
Party; former presidential adviser Levon Zourabian; Vardan Khachatrian,
theology professor at Yerevan State University; YSU international
affairs lecturer Aram Haroutiunian; Tamar Gevorgian of the United
Labor Party; American University international relations professor
Khachik Derghoukassian; and many others.

ACNIS analyst Hovsep Khurshudian closed the seminar, concentrating in
particular on the concern raised during the seminar about a potential
Armenia-Azerbaijan strategic imbalance in favor of the latter as a
result of its oil trade. “We do not use even the resources we have–not
only economic and military resources but also political, juridical,
public-relations and, most importantly, democratic ones,” he concluded.

The National Citizens’ Initiative is a public non-profit
association founded in 2001 by former minister of foreign affairs
Raffi K. Hovannisian, his colleagues, and fellow citizens with the
purpose of realizing the rule of law and overall improvements in the
state of the state, society, and public institutions. The National
Citizens’ Initiative is guided by a Coordinating Council, which
includes individual citizens and representatives of various public,
scientific, and educational establishments. Five commissions on Law
and State Administration, Socioeconomic Issues, Foreign Policy,
Spiritual and Cultural Challenges, and the Youth constitute the
vehicles for the Initiative’s work and outreach.

For further information, please call (3741) 27-16-00 or 27-00-03;
fax (3741) 52-48-46; e-mail [email protected]; or visit