SERGO YERITSIAN VISITS “MARIAM” EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENT AND MEETS
WITH IRANIAN COUNTERPART

TEHRAN, January 19 (Noyan Tapan). RA Minister of Education and Science
Sergo Yeritsian and a delegation headed by him, which is in Tehran
now, visited the sections of boys and girls of the “Mariam”
establishment on January 17 morning. Eduard Babakhanian, the Chairman
of the Educational Council of the Armenian Diocese of Tehran,
Khoshdast, a representative of the Ministry of Education of Iran,
members of the Parents’ Councils of the two sections received them at
the school. Eduard Babakhanian spoke about the Armenian schools of
Tehran. Minister Yeritsian considered the Armenian schools as small
isles contributing to the protection of the Armenian nation, the
Armenian spirit, friendship of the two peoples. Students of the
elementary classes of the girls section performed during the
meeting. According to the “Alik” (“Wave”) daily newspaper of Tehran,
the same day, the Armenian delegation visited the National Scientific
and Research Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering of
Iran, where Director Dr. Sanatin and specialists of the Scientific and
Research Institute presented the work of different
departments. Minister Yeritsian attached importance to cooperation of
the two countries in this sphere, and Yervand Sahakian, the Pro-Rector
of the State Medical University of Armenia on Foreign Relations,
briefly presented the medical researches in Armenia. After midday the
Armenian delegation headed by the RA Minister of Education and Science
and accompanied by Garnik Badalian, the Envoy Extraordinary of the
Embassy of Armenia in Iran and the Charge D’Affaires of Armenia to
Iran, had a meeting with Minister of Education of Iran Morteza
Haji. At the meeting Sergo Yeritsian, attaching importance to
cooperation between the two countries in the educational sphere and
stressing the attention concentrated on the Iranian Studies and the
Persian language in Armenia, said that in many schools of Armenia
Persian is taught as a foreign language together with several foreign
languages, and Persian is the language of entrance examinations. He
added that 300 students study at the Department of Oriental Studies of
the Yerevan State University. Morteza Haji mentioned that the two
countries, Armenia and Iran, have close relations, and it is necessary
that they should also have good cooperation in the educational
sphere. According to the Minister, they may cooperate in the
pedagogical sphere, the holding of scientific and sport competitions
and the sphere of the exchange of teaching technique. Minister Haji
highly estimated the role of the Iranian Armenians in the Iranian art,
craft, in the scientific and cultural life. On January 18 morning, the
delegation departed to Rasht, where it also visited with the Armenian
Community of Rasht.

GOMIDAS INSTITUTE RELEASES NEW BOOK ON GERMAN INVOLVEMENT IN ARMENIAN
GENOCIDE

LONDON, January 19 (Noyan Tapan). The “Gomidas” Institute of London
released a anew book on the German involvement in the 1915 Armenian
Genocide in the “Garod House” publishing house. The author of the book
entitled “Eberhard Count Wolffskeel Von Reichenberg, Zeitoun, Mousa
Dagh, Ourfa: Letters on the Armenian Genocide” is Dr. Hilmar Kaiser, a
German historian specializing in late Ottoman social and economic
history and the Armenian Genocide of 1915. His publications include
Imperialism, Racism and Development Theories: The Construction of a
Dominant Paradigms on Ottoman Armenians (Gomidas Institute, 1997); At
the Crossroads of Der Zor: Death, Survival, and Humanitarian
Resistance in Aleppo, 1915-1917 [2nd Edition] (Gomidas Institute,
2002); Harry Sturmer, Two War Years in Constantinople Sketches of
German and Young Turkish Ethics and Politics [Revised and Complete
Edition (Hilmar Kaiser ed. and intro.) (Sterndale Classics, 2004);
Abram I. Elkus, the Memoirs of Abram Elkus: Lawyer, Ambassador,
Statesman (Gomidas Institute, 2004). Eberdard Von Wolffskeel was the
only German officer who served in Ottoman uniform known to have been
directly involved in the killing of Armenians. He personally led the
attack on the Armenian quarter of Ourfa, and showed exceptional zeal
when doing so. He was a callous man, and a racist, and took great
pride in his military prowess and his lack of compassion for Armenian
victims. His involvement in crushing the Armenian resistance in Ourfa
– when this community’s turn came to be deported and destroyed – makes
particularly disturbing reading. His letters to his wife provide us
with invaluable insights into the Armenian Genocide and German policy
in 1915.

CATHOLICOS OF GREAT CILICIAN HOUSE AND AMBASSADOR OF RUSSIA TO LEBANON
DISCUSS ISSUES REGARDING ARMENIAN-RUSSIAN RELATIONS

ANTELIAS, January 19 (Noyan Tapan). Catholicos of the Great Cilician
House Aram I and newly appointed Ambassador of Russia to Lebanon
Sergei Bukin discussed issues regarding the Armenian-Russian relations
during the January 18 meeting held in the residence of the Catholicos
in Antelias. It was stressed that these relations shouldn’t be only
political, but cultural and should also concern other spheres, taking
into account the centuries-old friendship of the two peoples and the
regional close relations. During the coversation lasted over an hour
Catholicos Aram I and Ambassador Bukin, speaking about the Middle
East, expressed concern in connection with the situation formed in
Iraq. Speaking about Lebanon Patriarch Aram I expressed his viewpoints
to the newly appointed Ambassador about a number of phenomena and also
stressed the role and place of the Armenian Community in the Lebanese
communal life. The interlocutors also touched upon the relations of
the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholicosate of the Great
Cilician House, about which His Holiness reported wide information,
showing the different stages of the brotherly relations during the
passed years. According to the press service of the Catholicosate of
the Great Cilician House, Ambassador Bukin, who has occupied different
posts in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia for over 30 years
and has worked in different Arab countries, familiarized with the
Armenian history, about which he spoke with respect.

ELIZABETH JONES’ STATEMENT DESTROYED ARGUMENTS OF ARMENIAN
AUTHORITIES, DPA CHAIRMAN BELIEVES

YEREVAN, January 19 (Noyan Tapan). The process of settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh problem is ruined for Armenia, – Aram Sargsian,
chairman of the Democratic Party of Armenia (DPA) included in the
“Justice” bloc, stated during his January 19 talk with reporters.

According to him, Assistant US Secretary of State Elizabeth Jones’
statement, to which the US State Department also joined, has destroyed
the Armenian authorities’ arguments that in case of sending a military
unit to Iraq the US position on the issue of Karabakh settlement would
be much more favorable. A. Sargsian reminded that soon in Strasbourg
David Atkinson’s report will be discussed. According to him, in this
report the Karabakh problem is qulified as a territorial dispute
between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

This means Karabakh is left out of the negotiation process as a
participant, and the well-known 1918 decision of the League of Mations
will be discussed, which is unecceptable for Armenia. In the view of
Aram Sargsian, if Armenia had had its own definite position, no
superpower would have applied pressure, since both US and Russia are
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. He noted that the US’ statements
express its attituse towards Armenia’s authorities. He called the fact
of sending the Armenian military unit to Iraq with zurna-dhol
(traditional Armenian music) a “jest”. Pointing out it is not clear
what fate awaits the young Armenians who were sent to Iraq,
A. Sargsian also noted that anti-Armenian sentiments have already been
expressed openly in Lebanon, Syria and the Unated Arab Emirates.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RA PRESIDENT ATTACHES IMPORTANCE TO ESTABLISHMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE COURTS

YEREVAN, January 19 (Noyan Tapan). The necessity of establishment of
administrative courts and elaboration of the legislative package as
quickly as possible is important in the context of reforms of court
and legal system. RA President Robert Kocharian said this during the
January 19 working meeting with Davit Haroutiunian, RA Minister of
Justice. During the meeting it was mentioned that the system of
administrative courts widely used in international practice will give
an opportunity to protect citizens’ and juridical persons’ interests
in arguments with officials’ staffs through specialized courts. It’s
envisaged to put the administrative courts into operation in Armenia
starting from 2006. According to the RA President’s Press Service,
D.Haroutiunian also represented other directions of work planned in
the system for 2005. The directions, in particular, attached
importance to successful fulfilment of the next stage of reforms in
court and legal sphere and considerable improvement of work of
services on obligatory execution of penitentiary and legal acts.

Pan Armenian Network, Armenia
Jan 23 2005

TO PLEASE THE FIANCE AT THE EXPENSE OF BRIDE

The essence of this Armenian saying is quite in line with the
behavior of Talish separatist leaders who strive to win the trust of
Azerbaijan by means of anti-Armenian propaganda.

On Friday, the underground Talish information agency “Talishpress”
announced that a number of Baku high-ranking officials sponsor shadow
trade between Azerbaijan and Armenia. According to the source, oil
supplied to Armenian market is provided by companies controlled by
Azeri Economic Development Minister Farkhad Aliev and the chairman of
State Committee on Securities Heidar Babayev. They also say that the
supplies of tea, vegetable oil and fish are supplied to Armenia under
the sponsorship of Kamalladin Heidarov, the chairman of the State
Customs Committee of Azerbaijan. As for the grain supply, it is
sponsored by the head of president’s administration Ramiz Mekhtiev.
The source doesn’t point to any facts that could prove those
conclusions. The attempt to discredit Azeri leaders by means of
exposing their links with Armenians is quite typical for the
ideologists of Talish separatism.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Of course the information spread by the Talish
information agency should not be taken seriously. Shadow commercial
contacts between Armenia and Azerbaijan are not on a high level and
do not need influential patrons. Baku leaders on their turn do their
best to prevent any attempts of establishing contacts between the
businessmen of the two countries. In that case what is the purpose of
“Talishpress” agency’s announcement? Those who are aware of that
structure and know what its aims are know the answer to that
question. In reality, it is of course not an information agency. It
is the “propaganda department” of the underground Talish national
movement. The movement is mostly aimed at leading information war
against the government of Azerbaijan. It should be underlined that
the war is led against the government and not against the country.
The recent activities of Talish leaders give the impression that they
have given up the struggle for the national self-determination and
have focused their attention to the struggle for “a piece of power”
in Azerbaijan. Currently their aim is to appear in the role of
radical oppositionists of Ilham Aliev’s regime and to demonstrate
patriotism at the same time.

For achieving their goal, Talish ideologists often afford themselves
to carry on anti-Aliev and anti-Armenian propaganda simultaneously.
In order to win the sympathy of Azeris, they try to prove that it
were the Talish leaders who stood at the forefront of the fights
against Karabakh Armenians. One of the key points of Talish
propaganda is the necessity of Karabakh conflict’s military
resolution and the creation of a federal state in Azerbaijan.
According to the scenario Talishstan in that case will gain an
autonomous status. Thus, Talish leaders strive to achieve welfare at
the expense of Karabakh. The higher the status of Karabakh is, the
more they can snatch from the center. But to achieve that they need
to gain the control of Azerbaijan over Karabakh at any price. This is
the essence of the doubtful idea which is brightly seen in all the
recent interviews of the head of Talish movement Alikram Gumbatov.

The Lenkoran separatists have made a habit of making someone else do
the work. It is worth mentioning that the so called “Talish-Mughan
Republic” in the south-east of Azerbaijan was proclaimed just when
Karabakh Armenians passed to the offensive and directed to themselves
all the military and political resources of Azerbaijan. It is
interesting that now also the “governments in exile” try to gain
influence in Europe using the large-scale abilities of Armenian
lobby. The dethroned “president” of the self-proclaimed republic
Alikram Gumbatov who has spent 10 years in prison in Azerbaijan and
was considered a political prisoner by the west currently lives in
Holland. His attempts to establish contacts with the leadership of
the local Armenian community and Armenian social-political structures
in Europe were very unexpected. Last week he came to the presentation
of a documentary about Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey and even
made a short speech condemning the murderous deeds of the Young Turk
government. It is Gumbatov who led a detachment and went to Karabakh
to fight for the “territorial integrity of Azerbaijan”. It is
surprising that today he affords to give a helpful hand to Holland
Armenians.

There is an Armenian proverb. As translated to English, it sounds
approximately like this: “To please the fiancé at the expense of
bride”. What the Talish leaders are trying to do is quite alike the
proverb.

Chicago Daily Southtown, IL
Jan 23 2005

Soprano to hit high at Music Festival in Salzburg

By Stephanie Gehring
Staff writer

It may be family lore, but Barbara Ann Martin Green’s mother tells
her she was singing up the musical scales at 8 months old, repeating
after her mother, a nurse with a musical background.
When she began voice lessons, the girl from Queens, N.Y., had a
three-octave range. Not bad for a 10½-year-old.

In high school, the soprano was introduced to opera.

Her Norwegian mother and her Armenian father, an optician with a
musical background, were pleased when their daughter gave up popular
American music to focus on the classics.

Later at The Juilliard School – from which she received a bachelor’s
and a master’s degrees – Martin decided to explore the works of
contemporary classical composers.

She found the works of composer George Crumb, and then he found her.

After hearing Crumb’s work “Ancient Voices of Children,” the Palos
Hills resident said she was determined to perform it.

When she was in her 20s Martin, her professional name, and Crumb met
in Maine at a music festival where Martin performed for Crumb.

The meeting started a relationship that has spanned 30 years.

Martin considers Crumb and his wife, Liz Crumb, like a second set of
parents.

To this day she estimates she has performed Crumb’s “Ancient Voices
of Children” more than 100 times including her acclaimed 1981
performance with Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic.

“That was when everything came to a point,” Martin said. “This piece
expresses so much of what I believe in. I felt such a power and a
presence.”

A recording of the work with Orchestra 2001 was released in 1999 and
nominated for a Grammy.

While Martin spends a fair amount of time on stage and traveling to
Winnetka for work, she loves to come home to what she calls her “new
old home” in the Southland.

She moved from New York to the Southland in 1994 after her
three-month courtship with Jim Green ended in marriage. Her husband,
an Illinoisan, had bought the house before they married.

The couple’s home was totally redone and expanded over a two-year
period.

“We love being down here,” Martin said. “My work is just there. I
don’t mind the trip.”

Martin, who has performed throughout the world including the renowned
Music Festival in Salzburg, Austria, said she always hoped Crumb
would compose something just for her.

She got her wish with Crumb’s four-volume American Songbook. Volumes
II and IV were written for Martin to sing. Crumb’s daughter, Ann
Crumb, performs I and III.

Martin, Ann Crumb and Orchestra 2001 will be in concert this summer
at the festival in Salzburg. George Crumb will be the composer in
residence.

Martin said she premiered Volume II in November, but has yet to
premier Volume IV.

While readying for the concert Martin will also be teaching during
the festival at the Internatonale Sommerakademie Universitat
Mozarteum.

“In combining performing and teaching I have to be very careful,”
Martin said. “When I go up to perform no one cares how many students
I have. I have to sell the product.”

Martin, who has taught at the college level on the East Coast,
teaches voice at the Music Institute in Winnetka and at her home. She
began teaching a two-week course at the Mozarteum in 1992.

“I plant seeds there that spread,” she said. “It’s so exciting to do
it on an international scale. A lot of performance opportunities come
from the festival.”

In fact, Martin said, she goes to Denmark each year for an
international arts festival because of one of her Mozarteum students.

Martin loves teaching, but she also loves performing.

She said she thinks her students respect the knowledge she tries to
pass on to them, in part, because she still is performing.

“I’m told not everybody can do both (teach and perform) effectively,”
she said. “I love my students. I love teaching them, but it’s no
substitute for getting up and doing it myself. I love performing,
communicating with an audience, giving to an audience.”

Nashua Telegraph, NH
Jan 23 2005

Time for `parishioners’ to let go of St. Francis Xavier Church

A Telegraph Column By Paul Sylvain

Can I hear an `amen’?

At least, that was my response upon reading that on Jan. 7,
Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge William Groff essentially
gave the Diocese of Manchester the green light to proceed with its
sale of the St. Francis Xavier church and property to local real
estate developer Vatche Manoukian.

Manoukian intends to then donate the church and property to the
Armenian Orthodox Church, thus complying with the terms of a
119-year-old deed in which The Jackson Co., which for many years
operated the Jackson Mills, stipulated in its agreement to donate the
Chandler Street property that it be used solely for religious
purposes.

While a sale to Manoukian would not in itself necessarily meet the
letter of the original deed, the property’s subsequent transfer to
the Armenian Orthodox Church, does. What continues to baffle and
bewilder me is how a small core of so-called `faithful parishioners
of St. Francis Xavier’ can continue to cry foul over the deal.

Does the deed limit the property’s use only to Catholic religious
observances? Apparently not, and in my book a religious observance is
a religious observance is a religious observance.

I mean, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Southern Baptist, Anglican,
Congregational and all the others, are, to the best of my knowledge,
recognized religious denominations.

Plunk any of these groups down inside this building, sing out a few
`alleluias,’ `amens’ or `praise the Lords’ and, by God, it’s a
religious observance, is it not?

So can someone explain to me what is so difficult for some of these
`faithful parishioners of St. Francis Xavier’ to understand about it?
And while we’re at it, let’s hear another `amen!’

I, like my parents and grandparents before them, also were `faithful
parishioners’ of St. Francis Xavier. It was a grand old church and I,
like so many others, eventually had to face with great sadness the
day when it closed for good.

The time to reverse the decision has long since passed, and time and
the elements continue to take their toll on this French Hill
landmark.

The fact that Manoukian and the Armenian Orthodox Church are willing
to buy into this property, restore the church, and put it back into
religious use should be cause for celebration.

Many similarly grand old churches have wound up at the losing end of
a wrecking ball.

Parishioners from the former St. Francis Xavier have scattered far
and wide. There’s still pain and a great sense of loss over what used
to be, but most of us have come to accept the reality and have moved
on.

A few weeks ago, I enjoyed lunch with Gerry Leblond, who served as
music director at St. Francis for 25 years, and used to do the most
amazing things on the church’s huge pipe organ.

He is continuing his music ministry at another parish in another
town, but he will be the first to admit it’s not the same. Nothing
ever could be.

I, too, have wandered a bit trying to find that same sense of
`family’ and belonging that we all felt at St. Francis Xavier.

I may be one of the fortunate few to say I may have finally found it,
but 23 miles away, at Holy Angels in Plaistow, where my music
ministry also continues to grow.

Of course, the fact that the pastor there is the Rev. Marcel Martel,
who served St. Francis Xavier until shortly after the decision was
made to close it, has made that new connection easier.

But people like Gerry and me, and so many other former faithful
parishioners, came to realize a long time ago that opening the doors
again today or tomorrow will not guarantee a return of all that once
was part of the St. Francis Xavier experience.

I also have come to realize, although I resisted it for a long time,
that all that stone and mortar is little more than a shell, albeit a
huge one.

Ultimately it is the people who bring warmth, life and spirit to a
church. All the rest is just so much window dressing.

I met a semi-retired priest in Texas a few years back, and he told me
a story about how he had served as an Army chaplain in Vietnam. He
was with a group of soldiers on routine patrol when they entered a
recently liberated village.

Immediately the villagers recognized this man as a priest and,
through an interpreter, asked him to celebrate a Mass for them.

Most had converted to Catholicism under the regime of the French, but
had not shared in a Mass for many years under the rule of the
communists.

`I didn’t know what they were saying,’ the kindly priest said, `and I
doubt they understood me, exactly, but there was a sense of unity and
spirit as I said my parts in English, and they replied in Vietnamese.
There was such joy in their faces.’

The patrol eventually moved on, and later he learned that the
communists had returned, and destroyed the village, assaulting and
killing most of its men, women and children.

`I knew then,’ the priest reflected, with tears in his eyes, `that I
had been placed there at the moment in time, to serve the needs of
these poor villagers, and to celebrate their first and, for many,
their final Mass in so many years.’

Did he or the villagers need a huge, granite edifice to mark the
celebration? Did the fact that their `amens’ and `alleluias’ were
said in an open space within a jungle village make it less meaningful
than one said in some multimillion-dollar holy palace?

Again, I say `amen’ to Judge Groff, and also to the Probate Court
judge who, last November, likewise ruled that the proposed sale meets
the stipulation of the deed.

Give up the fight, guys, and don’t count me among the faithful
parishioners whom you say are `disappointed the diocese has defaulted
on its commitment to French Hill.’

How can anyone living on `The Hill’ and under the shadow of St.
Francis Xavier Church be disappointed, especially when there’s a real
likelihood this marvelous building will be repaired, preserved and
placed back into religious use?

Let the sale go through, and may the bells ring out again loud and
strong from its tower.

And to that, I say, `amen.’

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AND JEWISH HOLOCAUST INTERWOVEN BY IMPUNITY

YEREVAN, JANUARY 22. ARMINFO. The Armenian Genocide is connected with
threads of impunity to the Jewish Holocaust, says Armenia’s FM Vardan
Oskanyan before his trip to New York for speaking at the UN special
session devoted to the 60th anniversary of the liberation of
concentration camp prisoners during WWII.

The 60th anniversary of the libration of Osvencim is a historic
event. The participation of Oskanyan in the session reflects Armenia’s
political stance. “It’s our moral debt to be there and to speak on
that day. Osvencim is a manifestation of the Jewish Holocaust,” says
Oskanyan reminding the words of Hitler after the Holocaust: “who now
remembers the Armenian Genocide.” Today the Armenian Genocide is one
of the topical issues of the international politics and unless it is
settled fairly there will be no fair solution to the Holocaust and
effective prevention to possible genocide in the future. Oskanyan says
that in his speech he will focus on genocide prevention through
recognition and condemnation.

30 REPATRIATES GO TO ISRAEL FROM ARMENIA EACH YEAR

YEREVAN, JANUARY 22. ARMINFO. The outflow of Jewish repatriates from
Armenia to Israel has decreased in the last years, says the head of
the Jewish community of Armenia Rimma Varzhapetyan.

If earlier an average of 100 Jewish repatriates left Armenia each year
(except for the 90s when the outflow was at its peak) now this figure
is 30 people a year. 5 families are getting ready for repatriation
now. 800-1,000 people having repatriation right live in Armenia at
present but not all of them are ethnic Jews. Varzhapetyan explains
that repatriation right is given to people who are Jews in the fourth
paternal generation and in all maternal generations. There are also
special educational programs for schoolchildren and students.

Commenting on the decision of Sohnut to slash 1/3 of the budgets of
its CIS offices because of sharp decline in repatriation from the
former USSR Varzhapetyan says that this decision will hardly concern
Armenia. The question is about big offices.

To remind, over 200,000 Jewish repatriates went to Israel from the
former Soviet Union in the 90s against only 11,000 ones in 2004.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress