“ONE SHOULD SPEAK OF ARMENIAN TRAGEDY MORE RESPECTIVELY,” FORMER PRIME
MINISTER OF TURKEY SAYS

ISTANBUL, January 14 (Noyan Tapan). “Chirac was mistaken in his
statements not in the least. The deportation took place indeed, even
if one may not call it Genocide. The people endured a lot, there were
numerous victims. Hence, one should speak more respectively of it. As
the matter concerns the tragedy, doesn’t it?” such a statement was
made by former Prime Minister of Turkey Mesut Yilmaz in the air of the
“Aber Turk” TV channel. According to the “Marmara” newspaper of
Istanbul, Kyurshat Bumin, a journalist of the Turkish “Eni Shafak”
newspaper, highly estimated Yilmaz’s abovementioned statement.

“Indeed, it was quite unexpected to hear such a thing from the person,
who achieved the post of the Prime Minister. One will not hear such a
statement even from an ordinary MP,” the author of the article
emphasized. He also held an opinion that one should approach the
problems like “land claims” or “compensation of damage” more
competently and evenly. Only then, according to him, “we will see how
difficult it is to have a collective memory based on negation. One
should free himself from the sense of guilty, which doesn’t alive us
alone,” writes Bumin.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EVERY MONTH 10 RESIDENTS OF JAVAKHK TO PASS FREE MEDICAL EXAMINATION
AT CENTER OF MEDICAL DIAGNOSTICS OF AKHALKALAKI WITH SUPPORT OF UNION
OF ARMENIAN RELIEF

AKHALKALAKI, January 14 (Noyan Tapan). – A-INFO. The Javakhk branch of
the Union of Armenian Relief (UAR) provided the population of the
region with free hospital places at the Center of Medical Diagnostics
of Akhalkalaki. According to Karine Tadevosian, the Chairwoman of the
Union of Armenian Relief (UAR), the diagnostic center is obliged to
examine every month 10 residents of Javakhk free of charge. According
to preliminarily made statements, vulnerable people will be examined.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN ARMENIAN JUGGLER DIES IN MOSCOW

MOSCOW, JANUARY 15. ARMINFO. One of the most renowned jugglers of the
Soviet times Harutyun Hakopyan, 86, died in Moscow Friday.

In the early 60s Hakopyan began overshadowing all the other conjurers
using mostly sophisticated accessories rather than their own deft
hands. By the end of his career he was reputed as almost the only
worthy manipulator in the world for the Soviet audience.

“To try to perceive whatever when looking at Hakopyan’s hands is like
to try to perceive Tchaikovky’s music when looking at Van Cliburn’s
hands. The only feeling you have is that you are a total ignoramus and
all you know is not worth a penny,” says Hakopyan’s colleague
Alexander Vasilevsky.

Hakopyan started as illusionist in circus but he got bored to use
machines. “I wanted to take them off the scene and to give my art
some more nobility. Gradually I learned to use my own hands only,”
says Hakopyan in his book “Variety Tricks.” Published in 1961 this
book is one of the few available guides to juggling secrets. Later
many resented Hakopyan for exposing his magic.

There were over 1,000 tricks in Hakopyan’s arsenal. Hundreds of them
are used by other jugglers today among them his son Hamayak Hakopyan.

PRESS RELEASE
Mental Health Outreach to Tsunami survivors
Association for Disaster & Mass Trauma Studies
185 East 85th Street, NY NY 10028
Tel: 201-941-2266
Email: kalayjiana@aol.com

Southeast Asian Tsunami: Response, Relief & Recovery

United Nations Association of the United States of America and the
Business Council for the United Nations

13 January 2005

Dr. Anie Kalayjian

This panel presentation began with Chair Al Branel introducing the moderator
Suzanne Nossel, former Senior Advisor to Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke at
the US Mission to the UN, who in TURN introduced The Ambassador Bernard
Goonatilleke, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations.

The Ambassador first pointed out how Sri Lanka was not prepared for this
devastation, since the last earthquake and tsunami occurred in 1883. The
Ambassador then began highlighting the extent of the devastation in Sri
Lanka alone, by sharing the following facts:

* 30,800 dead and 6,380 missing totaling around 37,000.
* 441,000 people displaced.
* 89,000 houses totally damaged and 41,000 partially damaged.
* 19,630 fishing vessels totally destroyed which is 66% of the total
fishing industry.
* 7,560 fisherman are dead and another 7,686 missing.
* 90,000 of those fisherman’s families have been displaced.
* Overall, 1.5 billion dollars needed to reconstruct Sri Lanka.

As of January 13, the following responses have been received by Sri
Lanka:
Immediately after the devastation the local government assisted the
communities until foreign aid came into the country. There was a rapid
response from India which was also affected. Ten thousand Indians died in
the devastation. Indians provided hospital assistance, rescue and medical
needs; Maldives also provided shipments of food and medical personnel.
Japan has pledged 500 million dollars, the United States pledged 350 million
dollars, and the European Union all together pledged about 2 billion
dollars. The need is great, since over 100 million dollars is needed JUST
to the fishing industry recover. In addition to governments, many NGO’s,
religious organizations, and other concerned people are campaigning to
collect funds and do what they can. One remaining fear is that these
countries who pledged to give funds for relief efforts will not come
through.

“It is a heartwarming experience to receive all the pledges and support from
around the world” stated the Ambassador. The Ambassador then moved on to
focus on the recovery effort’s goals both short and long term. The short
term goals are to:

1. Shelter the people.
2. Provide food and clean water.
3. Ensure adequate sanitation.
4. Provide medical assistance.

The need for food is immense since the demand is to feed close to half a
million people three times a day for every day to come.

Long term goals are to:

1. Build houses and find different land to build on since the shore
will no longer be appropriate for safe housing.
2. Reconstruct the infrastructure.
3. Preparation and tsunami detection.

The Ambassador shared the following fears that the international community
needs to address.

1. Fear that images of Dec 26 will go off the screen and be forgotten.
2. Fear that the pledges don’T come around as promised.
3. Fear that the warning system will not be in place. This could have
avoided the problem. UNESCO reported 2 years ago that an early warning
system would have cost $30 million, but thought it was too much to spend.

On January 18, the UN General Assembly will meet to come up with a
resolution regarding this devastation and its impact and recovery. Most
importantly, there will be a special Representative designated to be in
charge of these countries impacted by the tsunami.

Vanessa Tobin, Chief of the Water, Environment and Sanitation
Division of UNICEF,

made her presentation next highlighting how UNICEF is helping the relief
process. UNICEF with its partners has pledged 45 Million dollars to support
these countries in clean water supplies. UNICEF established water and
sanitation fund with THE Clinton Foundation and other partners SUCH as
OXFAM. Ms. Tobin focused on the other countries that wERE not covered by
the Ambassador and added the following facts:

* 106,000 dead in Indonesia, over 20 districts are affected.
* 5,00 dead in Taiwan, and many displaced.
* 21,000 people displaced in Moldavia.

In Indonesia, the UNICEF is working with CDC of Atlanta, getting health and
water

teams out to assess THE water quality situation and monitor. The goal is to
supply 15 Liters of water per person per day. The immediate need is to get
the sanitation to the camps where the displaced people are living. UNICEF
is also putting efforts on emergency preparedness. It is important to be
mindful that the displaced population is weak emotionally and physically.
They have not been eating balanced meals, havE NOT HAD their own
environments to rest and sleep IN, and are exposed to many diseases and are
susceptible to infection.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and others have warned that
those countries affected by the tsunami may not recover for a decade. With
the death toll expected to surpass 180,000, another 1.8 million individuals
are now in desperate need of food, according to UN emergency Relief
Coordinator Jan Egeland. The UN and all relief agencies are concerned BY
the enormity of the crisis, the anticipated respiratory and water-borne
disease expected to abound, and the amount of time it will take to get basic
services in afflicted countries up and running.

In the Q&A period Dr. Kalayjian thanked the speakers and asked
what has been done to address mental health and psychological needs of the
surviving community, and shared how the immune system gets suppressed when
one experiences mass trauma. SHE ALSO shared her efforts in mobilizing
professional psychologistS & psychiatrists to go to the impacted countries
and help train the trainers, and assist the community’s healing process.
The Ambassador agreed that this was necessary and that the governments
acknowledge the need for psychological assistance. HE encouraged her to get
in touch with the NGO’s already in those countries, and TO be mindful of the
language barrier.

For those mental health professionals who are interested in
volunteering their time to help the surviving communities kindly contact Dr.
Kalayjian at E-mail: kalayjiana@aol.com, and pHone: 201 941-2266. For those
wishing to donate money to the project of the Mental Health Outreach to
Tsunami survivors, kindly send your tax deductible check to Association for
Disaster & Mass Trauma Studies, and send it to Dr. Kalayjian at 185 East
85th Street, NY NY 10028

The Messenger

Friday, January 14, 2005, #007 (0781)

CIS Press Scanner

Prepared by Anna Arzanova

United States prepares revolutions in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Moldova

The Azeri newspaper Novoe Vremya writes that Namakom, a Russian
political analysis center created by former employees of the Russian
foreign intelligence service, believes that political revolutions will
continue to spread to other CIS countries. Namakom claims that the
United States is behind the recent revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine,
and believes that Azerbaijan will be the sight of the next U.S. project.

Namkom cites Washington’s dislike of communist leadership for its
interest in “the greater Black Sea region,” composed of Azerbaijan,
Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. The paper writes that the
post-Soviet leaders are not convenient for the West at all. However,
analysts think that Washington will not rest on its achievements: Baku
and Yerevan irritate Washington at the moment and Ilham Aliev as well
as Robert Kocharian have been criticized by the West several times,
because neither one responds to the current U.S. requirements. That is
why they should be replaced, as the paper reports, “perhaps according
to the pre-term scenario.” The analysis continues that after the
revolution in Tbilisi and Kiev, Washington intends to activate
attempts to settle the Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh and
Transdnestre issues. Simultaneously Washington is preparing for
parliamentary, and possibly presidential, elections in Azerbaijan and
Armenia. The paper forecasts that the next change of the power will
take place in Moldova. “The main role in conducting these revolutions
will be given to the United States,” the paper writes. Azeri
political analyst Gabil Guseinli also acknowledges the possibility of
the same revolution in Azerbaijan, though he thinks that lots of
things must be done before it will take place in the country.
Particularly, the creation of youth organizations, independent TV
channels, and the strengthening of the democratic election system need
to occur in the country by all means. He thinks Western support is
necessary for all of this. According to the paper, the United States
intends to pay serious attention to Azerbaijan after the second
inauguration of George Bush. There is also information that
Washington has started intensive consultations with representatives of
the Azeri opposition. The paper notes that the centennial of the
beginning of the first Russian revolution in 1905 approaches. It is
not enough to overthrow a ruler, the paper states; just as important
the U.S. must not allow the same authoritarian force to come to power
once again. “Will the West take care of this as well or not?” asks the
paper. Putin rejects “beer law” According to the Russian newspaper
Vedomosti, Russian President Vladimer Putin vetoed a law limiting
consumption of alcohol in public places. According to the
Vice-Speaker of the Duma Lubov Sliska, his veto letter concerning this
issue was received by the lower chamber of the parliament. She also
said that proceeding from the recommendations of the president, the
law needs revision, something she says is “quite fair.” Sliska also
stated that the president has remarks regarding the territory on which
the sale of beer will or will not be allowed. Moreover, she said that
there are many disputable issues regarding beverages prepared from
ethyl alcohol, a process that should also be prohibited. The law would
prohibit the sale of alcohol in educational and medical facilities,
forbid consumption of alcohol in public areas such as stadiums, public
transport, and parks, and forbid the sale of alcohol to minors.

Kyrgyz president condemns revolutions The Russian newspaper Vremia
Novostei reports that Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev is actively
preparing for the parliamentary elections in the republic that are
scheduled for February 27. He is very concerned about the fate of the
“Kyrgyz model of liberal democracy” which “we have been building for
13 years.” However, Akaev thinks that “none of the revolutions [in
the CIS] have led to positive results” and that revolutionary ideology
threatens the stability of a country. Speaking about the issue at a
central university, Akaev cited Yugoslavia as an example of the
destabilizing nature of revolutions. He also claimed that the Rose
Revolution in Georgia was financed by outside sources. As for
Ukraine’s Orange Revolution, he said that the country was split in two
and that “a civil war almost took place.” He also claimed that
opposition leader Yulia Timoshenko is wanted by international
organizations. Akaev thinks that it is impossible to call Georgia an
“independent state, because President Saakashvili and his ministers
receive salaries from the other side of the ocean, from the
multi-millionaire George Soros.” The paper notes that Akaev’s speech
was similar to one given by Russian President Vladmir Putin last year,
“although Putin did not question Georgia’s independence.”

The Messenger.

Armenian pilots have nothing to do with Equatorial Guinea coup – official

Arminfo
14 Jan 05

YEREVAN

“The Armenian pilots have nothing to do with the coup attempt against
the authorities of Equatorial Guinea and therefore, have nothing to do
with its presumed organizers,” the spokesman for the Armenian Foreign
Ministry, Gamlet Gasparyan, has told an Arminfo correspondent.

“No evidence or proof of the Armenian pilots’ involvement in this coup
attempt was presented during the entire trial. We regard the court
sentence against our pilots as unfair,” Gasparyan stressed.

To recap, a court in Equatorial Guinea sentenced the six Armenian
pilots to prison terms ranging from 14 to 24 years on 26 November and
fined them 25-50m francs. The Armenian pilots were arrested along with
a large group of people and charged with complicity in the coup
attempt in that country.

[Passage omitted: Details of Mark Thatcher’s sentence]

Azeri pressure group’s war plan not universally welcomed

Sarq, Baku
6 Jan 05

Text of Xalid Ilyaszada’s report by Azerbaijani newspaper Sarq on 6
January headlined “There are mixed responses to the KLO’s war plan”

Several days ago the Karabakh Liberation Organization (KLO) released a
document outlining the measures to be taken to recapture the
Armenian-occupied Azerbaijani territories.

The document, called “A single plan to liberate the Armenian-occupied
Azerbaijani territories in a military way”, will be forwarded to all
political parties. The objective is to drum up political support for
the idea. The author organization believes that all opportunities for
achieving a negotiated settlement to the problem have been exhausted,
that the tactics of dealing with the problem have to be changed, that
a lot needs to be done to boost the spirit of military patriotism and
that it is time to start military action to retake our lands. The plan
has caused mixed responses among the country’s political forces.

A member of parliament representing the ruling New Azerbaijan Party,
Bahar Muradova, said: “I have no doubt that the KLO, which has
authored a number of ideas on Karabakh, has put forward this plan
because it is genuinely interested in liberating the occupied
territories. I am convinced that the plan has been prepared because
the Azerbaijanis are getting increasingly worried about the
problem. The issue worries the Azerbaijani authorities too, which is
reflected in the statements by the head of state and other government
officials.”

At the same time, Muradova added that the war option does not reflect
the Azerbaijani realities.

“I don’t think the calls for war are quite in line with the general
and political course the country is pursuing. The Azerbaijani
government has never ruled out that it may take the necessary steps if
need be. At this point, I think the negotiations have entered into a
new stage and there seems to be some optimism. Therefore, I think
Azerbaijani society has to advocate a single position. If there is a
need for change, the Azerbaijani government, not an organization, will
have to make a decision. The state can certainly take into account any
calls that reflect public opinion,” Muradova said and added that the
Azerbaijani head of state is defending the position of Azerbaijani
society in the negotiations. This is why it would be wrong to take
steps that are not part of the negotiating process.

The co-chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Azerbaijan, Araz
Alizada, who recently put forward his own model of a “patriotic war”,
said with regard to the “single plan” that some aspects of the plan
are not known to him. However, he said: “If the point is about the
liberation of our lands, special attention has to be paid to army
build-up. We have to learn a lesson from what happened to us in the
past.”

The deputy chairman of the People’s Front of Azerbaijan Party [PFAP],
Nuraddin Mammadli, expressed a slightly different attitude to the war
plan.

“The Azerbaijani state has made a commitment to solve the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict peacefully and the Azerbaijani opposition parties
have joined that commitment. Therefore, we are in favour of honouring
our commitments,” Mammadli said. Peaceful remedies have not been
exhausted yet, he said and added that the KLO’s plan can only be
implemented by the authorities.

“Every organization has the right to express its opinion, but it is
necessary to bear in mind that eventually the Azerbaijani state will
decide what measures shall be taken,” he said. He also noted that the
KLO had not yet forwarded its plan to the PFAP and said that if it
does, the party would discuss it as a matter, of course. At the same
time, he sees the suggestion as a propaganda attempt.

Slovenia must learn about “so far neglected” regions as OSCE chair – paper

STA news agency
14 Jan 05

Ljubljana, 14 January: A paper suggests on Friday [14 January] that
Slovenia’s stint at the helm of the OSCE could boil down to “listening
missions”. Some of the country’s priorities indicate, however, that
its main guideline will not be silence, nodding, consensus seeking and
running the organization.

Dnevnik says that the relations between the USA and Russia are at a
freezing point after the “para-war” between the East and the West in
Ukraine’s presidential election, at least about who is to control the
region between Armenia and Kazakhstan.

The paper claims that Slovenia as the OSCE chair will not be able to
make an end to the superpowers flexing their muscles over which should
have a sway over the increasingly important geostrategical
regions. The solution lies in the Kremlin and the White House.

Slovenia has shown more decisiveness in the Kosovo issue. This zeal is
encouraged by the geographical vicinity and the fact that until
recently, Slovenia and Kosovo made part of a common state.

Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel therefore spoke with ease about Kosovo
as he met foreign reporters after outlining the priorities of
Slovenia’s presidency before the Permanent Council on Thursday.

But Dnevnik notes that the FM was at a loss when asked about the
chances for a reconciliation between Tbilisi and the breakaway
republic of Abkhazia after the presidential election re-run there. He
broke the embarrassing silence with an excuse, saying he had not
managed to study the election and that he was therefore not the right
person to answer the question.

What appeared to be an insignificant incident demonstrates the
broadness of the OSCE activity. More importantly, its shows the
chairman-in-office must have certain knowledge about a number of hot
spots, not just about the “Balkan hobby”, Dnevnik highlights.

“If Slovenia does not want the organization to be worse off as it
hands it over to Belgium in a year, its entire diplomatic network will
have to considerably improve its knowledge about the regions it has so
far neglected”.

RECEP ERDOGAN: IF ARMENIA DOES NOT ADMIT KARS TREATY FROM 1923, THEN
LET THEM NOT BE OFFENDED

YEREVAN, JANUARY 14. ARMINFO. “If Armenia does not admit the terms of
the Kars Treaty from 1923, then let them not be offended”, Prime
Minister of Turkey Recep Tayip Erdogan stated at a news conference in
Ankara concerning the results of his visit to Russia.

At the same time, he stressed that Turkey does not want to have
offended neighbors, but it aspires to regulate the problems with
Armenia, and “Armenia’s vacating the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan” must become a pre-condition here. “We have always taken
positive steps to meet Armenia halfway, in particular, we are working
towards establishment of land communication between the two countries
and organizations of private air transportation”, Erdogan mentioned.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

IN 2004 FOREIGN CITIZENS HAVE ADOPTED ABOUT 60 ARMENIAN CHILDREN

YEREVAN, JANUARY 14. ARMINFO. About 60 Armenian children have been
adopted by foreign citizens in 2004. Minister of labor and social
affairs of the Republic of Armenia Aghvan Vardanian informed,
answering a question of an ARMINFO correspondent.

According to him, during the last two years the cases of adoption of
Armenian children by foreign citizens have decreased. At the same time
the Armenian Government makes maximum efforts for that the Armenian
children were adopted foreigners – Armenians.