ArmenPress
April 30 2004

MORE US STATES RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

WASHINGTON, APRIL 30, ARMENPRESS: Tennessee, Nebraska, and
Louisiana have joined the fast growing number of states who have
acknowledged the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA). Democratic Governor Phil Bredesen of
Tennessee, Republican Governor Mike Johanns of Nebraska, and
Democratic Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco issued proclamations
citing a “Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide,” referring to
the Ottoman Turkish campaign of eliminate the Armenian population
from 1915-1923. The total number of states in the US reaffirming the
Armenian Genocide has now reached 36.
In the course of the last month, five new states have issued
proclamations for the Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide. All of
the proclamations mark April 23 or 24 as an official Day of
Remembrance.

ArmenPress
April 30 2004

ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY DENIES DAILY’S CLAIMS

YEREVAN, APRIL 30, ARMENPRESS: Armenian defense ministry has
denied a report in the local daily Haykakan Zhamanak which cited in
its Thursday issue from a report of the US-based Strategic
Forecasting Inc (Stratfor) to claim that according to logistical
agreements between the U.S. military and the Armenian armed forces,
reached earlier this week, Armenian authorities have allowed the US
to deploy its military planes on Armenian airfields.
The agreement in question was announced following a visit to
Armenia by a senior U.S. military official. Gen. Charles Wald, who,
according to Stratfor, walked away from Yerevan with an agreement to
allow U.S. landing rights on Armenian airfields.
A statement released by Armenian defense ministry on Thursday
evening said the Armenian-US agreement does not envisage deployment
of US war planes on Armenian airfields and that the daily’s claims
were the result of a wrong translation. It said the core of the
agreement is to satisfy logistical and other demands of the other
side at its request having in mind Armenia’s policy and priorities.

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
April 30 2004

AZERBAIJAN, RUSSIA: COOPERATION OF DEFENSE MINISTRIES DISCUSSED
[April 30, 2004, 23:30:50]

Defense minister of Azerbaijan Republic colonel-general Safar Abiyev
met with the ambassador of the Russian Federation to Azerbaijan
Nikolay Ryabov and military attaché, counter-admiral Vladimir
Lomakin, 30 April.

Ambassador N. Ryabov presented the newly appointed military attaché
of Russia in Azerbaijan V. Lomakin and the former attaché Yuri
Kurshakov.

Colonel-general Safar Abiyev noted that the Russian-Azerbaijan
relations base on historical traditions and we always try to preserve
these ties. National leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev always highly
assessed these relations and today President Ilham Aliyev
successfully continues this line. Traditional links between the
defense departments are also high level. Functioning of the Russian
Federation military attaché in Azerbaijan is evidence to that. WE
shall also open our military attaché in Russia shortly.

Touching upon the unsolved Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh
conflict, the Minister said that Russia has great opportunity for
settlement of the problem and Azerbaijan expects efficient efforts
from Russia as one of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair.

We want the conflict to be solved in the frame of international legal
norms shortly and satisfy both sides, Ambassador Nikolay Ryabov
stated.

Then, he informed on the arrangements on the occasion of 59th
anniversary of victory over the German fascism in the Great Patriotic
War in 1941-1945s.

Parties had comprehensive exchange of views on development prospects
of cooperation between the defense ministers and Azerbaijan and
Russia, as well as on the military-political situation in the South
Caucasus.

PRESS RELEASE
Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
138 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
Tel: 212-689-7810
Fax: 212-689-7168
e-mail: [email protected]
Website:
Contact: Iris Papazian

April 30, 2004

THE PASSING OF ARCHBISHOP ZAREH AZNAVOURIAN

His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, and His
Eminence Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate, the Religious and Executive
Councils of the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America,
announce with deepest sadness the passing of His Eminence Archbishop Zareh
Aznavourian, on Friday, April 30, 2004, in Lebanon. His Eminence was 57
years old.
Archbishop Zareh faithfully served the Armenian Apostolic Church as an
ordained celibate priest for 38 years, most of which was spent at the
Catholicosate of the Holy See of Cilicia in Antelias, Lebanon, except for
two years in Rome where he pursued higher education and three years as the
Prelate of Cyprus.
Archbishop Zareh was an eminent teacher at the Cilician See’s
Theological Seminary. He was a noted composer of both religious and secular
music, a gifted scholar, a Biblical translator, and an author of textbooks
and commentaries. He was considered to be one of the most noted Biblical
scholars within the Armenian Church.
The Extreme Unction will take place during the Divine Liturgy service at
the Cathedral of St. Gregory the Illuminator in Antelias, on Monday, May 3.
Interment will follow in the Mausoleum of the Holy See of Cilicia.
Requiem Services will take place in all Prelacy churches on Sunday, May
2.

ArmenPress
April 30 2004

FORESTRY SCHOOL TO BE ESTABLISHED

YEREVAN, APRIL 30, ARMENPRESS: Skilled personnel is of crucial
importance for implementation of forest recreation projects in
Armenia, while local specialists have not passed any training in the
last 10-15 years, but this gap is going to be eliminated soon after a
forestry school is established, Andranik Ghulijanian, the head of
Forest Research Center told Armenpress.
Ghulinjanian said an institutional support to forests project is
implemented within Natural Resource Management and Poverty
Alleviation project, funded by Swedish Sida. The project envisages
creation of a regional training center Zikatar. Ghulijanian said the
business plan of the center has been approved by Armenian Environment
and Agricultural ministries and the World Bank.
In the course of a year, preparatory works will be finished and
the center can start its educational program. The participants will
be specialist of Armenian Forestry and students of Agricultural
Academy and Ijevan branch of Yerevan state university forestry
department.
The training of the specialists will contribute to forest
recreation in Armenia allowing to have a thorough data base on
Armenian forests.

Edmonton Journal (Alberta)
April 30, 2004 Friday Final Edition

Polar Ice worth cool million: Diavik diamonds on weekend display

by Paul Marck

EDMONTON – When Chad Snider is polishing a diamond, his sense of
sound is as keen as his sight and his touch as he carves out edges
and facets to the rough gem-stone.

“You can hear it when something’s not right,” says the 23-year-old
from Yellowknife, originally from Lloydminster. If there is a crack
or other imperfection in the jewel, the sound it makes grinding on a
spinning, diamond-dust covered cast-iron wheel is different from that
of an unblemished stone.

Snider is in Edmonton for a weekend promotion at Crowley’s Jewellers
and Goldsmiths in Kingsway Mall, featuring $1-million worth of
Canadian Polar Ice diamonds.

Snider has been a professional, certified diamond polisher for the
past three years, after graduating from an apprenticeship program in
Armenia.

He works for Arslandian Cutting Works, an Armenian-based gem outfit
that is among three international and one domestic cutting and
polishing shops in Yellowknife that finish Canadian diamonds from the
Diavik mine. Arslandian is the biggest diamond polisher in Canada,
with more than 50 certified staff.

So, what is it about diamonds?

“The best part of it is the romance of the stone,” says Snider.

“When you think of what it means in love, in marriage, it’s the
ideal.”

Snider said the prime traits that make a good diamond polisher are
patience and confidence.

“Mistakes happen,” he says of the fractures, inclusions and human
errors that detract from a diamond’s value.

While retail diamonds are often sold in half-carat valuations, gem
cutters work in much smaller dimensions, .015 of a carat, in grinding
the rough stone.

“If you go under a fraction of that, it’s a lot of money lost,” says
Snider.

“You’ve got to be able to adapt to different situations. If a mistake
happens, you’ve got to pull through it.”

Shay Basal, owner of Montreal-based Basal Diamond Inc., which
consigned the $1 million worth of gems to Crowley’s, says as far as
he is concerned, there are no inferior Canadian dia-monds. Basal
deals in Polar Ice diamonds, one of two branded gems with
certificates of authenticity and provenance issued by the N.W.T.
government.

Each one is laser etched with a logo and serial number, matched to
the certificate bearing its origin and when it was mined.

Clarity and colour, the two prime factors in diamond value, are
superior to just about everything else on the market, including
leaders Botswana and South Africa.

“There’s no such thing in diamonds as rejects. What’s beautiful about
the Canadian rough is that it’s all white.”

For jeweller Mary Crowley, the dozens of jewelry pieces featuring
Polar Ice diamonds is an opportunity for her store to celebrate its
10th anniversary and renovated location this weekend.

“It’s a grand opening. I just wanted to do something different and
exciting.”

The two most valuable items in the sale are a $70,000 necklace,
featuring 15.29 carats total in gems, and a single-stone ring valued
at $59,000, its diamond a hefty 2.01 carats.

[email protected]

GRAPHIC: Colour Photo: Larry Wong, The Journal; Mary Crowley, owner
of Crowley’s Jewellers & Goldsmiths, holds a handful of rough
diamonds valued at $50,000.; Colour Photo: Larry Wong, The Journal;
Polisher Chad Snider works on one of a collection of Polar Ice
diamonds worth more than $1-million at Crowley’s Jewellers &
Goldsmiths in Kingsway Garden Mall.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 29, 2004 Thursday

Aliyev calls for gradual settlement of conflict with Armenia

By Yuri Ulyanovsky

STRASBOURG

Azerbaijani President Ilkham Aliyev favoured the settlement of the
conflict with Armenia on a gradual basis.

The first step is “to withdraw Armenian troops from the seven
districts of Azerbaijan” that are not part of Nagorno-Karabakh,
Aliyev said.

Speaking at the PACE spring session on Thursday, the Azerbaijani
president said this initiative has become an important step towards
strengthening trust. This idea has been discussed by Europarliament
and other European structures and supported by them, he added.

“It is inadmissible when one of the Council of Europe countries is
occupying part of another country, which is also a CE member. Armenia
will win nothing neither in an economic nor moral aspect. This only
can infringe upon Armenia’s prestige at the international arena. I
believe that Armenian leaders are beginning to understand this,” the
Azerbaijani leader stressed.

At the same time, Aliyev pointed out that Azerbaijan will never agree
to develop economic cooperation with Armenia till Armenian troops are
not withdrawn from these districts. “Azerbaijan cannot cooperate with
a country that occupies part of its territories,” Aliyev emphasised.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 29, 2004 Thursday

Russia can play special role in settling Armenian-Azeri conflict

By Yuri Ulyanovsky

STRASBOURG

The co-chairmen of the Minsk group of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for Nagorno-Karabakh, that is
Russia, United States and France, are called upon to play “their
specific role”, Azeri President Ilkham Aliyev said on Thursday. He
spoke at a news conference in the Palace of Europe after addressing
the spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe. “We hope that they all will step up their activities in this
direction”, he said.

Russia plays a special role in the framework of the Minsk group,
Aliyev said. This is determined not only by Russia’s geographic
position. Russia has good relations both with Azerbaijan and Armenia,
and Moscow is familiar with the role of a mediator in settling
conflicts.

President Aliyev also counts on the assistance of the PACE and the
Council of Europe in settling the conflict. He said the Political
Commission of the PACE works presently on the report on the
Armenian-Azeri conflict that will documentedly prove Armenia’s status
as a country occupying part of Azeri territory. As a result of the
occupation of part of Azeri territory, which, Aliyev said, is a gross
violation of the norms of international law, the number of refugees
and displaced persons among Azerbaijan’s population of eight million
reached one million which burdens the country’s economy.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 29, 2004 Thursday

Transcaucasus presidents discuss regional problems

WARSAW

The leaders of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan are determined to go
ahead with reforms in their countries to bring their economies in
line with the standards of the European Union. This theme was central
to statements by Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, Armenian
President Robert Kocharian, and Azerbaijani President Ilkham Aliyev
at a seminar devoted to the problems of the Caucasus region at the
on-going European economic forum.

The leaders of the three former Soviet republics discussed current
reforms in their countries and previewed plans for the future.

Saakashvili told the participants he hoped for Georgia’s admission to
the European Union in the near future.

“I visited Brussels just recently and I hope that Georgia’s admission
may take place sooner than many expect,” he said.

Aliyev recalled Azerbaijan’s “strategic decision” made back in 1993
to integrate in international structures and the world economy.

As for the Armenian president, Kocharian said he did not expect the
European Union might consider the possibility of making Armenia its
member in the near future. He remarked, though, that if Armenia
matches E.U. standards, the goal of European membership will be
closer.

The theme of Nagorno-Karabakh was brought up at the seminar. As he
dwelt on the likely ways of settling the conflict, Aliyev said a
settlement must be carried out on the basis of international law.

He said Azerbaijan respected the territorial integrity everywhere and
hoped that it would be entitled to a similar treatment.

Armenian President Kocharian said that in the Soviet Union
administrative borders in many cases were drawn in such a way so as
to ferment regional tensions and thereby enhance the role of the
central authorities.

“I do understand Azerbaijan’s position,” Kocharian said, adding that
the surest way towards a settlement was “peaceful divorce.”

Saakashvili briefed the participants in the meeting arranged by the
Davos World Economic Forum on cooperation with Russia on the mutual
border in the struggle against Chechen militants.

“We have none today, and we do not want them to return,” Saakashvili
said.

Portland Press Herald
Friday, April 30, 2004

Dispatches
Staff reports
Copyright © 2004 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

Portland: Jews, Armenians will host examination of Holocaust

PORTLAND – Portland’s Jewish and Armenian communities will host a public
forum Sunday afternoon to examine the effects of the Nazi Holocaust and the
Armenian genocide on subsequent generations.

The forum will be at 2 p.m. in Luther Bonney Auditorium at the University of
Southern Maine, off Bedford Street.

Speakers will include Vigen Guroian, theology and ethics professor at Loyola
College in Baltimore, and Abraham Peck, director of USM’s Academic Council
for Post-Holocaust Christian, Jewish and Islamic Studies. For more
information, call 772-1959 or 780-5331.