Monday 31 August 2009

Thirty Years Later‏


http://www.keghart.com/node/596

By Dikran Abrahamian BA, MD, Ontario, 29 August 2009

Inspired by the upcoming conference at Haigazian University in Beirut
Dedicated to the exceptional scholars of WATS who made it possible to get to this stage


The Academic Conference on the “Armenian Genocide and International Law” in Beirut reminds the First Armenian Congress held in Hôtel Nikko of Paris. During September 3 to 6 of 1979, around 350 people attended the gathering to discuss existential matters related to the Armenian Diaspora. Incidentally, the scheduled conference at Haigazian University will take place exactly on the 30th anniversary of the said Congress.

By Avedis Kevorkian, Philadelphia, PA USA, 29 August 2009

Recently, I unveiled to the world Kevorkian's first two Laws, which were received with deafening silence and indifference. After all, there was nothing profound in them.

Those who thought about them at all said, in effect, "Yes, everyone knows these. So what?"....Read more >>

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South Caucusus News‏

Institute for War and Peace Reporting IWPR, UK
Aug 28 2009
EUROVISION: AZERBAIJAN BACKS DOWN
Embarrassed government says Armenia song votes probe was a mistake.
By Elshan Mammadaliyev in Baku

The Azerbaijan security services' interrogation of people who voted
for Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest was `a mistake by one
official', the government says, while commentators said the probe
humiliated the whole country.

In a move that got the country some unwelcome publicity, all 43
Azerbaijanis who sent a text message voting for the Armenian entry in
the continent-wide music contest in May were summoned to the Ministry
of National Security, MNS.

`When I was called to the MNS, I thought they were arresting me for
the strong criticism of President Ilham Aliyev I'd written on
Facebook. I had even forgotten that I'd voted for Armenia. When in the
MNS they started to interrogate me about this, I almost burst out
laughing,' said Rovshan Nasirli, who was called to the ministry on
August 12.

Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan are very tense. The two
countries have never signed a peace treaty to end their 1991 war over
Nagorny-Karabakh, although a ceasefire was signed 15 years
ago. Armenian troops still occupy swathes of western Azerbaijan.

Nasirli described a scene reminiscent of the inquisition of a serious
criminal and said the interrogators tried to intimidate him.

`After they kept me for two hours in an empty room, two men came to
me, saying they worked for the main department of the MNS. One had a
list in his hand of all the people who voted for the Armenian entry,
and their addresses. They said that people like me should be sent to
prison. They said, `Today you vote for an Armenian, tomorrow you will
go to blow up the metro for them.''

The MNS refused to comment on the reasons for the campaign, but Novruz
Mamedov, head of the international department at the presidential
administration, said the affair had been whipped up out of all
proportion.

`Nothing special happened. There was no pressure applied to them. You
just have to bear in mind that Azerbaijan is still a very young
state. We have only been independent for 18 years, and not all our
officials have the required experience,' he said in a statement issued
to the APA news agency, in which he blamed the Armenians for stoking
hatred against his country.


`For hundreds of years many peoples have lived in peace in Azerbaijan,
including 20,000 Armenians. Why does no one talk about this?
And a
mistake by one official is presented like a deliberate act by the
national government. This is just part of a negative campaign which
has been conducted against Azerbaijan for many years, and which is
encouraged by Armenia.'

But his attempts to calm the furore failed, with gossip about the
arrests appearing on Azeri blogs and web sites.

`I am sure this mistake was made by just one low-ranking official. And
harm was done to the whole country,' said Togrul Juvarli, a political
analyst.

`The political weight of this incident has been great. When it is
important to show the world that we are a civilised country, we behave
like this.'

Nasirli said he was shocked by how little public protest there had
been over the affair, and how the government was prepared to dismiss
as a `mistake' the summoning of dozens of young people.

`Every citizen should ask the question why illegal interrogation and
investigation are allowed in Azerbaijan. This could happen to everyone
because the officials do not respect the law,' he said.

`The MNS should occupy itself with more serious issues. I liked the
song, so I sent a text message. This is not betraying my homeland. If
only we could solve Karabakh with text messages.'

But he should not count on everyone defending him. Karabakh is a very
emotive issue in Azerbaijan, which is home to hundreds of thousands of
civilians displaced by the conflict, and Akif Nagi, chairman of the
organisation for the liberation of Karabakh, said Azeris should not
even send text messages in favour of their enemy.

`This is immoral. There is no place for tolerance in this
question. The position of the MNS is correct. However, the MNS
officials made a mistake in how they investigated the situation. They
acted very crudely, asking those who voted for the Armenians to come
in and putting pressure on them. Such people should have been
investigated and kept under surveillance so they didn't even suspect
it,' he said.

Elshan Mammadaliyev is a freelance journalist in Baku.

TWO AZERBAIJANI MINISTERS TO VISIT ARMENIA
APA
Aug 28 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku. Kamala Guliyeva - APA. Minister of Youth and Sport of Azerbaijan
Azad Rahimov and Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Population,
President of Azerbaijan Judo Federation Fuzuli Alekperov will visit
Armenia, press service of the Ministry of Youth and Sport told APA.

They will discuss the organizational issues of participation of
Azerbaijani sportsmen in the European championship among the young
judokas in Armenia. The Azerbaijani officials will visit Armenia
before the tournament. They are expected to sign new agreement in
accordance with the agreement reached between the sport officials of
both countries during the world wrestling championship in Azerbaijan
in 2007.

According to the agreement, host country has to take serious
responsibility for the security of Azerbaijani sportsmen in Armenia. It
also considers creating of necessary condition for feeding with
information, for regular trainings, hanging of Azerbaijan's flag
among the flags of other countries during the tournament, raising the
Azerbaijan's flag, playing of national anthem and all participants'
standing up in the case of Azerbaijan's winning
, participation
of journalists accredited by IOC, easy Internet access and other
issues. The agreement will be signed by the Ministry of Youth and
Sport of Azerbaijan, European Judo Federation, European Judo Committee,
European Olympic Committee and appropriate organizations of Armenia.
WB TO PROVIDE ARMENIA 36.6 MILLION USD TO RURAL ROADS RESTORATION
PanARMENIAN.Net
28.08.2009 17:28 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors
on August 27 approved a credit of US$ 36.6 million of additional
financing for the Lifeline Road Improvement Project for Armenia,
press office of the World Bank reports. This project will assist
the government of Armenia in its on-going efforts to drastically
improve accessibility of the country's main road network for the
rural population and to create employment. It will also help Armenia
mitigate the impacts of the global economic crisis on the country's
economy and the well-being of its population.

The additional financing will further scale-up activities under the
on-going original project to improve the condition of 140 km of roads.

Over the years, insufficient investment in the rehabilitation and
maintenance of lifeline roads has made the overall road quality poor,
and left some roads difficult to use and others completely impassable.

The poor conditions and inadequacy of the lifeline roads connecting
rural communities to the main highways affects many aspects of rural
life and means that business opportunities are lost, it's harder for
kids to get to school, and more difficult for people to get urgent
medical attention when they need it.
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Kazakisdan‏

ARTICLE BY HAGOP MARDIROSSIAN
LOS ANGELES, U. S. A.
ՅՕԴՈՒԱԾ ՅԱԿՈԲ ՄԱՐՏԻՐՈՍԵԱՆ-ԷՆ
ԼՈՍ ԱՆՃԵԼԸՍ, Մ. ՆԱՀԱՆԳՆԵՐ

Saturday 29 August 2009

LOUSSAPATZ -- 2009--08--29.‏


From: LOUSSAPATZ THE DAWN (loussapatz.s@gmail.com)
Sent: Sat 8/29/09 4:56 AM
To: loussapatz@gmail.com

Attachments: 1 attachment

LOUSSAPAT...pdf (379.8 KB)
LOUSSAPATZ -- 2009--08--29.

UNABLE TO PUBLISH PDF FILES.
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Rag Mamoul - Patsvadz Payts Vorkan Kich Uentertsvadz Kirk-ue‏

An International Academic Conference on the "Armenian Genocide and International Law"‏

An International Academic Conference on the “Armenian Genocide and International Law”

Press Release:

From September 2-4, 2009 an international academic conference on the Armenian Genocide and International Law will take place at Haigazian University, Beirut-Lebanon.

Organized by the Haigazian University and the Armenian National Committee-Middle East, the conference will discuss the Armenian Genocide from the perspective of international law and tackle issues such as professional ethics and genocide denial, the consequences of the Genocide and the rights of the Armenian nation within the context of international law, and means of further promoting the field of Armenian Genocide Studies. ....Read more >>

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ANCA - Truth or Consequences‏

August 28, 2009


The Consequences of
Broken Promises

ANCA Cites President's Responsibility for Court Ruling Against Return of Genocide Era Assets

1) ANC Mourns Passing of Armenian Issues Stalwart Sen. Ted Kennedy

2) ANCA Confronts Bryza Bias on Nagorno Karabagh

3) Ohio: Schmidt v. Krikorian Update

-- Sibel Edmonds Deposition video available online | Watch Now |

-- Krikorian Team deposes Rep. Schmidt | Read Story |

4) Two Evenings Honoring Grassroots Civic Participation

-- The ACAA presents the 3rd Annual ANCA Eastern Region Banquet - October 3,2009, New York City

-- ANC Western Region Banquet - November 8, 2009


Hachikian to President Obama: "You Bear Direct Responsibility. . ."

WASHINGTON, DC – Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Chairman Ken Hachikian today called on President Barack Obama to reject a misguided federal appeals court decision striking down a California law to allow for the return of Armenian Genocide-era assets, and encouraged him to immediately and publicly affirm that it is not the “express federal policy” of the United States, as the court argued, to prohibit the recognition of this crime by the Congress or the states.

The letter follows a August 20th flawed ruling of a three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the case of Movsesian v. Versicherung A.G. (No. 07-56722), that struck down a California law providing remedies for Armenian Genocide-era wrongs. The ruling contended that state level recognition of this crime contradicts "express federal policy" and is therefore unconstitutional.

"You bear direct responsibility, Mr. President, by virtue of your failure to keep your repeated, crystal clear pledges to recognize the Armenian Genocide, for the Court's judgment that it is the official policy of the Executive Branch of the United States government to actively oppose proper recognition of this crime and, upon this basis, to thus prohibit states from passing laws to help Armenian Genocide-era victims seek to reclaim lost or stolen property," said Hachikian in an August 25th letter to President Obama.

Hachikian's letter to President Obama also noted that the ANCA's and Armenian American community's frustration is not limited solely to his broken promise related to Armenian Genocide recognition, but also extends to " your White House's use of Turkey's cynically-inspired ‘roadmap’ to defer U.S. recognition, and your State Department's shameless pressure on Armenia to accept the artificial 'historical commission' that Ankara has long advanced to prevent the proper recognition of this crime." Read more. . .

-- LATEST NEWS: Lawyers to Appeal 9th Circuit Ruling


ANC Mourns Passing of Armenian Issues Stalwart Sen. Ted Kennedy

WATERTOWN, MA – The Armenian National Committee of Massachusetts joined with citizens of the Commonwealth and Armenian Americans across the U.S. in mourning the passing of Senate icon and lifelong advocate of Armenian issues, Senator Ted Kennedy.

“Since his election in 1962, Senator Kennedy has been a fighter for Armenian Genocide recognition, supporter of an independent and prosperous Armenia and a defender of the right to self-determination of the people of Nagorno Karabagh,” said ANC of Massachusetts Co-Chair Dikran Kaligian. “We join with ANCA leaders on the national, regional and local levels and our community in Massachusetts in honoring the life and legacy of Sen. Kennedy and extend our deepest condolences to the Kennedy family.”
Read more. . .


ANCA Confronts Bryza Bias on Nagorno Karabagh

Chairman Ken Hachikian Outlines Envoy's Failings; Challenges State Department Pressure on Armenia to Accept Flawed Madrid Principles; Calls on Secretary Clinton to Stop the Outsourcing of U.S. Policy on Armenian Issues

WASHINGTON, DC – Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Chairman Ken Hachikian today sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton outlining the concerns of the Armenian American community regarding the recent biased remarks by Matt Bryza, the U.S. Co-Chair to the OSCE Minsk Group charged with helping to negotiate a settlement of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict.

The four-page letter, dated August 20, 2009, addressed, in detail, recent unfair, inaccurate, and counter-productive statements by Bryza, and, more broadly, expressed the view that his actions reflect the failings of an Administration that, having already broken a series of pledges to Armenian Americans, is now in the process of effectively handing over decision-making on U.S. policy on Armenian issues to the Turkish government: In the letter, Hachikian stressed: "Today, seven months after the start of the Obama-Biden Administration, we are seriously concerned that this Administration has abdicated its responsibilities by effectively outsourcing our nation's foreign policy with respect to Armenian issues to the Republic of Turkey, as every single policy dealing with Armenia has been made along the lines that Turkey has dictated, rather than along the sound principles of morality and democracy that you, President Obama and Vice President Biden unambiguously articulated during your presidential campaigns last year." Read more. . .


4) Two Evenings Honoring Grassroots Civic Participation

ACAA ANNOUNCES HONOREES FOR ANNUAL BANQUET IN SUPPORT OF ANCA EASTERN REGION

-- Bandazian and Kerneklian Named Vahan Cardashian Awardees

NEW YORK, NY- The Armenian Cultural Association of America (ACAA) announced the honorees for the Third Annual Banquet and Awards Program in support of the Armenian National Committee of America Eastern Region and its tradition of service to the Armenian-American community. The ACAA will host the event, which will take place on Saturday, October 3, 2009 at Espace in New York City.

As a key part of the banquet’s awards program, the Vahan Cardashian Award will be presented to the brother-sister pair of Bedros Bandazian and Melanie Kerneklian, both from Richmond, Virginia, who have dedicated a lifetime of steadfast activism to the ANCA at both local and leadership levels. Influential figures in their state’s political and community life, having served volunteer appointments to a number of state-wide projects and commissions, Bandazian and Kerneklian are among the founders of the Richmond ANC and have led countless grassroots educational campaigns in support of Armenian issues. Read more. . .

2009 ANC-WR BANQUET PLANS UNDERWAY

PASADENA, CA - The Armenian National Committee, Western Region (ANC-WR) is pleased to announce plans to hold its annual regional banquet on Sunday, November 8, 2009 at the newly renovated Pasadena Convention Center Ballroom.

The ANC-WR Banquet will highlight the organization’s accomplishment and current activities. The evening will also include an awards ceremony—acknowledging elected officials and community activists who have shown extraordinary courage and devotion to freedom and justice. Past recipients include Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Senator Robert Menendez, Congressman Ed Royce and State Senator Jackie Speier.

“After last year’s highly successful sold-out affair at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, this year’s annual banquet promises to elevate the community’s activism and enthusiasm even further,” commented ANC-WR Banquet Chair Elizabeth Boyadjian. “With our strong relationship with the City of Pasadena and its leaders along with the Convention Center’s capability to accommodate such a large and prestigious guest list, the venue is impressive and appropriate.”

Read more. . .


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Moere on US Court Ruling‏

The Armenia Weekly

Gunaysu: Turkish Perception of the Recent US Court Ruling
By Ayse Gunaysu • on August 27, 2009 •

Among thousands of news items showering down from international agencies,
none of the Turkish dailies or TV channels skipped the news about a U.S. Federal
Court of Appeals ruling against Armenian demands for unpaid insurance claims.
Many headlines revealed a hardly concealed note of victory, reporting that the U.S.
Court had dealt a “big blow” to Armenians. Some of them were a little bit more
professional, reflecting only a satisfaction: “Court decision to anger Armenians.
” Even the most seemingly “objective” ones used wording that presented the issue
as a defeat on the part of the “Armenians” —not a violation of the rights of legitimate
beneficiaries, the clients of insurance companies that profited from a government’s
extermination of its own citizens. Even the daily Taraf, considered to be waging the
most courageous struggle against the “deep state,” used the headline: “Bad news
to Armenians from a US court” (Aug. 22, 2009, p.3), a headline that, intentionally
or not, reinforces the essentialist conception of Armenians widespread in Turkey
and reflects a cold-hearted pseudo-impartiality —“bad news”!—in the face of an
infuriating usurpation of one’s rights.

Apart from a handful of people, no one in Turkey, watching the news or reading the
headlines (often without reading the full texts), knows that at the turn of the century
several thousands of Armenians in the provinces of the old Armenia were issued
life-insurance policies, with benefits amounting to more than $20 million in 1915
—dollars still unpaid to the legal heirs of the victims who perished under a reign
of terror. This is not surprising because this audience is even ignorant of the fact
that on the eve of World War I, there were 2,925 Armenian settlements in the old
Armenia, with 1,996 schools teaching over 173,000 male and female students,
and 2,538 churches and monasteries—all proof of a vibrant Armenian presence in
the Ottoman Empire. When I tried to explain this to my 83-year-old mother, who
thought the U.S. court had done something good for Turkey, she couldn’t believe
her ears. She was quite sincere when she asked: “Western insurance companies?
At that time? In Harput, in Merzifon, in Kayseri? Are you sure?” Because she could
not even imagine that what is now to us the remote, less-developed cities with rural
environs where pre-capitalist patterns still prevail—places more or less isolated
from today’s metropolitan centers—were once, before 1915, rich and developed
urban centers, with inhabitants much closer to the Western world than their fellow
Muslim citizens, in their economic activities, social structure, and way of life.
Although a university graduate (something unusual for a woman in Turkey at that
time), a person of culture with a real sense of justice in everything she does, my
mother was brought up in a system of education based on a history that was
rewritten to reconstruct a national identity of pride, and which turned facts upside
down. This was the result: an “enlightened” individual who knew nothing about how
things were in her own—beloved—country and what had happened just a decade
before her birth.

So, how can one expect my mother to know that Talat Pasha, a member of the
PUC triumvira and one of the top organizers of the Armenian Genocide, had
shocked Henry Morgenthau, the U.S. Ambassador to Istanbul in 1915, with his
audacity when he said: “I wish, that you would get the American life insurance
companies to send us a complete list of their Armenian policy holders. They
are practically all dead now and have left no heirs to collect the money. It of course
all escheats to the state. The government is the beneficiary now. Will you do so?”

The Turkish audience, apart from that handful of people, that received the message
about the U.S. Court of Appeals ruling against the Armenians’ right to seek justice,
didn’t stop to think that this was something about one’s most basic rights.
But the reason is simple: National ideology blocks people’s minds. There is a
special meaning attributed to the word “compensation” in Turkey. It is believed that
recognition will be followed by demands of compensation, which will naturally lead
to demands of territory. So, the reference to “compensation” (to be paid to
“Armenians”) in these reports is directly connected in their minds to Armenians’
claim to territory.

This is all about denial. Denial is not an isolated phenomenon, not a policy
independent of all other aspects. Denial is a system. An integrated whole. You
don’t only deny what really happened; in order to deny what really happened, you
have to deny even the existence of the people to whom it happened. In order to
deny their existence, you have to wipe out the evidence of their existence from
both the physical and intellectual environment. Physical refers to the 2,925
Armenian settlements with 1,996 schools and 2,538 churches and monasteries
that are non-existent now. Intellectual corresponds to my mother’s perception
of the U.S. Court of Appeal’s ruling as something good for Turkey.

I watched a film on TV tonight, Akira Kurosawa’s “Rhapsody in August,” a film
about an old lady, a hibakusha (the Japanese word for the victims of the atomic
bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II) and her four grandchildren.
Watching the film, I saw people commemorating their dead ones with great respect,
taking care of their monuments with endless love, raising their children in the same
spirit, observing Buddhist rituals, praying for their losses. The details showing all
these were elegantly and very impressively depicted. Watching a blind hibakusha
gently cleaning the marble platform of the monument with great care, I thought of
Armenians of my country, who are deprived of this very basic right to publicly honor
the memory of their lost ones. This ban is woven into the very structure of Turkish
society, because the founders of the new Turkish Republic and their successors
built a nation and successfully put into practice an “engineering of the spirit”
whereby the people are convinced, made to sincerely believe, that such
commemorations are a direct insult to themselves.

The outcome of such engineering, this whole complicated system of denial, is
very difficult to dismantle. The Turkish ruling elite will not recognize the genocide,
not in the short-term, not in the mid-term. In the long-term, maybe. But how “long”
a term this will be is something unknown. The dynamic that would step up the
process is the recognition from below, i.e. recognition by the people—a very slow
process, but much more promising than an official recognition in the foreseeable
future. People in Turkey are one by one going through a very special kind of
enlightenment—meeting with facts, learning more about the near history,
getting into closer contact with Armenians here and elsewhere (for example,
meeting and listening to Prof. Marc Nichanian speaking in the language of
philosophy and literature, hearing his words about how meaningless an apology
is when what happened to Armenians was “unforgivable,” about the meaning of
the “usurpation of mourning” and the “impossibility of representation” of what
Armenians experienced. More and more stories are appearing in the dailies and
periodicals in Turkey of our grandmothers and grandfathers of Armenian origin
who were stripped of their Armenian identities, at least in the public sphere.
More and more books are being published about the genocide, enabling the
readers to try and imagine what is unimaginable.

This will turn the wheels of a long process of recognition from below, a recognition
in the hearts of people that will inevitably interact with the process of official
recognition—a must for true justice—no matter how distant it may be for the time
being.
ANCA CALLS ON PRESIDENT OBAMA TO REJECT MISGUIDED FEDERAL
APPEALS COURT DECISION
ARMENPRESS:
August 26, 2009
Yerevan

Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) called on President
Barack Obama to reject a misguided federal appeals court decision
striking down a California law to allow for the return of Armenian
Genocide-era assets, and encouraged him to immediately and publicly
affirm that it is not the "express federal policy" of the United
States, as the court argued, to prohibit the recognition of this
crime by the Congress or the states.

Representative of the ANCA Elizabeth Chouljyan told Armenpress that
the letter follows a August 20th ruling of a three judge panel of the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the case of Movsesian
v. Versicherung A.G. (No. 07-56722), that struck down a California
law providing remedies for Armenian Genocide-era wrongs. The ruling
contended that state level recognition of this crime contradicts
"express federal policy" and is therefore unconstitutional.

"You bear direct responsibility, Mr. President, by virtue of your
failure to keep your repeated, crystal clear pledges to recognize the
Armenian Genocide, for the Court's judgment that it is the official
policy of the Executive Branch of the United States government to
actively oppose proper recognition of this crime and, upon this basis,
to thus prohibit states from passing laws to help Armenian Genocide-era
victims seek to reclaim lost or stolen property," said Hachikian in
an August 25th letter to President Obama.

The California Legislature passed a law in 2000 giving heirs of those
who died or fled to avoid Armenian Genocide-era persecution until the
end of 2010 to file claims for old bank accounts and life insurance
policies. Class-action lawsuits brought by Armenian descendants in
California and other states led to a $20 million settlement with New
York Life Insurance Co. in 2005 and a $17 million settlement the same
year with French life insurer AXA.

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Armeian News

NEW 100K DRAM PUT IN CIRCULATION
Asbarez
Aug 24, 2009

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)-The Armenian Central Bank on Monday introduced a
100,000 dram currency note.

A representative of Armenia's Central Bank (CB) has ruled out that
the introduction of a 100K Dram banknote on Monday increases inflation
risks or forestalls an imminent devaluation of the national currency
in Armenia.

CB Board member Vakhtang Abrahamian told RFE/RL that the regulator's
specialists had studied the issue and concluded that the introduction
of this large banknote, equivalent to roughly $265, does not threaten
any major devaluation of the national currency.

Until now, a 50K Dram bill was Armenia's banknote with the highest
face value.

"This banknote, according to our estimations, will take only 3 percent
in cash circulation on the market, which cannot have any significant
impact on the economy in terms of the value of the national currency
or any inflation risks," said Abrahamian.

Abrahamian said CB experts had studied the experience of a number of
countries, such as Lithuania, where the highest nominal value of a
banknote is equivalent to 1,000 Euros (approx. $1,433).

"This experience shows that on the contrary it facilitates large
transactions and avoids situations where large transactions are
carried out with the use of foreign currencies," he added.

Former CB chairman Bagrat Asatrian also ruled out that the introduction
of 100K Dram banknotes would have any impact on the value of the
Armenian currency. He said it would only alter the structure of the
money supply rather than expand it.

"I think there is also something positive here, and eventually large
banknotes are also a means to combat dollarization," said Asatrian.
RFE/RL Report
Armenian Chemical Plant Workers Walk Out Over Back Wages
24.08.2009
Naira Bulghadarian

Workers at a chemical plant in Armenia's third largest city on Monday
refused to enter the work premises as they demanded that the
company's administration pay their back wages first.

The enterprise based in Vanadzor, some 120 kilometers to the north of
Armenian capital Yerevan, has been hit hard by the global economic
crisis and, in particular, a collapse of international prices of
calcium carbide, its main product. It stopped manufacturing the
chemical compound used in steelmaking and sent much of its 830-strong
workforce on indefinite leave as a result.

The remaining workers say they have not received their wages since
March, and the company's total wage arrears at the moment are
estimated to exceed $265,000.

Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian said in June that the Armenian
government would not provide direct financial assistance requested by
the country's second-largest chemical enterprise, but added that
instead it was ready to help it sell its production to domestic
consumers.

Meanwhile, the management of Vanadzor-Khimprom, which has largely
stood idle since last fall, hoped that the government would channel a
part of a $500 million loan obtained from Russia into its
rehabilitation.

`We want [President] Serzh Sarkisian's promises that we will receive
our wages every month to be kept. But today we have not received our
wages for six months,' said one angry worker at Khimprom.

`The prime minister first promised that we would be paid from the
Russian $500 million [stabilization loan],' another worker continued.
`...But after receiving that loan, he came here and said he wouldn't
give it.'

The workers say they were last paid on Friday - their wages for
March. They believe this was done by the administration to avert
their possible strike.

`Perhaps they learned on Friday that we wanted to organize such a
protest and gave us our wages for March,' said one worker.

Workers also complained about job cuts that left many of their
colleagues jobless and some accused the company administration of
continuing plunder at the plant.

RFE/RL could not reach Vanadzor-Khimprom director Aleksandr Snegiryov
for comment. He as well as his assistant Artur Stepanian were said to
be out of town. The latter reportedly traveled to Yerevan to
negotiate a bank loan.

Before that, Stepanian had urged the workers to be patient: `Like
yourselves, I have not received my wages for five months.'

Late last year, Vanadzor-Khimprom stopped the production of carbide
following a dramatic fall in prices on the international market. The
plant's administration said they might resume the export of carbide
already this fall depending on the outcome of ongoing negotiations
with an Italian company.

Also, the first batch of potassium fertilizers produced at the plant
has now been delivered to agricultural farms in Armenia. The plant is
currently 95 percent ready for producing these fertilizers.

In the end, Khimprom's workers decided to postpone their strike for a
week. But many told RFE/RL they doubted problems would be solved
during this period.


SUPREME PATRIARCH MARKED HIS 58TH ANNIVERSARY
Panorama.am
13:22 22/08/2009

The Supreme Patriarch of All Armenians Karekin II celebrated his
58th anniversary. On this occasion the press service of Mother See
of Holy Etchmiadzin received congratulatory messages from state,
political and public figures, as well as foreign Ambassadors.

On this occasion Serzh Sargsyan has also sent congratulatory message
to the Patriarch.

National Assembly PR department reports that the NA Chairman Hovik
Abrahamyan visited the Patriarch to congratulate him and awarded NA
Honor Medal.

It is said that PM Tigran Sargsyan, other Governmental members and
clergymen visited Patriarch to congratulate him.

HSBC BANK ARMENIA INITIATES COLLECTION OF FUNDS FOR
REPAIR OF CILICIA SAILING BOAT
ArmInfo
2009-08-24 18:42:00

ArmInfo. HSBC Bank Armenia has initiated collection of funds under
slogan "Let's Save Cilicia Sailing Boat", says HSBC Bank Armenia CEO
Tim Salter. He hopes the fellows and the clients of HSBC Bank Armenia
will make their contribution to repairing the boat. He mentioned that
Cilicia Sailing Boat had been in open air for several years and now
needs repair. Cilicia Boat is an important component of the Armenian
history, he says highlighting that contributions for saving the boat
can be made at any of the 7 branches of HSBC Bank Armenia.

For his part, Hayas Naval Research Club President Karen Balayan said
that that Cilicia Sailing Boat is part of the Armenian history "we
must remember and preserve."

In 2004 Hayas Naval Research Club built Cilicia Sailing Boat within 15
years basing on restored drafts and descriptions of the 13th century
trading boats of Armenian merchants of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
(Middle Age). Cilicia set sail on its historic voyage on July 14,
2004 from Poti, Georgia.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Very Informative Article on Karabgh Negotiations‏

Armenian Reporter
IN KARABAKH TALKS, PROMISE OF A REFERENDUM IN RETURN
FOR LAND
by Tatul Hakobyan
Friday August 21, 2009

Secret details of the negotiations emerge

Tsaghkadzor, Kotayk Province, Armenia - At a meeting with young
Armenians in the resort town of Tsaghgatsor, the American co-chair of
the OSCE Minsk Group, Matthew Bryza, said the Madrid Document for the
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict sought to reconcile the
three main principle of the OSCE Helsinki Final Act - the principles
of the self-determination of peoples, the territorial integrity of
states, and the nonuse of force.

"Those three principles may sound contradictory, at least the first
two, but they are not. It is difficult to reconcile them; that is
why we have been negotiating so long, that is why the talks have
been so complicated. But I think we have found a formula in the
Basic Principles as reflected in the Madrid Document of November
2007 - and now reflected in the updated version of that document
that the co-chairs pulled together in Krakow at the end of July -
that does strike that balance," Mr. Bryza said at the meeting,
which had been organized by the Yerevan-based International Center
for Human Development.

Mr. Bryza, who is deputy assistant secretary of state, went into
greater detail than ever before about the document on the negotiating
table.

"A legalization of the status quo"

"The basic idea of the agreement is that Nagorno-Karabakh will receive
an interim status, which will be a legalization of the status quo. The
interim status will make clear and ensure that that status quo will
continue for an interim period until the second key element - until
there is a vote by the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh to determine
the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh
. So there is a way that
self-determination is expressed in terms of this interim status and
the final status that will be determined by the vote," Mr. Bryza said.

The principle of territorial integrity, as the American diplomat
put it, will be reflected with the return of the "seven territories
surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh" to Azerbaijan.

"Those territories will be returned in a staged way, as President
Aliyev described in July in an interview with Russian television;
five or six territories being returned immediately and one or two or
part of one and another territory returned with some delay, maybe
in five years, maybe in another number of years
. So we will also
take care of the principle of territorial integrity by the return
of these territories to Azerbaijan with the final legal status of
Nagorno-Karabakh to be determined at some point," he said.

In addition, "knowing that the most important factor for the residents
of Nagorno-Karabakh is their security," there will be a special
security regime with guarantees that ensure that there won't be any
threatening military forces surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh; there will
be international peacekeepers.

Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed

Finally, another key element, according to Mr. Bryza, is the
corridor that connects Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and the opening
of all transit routes between Azerbaijan and Armenia, including
Nagorno-Karabakh and Nakhichevan.

"I truly do believe that the two presidents right now are on the
verge of a breakthrough that will clear the way, could be in months,
to finalize the Basic Principles. I can't predict exactly when they
will come up with that agreement to finalize the Basic Principles
because they still wonder about each other; they wonder, Does my
counterpart really want a settlement or is he trying to manipulate
me? Is he trying to get more concessions from me so that the agreement
looks as good as possible to his population or is he simply trying
to get a little more advantage over me?" Mr. Bryza said.

The U.S. diplomat, who according to persistent rumors, is a contender
for the position of U.S. ambassador to Baku, said, "The Karabakh and
Armenian-Turkish negotiations are separate processes; they are moving
forward at different speeds, but they help each other as one process
moves forward."

Referring to Presidents Serge Sargsian and Ilham Aliyev, he added,
"There is no agreement yet but they are very close. Nothing is agreed
upon until all the elements are agreed upon at once."

Reading the documents

The Madrid Document was presented to the foreign ministers of Armenia
and Azerbaijan in 2007. An updated proposal was placed on the table
in July 2009, and the main elements were publicized.

How does the updated version, which is sometimes referred to as the
Krakow Proposal, differ from the Madrid Document?

The Armenian Reporter was able to review the still-secret Madrid
Document in its various manifestations. This review and interviews with
former and current officials intimately familiar with the negotiations
show that the Krakow Proposal does not differ profoundly from either
the original Madrid Document or from the working paper presented to
the sides in 2005.

Points of contention

At the core of all these documents are four basic principles: that
the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be based on the
principle of self-determination through a referendum, a plebiscite,
a popular vote, or a legally binding expression of will; that certain
territories must be returned; that internally displaced persons must
have the chance to return; and that there must be security guarantees.

The principles are certainly important, but as they say, the devil is
in the details. In order to decide the acceptability or unacceptability
of any document, one has to review not the positive points of the
document, but its negative aspects. Simply put, if all the points in
the document are acceptable except for one, then the whole document
can be considered unacceptable.

The Madrid Document, presented in November 2007, is composed of 14
basic principles, and incorporates the four founding principles.

The first point is about the status of Nagorno-Karabakh,
which, according to the Madrid Document, must be decided by
a plebiscite. Legally, a plebiscite differs somewhat from a
referendum. If a referendum is legally binding, a plebiscite
isn't necessarily so. And in the updated Madrid Document, the term
"expression of will" is used, which isn't a legal term, although it
is qualified as "legally binding."
Both Armenia and Azerbaijan have
neither rejected nor accepted the Madrid and updated Madrid Documents.

Kelbajar linked to referendum

Over the years since the failed 2001 Key West talks, Armenia and
Azerbaijan have been arguing around three basic issues. The first
was when Kelbajar would be returned. The second was how the region
of Lachin - beyond the narrow corridor around the Goris-Stepanakert
Highway - would be dealt with. The third was the status of the Lachin
corridor.

Following the 1994 ceasefire, during all negotiations, the Armenian
side has agreed in principle to return five of the seven regions
that adjoined the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region. Former
President Robert Kocharian was also not against the return of
Kelbajar - but only after a referendum determining the final status
of Nagorno-Karabakh. The February 2006 talks in Rambouillet, hosted
by French President Jacques Chirac, came to an impasse for this
very reason.

Azerbaijan insists that Kelbajar must be returned within a specific
and determined time frame - three, five, or 10 years. Armenia insisted
that the return of that region should be linked to the carrying out
of the referendum. In other words, Armenia wasn't opposed to returning
Kelbajar quickly - even within a year - as long as the referendum took
place first. It was apparent to everyone that carrying out a referendum
in the future was added to the document as a face-saving measure for
the sides, and a referendum would never take place; thus, Azerbaijan
insisted on a definite timeframe instead of a definite order of events.


Lachin: the region and the corridor

The second dispute was over the portions of Lachin that were not part
of the land corridor. Azerbaijan demanded the return of the region
of Lachin, with the exception of the Lachin corridor. The region
of Lachin covers an area of 1,835 square kilometers and Azerbaijan
does not want to give that up. During the negotiations, the Armenian
side was trying very hard to ensure that the corridor be as wide as
possible, at least 30-40 km. In this way, what remained disputed was
when the region, minus the corridor, would be returned and how wide
the actual corridor would be.

The third and most fundamental problem, around which the Armenians
and Azerbaijanis had been arguing from 2004 to 2007, had to do with
the status of the Lachin corridor. Armenia insisted that the Lachin
corridor would have the same status as Nagorno-Karabakh. Another point
of contention was the status of the Lachin corridor in the interim
period between the signing of an agreement and the referendum to
determine Nagorno-Karabakh's final status.

Azerbaijan was opposed to the Lachin corridor having the same status
as Nagorno-Karabakh
. Baku proposed several alternatives to be able to
use the corridor simultaneously with the Armenians. Baku proposed that
it belong neither to the Armenians nor to the Azerbaijanis, but rather
be placed under the protection of the OSCE, or perhaps be rented the
corridor to the Armenians. In this way, Azerbaijan did not want to
sign a document that could place its ownership of Lachin into question.

Unanswered questions

When Robert Kocharian became president in 1998, he refused to continue
the negotiations as they had been conducted in the previous years by
Yerevan, Baku, and Stepanakert.

Armenia's third president, Serge Sargsian, continued the negotiations
and ensured continuity in the negotiation process. The co-chairs,
Yerevan, and Baku accept that in the last several months, the
negotiation process has seen progress. It was even said that after
the July 17 meeting of the two presidents in Moscow, an announcement
would be made about an agreement over the Basic Principles - which
did not happen. If progress has been made, the question is this:
have the disputes surrounding Kelbajar, the region of Lachin, and
the Lachin corridor been resolved? If so, what mutual concessions
have the side agreed to?

Is it possible that President Sargsian and Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian have been able to ensure that Kelbajar will not be returned
until a referendum is held? Is it possible that Yerevan has been able
to secure a favorable resolution to the issues of the Lachin region
and the status of the Lachin corridor? That remains to be seen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two Articles on Threatening Issues for Armenians‏

AZERI MILITARY BUILD UP A MAJOR THREAT TO ARMENIA
By Edmond Y. Azadian
AZG Armenian Daily #150,
25/08/09

We have lost count how many trips have been taken by OSCE
representatives to Yerevan, Stepanakert and Baku, trying to negotiate
a settlement between Armenians and Azeris in the thorny issue of
Nagorno Karabagh. In addition, seven meetings have taken place on
the presidential level between Serge Sargisian and Ilham Aliyev.

No breakthrough has yet been achieved. Yet, after each "constructive"
meeting, Ilham Aliyev comes up with a new bellicose announcement
that the military option is not off the table. Even after signing
the Meindorf agreement, which specifically commits the parties to a
peaceful solution, Mr. Aliyev made yet another threat in London. Still,
neither the OSCE representatives, nor their respective governments,
have ever even given a slap on the Azeri wrist for its threats to
disrupt negotiations and launch a new war in the Caucasus.

This, of course, emboldens the Azeri leadership, which began to
match its words with concrete acts: Indeed the Baku government has
been engaged in a huge military build up using its petrodollars for
arms purchases. During the last five years Azerbaijan has increased
its military budget by 1,300 percent, raising it from a mere $175
million to $2.5 billion in 2009.

Through all the negotiations the Azeri side has not moved an iota from
its original position
: evacuate all captured territories, including
Karabagh and we will grant Armenians the "highest degree of autonomy,"
whatever that means.

All this military build-up is being achieved at the expense of one
million Azeri internal refugees, who still live under tents there in
order to generate more sympathy internationally.

The European Armenian Federation has released a statement in Brussels,
this week, warning of the alarming Azeri military build-up and
calling on the OSCE representatives to negotiate a non-aggression
pact between Armenia and Azerbaijan. A timely reminder, indeed. Of
course, a non-aggression pact can last as long as there is parity and
military balance between the two sides. Once the balance is tipped,
no one can tie the aggressor's hands any more. The Ribbentrop-Molotov
pact of 1941, between the USSR and Nazi Germany, is a glaring precedent
about the durability of such pacts.

The Armenian side has been restrained thus far in order not to
escalade the rhetoric. But that was taken as a sign of weakness
and
the military chief in Karabagh noted in a statement recently that the
defeated party cannot be that arrogant and that should a war break
out, Azerbaijan has more to lose than Armenia, with all its pipelines,
oil refineries and other related facilities.

But who is behind Azerbaijan? Who is prompting this overblown
arrogance? Certainly Turkey and Israel, two countries furtively
engaged in training and arming the demoralized Azeri Army
.

Azerbaijan's arrogance is not only derived from the quantity of its
military hardware; because the Azeri leadership is also reassured
that it enjoys the backing of some regional and world powers, which
will stand by its adventurous course.

Last time the war against Azerbaijan was won by Russia's political,
military and logistical support. At that time, Armenia had veered
off course and was leaning towards Turkey at Russia's expense and
Russia needed a speedy correction to that course. This time around,
the political lineup has a different feature in the Caucasus. While
Turkey is still on the Azeri side, we are not sure of Russia's role,
after its major gas deal with Azerbaijan to thwart Western plans to
undermine Russia's hold on energy sources.

The Baku leadership was emboldened so much by this deal that it even
threatened its closest ally, Turkey, which was negotiating a deal with
Armenia without preconditions. Thus the Ankara government was jolted
into changing its position 180 degrees, by announcing, once again,
that it would not open its border, until the Karabagh problem was
resolved on Azeri terms. Again, the Turkish-Armenian rapprochement
came also to a halt.

External political factors dictate that Armenia take some concrete
actions. In view of Azerbaijan's military preparation, it is incumbent
on Armenia to arm itself, hoping for the best, but getting ready for
the worst.

Also, historic parallels must teach us a lesson. At this time a show
is in progress by Vartan Petrosian, the eminent Armenian comedian,
who has always a powerful message to the people through his art. This
time around, his comedy is based on the events of 1918-20. He laments
the lost opportunity to hang on to historic Armenian territories,
when victory was within reach. Indeed, at that period, the defeated
Ottoman Army was in retreat while Armenian forces were fresh, well
supplied and well armed. But indecision, betrayal and political naivete
broke down the will to fight and we lost Erzerum, Kars, Ardahan,
Mamakhatoun, Baiburt and Sarighamish, which were all abandoned to
the defeated Turks.

Vartan Petrosian's comedy, which is appropriately called "Life
Inmates," concludes with the following message: "Oh, Armenians, the
danger is not beyond the mountains. Wake up, don't sleep. Don't console
yourself by watching Ararat in your dreams. Close your ranks within
your borders, in your own 'jail' because the enemy is waiting for your
loss of sobriety to take over the one-tenth residue of your historic
land with its dwindling population of four and a half persons
."

This is a powerful message to our politicians who are engaged in
petty skirmishes. While the enemy is at the gate, the Dashnak party
is calling for the resignation of Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian,
directing also the same threat to the president.

Levon Ter-Petrosian's opposition is calling for the overthrow of the
government "to dismantle the kleptocracy."

With all these historic scenarios repeating in Armenia, why do we blame
the Moscow and Kars Treaties, which shrank the Armenian homeland to its
present size? While the Kemalist government was negotiating the border
treaty with Lenin, the Dashnak party overthrew the newly-established
Soviet government in its 1921 February adventure, which in addition
to costing thousands of lives, deprived the Armenian delegation from
participating in Moscow negotiations, giving a free hand to both
parties to redraw the border map according to their own interests.

While Azerbaijan is rearming itself to resume the military conflict,
our politicians are engaged in their old game. If the current state
of affairs continues, Vartan Petrosian's prediction will not be a
far-fetched possibility. Yes, indeed this time around the enemy can
take over "one tenth of our historic homeland, with its dwindling
population of four and a half."

Armenian-American Lawyers and Leaders should Counter Ruling
of Appeals Court
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
27 August 2009

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an outrageous judicial
opinion last week, ruling that the California law that extended the
deadline for Armenian-Americans to sue life insurance companies for
unpaid claims from the Genocide-era was unconstitutional.

Furthermore, in a split decision, the Court made a sweeping
pronouncement claiming that the State of California had infringed on
the foreign affairs power reserved by the Constitution exclusively to
the federal government, just because the law in question included a
reference to the Armenian Genocide. Two of the three federal judges
asserted that Section 354.4 of the California Code of Civil Procedure,
adopted by the California Legislature in 2000, contravened the federal
government's policy of not acknowledging the Armenian Genocide.
By adopting this law, the State of California intended to provide its
residents and others the opportunity to protect their legal rights by
allowing them until December 31, 2010 to file lawsuits against foreign
and domestic life insurance companies which had not paid claims dating
back to the Genocide era.

On the basis of this law, a class action lawsuit was filed against New
York Life Insurance Company which was settled in 2005 for $20 million
dollars. A second class action lawsuit was filed against Axa, a French
life insurance company. It was settled for $17.5 million.

A third class action lawsuit was filed against Victoria Verisherung AG
and two affiliated German insurance companies in 2003. Father Vazken
Movsesian, Pastor of St. Peter Armenian Church in Glendale, was the
lead plaintiff.

The attorneys for the German companies contested the lawsuit and filed
a motion to dismiss. Federal Judge Christina Snyder rejected the
defendants' contention by ruling that Section 2 did not infringe on
the federal government's foreign affairs powers. The defendants then
filed an appeal claiming that the California Law "conflicts with the
Executive Branch's policy prohibiting legislative recognition" of the
Armenian Genocide. They pointed out that the Administrations of
Presidents Bush and Clinton had opposed all three Armenian Genocide
resolutions submitted to the House of Representatives in 2000, 2003 and
2007.

Last week, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals over-ruled Judge
Snyder, asserting that the California Law in question "impermissibly
infringes" on the jurisdiction of the U.S. government. Two of the three
judges of the Appeals Court, David R. Thompson and Dorothy W. Nelson,
sided with the German insurance companies. The third judge, Harry
Pregerson, sided with the Armenian plaintiffs, contending that the
State of California has the right to ensure that its residents are
fairly treated by insurance companies. He also asserted that he could
not find "any evidence of an express federal policy" forbidding states
from using the term "Armenian Genocide."

This Appeals Court ruling has very serious consequences for the
Armenian Cause, far beyond the issue of mere life insurance claims.

It was highly unusual that Judge Dorothy Nelson was absent from the
bench when attorneys from both sides were presenting their oral
arguments to the Court of Appeal. Given her apparent lack of interest
in this case, one wonders if she delegated viewing the videotape of the
hearing to her law clerks.

Armenian-Americans should call for the impeachment of Judges Thomson
and Nelson for legislating from the bench, falsely claiming that
Congress and individual states are "prohibited" from adopting
resolutions on the Armenian Genocide, and injecting political views
into their judicial opinion
. It is incredible that judges who live in
Southern California -- in the midst of the largest Armenian community
in the world -- are so ignorant about the most basic facts of the
Armenian Genocide.

There are also serious errors in the opinion issued by the two judges
on August 20, 2009
. For example, on page 11434, they claim that "there
is no citation or evidence in the record of these other thirty-nine
state statutes which purportedly reference the `Armenian Genocide.'"
This statement is patently false. On page 19 of the "Answering Brief"
filed on April 30, 2008, the plaintiffs' attorneys provide the
following citation: "To date, thirty-nine states have formally
recognized the Armenian Genocide by legislation or proclamation. See,
Armenian National Committee of America, `Genocide Recognition by U.S.
States' Online at http://www.anca.org/genocide_resource/states_map.php.";
Judges Thompson and Nelson, in their eagerness to prove that California
contradicted the Executive Branch's policy on the Armenian Genocide,
selectively refer only to the resolutions that had failed to come to a
full House vote. The judges do not mention the material fact that in
line with California's statute 354.4, the U.S. House of Representatives
twice adopted resolutions on the Armenian Genocide in 1975 and 1984,
and Pres. Reagan issued a Presidential Proclamation in 1981,
acknowledging the Armenian Genocide.

These judges are also plainly wrong in claiming that the U.S. Congress
and individual States had interfered in the formulation of U.S. foreign
policy on the Armenian Genocide.
The resolutions adopted by 41 U.S.
States and hundreds of proclamations issued by governors, mayors, and
county supervisors throughout America are commemorative in nature,
simply reaffirming the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide and urging
the President of the United States to do likewise. Furthermore, the
U.S. government does NOT have a policy of denying the Armenian Genocide
.

Interestingly, the Appeals Court judges disclosed that Turkish
officials had made a sinister attempt to interfere in their ruling.
They stated that Nabi Sensoy, the Turkish Ambassador to the United
States, sent them a letter expressing his country's strong opposition
to California statute 354.4, and asking the Court to overturn it. The
Turkish Ambassador had sent a similar letter earlier to another Federal
Judge, trying to interfere in a lawsuit by Armenian plaintiffs against
German banks. Although Judges Thomson and Nelson assert that they
ignored the Turkish Ambassador's angry letter, it must have surely
reinforced their own view that California was intruding into
Washington's conduct of foreign policy. It is simply appalling that the
Turkish government would try to stick its nose in a lawsuit between
Armenian-Americans and German insurance companies even though the
plaintiffs in this case neither accuse Turkish officials of any
wrongdoing nor make any demands from them. Similarly, the attorneys for
the German insurance companies have no business objecting to whether
California was infringing upon U.S.-Turkish relations.

The Law offices of Geragos & Geragos; Kabatek, Brown, Kellner LLP; and
Yeghiayan Law Firm -- the attorneys for the plaintiffs -- must have
realized by now that this is no longer simply a life insurance issue
dealing with the unpaid claims of their clients. This lawsuit has now
mushroomed into a case that calls into question the authority of
California and 40 other States to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide
.
Furthermore, it is highly puzzling why the plaintiffs' attorneys had
not invited California's Attorney General to file a friend of the court
brief to defend his State from accusations that it had adopted a
statute that ostensibly violated the U.S. Constitution. Hopefully, this
serious oversight would be remedied by requesting that the State
Attorney General file such a brief when the plaintiffs' attorneys seek
a rehearing of the case by a larger panel of the Court of
Appeals. Should all appeals fail, however, Armenians could lobby for
the adoption of a new California statute that would allow the filing of
lawsuits against foreign insurance companies, without the problematic
language.

For several years, this writer has been urging the Armenian American
community and its political leadership to stop pursuing the adoption of
additional congressional resolutions that simply repeat what was
already accomplished in 1975 and 1984, and to re-channel their efforts
to more productive legal demands from the government of Turkey through
U.S. and European courts. It is now clear that the repeated and failed
Armenian attempts to pass previously adopted resolutions may not only
be wasting valuable time and resources, but could also be detrimental
to the pursuit of Armenian legal claims.

Finally, Pres. Obama and several previous Presidents must bear their
share of responsibility for this unwelcome judicial development, given
the fact that they pledged to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide as
candidates and reneged on their promises, once in office. Pres. Obama
should be made aware of the serious legal consequences of his breach of
trust and asked to make good on his campaign promise.

Armenians and all those who believe in justice should urge the
establishment of a U.S. commission -- similar to the one for Holocaust
victims -- to settle all claims of properties and possessions arising
from the Armenian Genocide. Even though this would not be an easy task,
it would at least be the start of a tangible and meaningful process!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

USA EAST - PROCLAMATION!‏ - Rag Central Committee


From: RAG Central Committee (ramgavar@gmail.com)


Sent: Wed 8/26/09 1:09 PM
To:

Attachments: 2 attachments

USA-East ...pdf (1098.8 KB), USA-East ...pdf (95.3 KB)
Please find attached "USA - East - PROCAMATION"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The open book that was so rarely read; Dedicated to the memory of Hagop Angaladian‏

The week's Selection:

The open book that was so rarely read; Dedicated to the memory of Hagop Angaladian Eulogy by Viken L. Attarian

Pentagon Plans For Global Military Supremacy: U.S., NATO Could Deploy Mobile Missiles Launchers To Europe By Rick Rozoff

ԻՇԽԱՆՈՒԹՅԱՆ ԵՎ ԱԶԳԻ ՇԱՀԵՐԸ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ՆԺԱՐԻՆ Հարցազրույց Արցախի Հանրապետություն նախաձեռնող խմբի հիմնադիրի հետ