hyecory

CANADIAN SENATE PUTS ANOTHER NAIL IN THE COFFIN OF TURKISH DENIALS Canada, as the junior partner of the United States, often follows its lead on major world issues, including, regrettably, its shameful denial of the Armenian Genocide. For many decades, Canadian-Armenians, like their compatriots in the United States, have been petitioning their government unsuccessfully for the official recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Canadian politicians, as their American counterparts, made campaign promises to acknowledge the Genocide- which they did not keep. Successive Canadian Prime Ministers, in their annual commemorative statements, used every word in the English dictionary except genocide to describe "the tragic events of 1915."Finally, the Canadian wall of denial started cracking a bit when in 1980the National Assembly of Quebec and the Legislative Assembly of Ontario recognized the Armenian Genocide. The Canadian Parliament and Senate, however, continued to obstruct all attempts to commemorate the Armenian Genocide. The Armenian community of Canada finally scored a major victory last week when the overwhelming majority of the Senate adopted a motion to recognize the Armenian Genocide, despite all kinds of pressures and threats by the Turkish Embassy in Ottawa. On June 13, 2002, by a vote of 39-1, the Senators, called upon the Government of Canada: "a) to recognize the genocide of the Armenians and to condemn any attempt to deny or distort a historical truth as being anything less than a genocide, a crime against humanity; and to designate April 24th of every year hereafter through out Canada as a day of remembrance of the 1.5 million Armenians who fell victim to the first genocide of the 20th century." Significantly, the Canadian Senate not only condemned the crimes of the Ottoman Turks, but also today's "government of the Republic of Turkey" as it "distorts the historical record and denies that the Armenian Genocide took place. "The Turkish government has remained uncharacteristically silent in order to hide from the Turkish public its embarrassing defeat in the Canadian Senate. The Turkish Ambassador in Ottawa has refused to respond to questions from Canadian reporters on this subject, preferring to make his protests behind closed doors. In a few days, however, when the Turkish media discovers that the Turkish Ambassador in Canada is trying to hide his country's devastating defeat in the Canadian Senate, it will question the competence of the Ambassador and ask for his replacement. The Turkish government and the media will then issue the usual threats to boycott Canadian products. Turkish newspapers will publish a few nasty editorials. The government will send a group of Turkish demonstrators to the Canadian Embassy in Ankara to throw a few tomatoes at its windows. But within a matter of weeks, if not days, as in the case of France, the Turkish temper tantrum will die down and the Turks will realize that they cannot expect the rest of the world, particularly the major powers, to continue covering up the Turkish lies year after year! In the meantime, the struggle for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide is not yet over in Canada. The Parliament will shortly consider a similar measure as the Senate. Only then will the Canadian government go on record as having officially recognized the Armenian Genocide. When that happens, the United States will have the dubious distinction of being the only major country that continues to side with the Turkish deniers of history. But, for how long? By Harut Sassounian, California Courier Publisher © Copyright AZG

An Armenian did a hit an run on Pushkins mom ,didnt even pay the hoe, thats why Pushkin hated Armenians so much.

"The great Turk is governing in peace twenty nations from different religions. Turks have taught to Christians how to be moderate in peace and gentle in victory."Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary The Ottoman Centuries by Lord kinross pg. 557 When the Armenians Refused to submit to this double exation, Turkish troops were called into the area, in close concert with the kurdish tribesman. Soon they were indiscriminatly sloughtering the helpless Armenians. The soldiers pursued them throughout the length and breathed of the region, hunting them "like wild beasts" up the vallys and into the mountains, respecting no surrender, bayoneting the men to death, raping the woman, dashing their children against rocks, burning to ashes the villages from which the had fled. For this operation the Turksih commander, zeki *****, was awarded an appropriate gratuity by the sultan... Meanwhile, the Armenians themselves, led by the Hanchaks staged a demostration as they marched through the city of Istanbul to present a petition to the potre. Voicing their protest and demanding for reform....the demostration got out of hand when one of them (from sasun) shouted "liberty or death!" The cry was taken up by the rest, breaking into a revolutionary song and provoking internvention by the police, who bludgeoned many of them to death on the spot. Meanwhile, the fanatical moslem elements, without police interventin, ran wild through the streets, rooting out Armenians and saughtering them with clubs... pg. 558 This heralded throughout eastern Turkey a series of organized massacres, coinciding with the Sultan pretending acceptence of a new plan from the powers for Armenian reform. A telltale feature of them began and ended, as a matter of routin, with a bugle call, like any planned military operation....Their tactics were based on the sultans principle of kindling religious fanaticism among the moslem population. abdul hamids briefed agents, whom he sent to Armenia with specific instructions as to how they should act. It became their normal routine first to assemble the moslem population in the largets mosque in a town, then to declare in the name of the sultan, that the Armenians were in general revolt with the aim of striking at islam. Their sultan enjoined them as good moslems to defend their faith against these infidel rebels. He propounded the precept that under the holey law the property of rebels might be looted by believers, encouraging moslems to enrich themselves in the name of their faith at the expense of their christian neighbours, and in the event of resisitance, to kill them. Hence, throughout Armenia "the attack of an ever increasing pack of wolves against sheeps"... page after page, it goes on and on, Armenians being slaughterd, Armenians being butcherd... Anyway, here is the Ottoman bank raid. In August, 1896, the succesion of Armenian massacre culminated in Istanbul itself. Once again, as in the Previous year, the turkish authorities were presented with a pretext for action by an Armenian revolutionary group. A small body of dashnaks was so bold as to enter the Ottoman Bank, the stronghold of European capitalists eneterprise, during lunch hour, for the ostensible purpose of changing money. Porters accompanying them carried sacks which contained, so they pretended, gold nd silver coinage. Then at the blast of a while twent-five armed men followed the into the bank, firing their guns and revealing that the sacks in fact were filled with bombs, ammunition, and dynamite. They declared that they were not bank robbers but Armenian petriots, and that the motive of their action was to bring their grievances, which they specified in two documents, to the attention of the six European embassies, putting forward demands for political reform and declaring that, in that absence of foreign intervention with in forty eight hours, they would"shrink from the sacrafice" and blow up the bank. Meanwhile, its chief director, sir Edgar Vincent, had prudantly escaped through a skylight into an adjoining building. While his colleagues were held hostages, he hence proceeded to sublime porte. He she ensured that no police attack should be made on the dashnaks while they remained in the bank. Thus he secured for them permission to nagotiate. The negotiation was the first dragoman of the Russian embassy, who after gaining for them a free pardon from the sultan a permission to leave the country, addressed them at lenght with some eloquensce. finally, with assurance of talks to come, he persuaded them to leave the bank. Retaining their arms but relinguishing their bombs, they proceeded quietly on board sir edgars Vincents yacht, later to be conveyed into exile in France. As young men of(btw, their leader was 17 years old) ideals inexperienced in the wiles of political agitation, they had failed to benefit their friends and played in the hands of their enemies. For two days the streets ran with blood as gangs of undisciplined ruffians, religiuos fanatics, and savage irregulars raged through the Armenian quarter of the capital, brandishing murderous cudgals and knives and iron bars. With out interference from the police or the soldiery, and indeed with their evident connivance and help, they bludgoaned to death every Armenian who crossed their path, breaking into houses to kill all that hid there, and leaving strewn everywhere, a total of some six thousand corpses. The Ottoman Centuries by Lord kinross http://i.walmart.com/i/p/09/78/06/88/08/0978068808093_500X500.jpg

Some behinde the scene footages, click on ARARAT watch it: http://www.citytv.com/movietv/

quote:Originally posted by Azat:A woman is having a 'little fun' with her lover during the day, while her husband is at work. Her 9 year old son comes home unexpectedly, so she puts him in the closet and shuts the door. Her husband also comes home, so she puts her lover in the closet, with the little boy. The little boy says, "Dark in here." The man says, "Yes, it is." Boy - "I have a baseball." Man - "That's nice." Boy - "Want to buy it?" Man - "No, thanks." Boy - "My dad's outside." Man - "OK, how much?" Boy - "$250" In the next few weeks, it happens again that the boy and the lover are in the closet together. Boy - "Dark in here." Man - "Yes, it is." Boy - "I have a baseball glove." The lover remembering the last time, asks the boy, "How much?" Boy - "$750" Man - "Fine." A few days later, the father says to the boy, "Grab your glove, let's go outside and have a game of catch." The boy says,"I can't, I sold my baseball and my glove." The father asks, "How much did you sell them for?" Boy - "$1,000" The father says, "That's terrible to overcharge your friends like that...that is way more than those two things cost. I'm going to take you to church and make you confess." They go to the church and the father makes the little boy sit in the confession booth and he closes the door. The boy says, "Dark in here." The priest says, "Don't start that shit again." looooooooool that was funny, sounded like something from shot ghazaryans film.

Russian Mafia RUSSIAN ORGANIZED CRIME (ROC) Introduction Russian organized crime has become a significant problem for California law enforcement agencies. During the past several years, some Russian emigres have established a growing number of loosely structured criminal networks in this state that are involved in sophisticated criminal activities. The law enforcement intelligence community has also become aware of at least four structured Russian criminal organizations operating in California. Russian organized crime includes crime groups from all the republics which comprised the former Soviet Union. These crime groups are operating in many of the major cities in California including Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, and San Diego. Russian crime figures have been identified in cases involving extortion, prostitution, insurance and medical fraud, auto theft, counterfeiting, credit card forgery, narcotics trafficking, fuel tax fraud, money laundering, and murder. Russian organized crime networks are also operating in New York, Boston, Chicago, Miami, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Seattle. Many of the California-based networks communicate and, in many cases, are connected with these out-of-state groups in their criminal activities. Organized Crime in the Former Soviet Union Many Russian organized crime groups in the United States have ties to organized crime groups in Russia. A report on organized crime presented to President Boris Yeltsin by Russia's Analytical Center for Social and Economic Policies, stated "The growth of organized crime threatens the political and economic development of Russia and creates conditions that could help bring the national socialists to power." An estimated 80 percent of the private enterprises and commercial banks in Russia's major cities are forced to pay a tribute of 10 to 20 percent of their profits to organized crime. On April 21, 1994, during a Senate hearing, CIA Director R. James Woolsey said, "Organized crime is so rampant in Russia that it threatens Boris Yeltsin's presidency and raises concern that syndicates will obtain and smuggle Russian nuclear weapons to terrorists or foreign agents." Wooisey revealed that organized crime syndicates from Russia, Asia, and Africa are forming alliances with traditional Italian and Latin American organizations, creating a formidable threat to international peace and stability. In recognition of this threat, the FBI recently established a Moscow office that will focus on Russian organized crime encroachment into the United States along with the potentially disastrous threat of trafficking in nuclear weapons. U.S. Aftorney General Janet Reno has named Russian organized crime groups in the United States a priority target for the U.S. Department of Justice. Law enforcement agencies throughout the U.S. now consider Russian organized crime a major threat and are developing strategies and forming task forces to counter that threat. Historical Perspective During the 1970s and 1980s, according to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, approximately 200,000 Soviet citizens, many who were Russian-Jewish refugees, immigrated to the U.S. Although the Soviet government liberalized its Jewish immigration policy, it is believed that under this guise the KGB also emptied their prisons of hard-core criminals, much like Cuban dictator Fidel Castro did during the Mariel boatlift of 1980. Many of these criminals are believed to have continued their life of crime in the United States. The flow of Soviet refugees increased following congressional enactment of the Lautenberg Amendment in November 1989, which allows up to 50,000 Soviet refugees to enter the U.S. each year. This was followed by the adoption in May 1991, of Russia's first law granting its citizens the right to immigrate and travel freely. In 1994, according to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, the majority of former Soviet emigres and refugees entering the U.S. declared as their intended state of residence New York, followed by California, Washington, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, and Oregon. According to an April 1986 report by the President's Commission on Organized Crime, the first indication of an organized crime element among Russian immigrants came in 1975 when a gang from the Odessa region of Russia was discovered to be involved in major fraud. The victims were other Russians living throughout the United States. The group became known as the "Potato Bag Gang" because victims believed they had bought a sack of gold coins but actually received only a bag of potatoes. Soviet criminal networks gradually expanded into other criminal activities such as extortion, theft, prostitution, and actively preyed upon newly arriving groups of Russian emigres by extorting money from them. The Brighton Beach area of New York City became the hub for Russian organized crime in this country during the mid-1970s. There, Russian criminals developed a working relationship with the La Cosa Nostra (LCN) which allowed them to establish fuel tax fraud schemes in certain areas of New York. The LCN forced the Russian criminals involved in these frauds to pay a large portion of their proceeds as a "tax" to operate. Organization and Structure Russian Organized Crime Groups and Structure in Russia - In early 1993, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs reported there were over 5,000 organized crime groups operating in Russia. These groups were comprised of an estimated 100,000 members with a leadership of 18,000. Although Russian authorities have currently identified over 5,000 criminal groups in that country, Russian officials believe that only approximately 300 of those have some identifiable structure. Organized crime groups in Russia are not nearly as structured as those in the U.S., such as the LCN. Knowledgeable sources within the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) have provided one model of the structure of groups in Russia. The principle behind this structure is to minimize contact with other cells that could lead to the identification of the entire organization. Each boss, called a "pakhan," controls four criminal cells through an intermediary called a "brigadier." The boss employs two spies that watch over the action of the brigadier to ensure loyalty and that he does not get too powerful. At the bottom of the structure are criminal cells specializing in various types of criminal activity or functions such as drugs, prostitution, political contacts, and "enforcers." A similar structure places an elite leadership on top which is buffered by support and security personnel from the street operators who are commifting the crimes. Street operators are not privy to the identity of their leadership. Strategy and planning is done only at the top echelon in order to minimize the risk of detection. According to law enforcement sources, those structures described above would fall into the old style of Soviet criminal enterprises. It is quite possible as organized crime has changed in Russia, so has the structure of these groups. Thieves' Code of Conduct - There is a traditional code of conduct within this old style of organized crime in Russia called "Vory v Zakone," or thieves in law. This group existed throughout the Soviet era and continues today throughout the republics of the former Soviet Union. In this society the thieves in law live and obey the "Vorovskoy Zakon," the thieves' code. The members are bound by 18 codes and if they are broken, the transgression is punishable by death. Law enforcement officials in the former Soviet Union indicate that most of the organized crime groups are well organized with sophisticated technical equipment, computers, transportation, financial support, and an excellent counterintelligence network. Those groups are involved in extortion, precious metal and raw material smuggling, money laundering, fraud, weapons smuggling, narcotics trafficking, and black marketing. The Thieves' Code A thief is bound by the Code to: Forsake his relatives--mother, father, brothers, sisters... Not have a family of his own -- no wife, no children; this does not however, preclude him from having a lover. Never, under any circumstances work, no mafter how much difficulty this brings-, live only on means gleaned from thievery. Help other thieves -- both by moral and material support, utilizing the commune of thieves. Keep secret information about the whereabouts of accomplices (i.e. dens, districts, hideouts, safe apartments, etc.). In unavoidable situations (if a thief is under investigation) to take the blame for someone else's crime; this buys the other person time of freedom. Demand a convocation of inquiry for the purpose of resolving disputes in the event of a conflict between oneself and other thieves, or between thieves. If necessary, participate in such inquiries. Carry out the punishment of the offending thief as decided by the convocation. Not resist carrying out the decision of punishing the offending thief who is found guilty, with punishment determined by the convocation. Have good command of the thieves'jargon ("Fehnay"). Not gamble without being abie to cover losses. Teach the trade to young beginners. Have, if possible, informants from the rank and file of thieves. Not lose your reasoning ability when using alcohol. Have nothing to do with the authorities (particularly with the ITU [Correctional Labor Authority]), not participate in public activities, nor join any community organizations. Not take weapons from the hands of authorities; not serve in the military. Make good on promises given to other thieves. Translated from: Dictionary: Prison, Camp, Blotnoi, Jargon (Speech and Graphic Portraits of Soviet Prisons) Authors-compilers: Dantsik Sergeyevich Baldaev, Vladimir Kuz'mich Belko, and Igor Mikhailovich Isupov. (Occupation of authors unknown.) Russian Organized Crime Groups in the United States Although Russian organized crime activity in the United States has been expanding for the past 20 years, its most significant growth has occurred during the past five years. In August 1993, the FBI reported there were 15 organized crime groups in the United States with former Soviet ethnic origins. There is considerable debate in the law enforcement community as to the level of organization and structure of Russian organized crime groups in the United States. Additionally, many of the Russian emigres who are involved in criminal activity in this country may be career criminals specializing in crime areas having little or nothing to do with Russian organized crime groups. Current information indicates that most Russian organized crime groups are loosely organized and do not have elaborate levels of structure. These groups are often influenced by their ethnic or regional backgrounds. They have formed networks that operate in situations of mutual interest and often shift alliances to meet particular needs. There is ample information that Russian crime groups operating on the East Coast cooperate and communicate with West Coast groups. Additionally, Russian organized crime groups in the U.S. communicate and operate with organized crime groups in Russia. FBI Director Louis Freeh stated that over 200 of Russia's 6,000-odd crime gangs operate with American counterparts in 17 U.S. cities in 14 states. According to intelligence reports, members of criminal groups in Russia are sent to reinforce and consolidate links between groups in Russia and the United States. Russian organized crime figures are also sent to this country to perform a service such as a gangland murder or extortion. The following example provides some insight into this activity. According to law enforcement sources, Vyatcheslav Ivankov ("Little Japanese") a Russian organized crime leader, was believed to have traveled to the United States to organize ROC groups in the U.S. and establish links to ROC groups in the former Soviet Union. Ivankov is considered to be a highranking organized crime leader, or thief in law, both in Russia and the U.S. Ivankov was arrested in Brooklyn, New York, on June 8, 1995, for trying to extort $3.5 million from a Wall Street investment firm. Vyatcheslav Ivankov Some descriptions of the more publicized Russian organized crime groups in the United States are as follows: According to law enforcement sources, there are approximately 300 former Soviet Union crime figures and associates in the San Francisco Bay Area, including San Jose. There are approximately 600 to 800 Russian crime figures and associates in the Los Angeles area, home to the second largest number of Russian immigrants in the United States. These figures include members of the Russian and Armenian organized crime groups. Northern California Auto Theft Group - A Northern California auto theft group came to the attention of law enforcement personnel in Sacramento and other parts of Northern California, Oregon, and Washington State in early 1993. This group is primarily made up of blue collar type workers from the Ukraine and Western Russia. Specializing in auto theft and VIN switching, younger members of this group steal vehicles while the older members operate body shops. This group utilizes Interstate 5 to travel to Oregon and Washington to sell the stolen vehicle parts to other Ukrainian and Russian criminals. Additionally, this group is becoming involved in extortion, cellular telephone fraud, prostitution, and trafficking small amounts of narcotics. Group members have been known to carry weapons and are becoming increasingly violent. This group does not appear to have any clear cut, well defined structure, though its members appear to have formed networks and cooperate with each other in their criminal endeavors. Odessa Mafia - The Odessa Mafia is considered the dominant Russian organized crime group in the United States. This group established itself in the Brighton Beach area of New York City between 1975 to 1981. In the early 1980s the Odessa Mafia sent two sub-groups to San Francisco and Los Angeles with their leadership remaining in Brighton Beach. The San Francisco Bay Area Odessa Mafia group, unlike their southern counterpart, appear to be highly structured and well organized. Secrecy surrounds their activities and the language barrier creates additional problems for law enforcement authorities. This has resulted in very liftle information concerning the hierarchy, the scope of their operations, and the number of members. This crime group is believed to be involved in extortion, money laundering, fraud, loan sharking, and homicide. Armenian Organized Crime Groups - The Hollywood area of Los Angeles and the city of Glendale are the focal points for Armenian organized crime activity. This area has the largest Armenian population outside of the Republic of Armenia. According to law enforcement sources, several Armenian organized crime groups are becoming well organized with a structured hierarchy. There are in excess of 450 members and associates of these groups. These crime groups are involved in extortion, fuel frauds, credit card fraud, murder, kidnap, and narcotics trafficking. One group is believed to have approximately 150-200 members. Several members of this organized crime group were convicted in 1994 in Los Angeles of attempted murder, kidnaping, and extortion. This group is believed to be responsible for extorting a number of victims in the Armenian community. Russian Organized Criminal Activities in California Russian organized crime in California is involved in extortion, narcotics, murder, auto theft, and loan sharking, as well as insurance, fuel, telecommunication, and credit card frauds. The following cases are examples of several different crime categories. Extortion - Five members of an Armenian organized crime group in Los Angeles were convicted in 1994 for extortion, kidnaping, and attempted murder. They forcibly detained and threatened victims and their families with great bodily harm unless they paid the suspects money. This group is believed to have extorted the Armenian community in the Los Angeles area for the last 13 years. Fuel Frauds - Fuel frauds, mostly in Los Angeles and New York, cost both the federal and state governments approximately $2 billion annually in tax revenue. The majority of the fuel frauds are committed by Russian and Armenian organized crime groups operating in Southern California. There are a variety of schemes involving the fuel fraud including falsifying state and federal tax forms, use of fictitious companies, known as a "burn" company, extending fuel by blending tax free additives such as transmix or alcohol, rigging fuel pumps, manipulating dyed fuels designated for off-road purposes, and selling lower grade fuel as a premium product. The "daisy chain" scheme is the predominate method of fuel tax fraud. The daisy chain scheme starts with a string of companies created by Russian and Armenian organized crime groups and is designed to create a massive paper trail. In the daisy chain, a "burn" company is created and exists only on paper. By the time auditors and investigators unravel the series of transactions to determine the tax liability, the "burn" company has disappeared without a trace of records or assets. These groups are pocketing up to 50 cents per gallon in federal and state taxes which enables them to sell the petroleum products below cost. Selling fuel below cost forces the legitimate operators out of business. Often these groups force legitimate businesses out of business using intimidation tactics through kidnaping, assaults, and bombings. On September 13, 1995, 13 Russian Armenian subjects were arrested and charged with racketeering, including multiple acts of mail and wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, and distribution of heroin and other narcotic controlled substances. The Russian Armenian group, called the Mikaelian Organization, after the group's leader and self professed "godfather" of the Russian Mafia, Hovsep Mikaelian, ran a black market diesel fuel network that supplied gas stations and truck stops throughout Southern California. They defrauded the Internal Revenue Service and the California Board of Equalization through various fraudulent schemes, by purchasing millions of gallons of diesel fuel and avoiding a huge tax liability. The Mikaelian Organization used wholesale permits obtained fraudulently to purchase tax-free diesel fuel that was intended to be used solely for off-road purposes such as farming and construction. The fuel was then diverted and sold at numerous independent diesel fuel stations, several of which were controlled by this organization. Up to 42 cents per gallon of the federal and state tax collected at the time of sale was pocketed by this organized crime group. This group was also involved in gaining control, through threats and extortion, of a large segment of the independent diesel fuel wholesale and retail service station and truck stop markets. Permits were also obtained by submitting fraudulent paperwork. In some cases, jet fuel, which can be purchased tax free, was added to the diesel fuel and sold at the service stations and truck stops. According to the U.S. Aftorney in Los Angeles, this group managed to avoid paying $3.6 million in taxes in just one year. The arrests culminated a two-year joint task force investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Long Beach Police Department, the California Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Transportation. The task force confiscated more than $2 million in cash and property, including a BMW, Jaguar, and two Rolls Royces. In order to counter the diesel tax frauds, Senate Bill 840, introduced by former Senator Robert Presley and former Assembly member Johan Klehs, was passed into law and took effect July 1, 1995. The purpose of the new law, which now parallels federal law, is to reduce diesel fuel frauds by imposing tax collection at a higher point (terminal level) in the distribution chain. Under the new law, taxes will be collected on tax exempt fuel by the terminal operator and refunded by the state (tax refund). A terminal is defined as a storage facility where fuel is stored and delivered to buyers. Fuel is delivered to the terminal directly from the refinery which is the first level in the distribution chain. Telecommunications Fraud - Russian crime figures in the Los Angeles area are extensively involved in telecommunications fraud (cloned cellular phones). Law enforcement sources indicate that the activity is spreading to Northern California. This illegal process involves stealing electronic serial numbers of customers' cellular phones and programming them into computer chips, thus making a duplicate or clone of the telephones. While cloning has been going on for some time, it has grown rapidly and become more sophisticated as the industry has expanded. One cellular station in the Hollywood area is losing approximately $2 million a month in fraudulent calls made on cloned cellular telephones. Armenian organized crime figures are believed to be responsible for the majority of this fraudulent activity. Narcotics - ROC groups are not extensively involved in narcotics distribution in California. However, there have been significant events and cases that indicate a possible future trend in this area. On March 4, 1993, a Russian emigre was arrested for pefty theft. The Burbank Police Department recovered two kilos of cocaine and $2,200 in cash from the emigre's vehicle. It was later learned the emigre was also involved in shipping stolen vehicles to Russia. On May 1, 1993, a Russian emigre was arrested for immigration violations. Information from the Immigration and Naturalization Service indicates that the emigre was involved in smuggling cocaine from the U.S. to Russia through his import/export business in Southern California. This emigre had spent 13 years in a Russian prison. In February 1995, Tracey Hill, believed to be a courier for a ROC group, was arrested in Redding, California, for possession of 18 kilos of cocaine. Hill was en route to Vancouver, B.C., from the Los Angeles area. On May 4, 1995, seven kilos of heroin was seized from a member of an Armenian organized crime group based in the Glendale area. The heroin came from the Middle East and was intended for distribution in the United States. Medical/insurance Fraud - In Los Angeles, Russian organized crime figures have been involved in various frauds that run the gamut from staged auto accidents to false billing schemes. In 1991, in a case considered the largest of its kind, the U.S. Aftorney's Office in Los Angeles charged 13 defendants in a $1 billion false medical billing scheme that was headed by two Russian emigre brothers, Michael and David Smushkevich. The Smushkevich brothers have long been suspected of being part of a loosely organized Soviet crime syndicate operating in the Los Angeles area during the late 1980s and early 1990S. .14 The 175 count indictment capped a six-year investigation by federal, state, and local agencies. Authorities reported that the brothers orchestrated a massive fraud scheme to use mobile medical laboratories to conduct unnecessary and false tests on patients. They then sent inflated and false bills to insurance companies and collected large fees. The scam eventually spread to Missouri, Illinois, and Florida. On September 20, 1994, the alleged ringleader, Michael Smushkevich was sentenced to 21 years in prison for fraud, conspiracy, racketeering, and money laundering. Smushkevich was also ordered to forfeit $50 million in assets, pay more than $41 million in restitution to government agencies and insurance companies victimized by the scheme, and pay a $2.75 million fine. David Smushkevich testified for the prosecution and received probation. It is estimated that the Smushkevich brothers pocketed between $50 and $80 million in profits. It is believed the brothers hid their money in an unknown country. Loan Sharking - In October 1991, two Russian organized crime figures were convicted in Los Angeles of extorting a Russian emigre businessman. The two Russian organized crime figures lent money to the victim at a 30 percent interest rate. The victim borrowed $125,000 and over eight years had paid back $480,000 but still owed $120,000. The suspects threatened the victim and his family if they didn't pay the rest of the money that was owed. Auto Theft - The Northern California auto theft group specializes in auto theft and operates in Sacramento, other parts of Northern California, Oregon and Washington. Younger members of this group steal vehicles while the older members operate body shops. The body shops are used as chop shops where stolen auto parts are used to reconstruct vehicles bought from salvage pools. Vehicles are also stolen, surgically stripped, and the hulls dumped where they are easily found by law enforcement personnel. These vehicles end up at salvage yards where members of this auto theft group buy the surgically stripped hull and ultimately put the vehicle back together at the chop shops. Vehicles are also bought at the salvage pools for their VIN numbers. The VIN numbers are switched to stolen vehicles. The vehicles are then taken out of state and re-registered in an attempt to conceal or clear the salvaged title. Many of the stolen vehicles are believed to be shipped out of the country through Seattle, Oakland, and other port cities. This crime group may be using Russian organized crime groups to ship the vehicles to Europe or Russia where they are sold for substantial profits. Murder - Andrey Kuznetsov and an associate, Vladimir Litvinenko, were shot to death in Kuznetsov's rented house in West Hollywood on January 26, 1992. Kuznetsov was believed to have been the leader of a Los Angeles fraud ring with ties to Russian organized crime in New York and Russia. His widow claimed he introduced her to Russian organized crime leaders and members in Los Angeles and New York. Los Angeles Sheriffs Deputies arrested two Russian emigres at the murder scene. Sergei Ivanov was drenched in blood and carrying a handgun. An accomplice, Alexander Nikolaev, was also arrested with Ivanov. Sheriffs deputies found the two suspects in the act of cufting off the victims' fingers to hinder identification. Found in the house along with the bodies were numerous boxes of electronic equipment, copiers, TV sets, fax machines, and stereo components. Authorities state most of the equipment was stolen or bought illegally through the use of fraudulent'credit cards and check kiting. Money Laundering - Russian organized crime groups in the former Soviet Union are wire transferring huge amounts of money, ranging from several thousand to millions of dollars from bank accounts located in Finland, Cayman Islands, and Europe to U.S. banks. The source of this money is believed to come from narcotics activity, illegal trade in arms and antiques, and prostitution. Money is also stolen from the Russian government. According to a Russian newspaper, upwards of 1.5 trillion rubles (worth in excess of $1 billion) were stolen from the state with forged documents in 1992 to 1993. ROC groups launder the money through a elaborate trail of fictitious companies set up in Russia. The money is wire transferred to "tax haven" countries such as those in the Caribbean Islands. Money is also reportedly wire transferred to other countries in Europe, such as Switzerland and Finland. A substantial amount of this money is ending up in U.S. banks. Most of the wire transfer activity is occurring in California's larger cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles. It is believed that once the money has been exchanged into U.S. dollars, some of the money is sent back to Russia and is invested in lucrative financial and industrial projects, real estate, enterprises, and banks. The Russian emigres connected to the U.S. bank accounts are opening import/export businesses in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas. These business may be set up for the sole purpose of shipping large amounts of U.S. dollars to and from Russia. Interaction With Other Organized Crime Groups In New York, the LCN and Russian organized crime figures have formed working relationships in areas of fraudulent fuel tax schemes. The LCN is believed to have forced the Russians to pay tribute on the profits they made on these schemes. There is no information indicating that the LCN is exacting tribute from Russian fuel tax fraud operations in California. Colombian cocaine distributors are believed to have formed an alliance with organized crime groups in Russia to import large quantities of cocaine into that country. These ties became evident after a 1.1 metric ton shipment of cocaine was seized in St. Petersburg, Russia in February 1993. Criminal intelligence reports indicate Russian organized crime groups are not extensively involved in narcotics distribution in California. However, the following significant case illustrates a possible future trend and the alliances that are forming. On September 8, 1993, several Russian crime figures were arrested in St. Augustine, Florida for conspiracy and intent to import 800 kilos of cocaine. These subjects were attempting to establish a drug distribution route from Florida to Detroit and New York. It is believed groups of Russian organized crime figures in Los Angeles and New York were part of this operation. The Russian group was dealing with Costa Rican drug traffickers and had plans to smuggle a large quantity of cocaine from Colombia to Italy aboard a vessel. The Russian group was dealing with the Sicilian Mafia in this venture. Although at the present time law enforcement authorities are not aware of any additional ties between Russian organized crime groups in California and other organized crime groups, it is probable that formalized alliances will occur in the future. Tattoos From the mid 1960's to the 1980's, approximately 35 million people were incarcerated in Soviet prisons. Approximately 28 to 30 million Russian inmates were tattooed. According to criminologist Arkady G. Bronnikov, who has studied taftoos of Russian prisoners for 30 years, inmates wore tattoos only after they had committed a crime. The more convictions a criminal received, and as the terms of incarceration became more severe, the more tattoos a convict would have. Taftoos spell out lives of crime and establish the hierarchy of inmates. According to Bronnikov, at the top of the hierarchy are "pakhans" or organized crime bosses. The pakhans use the second level of the echelon known as the "authorities," (also known as enforcers, fighters, or soldiers) to carry out their orders. The "men" are the hard laborers and are the third level in the hierarchy. The lowest category are the "outcasts." These individuals are basically slaves to the upper levels of the echelon. The tattoos present a picture of the inmate's criminal history. According to Bronnikov, "Tattoos are like a passport, a biography, a uniform with medals. They reflect the convict's interests, his outlook on life, his world view." A prisoner with an incorrect or unauthorized tattoo could be punished or killed by fellow inmates. Law Enforcement agencies in California and the United States can expect to see more of these tattoos as the Russian criminal element surfaces. The tattoos may be of assistance in determining the subject's criminal background and activity. Analysis Among the most significant organized crime groups to come to the aftention of law enforcement in California in recent years, are the Russian organized crime groups. These criminal organizations have the potential to become part of large international networks allowing them to launder money, smuggle goods, and narcotics, and import criminals to carry out specific crimes. According to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, California is attracting the second largest number of Russian emigres settling in any state in this country. California is also experiencing a migration of Russian crime figures from the East Coast. This may be occurring because of the lack of strength the LCN has on the West Coast. The Russian organized crime groups would not have to pay a mob tax or tribute, thereby increasing their profits. A comparison can be drawn between Russian immigration and that of previous emigrant groups who have become organized crime powers in the United States such as the La Cosa Nostra and Triads. These new Russian emigres will be a fertile source for recruitment by existing Russian organized crime groups. Many of these groups are still in an embryonic stage such as the Northern California auto theft group. However, as immigration increases, these Russian crime groups can be expected to expand and new groups will be established. Russian organized crime groups in the United States and Russia have formed alliances with the La Cosa Nostra, the Colombian cocaine cartels, and the Sicilian Mafia. These alliances allow these groups to potentially become a dominant wholesale cocaine and heroin distribution factor in California. As Russian organized crime continues to expand in California, it is probable they will form working relationships with other criminal groups such as the LCN, white collar criminals, or other non-traditional organized crime groups. Because of their experience at "working the system" in the former Soviet Union, Russian organized crime groups can be expected to continue their involvement in sophisticated criminal schemes, such as fuel and insurance frauds in the United States. Russian organized crime groups specialize in targets of opportunity and take advantage of bureaucratic mazes to build their profit base. They bring with them knowledge and methods to operate complicated fraud schemes which allow these white collar criminals to flourish. While public and law enforcement attention is drawn to gangs and street violence, Russian organized crime groups will make inroads into California using these complex criminal schemes requiring extensive investigative efforts. Law enforcement sources directly involved in the investigation of fuel frauds indicate that SB 840 will not eliminate the fraudulent schemes. Russian and Armenian organized crime groups will continue to defraud state and federal governments out of excise fuel taxes by coming up with elaborate refund schemes. It is believed that these groups will pool their resources to purchase their own terminals. Once in possession of a terminal and using falsified federal and state tax exemption forms the criminal groups can hide the true ownership of the fuel. They will continue to blend fuels, under-report volume of fuel sold, improperly dispose and store hazardous waste, and sell lower grades of fuel as a premium product. Legitimate terminal operators may be bribed or even threatened into accepting fraudulent state and federal tax exemption forms. These criminal groups will import tax exempt fuels from other states or Mexico. Fuel will be exported out of state. Once exported out of state, the tax liability will be extremely difficult to track. These groups discriminately use violence to intimidate competing fuel distributors to force them out of business or sell their business to the criminal groups at reduced prices. These frauds also allow the criminal groups to sell fuel below market price which forces the legitimate operator out of business or into illegal activity to maintain their livelihoods. Members of Russian organized crime groups are violent but violence is usually employed for specific reasons such as eliminating competition and informants or punishing those who abscond with funds. They are much like the LCN and not like street gangs who use indiscriminate violence. Additionally, law enforcement authorities in California have had several confrontations with crime figures from the former Soviet Union. These crime figures are not afraid of American law enforcement or the criminal justice system and pose a potential threat to police officers. According to law enforcement sources, drug trafficking has not yet become a major focus for Russian organized crime groups in this state. Given the profits to be made and the experience many of these groups have with drugs in the former Soviet Union, it is highly probable that this will become a growing part of their illicit operations in California. Law enforcement agencies in California have begun to make some inroads against Russian organized crime. However, more information and resources are needed to determine the scope of their criminal operations, the structure and size of their organizations, intra and interstate networks, and their international ties to organized crime in Russia. Because there is a lack of intelligence data relating to Russian organized crime groups and their structure in this country, it is almost impossible at the present time to determine their magnitude or scope of operations. Based upon this lack of information, it is difficult to develop efficient strategies to counter them. The law enforcement community needs to work together in order to combat this new threat. In California efforts to combat Russian organized crime are underway. Three law enforcement groups meet routinely to share criminal intelligence and information on these organized crime groups. References "Mobsters Threaten the World's Nuke Safety CIA Chief Says." Boston Globe, April 1994. Arkady G. Bronnikov, "Special Dictionary of Criminal Jargon." Moscow, 1991. Myer, Joseph, "Glasnost Gangsters in Los Angeles." Los Angeles Times, April 10, 1992. "Telltale Tattoos in Russian Prisons." Natural History Magazine, November 1993. Raab, Sylvian. "Top Echelon of Mobsters Pose Threat." New York Times, August 23,1994. "The Looting of Russia." U.S. News and World Report, March 7, 1994. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © Copyright 2000 [Gangland.Net]. All rights reserved. Revised: July 11, 2000 .

Russian Organized Criminal Activities in California Russian organized crime in California is involved in extortion, narcotics, murder, auto theft, and loan sharking, as well as insurance, fuel, telecommunication, and credit card frauds. The following cases are examples of several different crime categories. Extortion - Five members of an Armenian organized crime group in Los Angeles were convicted in 1994 for extortion, kidnaping, and attempted murder. They forcibly detained and threatened victims and their families with great bodily harm unless they paid the suspects money. This group is believed to have extorted the Armenian community in the Los Angeles area for the last 13 years. Fuel Frauds - Fuel frauds, mostly in Los Angeles and New York, cost both the federal and state governments approximately $2 billion annually in tax revenue. The majority of the fuel frauds are committed by Russian and Armenian organized crime groups operating in Southern California. There are a variety of schemes involving the fuel fraud including falsifying state and federal tax forms, use of fictitious companies, known as a "burn" company, extending fuel by blending tax free additives such as transmix or alcohol, rigging fuel pumps, manipulating dyed fuels designated for off-road purposes, and selling lower grade fuel as a premium product. The "daisy chain" scheme is the predominate method of fuel tax fraud. The daisy chain scheme starts with a string of companies created by Russian and Armenian organized crime groups and is designed to create a massive paper trail. In the daisy chain, a "burn" company is created and exists only on paper. By the time auditors and investigators unravel the series of transactions to determine the tax liability, the "burn" company has disappeared without a trace of records or assets. These groups are pocketing up to 50 cents per gallon in federal and state taxes which enables them to sell the petroleum products below cost. Selling fuel below cost forces the legitimate operators out of business. Often these groups force legitimate businesses out of business using intimidation tactics through kidnaping, assaults, and bombings. On September 13, 1995, 13 Russian Armenian subjects were arrested and charged with racketeering, including multiple acts of mail and wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, and distribution of heroin and other narcotic controlled substances. The Russian Armenian group, called the Mikaelian Organization, after the group's leader and self professed "godfather" of the Russian Mafia, Hovsep Mikaelian, ran a black market diesel fuel network that supplied gas stations and truck stops throughout Southern California. They defrauded the Internal Revenue Service and the California Board of Equalization through various fraudulent schemes, by purchasing millions of gallons of diesel fuel and avoiding a huge tax liability. The Mikaelian Organization used wholesale permits obtained fraudulently to purchase tax-free diesel fuel that was intended to be used solely for off-road purposes such as farming and construction. The fuel was then diverted and sold at numerous independent diesel fuel stations, several of which were controlled by this organization. Up to 42 cents per gallon of the federal and state tax collected at the time of sale was pocketed by this organized crime group. This group was also involved in gaining control, through threats and extortion, of a large segment of the independent diesel fuel wholesale and retail service station and truck stop markets. Permits were also obtained by submitting fraudulent paperwork. In some cases, jet fuel, which can be purchased tax free, was added to the diesel fuel and sold at the service stations and truck stops. According to the U.S. Aftorney in Los Angeles, this group managed to avoid paying $3.6 million in taxes in just one year. The arrests culminated a two-year joint task force investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Long Beach Police Department, the California Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Transportation. The task force confiscated more than $2 million in cash and property, including a BMW, Jaguar, and two Rolls Royces. In order to counter the diesel tax frauds, Senate Bill 840, introduced by former Senator Robert Presley and former Assembly member Johan Klehs, was passed into law and took effect July 1, 1995. The purpose of the new law, which now parallels federal law, is to reduce diesel fuel frauds by imposing tax collection at a higher point (terminal level) in the distribution chain. Under the new law, taxes will be collected on tax exempt fuel by the terminal operator and refunded by the state (tax refund). A terminal is defined as a storage facility where fuel is stored and delivered to buyers. Fuel is delivered to the terminal directly from the refinery which is the first level in the distribution chain. Telecommunications Fraud - Russian crime figures in the Los Angeles area are extensively involved in telecommunications fraud (cloned cellular phones). Law enforcement sources indicate that the activity is spreading to Northern California. This illegal process involves stealing electronic serial numbers of customers' cellular phones and programming them into computer chips, thus making a duplicate or clone of the telephones. While cloning has been going on for some time, it has grown rapidly and become more sophisticated as the industry has expanded. One cellular station in the Hollywood area is losing approximately $2 million a month in fraudulent calls made on cloned cellular telephones. Armenian organized crime figures are believed to be responsible for the majority of this fraudulent activity. Narcotics - ROC groups are not extensively involved in narcotics distribution in California. However, there have been significant events and cases that indicate a possible future trend in this area. On March 4, 1993, a Russian emigre was arrested for pefty theft. The Burbank Police Department recovered two kilos of cocaine and $2,200 in cash from the emigre's vehicle. It was later learned the emigre was also involved in shipping stolen vehicles to Russia. On May 1, 1993, a Russian emigre was arrested for immigration violations. Information from the Immigration and Naturalization Service indicates that the emigre was involved in smuggling cocaine from the U.S. to Russia through his import/export business in Southern California. This emigre had spent 13 years in a Russian prison. In February 1995, Tracey Hill, believed to be a courier for a ROC group, was arrested in Redding, California, for possession of 18 kilos of cocaine. Hill was en route to Vancouver, B.C., from the Los Angeles area. On May 4, 1995, seven kilos of heroin was seized from a member of an Armenian organized crime group based in the Glendale area. The heroin came from the Middle East and was intended for distribution in the United States. Medical/insurance Fraud - In Los Angeles, Russian organized crime figures have been involved in various frauds that run the gamut from staged auto accidents to false billing schemes. In 1991, in a case considered the largest of its kind, the U.S. Aftorney's Office in Los Angeles charged 13 defendants in a $1 billion false medical billing scheme that was headed by two Russian emigre brothers, Michael and David Smushkevich. The Smushkevich brothers have long been suspected of being part of a loosely organized Soviet crime syndicate operating in the Los Angeles area during the late 1980s and early 1990S. .14 The 175 count indictment capped a six-year investigation by federal, state, and local agencies. Authorities reported that the brothers orchestrated a massive fraud scheme to use mobile medical laboratories to conduct unnecessary and false tests on patients. They then sent inflated and false bills to insurance companies and collected large fees. The scam eventually spread to Missouri, Illinois, and Florida. On September 20, 1994, the alleged ringleader, Michael Smushkevich was sentenced to 21 years in prison for fraud, conspiracy, racketeering, and money laundering. Smushkevich was also ordered to forfeit $50 million in assets, pay more than $41 million in restitution to government agencies and insurance companies victimized by the scheme, and pay a $2.75 million fine. David Smushkevich testified for the prosecution and received probation. It is estimated that the Smushkevich brothers pocketed between $50 and $80 million in profits. It is believed the brothers hid their money in an unknown country. Loan Sharking - In October 1991, two Russian organized crime figures were convicted in Los Angeles of extorting a Russian emigre businessman. The two Russian organized crime figures lent money to the victim at a 30 percent interest rate. The victim borrowed $125,000 and over eight years had paid back $480,000 but still owed $120,000. The suspects threatened the victim and his family if they didn't pay the rest of the money that was owed. Auto Theft - The Northern California auto theft group specializes in auto theft and operates in Sacramento, other parts of Northern California, Oregon and Washington. Younger members of this group steal vehicles while the older members operate body shops. The body shops are used as chop shops where stolen auto parts are used to reconstruct vehicles bought from salvage pools. Vehicles are also stolen, surgically stripped, and the hulls dumped where they are easily found by law enforcement personnel. These vehicles end up at salvage yards where members of this auto theft group buy the surgically stripped hull and ultimately put the vehicle back together at the chop shops. Vehicles are also bought at the salvage pools for their VIN numbers. The VIN numbers are switched to stolen vehicles. The vehicles are then taken out of state and re-registered in an attempt to conceal or clear the salvaged title. Many of the stolen vehicles are believed to be shipped out of the country through Seattle, Oakland, and other port cities. This crime group may be using Russian organized crime groups to ship the vehicles to Europe or Russia where they are sold for substantial profits. Murder - Andrey Kuznetsov and an associate, Vladimir Litvinenko, were shot to death in Kuznetsov's rented house in West Hollywood on January 26, 1992. Kuznetsov was believed to have been the leader of a Los Angeles fraud ring with ties to Russian organized crime in New York and Russia. His widow claimed he introduced her to Russian organized crime leaders and members in Los Angeles and New York. Los Angeles Sheriffs Deputies arrested two Russian emigres at the murder scene. Sergei Ivanov was drenched in blood and carrying a handgun. An accomplice, Alexander Nikolaev, was also arrested with Ivanov. Sheriffs deputies found the two suspects in the act of cufting off the victims' fingers to hinder identification. Found in the house along with the bodies were numerous boxes of electronic equipment, copiers, TV sets, fax machines, and stereo components. Authorities state most of the equipment was stolen or bought illegally through the use of fraudulent'credit cards and check kiting. Money Laundering - Russian organized crime groups in the former Soviet Union are wire transferring huge amounts of money, ranging from several thousand to millions of dollars from bank accounts located in Finland, Cayman Islands, and Europe to U.S. banks. The source of this money is believed to come from narcotics activity, illegal trade in arms and antiques, and prostitution. Money is also stolen from the Russian government. According to a Russian newspaper, upwards of 1.5 trillion rubles (worth in excess of $1 billion) were stolen from the state with forged documents in 1992 to 1993. ROC groups launder the money through a elaborate trail of fictitious companies set up in Russia. The money is wire transferred to "tax haven" countries such as those in the Caribbean Islands. Money is also reportedly wire transferred to other countries in Europe, such as Switzerland and Finland. A substantial amount of this money is ending up in U.S. banks. Most of the wire transfer activity is occurring in California's larger cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles. It is believed that once the money has been exchanged into U.S. dollars, some of the money is sent back to Russia and is invested in lucrative financial and industrial projects, real estate, enterprises, and banks. The Russian emigres connected to the U.S. bank accounts are opening import/export businesses in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas. These business may be set up for the sole purpose of shipping large amounts of U.S. dollars to and from Russia. Interaction With Other Organized Crime Groups In New York, the LCN and Russian organized crime figures have formed working relationships in areas of fraudulent fuel tax schemes. The LCN is believed to have forced the Russians to pay tribute on the profits they made on these schemes. There is no information indicating that the LCN is exacting tribute from Russian fuel tax fraud operations in California. Colombian cocaine distributors are believed to have formed an alliance with organized crime groups in Russia to import large quantities of cocaine into that country. These ties became evident after a 1.1 metric ton shipment of cocaine was seized in St. Petersburg, Russia in February 1993. Criminal intelligence reports indicate Russian organized crime groups are not extensively involved in narcotics distribution in California. However, the following significant case illustrates a possible future trend and the alliances that are forming. On September 8, 1993, several Russian crime figures were arrested in St. Augustine, Florida for conspiracy and intent to import 800 kilos of cocaine. These subjects were attempting to establish a drug distribution route from Florida to Detroit and New York. It is believed groups of Russian organized crime figures in Los Angeles and New York were part of this operation. The Russian group was dealing with Costa Rican drug traffickers and had plans to smuggle a large quantity of cocaine from Colombia to Italy aboard a vessel. The Russian group was dealing with the Sicilian Mafia in this venture. Although at the present time law enforcement authorities are not aware of any additional ties between Russian organized crime groups in California and other organized crime groups, it is probable that formalized alliances will occur in the future. Tattoos From the mid 1960's to the 1980's, approximately 35 million people were incarcerated in Soviet prisons. Approximately 28 to 30 million Russian inmates were tattooed. According to criminologist Arkady G. Bronnikov, who has studied taftoos of Russian prisoners for 30 years, inmates wore tattoos only after they had committed a crime. The more convictions a criminal received, and as the terms of incarceration became more severe, the more tattoos a convict would have. Taftoos spell out lives of crime and establish the hierarchy of inmates. According to Bronnikov, at the top of the hierarchy are "pakhans" or organized crime bosses. The pakhans use the second level of the echelon known as the "authorities," (also known as enforcers, fighters, or soldiers) to carry out their orders. The "men" are the hard laborers and are the third level in the hierarchy. The lowest category are the "outcasts." These individuals are basically slaves to the upper levels of the echelon. The tattoos present a picture of the inmate's criminal history. According to Bronnikov, "Tattoos are like a passport, a biography, a uniform with medals. They reflect the convict's interests, his outlook on life, his world view." A prisoner with an incorrect or unauthorized tattoo could be punished or killed by fellow inmates. Law Enforcement agencies in California and the United States can expect to see more of these tattoos as the Russian criminal element surfaces. The tattoos may be of assistance in determining the subject's criminal background and activity. Analysis Among the most significant organized crime groups to come to the aftention of law enforcement in California in recent years, are the Russian organized crime groups. These criminal organizations have the potential to become part of large international networks allowing them to launder money, smuggle goods, and narcotics, and import criminals to carry out specific crimes. According to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, California is attracting the second largest number of Russian emigres settling in any state in this country. California is also experiencing a migration of Russian crime figures from the East Coast. This may be occurring because of the lack of strength the LCN has on the West Coast. The Russian organized crime groups would not have to pay a mob tax or tribute, thereby increasing their profits. A comparison can be drawn between Russian immigration and that of previous emigrant groups who have become organized crime powers in the United States such as the La Cosa Nostra and Triads. These new Russian emigres will be a fertile source for recruitment by existing Russian organized crime groups. Many of these groups are still in an embryonic stage such as the Northern California auto theft group. However, as immigration increases, these Russian crime groups can be expected to expand and new groups will be established. Russian organized crime groups in the United States and Russia have formed alliances with the La Cosa Nostra, the Colombian cocaine cartels, and the Sicilian Mafia. These alliances allow these groups to potentially become a dominant wholesale cocaine and heroin distribution factor in California. As Russian organized crime continues to expand in California, it is probable they will form working relationships with other criminal groups such as the LCN, white collar criminals, or other non-traditional organized crime groups. Because of their experience at "working the system" in the former Soviet Union, Russian organized crime groups can be expected to continue their involvement in sophisticated criminal schemes, such as fuel and insurance frauds in the United States. Russian organized crime groups specialize in targets of opportunity and take advantage of bureaucratic mazes to build their profit base. They bring with them knowledge and methods to operate complicated fraud schemes which allow these white collar criminals to flourish. While public and law enforcement attention is drawn to gangs and street violence, Russian organized crime groups will make inroads into California using these complex criminal schemes requiring extensive investigative efforts. Law enforcement sources directly involved in the investigation of fuel frauds indicate that SB 840 will not eliminate the fraudulent schemes. Russian and Armenian organized crime groups will continue to defraud state and federal governments out of excise fuel taxes by coming up with elaborate refund schemes. It is believed that these groups will pool their resources to purchase their own terminals. Once in possession of a terminal and using falsified federal and state tax exemption forms the criminal groups can hide the true ownership of the fuel. They will continue to blend fuels, under-report volume of fuel sold, improperly dispose and store hazardous waste, and sell lower grades of fuel as a premium product. Legitimate terminal operators may be bribed or even threatened into accepting fraudulent state and federal tax exemption forms. These criminal groups will import tax exempt fuels from other states or Mexico. Fuel will be exported out of state. Once exported out of state, the tax liability will be extremely difficult to track. These groups discriminately use violence to intimidate competing fuel distributors to force them out of business or sell their business to the criminal groups at reduced prices. These frauds also allow the criminal groups to sell fuel below market price which forces the legitimate operator out of business or into illegal activity to maintain their livelihoods. Members of Russian organized crime groups are violent but violence is usually employed for specific reasons such as eliminating competition and informants or punishing those who abscond with funds. They are much like the LCN and not like street gangs who use indiscriminate violence. Additionally, law enforcement authorities in California have had several confrontations with crime figures from the former Soviet Union. These crime figures are not afraid of American law enforcement or the criminal justice system and pose a potential threat to police officers. According to law enforcement sources, drug trafficking has not yet become a major focus for Russian organized crime groups in this state. Given the profits to be made and the experience many of these groups have with drugs in the former Soviet Union, it is highly probable that this will become a growing part of their illicit operations in California. Law enforcement agencies in California have begun to make some inroads against Russian organized crime. However, more information and resources are needed to determine the scope of their criminal operations, the structure and size of their organizations, intra and interstate networks, and their international ties to organized crime in Russia. Because there is a lack of intelligence data relating to Russian organized crime groups and their structure in this country, it is almost impossible at the present time to determine their magnitude or scope of operations. Based upon this lack of information, it is difficult to develop efficient strategies to counter them. The law enforcement community needs to work together in order to combat this new threat. In California efforts to combat Russian organized crime are underway. Three law enforcement groups meet routinely to share criminal intelligence and information on these organized crime groups. References "Mobsters Threaten the World's Nuke Safety CIA Chief Says." Boston Globe, April 1994. Arkady G. Bronnikov, "Special Dictionary of Criminal Jargon." Moscow, 1991. Myer, Joseph, "Glasnost Gangsters in Los Angeles." Los Angeles Times, April 10, 1992. "Telltale Tattoos in Russian Prisons." Natural History Magazine, November 1993. Raab, Sylvian. "Top Echelon of Mobsters Pose Threat." New York Times, August 23,1994. "The Looting of Russia." U.S. News and World Report, March 7, 1994. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © Copyright 2000 [Gangland.Net]. All rights reserved. Revised: July 11, 2000 .

Gallup Poll Exposes the Myth Of Turkish-American Friendship By Harut Sassounian California Courier Publisher After pouring billions of dollars of U.S. taxpayers' money for 50 years into the bottomless pit of the Turkish economy, one would think that most Turks would be appreciative of such massive American generosity and express an inkling of support and gratitude toward the United States. After all, as a member of NATO, Turkey is supposed to be a staunch ally of the United States. In fact, the U.S.-Turkish alliance is given such importance that the U.S. government routinely turns a blind eye to all Turkish violations of human rights both against its own citizens, be they Turks, Kurds, Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians or Jews, and against the neighboring countries of Cyprus, Greece, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Armenia. Because of this Turkish "friendship," the U.S. government undermines all attempts to recognize the Armenian Genocide, ignores the occupation of Northern Cyprus, and condones the large-scale massacres of Kurds in Iraq as well as Turkey. The prestigious Gallup Organization now comes to dispel the myth of Turkish-American friendship and reveals what the Turkish public really thinks of America. It turns out that the U.S. government has wasted not only the hundreds of billions of dollars it has given to Turkey, but also the billions more it encouraged the IMF and the World Bank to give to shore up this bankrupt country. These billions of dollars, rather than helping the Turkish people, have simply disappeared into the pockets of some corrupt Turkish officials and generals. A Gallup Poll taken last month in Turkey found that: Only 40% of the Turkish public "has a favorable opinion of the United States;" Only 46% of the Turks believe that "Arabs carried out the September 11 attacks;" Only 19% of Turks "say that U.S. military action in Afghanistan is morally justifiable;" Only 21% of the Turkish public "likes President Bush." Armenian lobbying organizations should send the results of this Poll to the American media and to every member of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. They should urge the Congress to hold a hearing in order to review the U.S. government's long-standing blind support of Turkey and reconsider providing further aid to that country. This Poll finally exposes the myth of U.S.-Turkish friendship. The American government is making in Turkey the same mistake it made in supporting the Shah of Iran and failing to win over the Iranian public. The U.S. paid a heavy price for such misguided policies in Iran and elsewhere. It is still not too late to stop the wasteful and counter-productive U.S. policy toward Turkey and save the billions of more dollars that will most certainly continue to go into the pockets of a few Turkish fat cats! A TURK WHO DARES TO QUESTION THE TURKISH LIES Zulfu Livaneli, a Turkish columnist, penned on March 1, an amazingly candid commentary in Sabah, a prominent Turkish newspaper. The writer severely criticized the members of the Turkish Parliament for engaging in bombastic declarations rather than making an attempt to discover the truth about the Armenian Genocide. Here are some excerpts from his article: "What's the easiest thing for the Turkish Parliament to do after the European Parliament's decision to recognize the Armenian Genocide? To get up and criticize the Europeans severely. This is exactly what our parliamentarians are doing. Their sole purpose is to make a tougher and a more patriotic speech than a member from another party. I understand this well because this is a custom in our country. Instead of solving the problem, we get all excited and take the easiest road by resorting to patriotic speech-making! "What's the most difficult thing to do in the Parliament? To say, 'Friends, this problem has been a headache for us for a hundred years and is now expanding to the United States, the French Senate and the European Parliament, etc. By simply yelling and screaming, we cannot silence the whole world. We are already shaking in our boots because of the soon to be released Ararat movie. Let's study this matter thoroughly and stand up against the whole world with solid documents. Otherwise, this issue will become a greater headache for us.' "Of course, not a single member of a party will dare to say such words, because they are too busy proving their patriotism to each other. U.S. Ambassador Morgenthau who served in Istanbul during the Armenian events, wrote a book that is sold worldwide. If you read the reports that this Ambassador has dispatched to his government, your blood will curdle. You will be ashamed of your humanity. What do our party leaders think of this book? Have they read it? "Enver and his colleagues who caused such terrible problems to the Empire by their mistakes, have they always been infallible? Wasn't Enver ***** the one who caused the destruction of 90,000 Turkish soldiers on the mountains of Sarikamish because of the cold and typhoid? "A government that does such things to its own soldiers, couldn't it also have made mistakes during the deportations? For how many more centuries are we going to carry on our back the sins of the Ittihadists, even though we are not guilty? Isn't that a shame for our sons and grandchildren? The answer to these questions is difficult. What's easy is to get up and make speeches!"

ACTION ALERT: Ask Your Congressman To Urge Bush To Recognize Genocide * Has your Representative Signed the Knollenberg-Pallone Letter? Situation: The Co-Chairs of the Armenian Caucus are collecting letters on a Congressional letter urging President Bush to honor his pledge to properly recognize the Armenian Genocide in his April 24th statement. The letter specifically calls on the President to use the proper term, "genocide," in describing Ottoman Turkey's systematic and deliberate campaign to destroy the Armenian people. The letter currently has over 30 co-signers. [visit anaca.org for complete text of the letter] Action: Urge your U.S. Representative to co-sign the Knollenberg-Pallone letter. 1. Send a free ANCA WebFax to your Representative. http://www.anca.org 2. Call the Capitol Operator and ask for your Representative. (If you do not know who represents you, visit the ANCA website and enter your ZIP Code http://wwww.capwiz.com/anca

Charny Attacks Israel's Genocide Denial Policy JERUSALEM—Prof. Israel Charny, a noted scholar and historian, dispatched a letter Monday to Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres and Israel's Ambassador to Armenia Rivka Cohen, among others, saying he is "deeply ashamed" of the position taken by Cohen and the foreign ministry "to deny the gencoide of the Armenian people." Below is the text of the letter, which the Asbarez received via electronic mail: To Ministry of Foreign Affairs, State of Israel Shimon Peres, Foreign Minister Michael Melchior, Deputy Foreign Minister Rivka Cohen, Ambassador to Armenia Armenian Desk Dear Honored Minister, Deputy Minister, Ambassador, and Professional Staff at Ministry of Foreign Affairs: As a Jew and Israeli, I am deeply ashamed of the position taken by our Ambassador and Ministry to deny that the genocide of the Armenian people in 1915 was in fact genocide. This is the equivalent of denials of the Holocaust of our people. Even in these very serious days of our national history, when the support of other countries such as neighboring Turkey is of great practical importance, I do not believe that historical/moral issues of recognizing respectfully and honorably the genocidal mass extermination of any people should be bypassed by any people, and in particular by our Jewish people. I am enclosing with great concern for your attention an editorial in a leading US-Armenian newspaper calling on Armenia to expel the Israeli Ambassador. For your further information, the author of this editorial, who is the head of the Armenian United Fund in the US—comparable to our United Jewish Appeal—was for many years a delegate to the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva. I am also enclosing for you a report dated February 28 that the European Union voted a second time urging Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide. And I am enclosing for you a copy of a statement signed by 126 Holocaust scholars in 2000 recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Signators include a leader in Israeli Holocaust scholarship, our Prof. Yehuda Bauer; and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel. Will not the values of Zion weep at our realpolitik shaming of another people who, like us, carry everyday the grief and outrage of their memory of the mass genocidal murders of their people? With prayers for the strength of our people and country in such grave times, when we are fighting in self-defense against a deadly and even genocidal terrorism that attacks indiscriminately including unarmed youths in cafes, and families of men, women and children gathered to celebrate weddings and bar-mitzvahs, I am Respecfully yours, Prof. Israel W. Charny, Ph.D. Editor-in-Chief, Encyclopedia of Genocide Executive Director, Institute on the Holocaust & Genocide, Jerusalem

TURKS HOLY OR WHAT? Turkish sociologist, reporter and human rights activist Taner Akcam wrote an article where he referred to the denialist attitudes of the Hurriyet’s editor-in-chief Ertugrul Ozkok. Akcam was surprised at the sudden change of position of the Hurriyet’s editor-in-chief towards the Turkish-Armenian relations, for Ozkok was among those few Turks who approached the Turkish-Armenian relations with sound logic. Nevertheless in one of his last articles he manifested a clear Turkish ideology, representing Turks as the most humble and kind people in the world. In his article Ozkok explains why nothing of the alleged ‘tragedies’ (menaing Armenian Genocide) could happen in 1915. He says that although the members of ASALA (Armenian Secret Army for Liberation of Armenia) were continually killing Turkish diplomats all over the world and the radicals of PKK (Workers Party of Kurdistan) were disturbing the peace of Turkish residents for 15 years, Turks ‘never distinguished a house of an Armenian or a Kurd in the country or pointed at them with a finger, or treated them as enemies’. This was said for showing that there is no chauvinism in Turkey. Moreover, Ozkok goes on saying that if mankind ‘looks back to the history of Turkey it will see no manifestation of chauvinism in it. Then how can the allegations about horrible crimes of 1900’s be true? Simply some fanatics try to ascribe all the inhuman things to Turks’. It seems that Ozkok wants Armenians and Kurds to thank the Turkish nation for not massacring them once again for ASALA’s and PKK’s activity (although separate individuals and groups were persecuted and assassinated by Turkish authorities). Moreover he hints that if the activity of above mentioned ‘terrorist’ organizations didn’t cause the hatred and anger of Turks, then no incidents could urge the Turks to commit the 1915 ‘alleged’ genocide. Ozkok’s article would make one think that Turks are saint and follow the Christian commandments saying don’t pay back when someone slaps you on the face. So, are Turks holy or what? © Copyright AZG

quote:Originally posted by Anshnork: I found this article on the internet, and I think it's important that we all take a look at it. Read it and post your reactions. web page EDITED null [ February 21, 2002: Message edited by: Garo ]

RollingStone.com Video Interview with System Of A Down http://stream.qtv.apple.com/qtv/rollingsto.../system_ref.mov

this is one of my favorit songs, from their first album: http://www.systemofadown.com/Videos/SpidersVid.ram

so non of you guys heard of system before? i mean, before their last album came out, no body(armenians) really heard of them. i used to be the only armo here listenin to their music, ever since their first album came out(which was about two-three years ago). they have allways been pretty well known over here, alot of the white boys would listen to their music in school...

Everything possible must be done to prevent migration of Turks-Meskhetians to Samtskhe-Javakhetia -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The residents of Samtskhe-Javakhetia region populated by Armenians as well as new governor Teymuraz Mosiashvili are worried with the perspective of the return of Turks-Meshetins who lived in this region once. In his interview for the public television of Armenia, deputy of Georgian parliament Anzor Tamarashvili has stated that everything possible must be done in order to prevent the migration of Turks-Meshetins to that region. «When they lived here, they were only killing, raping and looting. Now they state that they want to return to their Motherland and then that they might claim self-government. That is why we have determined: no Turks-Meshetins will be here», stated the Georgian parliamentarian. PanArmenian

Artsax: The Agony of a Stagnant Peace By Mumin Shakirov Special to The Moscow Times STEPANAKERT, Nagorny Artsax -- Last summer, Gamlet Asriyan opened the first private hotel in Stepanakert: 10 rooms, hot water, satellite television and imported furniture. "I was building a house for my son, where he was supposed to live with his wife and children. ... But things do not always turn out as we expect," he said by way of explanation. Asriyan, a former education minister of the self-proclaimed republic of Nagorny Artsax, said that during his first season in business the hotel was fully booked, with Western businessmen, itinerant journalists and travelers from the Armenian capital of Yerevan. With its mild winter, clean sidewalks and unobtrusive billboards, Stepanakert strikes the first-time visitor as a provincial southern town, relatively cozy and convenient. The roads have neatly painted lines and fresh asphalt; newcomers find it easy to get around. But venturing just a few kilometers outside city limits reveals that Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorny Artsax, is an oasis -- a small clutch of land that has managed to cover up the traces of a devastating six-year war over the status of this ethnically Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan that ended in a fretful cease-fire in 1994 and has yet to yield a compromise between the warring sides. The road leading northeast to the Azeri town of Agdam is an excursion along abandoned, overgrown Muslim cemeteries, razed villages and minefields interspersed with warning signs from the Halo Trust. The village of Karamort, about 5 kilometers off the main road, is half destroyed. On the bits of land that have been cleared of bombs and mines, its few residents sow grain and corn. "Only old folks, children and cripples have stayed here," said Artur Khachatryan, 40, who fought in the Artsax war and now lives with his family in one of the remaining houses. "Those who are strong and healthy enough go to Stepanakert or, more often, leave Nagorny Artsax altogether. They go where they can earn something. Although people feel safe here, life among the ruins gradually dies away." From the hills above Karamort, one can look down on Agdam. The city, which once boasted a population of 50,000 and one of the Soviet Union's most famous brandy distilleries, now resembles a giant dump for construction materials and concrete blocks, where local authorities are not enthusiastic about uninvited guests. Just beyond Agdam, one sees the former front lines: trenches, snipers' posts, minefields and military hardware entrenched in the soft earth. A Seven-Year Rut Despite three rounds of meetings between Azeri President Heidar Aliyev and Artsax's former leader, Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, the past year has not yielded any progress in overcoming the Artsax stalemate. Baku has been critical of international mediators from the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe -- which includes representatives from Russia, the United States and France -- for not being tough enough on the separatists. Azeri authorities insist on their country's territorial integrity and want access to the Azeri enclave of Nakhichevan. Baku categorically refuses to conduct negotiations with the leaders of Nagorny Artsax, who demand recognition of their independence. "What agreement can we possibly reach with the Armenians who occupied our lands and do not want to leave them?" Aliyev told reporters last fall. At the time, Aliyev publicly entertained the possibility that the Artsax problem may have to be resolved by force. Officials in the separatist enclave have taken the comments in stride: "Azerbaijan is ripe for a change in leadership and that, most likely, is the cause of this patriotic rhetoric," Artsax President Arkady Gukasyan said in a recent interview. The ailing 78-year-old Aliyev, who has spent the past three decades as Azerbaijan's leader, plans to run for a third presidential term in 2003, and his allies in the country's parliament appealed last week to extend the president's term from five years to seven. Gukasyan said he was not worried about Aliyev's threats of military action. "This sounds to me like a brazen scare tactic," he said. "They don't have a chance of starting a war and winning it." How Much Sovereignty Is Enough? Since 1994, Artsax has become de facto a part of Armenia. The overwhelming majority of its residents hold Armenian passports, and Yerevan supplies about half of the enclave's budget -- which is also supplemented by important support from the world's Armenian diaspora. Artsax demands that Baku recognize its independence and treat Stepanakert as an equal. Nagorny Artsax, handed to Soviet Azerbaijan by Josef Stalin in 1921, "was never part of an independent Azerbaijan because such an Azerbaijan never existed -- it was a republic within the Soviet Union," insists Gukasyan. "Azerbaijan calls Armenia an aggressor. But we believe the conflict is between Stepanakert and Baku, and Yerevan supported us. It could not have been otherwise." Baku, in turn, wants to regain control over Azeri territories outside the enclave that are held by Artsax's Armenians and says it is willing to give Artsax extensive autonomy as long as it remains part of Azerbaijan. Eldar Namazov, a former aide to Aliyev who now heads the Artsax Charter lobby group, articulated Baku's position on the extent of autonomy. "The flag, coat of arms, national anthem, power structures [i.e. military, law enforcement and other security agencies] and foreign policy fall under the jurisdiction of the center," meaning Baku. "All the other issues," he continued, "can be agreed upon with the opposite side." Moscow has been careful in navigating the conflict between its Transcaucasian neighbors. On one hand, Armenia has long been Russia's most reliable partner in the region, a geopolitical ally whom Russia has been hesitant to rile. At the same time, oil interests in and around Azerbaijan are also shaping Moscow's position. "There is no doubt that the problem of Nagorny Artsax greatly depends on Aliyev's willingness to strike a deal," said Zygmunt Dzieciolowski, a Polish journalist who has focused on the Caucasus. "The Kremlin is prepared to put pressure on Yerevan, but Baku must first give Russian oligarchs access to the Apsheron peninsula," he said, referring to the important Azeri outpost for offshore drilling, as well as the site of Aliyev's walled seaside compound. "Today, Russian companies, including LUKoil, are still weak on Azerbaijan's Caspian coast because Baku gives preference to Western oil consortiums that work to develop new oil fields." The Apple of Artsax's Eye It has long been said that he who controls Shusha controls Nagorny Artsax. This ancient city stands atop a rough plateau. On one side, steep cliffs loom over the Gyunot gorge. On the other, stone buildings and ruins rise in a giant half-circle high above the flatlands. Two centuries ago, the Russian and Persian empires battled for control of this unassailable fortress until Russia finally came out victorious in 1828. The ancient houses in Shusha resemble miniature fortresses. Their stories are separated by stone "belts," their wooden balconies adorned with carved railing. The smoking metal chimneys of primitive wood-burning stoves -- a relic of wartime -- protrude from the arch-shaped windows. Nearby, the drab exteriors of Soviet-era five-story apartment buildings clearly clash with the ancient landscape, especially against the backdrop of church domes and minarets. The city remains half destroyed after a devastating one-day artillery raid by Armenian militiamen, launched to oust Azeri forces in May 1992. Over the 10 years since then, local authorities have rebuilt several administrative buildings, schools, hospitals and churches, but have been unable to rebuild the town's main streets. The former commander of Artsax's self-defense force, now Armenia's defense minister, Serzh Sarkisyan, believes the raid on Shusha was justified. "Stepanakert was under fire from these heights for an entire year," he said. "For us, capturing this fortress became a matter of principle and survival. People were able to come out from their cellars and bomb shelters. Shusha was taken in 24 hours." The war destroyed the city and transformed its population: From a thriving, multiethnic town on the much-traveled route to Lachin, Shusha became a bombed-out village of some 5,000 Armenians. The remaining residents are forced to live without heating and with constant interruptions in the supply of water and electricity. Margarita Osipyan, a refugee from Baku, fled to Artsax in 1990 when anti-Armenian pogroms swept through her native city. Osipyan, 40, and her two young daughters managed to board a passing train where an Azeri conductor hid them from violent extremists. Now they live in Shusha in an abandoned apartment once occupied by an Azeri family. "The local authorities allowed me to move into a five-story building where there were many empty apartments. My home in Baku probably became home to Azeri refugees," said Osipyan, who works as a cleaning woman in a maternity hospital with a monthly wage of about $30, which is barely enough to feed her family. One of the first buildings in Shusha to be restored, at least partially, was Artsax's largest church -- Christ the Savior, or, in Armenian, Kazanchetsots. During the war, the Azeris used the church to store arms and munitions in the misguided hope that the Armenians would not dare fire on their own sacred places. But this was not the case: All buildings were fair game, and the church was badly damaged by artillery fire. Shusha's mosque and madraseh, the Muslim school, are still in ruins, but officials say they intend to restore these ancient architectural landmarks. "Right now we do not have the funds for restoration work," said my guide, Ashot Arutyunyan, director of the local history and folk museum. While the Muslim landmarks may eventually be rebuilt, it is not clear who would make up their congregations and student bodies. Before the war, Shusha was predominantly populated by Azeris, but scholars argue about the city's historical demographic patterns. Arutyunyan says his calculations show that in 1920 Shusha had 40,000 Armenians and 5,000 Azeris. But over the 70 years of Soviet rule -- when Azerbaijan's socioeconomic policies often favored Azeris at the expense of Artsax's Armenian population -- the scales tipped and, by the late 1980s, Shusha's ethnic composition had changed to 12,000 Azeris and only 3,000 Armenians. Shusha is one of the most emotionally charged places in the region. Local Armenians will often say: "Shusha is the heart of Artsax, and Nagorny Artsax for any Armenian is the land of his ancestors, it is a part of our people's bloody history, it is the memory of the genocide," a reference to the massacre of Armenians by the Turks in the 1910s. The residents of Shush say that Armenians have lost to many lives for this land to simply hand it over to someone else -- and that passion has translated into politics. Shifting the Blame "In the Caucasus, wars are not started by national leaders, as in the East, nor by colonels, as in Latin America. They are started by scholarly historians. And since the peoples of the Caucasus were once saddled with an 'antiquity complex' and they tend to measure their history in millennia rather than centuries, points of contention abound." This quote from Moscow historian Daura Dzantariya has direct bearing on the Artsax conflict. While Armenians and Azeris had intermingled to a great extent over the centuries they had lived as neighbors, these ties were unable to withstand the waves of ethnic self-determinism unleashed by Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s. Furthermore, to support their cause, both sides cited their own versions of ancient history to prove that one people had a more legitimate claim to these lands than its foe. Azeri scholars insisted that Armenians were not the ages-old Christian culture they pretended to be, but had co-opted the attributes of the ancient Caucasus Albanians (unrelated to the modern-day Albanians of the Balkans). Armenian historians, meanwhile, brushed aside Azeri claims of antiquity, saying that all of their Muslim holy sites were left over from the Persian empire. This impassioned polemic flared with unprecedented intensity in 1988 -- when the air of freedom inspired by glasnost and perestroika combined with promises of greater autonomy for each of the 15 Soviet republics -- and, on Feb. 20 of that year, the legislature of Azerbaijan's Autonomous Region of Nagorny Artsax petitioned Baku and Yerevan to transfer the enclave to Armenia. Gukasyan's spokesman, Alexander Grigoryan, believes the move was prompted by Baku's anti-Armenian policies. "In Soviet times, the bulk of the factories built in Artsax relied on women's labor: textile and silk factories," he said. "Men had to leave in search of work, and they took their families with them. Azeris came to fill their place." Azeris have similar complaints of discrimination by local authorities. "The top positions in the region and almost all the executive power were concentrated in the hands of the Armenian majority," said Farida Mamedova, a Baku-based historian and native of Shusha. "Azeris were not appointed to top posts and did not have the opportunity to receive schooling in their native language. Qualified personnel from Baku was denied housing and social guarantees." When Artsax asked to be united with Armenia, Baku categorically opposed the measure and got Moscow's backing. The following week saw pro-Armenian rallies in Stepanakert and anti-Artsax protests in Baku. Demonstrators were split along ethnic lines, and bloody, sometimes lethal, fights between Armenians and Azeris broke out in places where the two peoples lived side by side. The first instance of large-scale violence is yet another point on which Armenians and Azeris disagree. Armenians cite the Sumgait massacre -- the first case of deadly ethnic violence mentioned in the perestroika-era Soviet press -- when, from Feb. 27 to 29, Azeri extremists in this tiny town 30 kilometers from Baku attacked and beat Armenian residents, leaving more than 30 dead. Soon thereafter, Artsax was blockaded for what turned out to be four years. However, Aliyev's former aide Namazov interprets the tragedy in Sumgait as retaliation for Yerevan's discriminatory policies against Azeri communities, saying that in the late 1980s some 300,000 Azeris were forced out of Armenia. Two years after Sumgait, Baku was hit by days of anti-Armenian violence that claimed dozens of lives. Azeri authorities are not eager to discuss those events and admit that they mishandled the situation. But they are always prepared to offer their own explanation. "The pogroms against Armenians in Baku were provoked by the Soviet special services in order to use this as an excuse to send troops into the city," said Ali Gasanov, Azerbaijan's deputy prime minister and chairman of the committee on refugees. Moscow interfered to put an end to the atrocities in Baku, but offered no constructive options for a lasting solution. Tens of thousands of Armenians left the Azeri capital, and many Russian speakers joined them. Baku's previous image as one of the Soviet Union's most cosmopolitan, hospitable and tolerant cities evaporated. The violence there set the scene for three years of intense warfare in Artsax in 1991 to 1994. Occupied Land or Safety Zone? In 1992, the war reached a pinnacle for the Armenians: They captured Shusha and the critical Lachin corridor that links Artsax with Armenia, putting an end to the four-year blockade of the enclave. This victory involved some of the war's bloodiest episodes, including the February 1992 bloodbath at Khojali, in which scores of Azeri men, women and children were killed as they walked over the mountains to safety ahead of advancing Armenian forces. The victorious Armenian troops spilled over from Artsax and took control of several nearby districts of Azerbaijan. According to different estimates, these lands make up between 10 percent and 20 percent of the country's territory -- a no-man's land and an insurmountable obstacle in negotiations between Baku and Yerevan. Baku calls this state of affairs "occupation" by Stepanakert, but Sarkisyan, Armenia's defense minister, calls the territory a "safety zone." "The additional territories were not captured at random," he said. "This was the result of cool-headed calculation. If you look at a map, you will see that we advanced as far as it was necessary to ensure that Azerbaijan's armed forces would not be able to fire on Nagorny Artsax." The official position in Stepanakert and Yerevan is that the people of Artsax won their independence on their own despite Azerbaijan's advantage in manpower and weaponry. But Baku contends that the separatists in Artsax had the backing of both Armenia and Russia, which helped arm the fighters. <2h>No Road Home? More than seven years after the end of hostilities, Azerbaijan continues to struggle with its million or so refugees and internally displaced persons. Hundreds of families have been living since 1993 in abandoned freight cars at the railway junction in Saatli, hundreds of thousands more are scattered throughout the country in dormitories and abandoned apartments, administrative buildings and tent camps. They live with no work, chronic power outages and shortages of medicine and food. The government doles out about $5 per person per month, and foreign aid has dwindled to a trickle. Yerevan has accused Baku, whose economy has been growing, of intentionally dragging its feet on solving the refugee crisis in order to have extra leverage in negotiations, but Azeri officials have brushed away such allegations. "We lost time when the United Nations Security Council ordered Armenian troops out of the occupied territories and Stepanakert failed to fulfill these terms," said Deputy Prime Minister Gasanov. "Then we were waiting for results from the OSCE Minsk Group [formed in 1993]. And so nine years passed. The government does not have the money to take care of tens of thousands of refugees." Neither side is ready to meet the other halfway in terms of the territorial dispute. "The only possible compromise is this: Ancient Shusha is our city," said Gasanov. "Artsax can have maximum self-government and guarantees of international observers. We are even willing to give them the Lachin corridor ... but in return the Armenians must grant us the corridor along the Iranian-Armenian border to the Azeri enclave of Nakhichevan," now accessible only via Iran. But Armenia has made it clear that such terms are unacceptable. "To open such a southern corridor would mean losing Iran, where we have important trade and economic ties," said Gasanov, adding that the deal could cut off Armenia's access to the world by making it dependent on its unstable neighbor Georgia. "That would be tantamount to suicide." Some influential Azeri officials perceive the conflict in a slightly different light. Aliyev's main opponent, Isa Gambarov, head of the Mussavat party, believes separatism in Artsax destroyed Armenians' chances for prosperity in post-Soviet Azerbaijan. Nearly 300,000 Armenians left Baku, he said, many of whom could have become part of the city's economic and political elite. "The separatists ... sacrificed people who never wanted to leave Baku and other Azeri cities," Gambarov said. Baku's future remains murky, but the past 10 years have certainly brought a world of change to the city. There are no reliable official figures about its population, although some estimates say it has doubled to 3 million people, among them some 500,000 refugees. Old-timers recall Soviet times with nostalgia, when ethnicity had little meaning. "Common people are ready to live side by side with those Baku Armenians ... who were forced to leave after those tragic pogroms in January [1990]," said Zeki Gasan-zade, a native son of Baku who works in the tourism business. "Few people now recall this, but many Azeris risked their lives to hide Armenians from rampaging nationalists and embittered refugees from Armenia and Nagorny Artsax."

http://www.azg.am/IMAGE/200201904.jpg In 1987 I started collecting materials about Armenians in cinema, and soon I had information about 1,000 Armenian actors and actresses who played leading or secondary roles or acted as script writers, directors, cameramen in movies, produced in more than 30 countries. We have heard and seen Sherilin Sarkisian in Hollywood movies, other Armenians in Brazilian serials or Egyptian melodramas, but who could think that we shall see an Armenian face in a Chinese movie. And most interestingly, that person lives in the same city in which we live. I became acquainted with Liana Yedigarian quite accidentally, a young and nice girl who was one of the first Armenians to study in China. Currently two dozens of Armenian students study in Chinese universities in line with an intergovernmental agreement. “I dreamt of traveling to China and learning Chinese since my childhood. Simultaneously I was kind of addicted by Bruce Lee’s films and also wanted to try myself in movies. I used to attend theatre classes when at school and after graduating I was lucky to have a chance to travel to China, where I studied for four years the Chinese language and culture. I could never imagine that all my dreams might be realized. Just nine days after my arrival I received several proposals to act in movies and parallel to my studies I was engaged in theatrical performances and movies. I cannot even say the exact number of films I acted in, as the majority of my roles were bit parts. There were days when I was acting in three movies simultaneously,” she says. But in six tele-movies Liana played the leading role. One of the Chinese magazines wrote that with her perfect knowledge of Chinese and ability to transform Liana Yedigarian can act Italian, Spanish, French, American and Russian girls. Besides these movies, Liana also acted in special U-Shu program, which was demonstrated by a Chinese CC TV channel. Unlike other students from Western Europe, students from Armenia and other former Soviet republics accept willingly offers to act as Europeans in Chinese movies. Liana’s younger sister Mariana also acted in several Chinese movies. Besides acting in movies, the two sisters also acted in commercials. By Artsvi Bakhchinian

2,000-Forgotten Jews in a country forsaken by the nabobs of the media and the barons of finance! by Haik Marcar In the Heritage Southwest Jewish Press of May/June, 1998, Mr. Sydney Galanty writes, "After two thousand years, one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world is under threat of extinction. Ironically, it's not because of anti-Semitic attitudes of its Christian neighbors (Armenians), but because it's been all but forgotten by more fortunate Jews around the world." Today most Jewish communities throughout the world are messianically dedicated to the mission of erecting Holocaust Memorials in honor of Jews long dead, while live Jews in Armenia, like the rest of the Armenians, are starving because of Turkish and Azeri blockades. At the same time, the world's so called FREE PRESS, enamored with politics, ignobly adopts the philosophy of the three monkeys: hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil. In another paragraph Mr. Galanty explains, "Jews arrived in Armenia as early as the first century, when Armenian King Tigran I resettled 10,000 Jews after his retreat from Palestine. The community has managed to survive and thrive under Christian rulers, Muslim, conquerors, even the Soviet Communist era. Historically, there has always been tolerance toward Jews in Armenia, and a large influx occurred during World War II when Armenia offered safe haven for Jews driven away from Nazi-occupied Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. " The one and only country in the world that has treated the Jews as equals and never discriminated against them, is now, in the hour of their desperate need, being shunned and ignored by Israel and influential Jews throughout the world. As if, that ingratitude wasn't enough, now she (Israel) is in bed with Turkey, the mortal enemy of Armenia. Just where are the voices of justice and fair play? Where are the cries of the mythical Jewish sense of justice? It must be buried within several layers of unmitigated gall. Only recently the media announced that Israel is spending $600,000,000 of our tax payers money (that's yours and mine) to upgrade the Turkish Air Force so that they can kill more Kurds and starve out Armenia. The economic blockade of Armenia by Turkey and Azerbaijan has caused untold human suffering in Armenia. Both Christians and Jews in Armenia are suffering because of your silence. In the beginning there was LIGHT, then there was God, who begot man, who acknowledged that God was good. So, man swore by God's name. And this is how man has claimed every vice, disguised as paragon of virtue, in the name of God. But soon God was replaced with more profitable and recognizable objects, instead of "in the name of God", we called it "in the name of the king." Then," The king" was replace with " The country" and soon after that," we substituted "country" with the word "people." And finally that too was exchanged for new and more powerful icons or gods. Now we swear by, "According to The New York Times" or according to "The Washington Post. " Yes, my friends, we have sold our heritage for a mess of pottage and we are not our brother's keepers. Now, just where are the JDLs, the ADLs, the Jewish Congress, and the myriads of Jewish organization, who swarm upon you waspishly when you disagree with them and instantly nail you to the cross of anti-Semitism? Perhaps they are either too busy in search of old Nazis or too involved with befriending the Turk and helping him to keep denying the genocide of 1.5 million Armenians. After all, the sufferings of 2,000 Jews in Armenia is insignificant when you calculate and compute the political and commercial benefits of such an alliance. Glory to Israel for befriending Turkey at our expense. Of course, let us not rush to judgment. It may be that the devout, and religious Jew, whether in New York or Tel Aviv, has never heard of Armenia and least of all Jews in a poor country! God forbid. But, what's the excuse for the sophisticated Zionist and the Mossad of Israel? Is it ignorance, apathy, greed, or power? Weren't these same inhuman attributes charged against the entire German People by World Jewish Organizations for the crimes committed by Hitler and his gang? So, ignorance and tolerance of inhumanity by one group of people on another is no excuse. So, I urge all decent and devout Jews of all political and social stripes to unite and help the 2,000 Jewish of Armenia. And by all means write to your Congressmen in Washington and request to withhold all aid to Turkey and Azerbaijan until they lift the economic blockades of Armenia.

lets declare 'hollywwod war' what are you guys worried about man? you guys sound more worried over 'ataturk' then turks over 'ararat'. wow the turks are making a movie about ataturk, ooooooh, an the directors not even a turk. all the director is gonna try to show is that the turks arnt the same barberic demon possesed murders they were 80 years ago. (which we all know they are) the great ataturk came an thought them what the armenian/greeks/assyrians tried to teach but couldent get it into that hard head of theirs. come to california, an you guys will see that their are alot of armenian youngsters who are learning to become future film directors, an i tell ya, with in the next ten years were gonna have more armenian film makers in the US, then we did for the past century. just like atom, 90 percent of the kids here were dreaming about being the first director to make a major film about the armenian genocide. but after 'ararat' now these youngsters are dreaming about directing the second major film about the armenian genocides. an after that there is going to be a third, an a fourth, an a fifth, an so on... just one ararat is not gonna cut it. so relaxe homeboys, there is a time for everything

Driven be memories, this tiny ethnic community wields a big political stick, as evidenced every April in U.S. House-sponsored genocide legislation For Armenian-Americans, April is the cruelest month of all, a reminder of the bloody purge in their ancestral homeland 86 years ago that sent hundreds to their deaths. Fueled by the passion of that memory. Armenian-Americans are united as perhaps few other minority groups, wielding considerable political clout -- from California's Capitol to the halls of Congress. When Armenian-Americans talk, lawmakers listen. From Capitol Hill to Sacramento, that political reality is all the more note-worthy because, as an ethnic minority, Armenian-Americans are but a blip on the population radar screen. Yet, after decades of diaspora, privation and prejudice, Armenian-Americans have earned a striking reputation for political clout that is often deployed in the service of painful memories. Consider that: Thanks to Armenian-American lobbying and dutiful tending by sympathetic lawmakers, Armenia is now the second leading per-capita recipient of U.S. foreign aid, behind Israel. For six years running, Congress has increased Armenian aid beyond White House requests; this year, the $90 million for Armenia is $15 million more than the administration sought. Legislatures from Sacramento to Paris have, at the behest of Armenia-minded constituents, waded into the business of historical interpretation by officially declaring the murderous period from April 1918 to 1923 to be the "Armenian Genocide." The 70-plus members of the Armenian Caucus in Congress are credited with enacting long-running restrictions on direct U.S. aid to Azerbaijan, a troubled and oil-rich neighbor that has long been at odds with Armenia. "They do a better lobbying job than most," Representative George Radanovich (R-Mariposa) said of Armenian-Americans, comparing their influence to that of other ethnic minorities. That influence is all the more remarkable because, numerically speaking, Armenians are not a sizable ethnic group. There are about 1 million Americans of Armenian descent in the United States, about 500,000 of whom live in California, concentrated primarily in Fresno and the Glendale-Pasadena area of Southern California. While modest in numbers, the reasons behind the political clout of Armenian-Americans illustrate why some populations not only speak louder but are heard better than others. The Armenian-American population is culturally cohesive, bound in part by a distinct religion - the Armenian Apostolic Church, which has at least eight churches in Glendale and six in neighboring Pasadena. That contributes to a common message and a shared interest in the old country. The population is concentrated, which amplifies the message heard by local politicians. The population's major immigration flow to the United States occurred decades ago, enabling assimilation into the political system while still retaining its ethnic identity. "By and large, on issues that relate to Armenia and the Armenian Genocide, Armenians share basic beliefs," said Barlow Der Mugrdechian, professor of Armenian Studies at California State University, Fresno. Plus, "The community has structures in place, (like) the church, the Armenian Assembly (and) the Armenian National Committee, which have become effective voices for the community." A look at legislation This year, for instance, the state Senate has before it a bill to establish a California trade office in Armenia. The trade office would cost up to $149,000 a year, in a country that in 1999 imported only $10 million worth of California products, less than the likes of Fiji or Qatar. But California's Fijian and Qatarian populations are considerably quieter than the Armenian population concentrated in the district of SB 179's author, Jack Scott (D-Burbank). Explicitly citing the 500,000 Armenians living in California, Scott's bill says the trade office is necessary because "Armenia...continues to privatize small businesses and state-run enterprises, providing opportunities for local and foreign investors." Not that the Armenian-American population wins every fight; just ask Jim Rogan. Make that, former Republican congressman Jim Rogan, the one-time House impeachment manager who was ousted last November by Democrat Adam Schiff. While Rogan and Schiff spent $11.2 million attacking each other in the 27th Congressional District race, there was one issue on which they found common ground: Armenia, a far-away country slightly smaller than the state of Maryland. With at least five Armenian language newspapers and three Armenian-language cable television stations, the 27th Congressional District is rich with voters who maintain strong ethnic ties. So when House Speaker Dennis Hastert last year was stumping for Rogan, he naturally met privately with Armenian-American community leaders. Hastert promised he'd bring to the House floor legislation co-sponsored by Rogan and Radanovich that called public attention to "the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923." The promise was tactically clever in helping Hastert's efforts to retain a House majority. Ethnic politics, besides, are a Capitol Hill tradition. But this particular promise also plunged the House speaker into a diplomatic muddle involving one of America's most crucially placed allies and the meaning of tragic memories. "Today these memories live in the hearts and minds of many of my friends and thousands of my constituents," Rogan said on the House floor in 1999. "It is our duty not to let these memories fade." Reliving the genocide Armenian Genocide legislation is a Capitol Hill perennial, going back at least to 1975. Broadly speaking, the legislation summons forth the events that began April 24, 1915, when Armenian leaders were rounded up in the dying years of the Ottoman Empire. Murders, rampage and forced deportations followed. Marshaling considerable evidence and the attestations of professional historians, as well as esteemed Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, proponents of genocide resolutions contend the resulting deaths of 1.5 million Armenians clearly meet the definition of genocide: the intentional destruction of an entire people. But the question persists: Was it genocide or simply a brutal and chaotic war? Turkish Embassy officials wrote in one summary that "Armenians, indeed, died in the eastern part of the Ottoman Empire, but so did hundreds of thousands of Turks inhabiting the area, as a consequence of the inter-communal violence unleashed by Armenians." "This issue," the State Department's foreign service chief, Marc Grossman, urged lawmakers last year, "should really be in the hands of historians and scholars." Grossman, a former U.S. ambassador to Turkey, was not simply counseling academic detachment. Strategically situated, Turkey borders Syria, Iraq and Iran and is the southernmost member of NATO, home to U.S. warplanes flying out of Turkey's Incirlik Air Force Base. "The Turks have been our friends and allies throughout the Cold War," said Rep. Dan Burton, the volatile Indiana Republican who chairs the House Government Reform Committee. "And so what are we going to do, give them a slap in the face?" San Mateo Democratic Congressman Tom Lantos, a survivor of the World War II Holocaust, similarly termed the genocide measure "singularly counterproductive to our national interest." But Congressman Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) cast the national interest in a different light, saying that "if we reject this because it's bad for (Turkish military) basing rights, then what credibility do we have in the world?" The diverging opinions come draped in intensely bitter feelings. Newspaper articles raising doubts about the genocide resolution invariably draw heated letters and e-mails from Armenian-Americans. Turkish officials are equally impassioned. In the back of a crowded House International Relations Committee hearing room last year, a Turkish Embassy official quickly drew for a reporter a detailed map of the Russian and Armenian battle lines in 1918: Here, the official said angrily, stabbing at the map, just look at the circumstances back then, the obvious threat to the Ottoman Empire. A GOP fumble? Bolstered by Hastert's promise to the embattled Rogan, last year's resolution seemed destined for House passage. Until October, when Israelis and Palestinians began killing each other again in earnest. Blood was in the streets, the Middle East peace process was unraveling, and Turkey was attempting to be a peacemaker, utilizing its ties with Israel. Turkey was also considering whether to renew U.S. rights to Incirlik, and whether to buy U.S. military helicopters made in Texas. The timing was entirely inauspicious for the House to consider a resolution that the painfully sensitive Turkish government considered a kick in the teeth. Nonetheless, proponents of the Armenian genocide legislation appeared indifferent to the Middle East circumstances. Turkey, they said, will always find one excuse or another to avoid judgment. But literally minutes before House debate was to begin the night of Oct. 19 - and without bothering to warn Radanovich and others - Hastert responded to a written request from President Clinton and pulled the bill. It was a broken promise by Hastert, who had assured Rogan's constituents the bill would get a House vote. Republicans, though, directed the blame elsewhere. "Clinton/Gore Administration Kills Armenian Genocide Resolution," Radanovich's subsequent press release declared. Radanovich insisted the House speaker "had no choice but to accede to the president's request" based on national security concerns raised by the White House. At the same time, he urged constituents to call the White House to protest, helpfully including the White House's phone number. It's a given that the genocide resolution by Radanovich and others will return this year sometime before April 24, the date that Armenian-Americans consider the anniversary of the tragedy. Meanwhile, Armenian-Americans are adept at deploying traditional political weapons. There are registered lobbyists, including the Armenian Assembly of America, which spent $200,000 in 1998 on its Washington, D.C., lobbying, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. There's an Armenian-American Political Action Committee, which donated $44,750 to federal candidates in the last congressional session. That isn't a large amount among PACS; however, tied with strategically targeted contributions by individual donors, Armenian-Americans make an impact. The Washington Post earlier this year, for instance, reported that Armenian-American donors nationwide had pitched in nearly $200,000 over the past five years to U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican who chairs the Senate panel overseeing foreign aid. Still at war Sometimes, the congressional efforts direct aid Armenia's way. Sometimes, those efforts go after Armenia's perceived enemies. In 1996, for instance, the House approved a Radanovich amendment to its annual foreign aid bill reducing U.S. aid to Turkey by $3 million - the estimated amount Turkey spent on lobbying. The money would be withheld, lawmakers said, until the Turkish government acknowledged the Armenian tragedy. Subtle it wasn't, but it clearly sent a signal. "Recognition of the genocide by the Republic of Turkey is the key step," Der Mugrdechian said. "Turkish government policy is to deny the genocide, to finance 'scholarship' to blame the victims, and in general not to accept responsibility for the Armenian Genocide." The amendment, supported by 41 of California's 52 House members, was subsequently deleted during the House and Senate negotiations. Its ultimate defeat, like the defeat of various genocide resolutions, showed how powerful Turkish interests can be in their own right. While they lack the grass-roots power of Armenian-Americans, they make up for it in other ways. To combat last year's genocide resolution, Turkey hired the former chairmen of the House Appropriations Committee and the House Rules Committee, the impeccably connected Robert Livingston and Gerald Solomon, for $700,000 each. Democrat Stephen Solarz, a former member of what is now the House International Relations Committee, received $400,000 for representing Turkey on a variety of issues. This month, the old fight resumes. The Bush precedent While courting Armenian-American voters a year ago, President George W. Bush declared that "the Armenians were subjected to a genocidal campaign" and promised that as president he "would ensure that our nation properly recognizes the tragic suffering of the Armenian people." The Armenian National Congress has issued some 100,000 postcards, so members in California and elsewhere can remind Bush that only by "clearly and unambiguously characterizing the Armenian Genocide as a genocide" can the president fulfill his promise. Will he? For one possible answer, consider how Bush's own father handled Armenian issues. During his 1988 presidential campaign, the senior George Bush assured the Armenian Assembly of America that "the United States must acknowledge the attempted genocide of the Armenian people." He promised that "the Bush administration will never allow political pressures to prevent our denunciation of crimes against humanity." Once elected, however, the promises given to a domestic political audience were dropped in favor of international realpolitik. The senior Bush back-tracked, big time. Suddenly opposing the genocide resolution, he told the U.S. Senate he was "mindful...of the differing views of how the terrible events of 1915-23 should be characterized" and was "sensitive to the close relationship the United States has with our friend and ally, Turkey." Bush's defense secretary at the time: Dick Cheney. The New Republic reported last year that Cheney, while serving as chief executive officer of the energy service company, Halliburton Co., had urged repealing the aid embargo against Azerbaijan, which had been imposed by Armenia's friends in Congress. Now, Vice President Cheney is advising the younger man, President George W. Bush. "If we push it a little bit harder, maybe we will succeed this time," Radanovich said of his rewritten genocide resolution. "The only thing we have to fear is a call from the president that we remove it from the agenda for strategic reasons." Michael Doyle is a reporter in the Washington, D.C., bureau of McClatchy Newspapers. Comments may be sent to edit@statenet.com. by Michael Doyle

'THE CROSS AND THE CRESCENT' BY LINDY V. AVAKAIN good book.

THE FORGOTTEN CHRISTIANS OF THE EAST BY THEODORE G. KARAKOSTAS SEPTEMBER 16,2001 The Attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington are a reminder of the existence of evil in the world. It is very clear that Islamic extremism has made its way to America and Europe. In 1995, there were a series of bombings in France related to the civil war in Algeria between the military government and Fundamentlaists. YET, FOR THE PAST 1,400 YEARS EASTERN CHRISTIAN HAVE LIVED WITH, ENDURED, AND COPED UNDER SHARIA (ISLAMIC LAW). The first Islamic conquests took place during the last decade of the rule of Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (610-641). Syria, Egypt, and Palestine were lost to Christianity. Christian leaders such as Patriarch Sophronius of Jerusalem made deals with Caliph Omar for the protection of his flock and Christendom's Holy places. Despite Islam's claim of tolerance, Greek Orthodox, Armenian, Coptic, and other Eastern Christians found themselves under terrible conditions. While not immediately forced to convert, Christians were forced to submit and to accept their new rulers as their masters. Economic pressures and discrimination contributed to the eventual conversion of milliions of Christians to Islam. The Losses of Eastern Christianity continued following the invasions of Byzantium that were begun by the Seljuk Turks in August 1071. Steadily, Greek Christians were converted to Islam and adopted Turkish and Arabic as their languages. In 1453, Sultan Mehmed II achieved one of Islame's most notorious conquests when he conquered Constantinople and defeated the Christian Empire's last emperor Constantine Paleologos. Europe evenutally made peace with the Sultan at the expense of Christian Greeks, Serbs, Rumanians, Bulgarians, Albanians,and Armenains. Christian boys were kidnapped and taken to the Janissaries for conversion to Islam and political indoctination. Women were taken into harems, churches were converted into mosques and Christians were forced to acknowledge the superiority of their rulers. "Zakat," a special tax, was imposed on Chrisitian s. Disputes between Christians and Muslims were heard in Islamic Courts. At the dawn of the Twentieth Century, there will still millions of Christians in the Turkish Ottoman Empire. In 1915, the Young Turks began a process ofslaughering one and a half million Armenian Christians. Furthermore, the Greeks of Pontus and Asia Minor were likewise targeted for extermination. In 1919, the greek Army liberated the ancient city of Smryna. Smryna is one of the seven churches that St. John wrote to in the Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible. The Greek and Armenian Christians who sought their right to self determination were denied not only by Turkish Muslims such as Mustapha Kemal and Noureddin *****, but by the western powers looking to protect their economic and geostratic interests at the expense of the Eastern Churches. In September 1922, the Metropolitan of Smryna, Chrysotomos, was butchered and thrown into the sea. French soldiers who witnessed this horror did not intervene. In fact, the French, the Italians, the British, and the Americans armed the Turks while denying the Greek army the means to effectively fight Kemal's forces. In 1923, Asia Minor was ethnically cleansed when over one million Greeks were expelled upon the orders of Mustapha Kemal. The region where the Seven Ecumenical Councils took places was cleansed of Christianity. On September 6, l955, the Turkish government (now secular but as fanatical and anti-Christian as its predecessors) sponsored a vicious pogrom against the Greeks of Constantinople. Most Greeks fled the former Christian Capital and there are only 2,500 left today. Ober the past eight years, there have been four bombings of the Ecumenical Patriarchate by fundamentalist extremists. There is no coverage of this in western media just as as the slaugther of Turkey's Christian populations is virtually unknown by most westerners. Since l984, over two million Christians in the Sudan have been killed in genocidal assaults by the country's Fundamentalist regime. There have been wide reports that Black Christians are literally slaves who are puchased like property, owned, and then sold. Yet, the United States, Europe, NATO and CNN have been rather quiet. In Egypt, the ancient Coptic Chruch hasbenn suffering for centuries. Christians are discriminated against, beaten , terrorized,and murdered while their churches are desecrated and destroyed. When Fundamentalists embarked on a terror campaign against western tourists a few years ago, these attacks were widely reported. The Copts were not mentioned. Armenian Christian have been fighting for their survival in Nagorno Artsax against Azerbaijan since l988. The Armenians were almost annihilated as a result of the Turkish Genocide, yet western companies are looking to placate Turkey by lobbying to prevent recognition by the United States of the Armenian genocide and are interested in Oil in areas like Azerbaijan which leads them to oppose the humanitarian interests of Armenia. The last decade has benn a painful one for Eastern Orthodox Christians. The 1990's began happilyenough with the collapse of Communism and the liberation of Orthodox Churches in Russia, Ukraine, Byelosrussia, Georgia, Bulgaria,Romania, and Serbia.However, when Serbs reacted to the revial of fascism in Croatia and of islamic Fundimentalism in Bosnia, and proceeded to defend themselves, they were condemned by the entire world. It was during the Bosnian war that the Clinton administration chose to allow mass murderers like Osama Bin Laden, Afganistan, Saudia Arabia, and Turkey to invade the Balkans to fight the Serbs, who were seeking to fulfill their right to self determination. The madness of the West's policy in the Balkans reached its apogee when it decalred war on Christian Serbia in 1999 abnd NATO proceeeded to bomb not only military targets but civilian targets such as monasteries, hospitals, and trains. Furthermore, the use of depleted uranium by NATO has been the cause of cancer and leukemia among soldiers and civilians. In December 1998, the Clinton administration announced it would not bomb Iraq during the month of Ramadam ,when Muslims fast. This was despite claims by the administration that Baghdad was developing weapons of mass destruction. Yet on Orthodox Easter1999, NATO bombs continued to fall on Serbia without interruption. It must be noted that Oslama Bin Laden, the architect of mass murder and human suffering. had established a base in Albania, Bosnia (whose government is said to have given him a passport) and NATO- occupied Kosovo. In fact, the detaching of Kosovo from Serbia by NATO is the West's most recent sacrifice of Eastern Christianity. It should be noted that there is tolerance for Christianity in the islamic world. Iran has a large Armenian community and allows its Christians to be elected to Parliament and to be sworn in on a Bible. Syria has long been known for its tolerance of Christianity. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch is located In Damascus and has a flock of at least half a million or so. Iraq, likewise, tolerates its Christian communities. In Palestine, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate recently received the support of the Palestinian leadership again the intervention of the Israelis in its recent election. Over the last several years, there have been various anti-Orthodox commentaries in the western media. The Serbs in particular have been demonized. Some writers have accused Greece of being "Muslim hating." This is particulary bizarre in light of the history that Orthodox Christians have experienced. The attack of the World Trade Center was an act of barbarism. Religion should not be confused with political extremism. Yet, barbarian acts like this by religious fanatics are routine for Eastern Christians struggling to survive in some Muslim countries. It is my fervent wish and hope that America will recognize the fanatical zealots and what they are capable of, and that American and Europe will finally not only ackowldege Eastern Christianity and its bloody experiences, but it will stop sacrificing Eastern Churches and their flocks to the likes of Turkey, which has a strong fundamentalist movement and an Islamic partner in the governments of Egypt, Bosnia, and others. SOURCE: HELLENICFORUM

Before enrolling at Stanford's Law School, I applied for a stipend sponsoring two years of study at Oxford University. For the competition, I was advised to write about something I keep close to my heart. And so, I penned a mandatory 1000-word essay on a topic that wrenches my heart. I wrote of the Armenian genocide of 1915, conducted in the heart of the Ottoman Empire. Today, April 24, is commemorated by millions around the world as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. During my scholarship interview, the committee chairman, somewhat exasperated, asked me, "I read your essay about your family's persecution during the genocide. It's a nice narrative. But, I have to tell you, I couldn't help but think, 'Wouldn't it be great if aliens could just come down to this planet and make us forget all of the past?'" On Jan. 18 of this year, France passed a simple referendum, publicly recognizing the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Turkey now embargoes numerous French imports. On Feb. 23 of this year, Dr. Taner Akcam, a Turkish citizen and history professor, shocked a national Turkish audience by saying, "The constant refrain of 'We (Turks) are not guilty,' and the parallel blaming of the Armenians, the victims, very much hurts the cause of Turkey. Unless we distance ourselves from the perpetrators of this crime, which was a genocide, we will never be able to extricate ourselves from this burdensome onus." Enraged callers inundated the television studio's phone lines. One caller was the widow of a former president of Turkey. She shouted, "How dare you let this man speak? Shut him up!" Shut him up. Don't dare to pass that resolution, France. Aliens should make you forget the past, Chris. I could spend the remainder of this piece telling you stories about 1,500,000 out of 2,500,000 Ottoman Armenians who died. But this verbiage shall bear little fruit, I am afraid. Because, tomorrow, like any self-respecting, balanced newspaper, this paper will likely print a response by some of my Turkish friends. They will tell you that I am sorely mistaken or, even worse, that I am intentionally rewriting history. That the Armenian "genocide" was simply the result of quelled civil unrest initiated by renegade Armenians against the Ottoman government. That I have my numbers wrong. That Chris, simply put, needs to "shut up" about Soykirim, which is Turkish for "genocide." And perhaps my Turkish friends will take some satisfaction from this opinion because I'm going to shut up. I'm not going to talk in hackneyed generalities. I won't tell you that Hitler justified the Holocaust by saying, "After all, who today remembers the slaughter of the Armenians?" I won't go into the details of the death marches, the concentration camps, the rapes, the murders, the pillage, the destruction. Instead, I'm only going to mention one clan -- the Gibilians -- my grandmother's family. My great-grandmother was raped in her vegetable fields by Ottoman Turks on my family's farm on a bright May day. My two wailing infant great-uncles, wrested from my great-grandmother's breast, were silenced by bayonets before her anguished eyes. My great-grandfather languished for years in a prison camp. And yet the United States does not recognize their plight, or the Armenian genocide. Why do my Turkish friends fear acknowledging that the Ottoman Empire perpetrated genocide against my family? I cannot speak for Turkey, but I can speak as a disciple of the polestar of individual liberty. And if you reside in America, I have little doubt that that is what you are, too (and that is true whether you are of Armenian, Turkish or of another heritage). President Bill Clinton found it necessary to dissuade Congress last year from passing genocide recognition legislation because Turkey threatened to force U.S. armed forces to withdraw from Turkish military bases. We have had to allow France to lead the charge of justice for the Gibilians. Eighty-six years ago, my family was nearly exterminated. The Turkish government dishonors them by describing thousands of scholars, including many Turks, and now even the nation of France, as deluded historical reconstructionists. And just last week, more than 100 "deluded" U.S. representatives signed a petition imploring President George Bush to formally recognize the Armenian genocide. And so, I ask you to write President Bush and your representative on this Genocide Day and request formal recognition of the Armenian genocide. Tell them that the United States will not permit yet another year to pass in which a slaughtered people are allowed to be characterized as insurgents who "got their own." Tell them that my family, your family and all families have always had an inalienable right to be secure from those who would resort to tyranny over democracy. Tell them that we, the indomitable wards of individual liberty, will participate with Turkey no more in this cabal behind an unjust veil of intentional ignorance. By Chris Guzelian

azeris are loosin it. anyone here suprised? i'm not