President Obama

[Aratta-Kingdom]

Armenian National Committee of America

1711 N Street, NW

Washington, DC 20036

Tel. (202) 775-1918

Fax. (202) 775-5648

Email.anca@anca.org

Internet www.anca.org

 

PRESS RELEASE

January 17, 2009

Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian

Tel: (202) 775-1918

 

 

ARMENIAN AMERICANS CONGRATULATE OBAMA ON INAUGURATION

 

-- Community Leadership Voices Support for President's

Pledges to Recognize Armenian Genocide, Strengthen

U.S.-Armenia Relations, and Seek a Fair and Durable

Regional Peace in the South Caucasus

 

WASHINGTON, DC - Armenian American advocacy, civic, religious,

charitable, and educational organizations joined together today in

congratulating President-Elect Barack Obama on his inauguration and

outlining the community's expectations of the incoming Obama-Biden

Administration.

 

The text of the January 17th letter, delivered today to the

Presidential Transition Office, and a listing of the signatories is

provided below.

 

#####

 

January 17, 2009

 

The Honorable Barack Obama

The President-elect

Office of the President-elect

Washington, D.C.

 

Dear Mr. President-Elect:

 

We are writing, as the collective leadership of Armenian American

advocacy, civic, religious, charitable, and educational

organizations, to congratulate you on your historic election as

President of the United States and to warmly welcome your

inauguration to this high office. On behalf of some two million

Americans of Armenian heritage, we look forward to working with you

and your Administration to end the cycle of genocide, strengthen

U.S.-Armenia relations, contribute to Armenia's economic growth,

and work toward a fair and sustainable regional peace.

 

We have, as a community, long admired your principled commitment to

ending genocide, including, of course, the need for urgent efforts

to stop the ongoing slaughter in Darfur. As a vital part of the

growing genocide-prevention movement, our community looks forward

to working with you from the first day of your Administration to

end the Darfur Genocide and to help bring peace to this troubled

land.

 

As a community, we have been proud that you have stood with us as

we have worked toward Congressional commemoration, Presidential

recognition, and Turkish acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide.

As you have stated so eloquently and repeatedly, the facts of this

crime are undeniable. The Armenian Genocide is not an allegation,

as the Turkish government shamefully contends, but rather a widely

documented mass crime supported by an overwhelming body of

evidence. Confronting this denial represents an obligation for

America and the entire international community. Our nation's

commitment to the principles of the Genocide Convention, which just

last year marked its 60th anniversary, is rooted in America's

values and cannot be sincerely upheld in our relations with the

rest of the world without an outright recognition of the Armenian

Genocide.

 

Our government must clearly and unequivocally condemn the 1915

crime of race extermination by Ottoman Turkey that, during the

course of eight years, killed one and a half million Armenians,

emptied vast areas of the Armenian homeland, and inflicted grave

material harm to every aspect of the Armenian people's cultural

heritage, depriving it, to this day, of its right to exist on its

native soil. Sadly, the inevitable consequence of Turkey's refusal

to acknowledge this crime has been its inability to adapt to the

changing realities in the region. Rather than being a factor for

peace, Turkey has actively contributed to increased tension in the

South Caucasus. Instead of demonstrating a willingness to honestly

confront the past in the spirit of truth and justice, its leaders

have sought to pressure other governments to underwrite Turkey's

historic guilt. The United States should neither be a hostage to

Turkey's fears, nor a victim of its moral failings. For its part,

Armenia, which supports international recognition of the Armenian

Genocide as a core element of its foreign policy, has called for

the normalization of relations with Turkey without any

preconditions.

 

As you have stated on several occasions, America deserves a leader

who speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide and responds

forcefully to all genocides. The clarity of your promise is

particularly welcome in light of the unfortunate practice of past

U.S. Presidents to use, under Turkey's pressure, evasive and

euphemistic terminology rather than directly acknowledging the

Armenian Genocide. The term, Armenian Genocide, is the only one

that can meaningfully be used to characterize the crime committed

by Ottoman Turkey. We look forward, in the coming weeks, to your

firm and principled leadership in clearly and unambiguously ending

the sad chapter of the U.S. Executive Branch's capitulation to

pressure from Turkey.

 

We are particularly encouraged, in this regard, that you will be

joined in your Administration by supporters of Armenian Genocide

recognition, among them Vice President-elect Joe Biden, a 35-year

champion of this human rights issue, and Secretary of State-

designate Hillary Clinton, who, in January of last year, so

eloquently stated that, "our common morality and our nation's

credibility as a voice for human rights challenge us to ensure that

the Armenian Genocide be recognized and remembered by Congress and

the President of the United States." Others in your

Administration, including incoming Interior Secretary Ken Salazar,

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood,

and CIA Director Leon Panetta have also supported Congressional

recognition of the Armenian Genocide. We are also pleased to see

that the Congress will be led by two of the most longstanding

advocates of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, Speaker of the House

Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, both of whom

have repeatedly called for full U.S. recognition of this crime

against humanity. We look forward to your leadership with these

officials and others in Congress, among them Senate Foreign

Relations Committee Chairman, John Kerry, and House Foreign Affairs

Committee Chairman, Howard Berman, to help bring about

Congressional recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

 

We look forward to continuing, over the next four years, the active

engagement that we established with you and your leadership team

during your service in the U.S. Senate, and more recently during

your campaign for the Presidency. Among the issues that will, of

course, remain as high priorities on our common agenda will be

those that contribute to the growth of U.S.-Armenia relations,

Armenia's economic development, and Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh's

security. We welcome your commitment to expanding bilateral

commercial, political, military, and cultural relations, and are

eager to work with you to increase U.S.-Armenia trade and

investment levels and to expand our development assistance

programs, through the FREEDOM Support Act, the Millennium Challenge

Account, and other avenues. We place, as well, a very high

priority on U.S. leadership in lifting the Turkish and Azerbaijani

economic blockades of Armenia and in ending the exclusion of

Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh from regional commercial and

infrastructure projects.

 

In terms of ensuring a durable regional peace, we echo your call

for a Nagorno Karabagh settlement that respects democracy and self-

determination and encourage you to ensure that these principles

serve as the pillars of any agreement. As you know, a vital key to

peace, in Nagorno Karabagh and around the world, is direct

dialogue. For this reason, we encourage elimination of all

artificial barriers to U.S.-Nagorno Karabagh contacts,

communication, and other means of increasing our level of mutual

understanding. With Azerbaijan's President once again threatening

war, as recently as in his New Year's message, it is more important

than ever for the United States to strengthen the current

ceasefire, to work through the OSCE process to secure the

commitment of all parties to the disavowal of force, and, as a

matter of high priority for our government, to take concrete steps

to prevent a renewed war in the South Caucasus. Our ability to

advance these and our nation's many other interests in this

strategically pivotal region would be substantially enhanced by a

concerted effort on the part of our government to expand U.S.-

Armenia relations.

 

Working with you and your White House, Department of State, and

Pentagon staffs on all of these issues, we will, as you stated in

your remarks this past January 19th, "build, in new and exciting

ways, upon the enduring ties and shared values that have bound

together the American and Armenian peoples for more than a

century."

 

Thank you for your consideration of the priorities we have raised

in this letter and for your years of friendship with the Armenian

American community. The enthusiastic and broad-based support the

Obama-Biden ticket received from Armenian Americans during the

campaign, including endorsements from all our leading civic groups

and newspapers, reflects our community's confidence in your

leadership and ardent support for the real change that you have

pledged in how our government acts on all these issues.

 

We join together in warmly welcoming your victory and look forward

to working with your Administration. In this spirit, we stand

ready to meet with you to discuss these issues in greater detail

and also to address the challenges facing our nation both at home

and abroad.

 

Sincerely,

 

Apostolic Exarchate for Armenian Catholics

Armenian Bar Association

Armenian Evangelical Union of North America

Armenian General Benevolent Union

Armenian International Women's Association

Armenian Missionary Association of America

Armenian National Committee of America

Armenian Relief Society

Armenian Rights Council of America

Armenian Youth Federation

Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern U.S.)

Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Western U.S.)

Hamazkayin Armenian Cultural & Education Association

Homenetmen Armenian General Athletic Union

Knights of Vartan

Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church (Eastern U.S.)

Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church (Western U.S.)

Tekeyan Cultural Association, Inc.

United Armenian Fund

U.S.-Armenia Public Affairs Committee

[Aratta-Kingdom]

 

 

Barack Obama takes oath as nation's 44th president

 

 

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/01/w..._obama_was.html

 

 

by J. Scott Orr/For the Star-Ledger Tuesday January 20, 2009, 11:59 AM

WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama was sworn in today as the nation's first African American president, bringing an air of optimism and promises of change to bear on the parallel challenges of a damaged economy and two unfinished wars.

 

Obama recited the 35-word oath of office, administered for the first time by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. His right hand held high, Obama became the 44th man to make the constitutionally mandated promise to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution."

 

Michelle Obama, held the Bible -- the same one used by Abraham Lincoln during his 1861 inauguration -- as her husband took the oath shortly before noon.

 

Moments earlier, Justice John Paul Stevens had sworn in Vice President Joseph Biden of Delaware.

 

A crowd judged to have exceeded one million people braved harsh temperatures as they lined up before dawn to witness the historic swearing in of Obama. They waved flags and pictures of Obama, chanting and singing as the big moment approached and Obama stood before them prepared to take the reins of power.

 

The crowd shouted "O-bam-a" and issued low boos and catcalls when President Bush was shown onscreen and announced.

 

Tens of thousands of police and military personnel were on hand to keep order, though they were at times unable to contain the masses. There were places where frustration tamped down the patience, but no major incidents occurred.

 

Marilyn Coleman, 34 of Somerset, said the inconvenience and cold experienced by inaugural pilgrims yesterday hardly compares to the hardships endured by African Americans in the early years of the civil rights movement.

 

"My parents grew up in Mississippi in the sixties," an emotional Coleman said. "People were getting hosed, and dogs. I'll take the cold from the weather (over) being hosed or beaten trying to be treated like a human," she said.

 

Obama, 47, ascended to White House after a startlingly swift political rise that brought him from the Illinois state house to the White House in a mere four years.

 

A Democrat, Obama was representing a Chicago district as a state senator when he was elected to the Senate in 2004.

 

What he lacks in experience, the American voters said last November, he makes up for with an air of freshness and optimism and communications skills reminiscent of Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy.

 

Though the inauguration was all about the future and national renewal, the ceremony also followed tradition, including prayers, poems and the playing of "Ruffles and Flourishes," 'Hail to the Chief."

 

Gathered on the Capitol's grand West Front, facing the length of the National Mall, the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, spectators included America's political leaders, members of Congress, the Supreme Court, outgoing President Bush and others from official Washington.

 

Also on hand to witness the historic swearing-in and inaugural address were hundreds of thousands of Americans, who spread out across a swath of federal Washington that stretched nearly two miles from the Capitol to the distant hill of the Washington Monument grounds and beyond.

 

Joanne Cermere, and her son Nick, of Pennington, came down Monday and stayed at motel in Manassas, Va.

 

"I was worried about not getting in," she said. "It's a long way we've come and I just wanted my son to see it."

 

Aretha Hart, 35, with her 12-year-old daughter Tyesha, and 9-year-old son Tayon, came down on a bus with a church group from Red Bank.

 

"We want to see history made," said Hart. "We want to see the world change."

 

The weather, a constant concern on inauguration days in Washington, was as expected, beginning the day in the 20s and warming just slightly by the noontime ceremony. The crowds were spared precipitation, a good thing since umbrellas were banned. For the most part, the crowds appeared to have followed the advice of inauguration planners and bundled up.

 

For three young girls from Atlantic City, even taking the advice was not enough. The three, wearing cheerleading jackets atop layer upon layor of additional coats, made it to the mall by 4 a.m., but long before Obama was sworn in, decided they could not take it anymore and turned around to head back home.

 

"It's not even close to getting this cold in Atlantic City," siad Tara Tolden, 16, who was shivering as the sun came up over the mall. "My fingers --I can't even text."

 

While prime viewing spots in the non-ticketed expanse of the National Mall began disappearing overnight, those with the best reserved spots were not permitted onto the Capitol grounds until 8 a.m. Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.), who heads the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, welcomed the crowd to the Capitol.

 

There were musical selections by the United States Marine Band, the San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus, soul diva Aretha Franklin, violinist Itzhak Perlman and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

 

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine said Obama's inauguration confirms the nation's commitment to its aspirations.

 

"As President Obama takes the reins of leadership, he stands as an inspiration to children yet unborn and dreams not yet conceived. At this moment in history, I think of children in Newark, Camden, Princeton and Cherry Hill. All across New Jersey and our nation, children will look to our new President and know that their opportunities are unlimited," he said.

 

After the swearing in and his inaugural address, Obama will see off outgoing President Bush and he and wife Laura depart the Capital by helicopter. He will dine with lawmakers in the Capital then lead some 10,000 marching, including some from all 50 states, in the inaugural parade to the White House just over a mile away.

 

In the days leading up to today's inauguration, Obama has signaled that he is prepared to dive into the nation's most pressing problems, particularly its moribund economy. He has met with congressional leaders and administration officials to try and craft an economic stimulus package that could cost as much as $1 trillion.

 

Wednesday, on the first full day of his presidency, Obama will meet with his economic advisors and be briefed on national security and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by the Joints Chiefs of Staff. That latter discussion will undoubtedly focus on Obama's campaign promise to begin drawing down troops in Iraq.

 

Following tradition, Obama, Biden and their wives began the day with worship at St. John's Episcopal Church near the White House, then called on a waiting Bush. They traveled to Capitol Hill together in the presidential limousine.

 

Bush leaves the White House after eight years of unprecedented struggles that included the 9/11 terrorist attacks, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans, an economy that has plunged into deep recession and a budget deficit closing in on $1 trillion.

 

As he surrenders the presidency, Bush said he hopes his legacy will hinge not on the crises that struck the nation, but on his administration's response to them. In a farewell address to the nation, he highlighted progress in Afghanistan and Iraq and noted that improved homeland security protocols put into place in the wake of the 9/11 attacks have succeeded in preventing another terrorist strike.

 

 

[Arpa]

So now!

That Mr. O’Bamia is our President, will that Irish dish O’Bamia become the national food of America?

I make fun, only in celebration.

Okra/Bamia

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainm...s/blog/okra.jpg

Gumbo.

http://i.timeinc.net/recipes/i/recipes/cl/...cl-346735-l.jpg

Armenian Bamia

http://www.cookingwiththebible.com/xml-ima.../fig004_006.jpg

Tomorrow the main breakfast dish will be Khash;

http://www.khash.org/pictures/Mushegh/PB296001.JPG

Seriously.

I have witnessed many an inauguration, yet I have never been so emotionally sentimental.

Yes, I did shed many a tear, but none of those tears was to see that turkophilically bigotted idiot sona a B...sh get the hell out of Washington

Edited January 20, 2009 by Arpa

[Azat]

AMEN

 

It was the most amazing thing to see that SOB get on a helicopter and get the F out of Washington. And seeing Chainey on a wheelchair leaving Washington made one of my friends say "a feeble Dick is an appropriate metaphor for the crippled outgoing administration"

[Boghos]

Barack Obama on the Importance of US-Armenia Relations

| January 19, 2008

I am proud of my strong record on issues of concern to the one and a half million Americans of Armenian heritage in the United States. I warmly welcome the support of this vibrant and politically active community as we change how our government works here at home, and restore American leadership abroad.

 

I am a strong supporter of a U.S.-Armenian relationship that advances our common security and strengthens Armenian democracy. As President, I will maintain our assistance to Armenia, which has been a reliable partner in the fight against terrorism and extremism. I will promote Armenian security by seeking an end to the Turkish and Azerbaijani blockades, and by working for a lasting and durable settlement of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict that is agreeable to all parties, and based upon America's founding commitment to the principles of democracy and self determination. And my Administration will help foster Armenia's growth and development through expanded trade and targeted aid, and by strengthening the commercial, political, military, developmental, and cultural relationships between the U.S. and Armenian governments.

 

I also share with Armenian Americans – so many of whom are descended from genocide survivors - a principled commitment to commemorating and ending genocide. That starts with acknowledging the tragic instances of genocide in world history. As a U.S. Senator, I have stood with the Armenian American community in calling for Turkey's acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide. Two years ago, I criticized the Secretary of State for the firing of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, after he properly used the term "genocide" to describe Turkey's slaughter of thousands of Armenians starting in 1915. I shared with Secretary Rice my firmly held conviction that the Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence. The facts are undeniable. An official policy that calls on diplomats to distort the historical facts is an untenable policy. As a senator, I strongly support passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106 and S.Res.106), and as President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide.

 

Genocide, sadly, persists to this day, and threatens our common security and common humanity. Tragically, we are witnessing in Sudan many of the same brutal tactics - displacement, starvation, and mass slaughter - that were used by the Ottoman authorities against defenseless Armenians back in 1915. I have visited Darfurian refugee camps, pushed for the deployment of a robust multinational force for Darfur, and urged divestment from companies doing business in Sudan. America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides. I intend to be that President.

 

I look forward, as President, to continuing my active engagement with Armenian American leaders on the full range of issues of concern to the Armenian American community. Together, we will build, in new and exciting ways, upon the enduring ties and shared values that have bound together the American and Armenian peoples for more than a century.

[Zartonk]

It's finally over. 8 years...

[Anoushik]

It's finally over. 8 years...

I know. I have the same sentiments. It seems that the past 8 years happened in the blink of an eye, yet so much happened due to the poor decisions of the former administration. I have faith in President Obama. i don't expect huge changes but believe that our future looks much brighter now. I'm so curious to see what happens in the next four years.

[Arpa]

Barack Obama on the Importance of US-Armenia Relations

| January 19, 2008

I am proud of my strong record on issues of concern to the one and a half million Americans of Armenian heritage in the United States. I warmly welcome the support of this vibrant and politically active community as we change how our government works here at home, and restore American leadership abroad.

 

I am a strong supporter of a U.S.-Armenian relationship that advances our common security and strengthens Armenian democracy. As President, I will maintain our assistance to Armenia, which has been a reliable partner in the fight against terrorism and extremism. I will promote Armenian security by seeking an end to the Turkish and

......

When it comes to politics I am a blithering nincompoop.

Will our politically savvy pundits please tell us what the below sentence (highlighted/bold) means?

During the past months this sentence, or any variety thereof has been repeated daily, hundred times a day, by any and all, all the way from the top to the last so called diplomat.

Have Armenians explained what that cliché means?

Are they saying that the US recognition will in fact "break that pen", to once again have us sign on the dotted line text unseen and un-understood?

How will it “harm”? How will it make things worse than they already are?

 

PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey's Foreign Minister has warned Barack Obama's incoming administration that any U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide could derail reconciliation efforts between the two neighbors, Hurriyet Daily News reports.

 

"It would not be very rational for a third country to take a position on this issue... A wrong step by the United States will harm the process," Ali Babacan said late Friday

 

"Turkey has never been closer to normalizing ties with Armenia, its eastern neighbor, and a breakthrough could be secured in 2009."

 

 

 

[Yervant1]

When it comes to politics I am a blithering nincompoop.

Will our politically savvy pundits please tell us what the below sentence (highlighted/bold) means?

During the past months this sentence, or any variety thereof has been repeated daily, hundred times a day, by any and all, all the way from the top to the last so called diplomat.

Have Armenians explained what that cliché means?

Are they saying that the US recognition will in fact "break that pen", to once again have us sign on the dotted line text unseen and un-understood?

How will it “harm”? How will it make things worse than they already are?

Every time Babacan or his ilk says that, they mean it will hurt Turkey's interests and has nothing to do with the so called relationship.

[Arpa]

About time America became a country for ALL AMERICANS, not only for those “born with a silver spoon in their mouths” WASP (White Anglo Saxon Protestant).

Observe the cartoons below;

http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/C/Cannibal.asp

I remember the time, when talking to student from Kenya, I said something like “the British colonists were so benevolent”. He retorted with - “but how do you explain the fact that , we as little boys had to clasp our hands and bow when talking to an Englishman, when we were forbidden to place our pens in our breast pockets, instead to insert them in our ‘kinky’ hair”?

Once again, observe the cartoons above and see inserting the “pen” in the ‘kinky hair”.

Do Armenians have “kinky hair” as opposed to the straight furkish one?

http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/serge_sargsyan.jpg

Edited January 22, 2009 by Arpa

[Nané]

Barack Obama on the Importance of US-Armenia Relations

| January 19, 2008

I am proud of my strong record on issues of concern to the one and a half million Americans of Armenian heritage in the United States. I warmly welcome the support of this vibrant and politically active community as we change how our government works here at home, and restore American leadership abroad.

 

Boghos, can you please cite the source? Thank you

[Boghos]

Boghos, can you please cite the source? Thank you

 

This is from Obama's site: http://www.barackobama.com/2008/01/19/bara..._importance.php

Let's see if he honours it...I suspect, he will.

[Aratta-Kingdom]

 

Six Questions for Professor R.H. Dekmejian “Change we can believe in”

 

 

 

http://www.reporter.am/go/article/2009-01-...r-r-h-dekmejian

 

 

 

Armenian Reporter

by Vincent Lima

 

 

 

Barack Obama was elected president of the United States on a platform of "change we can believe in." He has promised to make significant changes in foreign policy.

 

As the new administration engages in a comprehensive policy review, the foreign-policy team is looking not only at policies but at how U.S. interests are defined. This period of transition is a rare opportunity for Armenian-Americans to weigh in and speak out in favor of definitions and approaches that benefit Armenians as well as Americans.

 

To help us think through these opportunities, we asked the distinguished political scientist Richard Hrair Dekmejian to answer six questions about the shaping of U.S. foreign policy in the Obama administration. (In our January 3 issue, we published an article on the same topic by Prof. Ronald Grigor Suny.)

 

Richard Hrair Dekmejian is a professor of political science at the University of Southern California College, and a professor of international business at the university's Marshall School. He is the director of the USC Institute of Armenian Studies. His expertise includes Middle Eastern and Islamic studies, the study of political elites, multinational business and politics, U.S. foreign policy, the political economy of oil, and comparative ethnic politics. Professor Dekmejian received his doctorate from Columbia University and went to USC in 1986 as chair of the Department of Political Science.

 

His books include Islam in Revolution (1995), Troubled Waters: The Geopolitics of the Caspian Region (2001, 2003), and Spectrum of Terror (2007).

 

Engaging Iran

Vincent Lima: The isolation of Iran, Armenia's southern neighbor, has long been a U.S. foreign-policy priority. But President-elect Barack Obama is promising a new approach toward Iran. He sees engagement and respect as starting points. As someone who has made a study of leadership practices in the Middle East, what would you say the administration needs to do for its new approach to succeed?

 

Richard Hrair Dekmejian: Mr. Obama's promise to engage Iran in negotiations represents a major change in U.S. foreign policy. If successful, the Obama initiative will greatly benefit the whole Middle East region, as well as the United States, Israel, the Arab countries, and, indeed, Armenia. As Iran is the only neighboring country with which Armenia has close ties, what happens to Iran is extremely important for Armenia.

 

In order to succeed, the United States would need to open direct negotiations with Iran at a very high level, addressing the whole spectrum of key issues - economic, strategic, nuclear, and regional. At some point, the policy change should involve the establishment of direct diplomatic relations between the United States and Iran and a clear U.S. statement ending our traditional pursuit of regime change in Iran.

 

Prevailing on Turkey

Lima: The United States appears to have an interest in seeing Armenia's real or perceived dependence on Russia reduced. Helping open the Armenian-Turkish border is a way to do that. Knowing what you know about Turkey's leadership - civilian and military - what would you say the U.S. can do to help prevail on Turkey to open the land border with Armenia?

 

Dekmejian: It is true that the Clinton and Bush administrations have played a disruptive and dangerous role in the periphery of the former Soviet Union, seeking to reduce Russian influence in formerly communist states. The negative consequences of these policies to project U.S. power have been manifested in Ukraine's Orange Revolution, Georgia's Rose Revolution, similar adventures in Armenia, and oil and gas controversies in Eastern Europe and the Caspian region.

 

I do not expect that opening the Turkish border will decrease Armenia's strategic and economic dependence on Russia.

 

And given the deep splits within Turkey's leadership, I do not foresee the opening of the land border in the near future. Moreover, I am not at all sure that such an opening would significantly contribute to Armenia's economy, although it might help some big businesspeople on both sides to become richer.

 

Lima: In October 2007 we heard many warnings about the dire consequences that could ensue for the United States if Congress were to acknowledge the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide. I expect we will hear some of the same warnings in the coming weeks and months. What are the possible consequences, in fact, of acknowledgment of the Genocide by the president and Congress?

 

Dekmejian: U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide is likely to come up as an issue early in the Obama administration. There are several ways in which Mr. Obama can deal with this issue, too complex to discuss here.

 

I have no doubt that any modality of U.S. recognition by the president and/or Congress by using the word "Genocide" will trigger intense Turkish reaction, such as demonstrations, vigilantism against U.S. targets, limits placed on U.S. rights to use the airbase at Incirlik, and announcements about canceling contracts with U.S. companies. As in the case of France and other countries, I expect Turkey's responses would be temporary, even cosmetic, because in the final analysis, Turkey needs the United States much more than the United States needs Turkey.

 

Peace in the Caucasus

Lima: Whatever else the United States and Russia may have disagreed about over the last few years, they appear to have agreed in their mediation of the Karabakh conflict; they seem to agree that peace should prevail between Armenia and Azerbaijan. What can and should the new administration do to prevail upon Azerbaijan to end preparations for war?

 

Dekmejian: There is no doubt that both the United States and Russia would like to resolve the Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict. A rapprochement between the United States and Russia would contribute to finding a resolution. Unlike the Bush administration, with its role in the Georgian-Russian war, the Obama administration should clearly indicate its total opposition to Azerbaijan's war plans.

 

Lima: Ronald Grigor Suny argued in the Armenian Reporter three weeks ago that the Obama administration will have to come to term with Russia's right to be a regional power. The signing this week of the U.S.-Georgia Charter is not a step in that direction. But do you see room for any innovative solutions? (For example, former foreign minister Vartan Oskanian of Armenia has been arguing in favor of "creating a nonaligned Caucasus, free of security memberships and adversarial alliances." A new security pact "that marginalizes no one, and stresses a comprehensive, strong security component is needed by everyone in and around the Caucasus," he argues.)

 

Dekmejian: I fully expect a reorientation in U.S. policy toward Russia, which will include some flexibility in U.S. recognition of Russia's interests as a regional power. In the foreseeable future, the United States will not be able to afford, economically and militarily, the projection of a totalistic global posture, as it sought to pursue during the Clinton years and, particularly, in the Bush presidency.

 

There can be a number of creative solutions for the Caucasus, although to achieve full nonalignment will be difficult unless U.S.-Iranian relations are normalized. In view of the many priority issues facing Mr. Obama, I do not expect the Caucasus to enjoy the same degree of attention it did during the Bush presidency.

 

An administration supportive of Armenian interests

Lima: In studying what the president elect has said about foreign policy, and what Senator Hillary Clinton said during her confirmation hearing yesterday, do you find signals of any significant changes of policy - beyond what we have already discussed - that will have an impact on Armenia and its neighborhood?

 

Dekmejian: I expect significant disagreements within the Obama administration regarding Armenia, Karabakh (Artsakh), Georgia, and the Armenian Genocide issue. I expect the Clinton State Department, the Pentagon, and some in the White House staff to be somewhat ambiguous about supporting Armenian interests, whereas the Senate and the House will be more supportive. Yet, in the final analysis, I anticipate that the Obama administration will be relatively more supportive of Armenian interests than any previous administration in American history, possibly except that of President Woodrow Wilson.

 

[Aratta-Kingdom]

 

Armenian Journalist Hopes Obama Administration Will Protect Foreign Workers Rights at Radio Free Europe/Radio LibertyPosted on January 22nd, 2009

 

 

 

http://www.bloggernews.net/119474

 

 

22, 2009, San Francisco — Anna Karapetian, a journalist from Armenia who in radio broadcasts funded by the U.S. government reported on human rights abuses in her country, is one of many people around the world who see Barack Obama’s inauguration as a hopeful beginning of a new era of change in Washington. Ms. Karapetian hopes that with Mr. Obama’s strong commitment to protecting workers’ rights, the new administration will end the policy of a U.S. government agency which can arbitrarily fire its foreign journalists working abroad and denies them many of the basic labor law protections available to Americans citizens and residents of other democratic countries.

 

The policy in question was instituted by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the Federal government agency which manages privatized U.S.-funded international broadcasting stations, such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Alhurra Television. Ms. Karapetian became one of the victims of the policy when she was fired from her broadcasting job at RFE/RL in the Czech Republic after almost 12 years of employment, which she describes as “impeccable,” with “very good” and “excellent” performance reviews.

 

Legal cases against RFE/RL’s employment practices have been filed by the dismissed employees with the Czech Supreme Court, the Czech Constitutional Court, and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Reports critical of their treatment have appeared in Czech media and included statements of support from Czech politicians. In yet another major embarrassment for the BBG, one of the most respected world statesmen, former Czech president and human rights activist Vaclav Havel, promised to personally monitor the cases of the fired employees.

 

The PR problem created by these cases and the damage to America’s image abroad can be traced back to the actions of a relatively small group of unelected U.S. government officials. Less than ten men and women, selected by the leadership of their political parties, appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, serve at any one time on the bipartisan Broadcasting Board of Governors. Most of them are political loyalists and private businessmen without much foreign policy and human rights advocacy experience.

 

During the eight years of the Bush Administration, the BBG, which is responsible for RFE/RL’s personnel policies, greatly intensified its efforts to subcontract U.S. international broadcasting operations to privatized institutions. One of the major attractions of subcontracting was the realization by BBG members that unlike U.S. government employees, foreign workers hired abroad can be easily dismissed at any time and for any reason, or no reason at all, under the so-called “employment-at-will” doctrine. At the same time, the BBG was eliminating programs and terminating employment of American journalists working at the Washington-based Voice of America, which it also manages, while transferring Federal funding to these privatized stations.

 

After her employment was terminated by RFE/RL, Anna Karapetian, mother of three minor children, found out that unlike VOA journalists employed in Washington, D.C., and unlike her American colleagues working at the RFE/RL headquarters in the Czech Republic, she did not have the protection of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Federal Civil Rights Act, and many other U.S. anti-discrimination laws. The Czech government made sure that locally-hired Czech employees would have the full protection of the Czech labor law, but at the insistence of the BBG it allowed RFE/RL to exempt foreign journalists working for RFE/RL in Prague. They were placed under the Communist-era law, still on the books, which was used to facilitate the Soviet domination of Czechoslovakia after 1968.

 

The influential Czech, quite pro-American newspaper, “Lidove noviny” wrote in an editorial:

 

“Prague headquarters of RFE/RL, which pretends to be a messenger of freedom, democracy and the rule of law, behaves as an employer in such a way as if the principles it heralds are relevant “just” for the whole planet but not for what is going on inside that estimable organization itself.” Read Anna Karapetian’s Open Letter.

 

This legal limbo was specifically sought by the BBG and RFE/RL to prevent court challenges by foreign-based journalists against adverse personnel actions. Shocked and angered by how she was treated by her U.S. taxpayer-supported American employer, Anna Karapetian wrote in an open letter to freedom of the press and human rights organizations that non-American and non-Czech RFE/RL employees working in the Czech Republic, who often come from semi-dictatorial countries of the former Soviet Union, have “about as much legal protection as the inhabitants of Guantanamo: not in the country of their origin, not in the place of their presence, nor in the United States.”

 

While the BBG’s actions now appear to many as wrong and hypocritical, during the Bush Administration, both Republicans and Democrats serving on the BBG, became convinced that it would be easier for them and better for the White House’s war on terror to manage U.S. international broadcasting as a series of private businesses exempt from many U.S. government laws and regulations. These political appointees consistently eliminated programs at the Voice of America, where journalists enjoy significant independence and strong legal protections against arbitrary actions by management and were viewed as being opposed to the BBG’s and Bush Administration’s plans to transform U.S. international broadcasting. While BBG members claimed that their strategy would result in greater effectiveness and savings of taxpayers’ money, they have created multiple broadcasting units with multiple executive and administrative positions, which independent studies and media reports described as wasteful and lacking proper programming and fiscal accountability. ProPublica.org: Report Calls Alhurra a Failure

 

The fact that the neoconservative privatization agenda was led and implemented by a number of prominent Democrats on the BBG, including at least two former members with close links to Vice President Biden, may not bode well for Ms. Karapetian’s hopes for significant reforms at the BBG and at RFE/RL during the Obama Administration. As a U.S. Senator, Vice President Biden was a major patron of a former BBG member, Norman Pattiz, founder of the now failing U.S. radio syndicate Westwood One, who pushed hard for the elimination of VOA broadcasting services, including its Arabic Service, and was the primary force behind the establishment of privatized stations, such as Radio Sawa and Alhurra Television for the Middle East. Many RFE/RL and VOA journalists still hope, however, that President Obama and his close advisors will pay attention to media reports of mismanagement at the BBG. According to the latest Federal Human Capital Survey (FHCS), the employees of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) have recently given the BBG Board members and the officials of the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) the worst ever rating for good management and placed the BBG at the very bottom of Federal agencies. Broadcasting Board of Governors Rated Worst Than Ever By Its Employees and As One of The Worst Federal Agencies

 

During the last months of the Bush Administration, Edward E. Kaufman, another former Democratic BBG member who is now a U.S. Senator from Delaware and was previously Joe Biden’s chief of staff, worked closely with BBG’s former Republican chairman, neoconservative Bush appointee, James K. Glassman, who later became the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy. They agreed to terminate VOA radio broadcasts to Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, and India. Thanks to highly effective coordination behind the scenes by the BBG executive director, Jeffrey Trimble, who was formerly acting president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Board succeeded in taking VOA radio programs to Russia off the air just 12 days before the Russian military forces attacked Georgia last summer and then refused to resume them.

 

On December 31, 2008, the BBG also ended VOA radio program to Ukraine just hours before Russia cut off the flow of natural gas supplies to Ukraine and the rest of Europe. Only one BBG member, Blanquita Walsh Cullum, the only working journalist serving on the Board, was reported to have voted against these program cuts and reportedly also opposed many of the management practices supported by other BBG members. The other current BBG members are: Joaquin F. Blaya, D. Jeffrey Hirschberg, and Steven J. Simmons. The BBG web site still lists Condoleezza Rice as an ex-officio member, even though she is no longer the Secretary of State and therefore no longer sits on the Board.

 

Ted Lipien, president of San Francisco-based media freedom nonprofit FreeMediaOnline.org, said that while privatized U.S.-funded broadcasting to Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union was highly effective at times during the Cold War, “this so-called ’surrogate’ broadcasting model turned out to be totally outdated and inappropriate for providing news to the Middle East and the former Soviet republics under drastically different conditions.” Lipien pointed out that for most of the Cold War, RFE/RL journalists, who were based in West Germany, enjoyed far greater legal protections, as well as being protected from intimidation by communist security services, than the current RFE/RL journalists based in Prague and elsewhere behind the former Iron Curtain.

 

In addition to eliminating U.S. jobs and severely limiting the rights of overseas-based foreign journalists, the privatization of U.S. international broadcasting during the Bush Administration also produced major fiscal and editorial scandals at the newly established private stations and at RFE/RL. Both Republican and Democratic BBG members hoped that these private entities would be far more effective than the Voice of America in delivering programs against Islamist extremism. But the loosening of programming and fiscal controls and employment protections for journalists combined with the BBG’s marketing policy designed to maximize audience size regardless of local media conditions led to numerous editorial failures at the privatized entities. At the same time, as a result of BBG’s actions, some of them taken within the last few weeks, the Obama Administration found itself without radio broadcasts by the Voice of America from the United States to many countries around the world.

 

Unlike VOA journalists, many broadcasters at the privatized stations do not have extensive experience in reporting news about the United States and American politics. Some broadcasters, especially at Alhurra Television and Radio Sawa, have been accused of lacking basic journalistic training. U.S. and international media outlets reported that Alhurra aired unchallenged statements by Holocaust deniers and RFE/RL was criticized by a Russian human rights organization for giving extensive airtime to a Russian politician known for his racist comments about ethnic minorities, Jews, and Blacks. FreeMediaOnline.org reported that the BBG also failed to protect RFE/RL journalists and other employees who are Russian citizens and work in Russia. There is strong evidence that these employees are subject to blackmail and other forms of intimidation by the Kremlin’s secret police. “U.S. Taxpayers Pay for Spreading Racist Views on Radio Liberty in Russia: What Would Barack Obama Say If He Knew…” Use this link to the ProPublica.org web site to view the Alhurra Holocaust report (with English subtitles) as an example of what the BBG’s marketing strategy has produced at these privatized U.S.-funded stations: http://www.propublica.org/feature/alhurra-video

 

Ms. Karapetian points out in her open letter that foreign journalists employed by RFE/RL face serious risks from security services of local dictators when they work in their own countries and lack legal protections if they work at RFE/RL headquarters in the Czech Republic. But despite her accusations of mistreatment, she defends RFE/RL as a journalistic organization with a distinguished history that is still much needed by audiences in countries without free media. She also expressed concern that the personnel policies applied to foreign journalists at RFE/RL are damaging U.S. reputation abroad and give encouragement to authoritarian leaders in the former Soviet republics. According to Ted Lipien, the lack of basic job security and legal protections makes foreign journalists employed by RFE/RL far more vulnerable to threats from the security services of the countries to which they broadcast. Their family members who live in those countries are also subject to intimidation.

 

Ms. Karapetian ended her letter with an appeal to press freedom and human rights advocates to contact the current RFE/RL president, Jeffrey Gedmin, and urge him to put into action a statement from his recent speech that “We have as RFE/RL our intellectual and moral compass… We also need to lead by example…”. Anna Karapetian is hoping that being true to President Obama’s promise of change, his administration will show greater respect for the rights of foreign journalists employed by U.S.-funded international broadcasters. (Some media reports use “Karapetyan” as the spelling of her last name.)

 

Despite the reported failures on the part of the BBG, RFE/RL continues to play a vital role in many countries and, according to Ted Lipien of FreeMediaOnline.org, can be more effective in other countries if some of the failed policies of the Board of Broadcasting Governors are reversed. The ability to tell America’s story to the world in Voice of America broadcasts, however, has been largely destroyed by the privatization policies of the BBG during the past eight years. Journalists at VOA and RFE/RL hope that the Obama Administration will institute quick reforms in the use of “soft power” in communicating with the world. America’s image abroad would be improved by restoring Voice of America broadcasts and by putting an end to the shameful practice of restricting rights of foreign journalists who work on behalf of the United States, Lipien said.

 

The Obama Transition Team official responsible for international broadcasting is Ernest J. Wilson III, Dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication. His email address is: ernest.wilson@usc.edu.

 

If you wish to protest or comment on the treatment of foreign journalists working for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Broadcasting Board of Governors, you may also send emails to:

 

Jeffrey Gedmin, RFE/RL President, addressed to Mr. Martins Zvaners, Associate Director of Communications: zvanersm@rferl.org

 

Jeffrey N. Trimble, BBG Executive Director, addressed to the BBG Office of Public Affairs, publicaffairs@bbg.gov

 

[irlandahay]

Its cute how you all believe this socialist, baby-killing, gun-banning, defeatist, lying hypocrite

hes worse then his predecessor and watch him spit on the memory of our ancestors like all those lying bastards before him.

 

Im so glad I dont live in the states right now.

[MosJan]

Its cute how you all believe this socialist, baby-killing, gun-banning, defeatist, lying hypocrite

hes worse then his predecessor and watch him spit on the memory of our ancestors like all those lying bastards before him.

 

Im so glad I dont live in the states right now.

 

men that hurts

[irlandahay]

men that hurts

 

sorry aper but this is ridiculous

Obamania... what a joke. if there was ever a more blatant example of american ignorance Id be surprised.

this guy's entire campaign was so full of holes, the only reason why he was elected was because of his race. I doubt the black people, who dont usually vote, came en masse because of what he had to say, or that the Black panthers patrolling voting stations where there because they believed in his message and not his colour.

 

what a goddamned joke. what a shame for the American people

this moron has alread cost them 12 trillion dollars in his first few months of presidency, not to mention that that self absorbed baby killing retard spent 10 million dollars on his inauguration ceremony.

 

the united states is heading for a socialist dictatorship and I truly hope that the last few patriotic americans stick to their guns... theyr going to need them

[Arpa]

Please! I mean no disrespect, only admiration.

This is all in fun.

(See post # 3 above.)

As we speak Pres. O’Bamia/Obamian is in Ghana, his ancestral homeland (?), question mark because his Father was a Kenyan not Ghanaian.

Regardless of what many sites say that okra is a native of East Africa, like Ethiopia etc. I believe that it is from West Africa, like Ghana etc. Why do I say that? See why the capital city of Ghana is named Accra.

Here is one site that kind of confirms it “okra-Nkruma“;

http://mykofi.blogspot.com/2008/08/okra-nk...a-original.html

Kwame Nkruma was the first president of independent Ghana;

http://www.africawithin.com/nkrumah/nkrumah_bio.htm

Please search and see the origins of words like okra, gumbo and bamya.

Here is one site;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okra

One of the most common Armenian parlor games is/was the question of what the Armenian word for bamia is. It turns out, it is bamia. I just learned a new word..

6ԿՈՒՏԱՏՈՒԿDialect section

«մոլոշ բոյսը, malva rotundifolia L » (տես Տիրացուեան, 331) Գաղիան.

կուտատուկ. (գործածութեան տեղերն ու ձեւերը տես եղիճ բառի տակ:

In addition to the above the paper edition of the Armatakan says that in some regions of Armenia the word is used to mean bamia.

Malva Rotundifloria/Կուտատուկ;

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http:/...=4&ct=image