1999_10 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper October 1999

              October 1999
Hye Sharzhoom
7
Earthquake Strikes lurkey
By Michael Harutinian
Staff Writer
On August 17, 1999 an
earthquake measuring 6.7
on the Richter scale hit
the Marmara region of Turkey,
killing more than 18,000 people
and leaving over 40,000 homeless,
with an estimated 27 Armenians
dead.
Immediately after the earthquake, two of Turkey's traditional
foes, Greece and Armenia, offered
aid to the earthquake stricken country. At first Turkish officials denied offers of aid from Greece and
Armenia. The government even
went as far as to request that the
shipments of blood not contain any
blood from Greek donors. Once
the Turkish citizens learned that
the government was not accepting
all the available aid, protesters began demanding the resignation of
government officials. To avoid
this the government began to accept all aid. The Armenian Government sent a plane that contained
medicine, blankets, tents and four
power generators weighing nine
tons.
The Patriarchate was established in 1461 by the Sultan ofthe
Ottoman Empire. A Patriarch was
appointed to deal with the Christian population since the Ottoman
Empire's government could not
Diaspora-Armenia
Conference Held in
Armenia
Yerevan, Armenia- Some 1,500
representatives of Armenian communities world-wide attended the
opening in Yerevan on Sept. 22,
1"999, of a two-day pan-Armenian
conference intended to boost ties
between the Republic of Armenia
and the world diaspora community, Noyan Tapan and RFE/RL's
Yerevan bureau reported.
Addressing delegates, President
Robert Kocharian said Armenians
need to set priorities in the political, economic, scientific, cultural,
and other spheres and develop programs to achieve those aims. He
said that the most important pan-
national problems facing the Armenian nation are resolving the
Karabakh conflict and expediting
Armenia's economic development.
The Armenian Diaspora
About 1,200 representatives of
Armenian communities from 50
countries ofthe world have arrived
in Armenia to participate in this
first nationwide forum. The
Diaspora is represented by politicians, cultural workers, scientists,
clergymen and others.
In the words of President Robert Kocharian, the conference
should mark the beginning of a
new, higher level of organization
ofthe world's Armenians, reported
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
"We need not only to ascertain
our priorities in the national-political, economic, scientific, health,
cultural, information and other areas, but also to put the emphasis on
and would not deal with the problems of their Christian subjects.
The Armenian Patriarchate of
Constantinople sustained structural
damage to its buildings. Fissures
were found in the bell tower of
Kumkapi built by Khrimian Hayrig
and Samatyo built by Patriarch
Harutiun Vahabedian and also the
Sourp Prgich Hospital was damaged. The Armenian Patriarchate
of Constantinople serves over
50,000 Armenians in Turkey. The
estimated cost of rebuilding the
churches in the Armenian Patriarchate is $1.2 million. At the
invitation of their Eminences, Archbishop Khajag Barsamian and
Archbishop Vatche Hovsepian of
the Eastern and Western Dioceses
of the Armenian Church, His Be^
atitude Mesrob II will visit New
York, Los Angeles and San Francisco for fund-raisers. In New York
there will be a benefit concert held
in St. Vartan Cathedral on October
1, 1999.
His Beatitude Mesrob II
adopted three Armenian orphans
who lost their families in the earthquake. The Patriarchate will take
care ofthe children until they graduate from college. The Patriarch has
also set up three funds: disaster
relief; aid for the care of children
and repair ofthe damaged property
of the Armenian Patriarchate.
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News from Armenia
developing comprehensive programs for their implementation,"
Kocharian told the delegates.
He described the resolution of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and
Armenia's economic development
as the chief " pan-national" objectives ofthe world's estimated eight
million Armenians, most of them
living outside their historical homeland.
A synchronized translation of
Armenian speeches into English,
French, Russian and Spanish was
available for Diaspora delegates,
reflecting the large geographical
span of the communities they represent. The main Armenian communities abroad are concentrated
in the United States, Russia, France,
the Middle East and South America.
The conference is expected to
adopt two statements: one of a general character and another on
Nagorno-Karabakh. Kocharian also
stressed that cooperation does not
imply re-organization ofthe already
existing structures, but these structures must get actively involved in
this process.
Among the specific trends of
further activities the president mentioned: Theestablishmentofacom-
mon information field. The first
step has already been performed as
satellite TV broadcasts from Armenia for diaspora have started; A
Development Agency, aimed at
stimulating the economic activity
in Armenia, in particular, by the
Armenians living abroad; Holding
regular cultural and sporting events,
the Pan Armenian Games being a
recent very successful example; The
establishment of a youth center in
Armenia to operate on a regular
basis. This will enable thousands of
young Armenians to visit the Homeland every year.
Speeches were also delivered by
Catholicosal Locum Tenens Arch.
Nerses Pozapalian and Hjs Holiness Aram I, Catholicos ofthe Holy
See of Cilicia.
Aram I noted in his speech that
neither Armenia should dictate to
the Diaspora nor vice versa while
the two ought to decide what to do
jointly.
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
President Arkady Ghoukassian said
that the victory in the Karabakh war
would have been impossible to gain
without the contributions to it made
by all the sections of the Armenian
nation. Ghoukassian attached importance to victories in peacetime,
i.e. to ensure economic improvements in Artsakh.
Aram I Will Not Run
For Catholicos
Yerevan, Armenia - His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos ofthe Holy
See of Cilicia has said he will not
field his candidacy during this
month's election of a new
Catholicos of All Armenians.
Aram I said the next head of one
of the world's oldest churches
should be a native of Armenia, without endorsing any specific candidate.
"I am the Catholicos ofthe Holy
See of Cilicia and I will remain as
such, because I believe that it has an
important mission in Diaspora,"
Aram said at a special news conference in Etchmiadzin. He said the
main task of the next head of the
Armenian church is to fight religious sects that are de-nationalizing and de-Christianizing Armenia.
Armenia Marks 8th
Anniversary Of
Independence
Yerevan, Armenia - A military
parade was held in Yerevan on
Tuesday, Sept. 21, 1999, in celebration of the 8th anniversary of
Armenian independence.
The march was attended by
President Robert Kocharian, Prime
Minister Vazgen Sarkisian and
other Armenian leaders. In a message to the nation, Kocharian said
that Armenia "Is pursuing an active policy of economic reforms,
deepening democracy, promoting
regional and global cooperation."
He spoke on the need to purposefully boost the country's potential, resolve socioeconomic
problems and settle the Karabakh
conflict.
Eight years ago, a referendum
was held in Armenia in which the
overwhelming majority of citizens
voted for independence.
UAF's 106th Airlift
Delivers $2 Million of
Aid to Armenia
Glendale - The United Armenian Fund's 106th airlift arrived in
Yerevan on Sept. 19, 1999, carrying $2 million of humanitarian assistance.
The UAF itself collected for this
airlift $670,000 worth of medicines
and medical supplies, including
$555,000 of Hepatitis A vaccines
donated by the Catholic Medical
Mission Board, for the Health Ministry of Armenia.
Since its inception in 1989, the
UAF has sent $263 million of humanitarian assistance to Armenia
on board 106 airlifts and 537 sea
containers.
Armenia Prepares to
Celebrate 1700th
Anniversary of Adoption
of Christianity
Yerevan, Armenia - The government committee set up to steer
preparations for the celebration of
the 1700th anniversary ofthe adoption of Christianity in Armenia led
by prime minister Vazgen
Sargissian, held its recurrent sitting Sept. 16,1999. The committee
approved the program of several
events on that occasion, presented
by Levon Mkrtchian, acting temporary head of the State Commission on Religion.
Exhibitions on Christian culture
of Armenians, documentary films,
performances, scientific conferences, historical and cultural monuments (especially monasteries and
churches) and reconstruction are
planned to carry out within the
frames of the celebration. A monument to Forefather Noah is to be
buHt near the Khor Virap monastery. This idea ofthe prime minister is already being realized. Money
for the events will partially be allocated from the State budget, partially raised by the ecclesiastic committee.