Senate defers action on Armenian Ambassador-Designate; Quickly confirms ambassadors to Switzerland and Ireland
WASHINGTON–Senate Foreign Relations Committee members John Kerry (D-Mass.)–Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.)–Lincoln Chafee (R-RI)–and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) have each submitted a series detailed written questions to US Ambassador to Armenia Designate Richard Hoagland–calling upon him to clarify the specific instructions he has received from the [...]

Enough’s enough. Thirty years ago–the Supreme Court’s decision in 1976 Buckley vs. Vallejo set the stage for the moneyed class being able to pre SELECT who might eventually become a candidate for office– be s/he Democrat or Republican. In this decision the Court allowed restrictions on how much a citizen could give a candidate for [...]

STEPANAKERT (RFE/RL)–A senior Nagorno-Karabakh official reaffirmed on Thursday the Stepanakert government’s unhappiness with the existing international plan to end the Armenian-Azerbaijani dispute and said the international mediators are also to blame for the deadlocked peace process.
"Failure to include important provisions into the proposals [made by the OSCE Minsk Group] was to inevitably lead to a [...]

SACRAMENTO– The California State Assembly Judiciary Committee passed legislation on June 27 that would grant legal rights to Armenian Genocide survivors and their heirs to recover bank deposits wrongfully withheld since the Armenian Genocide–by giving California courts jurisdiction over banks operating in the Ottoman Empire. The bill–SB 1524–the "Armenian Genocide Bank and Looted Assets Recovery [...]

Proposes $5 Million for Nagorno Karabakh; Allocates Equal Amounts of Foreign Military Financing to Armenia and Azerbaijan
WASHINGTON–In a departure from its traditional support for a robust US assistance package for Armenia–the Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday voted to dramatically reduce aid to Armenia–reported the Armenian National Committee of America.
Early reports from Capitol Hill indicate that the [...]

–Practical Training to Advance The Armenian Cause
WASHINGTON–A broad cross-section of Armenian Americans – from long-time veterans to first-time activists – will gather in Washington–DC between September 14th and 17th for the Armenian National Committee of America’s (ANCA) 2006 Leadership Conference.
The conference–titled–"Grassroots Makes the Difference," will empower activists to serve as energetic and effective ambassadors for [...]

GLENDALE–During a gala banquet on June 10 at the Glendale Hilton Hotel–$500,000 was raised by the Glendale chapter of the Armenian Cultural Foundation for the construction of its Community Youth Center.
More than 450 community members attended the event–among them Western Prelate Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian–Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau member Dr. Viken Hovsepian–members of the ARF Western [...]

ISTANBUL (RFE/RL)–Turkish prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into His Holiness Catholicos Karekin II’s calls for Turkey to recognize the 1915 mass killings of Armenia’s in the Ottoman Empire as genocide–it emerged on Thursday.
Ending a five-day visit to Istanbul on Sunday–the head of the Catholicos of All Armenia’s said the Armenian genocide is a fact [...]

YEREVAN (YERKIR)–In a statement issued Friday–the foreign ministers of the G8 countries expressed support for the OSCE Minsk Group Karabakh peace efforts–announced the chairman of the G8 Summit currently underway in Moscow.
"We emphasize the need to coordinate the fundamental principles of the plan as soon as possible–in order to resolve the conflict in 2006," the [...]

YEREVAN (Armenpress)–In an interview with Armenpress Wednesday–Armenia’s foreign minister Vartan Oskanian point-by-point discussed an announcement issued by the co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.
In a joint statement that was circulated by the U.S. embassy in Yerevan on Wednesday–the Minsk Group’s American–French and Russian co-chairs said their confidential peace plan envisions [...]

HELSINKI(Reuters)–The European Union said on Thursday that Turkey’s membership negotiations could be halted unless it moves on Cyprus and makes progress on reforms–but the EU hopes to avoid a crisis later this year.
Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn was quoted by the Finnish news agency STT as saying–in response to a question–that the EU could suspend talks [...]

WASHINGTON–Senate Foreign Relations Committee members George Allen (R-Va.) and Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) bombarded U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Designate Richard Hoagland with questions about official U.S. complicity in Turkey’s campaign of Genocide denial–questioning him–during his confirmation hearing Wednesday–regarding his ability to effectively represent the United States in Armenia without properly recognizing the Armenian Genocide–reported the Armenian [...]

The Navasartian final games and closing festival will begin on Friday–June 30th–with a torch lighting ceremony at Birmingham High School (17000 Haynes–Van Nuys) at 7:30 p.m.
Festivities will continue through the weekend–with the closing ceremonies on Tuesday–July 4th at 4:30 p.m. with Homenetmen Chapters Parade. The evening will continue in picnic area with fireworks–live music–dance–games and [...]

TBILISI (Armenpress–RFE/RL)–Armenia’s foreign minister Vartan Oskanian announced Wednesday during a press conference that OSCE Minsk Group US co-chairman Matthew Bryza’s revelations last week of confidential provisions of a proposed Nagorno-Karabakh peace plan were incomplete and failed to present other important principles outlined by the plan–reported the Armenpress news agency. He stressed that the Armenian foreign [...]