A1 Plus | 17:42:41 | 01-04-2004 | Politics |
YEREVAN MAYOR LAYING GROUNDS FOR OPPOSITION RALLIES PROHIBITION
Yerevan’s Mayor Yervand Zakaryan speaking at today’s news conference on
expected opposition rallies said the municipality was empowered to authorize
or prohibit rally by presidential decree dated from 1997.
Zakaryan was reminded that there is not a word about authorizing in the
decree. Coordination of rallies was mentioned in it.
“What are you basing denying authorization on?” Aykakan Zhamanak newspaper
correspondent asked.
Zakaryan answered there is no permission for power seizure in the
constitution and that’s why the municipality is cautious about giving
permission for rallies.
—

LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER ARRIVES IN ARMENIA
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
1 Apr 04
(Presenter over video of arrival ceremony at airport) New Lebanese
investments are expected in the Armenian economy. An agreement will be
reached during Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri’s visit to
Armenia, which started today.
An agricultural cooperation agreement between the two country’s
governments has been drawn up. An Armenian member of the Lebanese
parliament, (?Ekya Cherichyan), who is accompanying the prime
minister, hopes that Rafiq al-Hariri’s third visit to Armenia will
help to step up bilateral economic relations, as the ministers engaged
in investing in foreign countries have also come to Armenia.
(Ekya Cherichyan, in Armenian, at airport) The main aim of this visit
is to sign an agreement on setting up a Lebanese-Armenian economic
commission. Agreements on education, science and agriculture will
also be signed during this visit. The delegation consists only of
ministers and Armenian members of the Lebanese parliament.

Liberation, France
mercredi 31 mars 2004
Déglingue bien tassée

Par Marc SEMO
Vodka Lemon
d’Hiner Saleem,
avec Romen Avinian, Lala Sarkissian, Ivan Franek… 1 h 28.
l a 7 dollars par mois de retraite et ses biens se limitent à un
crachotant poste de télévision soviétique et un vieil uniforme. Son
fils parti en France ne lui écrit… que pour lui demander de
l’argent. Sa femme repose au cimetière. Là, le vieil Hamo rencontre
un nouvel amour, une veuve plongée dans la même détresse. Elle tient
une petite gargote sur une route glacée, le Vodka Lemon.
La déglingue des sociétés post-soviétiques continue d’inspirer des
oeuvres grinçantes ou douces-amères. Ici, c’est l’Arménie avec ce
film, salué à Venise. Hiner Saleem, réalisateur kurde irakien, est
déjà l’auteur d’une comédie décapante en 1997, Vive la mariée et la
liberté du Kurdistan, qui moquait le machisme kurde et les militants.
Son second film Passeurs de rêve, sur l’immigration clandestine, fut
un échec. Il renoue avec la verve et le burlesque sur fond de
montagnes arméniennes enneigées.
Mais il manque au film, souvent touchant, cet humour ravageur dont
fait preuve Saleem dans son livre de mémoire d’enfance, le Fusil de
mon père (Seuil). Il aime à citer une phrase de son père, grand
combattant de la cause kurde et éternel vaincu : «Notre passé est
triste, notre présent est catastrophique, mais heureusement nous
n’avons pas d’avenir.»

A1 Plus | 18:48:52 | 01-04-2004 | Politics |
AUTHORITIES IN PREPARATION FOR RALLIES
Ruling coalition consolidates as the date set for the opposition rally is
coming closer. On the event footing the authorities take preventive measures
and launched vigorous intimidation campaign against the opposition
activists. In a week before the rally intended to mark the second
anniversary of the notorious A1+ TV Company closure, they were summoned to
police.
Vice-Speaker Vahan Hovhannisyan says those staging meeting declared war
against the authorities. There is nothing surprising in the authorities’
intention to protect itself.
The coalition Republican Party leader Galust Sahakyan says the A1+ closure
was politicized from the very beginning. He supposed the opposition want to
see how many people will gather at this rally to gauge its strength for
staging follow-up rallies.
—

Le Figaro, France
31 Mars 2004
CINÉMA Dans «Vodka Lemon», le réalisateur Hiner Saleem évoque son
peuple, les Kurdes
Humour et survie de l’espèce
Emmanuèle Frois
Il a l’humour du désespoir. Et le coeur qui balance entre tragédie et
comédie. Hiner Saleem est un magicien poète qui arrive à nous faire
sourire, même au fond du gouffre. Les premières images de Vodka Lemon
donnent le ton. Un lit en ferraille glisse à toute vitesse sur la
neige. Un vieil homme y est allongé, enveloppé dans des draps. Le lit
s’arrête brutalement devant une tombe. On tend un verre au vieil
homme. Il y met son dentier. Et il commence à jouer de la flûte.
Divinement. C’est dans les immensités glacées d’un village kurde
d’Arménie, qu’Hiner Saleem a trouvé l’inspiration.
«Il suffit d’observer les gens, dit-il. J’ai vu là-bas des choses
surréalistes, absurdes. Au marché par exemple, on vend tout et
n’importe quoi : une chaussure ou des piles usées, des instruments
médicaux rouillés, des vestiges de l’ère soviétique. Je ne comprends
pas comment ce peuple arrive à vivre dans un tel dénuement. Et
pourtant, il reste optimiste malgré tout.»
Hiner Saleem a trouvé là-bas en Arménie des paysages qui ressemblent
à sa terre natale, le Kurdistan. «Je suis kurde. Kurde de l’enfer de
Saddam Hussein. Le plus beau jour de ma vie a été le 9 avril 2003, le
jour de la chute du régime de Saddam.» Dans son émouvant récit, Le
Fusil de mon père (Seuil), il raconte son enfance, le goût de la
pulpe des grenades qui va bientôt se mêler à l’odeur de la poudre,
les persécutions – «j’ai découvert la barbarie» -, et sa fuite à 17
ans avec, pour seul bagage, «le costume kurde, la cassette de musique
kurde et le livre de poésie kurde». En fait, il y a une mélodie
mélancolique qui ne l’a jamais quitté : «Plus le temps passe, plus
les battements de mon coeur ralentissent, ma bien-aimée…» Et de
citer une phrase de son grand-père qu’il n’a jamais oublié : «Notre
passé est triste, notre présent est catastrophique, mais heureusement
nous n’avons pas d’avenir.»
Dans son livre, Hiner Saleem raconte l’histoire des siens et de son
peuple. «Mon grand-père avait beaucoup d’humour. Il disait qu’il
était né kurde, sur une terre libre. Puis les Ottomans sont arrivés
et ils ont dit à mon grand-père : Tu es ottoman… A la chute de
l’Empire ottoman, il est devenu turc. Les Turcs sont partis, il est
redevenu kurde dans le royaume de Cheikh Mahmoud, le roi des Kurdes.
Puis les Anglais sont arrivés, alors mon grand-père est devenu sujet
de Sa Gracieuse Majesté… Les Anglais ont inventé l’Irak, mon
grand-père est devenu irakien, mais il n’a jamais compris l’énigme de
ce nouveau nom : Irak, et jusqu’à son dernier souffle, il n’a jamais
été fier d’être irakien ; son fils, mon père, Shero Selim Malay, non
plus.»
Gamin, Hiner Saleem n’avait pas de rêve de cinéma, mais celui «de
libérer le Kurdistan. Nous vivions la plupart du temps cachés dans
des grottes. Le soir, à la lueur d’une lampe à pétrole, mon père nous
lisait des classiques de la littérature kurde comme Mem Zin,
l’équivalent de votre Roméo et Juliette. Je ne l’écoutais pas
jusqu’au jour où il a apporté un livre de poésie illustrée. C’était
la première fois que je voyais de la peinture. Une révélation. Comme
si j’avais découvert l’existence de Dieu. Boule versant. L’autre choc
c’est la télé à huit ans. J’ai vu des films de Bollywood. Et un soir,
un film avec un homme grand et maigre qui portait un bonnet. Il m’a
terrorisé, il parlait une langue inconnue. Quinze ans après, j’ai
découvert qu’il s’agissait du commandant Cousteau !»
Hiner Saleem dit enfin qu’il n’a pas «de monde idéal à proposer
puisque je ne le connais pas». Mais dans son Vodka Lemon, bien arrosé
de rire et de larmes, il fait le portrait d’hommes et de fem mes
remplis de dignité. «Je crois à la théorie de l’évolution de Darwin.
L’humour est indis pensable à la survie de notre espèce, nous les
Kurdes.»

A1 Plus | 21:02:02 | 01-04-2004 | Social |
A1+ FILES MOTION TO APPEAL COURT
A1+ TV Company appealed to the Court of Appeal to reconsider Economic Court
decision on the company’s suit against Radio and Television National
Commission.
It should be reminded that legal proceeding has repeatedly been postponed
within six month because of the defendant’s baseless pleas.
—

01 April 2004
International Community Must Remain Engaged in South Caucasus
April 1, Vienna: Stephan Minikes to the OSCE Permanent Council
The international community must remain engaged in helping find solutions to
the “daunting” challenges facing the Southern Caucasus, such as the
conflicts in Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh, said U.S.
Representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) Stephan Minikes April 1.
“The stability of this region is vital for all of us,” he said.
In response to an address by European Union Special Representative to the
South Caucasus Heikki Talvitie, Minikes welcomed the EU’s “deeper
engagement” in the region and thanked Ambassador Talvitie’s for his “ongoing
coordination with the OSCE” in the region.
Following are Minikes’ remarks:
(begin text)
United States Mission to the OSCE
RESPONSE TO ADDRESS BY EU SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE TO THE SOUTH CAUCASUS,
AMBASSADOR HEIKKI TALVITIE
As delivered by Ambassador Stephan M. Minikes
to the Permanent Council, Vienna
April 1, 2004
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
We would like to welcome Ambassador Talvitie to the Permanent Council and to
thank him for taking the time here to meet with us.
The challenges facing the countries of the southern Caucasus are indeed as
you described quite daunting. In Georgia, a new government is taking the
reins and trying to find solutions to the myriad of political, social and
economic problems. And, as Ambassador Talvitie has noted, the region is
plagued by conflicts in Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
The stability of this region is vital for all of us. The international
community therefore has to remain engaged in helping negotiate resolutions
to these conflicts, to strengthen the representative democracy and in
promoting higher living standards.
The United States welcomes the EU’s deeper engagement in the region through
the appointment of the Ambassador and it was good to hear that the positions
you mentioned – of the United States, the EU and the Russian Federation –
were in line, and it is important that we try to keep it that way. I would
add here that we are pleased to have the opportunity to coordinate
frequently with the Special Representative both here and in the field.
As one of the co-chairs of the Minsk Group, we appreciate Ambassador
Talvitie’s support for the Minsk Group’s efforts and his contributions
toward confidence building in all three countries where he represents the EU
and we commend his ongoing coordination with the OSCE on the wide range of
challenges that face all of us in the region today.
We therefore wish you well Ambassador Talvitie and we congratulate you on
your work and look forward to continuing our close cooperation with him.
Thank you.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: )

Separatist Karabakh sets up “information security” commission
Mediamax news agency
1 Apr 04
YEREVAN
The president of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic (NKR), Arkadiy
Gukasyan, signed a decree today setting up an interdepartmental
commission on information security and TV and radio broadcasting under
the NKR Security Council.
A member of the Security Council and the president’s adviser, Georgiy
Petrosyan, was appointed chairman of the commission, Mediamax’s
correspondent reported from Stepanakert.

Jerusalem Post, Israel
March 31 2004
Claims commission pays holocaust survivors
By MELISSA RADLER
NEW YORK
Nearly 16,000 Holocaust survivors whose families held insurance
policies during the Second World War received $16m in humanitarian
payments this week, the International Commission on Holocaust Era
Insurance Claims (ICHEIC) announced Tuesday.
The payments, of $1,000 each, were mailed to survivors and heirs who
lacked documentation to prove their claims. Using anecdotal evidence
or recollections of Holocaust-era policies, claims were evaluated
according to criteria established by former National Security Advisor
Sandy Berger, who now serves as senior counselor to ICHEIC’s
humanitarian claims process.
“What we’re doing now is a measure of belated justice, and all
justice which is belated is faulty,” said the president of the
Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, Israel Singer,
at a press conference Tuesday announcing the payments. Calling the
announcement a “muted triumph of justice,” Roman Kent, chairman of
the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, added: “I’m
sorry that this meeting did not take place 50 years ago, when so many
of us would be alive.”
Recipients in 60 countries spanning the globe from Armenia to
Zimbabwe will receive payments within the next few days; of the
15,890 recipients, of whom more than 90% are Holocaust survivors and
less than 10% are heirs, 5,061 live in Israel and 4,867, including
approximately 1,000 New Yorkers, live in the US, an ICHEIC release
noted.
The chief operating officer of ICHEIC, Mara Rudman, said that while
just half of those who filed a claim with the commission were slated
to receive payments this week, efforts to further identify eligible
recipients are ongoing.
Since it was established in 1998 by the National Association of
Insurance Commissioners, European insurance companies, European
regulators, Jewish leaders and the State of Israel, ICHEIC has
received nearly $500m to settle Holocaust-era claims and provide
humanitarian assistance to survivors. To date, the commission has
paid out more than $80m to claimants.

Azeri pressure group protests at upcoming visit by Armenian minister
Trend news agency
31 Mar 04
BAKU
Trend correspondent S. Agayeva: The Karabakh Liberation Organization
[KLO] will prevent the Armenian education minister [Sergo Yeritsyan]
from attending a session of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
Organization in Baku on 15-16 April, the KLO chairman, Akif Nagi, has
told Trend new agency.
It is unacceptable for a minister from the enemy country to
participate in the Baku session, Nagi said. The Azerbaijani
authorities must not let such a visit take place, he said. “Let the
Armenian education minister educate the jingoistic Armenian youth. He
has nothing to do here.”
The KLO intends to stage protest actions outside the buildings of
state bodies which organize the session, as well as outside the hotel
which will host the gathering.