GIBRAHAYER
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simon@cytanet.com.cy
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AMID AZERI THREATS, STEPANAKERT ELECTS NEW MAYOR
26 August, 2004 – Gibrahayer (combined sources):- Amid fresh threats from
Azerbaijan, residents of Stepanakert elected a new Mayor in a run-off
election last Sunday. He is Eduard Aghabekian who previously served as the
chairman of the Nagorno Karabagh National Assembly’s Committee on Social
Issues.
His rival, Pavel Najarian, was the vice-mayor of Stepanakert in early 90’s.
Later, he was the director of the Building Materials Factory.
Eduard Aghabekian who enjoyed the support of the ARF Dashnaktsoutiu n was
able to cover the eight percentage points difference (35 – 43%) from the
first election of August 8 and won the run-off against Najarian by 55%. The
three other candidates from the August 8 election, supported Aghabekian in
the run-off.
In his initial comments, the new Mayor called the elections “another step to
democracy”.
Azerbaijani authorities after condemning the elections rushed to report it
to the international community.
Aghabekian’s victory is the first major upset for the Democratic Artsakh
Union (ZhAM), which is the main political support base of President Arkady
Ghoukasian. Ghoukasian, himself, did not publicly endorse any of the
candidates.
GREEK DOCTORS HELP JAVAKHI ARMENIANS
Doctors of the Tbilisi Greek Polyclinic made a trip to Akhalkalak last
Friday, A-INFO reported. The trip was sponsored by the Greek government, the
Greek International Organization (CAE) and the Tbilisi-based Hyprocrat
company.
The doctors, who were invited to Akhalkalak by the Union of Javakhk Greeks –
an organization founded recently – examined not only ethnic Greeks but also
ethnic Armenians. Some free medication was also distributed.
A NEW PUBLICATION BY THE ARMENIAN PRELACY OF CYPRUS
A new publication is just out this summer, published by the Armenian Prelacy
of Cyprus.
A tri-lingual presentation of the Divine Liturgy of the Armenian Apostolic
Church, in Armenian, Greek and English.
The Greek translation follows the Greek liturgical language, to make it more
comprehensible to Greek-speaking or Greek Orthodox readers, who either visit
the Armenian Church on occasions or are simply interested about our Church
and its Rituals.
The English translation is simple and concise. It makes the Liturgy more
comprehensible to both Armenians who do not master the Armenian language as
well as to non-Armenians. It is a perfect gift to our non-Armenian or
non-Armenian-speaking wife, husband, relative or friend.
The booklet may be obtained from the Armenian Prelacy or any of the Armenian
Churches in Cyprus, for CYP 2.00.
ARTIST TATIANA FERAHIAN RETURNS FROM OLYMPICS OF VISUAL ARTS
Nicosia 28 August, 2004:- Gibrahayer – Local Armenian visual artist Tatiana
Ferahian, after having represented Cyprus in a Visual Arts Exhibition,
Artiade 2004, at a three storey converted warehouse on Petrou Ralli Street
in Athens, has returned with unmatched experiences and interesting stories
of other artists from different nations, cultures and backgrounds.
Artiade 2004, who’s whole purpose is to encourage competing Olympic nations
to send not just athletes but also artists to reflect the cultural identity
of their countries.. ‘aims to counterbalance the inc reasing
commercialisation of the games by bringing together and documenting the
emotions and traditions of the countries involved, through this creative
‘forum for world culture’.’
You might like to click on the link to get a glimpse of the event.
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en=3D1&sm=3D1&sl=3D0
JUNIOR EUROVISION 2004
Cyprus is choosing its Junior team to represent us in Junior Eurovision
2004.
The contest which will decide our young music ambassadors, will take place
on Tuesday September 7, 2004 from CyBC.
Anna Loizou from Pyla and Rafael Georgiou (Somakian) will be singing “Dosde
ta kheria”.
The winners will be decided by an island-wide televote.
You can vote for Anna and Rafael by participating in the televote and
calling for number 7.
Hachoghoutiun !
EDITORIAL
ARMY TO LOSE ITS ROLE IN THE POLITICAL LIFE OF TURKEY
By Hakob Chakrian – Azg online Â
   The importance of the Turkish army in the political life of the country
is out of doubt. Having assumed the role of a guarantee for secular and
republican order it also controls the legislative and executive powers of
the country. The National Security Council, having more military thancivil
members, became the means of supervision.
   In other words, the president, prime minister, deputy prime minister,
foreign and home ministers oppose the head of the supreme headquarters,
commanders of the land, marine and air forces. The first deputy of the
supreme headquarters is also the secretary general of the National Security
Council.
   The National Security Council was the body that discussed and made
decisions on issues like Turkey and the EU, the Cyprus issue, the Kurdish
issue as well as the issues of Armenian-Turkish relations and the Karabakh
conflict.
   Though the Turkish policy towards all these issues of national
importance remained unchanged with the Justice and Progress party coming
into power, the role of the National Security Council reduced as another
major power, the EU, with its demands emerged. The discord between Erdogan’s
government and the supreme headquarters grew worse.
   Though the pressure from the EU didn’t result in the dissolving of the
Council, there were created preconditions for consideri ng its staff. As a
result of this the number of civilians in the Council multiplied, two more
ministers were included and the military secretary general was replaced by a
diplomat.
   The former Turkish ambassador to Greece Mehmed Yighit Alpogan became
the new secretary general. On its August 19 publication the Turkish Vakit
writes that the president Ahmed Naced Sezer confirmed his appointment.
   This refill of the National Security Council with civilmembers
supposes weakening of military forces in its structure. We can conclude that
the supervision over the legislative and executive powers will reduce, as
the National Security Council was the main body of control for the army. Now
Erdogan will have more freedom to act apart from the army. The initiative in
national issues will pass to executive power now, which will not have the
backing of the army any more.
OLYMPIC MOMENTS
Number of Medals won as of Friday 27 August, 2004
AZERBAIJAN – 1 Gold, 0 Silver, 3 Bronze =3D Total 3
TURKEY – 3 Gold, 1 Silver, 2 Bronze =3D Total 6
GREECE – 6 Gold, 4 Silver, 3 Bronze =3D Total 13
ARMENIA – 0
CYPRUS – 0
NEWS IN BRIEF
– Five hectares next to the Dzidzernagapaert Memorial in Yerevan were
burned down last week.
– Echo news in Baku reports that Yerevan is laying fresh territorial claims
to Azerbaijan and that the official Armenian press have raised the issue of
returning to Armenia another 506 sq.km. of “land that has belonged to
Armenia since time immemorial along with Karabakh and Nachichevan”.
– The first web programming competition begins in Armenia on September 13.
17-30-year-old specialists mastering Windows or Linux operation systems and
Java/JSP or PHP programming languages may participate in the competition.
You can enter the competition by visiting
– Yearly trade between Armenia and Turkey is 50-60m dollars, in spite of the
absence of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the closed
border.
– Despite a ban, fishing in lake Sevan continues with prime actors being the
residents of the Tsovagiugh village who sell their fish at the entrance of
the car tunnel Sevan-Dilijan.
– Azerbaijani, Georgian and Turkish troops began a military exercise in
Baku. According to officials “Eternity 04” exercise is to conduct
“peacekeeping” and “humanitarian” operations.
– There are 60,000 Internet users in Armenia. The average charge for 20
hours of connection is 35 euros and there are 3,500 websites registered
under the “.am” domain name.
g i b r a h a y  c a l e n d a r
â=80¢ The Armenian Youth Federation completed its 17th Annual Summer Camp at the
Morphou Prelature Camp Site at Kalopanayiotis on Sunday 15 August 2004.
Pictures from Camp can be viewed at
â=80¢ The Annual General Meeting of The Hamazkayin Cultural and Educational
Association “Oshakan” Cyprus Chapter will take place on Tuesday September
14, 2004 at 8:00 p.m. at A.Y.M.A.
â=80¢ BACK TO SCHOOL PARTY AT AYMA – Saturday September 11, 2004 at 9:00 p.m.
Entrance 5:00 including two drinks. Music dancing and a lot of fun, just in
time before the schools begin!
â=80¢ Armenian Radio Hour on The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation can beheard
via real audio on . Broadcast times 17:00-18:00 local Cyprus
time (14:00-15:00 GMT) News bulletins at 17:15 local time on Sundays,
Tuesdays, Fridays. Armenian Cypriots can also tune in on the following radio
frequencies 91.1 FM (Mount Olympus – for Nicosia listeners) 94.2 FM
(Paralimni/Protaras/Agia Napa) 92.4 FM (Larnaca) 96.5 FM (Paphos).
â=80¢ Every Wednesday from 7-8 p.m. (Cyprus time +2 GMT) on CyBC’s Trito, Puzant
Nadjarian presents the “History of the Blues” together with Robert Camassa.
The programme which is now in its second year can also be heard on Real
Audio from the Internet edition of CyBC on . A repeat
programme can also be heard seven hours later at 2:00 a.m. local time.
â=80¢ AYMA announces that the weekly practices of the football team begin in the
second week of September. Contact the AYMA Sports Committee for more
details.
â=80¢ The Armenian Prelature announces that the next permit for the Armenian
Cemetery visitation at Ayios Dhometios on the Green line, is scheduled for
Sunday 5 September, 2004.
CALENDAR USA
Dear fellow Armenian,
   We are writing to inform you of an unprecedented event in the musical
and political life of our community: a day long music festival in support of
what may prove to be the most pro-Armenian presidential ticket since Woodrow
Wilson.
   Armenstock 2004 / Kef for Kerry () is a
musical rally in celebration of John Kerry’s nomination for President, and a
tribute to his twenty years of active support for Armenian-American causes
in the Senate. Combining a celebration of Armenian music with political
activism, it brings together some of the best Armenian musicians from both
coasts to help kick-off a nationwide voter mobilization campaign for the
fall of 2004. Armenstock will be held on Saturday August 28, 2004 at Camp
Haiastan in Franklin MA, from 11am to 8pm.
   Please visit our website for more information and to view a truly
amusing flash animation of John Kerry dancing to an Armenian tune (you may
want to turn the volume down if you are at work!):
   The festival will feature a wide range of Armenian musical styles,
including, Armenian Jazz, Progressive Kef, Traditional Folk, Alternative
Folk and Arme nian Pop. Delicious Armenian food will be served throughout
the day at our “Kebab for Kerry” pavilion. We very much hope to see you at
the festival, especially if you reside in New England. If you are not
interested in the political component of the event, please consider
attending to experience the unprecedented musical line-up alone.
   Feel free to forward the link above to others on your list that may be
interested in this event or that might find the content of our website
informative and amusing.
   Best wishes – Armenstock Committee
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