Month: March 2007

Thursday, March 29, 2007
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Victor Hugo: “The smallest animals are the greatest vermin, and the smallest minds have the greatest number of prejudices.”
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Keith Duckworth: “It is better to be un-informed than ill-informed.”
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We like to forget that the Armenian elite at the turn of the last century in the Ottoman Empire was divided between the optimists and the realists. The optimists (i.e. the revolutionaries) prevailed and survived to write their version of the story. What happened to the realists? I suspect they became so disgusted with their adversaries and their campaign of deception that they went underground where they or their offspring continue to live, unlike the offspring of our “heroes” and “statesmen” who carry on their campaign of deception. In this connection it is worth mentioning that General Antranik shared the disgust of the realists and at one point he went as far as declaring the revolutionaries to be war criminals who deserved to be hanged.
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For more on this subject see Pars Tuglaci, THE ROLE OF THE DADIAN FAMILY IN OTTOMAN, SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND POLITICAL LIFE (Istanbul, 1993); and the second volume of Gourgen Mahari’s memoirs titled MANGOUTIUN (Childhood), (Yerevan, 1967, page 228).
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For a more panoramic view of events under discussion see also Philip Mansel’s CONSTANTINOPLE: CITY OF THE WORLD’S DESIRE, 1453-1924 (London, 1995).
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A typical passage in Mansel’s book reads: “In 1914 some Armenians helped Russian troops in Anatolia against Ottoman Forces. There was an Armenian rising in Van. In Constantinople itself some Armenians were seen gloating over the first Russian victories. The Committee [of the Young Turks] decided on a policy of extermination. In Anatolia, between six and eight hundred thousand Armenian men, women and children died during deportations, epidemics and massacres (many thousands of Turks and Kurds also died in the same region during the war). From Constantinople itself 2,432 men, the elite of the Armenian community, were deported. Among them Krikor Zohrab, deputy for Constantinople, who had given shelter to Talaat during the counter-revolution in April 1909. Few were seen again.”
Elsewhere we read: “Some Armenians hoped for a massacre in the belief that it would provoke the intervention of the great powers.”
And: “In 1895-6 both the Sultan and the Armenian revolutionaries treated the Armenians of Constantinople as pawns, without regard for human life.”
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Friday, March 30, 2007
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NOTES AND COMMENTS
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It is the emotionally involved more than anyone else who are in need of impersonal and objective advice, and they are the least appreciative of it.
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Idiotic arguments can be contradicted even by an idiot.
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Mirna Douzjian: “PATRIOTISM. A justification for racism. 2. A sentiment that is inborn in all exemplary Armenians.”
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Socrates was silenced because he insulted the gods. Solzhenitsyn was silenced because he insulted Stalin. It’s always the same story. Just because they are on top, they think they dwell on Olympus.
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Henry de Montherlant: “Blessed are my enemies for they will not betray me.”
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Jean Daniel: “Even in the best of cases, power degrades those who exercise it.”
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Saturday, March 31, 2007
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PERSISTENT BUGGERS
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A politician’s most valuable possession in his image, and his central concern is his power. But he will never tell you that. That’s why everything he says is as distant from reality as propaganda is from truth. This applies not only to their politicians but also to our own, and in general to all politicians regardless of race, color, creed, tribe, and ideology.
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We shouldn’t believe everything we read in the papers. Neither should we believe anything politicians tell us. As when their side expects us to believe they acted in self-defense even when they massacred unarmed civilians; and when our side tells us they did whatever they did in the interest of the people, even when they were too busy saving their own skins to defend a single victim. These musings occur to me while reading Antonia Arslan’s SKYLARK FARM, translated from the Italian by Geoffrey Brock (New York, 2006).
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THE VOICE OF TWO ARMENIAN POETS
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Narine Avedian:
“I have not yet written
A single poem
On the heroic past
Of my nation.
Neither do I feel like writing
On what’s going on today.”
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Armen Shegoyan:
”The past: what is it to me?
Meaningless lines,
Infinite sorrow,
Not much faith.
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A FRENCH THINKER SPEAKS
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Nicolas de Chamfort: “In France they leave alone those who set fires and persecute those who sound the alarm.”
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RUSSIAN EXPERT SAYS ‘COLOR REVOLUTION’ UNLIKELY IN ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.03.2007 14:50 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Attempts to carry out a ‘color revolution’ were
made in all post soviet states, said Sergey Markov, Director of the
Institute for Political Studies. "This method of seizing the power is
specific to the 21st century with the leading role of media, NGOs and
dependence from outer factors. Armenian opposition would like to replay
the ‘color revolution’ scenario but it has no chances, in my opinion,
since Armenia doesn’t experience a deep political crisis as it was
in Ukraine. Unlike Leonid Kuchma, President Robert Kocharian keeps
the high rating. Besides, opposition doesn’t have bright leaders like
Victor Yushchenko or Mikhael Saakashvili," he said. When commenting
on the possible outcomes of the parliamentary election and Robert
Kocharian’s successor, Sergey Markov said, "Defense Minister Serge
Sargsyan is the most likely presidential contender from the Republican
Party, whose main goal is to accomplish the campaign successfully. In
this case the party will nominate Serge Sargsyan and he will win,"
Kreml.org reports.

GOVERNMENT CUTS THE AMOUNT OF FERTILIZERS TO FARMERS

ARMENPRESS
Mar 30 2007

ARTASHAT, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS: The government of Armenia has
drastically cut the amount of fertilizers it will distribute this
year to Armenian provinces.

Thus, the province of Ararat will receive only 400 tons of nitrogen
fertilizers, down from 3,400 tons it received last spring.

Tigran Virabian, head of agricultural and nature protection department
at the provincial governor’s office, said 400 tons will be distributed
to 93 rural communities of the province, but according to him, the
province usually needs up to 8,000 tons of nitric fertilizers annually.

He said the government pays 10,000 drams per one ton, while the rest
74,000 drams are paid by communities. Farmers pay 3,700 drams for
one sack weighing 50 kg, while the market price is 6,000 Drams.

PERSPECTIVES OF REGIONAL INTEGRATION DISCUSSED IN BAKU

ArmRadio.am
30.03.2007 14:31

Issues related to the situation conditioned by the conflicts in the
South Caucasus were discussed during a conference in Baku entitled "The
perspectives of regional integration in the South Caucasus: Benefits
and Dangers. The event was organized by the British LINKS organization.

LINKS Coordinator for the South Caucasus Marek Resich informs that
conferences on the topic have been held in all three South Caucasian
states – Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

LINKS Executive Director Danis Samut noted that "one of the urgent
topics today is connected with the regional cooperation between the
countries of the South Caucasus and

Head of the Azerbaijani delegation Siyavush Novruzov declared that "
Azerbaijan will not cooperate with Armenia until the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict is resolved."

The Deputy mentioned that "the conflicts in the South Caucasus hinder
the European integration of the region."

AUSTRALIA’S IBERIAN BOARD RECOMMENDS ACCEPTING TAMAYA OFFER

Asia Pulse
Published: Mar 30, 2007

PERTH, March 30 Asia Pulse – Gold miner Iberian Resources Ltd (ASX:IBR)
says a $A120 million ($US96.69 million) merger with copper producer
Tamaya Resources Ltd (ASX:TMR) will create an acquisition focused,
mid-sized emerging producer.

Iberian’s board has unanimously recommended shareholders accept the
offer of four Tamaya shares for every Iberian share.

"Your board unanimously recommends that Iberian shareholders accept
Tamaya’s offer in the absence of a superior proposal …," Iberian
chairman Graeme Walker said in a statement Thursday.

Iberian said the merger would create a diversified mining business
with a combined market capitalisation of about $250 million.

The proposed merger will bring together the Chilean copper-gold
producing assets of Tamaya and Iberian’s advanced gold assets in
Armenia and Portugal.

"A merged entity would present shareholders with an acquisition
focused, mid-sized emerging producer and a sizeable project pipeline
at various stages of mine development," Iberian said.

Tamaya is producing about 6,000 tonnes of copper annually from its
Cinabrio mine in Chile and pondering expanding production to 13,000
tonnes by the end of the year.

Iberian’s key asset is the Lichkvaz gold project in Armenia, which
is expected to produce about 20,000 ounces this year before ramping
up to a rate of 40,000 ounces a year.

The gold play also has the advanced Montemor gold project in Portugal.

"The merged entity will own projects located in four of the world’s
highly prospective copper/gold belts, including Tamaya’s Chilean
and Australian operations, and Iberian’s Portuguese and Armenian
operations," Iberian said.

"Shareholders will gain exposure to a diversified portfolio of assets,
in terms of commodities and global location, thereby reducing the
risk associated with investing in a single-commodity company."

Iberian said it would require additional financing for its Armenian
gold mine in the medium term, and a cash-flow positive Tamaya could
assist in the financing required.

The merger proposal closes on May 3.

Iberian and Tamaya were unavailable for further comment.

Shares in Iberian closed half a cent higher at 74.5 cents and Tamaya
added half a cent to 20 cents.

RA HEALTH MINISTER CONSIDERS INFORMATION OF FDA ABOUT ‘JERMUK’ MINERAL WATER EXAGGERATED

Arminfo
2007-03-30 12:47:00

A panic concerned with an intolerable content of arsenic in the
mineral water "Jermuk" is unjustified and exaggerated. This water and
the content of arsenic in it meets all the parameters of RA GOST on
safety and quality of the natural mineral waters. Along with it, like
any other medical water, it should be used by doctor’s recommendation,
and as a table water – in definite quantities, the RA Health Minister
Norair Davidyan told ArmInfo, commenting on the information of FDA
about the mineral water "Jermuk" being hazardous for health.

He underlined that the indicators of arsenic content, given by FDA,
require fundamental and additional investigations. "I do not know what
they were checking but it is unambiguous that one should be based
on the results of analyses on one bottle only. Moreover, despite
the fact the human organism consist of water by 80%, the people are
contra-indicated to drink two pails of water at once. The same refers
to the indicators of chemical harmlessness of the mineral water,
which are determined by the values and ratios of their indicators. At
least, we drink the "Jermuk" and feel well. At that, we do not forget
that it is very useful in definite proportions and prescriptions",
N. Davidyan said.

UN FLAG FLAG WAS FLYING AT HALF-MAST ON MARCH 28

ArmRadio.am
30.03.2007 15:29

On the day of mourning on the occasion of the death of RA Prime
Minister Andranik Margaryan on March 28 the flag of the UN was
lowered. During a briefing at the UN Central Office in New York UN
Secretary General’s Spokesman Farhan Hak said that "the flag was
lowered as a sign of mourning announced connected with the death of
Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan.

LEVON ARONYAN THE 4TH IN THE "AMBER" INTERNATIONAL CHESS TOURNAMENT

ArmRadio.am
30.03.2007 15:48

Armenian Grand Master Levon Aronyan defeated Vasili Ivanchuk of Ukraine
in the last 11th round of the "Amber" international chhess tournament
held in Monte Carlo (Monaco). With 12.5 points Aronyan shared 4-5
places with Russian Pyotor Svidler. With additional criteria Aronyan
is the 4th. He won the rival in the "blindfold" tour and played a
draw in the "rapid" chess tour.

The winner of the tournament was World Chess Champion Russian Vladimir
Kramnik with 15.5 points. Vishvanatan Anand and Vladimir Ivanchuk
occupy the 2nd and 3rd places.

SENATE PASSES THE GENOCIDE ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

ArmRadio.am
30.03.2007 16:00

The US Senate passed the legislation S.888, closing a legal loophole
that prevents the US Justice Department from prosecuting people in
the United States who have committed genocide in other countries,
reports the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

The measure, known as the Genocide Accountability Act, was approved
only two weeks after its introduction on March 15th by Assistant
Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL), the lead author of the Armenian
Genocide Resolution, along with Tom Coburn (R-OK), Patrick Leahy
(D-VT), and John Coburn (R-TX).

Under current law, "genocide is only considered a crime if it is
committed within the United States or by a US national outside the
United States". The Genocide Accountability Act would close the
current loophole by amending the Genocide Convention Implementation
Act to allow prosecution of non-US citizens for genocide committed
outside the US.

BORIS GRIZLOV ELECTED CSTO PA PRESIDENT

ArmRadio.am
30.03.2007 16:11

Speaker of the Russian State Duma Boris Grizlov was elected President
of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO). Grizlov has been carrying out the duties of the
organization’s President ever since its establishment in November 2006.

The first sitting of the Parliamentary Assembly was held in Saint
Petersburg today. Parliamentarians from all seven member states –
Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan – participated in the sitting.