Month: April 2007

OPEN HOUSE TO TAKE PLACE IN YEREVAN BRANDY COMPANY ON APRIL 21 AND 22

Mediamax Agency, Armenia
April 18 2007

Yerevan, April 18 /Mediamax/. Within the framework of the celebration
of the 120th anniversary of brandy production in Armenia, the Yerevan
Brandy Company (YBC) will hold a special "Open House" action on April
21 and 22.

As Mediamax was told in the press service of the YBC, in the course
of two days the Armenian brandy lovers will be provided an exclusive
opportunity to make a free tour in the territory of the Yerevan Brandy
Ñompany, to get acquainted with the history of the brandy production
in Armenia, its technology and the production at present.

"Open House" in YBC will be accompanied by 10-15% sale for the
production of Pernod Ricard production, as well as ArArAt brandy.

There are many surprises and presents prepared for the guests.

–Boundary_(ID_PBBC0Bc1bkQ1Ft1suQcBoA)–

EX-SPEAKER URGES VOTERS TO SPURN BRIBES
By Ruzanna Stepanian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 18 2007

Former parliament speaker Artur Baghdasarian urged impoverished
voters not to sell their votes to pro-government parties as he took
his opposition Orinats Yerkir Party’s election campaign to the central
Aragatsotn province on Wednesday.

Visiting the economically depressed regional town of Talin,
Baghdasarian claimed that residents of nearby villages are being
offered vote bribes worth up to 10,000 drams ($27) en masse. "By
selling your votes you would sell the future of your children," he
told about 200 people attending an Orinats Yerkir campaign gathering
in Talin.

"I have just been told in villages that [people there are offered]
5,000 drams, 10,000 drams per vote," he said. "A question arises. If
you divide [the figure] by 2,000 days [remaining before next elections]
it will make 50 lumas (0.5 dram). Is it worth selling the honor of
your family for 50 lumas a day?"

"Make a choice accordance with your conscience. Make a choice that
will let your children live in a normal country," added Baghdasarian.

Vote buying by governing parties has increasingly characterized
various-level elections held in Armenia over the past decade. Many fear
that the illegal practice will reach a new height during the May 12
parliamentary election. The governing Republican Party (HHK) and the
Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) of pro-presidential businessman Gagik
Tsarukian have already been accused by their opponents of planning
to hand out cash. But both parties deny the allegations.

Baghdasarian and his associates visited Talin and nearby villages
the day after campaign rallies held there by the HHK’s top leader,
Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian. Sarkisian gathered senior government
officials in Yerevan on Wednesday to discuss numerous socioeconomic
grievances voiced by local residents.

"I’m sure there are many problems which you can solve quickly," he
said, according to the Armenian government’s press office. "People
must know when a particular problem will be solved. This is the only
way we can enjoy [their] trust."

Some of the disgruntled Talin voters claimed that they were too
scared to confront Sarkisian with demand for the government’s
resignation. "Many people here are kind of scared and call themselves
Republicans to avoid getting into trouble," said one man.

"If I criticize the party its activists will beat me up," said another.

Other people were frustrated with the abundance of opposition parties
running for parliament on their own. "If the opposition had joined
forces for regime change, we might have had some expectations from
these elections," said one of them. "But nothing will change in
this situation."

POLL SHOWS ARMENIANS OPPOSE U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
By Emil Danielyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 18 2007

Most Armenians share a worldwide disapproval of the interventionist
foreign policy pursued by the United States, according to a
multinational opinion poll reported on Wednesday.

The poll was conducted from June 2006 to March 2006 in Armenia
and 17 other countries — including the U.S., China, and Russia —
that represent roughly 56 percent of the world’s population. Its
findings were released by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs,
a U.S. think-tank that helped organize the study aimed at gauging
global public opinion on the issue.

Respondents in those countries were asked how much they trust the
U.S. "to act responsibly in the world." Fifty-eight percent of those
polled in Armenia answered "not at all" or "not very much." The same
answers were given by a majority of respondents in China, Russia,
France and six other nations covered by the survey.

Pollsters also found that nearly two-thirds of Armenians believe
the U.S. is more aggressive in acting as a global policeman than
it should be. Large majorities elsewhere, including America itself,
share this view, they said.

Christopher Whitney, executive director for studies at the Chicago
Council on Global Affairs, was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying
that the survey’s results testify to broad international frustration
with U.S. foreign policy and the war in Iraq in particular. But he
said people around the world realize at the same time that the U.S. has
a key role to play in promoting and enforcing international security.

Armenians, for one thing, do not appear to be unhappy with their
government’s growing defense and security ties with Washington. Sixty
percent of them described U.S.-Armenian relations as "good" in a
U.S.-funded opinion poll conducted last November.

However, only 17 percent listed the U.S. among Armenia’s most important
partners, with almost twice as many respondents mentioning neighboring
Iran, America’s regional arch-foe. The list was topped by Russia
and France.

ARMENIAN ELECTION CHIEF SATISFIED WITH CAMPAIGN
By Ruben Meloyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 18 2007

The chairman of Armenia’s Central Election Commission (CEC), Garegin
Azarian, insisted on Wednesday that it is doing a good job of ensuring
a level playing field and making other preparations for next month’s
parliamentary elections.

Azarian said that the CEC, dominated by President Robert Kocharian’s
political allies, has so far received only ten formal complaints from
political parties and individual candidates vying for the 131 seats
in the National Assembly.

"Although it’s a bit difficult for me to evaluate our work, I would
call it slightly more than satisfactory," he told a news conference.

"I have a stricter approach than you. But ten complaints are OK."

Opposition leaders are far more critical of the CEC’s and other
government bodies’ handling of the election campaign. In particular,
some of them claim to have found glaring inaccuracies in the lists
of the country’s 2.3 million eligible voters.

But Azarian dismissed the complaints, saying that responsibility for
drawing up the voter registry was recently transferred from the CEC
to the Armenian police. He also said that voter lists have already
been posted on the police website and at nearly 2,000 polling stations
across Armenia, arguing that there is sufficient time to examine and
correct them before the May 12 vote.

"We have never had such transparent voter lists before," said the
former Justice Ministry official. "So let us check them and report
all inaccuracies to the police."

Still, Azarian admitted that the registry may still contain the names
of dead people, something which has been a major source of electoral
fraud. "If anybody says that there is a voter registry in the world
that does not include a single dead person I will immediately resign,"
he said.

The voter registration system has been computerized with the help of
the U.S. government. Last week the U.S. embassy in Yerevan donated
45 computers to an Armenian police division in charge of the registry.

Azarian was also asked about media reports that government officials
and representatives of pro-establishment parties are illegally
collecting citizens’ passport numbers with the aim of stealing
their votes. He said the CEC has asked the police and prosecutors to
investigate those reports. They refused to launch criminal inquiries,
citing a lack of factual evidence, he added.

Some opposition parties have also complained that unlike the main
pro-Kocharian parties, they are unable to place their campaign
billboards in Yerevan and other parts of the country. Azarian said
they should redirect their complaints to local governments and private
advertising firms.

In a related development, the CEC on Wednesday took delivery of 5,000
new ballot boxes that will be used during the upcoming elections. The
transparent boxes were purchased from Syria.

EU PLANS TO OUTLAW HOLOCAUST DENIAL

EUPolitix.com, Belgium
April 18 2007

Controversial plans to make denying or trivialising the Holocaust
a criminal offence are expected to be endorsed by EU member states
on Thursday.

Holocaust denial is a criminal offence in several European countries,
including Germany and Austria, but the draft law would extend this
to the rest of the EU.

The proposed legislation makes a contentious distinction between
inciting violence against racial or ethnic groups and against
religious groups.

It will make it mandatory for all EU member states to punish public
incitement to "violence or hatred directed against a group of persons
or a member of such a group defined by reference to race, colour
or religion.

Diplomats stress the provision had been carefully worded to tackle
only the denial of the Holocaust – the Nazi extermination of Jews
during WW2 – and the genocide in Rwanda in 1994.

They say the wording was designed to avoid criminalising plays or
films about the Holocaust, such as the musical The Producers.

In an attempt to assuage Turkish fears, diplomats say the provisions
would not penalise the denial of mass killing of Armenians in the
aftermath of the 1915 collapse of the Ottoman empire.

EPP-ED leader Joseph Daul said he welcomes the initiative .

"At the same time I understand the reserves of some member states
who want similar treatment for people who deny the evils of communist
dictatorships."

UK Socialist MEP Claude Moraes, a former head of the influential
Commission for Racial Equality in the UK, said hopes the proposal
will be adopted when EU justice ministers discuss it on Thursday.

"I fully back this plan. It is extremely welcome and the centrepiece
of a framework decision on race. It should be widely supported by
anyone who wants to crackdown on anti-Semitism."

92ND ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATED

Western Queens Gazette, NY
April 18 2007

Photo: Israel Arabian, 102, tells his daughter-in-law and translator
Mini Arabian that he still has panic attacks when he remembers the
Armenian Genocide.

April 24, 2007 marks the 92nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

On Sunday, April 22 from 2 to 4 p.m. the public is invited to join
Armenian Americans from Queens and throughout the tri-state area and
their supporters at Times Square to commemorate the 92nd anniversary
of the first mass extermination of a particular ethnic group to
occur during the 20th century and to pay tribute to Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, who was recently assassinated in Turkey because
he wrote about the Armenian Genocide. "We Cannot Forget, We Will Not
Forget" is the theme of the Commemoration.

Distinguished speakers will include John Marshall Evans, United
States Ambassador to Armenia (2004-06), Congressmember Frank Pallone
Jr. (D-New Jersey), co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian
Issues, and Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau, grandson
of Henry Morgenthau Sr., United States ambassador to the Ottoman Empire
during World War I. (On April 29, 1915, Henry Morgenthau Sr. stated,
"I am confident that the whole history of [the] human race contains
no such terrible episode as this. The great massacres and persecutions
of the past seem almost insignificant when compared to the sufferings
of the Armenian race in 1915." In 1915, 33 years before the United
Nations Genocide Convention was adopted, the Armenian Genocide was
condemned by the international community as a crime against humanity.)

Photo: Annie Karakaian, 95, weeps after hearing Adriyan Bagciyan’s
story.

During World War I, the Young Turk political faction of the Ottoman
Empire sought the creation of a new Turkish state, extending into
Central Asia. Those promoting the ideology called "Pan Turkism"
(creating a homogenous Turkish state) saw Turkey’s Armenian population
as an obstacle to the realization of that goal. During the Armenian
Genocide (1915-1923), the Young Turk Government systematically forced
1.5 million Armenians out of their ancestral homeland in present-day
Turkey and annihilated them.

April 24, 1915 marked the beginning of the Armenian Genocide in
Constantinople (present day Istanbul) with the arrest, torture and
execution of 300 Armenian intellectuals, writers, poets, political
and civic leaders by the Young Turk Government of the Ottoman Empire.

Also on that day, 5,000 of the poorest Armenians were butchered in
the streets and in their homes.

Photo: Aghavni "Aggie" Ellian, executive director of the New York Home
for the Armenian Aged in Flushing (r.), speaks with Adriyan Bagciyan,
98, about her survival during the Armenian Genocide.

In May 1915, after mass deportations had already begun, Turkish
Minister of the Interior Talaat Pasha ordered the Armenian
population’s deportation into the Syrian desert. Adult and teenage
males were separated from the deportation caravans and killed under
the direction of Young Turk functionaries. Women and children were
driven for months over mountains and desert, often raped, tortured,
and mutilated. Deprived of food and water and often stripped of
clothing, they fell by the hundreds and thousands along the routes
to the desert. Ultimately, more than half the Armenian population,
1,500,000 people, was annihilated. In this manner the Armenian people
were eliminated from their homeland of several millennia.

Sam Azadian, who lost four siblings during the Armenian Genocide,
founded the first Times Square Commemoration in 1985. Azadian stated,
"It is important to increase public awareness of the Armenian
Genocide. Two out of three Armenians perished as a result of forced
deportation and mass murder by the Ottoman Turks."

Armenian Genocide survivors living at the New York Armenian Home for
the Aged on 45th Avenue in Flushing have not forgotten the atrocities
committed against them, their families and neighbors by the Young
Turk government.

Mini Arabian, daughter-inlaw and translator for Israel Arabian, 102,
said that Israel Arabian still has panic attacks when he remembers
the Armenian Genocide. He fled the Turks and ended up living in
an orphanage in Greece after his mother and father were killed. He
doesn’t remember his parents and lost contact with a sister, who was
forced to marry a Turk and live in Turkey. Eventually through the
Red Cross, he was able to reconnect with his sister through letters,
but he never saw her again. Mini said that her grandmother, Hagi
Synanian, a mother of five, fled on foot. During her long journey,
four of her five children died of starvation and she had to dig their
graves and bury them. The only child who survived was Mini’s father.

Adriyan Bagciyan, 99, blurted, "Everyone knows our story. What did the
Turks do? They killed my entire family! What story can I tell you? I
remember fleeing to Syria to escape the Turks." Kristine Naldjian,
100, recalled, "I remember running and hiding in the mountains. The
Turks beat, raped and killed young girls. I saw the Turks take our
school teachers away from our classrooms. Our teachers never returned."

Annie Karakaian is 95. Her eyes welled up with tears after hearing
Adriyan Bagciyan’s story. Karakaian added, "We were all afraid of the
Turks. My father was a carpenter and helped save Armenians by building
a secret hiding space under our stairs. My father was eventually
forced into the Turkish army. We were finally reunited with my father
and in 1920 he made us wooden suitcases and my whole family traveled
by boat to Ellis Island." Karakaian, an artist and sculptor, proudly
revealed that she "obtained the American Dream" and graduated with
a fine arts degree from Queens College, cum laude, at the age of 61.

Dennis Papazian, PhD, founding director of the Armenian Research
Center at the University of Michigan, noted, "The Turkish government to
this day continues to deny the reality of the Armenian Genocide which
opened the door to all the genocides of the 20th and 21st centuries
including the Holocaust, Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur. In fact,
when Hitler sent his Death Head troops into Poland at the beginning
of World War II, he said ‘Go. Kill without mercy.

Who today remembers the extermination of the Armenians?’"

On January 30, 2007, Congressmembers Adam Schiff (D-California), George
Radanovich (R-California), Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Pallone and Joe
Knollenberg (RMichigan), Brad Sherman (DCalifornia) and Thaddeus
McCotter (R-Michigan) introduced the Armenian Genocide Resolution
(House Resolution 106) to reaffirm the Armenian Genocide.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and Majority
Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) have also championed U.S. efforts at
reaffirmation of the Armenian Genocide. The resolution "Call[s] upon
the President to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States
reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues
related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented
in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide, and
for other purposes."

On March 14, 2007, the Armenian Genocide Resolution (Senate Resolution
106), mirroring House Resolution 106, was introduced in the U.S. Senate
by Assistant Majority Leader Senator Richard J.

Durbin (DIllinois) and Senator John Ensign (R-Nevada).

The 92nd Commemoration is organized by Mid-Atlantic Knights and
Daughters of Vartan (), a U.S. fraternal
organization of Armenian-Americans, and cosponsored by the Armenian
General Benevolent Union (), the Armenian Assembly of
America (), the Armenian National Committee of America
() and ARMENPAC, the Armenian-American Political Action
Committee ().

For more information about participating in the 92nd anniversary
commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, call Knights and Daughters
of Vartan Chair Hirant Gulian, 212-764- 8730 or Sam Azadian at 973-
827-2487.

0418/features/024.html

AZERBAIJAN STRETCHES TOWARDS DEMOCRACY

Cafe Babel, France
April 18 2007

Between April 16-20, the European Council discusses the fulfilment
of the Caucasian republic’s human rights obligations

Photo: Shushi church in Nagorno Karabaj, Azerbaijan (Photo:
Sputnikmania/ Flickr)

The European Council has not been the only institution to address
the issue of the Caucasian republic. The United Nations Human Rights
Council’s session in Geneva last March also held debates on the
internally displaced population in the Azeri territory. The population
is displaced due to a conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh,
a region occupied by Armenians that declared its independence from
Azerbaijan in 1991, but that no international state has recognised. At
the start of 2007, Amnesty International published an explicit report
warning of the lack of freedom of expression and threats suffered by
local informants in Azerbaijan.

The protagonism that this ex-Soviet republic has acquired in the
last few months is not accidental. After the ‘information blackout’
that followed the turbulent legislative elections in November 2005,
the Azeri society is stretching and preparing itself to take on what
they see as a ‘political challenge.’ That is to say, the presidential
elections of 2008. The government will have to demonstrate that the
‘little gestures’ that Iiham Aliyev’s executive council has carried
out in the last few months – amnesty to political prisoners, the
remodelling of some government portfolios, the liberalisation of
foreign policy – have not been merely an image clean up to avoid
criticism from the international community, but a convinced and
convincing step towards a mature, definitive democracy.

Electoral ghosts

The election will be a real golden opportunity for the opposition.

During the 2003 presidential and 2005 legislative elections, the
opposition united its forces in a unique opposing platform against
the ‘electoral ghost’ created by Aliyev’s government. This was a
field of entertainment perfect for some elections: those of 2008,
in which the loss of breath of the opposition parties’ union – that
still hasn’t decided on what terms it will compete – can recover with
an announcement that respects international standards of cleanness
and transparency.

For Razi Nurullayev, Azeri activist and founder of the Yox youth
movement, the main challenge for the opposition is to ‘mobilise and
get society involved,’ especially the youngest sectors. ‘The young are
caught up above all in their routines and their problems getting ahead
in life,’ explains Nurullayev, who now works in the consolidation of
the ‘Coalition of Civil Society,’ a network of local and international
non-governmental organisations, civil associations and influential
persons, created in order to favour social debate and build bridges
between political life and society. ‘Citizen passivity is the base
for some bad elections.’ He is convinced that true democracy will
never exist in Azerbaijan until the Azeris get fully involved in the
day-to-day politics of the country.

Euroasiatic chessboard pawn

For the moment, the Azeri government has consented to put into
action some of the recommendations made by the European Councils
Venice Commission and organisms of the Organisation for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), with respect to introducing amendments
in the electoral law. Now, for example, electoral committee members
will be made up of an equal number of representatives from both the
government and the opposition.

However, in its April session, it is probable that the European
Council will insist on a change of course in other areas, including
judicial system reform, the fight against corruption and organised
crime, the situation of human rights defence NGOs in the country,
and freedom of expression and meetings. Premises that, according to
the Azeri government, the European Council should make extendible to
other countries that make up the institution.

Azerbaijan is a vital piece on the Euroasiatic chessboard. It shares
a border with Iran – where 35% of the population is Azeri. That’s
30 million against the 9 million that reside in Azerbaijan. Its
rich energy resources place it in the centre of growing Caucasian
importance in the international geopolitical situation. Azerbaijan,
however, looks at Europe knowing that its outside credibility depends
to a large extent on the democratic advances that it is capable of
stamping on its political life during the months to come.

In-text photos: Aliyevs Sr and Jr, the dynasty ruling Azerbaijan
(Ippy/ Flickr), European Council (Codl/ Flickr)

=T&Id=10707

PIANIST WINS INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
By: Ranae Bangerter

USU The Utah Statesman, UT
April 18 2007

Aram Arakelyan, a senior in piano performance, took home two awards
and $2,000 at the Kingsville International Competition in Texas a
month ago.

After competing against 28 other pianists from around the world,
Arakelyan took first place in the senior solo division and the Isabel
Scionti special prize for an outstanding performance, receiving a
$1,000 check for each award.

But, no matter who’s listening, Arakelyan said being nervous is a
major part of his performances.

"It was really nerve-wracking," he said. "There were so many great
pianists there. People from out of countries, different places, people
from East Coast and the big universities come, and they’re all just
really amazing. It only takes a couple and you get really nervous."

Arakelyan played three solos at the three-day competition. He
performed Beethoven’s sonata "Opus 109," Rachmaninoff’s transcription
of Kreisler’s "Liebesleid," and Arnoldo Virginian’s character piece
"Capriccio."

The first day he performed, he only played two songs, the second day
he practiced and the third day he performed his last piece.

"I had to try as hard as I could just to play, to concentrate and
play like I usually do. As far as competition is concerned, it’s
always just kind of emotionally unstable and really nervous," he said.

Director of piano studies Gary Amano attributes Arakelyan’s great
performance to his parents and the USU piano program.

Arakelyan is from Armenia, and both his parents are musicians.

Six years ago he competed in an the international Junior Bechauer
competition and the director of the contest told Arakelyan to go
to USU.

"The piano program here is just about as strong as any piano program in
the East Coast. It’s very highly acclaimed. There’s a lot of pianists
back home from Utah State," he said.

He said his parents had to sell some of their property in Armenia to
pay for him to come to USU, and he hasn’t seen them since.

"It’s great, my parents are very supportive," Arakelyan said. "I
think it’s a lot easier in some ways because it’s much easier to
see perspective and figure out where I go next, because things are
available for musicians."

He accompanies for both the USU Choral and the Chamber Singers.

"That’s been really helpful. That’s kind of what pianists really do,"
he said.

Since he’s always playing piano, he likes to switch up his genres
and has recently taken up jazz.

"He plays everything," Amano said.

Last year Arakelyan was selected for the International Gina Bachauer
competition and was one of 40 students from around the world selected.

"He’s an excellent performer, he’s an excellent accompanist . . .

he’s just been a real big asset to us," Amano said.

Arakelyan is the sixth student of Amano’s to win the competition,
and Amano thinks it’s because of the personal attention that is given
to the students at USU.

"If (students) go to a big music school, they get their hour a week
lesson and here, if they’re preparing for a competition, I give them
as much time as they need to get them ready," Amano said. "I think
most of the teachers at the big schools aren’t willing to do that."

Arakelyan hasn’t decided what he will do after graduation this summer
because he said he wants to keep his options open.

"I’m definitely going to keep playing, I’m definitely going to keep
performing, that’s the path. I’m just not sure where I’m going to go
afterwards or whether I’m going to stay or not," he said.

?event=displayregistrationprompt&requiredregis tration=1&thereferer=http%3A//media.www.utahst atesman.com/media/storage/paper243/news/2007/04/18 /CampusNews/Pianist.Wins.International.Competition -2849601.shtml

PARKER, MCQUEEN TOP ACTORS AT BEVERLY HILL FEST
By Gregg Kilday

Back Stage, NY
April 18 2007

"Occupation 101," directed by brothrs Sufyan Omeish and Abdallah
Omeish, was the recepient of the Golden Palm Award at the 7th annual
International Beverly Hills Film Festival, which concluded Sunday.

The documentary about the U.S. government’s involvement in the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, also took the prize for best editing.

The awards were handed out at the gala awards ceremony held at the
Beverly Hills Hotel in honor of the Hearts of Hope Foundation.

Molly Parker was named best actress for her role in writer/director
Matt Bissonnette’s "Who Loves the Sun," while the best actor
award went to Steven R. McQueen for "Club Soda," directed by Paul
Carafortes. "Soda" also won the audience choice award for best short.

R. L. Hooker was honored as best director for his short film "The Knife
Grinder’s Tale." The prize for best producer went to director/producer
Michael Feifer for "Chicago Massacre: Richard Speck," a horror film
based on the true mass murder that took place in 1966. "Massacre"
also won the Audience Choice Award for best feature.

The Audience Choice Award for best documentary went to "Dominick
Dunne In Search of Justice, " directed by the daughter-father team
of Clara Kuperberg and Robert Kuperberg.

The Armenian feature "Big Story in a Small City," from writer/director
Gor Kirakosian, was named best foreign film.

The best cinematography prize went to the short "Tug," directed by
David Andrew Ward.

Writer/director/producer Ray Griggs’ "Lucifer" was hailed as best
animation.

Writers Wil Ramos and Ian Clark took best screenplay honors for their
short "Waning Moon."

Special Jury Awards were presented to David Gow’s "Steel Toes,"
best feature film; Edward Blackoff’s "Incest: A Family Tragedy,"
best documentary; and Cameron Fay’s "Redemption Song," best short film.

The Golden Palm Screenplay Competition Award went to David Krae for
"Lucretia." First runner-up was Vikram Kumar for "In Times of War,"
and second runner-up was Kitania Kavey for "Shades of Sin."

The five-day fest opened April 11 at the Clarity Theater in Beverly
Hills with the feature "Who Loves the Sun."

ACTIVITIES OF AN AMERICAN COMPANY IN AN ANCIENT AZERBAIJANI TOWN TO BE DISCUSSED BY AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
April 18 2007

Azerbaijan, Baku / Òrend corr E. Huseynli / Mubariz Gurbanoghli, a
Member of the Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly
(PA) of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) has said that on
18 April that the participation of an American company in illegal
drawing of a so-called "major" plan of the ancient Azerbaijani City
of Shusha occupied by the Armenians would be discussed during the
forthcoming meeting of the PA BSEC.

The meeting will be held on 24-25 April. The Azerbaijani delegation
will raise the issues concerning Armenia’s occupation policy and the
non-constructive position this country keep on sticking to.

Notably, Armenia has occupied 20% of Azerbaijani territories
(Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 bordering regions) in 1992. These
Azerbaijani lands are still under occupation. A cease-fire agreement
was signed between the two conflict countries in 1994.

–Boundary_(ID_47TzxFBwHeqLX+q9egxxeA)–