Month: April 2007

TURKEY CRITICIZES CANADIAN PM’S REMARKS ON ALLEGED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Xinhua General News Service
April 26, 2007 Thursday 3:00 PM EST

Turkey on Thursday strongly criticized Canadian Prime Minister Stephen
Harper’s recent statement that referred the mass killing of Armenians
under the Turkish Ottoman Empire period as genocide.

"We find this reference in the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister
unacceptable, unjust and incompatible with our relations as friends
and allies," Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

In his annual address in connection with the 92nd anniversary of
the alleged Armenian genocide on April 24, Harper reminded the both
chambers of the Canadian Parliament have adopted a resolution that
recognizes the first genocide of the 20th century.

"We regret Prime Minister Harper’s statement which will contribute
neither to the promotion of the Turkish-Canadian relations nor to a
possible rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia," the statement said.

"Turkey remains committed to preserving its good will and constructive
approach in order to assure that the events of 1915 are understood
correctly in their entirety by the Turks, the Armenians and other
nations," the statement noted.

"Turkey’s proposal to establish a joint commission of historians is
still on the table and has been brought widely to the attention of
the international public opinion," the ministry added in the statement.

Turkey has always refused to establish diplomatic relations with
Armenia on the basis that Yerevan claims up to 1.5 million Armenians
died as a result of mass killing during the Turkish Ottoman period
between 1915 and 1923, an event recognized as genocide by many
countries.

However, it does acknowledge that up to 300,000 Armenians and an even
higher number of Muslims died during fighting and efforts to relocate
populations away from the war zone in eastern Turkey.

LA BELLE MATURITE DE SERGEY KHACHATRYAN
Par Jean-Louis Validire

Le Figaro, France
26 avril 2007

SERGEY Khachatryan n’avait pas 4 ans quand l’URSS s’est effondree. Il
demeure cependant dans son jeu, comme le prouvent les enregistrements
des concertos de Sibelius, Chostakovitch et de son compatriote
Khatchatourian realises pour le label Naïve, un pur produit de
l’ecole sovietique. Il allie a la rigueur et a la fougue une grande
sensibilite qui temoigne d’une veritable empathie pour cette musique,
revelant une maturite etonnante pour son âge où l’on est souvent plus
enclin aux manifestations exterieures de virtuosite. Ne a Erevan,
le jeune artiste a debute le violon a 6 ans avant de continuer son
apprentissage en Allemagne où il a rencontre en 1996 son professeur
Josef Rissin. " C’est lui qui a fait de moi un violoniste " , reconnaît
Khachatryan, qui a engrange depuis les recompenses dont le premier
prix du concours Jean Sibelius a Helsinki en 2000. Malgre cet exil,
il se sent profondement attache a ses origines. " Quand on vit loin,
on se sent peut-etre encore plus Armenien " , dit-il en avouant qu’il
revient chaque annee pour jouer pour son peuple.

" Je fais une carrière merveilleuse en Europe et j’ai le devoir d’en
faire profiter ceux qui sont restes. " C’est avec Bach qu’il a fait
a Wiesbaden ses debuts en concert en interpretant le Concerto en la
mineur . Il n’avait que 9 ans mais son admiration pour le compositeur
n’a pas faibli depuis. Il le joue toujours dans la meme esthetique,
n’ayant jamais ete tente par l’interpretation baroque. " Il y a
tellement plus de possibilites avec les instruments"modernes*. Et de
toute facon on ne peut pas jouer dans les grandes salles d’aujourd’hui
avec des violons baroques " , estime-t-il. Il est vrai qu’il joue
un violon d’exception, le stradivarius " Huggins " qui lui a ete
prete par la Nippon Music Foundation lorsqu’il a remporte en 2005
le concours Reine Elisabeth. Une musique universelle Si ses goûts
l’on successivement porte vers Sibelius, Chostakovitch, Beethoven et
Brahms dont il joue les concerts, Bach est toujours reste au fond
de son coeur " car c’est une musique universelle qui a pour moi un
sens sacre " . Il interpretera demain la Sonate pour piano et violon
de Chostakovitch, un compositeur dont il se sent proche. " Il a ete
persecute et c’est sans doute ce qui le rend proche des Armeniens
qui puisent leur melancolie dans le souvenir des tragedies que notre
peuple a traversees. C’est pour cela que je ressens cette musique
comme ma musique " , explique-t-il. Il manifeste aussi un penchant
particulier pour Beethoven, " l’autre versant de ma personnalite. Son
concerto s’elève au-dessus de l’humanite. C’est different de celui
de Brahms qui me plaît beaucoup mais qui reste près des gens dans
leurs emotions et leurs passions ".

Au Theâtre des Champs-Elysees, il sera accompagne par sa soeur dans
un exercice qu’il affectionne. " Le recital et la musique de chambre,
c’est un monde tellement different de l’orchestre, on se sent tellement
plus proche des musiciens avec lesquels on joue. " Ce qui ne l’empeche
pas de consacrer une grande partie de son activite aux concertos. "
Les orchestres sont comme des instruments et dependent beaucoup de
la facon dont ils sont diriges " , estime-t-il. Il a deja, malgre son
jeune âge, une grande experience en la matière puisqu’il a joue avec
Masur, Haïtink, Janowski, Termikanov ou James Conlon. Il n’est pas
pour le moment interesse par la musique contemporaine, trop loin de
son univers, meme s’il est souvent sollicite par des compositeurs. "
Chostakovitch, c’est pour moi la fin " , dit le jeune violoniste
pour qui " la musique est le reflet du pouvoir de la vie et du
monde d’aujourd’hui " . Theâtre des Champs-Elysees, ce soir a 20
heures. Res. : 01 49 52 50 50.

–Boundary_(ID_v 2A3UxzT83yWy7T/PBkMHw)–

THE LIMITED AMERICAN FOCUS
David Dumke, Arab News

Arab News, Saudi Arabia
April 26 2007

THE POLITICAL focus in the United States today revolves around
two topics – the 2008 presidential campaign and Iraq. Yet with
the election still 18 months away and the solution to the Iraqi
imbroglio far from clear, there remain at least ten other issues –
mostly involving foreign policy – in which US policy appears frozen
or reactive which could greatly alter both US policy and the broader
geopolitical climate.

Of course, no issue looms larger than Iraq. Even proponents of
President Bush’s "surge option" – including Defense Secretary Robert
Gates – concede that the plan has thus far had limited success.

Critics are less polite, particularly after the recent bombing of the
Iraqi parliament building. This week Congress is poised to approve
legislation providing additional funds for the war, but would require
Baghdad to meet benchmarks lest US troops withdraw. Bush will veto
the legislation, and Congress ultimately will provide him the funding
he needs to perpetuate the status quo. But Bush’s victory will be
of the pyrrhic variety – further weakening his public standing and
simultaneously damaging his party’s prospects in the 2008 elections.

Iraq is only the tip of the iceberg. Bush and his Republican allies
continue to be dogged by ethics inquiries which limit the White
House’s ability to conduct foreign and domestic policy. Last week two
Republican members of Congress were raided by the FBI. World Bank
President Paul Wolfowitz and Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez are
being pressured to resign for alleged misuse of power. This week a
special investigator began looking at possible legal violations by
Bush appointees at the General Accounting Office. Meanwhile, former
White House insider Scooter Libby awaits sentencing for perjury.

In the Middle East, problems abound. The Bush administration’s
support for regional democracy has placed Egypt under the Washington
microscope. Congress will hold a heated debated over whether to
continue to support the $2 billion annual assistance package to
Cairo. Critics believe Cairo has been unwilling to promote meaningful
reform, and has further clamped down on domestic opponents of both
the secular and Islamic variety. More recently, liberal proponents
of democracy, discounting the example of Hamas, have begun pressing
Egypt to legalize the Muslim Brotherhood – despite the party’s
alleged anti-Americanism and opposition to the Arab-Israeli peace
process. With Israel altering its own assistance package and distancing
itself from the Camp David formula, Egypt can no longer rely on the
support of Jewish legislators – who long backed aid in exchange for
peace with Israel.

The US-Turkish relationship, strong since 1948, is under considerable
strain. Recently the Turkish military announced it is considering
invading Kurdish-occupied northern Iraq, a move which would further
destabilize the country and trigger American condemnation. Turkey,
which is in the process of recalibrating its foreign policy, feels
Washington has ignored its interests in Iraq; Turks see the Kurds
as a grave threat. Congress is also expected to pass a resolution
declaring the Ottoman-era atrocities against Armenians as "genocide."

Ankara has threatened punitive measures should the bill pass, which
could include kicking the US military out of the country.

Despite months of stalemate, the precarious standoff in Lebanon seems
no closer to a peaceful resolution. Lebanese factions have, in fact,
hardened their positions in support of or opposition to a UN tribunal
over the Rafik Hariri assassination. But there is much more at stake
than the inquiry. The Lebanese impasse involves the composition of
the sectarian-based government, Syria, and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Despite this, there has been little public effort put forth by the
White House to broker a deal which satisfies all parties, or lures
Syria into peace talks with Israel.

The Bush administration seems unable to decide its own policy toward
Iran. While Vice President Che ney and the remaining neo-conservatives
continue to rattle sabers, Secretary of State Rice is trying to
engage Tehran during regional conferences on Iraq. Rice has stated
that should Iran offer constructive ideas, the US is willing to talk
about "anything."

In Africa, President Bush supports imposing new sanctions on Sudan over
the crisis in Darfur. But despite the increased pressure on Khartoum –
which has come in vogue with the assistance of Hollywood celebrities
– the US continues to send a mixed message. Bush’s rhetorical attack
comes at the same time US intelligence agencies, principally the CIA,
have increased cooperation with the Bashir government, seen as a key
ally in the war on terror.

No one has proffered any credible solution to morass in the Horn
of Africa. Ethiopia’s occupation of Somalia was seen as the least
bad option available. But despite US support for the invasion,
Ethiopia seems no more likely to stabilize Mogadishu than the UN’s
attempts in the 1990s, which resulted in an embarrassing US retreat
and sucked Somalia’s neighbors into the conflict. Elsewhere, the coup
of bringing Tripoli back into the diplomatic fold appears in jeopardy
in Washington due to a combination of unresolved legal issues and the
Libyan president’s erratic behavior. The image of Nigeria, once seen
as an emerging democracy in Africa’s most populace nation, has been
sullied over its recent election.

Finally, the Bush administration’s trade promotion agenda is in
peril. Not only is the White House facing opposition from congressional
Democrats, but risks losing diplomatic face after brokering a free
trade agreement with South Korea which Congress may reject.

Despite the American public’s focus, there is much more going on in
the world than the upcoming presidential election and Iraq. Failing
to address these ten issues, for example, could gravely damage US
interests and further diminish its global influence.

– David Dumke is principal of the Washington-based MidAmr Group.

WILL ANKARA’S ARMENIAN INITIATIVE WORK?
By Lale Sariibrahimoglu

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
April 26 2007

Yet another April 24 was commemorated by many countries as the day to
mourn for the Armenians believed to have been subjected to a so-called
genocide during World War I at the hands of Ottoman Turks.

Ankara, denying the event was genocide, does accept that there were
killings of Armenians that took place under Ottoman Turkish rule
between 1915 and 1918. Ankara however refutes the characterization of
the events as genocide and says that the deaths were not the result
of a deliberate campaign, but rather took place during the relocation
of Armenians within the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

However since around 18 countries worldwide, as well as the majority
of US states, recognize the World War I incidents as genocide,
Ankara has long faced a difficult task in proving the opposite. This
is mainly because it had not launched any tangible initiative,
until 2005 when the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party)
offered the establishment of a joint committee of Turkish and Armenian
historians, who would investigate whether the World War I events were
indeed genocide.

Under strong pressure, mainly from the hard-line Armenian diaspora,
Yerevan has so far refrained from accepting the Turkish offer, which
also contained a pledge to open all the Turkish archives without
any limitations.

Ankara has long been complaining about the failure of the powerful
nations of the world, such as the US, Britain and Russia, to
convince and encourage Yerevan to agree to the Turkish offer for
the establishment of the joint historians committee. Many Turkish
diplomats believe that Yerevan cannot single-handedly take a step to
agree on meeting with Turkish historians and that powerful nations
should therefore play a role in bringing Yerevan to the table to
discuss the matter.

In an attempt to renew its joint committee idea, Ankara launched
a campaign on the same day of the commemoration of the so-called
Armenian genocide, April 24. Selecting five influential US dailies,
including the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, Ankara called on
Armenia, in a full page advert, to join the committee in an attempt
to shed light on what happened in 1915.

The advert states that third parties can participate in the committee’s
work, while guaranteeing that Turkey will open all its archives without
any restrictions. Turkey is ready to face its past, said the same ad,
calling on Armenia to do same.

Such an initiative, as far as I know, comes 88 years after the British
High Commissioner based in Ýstanbul, acting on an Ottoman Turkish
request, invited some countries to participate in a commission to
investigate the alleged Armenian genocide. This request, turned down
by Britain the same year, was proof of reluctance on the part of some
European countries to investigate the matter, writes Turkey’s veteran
diplomat Gursel Demirok in his latest book "Turks in Europe from the
Viewpoint of a Consul General."

But between 1919 and 2005 we have to admit that Turkey did not do much
at all to have its case heard through the examination of its archives.

Still Ankara’s latest initiatives should not be underestimated, though
coming quite late, and should be heard and responded to positively
by Armenia as well as by other nations with influence on Yerevan.

One of those countries is of course the US, where there has been an
influential Armenian lobby in the US Congress in particular, which
could influence Armenia in agreeing to the Turkish offer.

This offer also proves Turkey’s sincerity in shedding light on the
events of 1915. Perhaps for the first time in its history, Turkey
has been displaying its readiness to face the claims and unearth the
realities, if possible.

Thus publishing the advert directly taking on Armenia as an
interlocutor, Ankara has been doing the right thing. But this
initiative can only bear fruit if the powerful nations of the world,
in particular the US, take genuine steps to convince Armenia to agree
to the Turkish offer of the joint historians committee.

The convening of the committee can also be expected to mark the
beginning of establishing confidence between the two neighbors,
helping interaction between the peoples of both countries, while
contributing to the reduction of historic enmity.

–Boundary_(ID_y0Fw2PGYK8ymvhaJrNkVDA)–

BELGIUM PRESENTS AN APRIL 24 GIFT TO ARMENIAN LOBBY
Selcuk GultaÞli Brussels

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
April 26 2007

The Belgian government has sacked the coordinator of the Belgian
Association of Ataturk Thought (BADD) for organizing a conference on
the Armenian "genocide."

Belgium officially notified BADD that Pierre Bastin, the coordinator
of the conference, had been fired on April 24, a day Armenians use
to commemorate the alleged genocide. BADD Chairman Ýsmail Sonmez said
Belgium had presented a gift to the Armenian lobby on that day.

BADD, together with other Turkish associations in Belgium, organized
a conference on the Armenian question and invited Professor Yusuf
Halacoðlu as the keynote speaker. Following an initial report by a
journalist of Turkish origin, a fierce campaign was launched against
BADD in the Belgian press, with several TV stations claiming that
state funds were used for "genocide denial propaganda." Following
the campaign, the Ministry of Labor initiated an investigation, after
which not only was the coordinator sacked but also the office of the
coordinator was abolished.

During a press conference yesterday in Belgium, Sonmez lambasted
the Belgian government decision as a brazen attack on freedom of
expression. Sonmez accused parliaments that had adopted "Armenian
genocide" resolutions of attempting to replace the judiciary and
of challenging the principle of separation of powers. In a written
statement, BADD said that as terrorists were sheltered and given the
freedom to express their opinions in Belgium, the attempt to silence
BADD clearly indicated a double standard.

In a stunning move, Belgium last week released terror suspects, members
of the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C). BADD has
also stated that it will file a complaint and pursue a judicial remedy.

–Boundary_(ID_alxv89jFibXSC0w54XfMTQ)–

CIVIL LEADER CALLS FOR EUROPEAN TURKS TO GET INVOLVED
Caðrý Cobanoðlu Ýstanbul

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
April 26 2007

Ali Gedikoðlu, chairman of the Strasbourg-based NGO COJEP
International, said Turks living in Europe should break out of their
shells and become a part of not only local but also international
civil organizations.

He said negative judgments against Turkey cannot be prevented otherwise
and pointed out that demonstrations organized by Turkey’s Labor Party
(IP) leader Doðu Perincek — who was tried in Switzerland for denying
the so-called Armenian genocide — in several European cities have
not borne any positive results. Gedikoðlu also added that such actions
create antipathy in Europe.

He spoke to Today’s Zaman about Turks and lobbying activities in
Europe. Gedikoðlu said Turks in Europe should embrace the country
they live in order to form a powerful lobby. "The Armenians have much
influence over France since they embrace it. We are equal in terms
of population but they are more effective than the Turkish community
in France."

Gedikoðlu noted that the Turks in Europe should exist as an independent
community, not as the extension of the political parties in Turkey.

Stating that European public opinion can be influenced by means of
civil organizations, Gedikoðlu said they had encouraged several people
within COJEP to become members of global human rights organizations
and added that the relevant institutions will be properly informed
on Turkey. Gedikoðlu pointed out COJEP is a member of the UN. "It is
impossible that we voice our rightful demands without having a strong
place among international institutions as an NGO," he said.

–Boundary_(ID_H9cJsrpWYWXYtgL6GPDC+g)–

JEWISH GROUPS LOBBY AGAINST ‘ARMENIAN GENOCIDE’ RESOLUTION IN US CONGRESS

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
April 26 2007

In a letter addressing influential members of US Congress, including
head of the House of Representatives’ Foreign Relations Committee Tom
Lantos, US-based Jewish groups demanded that voting on congressional
resolutions urging the US administration to recognize an alleged
genocide of Armenians be delayed.

The letter was jointly signed by B’nai B’rith International, the
Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee and the Jewish
Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA). The letter included
an annex — a letter signed by the Turkish Jewish Community —
which said maintenance of good relations between Turkey and Israel
and among Turkey, the US and Israel were crucial at a time when the
US faces troubles in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Two separate resolutions are pending at the US Senate and the House
of Representatives, urging the administration to recognize the World
war I era killings of Anatolian Armenians as genocide. Turkey has
warned that passage of the resolutions in the US Congress would
seriously harm relations with Washington and impair cooperation in
Iraq and Afghanistan. The US administration has said it was opposed
to the resolution, yet the congressional process is an independent
one. In his message for April 24, which Armenians claim marks the
anniversary of the beginning of a systematic genocide campaign at
the hands of the late Ottoman Empire, US President George W. Bush
remained adhered to the administration policy of not referring to
the incidents as genocide.

"Each year on this day, we pause to remember the victims of one
of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century, when as many as 1.5
million Armenians lost their lives in the final years of the Ottoman
Empire, many of them victims of mass killings and forced exile,"
Bush said. Turkey categorically rejects the claims of genocide and
says as many Turks were killed when the Armenians took up arms against
the Ottoman Empire in collaboration with the invading Russian army.

Bush, in his message, also called for the normalization of ties
between Turkey and Armenia: "Today, we remember the past and also
look forward to a brighter future. We commend the individuals in
Armenia and Turkey who are working to normalize the relationship
between their two countries. A sincere and open examination of the
historic events of the late-Ottoman period is an essential part of
this process. The United States supports and encourages those in both
countries who are working to build a shared understanding of history
as a basis for a more hopeful future," he said.

The Bush administration dismissed its former ambassador in Yerevan
last year after he violated the US policy and called the events
"genocide." Ambassador John Evans was insistent on his stance when
he spoke at the National Press Club in Washington and said Turkey
should accept "historical facts." He also claimed that Turkey’s
efforts had played a role in the abrupt termination of his duty as
the US ambassador in Yerevan.

GLORIOUS GAYANE
Amal Choucri Catta goes Yerevan

Al-Ahram Weekly, Egypt
April 26 2007

Armenian National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, Yerevan,
presenting "Gayane" by Aram Khachaturian, conductor Karen Durgaryan,
choreographer Hovhannes Divanyan, Cairo Opera House Main Hall, 15
April, 8pm; Sayed Darwish Theatre, Alexandria 18 April, 8pm.

The music soared as the curtain rose to the colourful prospect of
an Armenian village with lovely girls dancing in beautiful costumes,
while Maestro Karen Durgaryan drove his orchestra to incredible heights
of sound and percussions seemed to be shrieking their delight into
the auditorium.

That night, the Armenian National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre
was presenting Aram Khachaturian’s three-act ballet "Gayane", to
a full house: it was one of the sunniest choreographic creations,
signed Hovhannes Divanyan, a leading professional ballet dancer in
Armenia, who teaches at the Yerevan State Choreographic School and has
performed in many countries. Combining classical ballet sur pointes
with Armenian folk dances, he succeeded in creating an enchanting
if rather unusual language of gesture and movement, with excellent
solos, thrilling pas-de-deux and fascinating formations of the corps
de ballet. Lights were low and the ambiance sentimental in romantic
love scenes, while they became bright and played on vivid textures in
sequences of joy and happiness. There were, however, moments of sorrow
and sadness, when the entire scene turned dark and grey, while the
performer was in a dramatic state of hopelessness and anguish. Such
was the case with Giko who loved Gayane, but was not loved by her.

As the story goes in this version, Gayane, a lovely village girl,
loves Armen, a likewise lovely village boy. There is, however,
a third party in the show: Giko. He is jealous, watching the happy
couple and realising Gayane was never meant for him. He therefore
decides to kidnap her, but Armen and the village people discover his
whereabouts and Giko is compelled to leave the village. Emotionally,
this is one of the most painful moments: it is, however, soon
forgotten, for Gayane and Armen are married in Act Three with the
entire corps de ballet celebrating the wedding. In this final act,
the famous sabre dance gloriously concludes the performance, while
the Maestro is granted a special ovation.

It is generally accepted that the ballet’s first and second versions
of Perm in 1942 and Leningrad in 1952, were in four acts, and the plot
took place during World War Two. In that version Giko was Gayane’s
husband and a traitor dealing with the enemy. Gayane and her lover
Armen were against him and the entire plot seemed at the time to be a
masterpiece of Armenian patriotism. After the war, however, the plot
underwent certain changes while being successfully adapted to the new
post-war situation. The music remained the same and the ballet was
applauded wherever and whenever it was performed. At Cairo Opera’s
Main Hall, the audience cheered all performers, with extra bravos
for the Maestro.

Born in 1969 in Yerevan, Karen Durgaryan graduated in 1994: he
had studied chamber music and was a flute soloist at the state
conservatoire before turning to conducting. In 1995 he was appointed
associate conductor and was resident conductor of the Yerevan Symphony
Orchestra. Winning fame and public acclaim Durgaryan conducted a
number of major concerts of the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra with
the celebrated Lebanese prima donna, Fairouz. Since March 2001 he has
been principal conductor of the Yerevan Opera and Ballet Theatre. At
Cairo’s Main Hall, his performance was spectacular. But so was
Khachaturian’s music.

Aram Khachaturian, probably the most famous Armenian composer to this
day, was born in Kodzhori, a suburb of Tiflis, on 6 June 1903 to a
family of bookbinders. Though musically quite talented, he was 19
when he entered the Gniesin Musical School in Moscow in 1922, from
1929 to 1934 studying at the Moscow Conservatoire. He also worked
with Serguey Prokofiev after the latter’s definite return to Russia
in 1933. By then, Khachaturian had written his famous "Toccata",
the trio for piano, violin and clarinet, as well as a suite de danse,
while simultaneously obtaining a degree in biology from the department
of physics and mathematics at Moscow State University.

Mainly influenced by Armenian folklore and traditional music,
his works are particularly colourful. Written in 1934 for the 15th
anniversary of the then Soviet Armenian Republic, his First Symphony
is reminiscent of his endeavours for musical change, which he finally
achieved in 1936 with his piano concerto dedicated to Lev Oborin,
the famous Russian pianist.

It is a brilliant composition filled with ethnic flavour, complex
and expressive rhythms, audacious harmonies and marvellous orchestral
hues. Lyricism and virtuosity are further expressed in his concerto
for violin written in 1940 and dedicated to the renowned Russian
David Oistrach, considered one of the greatest violinists of his day.

It was, however, his two ballets "Gayane" and "Spartacus" that
were acclaimed by Moscow critics as masterpieces, together with
four orchestral suites for the international symphonic repertoire,
and three orchestral suites from "Gayane". The author of some 50
works, Khachaturian began conducting in 1950, appearing in several
countries with programmes of his own works. He was the first composer
to place Armenian music in an international context: though his forms
are Western-based, they are enriched with innovations influenced
by the art of ashugh, the ornamental style of mediaeval monody and
the purity of national idioms, as well as with peasant songs and
urban instrumental folklore. During his lifetime, Khachaturian won
international recognition: elected full member of the Armenian Soviet
Republic’s Academy of Sciences in 1963, honourary Academician of the
Italian Music Academy "Santa Cecilia" in 1960, honourary professor
of the Mexican Conservatoire and corresponding member of the Academy
of Arts of the German Democratic Republic in 1960. He died on 1 May
1978 in Moscow and was buried in Yerevan.

With one show in Cairo and another in Alexandria, the Gayane
performances celebrated the 15th anniversary of the establishment
of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Egypt. Gayane being a
most welcome newcomer to the Cairo Opera House, local audiences would
have preferred a greater number of performances. Nevertheless, after
Giko’s sad retreat from the flamboyant village, Gayane’s wedding was
a smashing hit and the sabre dance a sensational feat.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN ROW SPILLS OVER INTO FOOTBALL

Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
April 26 2007

Where will the two warring nations play their European qualification
matches?

By Vafa Jafarova in Baku, Artur Nazarian in Yerevan and Naira
Bulgadarian in Vanadzor (CRS No. 389 26-Apr-07)

A seemingly irresolvable row is growing over the location of European
Championship qualifying football matches between the two implacable
Caucasian foes, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

A meeting in Cardiff of the board of Europe’s governing football body
UEFA on April 18 failed to determine where the two matches between
the two sides, due to take place this autumn, should be held. Another
meeting has been called for mid-July to rule on the issue.

According to the schedule for Group A, the first game between the two
for qualification to the 2008 European Championship should take place
in Baku on September 8, to be followed by a return match in Yerevan
four days later.

However, although Armenia has agreed to host the Azerbaijani team,
Azerbaijan is so far insisting that it will not allow the Armenians
to play in Baku.

Before the qualifying draw took place, UEFA sent out a letter to
all of Europe’s football authorities setting out the regulations for
qualifying matches. The letter said that all teams should play their
home games in their own countries and that the state should guarantee
the security of visitors.

The Armenian football federation expressed its willingness to travel
to Baku and then to host the Azerbaijanis in Yerevan. But Azerbaijan’s
football federation, AFFA, and the country’s ministry of sport said
it was impossible to receive the Armenians in Baku and suggested the
matches should be played on neutral territory instead.

The two countries have been in a state of open or suspended conflict
for almost two decades over the disputed territory of Nagorny
Karabakh. Although open hostilities ended in a ceasefire 13 years
ago, hundreds of thousands of refugees are unable to return home
and large areas of Azerbaijan remain under the military control of
Armenian forces.

A ceasefire line, manned by troops, divides the two sides and contacts
between the two nationalities are extremely limited.

While many Armenians say they favour contact and collaboration, many
Azerbaijanis say this is an attempt to normalise the status quo in
the Armenians’ favour and they cannot countenance any contact with
Armenians, "as long as they are occupying our land".

Not just citizens of Armenia, but ethnic Armenians as a whole, are
generally not permitted to visit Azerbaijan, ostensibly on security
grounds. A handful of Azerbaijanis do visit Armenia, but are guarded
by government security service personnel when they do so.

This makes the matter of organising two international football matches
for both players and fans a big international headache.

Tigran Israelian, spokesman for Armenia’s football federation, said
that his country was following UEFA’s recommendations and would take
all necessary measures to ensure the Azerbaijan’s security in Yerevan.

"In UEFA’s statutes, it’s clearly stated that the receiving side
is obliged to provide all security measures," said Israelian. "Now
UEFA has to take a final decision, as both sides have already set
out their positions on these matches."

Azerbaijan’s minister of youth and sport Azad Rahimov suggested
that the two matches could be played instead in Austria, Switzerland
or Ukraine.

"We cannot raise the flag and perform the national anthem of a country
which is occupying a large part of our territory," Rahimov told
APA news agency. "There is also a technical aspect to the question,
which is that we cannot guarantee the security of the whole team and
of the fans."

Akif Nagi of the Azerbaijani nationalist Karabakh Liberation
Organisation went further, saying, "I can definitely say only one
thing, so long as we are enemies any contact between us is out of
the question."

Boris Navasardian, president of the Yerevan Press Club, which has
regular contacts with Azerbaijan, said he thought the security issue
was a smokescreen.

"The authorities in both countries possess enough resources, both
physical and propagandistic, to make sure the matches go ahead
normally," said Navasardian.

"I don’t want to create the impression that the Armenians are behaving
constructively and the Azerbaijanis destructively," he went on. "It’s
simply that in the situation we have Armenia is taking tactical steps
in order to demonstrate its constructive attitude and agreement for
the game to take place in Yerevan, so as to win the advantage in the
football contest."

Football is not the only sport where Armenian and Azerbaijani sportsmen
are scheduled to meet this year. This autumn Baku is due to stage
the world wrestling championships and the top eight performers in
each weight category will win the right to take part in the Olympic
Games in Beijing next year.

Leva Vardanian, general secretary of Armenia’s wrestling federation,
said that thus far he had been assured that Armenian wrestlers would
be able to travel to Baku.

"The other day I met the president of the World Wrestling Federation
and he assured me that they had talked to the president of Azerbaijan,
Ilham Aliev, and he had promised to provide security for the
Armenians," he said.

Azerbaijan’s sports minister Rahimov said that it was within his
government’s power to provide security for the Armenian wrestlers –
and that this was proof that his bid to exclude the football team
was not a political decision.

No one in the ministry had an answer to IWPR’s question, "Will you
raise the flag of Armenia and play the national anthem if an Armenian
wrestler becomes world champion."

Azerbaijani sports commentator Elnur Agayev said that no one in
Azerbaijan believed that any of the Armenian wrestlers could achieve
first place, but the Armenian football team was a more serious
proposition. Several Armenian footballers play in top European clubs
and the Armenian team stands a good chance of beating Azerbaijan –
and if this happens there could be a risk of violence after the game.

Fuad Asadov, general secretary of AFFA, told IWPR he could not receive
the Armenian football team in Baku – even if this meant suspension
from UEFA. The very idea, he said, was "not serious".

It seems likely at least that the match in Yerevan will go ahead
because, according to the Armenian federation, if the visiting team
refuses to show up, the home team will be awarded a 3-0 victory and
the missing team may be disqualified from the next championship.

Most football fans in both countries are simply keenly looking forward
to the games.

Azerbaijani fan, 22-year-old student Emil Jafarli, said he hoped
Azerbaijan’s home match was in Baku because he could not afford to
travel to another country. "Wherever the game happens, I hope that our
boys win," he said. "The fact that football has turned into politics
is quite normal if you consider that we are enemies with Armenia."

"Even in Soviet times matches between Yerevan’s Ararat and the Baku
team Neftchi were very tense," said Gevorg, a 36-year-old Armenian.

"Then we were in the same country and although there weren’t any
serious differences between us, there were sometimes really unpleasant
incidents in the stands."

Human rights activist Avaz Hassanov wants to see both matches take
place in the home capitals.

"If we receive the Armenian team at home in Baku it means that we
will achieve something positive in sorting out our relations," said
Hassanov. "Sport does not have a homeland or a nationality. And the
Azerbaijani team will defeat the Armenian one with its beautiful game."

Vafa Jafarova is a journalist with the Baku newspaper Khazri. Artur
Nazarian is a reporter with the independent television company A1+
in Yerevan. Naira Bulgadarian is a reporter with the Civil Initiative
newspaper in Vanadzor, Armenia. This article was written as part of
IWPR’s Cross Caucasus Journalism Network project.

THE FUTURE IS NOW
By Greg Cook, Globe Correspondent

Boston Globe, MA
April 26 2007

Something old, something new intersect at the Boston Cyberarts Festival

For the past four months, Brian Knep has been studying frogs in his
windowless, closet-sized lab at Harvard Medical School in Boston,
where he has been an artist in residence since 2005. Dozens of times
each day, the 38-year-old Bostonian plucks tiny tadpoles and frogs
from an aquarium, plunks them into cups of water under bright lights,
and photographs them.

Knep runs this raw material, some 3,000 photos, through software he
has written to compile the images into a digital animation of real
swimming tadpoles losing their tails and sprouting legs as they become
frogs. And then reverses it, making them young again. He calls the
project "Aging," and a first draft debuts at Judi Rotenberg Gallery
Saturday as part of the fifth Boston Cyberarts Festival.

Cyberart, tech-art, and new-media art are synonymous terms for the
growing body of art made with new technologies – computers, iPods,
cellphones, digital cameras, and video. It’s the most distinctive
sector of Boston-area art these days, and this year’s Cyberarts
Festival, from April 20 to May 6, is the big biennial gathering
of artists from all over the world. It’s when all art is electric,
when interactive is the watchword, when the future is now.

"Now we have more technology than any time in history, and artists
are always the first people to get their hands on technology after
the engineers and scientists," festival director George Fifield
says. "[Artists] show how we live with it, how to stop it from hitting
us over the head. New technology and new media radically alter the
way we see and think about the world. And artists explain it to us."

Many who follow new media attribute its growing prominence in
Boston-area art to the region’s colleges, which attract students and
provide jobs to artists and scientists. The programs at MIT’s Media
Lab and Center for Advanced Visual Studies and MassArt’s Studio for
Interrelated Media stand out. And there’s also the region’s vaunted
tech industry.

More and more venues are featuring new media, too. Through May 6,
Axiom Gallery in Jamaica Plain presents videos and LED animations
by four artists featured in Aspect, the Boston-based journal of
new-media art. Here we have a gallery devoted exclusively to new media,
a rare thing, teaming up with an equally rare example of a publication
devoted solely to the genre.

Elsewhere, tech-art represents more than half the programming at
Art Interactive in Cambridge, which this month presents interactive
installations by San Francisco’s Camille Utterback, in which cameras
turn visitors’ shuffling through the gallery into abstract doodles
projected on the walls. Other frequent new-media venues are Second
Gallery in South Boston and MIT’s List Visual Art Center in Cambridge.

New-media art, says video artist Denise Marika, is "Boston’s chance to
put itself on the map of the art world." At her Brookline home, she’s
finishing up video projections for "The Puzzle Master," a "multimedia
opera" recounting the myth of Daedalus and Icarus. Five singers will
perform Vermont poet F.D. Reeve’s libretto set to computer-manipulated
music by Eric Chasalow of Newtonville at Brandeis University May 5-6.

For Marika, the tale of the ancient inventor Daedalus speaks of
"the threat and question of technology itself and our sense that
we control it or somebody controls it. And how that intersects with
people’s power struggles throughout the world. And how that affects
the individual – Icarus." Chasalow says that Daedalus is "unwilling
to admit he doesn’t have as much control as he thinks he has."

In a cinder-block garage in Allston one recent afternoon, members of
Kinodance rehearsed their new show, "Denizen." Inspired by "Seasons,"
Armenian director Artavazd Peleshian’s 1975 film documentary about
Armenian shepherds, some of the Boston-area dancers visited Armenia
last year to film sights – like a herd of sheep – and their own
performances at locations Peleshian used in his film.

A projector shone the footage onto the dancers and the wall behind
them. Their shadows magically, poetically mixed with video of
silhouetted women dancing between the stone arches of an abandoned
monastery. Later, flames of a video camp fire engulfed a live dancer’s
body as she curled in on herself, opened out and closed up again,
then stumbled about on her toes.

This human-technological interaction is also the foundation of Chicago
composer Olivia Block’s "Rime and Glaze," which she’ll perform with
Berklee College of Music students at the school on April 29. Out
of a furtive arrangement of goosey honks, plucked violin strings,
sung "ha, ha, has", electronic clicking, and tones and static, we
notice the traditional instruments mimicking the electronic sounds,
and vice versa.

Boston’s new media scene is simmering and scruffy, both thrilling and
frustrating at this stage of development when few major artists have
emerged. One of the most exciting artists in town is Brian Knep. He
takes advantage of the knack of computers for producing special
effects, for producing endless variations within set parameters,
to create distinctly digital art.

"What I’m trying to do is make technological art that’s more soulful,"
Knep says.