Month: May 2008

Mearns Today, UK
May 6 2008

BRAVE ANGIE TO SWIM IN AID OF ARMENIA

« Previous « PreviousNext » Next »View GalleryA STONEHAVEN woman left
unable to propel herself through water after breaking her back is
embarking on a sponsored swim for charity.

Following an accident eight years ago, Angie Mutch was told that there
was no chance of her being able to swim again.

But having undertaken lessons at Stonehaven Leisure Centre she has
defied the experts.

Angie can currently manage around 10 lengths, but by the middle of May
she is aiming to treble that total to raise money for medical care in
Armenia.

In October, Angie will lead a team of two nurses and two doctors to
the Eastern European country, located between Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Armenia is still reeling from a major earthquake in 1988 and Angie is
desperate to help with the rebuilding programme which is still
ongoing.
She said: "Eighty percent of medical staff in the country were killed
when hospitals collapsed. As a result no medical help was immediately
available. Whole villages were completely wiped out.

"Because hospitals had to be rebuilt, and new nurses and doctors
trained, most medical help in Armenia has come from other
countries. The country now has a home-grown staff that needs
specialist training in trauma and earthquake care.

"We have been asked to train nursing and medical staff advanced trauma
care, both pre-hospital and hospital-based. The team will also be
teaching social care and first aid to villagers, school teachers,
church members and village leaders in the main earthquake zone."

Angie is hoping to raise £3,000, not only to cover her travel costs
but to provide medical equipment for a village.

To do this she has learned to swim with a specially adapted stroke,
which is necessary because her back injury makes it impossible for her
head to go under water.

Angie is hoping to attract as many sponsors as possible for her
attempt to swim 30 lengths, currently scheduled for Monday May 12 in
Stonehaven.
She is also eager to hear from any businesses which may be interested
in helping impoverished villagers in Armenia.

Angie can be contacted on 07786 514615. Sponsor forms are also
available in Stonehaven’s Toymaster store on Allardice Street.

ANGIE-TO-SWIM-IN.4045536.jp

Globe and Mail, Canada
May 6 2008

OPERA: INTERVIEW

Has child, will travel – a lot

Colin Eatock talks to Canadian soprano sensation and biomedical
engineering grad Isabel Bayrakdarian about life on the opera circuit
with her five-month-old son
COLIN EATOCK

Special to The Globe and Mail
May 6, 2008

Isabel Bayrakdarian opens the door to her dressing room at Toronto’s
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. On the windowsill is the
long, auburn wig she will wear as Mélisande, in the Canadian Opera
Company’s production of Pelléas et Mélisande opening tonight. Hanging
on the closet door are her radiantly colourful costumes.

The conversation, however, soon turns to babies – a topic of much
interest to Bayrakdarian these days. "It ends with us not knowing
whose baby she has," she says of Debussy’s only opera, "whether it’s
Pélleas’s or Golaud’s – or whether she had conceived before meeting
Golaud. Mélisande is unlike any other role I’ve portrayed, because
musically and dramatically it’s so very ambiguous."

The 34-year-old Toronto-based soprano continues, explaining how the
ending of the work has a personal significance for her, as a new
mother herself. "The first time we rehearsed the final scene – when
Mélisande is too weak to raise her arms to hold her newborn child – I
found it very disturbing." For the performances, she has requested
that the eyes on the theatrical doll be closed, so as not to look so
lifelike.

The birth five months ago of Ari, to Bayrakdarian and her pianist
husband, Serouj Kradjian, hasn’t slowed her down. While she did have
to withdraw from rehearsals for The Marriage of Figaro at New York’s
Metropolitan Opera in the fall as her due date approached, she has
bounced right back into professional life. She has recently appeared
in concerts and recitals in New York; San Francisco; St. Paul, Minn.;
and Kansas City, Mo.; and in a production of Don Pasquale in Denver.

"My baby has been travelling with me ever since he was one month old,"
she says. "He’s been very co-operative – it’s almost as if he knew
what he was getting into! When he’s older, things will change, but
that’s a bridge we’ll cross when we get to it."

It was 10 years ago Bayrakdarian sang her first role with the COC: the
Sandman in Hansel and Gretel. She was just 24, fresh out of the COC’s
Ensemble Studio training program. If her degree in biomedical
engineering didn’t point to a singing career, her win at Placido
Domingo’s Operalia Competition in 2000 certainly did. Since then, her
ascent to the heights of her profession has been swift and sure –
guided by a careful selectivity and a wide-ranging eclecticism.

"Initially," she recalls, "I turned down a lot of engagements, when
other singers were saying, ‘Oh my God, I would love to have that
opportunity.’ When I was 21, I was asked to sing Liu in Turandot, but
said no thank you."

Deciding that Puccini’s big-voiced roles could wait, she turned to
Mozart: to Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro
and Pamina in The Magic Flute.

Critics have been impressed with her Mozart. The New York Times
declared her Pamina "beautiful in every way you can be: in singing, in
comportment, in looks." And the San Diego Union-Tribune recently
credited her with bringing "alluring expertise" to the role of
Susanna.

Yet she willfully resists being pigeonholed. "I’ve always been known
as a Mozart interpreter. I’ve done a lot of Susannas – you could wake
me up a 3 a.m. and I could sing it, and prompt the other performers at
the same time. But sometimes you need the thrill of learning something
new. I don’t understand how some singers can bring freshness and
novelty to a couple of roles that they do all the time. I’m not one of
those singers – I need the stimulation of new excitement."

Even as she built a reputation for Mozart, Bayrakdarian cultivated
other musical interests: 20th-century opera and Italian bel canto
roles. "I’m very fortunate," she notes, "because people who do casting
‘get’ me. I have been offered interesting parts because the people who
make the decisions know that if they ask me to do a role, I’m going to
do it justice."

Also, her skills as a recitalist have won her much praise. "What
impressed me most," reported a critic for Opera News magazine, after a
2005 Carnegie Hall performance, "was that she chose not to take the
audience by storm; instead, she captured it by stealth."

And she has followed pathways that have led her away from the
tried-and-true classical repertoire. She sang on the soundtrack of The
Lord of the Rings movie The Two Towers, and also for Atom Egoyan’s
film Ararat. She has taken an interest in Latin-American music and has
recorded a CD of tango songs for CBC Records.

It was Bayrakdarian’s first journey to Armenia in 2004 that inspired
her current fascination with the music of her ancestral homeland. "In
Armenia," she says, "when you walk on the ground, you feel 1,700 years
of Christianity right in the soil. … it puts in perspective a huge
history you can’t really grasp if you’re not there. I promised myself
I would return, and I have."

In the capital city of Yerevan, she performed with the Armenian
Philharmonic Orchestra and with local folk musicians. The trip was
documented in the film The Long Journey Home, aired on CBC. (She can
also be heard singing in Armenia, accompanied by a group of musicians
playing a flute-like instrument called the duduk, on YouTube.) In the
fall, she will undertake a tour with some of the musicians she worked
with in Armenia; there’s a Toronto performance at Roy Thomson Hall on
Oct. 17.

For the next few months, however, opera is dominating her schedule:
Pelléas et Mélisande in Toronto, followed by The Marriage of Figaro in
Munich (her last Susanna for a while) and the title role in The
Cunning Little Vixen in Japan.

Beyond that, she is deliberately vague. "I don’t believe in having a
five-year or a 10-year plan. I already know my two-year plan – I have
it in my calendar. But how I fill the voids in between my engagements
is something that I like to leave to the unexpected. Who knows?"

Pelléas et Mélisande runs on various dates at Toronto’s Four Seasons
Centre until May 24 (416-363-8231).

Today.Az, Azerbaijan
May 6 2008

Asim Mollazade: "Armenian lobby organizations lead the campaign of
attempt to draw a veil over Armenia’s internal problems, which have
become known to the whole world"

06 May 2008 [11:48] – Today.Az

Day.Az interview with MP Asim Mollazade, chairman of the Party of
Democratic Reforms.

-How would you comment on the tough criticism of Azerbaijan by US
State Secretary Condoleezza Rice first and US President George Bush
then?

-First of all the speech of US President George Bush was not devoted
to assessment of situation in Azerbaijan in separate. It dated to the
World Day of Press. However, I do not think that the criticism of the
US leadership is something surprising as official Washington has
repeatedly made due announcements addressed to Azerbaijan.

-Do you agree that US allocation of over $3,000,000 for conduction of
upcoming presidential elections in Azerbaijan is interference with the
internal affairs of our country?

-Of course, not. The US allocation of over $3,000,000 for different
programs aimed at conduction of fair and transparent elections in
Azerbaijan, is also not new. The United States have allocated definite
assets for all elections in Azerbaijan through various funds and
organizations. Moreover, a part of allocated funds will be spent for
work with government organizations. Therefore, I think it is incorrect
to draw too much attention to the said traditional actions of the
United States or call them the interference with the internal affairs
of Azerbaijan.

-Speaking about Condoleezza Rice’s announcement addressed to
Azerbaijan, several local experts consider not the fact of criticism
incorrect but the comparison with Armenia, where bloody events
occurred. Do you agree with this statement?

-I agree that Condoleezza Rice’s announcement is not a criticism of
Azerbaijan. It is an attempt to draw a veil over the problems of
Armenia, which became known to the world society after the recent
presidential election in this country.

Though, it is well known to everyone that people were killed during
the bloody events in Yerevan, over 200 representatives of Armenian
opposition were arrested and the parliament deputies are currently
under arrest in Armenia. Censorship and emergency state have been
applied in this country. Unfortunately, the world society has not
condemned these actions of the Armenian leadership. I can suggest that
this is because the world community, on the whole, and the United
States do not want the development of democracy in Armenia.

– But, why do you think the United States try to distract attention
from the need to punish those, who committed bloodshed in Yerevan and
ruined the idea of democracy in this country, to the attempt to assess
situation with the level of democracy in Armenia and Azerbaijan?

-Active role is played by the Armenian lobby organizations, which lead
the campaign on the attempt to draw a veil over the big problems
inside Armenia, including the problems of freedom of speech, freedom
of political convictions and other problems in human rights, well
known to the whole world.

In this connection, I would like to remind one interesting moment: I
have repeatedly asked the representatives of the Council of Europe,
why the representatives of Armenian opposition and human rights
organizations, which could speak of the real life in Armenia,
repressions against the opponents of powers of these countries, are
not invited to the hearing on the situation in Armenia. I received no
response to my question. Thus, we can say that the United States, and
the whole West do not want to see Armenia as a developed and
democratic state. It seems that the United States and West prefer to
see Armenia as an outpost state.

-There is a truth that nothing is free of charge. In other words, what
can Armenia offer to the United States, as a gratitude for the policy
of official Washington of carrying Armenia out of this situation in
which she found herself owing to its support to separatism and
territorial claims to neighbor countries?

-Nothing. Moreover, I am sure that the leadership of Armenia will
further conduct policy aimed at escalation of aggression in the South
Caucasus region and will not make any concessions in the negotiation
process on the resolution of Nagorno Karabakh conflict, preferring to
imitate the negotiation process. Therefore, I think that such policy
towards Armenia is an ill office for the Armenian people which is
doomed to stay under control of military criminals. These actions also
demonstrate the weakness of not only the United States, but also all
the democratic countries of the world before the Armenian lobby, whose
actions contradict to the national interests of the United States.

-Do you really think that Armenian lobby is so strong that it is able
to press on official Washington and the leading countries of the
country?

-Certainly, it is. In particular, we have already witnessed how ethnic
lobby groups conducted activities, contradicting to the national
interests of the United States.

-But what should Azerbaijan do if the Armenian lobby is so
influential?

-Azerbaijan should work at creation of its lobby organization and
strengthen its positions in the world and be stronger.

-I would once more return to the announcements of the US
leaders. Don’t you think that criticism addressed to Azerbaijan before
the presidential elections prove that the United States tend to
criticize their results, even if ideal elections are held in our
country?

-I do not think that there is a risk of such developments. I think
that free and democratic elections in Azerbaijan will be highly
appreciated by the United States.

-Is the possibility of free and democratic elections in Azerbaijan
high?

-I think Azerbaijan has all conditions for conduction of transparent
and democratic elections. Merely, a great deal of work should be done
in this direction.

/Day.Az/

URL:

Daily News Tribune, MA
MetroWest Daily News, MA
Milford Daily News, USA
May 6 2008

Marotta: To newlyweds and dead young men

By Terry Marotta/Gatehouse News Service
GateHouse News Service
Posted May 06, 2008 @ 12:15 AM

I had business in my hometown of Lowell, and so invited my 87-year-old
Uncle Ed along on the drive.

"Will you show me that big church where you were married?" he asked,
and I guess that’s all I needed to hear, because once we got there, I
couldn’t stop pointing things out to him.

"Here’s where I waited for the school bus," I said, and later, "Here
is my junior high," and, "These are the woods behind the park we hung
around at," I said, but did not add that I had kissed a boy there once
just to see what it felt like to break another boy’s heart.

Then, "There, Ed! There’s the church where David and I were
married. Remember it?"

"Cheese and crackers, I do!" he exclaimed, because he had been present
on that long-ago morning when my hair was black and tumbled in waves
past my shoulders. I remember I spilled a Sloe Gin Fizz on my gown two
seconds after we got to the reception; I didn’t even know what a Sloe
Gin Fizz WAS until somebody handed me one, yet there is its faint
stain like raspberry sherbet in all the photos.

"Toby gave the toast in Latin," I added, Toby being big brother to my
young groom. " ‘Ad Nuptos!’ he said, raising his glass."

"To the newlyweds!" Uncle Ed smiled, remembering.

Uncle Ed is the Marotta brothers’ uncle, really, so he and I were
almost strangers to each other then.

We are not strangers now. Every couple of days, I go get him and take
him places. We’re planning a train trip to New Haven and back for no
reason except to see Yale by cab and to ride the rails. He hasn’t been
on a passenger train since 1930 when he was sent to a “charity
camp.” His Armenian parents had come here in 1915. His dad’s dad was
a Congregational minister in the old country, and his dad a graduate
of the University of Tarsus, yet the best job he could get here was in
a factory.

Anyway, I love our trips because when we make them, the past seems to
arise before us, whole again and living.

"Here’s the mighty Merrimack where it meets the Concord River," I said
as we crossed a bridge over a torrent of waters.

"A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers" Uncle Ed said of
Thoreau’s book about his camping trip with brother John, shortly
before John’s sudden death.

"I don’t think he ever got over that loss!" I said emotionally, just
as if I’d sat in the same little schoolhouse with old Henry David in
the 1820s. Then, regaining my composure a little, I added, "It’s a
vale of tears sometimes though, isn’t it?”

"Indeed it is," Ed agreed.

"Oh! And here’s where they held my high school prom! The boy who took
me died in a plane crash just three years later."

We rode silently awhile – until, turning onto the highway that would
lead us homeward, I sighed and said, “To the newlyweds and the dead
young men!”

"May they rest in peace," answered Uncle Ed, only he answered in
Latin.

"Forever and ever," I said back, only I said that in Latin, too.
Generally "Forever and ever" comes with an "Amen" to signify an
ending, but I couldn’t say the amen this time. I don’t think either
one of us is ready for the end yet.

2091065/Marotta-To-newlyweds-and-dead-young-men

American Chronicle, CA
May 6 2008

Derek Adie Flower author of The Shores of Wisdom, The Tuscany Trilogy

Norm Goldman
May 05, 2008

Today, Lily Azerad-Goldman, one of Bookpleasures’ reviewers is
pleased to have as our guest, novelist Derek Adie Flower author of The
Shores of Wisdom, The Tuscany Trilogy, Inquest On IMHOTEP (Beyond The
White Walls), Ransomed, and his most recent tome, Farewell
Alexandria. Farewell Alexandria is of particular interest to Lily as
she was born in Egypt and lived there for seventeen years before
migrating to Canada in the early 60s.

Good day Derek and thanks for participating in our interview.

Lily:

Were you born in Egypt? Why and when did you leave Egypt and where do
you live now?

Derek:

Thank you, Lily, I’m delighted to be interviewed by you. I was born in
Geneva – my parents had a house there – but was brought up between
Alexandria and Cairo , where our family resided principally. I left
Egypt in 1956 after the Suez crisis, and after livingsuccessively in
London, Cannes, Milan, Florence and Rome, I now live with my wife at
Nettuno, some 60 kms. on the coast south of Rome. Curiously it reminds
me a lot of Alex with its palm trees, and we’re fortunate enough to
live in the centre of a park with private way down to the beach.

Lily:

What motivated you to write Farewell Alexandria?

Derek:

Probably through a form of nostalgia, the wish to recall the happy
days spent, both by me and may parents, in what was once one of the
glittering centres of the Mediterranean.

Lily

Is Farewell Alexandria an autobiography or the story of your relatives
and friends?

Derek:

I was asked the same question when interviewed by the B.B.C. in
London. No it is not an autobiography though Julius may represent some
of my aspirations, nor is it the story of my family or relatives of
mine, but all the principal characters are based on people I had
either met or heard about.

Lily:

You know how to reflect the diversity of various ethnicities that
existed in Egypt in the timeframe of your story. But why is your main
protagonist an Armenian?

Derek:

There were a lot of Armenians in Egypt who, persecuted in their own
country, had gone there to start a new life. Also the carpenter who
did our house at Agami, was Armenian, so it came naturally to me to
make Antor Caspardian of Armenian descent.

Lily:

Did the incident with the poor Jewish man really happen during a riot?
Personally, when I lived in Egypt, I remember huddling with my family
in a first floor building listening to the screams and invectives of
the mob running past our doors. Thank G-d they did not penetrate our
building!

Derek:

Yes, I was told about it by my parents. In fact my Mother was caught
in a riot when her car broke down just as the mob came charging down
the street. Luckily her chauffeur managed to keep the rioters at bay,
so no harm was done.

Lily:

How did Antor Caspardian become such a good businessman? His story is
quite plausible and is the dream of all Egyptians, especially my
dad’s. Did you have any wheeling and dealing in such businesses?

Derek:

As I explain in the book, he was bright, single minded and a go-getter
who learnt the tricks of the trade while an apprentice in the various
companies he worked for, including the bank. He then simply grasped
the opportunities offered him. As for me, not only was I involved in
oil brokerage in the 80s and 90s as well as insurance and banking, but
my father had controlled companies which imported many of the cars
imported into Egypt, from Rolls Royces to Mini Minors, as well as
refrigerators etc. So I had a certain experience as a youngster on how
businesses operated.

Lily:

How did you know about King Farouk’s weakness for playing and winning
at cards? And how did you know about the money evasion schemes (which
are all true stories!)

Derek:

The father of my best friend, Norman Ades, played poker regularly with
Farouk, so we had first hand knowledge of what happened at those
sessions, and how losing gracefully could turn into an advantage when
wanting to export funds. A word from the king and the problem was
solved!

Lily:

You included many stories that make your book quite a saga. Did you
remember these stories or did you have references? For example the
stories on the luxurious Yacht bring back to mind Onassis and his
lavish lifestyle.

Derek:

Some of the episodes I recount I remembered, others refer to people I
knew or my friends knew. The luxurious yacht was actually based on
that of the billionaire Kashogi, onto which I was invited when it
berthed at Porto Santo Stefano, on the Tuscan coast. I actually owned
a yacht at one time with a friend, a converted motor torpedo boat, but
of course it was no way as luxurious as the one I describe.

Lily:

How did you develop the plot and characters? Did you use any set
formula?As a follow up, did you know anyone who was paralysed like
George? Did you make any research into that state of mind?

Derek:

Like in other novels I have written, I develop the plot and characters
as I write, so have no set formula., which maybe explains why my
novels are all different.

The only one which maybe resembles Farewell Alexandria is another
‘saga’ called The Tuscan Trilogy. However, I do research carefully the
facts and events around which the characters evolve. Where George’s
paralysis is concerned, I did question a specialist as to what can
happen when a person has a ‘stroke’ like George, or a cancer like
Cecily, but their states of mind are my diagnosis, following the
characters I have given them.

Incidentally, George’s business success story is based on that of a a
person I knew, though his character was my invention.

Lily:

A.J. is a typical terrorist mind. I learned a few new things on the
civil war in Lebanon and the different factions vying for power and
murder. Were you in Lebanon at that time? And why do you call Lebanon,
The Lebanon?

Derek:

No, I was not, but my wife spent her early childhood in Beyrout and
was very close to the then President Chamoun’s family and
children. His young son, Danny, used to consider her his kid sister.

I met him in Paris, many years later, and he gave me a lot of
background information on the

events which took place there. He was at the head of one of the
factions in the Lebanese civil war, and was subsequently killed by a
rival faction, together with his wife and two of his three children. A
terrible tragedy.

Why do I call it the Lebanon? Good question. Possibly because in
French it was always known as le Liban, a throwback, maybe, to when it
was a province of Syria, but also because maybe erroneously, we have
always referred to it as such.

Lily:

I loved your ending and will not ask you any questions other than say
this was a fitting one.

Derek:

Thank you.

Lily:

How did you know when your book was finished?

Derek:

When all the principal characters had said and done what I wanted them
to.

Lily:

In fiction as well as in non-fiction, writers very often take
liberties with their material to tell

a good story or make a point. But how much is too much?

Derek:

A difficult question where fiction is concerned, In non-fiction,
however, I reckon one cannot take liberties and must recount only
facts, otherwise it becomes the so-called ‘faction’.

In fiction, my view is that it is up to the author, and the public
will then decide how much is too much.

Lily:

Has your environment and/or upbringing influenced your writing?

Derek:

Certainly.

Lily:

Do you still go back to Alexandria?

Derek:

Yes. In 2002 I was invited to the opening of the new Alexandrian
Library ` a remarkable building ` which put Alexandria back on the map
culturally, and since then I have been back twice. I am planning to go
there this winter as I still have friends there also.

Lily:

Are you working on any books/projects that you would like to share
with us?

(We would love to hear all about them!)

Derek:

Yes. I have just finished my second ‘saga’ The Tuscan Trilogy ` if you
go to my website: www. derekflower.com you can see what it is about,
and I have also just finished a series of adventures for young adults,
entitled, ‘The Weird and Wonderful Adventures of Tim Wessurp, ‘TWERP.’
Again, details can be seen on my website.

Lily:

Where can our readers find out more about you and your book and is
there anything else you wish to add that we have not covered?

Derek:

Probably by visiting my website, where there is quite a lot about my
books and me.

Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors.

Derek. It is I who thank you.

814

HULIQ (press release), NC
May 5 2008

Azerbaijan Asks The West To Help With Karabakh Settlement

The foreign minister of Azerbaijan has asked the West to convince
Armenia with Nagorno Karabakh settlement while Azerbaijan is the side
that constantly refuses the proposals of OSCE and and tries to get rid
of the Minsk group mediators while attempting to bring the issue to
UN.

On May 4 Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mamedyarov once again
explained the stall in the peace process on Karabakh with the
aggressive stance of Armenia. According to the Public Television of
Turkey, he accused Armenia for prolonging the settlement of the
conflict. He said that Armenia should be interested in settling the
Karabakh conflict as soon as possible and called upon the Western
states to convince Armenia to be more constructive.

The inconsistence of the Azerbaijani foreign policy is well known. Now
and then official Baku demands the Minsk Group to be disbanded and
threatens to restart the war in Karabakh. Although this time
Mamedyarov avoided warlike statements, his anxiety about Armenia’s
interests sounded rather challenging.

However challenging Mamedyarov’s statements be, the Western statements
are not likely to swallow the bait. In case Azerbaijan fulfills its
warlike threats and unleashes a new war against Armenia and Karabakh,
the West shall consider it not only as an attempt to ruin the fragile
stability of the region, but also as an attempt to take over the
initiative in Karabakh process.

It is obvious that in case of a new war in South Caucasus the
prospects of the greater states of the world shall be ruined, and
Azerbaijan shall be punished for that. If the West leaves unattended
the warlike statements of Azerbaijani officials, it means they prefer
to neglect them and not to emphasize them, preserving the stability in
South Caucasus, where each of the greater states pursues vital
interests.

By the way, the foreign minister of Azerbaijan Mamedyarov with his
accusations against Armenia tried to answer the April 30statement of
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, which read as follows, "I think we
made a long way in the settlement process of the Karabakh
conflict. There is a project and there are the proposals suggested by
the OSCE Minsk Group. They are the result of a long work and we are
ready to continue the process basing upon the suggestions. But our
readiness is not enough, we still need the willingness of the
Azerbaijani side".

By h. Chaqrian of Azg, translated by A.M.

Reporters without borders (press release), France
May 6 2008

Little progress in latest Hrant Dink trial hearing, but press to be
admitted to next one

Little significant progress was made during the fifth hearing on 28
April in Istanbul in the trial of the 19 people accused of the January
2007 murder of Hrant Dink, a journalist of Armenian origin. Eight of
the defendants in the trial, which began 15 months ago, have been
detained since shortly after the murder.

One of the defendants, Coskun Igci, a police informer in the eastern
city of Trabzon, the home town of most of the defendants, was due to
have been questioned during the 28 April hearing but he could not
testify as he was not represented by a lawyer.

Igci previously testified to a Trabzon court that he had informed two
police officers that Yasin Hayal, one of the accused masterminds, was
planning to kill Dink. As a result of that statement, the two police
officers said they had passed on the information to their superiors,
and accused them of failing to take any action.

The Istanbul court said it would provide Igci with a lawyer for the
next hearing on 7 July, which should be open to the press because the
accused gunman, Ogün Samast, turns 18 on 28 June. Until now the
press have been barred from the hearings on the grounds that Samast
was a minor.

One of the defendants, Irfan Ã-zkan, who was released on 2 July
2007, gave damning testimony at the 28 April hearing. He confirmed
that he had heard Ã`mit Ã-ksüz, a Trabzon youth and
friend of Samast, say: `A group from Istanbul organized an important
meeting in Trabzon before the murder at which it was asked who was
going to shoot the journalist. When Samast stepped forward to say `I
will do it,’ everyone applauded.’

When asked by one of the Dink family lawyers about the participants at
this meeting, Ã-zkan refused to answer, saying Ã-ksüz
himself should provide the information.

The court agreed to a request by the Dink family’s lawyers for the
Istanbul and Trabzon prosecutor’s offices to be asked to provide
situation reports on the investigations under way into Istanbul police
officers, including police chief Celalettin Cerrah, his head of
intelligence and their aides, and into gendarmes in Trabzon.

The Dink family’s lawyers is also seeking access to official records
that would help them to establish what contacts Hayal may have
developed during a previous spell in prison in October 2004 after
bombing a McDonald’s restaurant in Trabzon. They have asked for access
to the prison computer in which all prisoner visits are recorded but
the prison administration had not responded.

Finally, the Dink family’s lawyers also filed a complaint against
Hayal’s lawyer, Fuat Turgut, accusing him under article 216.2 of the
criminal code of `inciting hate’ by insulting novelist Orhan Pamuk and
Armenians during the hearing and in the presence of journalists.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Catholic News Agency, CO
May 6 2008

Armenian prelate begins visit to Rome

Vatican, May. 6, 2008 (CWNews.com) – The head of the Armenian
Apostolic Church, Catholicos Karekin II, arrives in Rome today for a
visit that will continue through May 9.

The Armenian patriarch– who will be accompanied by 18 bishops and 75
members of the Armenian laity– will be formally greeted by Pope
Benedict XVI (bio – news) at the regular Wednesday papal audience on
May 7. Catholicos Karekin will meet privately with the Pontiff on
Friday, May 9.

During his stay in Rome the Armenian patriarch will pray at the statue
of St. Gregory the Illuminator in the patio of the Vatican
basilica. (St. Gregory brought the Christian faith to Armenia and is
the patron saint of the Armenian Church.) He will receive an honorary
doctorate from the Pontifical Salesian University, visit the
Pontifical Armenian College, and participate in a conference at the
Pontifical Oriental Institute on "holy sacrifice in the Armenian
tradition."

Ecumenical ties between the Holy See and the Armenian Apostolic Church
have been extremely close since 1996, when Pope John Paul II (bio –
news) and Catholicos Karekin I, the predecessor to the current
Armenian patriarch, signed a joint statement effectively ending the
theological dispute that had divided the two churches for 15
centuries. Just before the death of Karekin I, Pope John Paul II wrote
to the ailing Armenian prelate, promising his continued efforts to
bring about "re-establishment of full communion" between the Armenian
Apostolic Church and the Holy See.

When Karekin II was elected in 1999 to head the Armenian Church, he
promptly pledged his own efforts to pursue reunion with Rome. During a
visit to Rome in 2000 he signed another joint statement with Pope John
Paul, affirming that the doctrines of the two churches are
"complimentary rather than in opposition."

story.cfm?recnum=58247

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Catholic News Agency, CO
May 6 2008

Pope seeks Christian unity, welcomes head of Armenian Apostolic Church

Vatican City, May 6, 2008 / 10:38 am (CNA).- Continuing his efforts to
build Christian unity, Pope Benedict XVI will be welcoming His
Holiness Karekin II, the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, for a
three day visit, May 6-9.

Karekin II’s trip is one that will include several liturgical
celebrations and opportunities for dialogue with the Roman Catholic
Church. Throughout his visit, he will be accompanied by an entourage
of 18 bishops as well as 75 faithful from Armenia and other countries
in the region.

The schedule for the visit is packed with events.

On Wednesday, after having prayed at the tomb of St. Peter and visited
the statue of St. Gregory the Illuminator, the saint who converted
Armenia to Christianity, Karekin II will be welcomed by Pope Benedict
at the beginning of the general audience in St. Peter’s Square.

In the afternoon, the Catholicos will receive a doctorate "honoris
causa" in "the theology of youth pastoral care" from the Pontifical
Salesian University. Patriarch Karekin is known for his use of
technology, especially television broadcasts, as a tool of
evangelization and outreach, according to the Armenian Church of
America’s web site.

On Thursday, the Patriarch will visit the Pontifical Armenian College
and, during the afternoon, participate in an academic congress being
held at the Pontifical Oriental Institute on "holy sacrifice in the
Armenian tradition".

His Holiness Karekin II and those accompanying him will visit the
offices of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity on
Friday morning.

Benedict XVI will then meet privately with Karekin II in the Vatican
Apostolic Palace. After the private meeting between the two leaders,
the 18 Armenian Apostolic bishops will be received in audience by the
Pope.

Later in the day on Friday, the two church leaders will jointly
preside over a celebration of the Word with the Armenian Apostolic
delegation.

The Catholicos and his entourage will conclude their visit by praying
Vespers at the papal basilica of St. Paul’s Outside-the-Walls.

Karekin II has had good relations with the Roman Catholic Church since
his election in October 1999. A statement issued announcing the visit
describes past joint declarations signed between the Pope and the
Catholicos as significant, since they deal with `questions of great
ecumenical importance in the historical, theological and pastoral
fields.’

http://www.catholicnewsagency. com/new.php?n=12557

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
May 6 2008

Bernard Fassier: `Armenian new foreign minister needs to familiarize
himself with a number of issues regarding the talks process’

[ 06 May 2008 20:29 ]

Strasbourg. Fuad Gulubeyli-APA. `It’s too early to talk about any
concrete achievements at the meeting with Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister. Elmar Mammadyarov has been participating in the talks
process for four years.

But Armenian new foreign minister has recently joined the process and
he needs to familiarize himself with a number of issues regarding the
talks process’, APA Europe Bureau reports that OSCE Minsk Group French
Co-Chair Bernard Fassier said these words after Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov’s meeting with the OSCE Minsk Group
Co-Chairs. He noted that after the meeting with Armenian minister, the
negotiations would be conducted with the participation of the
co-chairs and Foreign Ministers of the two countries. `One can talk
about any results after that meeting’, he said. The discussions are
conducted on organization of a meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian
presidents and the date of co-chairs’ visit to the region.