Month: August 2008

US WARSHIP SAILS THROUGH STRAITS, RUSSIA SUSPICIOUS

Today’s Zaman
Aug 23 2008
Turkey

In a move likely to heat up tensions between the United States and
Russia over a conflict in the troubled Caucasus, a US Navy warship
sailed through the Turkish Straits yesterday to take relief supplies
to Georgia.

The guided missile destroyer USS McFaul passed through the Dardanelles
and the Bosporus, and two other ships, the US Coast Guard cutter Dallas
and the command ship USS Mount Whitney, will follow in the coming
days. "The USS McFaul is under way now, having taken on humanitarian
supplies for the people of Georgia," a spokes-man for the US Navy in
Europe said.

The two Navy ships and a US Coast Guard cutter are carrying relief
supplies, including bottled water, blankets, hygiene kits, baby food,
milk and nappies, said Cdr. Scott Miller, spokesman for the US 6th
Fleet. He stated that the McFaul and the Dallas were expected to arrive
in Georgia next week and the Mount Whitney around the end of the month.

A Polish ship also passed through the Turkish Straits yesterday,
but Turkish diplomatic sources emphasized that the ship was headed
to the Black Sea to take part in a NATO task mission that sources
said had been planned months ago.

Russia, which occupied part of Georgia in response to a Georgian
military offensive in the pro-Russia breakaway region of South Ossetia
early this month, expressed concern over the US Navy ships’ trip to
the Black Sea. "From the Russian point of view … the usefulness
of this operation is extremely dubious," Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy
chief of the Russian military’s General Staff was quoted by Reuters as
saying when asked about the US Navy mission to deliver aid to Georgia.

The ships are part of a humanitarian mission, but observers say it
is also a message of military deterrence by the United States to
Russia. The US military had already begun delivering relief supplies
by air a week ago.

Turkey, which has close ties with neighboring Georgia and is a key
strategic ally of Washington, has been walking a delicate diplomatic
line during the Caucasus conflict in order not to antagonize
Russia. Ankara, which has developed its trade ties with Russia and
relies on imports from Russia to meet its natural gas needs, fears
it could be caught in the middle of an undesired, Cold War-type
confrontation between Russia and the United States if tensions rise
further. Hoping for peaceful resolution of the crisis, Ankara has
been floating a proposal for a regional cooperation platform that is
planned to include Turkey, Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The US request to send warships to the Black Sea put Ankara in a
difficult position as it insists all passages through the Turkish
Straits, the only sea outlet to the Black Sea, must be in compliance
with the international Montreux Convention. The US had initially
planned to send two Navy hospital ships that each weigh 70,000 tons,
far above the maximum weight allowed in the Montreux Convention. Ankara
refused, prompting further negotiations with the United States to
find a compromise. The three ships now headed to Georgia all meet
the standards set by the Montreux Convention.

There were concerns that the US could force Turkey to agree to changes
to the convention to be able to give a military message to Russia
by sending the two hospital ships. But Matt Bryza, deputy assistant
secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, said earlier
this week that the US had no intention of seeking revisions to the
Montreux Convention.

CHP questions policy

The rising tensions have increased opposition pressure on the
government at home. The main opposition Republican People’s Party
(CHP), which views government efforts to create a Caucasus regional
platform to resolve regional crises with suspicion, yesterday formally
requested a statement on whether the US ships transiting the Turkish
Straits met Montreux standards.

The CHP’s Onur Oymen issued a formal inquiry to Foreign Minister
Ali Babacan over whether the United States complied with Montreux
requirements that all warship transits have to be declared to Turkish
authorities eight days in advance.

Foreign Ministry officials state that Ankara has not been forced to
compromise, as the three ships meet the requirements stipulated by the
Montreux Convention. "As has been the case for around seven decades,
we haven’t made any exception to the 1936 Montreux Convention, and
we will never make such an exception. Turkey is extremely sensitive
on this issue," an official told Today’s Zaman on Thursday.

The Foreign Ministry yesterday issued a written statement in which
it reiterated that foreign-flagged military ships are passing through
the Turkish Straits to the Black Sea in line with the notices conveyed
to Turkish authorities and in compliance with the Montreux Convention.

"In this context, four ships belonging to the Standing NATO Maritime
Group 1 — Spain (SPS Almirante Don Juan de Borbon), Germany
(FGS Luebeck), Poland (ORP General Kazimierz Pulaski) and US (USS
Taylor) — will visit the ports of Constanza in Romania and Varna
in Bulgaria in the west Black Sea and our country’s Ä°stanbul ports
for training and as part of NATO’s planned activities approved in
October 2007. Excluding this, passages of other foreign military ships
including those of the US are being done in line with the Montreux
Convention," the statement said.

–Boundary_(ID_WUDjG10RugBDQep3VzM48A)–

INTERNET BANS PIT TURKEY AGAINST FREEDOM OF SPEECH

Today’s Zaman
Aug 23 2008
Turkey

There are currently 853 Web sites banned in Turkey, including
video-sharing site YouTube and dailymotion.com, placing Turkey in
the league of countries such as China and Saudi Arabia, famous for
restricting freedom of speech.

Web sites are most often banned on grounds that they insult the founder
of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, contain vulgarity,
enable gambling or promote suicide. Many sites have also been banned
for crimes covered under the Internet Security Law. But a number of
sites are banned for no apparent reason. The latest Web site to be
banned was gundemonline.com, which was blocked by Ankara’s 11th High
Criminal Court without any justification.

Other countries known to frequently ban Web sites include China,
Iran, Armenia, Tunisia, Indonesia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates
and Saudi Arabia.

Sites protest bans

A campaign has been initiated by elmaaltshift.com to protest these
bans. To date 441 Web sites — including some of the most popular sites
in the country, such as online English-Turkish dictionary zargan.com,
sinema.com and forzabesiktas.com — are supporting the campaign.

Earlier this week the sites supporting the campaign "banned" themselves
by putting up front pages that read "Access is denied," in imitation
of what happens when sites are blocked by courts.

Getting around the bans

The bans have increased the popularity of Web sites, such as
ktunnel.com and its rival, vtunnel.com, that allow Turkish users to
access banned sites. According to data from Web information company
alexa.com, ktunnel.com currently ranks 37th on the list of most-visited
sites in Turkey, while vtunnel.com is at the 41st spot.

Data at alexa.com also shows that despite the ongoing ban, YouTube
ranks 17th on the list of popular Web sites in Turkey, showing that
Turkish Internet users still find other ways to access the site.

BABACAN, LAVROV IN TALKS OVER DUBIOUS CAUCASUS PLATFORM

Today’s Zaman
Aug 23 2008
Turkey

Foreign Minister Ali Babacan yesterday spoke with his Russian
counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on the phone to discuss a proposed
cooperation platform for the crisis-hit Caucasus amidst reports that
Turkey will include its estranged neighbor Armenia in regional peace
efforts via Russia.

Babacan conveyed a set of "concrete proposals" to Lavrov during the
conversation, Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Ozugergin said, without
elaborating. Officials from the Turkish and Russian foreign ministries
will meet next week to work on the proposals. Babacan and Lavrov will
also meet in early September to review progress in the technical talks.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the architect of the proposed
Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform, has said he won
backing from regional countries, including Russia, for the proposed
alliance. But questions remain on how the regional countries will
set aside their differences and embark on a cooperation initiative.

News reports in the Turkish media said Turkey could talk to Armenia,
one of the regional countries that Ankara wants in the Caucasus
platform, via Russia, Armenia’s regional ally, in the initial
stages. Direct talks between Turkish and Armenian diplomats and
foreign ministers are planned for later stages.

It was not clear whether one of the concrete proposals passed on
to Lavrov concerned some form of Russian mediation between Turkey
and Armenia, two neighbors that have had no formal ties for more
than a decade. Turkey severed its diplomatic ties and closed its
border with Armenia in the early 1990s in protest of an Armenian
occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan. Normalization in ties,
says Ankara, depends on Armenian withdrawal from Nagorno-Karabakh,
Yerevan ending its efforts for worldwide recognition of claims of an
Armenian genocide at the hands of the late Ottoman Empire and formal
recognition by Armenia of the current borders with Turkey.

But despite the obstacles remaining in place for dialogue, Ankara says
the proposed Caucasus platform will include Armenia as well. President
Abdullah Gul reiterated late on Thursday that Armenia was planned
to be included in the proposed Caucasus platform. "They have been
invited to this to help resolve problems. Talks and preparations are
still under way," he noted.

According to plans that are still being worked out in Ankara, the
proposed platform will include Turkey, Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and
Armenia. Erdogan has so far visited Russia, Georgia and Azerbaijan
to discuss the initiative. Armenia said it welcomed Turkey’s plans
to include Yerevan in regional peace efforts.

Gul is still considering whether to accept an invitation from his
Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sarksyan, to visit Armenia to watch a World
Cup qualifying game between national soccer teams of the two countries
on Sept. 6. If it takes place, the visit will represent landmark
progress in efforts to normalize ties between the two countries,
but Turkish diplomats are unsure whether Armenia has taken enough
conciliatory steps to deserve such a gesture.

As deliberations continue in Ankara over whether Gul should accept
Sarksyan’s invitation, reports have appeared in the Turkish media that
decision-makers are leaning toward sending a Cabinet minister, instead
of the president, to Armenia. State Minister Murat BaÅ~_esgioglu, who
is responsible for sports, is reportedly a candidate to visit Armenia.

–Boundary_(ID_FYLThGDgOK16NN9prH9JUA)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NEW SUSPECT IN DINK CASE CONFIRMED BY WITNESSES

Today’s Zaman
Aug 23 2008
Turkey

Eyewitnesses to a high-profile assassination in Ä°stanbul last year
attested yesterday to the presence of a newly discovered suspect in
the murder case of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, shot dead
by a teenager over a year ago.

Prosecutors have for the past week been investigating claims that
Osman Hayal, the brother of one of the suspects, was also at the
scene on the day of the murder.

Dink was gunned down on Jan. 19, 2007 in broad daylight outside
the office of Agos, a newspaper where he was the editor-in-chief,
by ultranationalist Ogun Samast, who was 17 at the time of the
murder. The teenager swiftly confessed to the murder and accused
Yasin Hayal from the northern city of Trabzon of having provoked
him to the act. However, witnesses have consistently claimed that a
second person was at the scene of the murder with Samast that day,
a claim partially supported by security camera coverage, as the
footage shows a nervous man making frequent phone calls.

The police also had evidence to suspect that the second person with
Samast on that day was Yasin Hayal’s brother, Osman Hayal, whose SIM
card was proven to have been emanating signals in Ä°stanbul on the
day of Dink’s assassination. Osman Hayal was detained in Trabzon on
Wednesday and brought on Thursday for interrogation to Ä°stanbul,
where he was also shown to witnesses, who confirmed Osman Hayal was
the man they had seen on the day of the murder. Hayal’s interrogation
at the police station has been completed, and he is due to appear in
court today.

Despite Samast’s immediate confession to the murder, the ensuing
investigation has been highly controversial. Evidence gathered quickly
made it obvious that the young man had not acted alone but was in fact
driven by a group of people whom he called "older brothers" who had
plotted the crime for more than a year. One of these men, a former
police informant, allegedly tipped off the police on more than one
occasion about the assassination plan. Another witness testified during
the trial that he too had been informed about the plan to kill Dink, by
a gendarmerie colonel. In addition to shady links between the suspects
and security institutions, lawyers representing the Dink family have
accused the police at various times of destroying vital evidence and
concealing crucial information from the court and the prosecution.

In a 180-page report on their investigation, a parliamentary
subcommittee on the Dink murder announced in late July their conclusion
that "there has been negligence, fault and bad coordination both on
the part of the police department and the gendarmerie" in processing
intelligence information about the plot to kill Dink.

Lawyers representing the Dink family have consistently asserted that
Ergenekon — a network suspected of a large number of politically
motivated crimes including bombings and murders for the ultimate
purpose of overthrowing the legitimate government — is behind the
Dink murder.

–Boundary_(ID_BhFmZoCtyhZ72aFq8rjjgw)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

YOUNG CIVILIANS CALL FOR OPENING ARMENIAN BORDER FOR MATCH

Today’s Zaman
Aug 23 2008
Turkey

The Young Civilians, a democratic youth movement, has called on
authorities to open the Turkish-Armenian border for 24 hours on
Sept. 6 for the World Cup qualifying match between the two countries’
national teams scheduled for that day.

In a statement released earlier this week, the Young Civilians, known
for their frequent use of political humor, said: "Turkey is playing its
first game in the group preliminaries of the World Cup with Armenia in
Yerevan on Sept. 6, 2008. Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan has invited
Turkish President Abdullah Gul to Yerevan to see the game. This game is
a great opportunity to normalize relations between Turkey and Armenia."

The statement went on to describe how difficult it would be for Turks
to attend the game. "Fans traveling from Turkey to see the game have
two options for getting to Yerevan: The first is by air, which is very
expensive and where it will be hard to find a free seat. Second is
going to Georgia by road, which takes only half an hour from Igdır to
Yerevan." The group then called on the authorities to open the border
for the day. "We just want to see the game and then return home," the
statement noted The Turkish-Armenian border has been closed since 1994.

–Boundary_(ID_jhW7kr6xzUrDISCo02yc4g)–

NUSRETIYE A ROYAL MOSQUE WITH AN UNUSUAL NAME

Today’s Zaman
Aug 23 2008
Turkey

The Tophane neighborhood of Beyoglu is home to a royal mosque with a
name that strays from the custom of naming mosques after the Ottoman
sultans who commissioned them.

Instead, its name is believed to have been chosen in celebration of
Ottoman military reforms in the 19th century. The mosque in question is
the Nusretiye Mosque, sometimes referred to as the Tophane Mosque by
locals. Although it is a "selatin" mosque — a grand mosque, usually
with more than one minaret, built by sultans or their family members
and thus named after them — it was named Nusretiye, meaning success
or victory. The name is believed to refer to the disbanding of the
rebellious Janissary corps by Mahmut II in 1826. This event is known
as Vaka-i Hayriye (the auspicious incident), and it was followed by
the establishment of a modern new army. Though the current mosque
dates back to the 19th century, it was actually constructed on the
former site of the wooden Tophane-i Amire Arabacılar KıÅ~_lası Camii
(Artillery Barracks Mosque), built by Sultan Selim III. Following the
1823 Firuzaga fire that burnt down most of Tophane, it was rebuilt
by Mahmut II between 1823 and 1826 during a project to rebuild the
Tophane artillery barracks, which were destroyed in the fire, too.

The mosque was built by architect Krikor Balyan (1764-1831), the first
of nine renowned members of the Armenian Balyan family, composed of
royal architects that served the imperial family throughout the18th
and 19th centuries. The Nusretiye Mosque once stood on a rectangular
parade ground facing the Bosporus. The artillery barracks, which were
built simultaneously with the mosque, were located at the southwest
corner. The Tophane pavilion next to the mosque and the Tophane
Clock Tower at the center of the grounds were commissioned by Sultan
Abdulmecid I, the successor of Mahmut II. The neo-classical offices
of the marshals were built in 1866 on the other side of Meclis-i
Mebusan Street behind the mosque.

The wall surrounding the mosque was demolished as part of a
road enlargement process during the reign of Sultan Abdulaziz
(1861-1876). The mosque, clock tower and the pavilion have survived
to this day. But the mosque was cut off from its connection to the
coastline as the parade ground was transformed into a trade area, known
as the Amerikan Pazarı (American Bazaar) and many warehouses. This
place is now populated by nargile bars and coffee shops.

Baroque and imperial styles

Made primarily of marble and cut stone, the architectural style of
the mosque reflects a transition from Ottoman baroque to imperial
style, though still retaining some remnants of the former. It has
unique proportions with a massive main building, a high dome and tall,
slender minarets. The mosque stands on a raised basement designed to
protect the building from humidity and includes a square prayer hall
with a narthex and a mihrab apse, as well as a sultan’s lodge. The
side arcades include five domed bays that border the exterior of the
prayer hall. The side arcade to the southwest has two stories, and
its lower colonnade includes a door leading down to the basement level.

The main gate is at the center of a three-bay portico that reflects
the monumental baroque style. The approach to the door is through two
flights of stairs leading up to the platform before the gate. These
staircases are sided by the projecting bays of the sultan’s kiosk on
either side. The sultan’s kiosk dominates the frontal facade of the
mosque. Its height is equal to that of the portico domes, supported by
columns and arches that develop into open terraces below. Its entrance
is provided through a baroque gate. A striking single dome ornamented
with wooden bas-reliefs engraved with golden leaves dominates the
interior, which is finely illuminated by the 20 windows around the
beautiful dome, as well as those on the space on the arches.

The prayer niche and the minbar (pulpit), made of white marble,
feature detailed embroidery displaying flower patterns. The women’s
section is located to the northwest of the narthex and flanks the
entrance. The grand arch above the narthex rests on two piers and
three arches. The lower tier of casement windows at the ground level
is adorned with baroque-vase designs carved in the marble window
arches, while the upper windows are decorated with artificial frames,
also painted in baroque style. The royal box (hunkar mahfili) is made
entirely of marble and has a gilded brass framework. The side arcades
supporting the sultan’s lodge are partially open. These arcades were
previously closed off by windows, as can be seen in older photos of
the mosque. Today we can see the holes where window frames were once
fastened. The interior of the mosque easily catches one’s attention
thanks to its elegant inscriptions written by famous calligraphers
Mustafa Rakım Efendi and Å~^akir Efendi, while the calligraphy above
the main entrance was done by Yesarizade Mustafa Ä°zzet Efendi.

The elegantly designed, slender and fluted minarets stand at the
western and eastern corners of the mosque. The current minarets were
rebuilt in 1826 as the former minarets were not tall enough and the
mosque’s mahya — banner hung between minarets — was hidden by the
dome and invisible from the sea. Each minaret has two balconies.

In contrast to classical Ottoman mosques, which have large courtyards,
Nusretiye has a small side courtyard to the northeast of the prayer
hall. The stone courtyard also houses a fountain with a total of
12 taps and a pointed spire carried by 10 elegant columns. There is
also a public fountain and "muvakkithane" (room for the timekeeper)
to the right and left sides of the courtyard, respectively. Each has a
round shape with a conical dome. These two monuments were originally
located across the street, but they were moved and placed adjacent
to the mosque during the reign of Abdulaziz I. The mosque underwent
major restorations in 1955 and 1958 and later in 1980 and 1992.

The clock tower: The three-storey clock tower at the side of the mosque
facing the sea is hardly noticeable from the street as it remains in
the customs area behind the stores in the American Bazaar. Above its
entrance door is Sultan Abdulmecid’s insignia. The twin columns on the
first story, the ionic columns at the second and the fluted ones on the
third give the building a magnificent appearance, despite its currently
deteriorated condition. Although Nusretiye has unfortunately lost most
of its surrounding historical flavor due to various urban renewals, it
is still able to attract visitors who happen to pass by with its charm.

–Boundary_(ID_c/+3fas965FXV9oC8839fA)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RESPONDING TO GEORGIA CRISIS, TURKEY SEEKS NEW CAUCASUS SECURITY INITIATIVE
By Alman Mir – Ismail

Eurasia Daily Monitor
Aug 22 2008
DC

The Georgian-Russian military conflict has created new security
dilemmas in the South Caucasus. Not only has the fragile
stability established since the chaos of 1990s been ruined, but
the East-West energy and transportation corridor has also been made
vulnerable. Turkey, as one of the largest donors of the South Caucasus
region and an active player in regional politics, surprisingly stayed
out of the conflict, neither defending its regional ally Georgia nor
making official statements at the governmental level. For many in
the region, this was perceived as a sign of Turkish weakness, lack
of interest in the South Caucasus region from the ruling AKP party,
and growing dependence on Russia in terms of trade and regional
alliance. Others simply called it a "sell-out of Caucasus." Indeed,
Turkey benefits from the regional energy pipelines and such a reaction
can only raise surprise among regional countries.

Partly because of the desire to refute these rumors and partly to
achieve Turkey’s long-awaited goals in the Caucasus, Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan came up with the "Platform for security
and cooperation in the South Caucasus" initiative. The initiative,
which Erdogan plans to discuss with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov, is intended to create a regional security framework. It
intends to accomplish this by encouraging greater integration between
Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia and empowering Russia and Turkey to
play the leads roles of regional security guarantors. Erdogan’s vision
is to solve the frozen conflicts in the region on a sustainable and
long-lasting basis and to satisfy the national interests of Russia,
which regards the West’s influence in the region as a "zero-sum
game." Under this initiative, NATO would be limited to an outside role
in providing security for the region — a clear effort to minimize
Russian distrust and anger.

With this idea, Erdogan visited Baku on August 21 to talk with
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and unveil this plan. Azerbaijani
public and politicians generally have greeted this proposal with
a great degree of skepticism. Political analyst Rasim Musabeyov was
quoted by ANS TV on August 21 saying, "Turkey wants to push Azerbaijan
towards compromise and also make sure Armenia plays more pragmatic
role. This is the vision behind the Caucasus Platform idea of Erdogan."

Opposition newspaper Yeni Musavat believes that under the pretext
of the Common Caucasus Platform, Erdogan wants to open borders with
Armenia. Indeed, since its arrival in power in 2002, the AKP party
has been favoring the idea of restoring economic and trade ties
with Yerevan in order to improve the economic situation in Turkey’s
Eastern regions, such as Kars and Erzurum, which suffer greatly from
the closed borders with Armenia. Azerbaijani officials have protested
against these ideas, saying that opening borders prior to Armenia’s
liberation of the occupied Azerbaijani territories would not only
damage Turkish-Azerbaijani solidarity and alliance in the region, but
also symbolically forgive the ethnic cleansing by Armenia. Previous
Turkish governments have preconditioned the opening of the borders
with Armenia to the end of the Karabakh conflict. For Azerbaijan,
closed borders between Turkey and Armenia are another tool of pressure
on the officials in Yerevan.

Nevertheless, after the presidential elections in Armenia in early
2008, Turkish-Armenian relations seem to be entering a new stage. Newly
elected President of Armenia Serj Sarkisian has invited his Turkish
counterpart Abdulla Gul to Yerevan to watch a soccer game between the
two countries. This sport event began a series of diplomatic events,
culminating with the revelation by senior Turkish officials that
high ranking diplomats of the two nations are engaged in negotiations
in Geneva. And on August 22, Yeni Musavat even reported that Turkey
opened flights into Armenia.

Officials in Baku seem less nervous this time about the possibility
of the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations than back in
2003-2004. It appears that even in the circles of the Azerbaijani
political leadership, there is an understanding that the economic
pressures on Armenia do not work and simply reinforce Armenian
dependence on Russia. Perhaps the normalization of Turkish-Armenian
relations will entice a breakthrough on the negotiation process in
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. More trust between these two nations might
prompt Armenia to extend certain concessions, should Yerevan feel
itself more secure.

However, some analysts believe that this Erdogan’s initiative is
doomed to failure. Nationalism, realpolitik, and irrational behavior
still dominate politics in the Caucasus, and it would be unrealistic
to expect Armenia to be less nationalistic or Russia to behave more
pragmatically. "If the West manages to push Russia out of Caucasus,
then the idea of the common Caucasus home might be possible. If
Russia stays in the region, then not," says Ilgar Mammadov, political
scientist (ANS TV, August 21). His colleague Zardusht Alizadeh echoes
pessimism: "The initiative of Erdigan will be unsuccessful" (Day.az,
August 20).

Similar proposals for the common Caucasus House, like the common EU,
were made in the early 1990s but eventually failed due to a lack of
desire from the competing powers both inside and outside of the region.

REVIEW: JEAN-YVES THIBAUDET AND L.A. PHILHARMONIC AT HOLLYWOOD BOWL
By Josef Woodard, Special to The Times

Los Angeles Times
Aug 22 2008

Khachaturian, long considered a lighter-weight participant among 20th
century composers, may be ripe for reconsideration.

Although Thursday night’s Hollywood Bowl performance by the Los
Angeles Philharmonic had a mostly Russian feeling, its program was
more complicated than that.

Sure, the pioneering Glinka and the reliable crowd-pleaser Tchaikovsky
run down the middle of Russian musical culture, and the Hungarian
Zoltan Kodaly qualifies as compatible kin from the former Eastern Bloc.

But Aram Khachaturian, whose Piano Concerto was the concert’s
centerpiece, was both Moscow-trained and proudly from and of
Armenia. And it was Khachaturian — who worked in the shadows of
Glinka, Armenian traditional music and, to a lesser extent, Stravinsky
— who dominated the concert.

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Indeed, Khachaturian, long considered a
lighter-weight participant among 20th century composers, may be ripe
for reconsideration, or at least that was a notion strengthened by
Thursday’s controlled and passion-powered reading of the concerto by
pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet.

A three-movement piece written in 1936, the work is a solid example of
the composer’s personalized mix of blustery sentimentality, folkish
colors and teasing Modernist spice. Thibaudet mastered the score
handily, deftly working the extremes of flashy dynamism and feathery
ruminations, which he somehow projected into the Bowl’s expanse.

Like Khachaturian, Kodaly has sometimes been cast as an also-ran among
20th century masters, overshadowed by fellow Hungarian Bartok. His
"Dances of Galanta," the concert’s closer, suggests a softer-edged
Bartok, its indigenous folk themes intact and plushly padded.

Standard-brand orchestral taste treats, which can sound better
when consumed in the Bowl’s great outdoorsy setting, served as
supportive pillars on the program. Glinka’s "Russlan and Ludmilla"
started things off with all the gleaming, boisterous energy expected
of it. Tchaikovsky’s "Romeo and Juliet," for its part, retained its
charms and loveliness.

On the podium, Lionel Bringuier, all of 21 and about to begin his
second season as the Phil’s assistant conductor, acquitted himself and
marshaled the ensemble forces beautifully. It appears that this mighty
orchestra — on the verge of Venezuelan wunderkind Gustavo Dudamel’s
tenure at the helm — is in the assured clutches of ultra-talented
twentysomethings.

GLENDALE AND ITS ARMENIAN SMOKERS
Kevin Roderick

LA Observed
/glendale_and_its_armenian.php
Aug 22 2008
CA

The Pasadena Weekly has run a surprising commentary by editor Kevin
Uhrich in response to a controversy over whether a Glendale city
official referred to residents of Armenian heritage being opposed to
an anti-smoking ordinance. The paper says its reporter got some stuff
wrong, and the story mushroomed. The named players are Glendale Mayor
John Drayman, Councilman Dave Weaver and PW reporter Carl Kozlowski.

it appears that from the end of June until today we’ve been the only
ones to own up to myriad mistakes made in figuring out exactly who
said what and why in the ongoing debate over smoking in Glendale:
from the overly talkative Weaver to the inattentive reporter to his
lazy editor to the apparently always unreachable Drayman to those who
claimed to be offended by Weaver’s ethnically insensitive remarks,
and all of it finally set in stone by competing newspapers, one of
which apparently didn’t know who it was looking at during one council
meeting, and another that misspelled the name of at least one person
intimately involved in all of this — me.

I say all that not to bust the chops of any of my overworked and
underpaid news brethren but to point out that sometimes things we could
never imagine happening actually do happen, even to the best of us,
including the usually spot-on reporter in this case, Carl Kozlowski.

But back to Weaver’s remarks: Who was he really talking about when
referring to "one segment of the population?" Latinos? Women? African
Americans? Asians? The Knights of Columbus?

Or could Weaver have been referring to the city’s Armenian community,
which amounts to roughly 70,000 people, or 40 percent of Glendale’s
population?

"You know who I’m talking about," Weaver told Carl.

"No, I don’t. Are you talking about Armenians?" Carl pressed.

To that Weaver emitted a noise, what Carl described as a growl, yet
he still did not give a straight answer. Not a yes or a no or an in
between — just a growl.

Editor and reporter went on a local Glendale TV show to discuss the
story, covered today in the Glendale News-Press.

FALL ARTS PREVIEWS: OCTOBER

San Francisco Chronicle
i?f=/c/a/2008/08/22/PKCQ12BVLG.DTL
Aug 22 2008
CA

Isabel Bayrakdarian: The superb Armenian Canadian soprano returns with
the Armenian Orchestra and conductor Eduard Topchjan for a program
highlighting the Armenian composer Komitas Vardapet. Oct. 4. Herbst
Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. (415) 392-2545,
www.performances. org.