Month: August 2008

GUL: "IN MY FIRST YEAR AS PRESIDENT, I HAVE LIVED UP TO THE OATH OF OFFICE"

Turkish Press
Aug 29 2008

In an interview with news channel NTV, President Abdullah Gul yesterday
evaluated his first year in office. Stressing that the president must
keep an equal distance from all parties and ensure harmony among
constitutional institutions, Gul said that during his first year,
he had lived up to the presidential oath and kept the promises he
gave ahead of his election. "I`m aware of my duties and position as
president," he explained. "Impartiality is very important for me,
and I believe that I maintained my impartiality during my first
year in office. I included all citizens and opened the Presidential
Palace`s doors to everyone." On rising tension in the Caucasus in
the wake of Russian-Georgian conflict and Moscow`s recognition of the
breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Gul said that Turkey
would continue to help efforts to restore stability and peace to the
region, as indifference is not an option. Asked whether he accept an
invitation from the Armenian president to visit Yerevan to see World
Cup qualifying match between the Turkish and Armenian national teams,
Gul said hadn`t made a decision yet. "We need to concentrate our
energy in the international area," he added. "I believe that over the
next few years, Turkey will become the most dependable country in the
region." On the Cyprus issue, Gul said, "Turkey maintains its stance
regarding the Cyprus issue and supports a comprehensive solution." On
discussion over a possible new constitution, Gul said, "Nearly all
political parties have expressed the need for a new constitution,
but the most important thing on this issue is to reach a broad-based
consensus." /Turkiye-Sabah/

SARGSIAN’S INVITATION FOR SOCCER MATCH

Turkish Press
Aug 29 2008

President Serzh Sargsian of Armenia said that recent developments
regarding Turkey-Armenia relations entailed leaders of the two
countries to take important decisions.

President Sargsian reiterated his invitation to President Abdullah Gul
to Yerevan to watch the 2010 Word Cup qualifying group match between
Turkish and Armenian national soccer teams on September 6th. He said
that the match would create a significant opportunity to develop the
bilateral relations.

IRANIAN FILM "SHIRIN" A REWARDING CHALLENGE
By Deborah Young

Reuters
Aug 29 2008
UK

VENICE (Hollywood Reporter) – A tough yet fascinating watch once you
get into it, "Shirin" marks another interesting twist in the eclectic
artistic career of Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami.

This feature-length film, screening out of competition at the Venice
International Film Festival, is simply a parade of close-ups of 113
Iranian actresses who are watching a film which we never see. Some
viewers will panic when they realize there’s never going to be a
reverse shot, while others will succumb to a hypnotic series of
beautiful faces and a charming fairy tale read on the soundtrack.

The deceptively simple film is much closer to Kiarostami’s experimental
theater play "Taize" than to such features as "A Taste of Cherry"
and "The Wind Will Carry Us." In "Taize," a traditional religious
play is performed in costume while screens show films of an Iranian
audience’s emotional involvement with the story. Here the narration
is taken from an 800-year-old Persian love story about Shirin, the
princess of Armenia, and Khosrow, the prince of Persia. On screen,
however, we see only the reactions of a female "audience" watching
a film that only exists in the mind of the viewer.

In fact, Kiarostami has stated that the actresses are staring at three
dots on a sheet of white cardboard off-screen, while imagining their
own love stories; he chose the Shirin narration only later, after he
finished filming. It is an effective trick, in any case, because the
illusion that the women are watching a film is quite strong.

The camera delves deeply into the expressive, sometimes teary eyes
of the silent actresses, who include major Iranian stars like Hedieh
Tehrani (also credited as casting director), Leila Hatami and Niki
Karimi, as well as French actress Juliette Binoche, recognizable even
in a headscarf and without makeup. Everyone is democratically given
equal screen time.

Delightfully full of passionate trysts in perfumed gardens, the story
of Shirin and Khosrow is probably unfilmable in today’s Iran. The
melodramatic tale of star-crossed love is still engrossing, even
though nonstop subtitles are required for foreign audiences. Still,
the narration is an essential part of the movie, creating a palpable
tension between the image and the soundtrack. One’s focus tends to
shift back and forth between word and image in a very noticeable way.

The story is skillfully read between the tragic and kitsch by a cast of
narrators lead by Manoucher Esmaieli and is accompanied by a historical
"film score" by Morteza Hananeh and Hossein Dehlavi.

THOMAS GOLTZ: "AZERBAIJANI GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE CAREFUL WITH THIS SITUATION"

Azeri Press Agency
Aug 29 2008
Azerbaijan

Baku. Lachin Sultanova-APA. "Developments in the region are dangerous
for Azerbaijan, but I don’t believe that analogical events will recur
there in near future", said professor at US Montana University Thomas
Goltz told APA.

He said there were both similar and different aspects between Nagorno
Karabakh and the conflicts in Georgia. The Professor thinks that
long-term tensions between Russia and Georgia led Russia to launch
strong military strikes on Georgia. "Terms between Vladimir Putin and
Mikhail Saakashvili are not good. But situation related to Azerbaijan
is different. There are good relations between Azerbaijan and Russia,
between Ilham Aliyev and Russian leadership".

Goltz noted that the situation was not similar, but warned Azerbaijani
Government to be careful. The Professor thinks that Azerbaijan
should continue its "quadrate policy". "It means that Baku should
continue friendship and partnership with Russia in the North, Iran
in the South, China in the East and the United States in the West
and protect the balance".

Responding to question about possibility of Azerbaijan’s intentions
for NATO membership to provide its security, Goltz said it would be
a suicide.

WILL TURKEY ABANDON NATO?
By Zeyno Baran

Wall Street Journal
Aug 29 2008

Will Turkey side with the United States, its NATO ally, and let more
U.S. military ships into the Black Sea to assist Georgia? Or will it
choose Russia?

A Turkish refusal would seriously impair American efforts to support
the beleaguered Caucasus republic. Ever since Turkey joined NATO in
1952, it has hoped to never have to make a choice between the alliance
and its Russian neighbor to the North. Yet that is precisely the
decision before Ankara. If Turkey does not allow the ships through,
it will essentially be taking Russia’s side.

Whether in government or in the military, Turkish officials have
for several years been expressing concern about U.S. intentions to
"enter" the Black Sea. Even at the height of the Cold War, the Black
Sea remained peaceful due to the fact that Turkey and Russia had
clearly defined spheres of influence. But littoral countries Romania
and Bulgaria have since joined NATO, and Ukraine and Georgia have
drawn closer to the Euro-Atlantic alliance. Ankara has expressed
nervousness about a potential Russian reaction.

The Turkish mantra goes something like this: "the U.S. wants to
expand NATO into the Black Sea — and as in Iraq, this will create
a mess in our neighborhood, leaving us to deal with the consequences
once America eventually pulls out. After all, if Russia is agitated,
it won’t be the Americans that will have to deal with them."

Nonetheless, Ankara sided with fellow NATO members in telling Georgia
and Ukraine that they would be invited to join the alliance — albeit
without any time frame. But now that Russia has waged war in part over
this decision, the Turks will have to pick sides. Deputy chief of the
Russian general staff Anatoly Nogoivtsyn already warned Turkey that
Russia will hold Turkey responsible if the U.S. ships do not leave
the Black Sea. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will travel to Ankara
on Monday to make clear that Russia means it.

Russia is Turkey’s largest trading partner, mostly because of Turkey’s
dependence on Russian gas. More important, the two countries share what
some call the post-imperial stress syndrome: that is, an inability
to see former provinces as fellow independent states, and ultimately
a wish to recreate old agreements on spheres of influence. When
Mr. Putin gave a speech in Munich last year challenging the U.S.-led
world order, Turks cheered. The Turkish military even posted it on
its Web site. President Abdullah Gul recently suggested that "a new
world order should emerge."

Turkey joined Russia at the height of its war on Georgia in suggesting
a five-party "Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform." In other
words, they want to keep the U.S. and the EU at arm’s length. Both
Russia and Turkey consider Georgia’s American-educated president,
Mikheil Saakashvili, to be crazy enough to unleash the next world
war. In that view Turkey is not so far from the positions of France
or Germany — but even these two countries did not suggest that the
Georgians sign up to a new regional arrangement co-chaired by Russia
while the Kremlin’s air force was bombing Georgian cities.

Two other neighbors — Azerbaijan and Armenia — are watching the
Turkish-Russian partnership with concern. Azeris remember how the Turks
— their ethnic and religious brethren — left them to be annexed by
the Soviets in the 1920s. Armenians already fear their giant neighbor,
who they consider to have committed genocide against them. Neither
wants to have to rely on Iran (once again) as a counterbalance to
Russia. Oh, and of course, Iran had its own sphere-of-influence
arrangements with the Soviets as well.

Though Turkey and Iran are historic competitors, Turkey has broken with
NATO countries recently by hosting President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad on a
working visit. As the rest of NATO was preoccupied with the Russian
aggression in Georgia, Turkey legitimized the Iranian leader amidst
chants in Istanbul of "death to Israel, death to America."

A few days later, Turkey played host to Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir, who is
accused of genocide by the rest of NATO — but not by Russia or Iran,
or by the Muslim-majority countries who usually claim to care so much
about Muslim lives.

Where is Turkey headed? Turkish officials say they are using their
trust-based relations with various sides to act as a mediator between
various parties in the region: the U.S. and Iran; Israel and Syria;
Pakistan and Afghanistan, etc. It may be so. But as more American
ships steam toward the Black Sea, a time for choosing has arrived.

Ms. Baran is senior fellow and director of the Center For Eurasian
Policy at the Hudson Institute.

REPORTS ON DEMANDS OF AZERBAIJANIS RESIDING IN GEORGIA IS PROVOCATIVE: AZERBAIJANI AMBASSADOR

Trend News Agency
Aug 29 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, 29 August / Trend News corr. J.Babayeva / The
Azerbaijani Ambassador to Georgia denies reports on Azerbaijanis’
demand for autonomy in that country.

"Reports on the demand of Azerbaijanis residing in Georgia for
autonomy is of provocation character and such news are spread to bring
Azerbaijanis into definite games," Namig Aliyev, the Azerbaijani
Ambassador to Georgia, told Trend News over telephone from Tbilisi
on 29 August.

Some media reports urged on territorial claims by national minorities
residing in Georgia after Russia’s recognition of independencies of
South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev signed a decree to recognize
independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on 26 August.

"Azerbaijanis never demanded autonomy from Georgia. They are citizens
of Georgia and intend to live in within the state in future, as well,"
he said.

According to unofficial data, about 500,000 Azerbaijanis reside in
Georgia, especially in Kvemo-Kartli (Borchali) Region.

Councils of the Armenian public organizations in Samtskhe-Javakheti
and Kvemo Kartli made a statement to get status of sovereign states
within Federal Georgia with large autonomy rights of self-government
for Samtskhe-Javakheti and other areas populated by Armenians.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT: "I HOPE THE SOLUTION TO NAGORNO KARABAKH PROBLEM WILL BE FOUND SOON"

Today.Az
tics/47279.html
Aug 29 2008
Azerbaijan

"The events in Georgia and South Ossetia were a tragedy, which
caused death to people", said Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan in
his interview to Turkish Radical newspaper.

The President noted that Armenia is for the resolution of such issues
by way of talks, on the basis of the free will of people and respect
for the right for self-determination.

"It is a pity that the situation is growing tense and we do not like
it. We believe that the joint initiative of the Presidents of Russia
and France will promote peace and stability, which is very important to
us. 70% of Armenian trade turnover is conducted via Georgia", said he.

He said there is really a gasoline crisis in Armenia, which was
a result of a blast on the Georgian railway bridge. The president
voiced hope that this issue will soon be settled. Sargsyan noted that
instability in the region is not positive for Armenia and durable
stability will worsen situation and raise the number of problems.

Analyzing the conflicts in the South Caucasus, Sargsyan noted that
all of them have both similarities and differences. The president
recommended to take lessons from this, instead of focusing on details.

"I see that speculations around the armed resolution of the problem
lead to dangerous consequences", noted he.

He said that the meeting with president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev
in Saint Petersburg on June 6 was effective. "Both sides instructed
the the foreign ministers to continue work on the basis of Madrid
principles. I hope that we will find the solution in the near future",
noted he.

At the same time, he said it is incorrect to make any predictions
before the presidential elections in Azerbaijan.

ARMENIAN INVITATION TO CONTRIBUTE SOLUTION TO PROBLEMS, TURKEY SAYS

Hürriyet
Aug 29 2008
Turkey

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said his Armenian counterpart’s
invitation to watch a football game in Yerevan is an example that shows
that a contribution to solving problems could come from every level,
adding he is still considering whether to accept the invitation or not.

"I think that (Armenian President Serz Sargsyan’s invitation) is an
example showing that the contribution to solving the problem and ending
the misunderstandings can be made at each level. Our assessments on
Mr. Sargsyan’s invitation are underway with taking every development
into account," Gul told Radikal daily on Friday.

Radikal conducted an interview with Sargsyan on Thursday, and Gul’s
comments came a day after the interview. Sargsyan said Gul’s visit
will boost the diplomatic ties between the two countries and open
new windows of opportunity, adding they want to establish diplomatic
relations.

Sargsyan has invited Gul to watch a football match between the two
country’s national teams on Sept. 6 to mark "a new symbolic start
in the two countries’ relations." Gul is yet to make a decision on
accepting the invitation.

"I sincerely support the recent efforts to ensure peace in the
region. I think that it is important to use the opportunities. Our
wish is this: We think it is very important to solve our problems
with our neighbors. We think it is very important the problems
should be solved through dialogue. We are a problem-solving country
in the region. We think peace, and stability is very important in
the Caucasus," Gul added.

Gul also said the frozen conflicts of the Caucasus, especially the
Nagorno-Karabakh problem, should be solved through dialogue, adding
he is still considering the invitation of his Armenian counterpart
to watch a football game in Yerevan.

Although Turkey is among the first countries to recognize Armenia when
it declared its independence, there are no diplomatic relations between
two countries as Armenia continues to press the international community
to admit the so-called "genocide" claims, instead of accepting Turkey’s
call to investigate the allegations, and its invasion of 20 percent
of Azerbaijani territory due to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue despite
U.N. Security Council resolutions on the issue.

Armenia, with the backing of the Diaspora, claims up to 1.5 million
of their kin were slaughtered in orchestrated killings in 1915. Turkey
rejects the claims, saying that 300,000 Armenians along with at least
as many Turks died in civil strife that emerged when Armenians took
up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia.

–Boundary_(ID_97ZPVKBay0lLFEY+QRYKOw)- –

BINOCHE SOBS IN HEADSCARF, VALENTINO STEPS DOWN: VENICE REVIEWS
Review by Farah Nayeri

Bloomberg
Aug 29 2008

Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) — Juliette Binoche has no language problems
acting in the Iranian movie "Shirin." She never opens her mouth.

Binoche is one of 114 silent, headscarf-wearing actresses in Iranian
filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami’s movie, screened at the Venice Film
Festival. The women’s faces are shown one by one as they watch the
filmed adaptation — heard but not seen by us — of the 12th-century
epic poem "Khosrow and Shirin," about the thwarted love of a Persian
king and an Armenian princess.

Binoche, wrapped loosely in a headscarf and looking gaunt in the
grayish light, pops up briefly in the film’s first half hour, gazing
sadly at the screen. When the camera later comes back to her, tears
are streaming down her face.

Other cast members, Iranian and of all ages, also come into
intermittent focus. They smile faintly when the plot gives them
reason to, cringe when the king slays his enemy, and cry when he
marries another woman and leaves Shirin hopelessly alone.

Binoche was absent from the film’s Venice press conference. Asked
about her headscarf, Kiarostami paraphrased her as saying it was
"out of respect for those who choose to wear it, and in sympathy with
those who are obliged to."

How the production was put together is at least as intriguing
as the film itself. The set consisted of four movie- theater
seats. Each actress was told to sit and stare, for five minutes, at
a piece of paper marked with three dots, and conjure up key personal
memories. When all 114 were done emoting, Kiarostami spent six months
putting the pieces together like a puzzle, making their expressions
fit the drama.

"Shirin" is the slowest movie by Kiarostami, who is already known
for plotless musings on cinema. This is his tribute to the filmgoing
public, the fulfillment of a lifelong wish to watch the viewer
watch. The end result is a triumph of form over content, medium
over message. Still, it’s easy to be drawn into the unseen drama
and the musicality of the Persian verse — especially if you speak
Farsi. Rating: **1/2.

Valentino

Valentino Garavani was, for close to 50 years, the lone Italian in
Parisian haute couture: a gifted designer who dressed generations
of past and present royals, Hollywood stars, and high-society New
Yorkers in his signature red. His time ended last January when he
produced his final collection and bowed out, allowing the fashion
house’s new shareholders to usher in a thirtysomething substitute.

The story of Valentino’s spectacular rise and voluntary exit is
movingly told in a documentary by Vanity Fair contributor Matt
Tyrnauer, "Valentino: The Last Emperor," screened and well received
at Venice. For two years, Tyrnauer trailed Valentino and his business
partner and companion Giancarlo Giammetti as they bickered daily over
the ins and outs of their fashion empire.

Machine Following

"There was a machine following me everywhere, even when I went to the
toilet," the beige-suited couturier told reporters in Venice after
posing with model Eva Herzigova. "It bothered me, but then I accepted."

The documentary opens in his Rome atelier, where senior seamstresses
fuss over every flare and fold of a luxury fabric, stick pins in
mannequins, and storm off when all is not right. Sitting amidst them
like a king at court is Valentino himself, who has flares put in, then
taken out, then put back in. This, we discover to nostalgia-inducing
waves of Fellini film music, is the secret of his ageless chic.

As the designer unashamedly displays ill temper on camera, snapping at
Giammetti every chance he gets, we follow him around his many homes:
the splendid chateau outside Paris, the villa on Rome’s Via Appia
Antica, the chalet in Gstaad, and the T.M. Blue One, a 46-meter yacht
where Warhol’s portraits of him hang.

Elton John

We watch the pair entertain a guest list that would give any paparazzo
an epileptic fit. Gwyneth Paltrow and Elton John, among others,
arrive to toast them in their twilight moment at a magnificent party
in the chateau.

There are plenty of funny moments, starting, of course, with the
spats. "You look a little too tan," Giammetti warns the leather-faced
Valentino in a chauffeur-driven limo. When Valentino poses with his
pugs and boasts of how good they are during photo shoots, one roams
off to urinate on the parquet.

Capitalism soon sends tremors through their empire, forcing them
to sell bigger and bigger slices. Valentino and Giammetti fight to
the last, then give up, organizing a series of farewell bashes in
spectacular European settings.

First-time director Tyrnauer’s documentary lacks the finish of
others recently screened on Mike Tyson or Marlon Brando. What he
does convey is the touching relationship between the designer and his
silver-haired, behind-the-scenes guy, whose role is only now becoming
publicly known.

Giammetti himself puts it best. "To be with Valentino as a friend,
a lover, or an employee is a bit the same," he sighs. "You need a
lot of patience." Rating: ***.

GUL’S RESPONSE TO SARGSIAN

Aug 29 2008
Turkey

President Abdullah Gul said that Turkey was in favor of resolving
the problems with its neighbors. "This is our region. We are the
children of the same land. Turkish and Armenian peoples have lived
in this region together for centuries," he said.

Earlier, President Serzh Sargsian of Armenia invited President Gul
to Yerevan to watch the 2010 Word Cup qualifying group match between
Turkish and Armenian national soccer teams on September 6th, saying
that the match would create a significant opportunity to develop the
bilateral relations. President Gul said that he extended support for
all efforts to safeguard peace in the region.