Month: June 2009

ARMENIAN RULING PARTY WINS YEREVAN MAYOR’S SEAT

June 1 2009
Turkey

Armenia’s ruling party candidate has been re-elected mayor of the
capital Yerevan, official results showed.

Armenia’s ruling party candidate has been re-elected mayor of the
capital Yerevan, official results showed on Monday, dashing opposition
hopes of winning support due to the country’s economic crisis.

When polling stations closed last night, the opposition said the
election was rigged and it would hold protest rallies.

International observers said the election met European standards
although there were some faults.

"This election was a step forward in comparison with elections held
in September 2008," Nigel Mermagen, head of the Council of Europe
observation mission, told a news conference.

"Some shortcomings were recorded," he said.

The Central Election Commission said President Serzh Sarksyan’s
Republican Party won more than 40 percent of the votes in the city,
which accounts for 1.1 million of Armenia’s 3.2 million people.

The party backed incumbent mayor Gagik Beglaryan.

Prosperous Armenia, which is a ruling party’s ally, won around 22
percent. The opposition Armenian National Congress led by former
President Levon Ter-Petrosyan won around 17 percent of the votes in
the 65-seat city council.

Economic hardships

Ter-Petrosyan, Armenia’s first president after independence from the
Soviet Union in 1991, lost to Sarksyan in presidential elections in
February 2008. Ter-Petrosyan’s supporters cried foul and 10 people
were killed in resulting unrest.

In the run-up to the mayoral election, the opposition hoped it could
capitalise on discontent over the economy, which has dived with the
global economic crisis and the impact of strategic ally Russia sliding
into recession.

GDP in the landlocked country is forecast to contract by 5.8 percent
in 2009 and prices have crept up since the Central Bank floated the
dram currency in March.

Sarksyan has also faced criticsim fire for a plan to normalise ties
with Turkey after a century of hostility over the World War One
killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks.

Many Armenians welcomed the deal in the belief Turkey would open
their border, which Ankara closed in 1993 over Armenia’s backing for
ethnic Armenian separatists fighting a war in Azerbaijan’s breakaway
Nagorno-Karabakh region.

But Turkish leaders have since said the frontier will remain shut
until Armenia makes concessions on Nagorno-Karabakh.

STATE COMMISSION MAKES OFFICIAL STATEMENT ON PASSING OF TWO ARMENIAN SOLDIERS TO AZERBAIJANI SIDE

APA
June 1 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku -APA. The State Commission for Captives, Hostages and Missing
People made an official statement on the passing of two Armenian
soldiers to the Azerbaijani side, APA reports.

Soldiers of Armenian army – Harutunian Ohan Vadinagievich, 18 and
Tomosian Gevork Serjikovich, 18 – crossed the line of contact between
Armenian and Azerbaijani troops in Goranboy Region of Azerbaijan at
about 13.00 on May 31, the State Commission said.

The soldiers are under the control of the Defense Ministry of
Azerbaijan and necessary investigation is held about them.

ARMENIAN SOLDIERS CAPTURED VOLUNTARILY AS PROTEST TO UNBEARABLE SITUATION IN ARMENIAN ARMY

Today.Az
2723.html
June 1 2009
Azerbaijan

17:45

Armenian separatists have confirmed information that ordinary soldiers
G. O. Haroutyunyan and Tovmasyan recruited on 19 May this year to
one of the military units of the so-called Defense Army of "Nagorno
Karabakh", stationed in the north, left the military part and moved
to the territory under control of the Azerbaijani army at about 14:10
on May 31.

16:00

Day.Az reports with reference to the press service for the Defense
Ministry of Azerbaijan that on 31 May, at about 12.00, the soldiers
of mountain shooting division number 38862 of the armed forces of
Armenia Harutunyan Ohan Vadinagievich (born in 1991) and Tomosyan
Gevorg Serzhikovich (born in 1991) passed to the Azerbaijani side.

"They transferred to the Azerbaijani side voluntarily. Armenian
soldiers told about the oppression, torture in their army. The Ministry
of Defense of Azerbaijan continues to hold necessary actions on this
fact", said sources in the press service for the Ministry.

12:58

Day.Az reports with reference to the State Commission on Hostages,
POWs and Missing People that soldiers of Armenian armed forces –
Kharutuntyan Okhan Vadinagiyevich (born in 1991) and Tomosyan Gevorg
Serzhikovich (born in 1991) transferred to the Azerbaijani side in
the direction of the Geranboy region at about 13:00 on May 31.

12:51

The two Armenian soldiers were captured by Azerbaijani army as protest
to unbearable situation in Armenian army.

The Armenian soldiers were drafted for military service from Yerevan
and they served in the Armenian army only for ten days, Trend News
correspondent quoted well-informed source as saying.

According to unofficial reports, Armenian soldiers were voluntarily
captured near Gulustan village of Goranboy region on May 31.

State Commission on Hostages, POWs and Missing People is aware of
capture of two Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani army.

Though the commission is aware of capture of Armenian military men,
identity and the conditions in which the soldiers were captures
remains unknown yet, commission’s Head Shain Sailov said. He said an
investigation is underway on this issue.

Sailov said Armenia does not officially confirm capture of its
soldiers.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on June 1 that an official
statement on this issue will be made public today.

KLO CONDEMNS POLAD BULBULOGLU’S INTENTION TO VISIT NAGORNO KARABAKH WITH ARMENIAN AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA

Today.Az
/52711.html
June 1 2009
Azerbaijan

Karabakh Liberation Organization (KLO) issued a statement condemning
Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia Polad Bulbuloglu’s intention to
visit Nagorno Karabakh with Armenian ambassador to this country.

The organization’s press service told APA that such steps served for
Armenia’s interests and justification of their aggressive actions.

KLO noted that it was an illogical step while Armenia did want
to withdraw from its occupied territories, committed arsons there
and obviously held military trainings in those territories: "Polad
Bulbuloglu’s insistence on this initiative causes serious question
and anxiety and makes doubts on his turning into the tool of Russian
and Armenian policy".

KLO says that Azerbaijani government should investigate P. Bulbuloglu’s
activity and reconsider the issue whether he deserves the post he is
holding or not.

CROWD ENJOYS TASTE OF ARMENIAN CULTURE
By Jennifer Abel

New Britain Herald
09/05/31/news/doc4a233723f34b0096088372.txt
May 31 2009
CT

NEW BRITAIN — The stereotypical librarian loves silence and
runs through the library hissing "Hush!" or "Be quiet!" whenever
anyone dares make a sound. But New Britain librarian Linda McNair
completely defied this stereotype Saturday, and encouraged people
to make lots of noise. Armenian noise, to be exact, since Saturday
was the grand climax of the library’s month-long "World of Words"
festival celebrating Armenian culture.

Despite the beautiful sunny weather Saturday afternoon, around
100 people crowded into the library’s Community Room to enjoy the
"Armenian Cafe," featuring traditional Armenian food, needlework,
handicrafts and music.

"We’ve had a great turnout," McNair said. "Just amazing. And so many
people brought so much delicious food. We already had our own, but
people brought more."

Four musicians played traditional Armenian music. Jimmy "King"
Shahrigian played bass viol, while Harry Bedrossian played an unusual
stringed instrument. What’s that instrument called?

"If I told you, we’d have to break your legs," Bedrossian joked. "No,
it’s called an ‘oud.’ Think of the word ‘good,’ and then drop the
‘g.’ That’s how it’s pronounced."

Next to him sat Roger Derderian with an equally exotic stringed
instrument called a ‘kanoun.’ "It was invented in the ninth century
by a Persian mathematician named Faraby," he said.

"It’s the progenitor to today’s harpsichord or piano," he said. "See,
put keys on one side of it and that is a piano."

Rounding out the quartet was Gary Houhanessian, keeping the beat on
a small silver drum.

McNair manned the food table, and in addition to a variety of pastries
and other treats, there were two objects that looked like elaborately
carved wooden spoons. Little stickers on those spoons had the word
"Mamool."

"They use these as molds to make cookies," said reference librarian
Danielle Tapper. "But I can’t show you those. They’ve all been eaten."

McNair surveyed the scene with a satisfied smile. "This has been
a wonderful group of people supporting the program and celebrating
Armenian culture," she said.

FRIENDSHIP TRIP TO MUS IN RENTED VAN

Hurriyet
June 1 2009
Turkey

ISTANBUL – Kevork Galosian, a 22-year-old from Armenia, studied Turkish
at Yerevan University as a reaction against his family and now has
founded a civil society organization to support the Turkish-Armenian
dialog process and promote relations between the two countries

Young Turks from all over the country met recently with young Armenians
who traveled to MuÅ~_ in a rented van as part of a series of cultural
activities aiming to bridge the gap between the two societies.The
event was co-hosted by the MuÅ~_ Youth Aggregation Society and the
Armenian Young Democrats’ National League, which organized events
and discussed between May 16 and 18.

Kevork Galosian, the 22-year-old founder of Young Democrats’ National
League, told the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review that his group’s
primary aims as a civil-society organization are creating dialogue
and producing solutions to the problems between Turkish and Armenian
people. The group, consisting of seven young people between the ages
of 18 and 23, traveled through Georgia for more than 30 hours before
reaching Turkey via Tbilisi, visiting Ardahan and Kars before coming
to MuÅ~_.

Prejudices prevent

"Many more of our friends wanted to come to Turkey with us, but
their prejudices prevented it," Galosian said. "My friends who did
come with me were also anxious that something would happen to them,
but all of their views have changed. They will visit Turkey again
when they get a chance."

Galosian’s family migrated to Yerevan, the capital of Armenia,
right after the 1980 military coup in Turkey. His siblings were
born in Istanbul, his father is from Malatya and his mother is from
Yozgat. Thus, he said, Turkey has a special importance for him and his
biggest desire as a child was to speak Turkish like his parents. "My
fathers’ friends of Turkish origin from Istanbul visited us every
summer on holidays," Galosian said. "They were speaking Turkish among
themselves, but not one word of Turkish was spoken in the house after
his friends left."

He chose Turkish Studies at university as a reaction against
his family, becoming an expert in Turkish at Yerevan State
University. Galosian will receive his master’s degree at Fatih
University in Istanbul. "I want to learn Turkish much better," he
said. "I will stay in Turkey during my master’s degree and develop
my language skills."

Galosian believes the recent efforts to establish diplomatic
relations between Turkey and Armenia are extremely important. "We
must remove the boundaries in our brains before the ones on land,"
he said, adding that the same level of nationalist stances exists in
Turkey and Armenia, which he described as an "extremely dangerous"
situation. "The nationalism on both sides are no good for anything
but adding fuel to the already burning fire," he said, adding that a
person who really loves his country and nation does not seek sanctuary
in nationalism. It is too late to found "Greater Armenia" or to realize
the dream of a Pan-Turkic "Great Turan." The maps are already drawn.

Turkish people as a whole cannot be blamed for tragic events in
the country’s history, Galosian said, concluding his remarks with a
message to the world: "We appreciate your encouragement of the dialogue
process between Turkey and Armenia, but we are against America, Russia
or Europe using the Armenian matter for political exploitation. As
Turks and Armenians, we should learn from the things foreign powers
did to us in the past."

A memory on ‘rakı’

During his visit to Turkey, Galosian visited the Ani excavation site,
the capital of the Pakraduni Armenian Kingdom that reigned between 961
and 1045, in the Arpacay District of Kars. He said he was surprised by
the historical information given there, noting that, "The Armenians
were not mentioned in a single word on the signs." At that moment,
a security guard came up to Galosian and asked for rakı. He said
he turned to the security guard and said, "There is no mention of
Armenians here and you are asking rakı from me?" The guard answered,
"How is that my fault? I did not write the signs."

THREATENING E-MAIL TO AGOS NEWSPAPER

BIA Magazine
June 1 2009
Turkey

Assasinated Turkish-Armenian writer Hrant Dinks newspaper Agos receives
an e-mail threat signed as TIT. Newspapers lawyer Cetin says that
they filed a complaint about the threat and wont be intimidated by
such efforts.

Agos newspaper received an e-mail threat today. Founder of the
bilingual newspaper, Turkish-Armenian writer Hrant Dink was gunned
down by an extremist nationalist last Friday.

Lawyer of the newspaper Fethiye Cetin said they immediately filed a
complaint about the threat, which was signed as Turkish Revenge Brigade
(TÄ°T), a notorious clandestine group responsible for several killings
of leftist militants during 1980’s.

"This is their last efforts to intimidate us. We’ll do what’s necessary
and won’t tolerate such threats", said Cetin.

Reminding the hundreds of thousands who gathered for Hrant Dink’s
funeral yesterday, "We’ll overcome these obstacles in solidarity",
she said.

The e-mail message threatens of a bomb attack to the newspaper,
which continued receiving such threats even after Dink’s
assassination.

BOISE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL’S STUDENT SHOW CELEBRATES GLOBAL CULTURE
By Dana Oland – [email protected]

IdahoStatesman.com
http :// tml
June 1 2009

After studying other countries and cultures in a new international
curriculum, the school’s teachers and parents wanted to end with a
big finish.

"We knew the thing that could tie this whole experience and all of
our grade levels together would be music and arts," said principal
Deborah Watts.

So they turned to Vashti Summerville, who has two children in the
school and runs Open Door Children’s Theatre, a company that builds
community through the performing arts.

She created a show that brought more than just song, dance and music
to the table.

"I didn’t want to repeat just the facts. I wanted it to have more
meat. So I found stories of empowerment that show that kids all around
the world, whatever their circumstance, can accomplish great things."

She used the show, titled "I Have Greatness in Me," to teach more
about the cultures the kids had been studying.

"The arts can really help cement what the kids learn in classes,"
Watts said.

The show and the program that inspired it are part of two trends in
schools today:

â~@¢ Development of focused curriculum programs that offer more
choices for parents.

â~@¢ Pursuit by parents and teachers of ways to supplement arts
education programs that are diminishing as budget cuts become more
common.

The Longfellow parent / teacher organization used some of its existing
funds as well as grant money from the Idaho Commission on the Arts
to pay Summerville for her script and direction, said Tani Theiler,
president of the PTO.

IT WAS AN EXTRAVAGANZA

The stage brimmed with 230 kids, a sea of colorful T-shirts that
represent each of the countries they studied – Australia, China,
Armenia, Brazil, Kenya, Canada, United States and Switzerland –
through all of their subjects from math to spelling to technology.

It took them nearly 10 months to prepare for the
performance. Summerville wrote the script in September, music teacher
Lisa Allen began teaching the songs in the fall and group rehearsals
started in January.

The long, hard work has paid off, even for the kids who didn’t want
to put in the effort to begin with, Allen said.

"Even the ones who were complaining all the time are getting
excited. Music is the universal language. It ties language, poetry,
movement, dancing, art and social studies together. As educators,
we talk about various learning styles. If understanding doesn’t come
in the classroom, maybe it will in an experience like this," she said.

Fourth-grader Nikita Schwartz, 10, liked the interactivity.

"A lot of kids learn more with hands-on projects. This is kind of
like one of them," Nikita said.

What’s more, the kids learned some things in the show they didn’t
learn in class.

"It (the show) expands your information about the countries," said
Hans Theiler III, 10. "I like the Switzerland part. That’s where
my dad came from. It taught me some new stuff. I didn’t know that
Switzerland never had a war. That’s something I learned."

They sang in different languages and learned about struggles that
other kids grew up with.

"The goal of the international program is to show the kids how they
fit in the global scheme of things, and also to realize that we’re
really a lot more similar than we are different from other cultures,"
Summerville said.

Longfellow kids learned about:

â~@¢ Brazilian soccer great Pel, who won his first World Cup before
graduating high school.

â~@¢ Chinese artist Wang Yani, who began painting dazzling monkeys
when she was 3.

â~@¢ Armenian filmmaker Gor Baghdasaryan, who won the first UNICEF
One-Minute Video Junior Award for his film "Children Must Live Without
War" when he was 14.

"I liked the Armenia story because it taught me about how hard war
is on children, and how much that country has improved," Nikita said.

Students from Pierce Park Elementary, which also has the international
program, made up the dress-rehearsal audience. They ended up singing
along.

FOCUS SCHOOLS ARE STILL AN EXPERIMENT

These kinds of programs show the benefit of offering more options
for parents who are looking for a deeper educational experience for
their kids, said Don Coberly, who oversees curriculum for the district.

Other district schools with focused curriculum include Whittier
and Whitney, where students learn half the day in English and the
other half in Spanish, and Liberty Elementary, which has adopted a
Montessori approach.

"It’s the concept that the more options parents have, the happier
they will be," Coberly said.

Each of these focuses has boosted enrollment at the schools. Longfellow
has a waiting list.

Since Longfellow started its focus, students and parents have been
incredibly engaged, said Hallie Davidson, whose daughter Stella is
in the school.

"Everyone is really supporting this. She loves all this. We’ve been
singing the songs at home and she talks about what she’s learned all
the time," Davidson said. "I would love to see more art and music
integrated into what we do."

HEAD OF JC PUBLIC RELATIONS RESEARCH: BAKU THINKS PRAGMATICALLY AND IS READY TO CONSIDER A VARIETY OF FOREIGN POLICY ALTERNATIVES

Today.Az
litics/52717.html
June 1 2009
Azerbaijan

Day.Az Interview with Lev Spievak, director of the institute "JC
Public Relations Research".

– I would like to know your opinion about the Prague meeting of
President of Azerbaijan with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman of
Israel? By the way, in the result of this meeting, the intention of
the Israeli president to visit Azerbaijan in summer was made public…

– It is important that the meeting took place and the content of
Ilham Aliyev’s talk with Avigdor Lieberman and the agreements reached
during it were not made public, which undoubtedly reflects the extreme
importance of the issues discussed.

Certainly, skeptics from both your and our sides could say that the
contents of the Prague meeting and the issues it raised were not made
public as there was nothing to be made public. Let this be left for
journalist’s conscience.

Immediately after the meeting, Azerbaijan reiterated its readiness
to receive Israeli President Shimon Peres this fall in the format of
the official visit at the highest level.

In my opinion, this is not only an extremely important political
step, it can also be viewed as a veiled message from Azerbaijan
to its geographical neighbors, the essence of which is very clear:
official Baku thinks pragmatically and is ready to consider a variety
of foreign policy alternatives.

– How do you view the peacemaking efforts of Turkey in the Caucasus?

– I view it as a step intended solely for the external effect rather
than for attaining real results, a diplomatic move, pursuing multiple
goals. First, in response to the continuing unwillingness of the EU to
open doors to Turkey to join the European community, Ankara thus is
thus demonstrating itself as a leading player in the region. Second,
Turkey is thus demonstrating its interest in meeting the interests of
its new regional friends. And third, the very fact of the peacekeeping
efforts of Turkey is an additional lever of pressure on Azerbaijan …

In this situation, it would be timely to ask three questions. First:
whether Turkey is interested in solving the Azerbaijan-Armenian
conflict? Second: whether Turkey is able to settle the
Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict, considering the polarity of
the positions of the parties in the issue over the future of
Nagorno-Karabakh? And the third question: whether the United States,
Russia, the OSCE or Iran are ready to hand over the mandate of a
major peacemaker to Turkey on a goodwill basis?

– What is your opinion on the prospect of recognition of the Armenian
"genocide" by the Knesset?

– Considering the unambiguous "thaw" in relations between Armenia
and Turkey, as well as the fact that Turkey really discusses the
adoption of the law on "genocide" in the parliament, the probability
of adopting such a law in Israel is becoming quite high.

At the same time, I think that this will not happen. And if more
accurately, this will not happen unless Lieberman is a Foreign
Minister. I have made this conclusion for several reasons: first,
the lack of differences in the Cabinet about the critical importance
of a strategic alliance of Israel and Azerbaijan, second, personal,
and seemingly trusty relations between President of Azerbaijan Aliyev
and Israel’s Foreign Minister Lieberman and third, even after his
departure from the Knesset, Yosef Shagal remains an influential member
of the party and his position on this issue remains unchanged and is
well known.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TWO ARMENIAN SOLDIERS FALL PRISONER TO AZERBAIJAN

APA
June 1 2009
Azerbaijan

Goranboy. Teymour Zahidoglu -APA. Two soldiers of Armenian army crossed
the front line toward the territory under control of Azerbaijani
armed forces.

The event took place on May 31 in the afternoon in direction of
Gulustan Village of Goranboy Region of Azerbaijan, APA Karabakh
bureau reports. Two newly-called up soldiers reportedly passed to
the Azerbaijani side voluntarily.

Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan is not available at present to get
information on the fact.