Vachik Lazarian Memorial golden opportunity to choose good boxers
14.11.2009 18:12 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ 122 boxers from all regions of Armenia are
participating in Vachik Lazarian Memorial in Yerevan.
`This tournament is golden opportunity to choose good boxers for the
national team, who will represent Armenia at Singapore 2010 Youth
Olympic Games,’ Derenik Voskanyan, chief coach of Armenian youth
boxing team told PanARMENIAN.Net
Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Nov 14 2009
Minority leader hit list found on major’s computer
A list of 10 people to be assassinated has been found on the computer
of a major arrested as part of the probe into weapons discovered in
April during excavations launched as part of the investigation into
Ergenekon, a clandestine group that allegedly plotted to overthrow the
government.
Retired naval Maj. Levent BektaÅ? was arrested on Friday in connection
to weapons found on land owned by the Ä°stek Foundation in Ä°stanbul’s
Poyrazköy district in April. The İstek Foundation is owned by
Ergenekon suspect and former Ä°stanbul Mayor Bedrettin Dalan, who is
currently at large and believed to be abroad. The weapons at the site
were registered in the inventory of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK),
according to a report from Turkey’s sole weapons manufacturer, the
state-owned Turkish Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation
(MKE).
Investigators cracked the code of an encrypted file on BektaÅ?’s
computer, revealing a list of names of people who subscribe to the
Agos daily, a Turkish-Armenian biweekly whose editor-in-chief, Hrant
Dink, was shot dead in 2007, and names of 10 prominent representatives
of minority groups to be assassinated.
So far eight members of the military, including a naval major and two
non-commissioned officers, have testified to prosecutor Murat Yönder,
one of the prosecutors conducting the investigation into Ergenekon.
Five of them were arrested on April 25 on charges of `membership in an
armed organization’ and `illegal possession of arms and explosives.’
Yesterday, four more members of the military arrived at the BeÅ?iktaÅ?
courthouse to testify to the prosecutor. Three of them were released,
while one was referred to a court after the prosecution demanded his
arrest. The names of the military personnel who testified yesterday
were not released. Members of the press were not allowed to take
photos as the three soldiers were released through the back door of
the courthouse.
Ten light anti-tank weapons, 20 percussion bombs, three other bombs,
250 grams of C4 explosive, 19 emergency flares, 10 hand grenades, 800
G3 bullets and a large number of cartridges for revolvers were found
on the Ä°stek Foundation land. The discovery followed the unearthing of
similar underground weapons caches in January during digs based on
maps found in the homes of two suspects — former Deputy Police Chief
Ä°brahim Å?ahin and Mustafa Dönmez, a lieutenant colonel who turned
himself in a few days after a warrant for his arrest was issued. Dalan
was in the US during this wave of detentions and discoveries, which
began on Jan. 7.
14 November 2009, Saturday
TODAY’S ZAMAN Ä°STANBUL
Yerevan hosts first congress of Armenian Association of Architects
14.11.2009 18:25 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Yerevan hosted the first congress of Armenian
Association of Architects on November 14.
`A large number of Armenian historical monuments were ruined during
past several years. Today, I welcome the people who will spare no
effort to reconstruct them,’ chairman of the RA Union of Architects
Mkrtych Minasyan said in his opening remarks.
`The goal of our association is preservation of historical monuments
in Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and other countries,’ he said.
Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Nov 14 2009
US follows Ergenekon trial, backs democratization process
A senior US official said on Thursday that the United States is
closely monitoring developments in the Ergenekon case, an
investigation into factions in the military that allegedly conspired
with others in the bureaucracy and judiciary to topple a
democratically elected government by creating havoc in the country.
Philip Gordon, the assistant secretary of state for Europe and
Eurasian affairs, told reporters that the Obama administration is
`very interested in things that dominate the headlines in Turkey.’
Though he declined to comment on the specifics of the case, saying
that `when you have judicial and internal political developments, they
are not for us [to comment on],’ Gordon said, `We watch it closely
because it has an impact on one of our key partners.’
Commenting on the Turkish government’s democratization initiative to
solve a long-standing Kurdish problem in the country, Gordon said the
US administration supports the process. `We believe it will increase
internal stability,’ he said. `It [the initiative] does seem to be an
opportunity to not only fully integrate all of Turkey’s citizens but
to get beyond the conflict that has been devastating Turkey for many
years. ¦ Obviously that is something the US supports.’
Gordon acknowledged that the issue is very controversial in Turkey
and said the US steers clear of interference because the issue is an
internal matter. `It is for Turks to decide,’ he said. `We are not
influencing it [the process].’ He also dismissed conspiracy theories
that the initiative is in fact a US plan and the Turkish government is
simply implementing what Washington dictates. `In general, the role of
the US is often exaggerated. I wish we were as influential as people
tried to portray us,’ he said.
`Turkey not changing axis’
The US assistant secretary of state also dismissed rumors that Turkey
is moving away from the West. `I think talk of a change of axis is a
very significant exaggeration of what is going on in Turkey,’ he said.
`We are neither surprised nor worried about Turkey’s engagement in the
East.’
Gordon said Turkey has legitimate reasons for engaging with neighbors
in the East. `Turkey remains a country with strong and close ties with
the West; it’s certainly a close partner to us,’ he added.
During his first official visit to Turkey since he was confirmed by
the US Senate, Gordon has discussed a range of issues with Turkish
officials in Ankara. He listed those issues as Afghanistan, the
Iranian nuclear program, Iraq, Middle East peace, Cyprus,
normalization with Armenia and energy. `The prime minister and
president’s agenda will bear all of these critical issues I mention
and some more,’ he said, signaling that he was in Ankara for advanced
consultations ahead of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an’s
upcoming visit to Washington in early December.
Gordon said the US would welcome Turkey’s support in getting
low-enriched uranium from Iran. `If Iran is prepared to send it to
Turkey, that is something we would be happy to explore because what
matters to us is to get the low-enriched uranium out of Iran so that
Iran would not have the opportunity to use it for a nuclear weapons
program. Turkey would be a secure place, we believe, and we welcome
Turkish support,’ he added.
Mohamed ElBaradei, the director-general of the Vienna-based
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said he officially proposed
Turkey as a third-country destination after Iran failed to agree to a
Western plan for its enriched uranium to be sent to Russia for further
enrichment to reactor-grade fuel. Tehran has yet to give a full
official reply to the proposal, which was drafted three weeks ago
after consultations with Iran, France, Russia and the US.
Gordon acknowledged that the US and Turkey do not see eye-to-eye when
it comes to dealing with Iran. `On Iran, we do believe it is time for
the international community to be sticking to one voice,’ he said.
`That is why we have open dialogue with our Turkish friends.’ He noted
that the Iranian problem requires international cooperation, and said,
`We believe that Turkey shares our concerns about the Iranian nuclear
weapons program.’
The US diplomat remarked that Iran needs to provide reassurances to
the international community to allay concerns over its suspected
nuclear weapons program and warned that engagement and dialogue can’t
go on forever and there will be consequences if Iran does not
cooperate. He declined to specify, however, what those consequences
will be. There are some measures already in place against Iran as
adopted by the UN Security Council resolutions. `Further ones we have
not spelled out in detail because we do not want go there. We want the
engagement to work, and we want to succeed in dialogue,’ Gordon said.
He called the signing of protocols between Turkey and Armenia a
historic process that will benefit both sides immensely. He dismissed
the linking of ratification in the Turkish Parliament to the
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. `We think that
normalization is important. It should not be linked to anything else,’
he said, stressing, however, that the US is working hard to solve the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue and is actively engaged in bringing about
reconciliation between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
14 November 2009, Saturday
ABDULLAH BOZKURT ANKARA
7 cases of maternal deaths due to professional errors registered in
2009 in Armenia
14.11.2009 18:43 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "7 cases of maternal deaths registered in Armenia in
2009. In four cases the death was due illness, in two cases pregnant
women suffer from hypertension, one woman suffered from tuberculosis,
two died due to heart attack, " Karine Saribekyan, representative of
Health Ministry of Armenia, told at the debate timed to 20th
anniversary of ratification of UN Convention on the Child’s Rights.
According to her, the last case of the death caused by doctor was
registered on November 13, 2009, and by decree of RA minister of
health Harutyun Kushkyan, the doctor was dismissed.
"We know of no cases of neonatal deaths caused by doctors,"
Karine-Saribekyan said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
The Star-Ledger – NJ
Nov 13 2009
Fluent in jazz
Armenian-American teen cultivates a passion for standards
LUCINE ‘LUSI’ YEGHIAZARYAN
Story by RONNI REICH / FOR THE STAR-LEDGER
Photos by STEVE HOCKSTEIN / FOR THE STAR-LEDGER
Huddled around a stove with her three sisters, her father and her
mother, who strummed a guitar by candlelight, Lucine Yeghiazaryan
learned her first songs. `We had electricity for only one hour each
day,’ says her mother, Karine Arshakyan. `In the evening, we had to
keep the kids busy with something, so we would sing.’
Her interests, Lusi says, are painting and otherwise `all music.’
Here, she practices violin in her bedroom.
Lusi, 18, shares a cup of coffee with her `grandma,’ Seda Sarksyan, at
home in Hewitt.
Lucine `Lusi’ Yeghiazaryan, left, learned her first songs from her
mom, Karine Arshakyan. Below, Lusi, 18, shares a cup of coffee with
her `grandma,’ Seda Sarksyan, at home in Hewitt.
In 1991, when the girl nicknamed `Lusi’ was born, Armenia had just
broken from the Soviet Union and the country suffered an economic
crisis. For Lusi and her family, music became not just a way to spend
evenings, but also a way to entertain neighbors.
A local flute teacher noticed their talent and Arshakyan began
entering her daughters in competitions. Sona, 11 and the oldest, was
the artist of the family, and Lusi, 4, and Mary, 3, were both too
young. So 7-year-old Tatev was the first to take the stage.
Lusi watched intently and family photos show her wide-eyed, focused
and mentally recording everything around her. After one community
event, where children were invited to perform, little Lusi stalked
home in tears. She cried to her mother, `Why didn’t you ask me to
sing?’
`I remember being young and wanting to perform so badly,’ says Lusi,
now 18 and a West Milford High School senior living in Hewitt. `It
would always irritate me when we were at concerts ‘ I was like, `Man,
I want to be up onstage right now!’…’
An animated, restless charisma emanates as she recalls her almost
lifelong urge to perform. With a rich, slightly accented voice and
classic movie star elegance, Lusi commands a crowd with the knowing
authority of a veteran. From years of shows performed here and in
Armenia with her sisters to more recent appearances at jazz clubs like
the Blue Note, Lusi already has begun to make her mark across oceans,
language barriers and musical worlds.
Music seems to pour from the teenager with thick, wavy chestnut hair
and large, long-lashed brown eyes. She smiles and works the mic as she
sings with liquid flexibility, the tone clear, direct and round, with
a sparkling vibrato and elements of sweetness, warmth and a little
spice. As she performs `I Should Care,’ at the New Jersey Performing
Arts Center’s Victoria Theater, Lusi’s long history with jazz becomes
evident.
Taking cues from Chet
Lusi heard her first standards streaming from her father’s basement
art studio in Armavir, Armenia. Mels Yeghiazaryan, a woodcarving
artist, was fanatical about jazz, and as Lusi idly painted by his
side, she developed a love for Chet Baker and other legends, from whom
she took her singing cues.
`Chet Baker is the man,’ she says. `He’s so amazing ‘ people don’t see
it, but I’m so in love with him. Not just because he was handsome, but
he was a great musician and a great singer at the same time ‘ with
absolutely no technique, but an amazing unique sound.’
Lucine `Lusi’ Yeghiazaryan, left, learned her first songs from her
mom, Karine Arshakyan. Below, Lusi, 18, shares a cup of coffee with
her `grandma,’ Seda Sarksyan, at home in Hewitt.
She says she learned from his straightforward, laid-back style, and
later became entranced with Brazilian jazz, especially Astrud
Gilberto. Lusi developed a philosophy far different from many singers
her age, who eagerly dress up melodies with flourishes to show off
their vocal prowess.
`I love simplicity,’ Lusi says. `People can make music complicated,
too fast and too much in too many places and too often. That’s not
what music is about. It’s not about how fast your fingers can go up
and down a piano, and I feel like people are forgetting that.’
The refined taste, devotion and natural feeling she has for jazz stood
out when she and her family moved to New Jersey and impressed the
faculty of the NJPAC’s Jazz for Teens study program, which accepted
her as a scholarship student in 2003.
`Lusi’s talent was obvious to me when I first heard her at age 13,’
writes jazz vocalist and teacher Roseanna Vitro in an e-mail. `Lusi is
a true improvisational singer, although she chooses many times to
simply sing the lyrics with an innate maturity and sensuality, well
beyond her years.
`She is very sensitive, and she listens and learns quickly.’
A trio starts out
Three young women, each a head taller than the next, dance around one
another, singing songs from `Jingle Bells’ to close-harmonied
traditional Armenian songs, followed by `Summertime.’
At one point, the smallest, about 7 years old ‘ shoulders and hips
moving with relaxed grace and in perfect rhythm ‘ grasps the
microphone tightly and looks to her left, following her older sisters’
lead.
`I love simplicity. People can make music complicated, too fast and
too much in too many places and too often.’ ‘ LUCINE YEGHIAZARYAN
As the YY sisters ‘ Y for Yeghiazaryan and Y for Yerevan, the capital
of Armenia ‘ Sona, Tatev and Lusi (youngest daughter Mary, now 17,
does not perform) appeared at jazz festivals and cultural events in
their homeland. They also won Armenian national competitions, and Lusi
got a musical education and the opportunity to bond with her sisters.
Tatev, now 21 and studying jazz at William Paterson University,
arranged the music, Lusi learned to read the notes while studying
violin, and they taught the music to Sona. If arguments grew heated at
times ‘ `we’re sisters, so we can call each other whatever we want’ ‘
the collaborative process brought them closer.
`The rehearsals were treacherous because you had to bang out every
note, but it was fun,’ Lusi recalls.
The group’s success continued, and Arshakyan decided her family should
come to America in 2003, so that her daughters could pursue their
talents. They continued the trio after moving to Hewitt that year and
developed a following in the Armenian community.
`We got pretty wide recognition,’ Lusi says.
In a living room where delicate original paintings and intricate,
smooth-lined woodcarvings adorn walls, and photo albums fill shelves,
Lusi sips coffee while having a conversation with Seda Sarksyan, the
woman she calls her grandmother.
Sarksyan is a distant relative who found the family through their
church. She needed support, so they took her in to live with them
because Arshakyan wanted to `pay forward’ the help she had received
from the Armenian community when they first moved to the United
States. She also wanted her children to see, firsthand, the importance
of family.
`You can sacrifice a little bit to help someone,’ she says.
Mom’s guidance
Her mother was instrumental in Lusi’s career, not only being the first
to move and find her footing through a series of survival jobs before
becoming a child psychologist and art teacher, but also by teaching
Lusi her first songs.
Lusi entered her first national competition at age 5 when she didn’t
know how to read, so Arshakyan recorded the words to songs and played
them over and over again, 10 to 15 times in a row. While Lusi was
playing, she would listen to the music and her mother would teach her
to pronounce the words ‘ even then, she loved jazz and wanted to sing
in English.
She won that competition, and as others followed, Arshakyan grew to
realize that her reaction to her daughter’s singing was more than
motherly pride.
`Lusi is very sincere,’ she says. `She sings with her soul and she
doesn’t force anything, and it just flows and I melt away.’
Appreciative of all her mother’s efforts and the life-changing move to
America, Lusi gazes admiringly and affectionately at her as she says,
`In Armenia, girls study their butts off and go to college, and the
year you graduate, you get married, the next year have kids and
that’s it. She saw more for us.’
When Sona, now 24, got married and Tatev left for college, the trio
stopped its formal performances, although they still sing together.
While its focus had been on Armenian music, the YY sisters gave Lusi
her first taste of straddling cultural worlds, which became an
important skill for her after relocating. One year after the move,
Arshakyan persuaded Lusi to resume auditions, even as she was still
learning English.
`You know, you’re so self-conscious, when you don’t know the language
and you want to get a hold of things before you actually take a step
into something,’ Lusi recalls.
She had been subdued and often pensive as a child, and her mother
refers to her as an old soul with a philosophical mindset. At first,
the family’s move made her turn more inward.
Moving to a country in which she didn’t speak the language `made me
less talkative because it forces you to listen and not speak until you
know what you’re saying,’ Lusi says. `I was quiet for a whole year,
just listening.’
Adapting to a new language and culture was difficult and tiring, Lusi
says. `But I’m glad it happened because I feel like I absorbed both
cultures at the same time,’ she says.
Straddling two cultures
Lusi thinks of herself as both Armenian and `Americanized’ in equal
measure, more so than her older sisters, who identify more as the
former and her younger sister who seems more the latter. Lusi takes
great pride in Armenian musical and artistic life.
`It’s such an old culture that you can hear a religious tune from the
second century or modern classical composers,’ she says. `We’ve got
this huge range of music, and it makes you very diverse.
`We’ve been around a long time, and we’ve absorbed so many centuries
of war and peace and art and love ‘ all of that is in the music.’
With her successes as part of a trio and as a solo singer, Lusi
learned many lessons ‘ including self-confidence. `I don’t think I
realized I was a good singer until two or three years ago,’ she says.
`I’m really picky with the way I sing.’
About halfway through her studies at NJPAC, she announced to Don
Braden, who heads the program, that she needed to quit. She felt
terrible about backing out, but he advised her to take her time.
`I want to know if this is what I want to do, and then we can go on,’
Lusi says she told him.
`I was like, `I’m not a singer, what am I doing?’…’ she remembers. `I
wasn’t satisfied. I hate comparing myself to the mediocrity because
you don’t get anywhere, and I was comparing myself to the greats.’
Looking into the future, she couldn’t imagine that she would make a
mark in the line of jazz singers. She stopped singing for a year. As
time passed, though, she could no longer resist.
`I just want to count off a band now!’ she told herself, imagining
leading a jazz song again.
She resumed studying and performing at NJPAC, appearing at the Blue
Note, Trumpets and Cecil’s, and recording a CD, produced with help
from Vitro and a guest appearance by Braden. She’s the only student of
theirs to receive such treatment.
Lusi is giving serious thought to her future, weighing the option of
pursuing jazz professionally and trying her hand at other careers.
`I believe in Lusi’s talent, and I feel that with the right breaks,
hard work and a good attitude that she could become the next Astrud
Gilberto/Peggy Lee, but, of course, in contemporary terms,’ Vitro
writes. `Perhaps a jazzy Lady Gaga? The sky is the limit for Lusi and
all she needs to do is keep singing.’
Lusi, who speaks Armenian, Russian, English and some French, is
considering foreign relations study as well.
`I want to feel fulfilled by the time I’m 60, knowing that I didn’t
just have a job that proved my talent, but also a job that proved my
intelligence,’ she says.
But jazz keeps its hold.
`Even when songs don’t have lyrics, I love how something is
transmitted to the audience through just a sound you make,’ she says.
`Music puts people into a state that nothing else does ‘ and I love
that.’
Hobbies: Sports? `Absolutely not!’ Yeghiazaryan paints, but otherwise,
she’s `all music.’
Travel dream: Visiting Chinese villages and working in rice fields.
`When you’re just a tourist, you don’t get to see how people live.’
Favorite school subject: History
Style icon: Audrey Hepburn, whose photo decorates her room
Best criticism: Reviewing her performance in her high school
production of `The Boyfriend,’ a musical theater competition judge
said she was `too Edith Piaf.’
si_yeghiazaryan.html
news.am, Armenia
Nov 14 2009
Minsk process is very important: Jagland
11:44 / 11/14/2009`OSCE Minsk Group is the only international process
that can solve Karabakh issue or at least pave the way for a peaceful
solution,’ Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn
Jagland told in the interview with Azerbaijani APA news agency on
November 14.
`I must say that the parties’ membership to the Council of Europe is
an important factor because of they have additional grounds in finding
a solution,’ the official said, adding that it would help the sides to
`find a quick and easy solution to the conflict.’
He also emphasized that considers Minsk Group’s role significant:
`Minsk process is very important. Conflicts are resolved in this way
and Europe is built in this way.’
Jagland also touched upon Armenia-Turkey reconciliation and
interrelation of two regional processes, underlining that he considers
the process `can have a positive influence on the existing conflicts
in the region.’
`The contradictions between countries from earlier times make it
impossible to make even small progress in resolving conflicts. That
is, the Turkey-Armenia rapprochement is a consequence of the presence
of uniform norms and values in these countries because they are both
the members of the Council of Europe. In such circumstances, it is
natural to seek solutions to existing problems. This is to some extent
like the processes that occurred in Europe after the Second World
War,’ stated Jagland.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Trend, Azerbaijan
Nov 14 2009
Azerbaijan can rely on Turkish PM: minister
14.11.2009 13:01
The Azerbaijani people can rely on the Turkish Prime Minister,
Turkish State Minister and Chief negotiator for the EU talks Egemen
Bakish was quoted as saying by Anadolu news agency. Bakish made this
statement at a meeting with the Azerbaijani-Swedish Federation in
Stockholm.
"Azerbaijan can trust in the Turkish Prime Minister’s promise that the
opening of the Turkish-Armenian borders is impossible without
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution," he said.
The talks should be continued to resolve the problem, he added.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
AsiaNews, Italy
Nov 14 2009
Mosul armed group kills 16 year old Christian on doorstep of home
Rami Katchik belongs to the Armenian community. The murder occurred in
the neighbourhood of Tahrir. The police say motive is not yet clear.
Fr. Hazem Girgis, a local priest: It is one of the many crimes
committed to eradicate Christians from the area and force them to
leave.
Mosul (AsiaNews) – A 16 year old Christian was killed on the doorstep
of his home in Mosul, in the neighborhood of Tahrir. The boy, Rami
Katchik, belongs to the Armenian community.
Police said that on 13 November, at about 17.30, "Unidentified gunmen
opened fire from a black car that arrived at speed". Local sources
report that the boy was washing the front door with his father when he
was shot.
Girgis Paulos, neighbour of the Katchik family says that at the moment
of the attack "the father had just entered the house to get a shovel.
When he heard the gun shots he ran out and saw three men in the car".
Police agents say it is not yet clear whether there are religious
reasons behind the assassination, but Fr. Hazem Girgis, a local
priest, sees the murder as "one of the many crimes committed to
eradicate Christians from the area and force them to leave".
For some time members of the Christian community of Mosul are victims
of attacks from 2008 to now these violent episodes have caused 40
deaths. Thousands fled the city in northern Iraq last year. A report
published November 10 by Human Rights Watch says that Christians and
minorities who inhabit the northern regions of Iraq are victims of a
conflict between Arabs and Kurds for control of the province.
Since the fall of Saddam to today the numbers of Christians in Mosul
have been decimated. During the dictatorship the largest parish in the
city had a greater number of believers than there are today throughout
the entire diocese.
Yesterday the new archbishop of the city was announced, over a year
after the murder of Mgr. Rahho (see AsiaNews, 13/11/2009, "Mosul is
celebrating the appointment of the new archbishop, after the death of
Msgr. Rahho). The news has brought hope to the local community, but
the murder of the young Katchik falls on the celebrations reawakening
fear.
news.am, Armenia
Nov 14 2009
Aronian drew with Ivanchuk
11:03 / 11/14/2009
Armenian Grandmaster Levon Aronian drew with Vassili Ivanchuk in the
eighth round of Memorial Tal championship in Moscow.
Vladimir Kramnik-Peter Leko, Boris Gelfand-Viswanathan Anand,
Alexander Morozevich-Peter Svidler games ended in a draw. Magnus
Carlsen gained a victory over Ruslan Ponomariov.
After the eighth round the standings are as follows: Kramnik (5.5
pomits), Anand, Ivanchuk (5 points each), Carlsen (4.5), Gelfand,
Aronian (4 points each), Ponomariov, Leko, Svidler (3 points each).
Levon Aronian will face Viswanathan Anand in the final round of the
championship.