Month: November 2009

NAVAL JUNTA UNDER ERGENEKON CONTROL, DOCUMENT SHOWS

Today’s Zaman
Nov 25 2009
Turkey

According to a document retrieved from a CD seized from the office
of retired Maj. Levent BektaÅ~_, who is currently under arrest
over suspected links to a large arms cache unearthed in Istanbul’s
Poyrazköy district, an anti-democratic group within the Naval Forces
Command was under the control of Ergenekon, a clandestine criminal
organization accused of plotting to overthrow the government.

The CD was found along with many others in BektaÅ~_’s office during a
police raid in April, which came after the discovery of munitions on
land owned by the İstek Foundation in Poyrazköy the same month. The
CD exposed the group’s plans to assassinate Turkey’s prominent
non-Muslim figures and place the blame for the killings on the Justice
and Development Party (AK Party) as part of an action plan called
the Cage Operation Action Plan. The desired result of the killings
was that an increase in internal and external pressure on the party
would ensue, leading to diminishing public support for the AK Party.

A document titled "My Agendas" on the same CD revealed that the
assassination plans were directed by retired Col. Levent GöktaÅ~_,
who is in jail for suspected membership in Ergenekon, which suggests
that the Naval Forces Command junta was under the control of Ergenekon.

"Send what is in Dilek Bozkaya’s possession to L. GöktaÅ~_ through the
lawyer Serdar Ozturk," reads a directive on the said document. Both
Bozkaya and Ozturk are currently imprisoned for suspected Ergenekon
membership. Another note on the same document reads: "We have contacted
the Fabricator. The movement for a more brilliant future needs to
be more active." Fabricator is an alias for the Workers’ Party’s
(Ä°P) jailed leader Dogu Perincek. The document also mentions another
Ergenekon-linked plot to launch a bloody attack on students visiting
the Rahmi M. Koc Museum in Ä°stanbul. According to the document, the
attack was to be launched at a time when many students were visiting
the museum.

The plan was exposed in May after a large number of explosives were
discovered in a submarine at the museum during the investigation
into Ergenekon.

After an investigation by the military, they announced that the
explosives at the bottom of the submarine had been forgotten by
commandos.

Ergenekon prosecutors, however, decided that the findings of the
military investigation were too weak to ease concerns over the
discovery of explosives at the museum. The prosecutors examined the
submarine in the museum and reached the conclusion that it was not
possible for the commandos to forget that a large amount of explosives
were in a submarine.

The same document also includes confidential information about
the private lives, wives, children or girlfriends of a number of
high-ranking members of the military. The document suggests that
some of those members of the military were blackmailed with that
information and urged to work in line with the ambitions of the Naval
Forces Command junta.

Part of the document was dedicated to the junta’s "friend"
organizations. Among those organizations were groups such as Hizb
ut-Tahrir and their leaders, including Ä°skender Evrenesoglu, Haydar
BaÅ~_, Abdullah Agar and Ä°smail Yavuz. Most of those figures are
known to be members of hard-core religious fundamentalist groups.

What is the Cage Plan?

The plan was signed by Lt. Col. Ercan Kirectepe and was planned
to be put into operation by a team comprising 41 members of the
Naval Forces Command. The hoped-for result from the assassinations
of prominent non-Muslim figures and related propaganda would be an
increase in internal and external pressure on the AK Party, leading
to its political demise, according to the plan.

The action plan would be implemented to lend support to the suspects
arrested so far as part of the Ergenekon investigation; render
ineffective the so-called psychological warfare waged by the AK Party
and its supporters (against the military); change the course of the
agenda in Turkey; boost the morale of the junta within the Naval
Forces Command; and win the appreciation and support of the public.

The blame for each of the assassinations by the junta would be put
on the AK Party.

The plan was divided into four phases; "Preparation," "Raising Fear,"
"Shaping Public Opinion" and "Action."

The action plan also called the killings of Armenian-Turkish journalist
Hrant Dink, Catholic priest Andrea Santoro and three Christians in
Malatya an "operation." The group aimed to generate chaos in society
with those killings, but complained that the plan failed when large
groups protested the killings in mass demonstrations.

The plan also revealed that the anti-democratic formation within the
Naval Forces Command was being led by three admirals, identified with
their initials F.O., K.S. and M.F.Ä°. BektaÅ~_, Kirectepe, GöktaÅ~_
and Maj. Emre Onat also worked for the junta. All of them were arrested
as part of the ongoing Ergenekon probe.

STUDENTS TURN DIPLOMATS TO RESOLVE ‘CRISIS’

Gulf Times
e.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=328252&version=1&amp ;template_id=36&parent_id=16
Nov 25 2009
Qatar

Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Qatar)
and the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy (ISD) at Georgetown hosted
a crisis simulation exercise for students at Education City recently.

The two-day event, centring on a fictional stalemate scenario between
Armenia and Azerbaijan over the territory known as Nagorno-Karabakh,
gave 21 SFS-Qatar students and a select group of top secondary school
students a unique opportunity to personally explore the process and
dynamics of conflict resolution and hone their skills in negotiation,
diplomacy and critical thinking.

Participants were divided into seven groups, each representing
parties to the conflict – Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh –
along with representatives of Russia, Turkey, Iran and the US, with
the aim of conducting intensive negotiations in an effort to reach
a settlement over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The exercise, administered by SFS-Qatar assistant dean for academic
affairs Daniel C Stoll, as well as James P Seevers and Col Bryan P
Fenton of ISD in Washington, DC, was organised as part of an ongoing
series of simulations held each semester at SFS-Qatar.

"The students were high performers in the two crisis simulations on
China-Taiwan and North Korea that we conducted in Doha last year.

Based on that experience, we decided to try an even more challenging
exercise with them this fall focused on an international negotiation
to resolve a frozen conflict," Seevers explained.

The wide range of students participating in this semester’s exercise
made for an interesting and dynamic experience. "The group of students
participating in the recent crisis simulation was the most diverse
we have ever had for this type of exercise: not only were freshmen,
sophomore, juniors and seniors involved, but a recent alum of SFS-Qatar
participated as did two high school students. Despite the variety in
backgrounds, they quickly blended into seven effective teams and,
over the two days, effectively represented the interests of their
respective countries," said Stoll.

The simulation exercise allowed students to increase their
understanding of the considerations and challenges involved in
global conflict resolution, as they organised meetings to explore the
interests of the different stakeholders, presented the positions of
their countries, and drafted negotiated agreements.

"This simulation brings us closer to knowing what a real conflict and
negotiation process is like. As students of international affairs,
we should all participate in activities like this one," said Mohamed
Abouzied, (SFS ’13), a delegate on the team representing Turkey.

With aspirations to serve in his own country’s foreign ministry,
Abouzied added: "As a future practitioner of international relations
and representative of Egypt, I am glad to participate in exercises
like this because they prepare me for the real thing after graduation."

The next crisis simulation exercise to be held during the Spring 2010
semester, will focus on a humanitarian emergency, and could involve
students working internationally.

EU NEEDS SOLIDARITY ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH

United Press International UPI
Nov 25 2009

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 24 (UPI) — The European Union should respect
territorial integrity and sovereignty in a common principle for the
disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, analysts said.

Armenia and Azerbaijan went to war over Nagorno-Karabakh in the early
1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Turkish relations
with Armenia, meanwhile, are strained by claims of genocide during
the Ottoman Empire.

Ankara and Yerevan, however, signed protocols aimed at repairing
diplomatic relations at an October summit in Zurich, Switzerland.

Baku is upset over the deal as Ankara sided with its Azeri partners
by closing its border with Armenia during the conflict in the 1990s.

Leaders from Azerbaijan and Armenia are in talks with negotiators
from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, though
few details from that meeting have emerged.

Borut Grgic, a non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council, tells
the Azeri news agency News.Az that Europe needs a united stance on
the conflict.

"The EU should start by having a common set of principles that outline
its position on the frozen conflicts in the South Caucasus — respect
for territorial integrity and sovereignty are two fundamentals,"
he said.

Baku has threatened in recent days to resort to force should
negotiations fail. Grgic said that while conflict was unlikely,
the situation was straining regional affairs.

‘WE DO NOT WANT TO IDEOLOGIZE OUR TRAUMAS’

Hurriyet Daily News
Nov 25 2009
Turkey

Four young men from the southeastern city of Hakkari formed the first
Kurdish metal band and named it Ferec. The band is a global pioneer.

They recently released their debut album ‘Helîkoptêr’ in their native
tongue to mark their coming. Daily News spoke to their frontman Reh
Fuat on music and beyond

The Kurdish word "ferec" means, "the last shining star in the sky
at dawn; the eve of light after darkness," according to Reh Fuat,
vocalist for the Kurdish metal band of the same name.

"We believe that we have reached the end of the darkness we had to
live through, too," said Fuat at the beginning of our discussion about
the first metal album in Kurdish, titled "Helîkoptêr" (Helicopter).

Ferec was founded by four musicians who split from a folk band that
played at weddings and bars.

Another thing that Reh Fuat, guitarist Kaya Baratarna, bassist
AfirîÅ~_ and drummer Zêde have in common is they all started playing
music with the "baglama," a traditional folk instrument of Anatolia.

While the quartet was in search of new horizons in terms of music,
they found a mix tape that introduced them to the world of heavy
metal. "We knew that [metal] was what we wanted to do but we did
not know what it was before that tape," said Fuat. Unfortunately,
they lost that tape since and the identity of the band or artist who
sparked the flame for Ferec remains unknown.

The band has gone down in history as the first band to release a metal
album in Kurdish but they are also the only one in existence as well,
according to Fuat. "There was Koma Wetan, a band from Armenia, which
was not playing metal, but hard rock. We can say they influenced us.

However, there are no bands playing this style in Kurdish except us."

The people of Hakkari must have found it odd that they were playing
heavy metal. "Everything that is not directly related to material
gains is considered odd in a place where life is very hard," said
Fuat, adding that what the band was doing was first perceived as
"unnecessary" at best. Fuat said it is hard for metal music, which is
a product of Western industrial society, to exist in a traditional
society where individuality hardly exists. "But we are aware that
humanity is getting closer to forming a single community. Just because
this isn’t so visible in Hakkari, doesn’t mean it’s not important to
us." The band believes that the concept of individuality will evolve
faster among Kurds today because individuality is on the agenda both
locally and internationally. "We are trying to form a connection with
the world that is apart from just being Kurds, or alongside that,
but one that features our individuality, too," Fuat said.

The booklet of their album lists "Hevalno," a song by international
Kurdish musician Å~^ivan Perwer as the opening track but the song is
not on the CD. "We could not reach Å~^ivan Perwer because he lets his
lawyers handle the royalties," Fuat said. The band was disappointed
with the lawyers for asking for such a high price from a band that used
a bank loan to record their album because they could not initially
afford it. According to Fuat, "Hevalno" is kept in the booklet as a
reaction. He said they still play the song live onstage.

One look at the album cover is enough to capture the political content
of the songs if you are familiar with the Kurdish problem in Turkey,
but that is not all. Ferec has songs about love, too. "It is not just
about politics here. We fall in love, we fight, too," said Fuat. Their
lyrics are rebellious, but not pessimistic. The line "Ci bikin warê
me hemÃ" sotin" (What can we do? They have burned all of our houses
down), is followed by "Tev werin warê xwe nÃ"da xemlînîn" (Come on
let us beautify our houses once more). "Being optimistic is the most
important part of our perception on life," said Fuat. "We are trying
to produce hope. We do not cry out just to resist, we do not just
swear. We also have hope that the world can be a better place. It is
probably because we are from a region where you cannot stay on your
own two feet without hope. We do not want to ideologize our traumas.

We believe that we must think of tomorrow, too."

On the other hand, Ferec is a metal band and anger is an important
element in the music. Anger is a clear emotion, which is audible in
the title track of the album about helicopters. As kids, the band
members thought the helicopters represented games, but soon realized
it was all too real. The chorus, which includes the only Turkish words
of the album, goes: "SerleÅ~_ker dike qêrî" (The commander shouts)
"Rahat hazır ol niÅ~_an al" (Ready steady aim).

Fuat said Hakkari is a very special place for them, not only because
they were born and raised there, but also because the town is important
as a place where many important names in Kurdish literature were
born and many different ethnic groups and religious beliefs have
coexisted in peace throughout history. The band does not like the
term "tolerance," because it does not believe that people "tolerate"
each other. Instead, Ferec’s uses the definition of "the culture for
living together."

Turkey has come a long way since the official policy of the government
towards Kurds and the days of "there are no Kurds, there are mountain
Turks." The members of Ferec certainly believe the "Kurdish initiative"
by the current administration is a positive thing. Fuat said the
highest ranks of the government speaking about the past injustices,
and the torture and cruelty of the past as if in apology, is progress,
but that it is not enough. "Other citizens of Turkey, the ones who
were militarized, were made into enemies of the Kurds. They suffered
similar traumas to ours and deserve an apology, too. The people of
Turkey must be told: ‘We have deceived you for 90 years. We made
enemies of your brothers and we are apologizing for that, too.’"

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PADLOCKED GATES & WINDFALL MONEY
By Albert Khachatryan

news.am
Nov 25 2009
Armenia

A decrease of as much as 5.1% in the gross domestic product (GDP) was
registered in Armenia this October as compared with this September. So
the present state of affairs has confounded the optimistic expectations
of a fundamental improvement aroused by the earlier published data
for September. We would remind you that, to everyone’s surprise,
4.8% GDP growth was registered this September as compared with the
previous month. That growth gave rise to claims that the "ailing"
economy was recovering, and Armenia would close this year with better
figures. Now that "better figures" have been called in question it is
time to think about the ongoing processes and understand the causes of
the economic collapse. And it is not only the global economic crisis
that has played a role.

The global crisis only exacerbated the negative trends started
many years ago. In its euphoria over the two-digit GDP the Armenian
authorities "overlooked" the fact that the Armenian market was from
year to year getting more and more dependent on the "outer world."

Imports were "snowballing" until they reached U.S. $4bn, a fantastic
amount for a small country like Armenia! Quite a good figure – if
counterbalanced by adequate exports of goods and services. However,
the unfavorable foreign trade balance reached a tremendous amount as
well – round U.S. $3.3bn.

In Soviet times a positive foreign trade balance was registered –
exports exceeded imports. Exports comprised a rather wide range of
products – both industrial and consumer goods. In 1990s, after the
USSR collapsed, the foreign markets were lost, and most of the local
industrial enterprises, faced with insurmountable problems involving
raw materials and energy resources, were closed up. So what is the
reason why, after some economic progress, they were not re-operated?

There exist to diametrically opposite opinions. Some think that the
gates of the enterprise are padlocked, and "should the Government
wish," it can unlock them. The enterprises will be re-operated, with
numerous jobs created and an end put to unemployment – a real idyll!

The illusions even experts are entertaining are obviously naïve,
and we do not have to dispel them. Those holding the opposite opinion
believe that the Armenian industry has no future, and the Government
had better focus on such growth sectors as tourism, IT and so on. So,
in this respect, we will have a bright future! Incidentally, let us
cite the example of India, where the IT industry is showing impressive
results: the industry’s share in the country’s GDP has increased from
1.2% up to 5.8% over the last decade. But, has this "breakthrough"
enabled the country to cope with the centuries-long poverty? One could
hardly say it. It is only "a limited contingent" of intellectuals
and the maintenance staff that are "doing well." Local experts admit
that the recent GDP growth pales in comparison with poverty level in
the country.

Determining Armenia’s growth economic sectors requires a critical
analysis of human resources in the country. The once implemented full
employment policy enabled numerous people without any professional
education to be employed. At present, however, the same people are
either unemployed or running "land-office businesses" at Armenia’s
trade fairs. It cannot be helped – even specialists with higher
education are unable to find jobs for years. No wonder that thousands
of able-bodies citizens are emigrating to the other CIS states or
foreign countries. By their financial aid to their own families in
Armenia, the Armenian guest workers "proved a great help" to Armenia’s
economic recovery. Indeed, the Armenian economy used to be "well
nourished" due to private transfers, which totaled U.S. $1.5bn yearly.

On the other hand, they proved fatal to the country’s industrial
development.

Since early 1990s, about 40% of the Armenian population had received
money transfers from their relatives abroad, which enabled them to
purchase more goods and services than they would have been able to
purchase on their salaries, pensions or allowances alone. A consumer
society was formed in Armenia. In other words, the solvent demand
significantly exceeded the production output in the country. Armenia
had not traditionally manufactured many consumer products – household
appliances, a number of food products, etc… Pursuing easy profit,
shrewd businessmen promptly arranged the import of the products in
question, and the Armenian market was soon flooded with cheap Chinese,
Turkish and Iranian goods. Along with the products not manufactured
in Armenia, they were importing products that were actively competing
with their home-made counterparts. Vodka is a glaring example. Early
in the 21st century the "demon drink" was mainly produced by local
enterprises, its import being merely symbolic. At present, however,
the imports of this "intoxicating liquor" constitute almost 1/3
of the total amount on the market, with dozens of distilleries,
including rather powerful ones, operating throughout Armenia!

As regards habit buying goods (i.e. tobacco), the situation is clear.

The worst of it is that the cheap imports prevent the restoration
of a number of industries, especially the light industry, in
Armenia. A great many reasons can be cited. Among other problems,
such as raw materials, relatively expensive energy carriers and low
labor productivity is the aforementioned loss of foreign markets. As
regards the local market it is too narrow for the giants. Small-scale
production results in a much higher cost of production, which makes
Armenian products noncompetitive with their Chinese and Turkish
counterparts. Could the problems be resolved? We think that many
of the "commercially unviable" enterprises would be re-operated if
the Government showed an adequate approach. True, we cannot dream
of a prospering light industry – it is different times now. It is
the golden mean in the opinions on the development prospects of our
industry. However, what has been an obstacle to at least partial
recovery of the industries?

Trade capital turnover ratio is much higher than that of industrial
capital, with a much larger cleanup. Monopoly over the import of a
number of products yielded profits industrials did not even dream of.

So many Armenian businessmen invested their capital in trade rather
than in industry. The high interest rates set banks producers were
unable to afford contributed to the process as well. The result is
what we have now. Affected by the global crisis, the Armenian economy,
which had to a great extent been based on financial transfers from
abroad, collapsed like house of cards. Experts estimate a decrease
in the financial transfers to Armenia this year at as much as 30%,
which, no doubt, has seriously affected the population’s solvency. The
low rates of increase in retail turnover (0.1% this January-October),
as well as a 1.5% decline in the paid services sector first observed
over the last few years, proved to be the first alarming symptom.

AZERBAIJANI MP: ARMENIA SEEKS "TASTY MORSEL" OF GEORGIAN LAND

news.az
Nov 25 2009
Azerbaijan

Nizami Jafarov Nizami Jafarov, a member of parliament for the ruling
New Azerbaijan Party, has said that Armenia would like to lay claims
to Georgian territory.

"If one looks closely, it becomes clear that all the origins and
scenarios of conflicts in the South Caucasus are strikingly similar,"
MP Nizami Jafarov said, commenting to 1news.az on the current tensions
between Georgia and Armenia.

"The main cause of the conflict between Georgia and Armenia is a
national history, which is mostly artificial. By reading the history of
the past, Armenians and Georgians are turning it into an ideological
and political factor today. Armenians cannot say ‘goodbye’ to the
tales of past years about ‘Great Armenia’, invented by the church
and the nationalist ideologists of the Armenian people.

Unfortunately, this is why Armenian-Georgian relations may become an
inflammatory factor of destabilization in the South Caucasus in the
long run," Jafarov said.

"A third party, Azerbaijan, which by virtue of its mentality has
never had claims on other people’s territories, usually suffered
more than others as a result. But today the situation is changing and
Azerbaijan’s enemies are no longer able to make any claims. Therefore,
Armenians and their foreign backers have chosen Georgia as the weak
link in the South Caucasus. Their appetites are fuelled by the fact
that Georgia is losing the territories that were included in it in
Soviet times. Armenia has an irresistible desire to tear off a tasty
morsel of Georgian land.

"Therefore, Armenians are trying hard to exaggerate their own problems
with Georgians, thereby, preparing the ground to justify before
the world community possible future aggression against neighbouring
Georgia," the MP said.

"As for Azerbaijan, they will still have a big problem and being aware
of this Armenians throughout the world are developing a long-term
defence strategy in the hope of rescuing their state. The Karabakh
conflict has awakened the people of Azerbaijan who are now going
through a phase of demographic growth. That is why the Azerbaijani
people are calm about their future and confident of victory over
their enemies and the liberation of all the occupied territories in
the near future," Jafarov concluded.

STUDENTS AT WATERTOWN’S ST. STEPHEN’S ARMENIAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LEARN ABOUT GARDNER ART HEIST

Watertown TAB & Press
682938725/Students-at-Watertown-s-St-Stephen-s-Arm enian-Elementary-School-learn-about-Gardner-art-he ist
Nov 25 2009
MA

Photo: St. Stephen’s Armenian Elementary School grade five students
with Stephen Kurkjian, FBI Special Agent Geoffrey Kelly, Julia Kramer
and Principal Houry Boyamian.

WATERTOWN — .There’s been a great deal of excitement in fifth-grade
teacher Julia Kramer’s classroom at St. Stephen’s Armenian Elementary
School in Watertown. It started with fifth-grade parent Rosalyn
Minassian volunteering to do the weekly current events discussion with
the class. Following her art passion, she decided to teach about the
unsolved heist at the Gardner Museum in 1990.

To cater to different intelligences and interests, the students
used their computer class to listen to the news report while seeing
the various artwork stolen from the museum. They wrote down their
observations and questions in their detective book. After a lively
discussion about the stolen artwork with Minassian, the students
then had an opportunity to speak to two investigators of the case,
retired Boston Globe journalist Stephen Kurkjian and FBI Special
Agent Geoffrey Kelly.

The students’ excitement and quest for knowledge was evident through
the hands waiving eagerly in the air. The Gardner Museum’s director
of security, Anthony Amore, has even invited the fifth-grade class
for a VIP tour of the museum.

"It’s wonderful to see the children so eagerly go in depth on a
topic as we provide them with a breadth of opportunities to learn —
from computers to art to forensic science to newspaper reporting,"
said Houry Boyamian, principal of the school.

— St. Stephen’s Armenian Elementary School

ARFD: TO CLOSE BORDER WITH GEORGIA FOR WHAT?

Aysor
Nov 25 2009
Armenia

When asked to comment Russia’s statements that ‘Armenia-Turkey
border’s opening will become an alternative way if the Armenia-Georgia
border closes’, chair of the Standing Parliamentary Committee for
National Security, Defense and Internal Affairs, a member of the ARF
Dashnaktsutyun, Hrayr Karapetyan said: Armenia has its own interests,
while Russia has its ones.

"Russia thinks if Armenian-Turkish border opens – I make doubt, by
the way – so Russia thinks if Armenian-Turkish border opens then we
will be freed from dependence from Georgia. I understand neither why
we must close border with Georgia, nor why we must declare off this
way if the border with Turkey opens," he said.

AT 88, SHE STILL TEACHES THE PIANO
By Carol South

Grand Traverse Herald
Nov 25 2009
MI

TRAVERSE CITY — Retirement, who needs it?

Rose Megregian of Elk Rapids is 88 and still going strong, teaching
piano to 30 young children weekly at a Traverse City studio. Her
gentle manner is coupled with exacting standards and a thorough
knowledge of both music and young minds, all combining to spark a
lifelong love of music in her students.

Offering lessons four afternoons a week at the Tinkertunes Music
Studios in Logan’s Landing, Megregian also tutors private students at
her home. Starting with kids from scratch, teaching them the basics
from notes to keys to how to sit at the piano, over and over again,
year after year, is just part of the process.

Megregian loves kids and sharing with them her love of the piano,
guiding them through the years as they learn and master new skills.

"They’re really rewarding to be with, children are just precious,"
said Megregian, who also works with students through high school age.

"It makes my life. You go there and you’re into the teaching and
all perked up and when the children are done I say, ‘Gee I wish I
had more.’"

"I love them and it keeps me going," she added.

After teaching for 30 years downstate in Dearborn, Megregian gave it up
when she and her husband retired up north. After he died 12 years ago,
she needed to do something with her life and thought about teaching
again. With trepidation but determined to try, she approached Tom
Kaufmann, owner of Tinkertunes, by chance knocking on his door

"I was just brave enough to do it, I don’t know how," Megregian
recalled. "I said, ‘I’m a piano teacher, I want to get back into it.’
He set me up, he really did, I have to give Tom all the credit for
getting me going again."

Adding nearly a dozen years to her resume in this latest teaching
iteration, Megregian is a "grandma" working with piano students two
and three generations younger. The connection between student and
teacher thrives, whether because of or despite the age difference.

Kaufmann has no doubt his "phenomenal" and "sweetheart" of a teacher
is the bottom line.

"One mom told me that even if her kid wasn’t taking piano lessons,
she’d bring her kid down to hang with Rose," he said.

Tanya Svoboda of Traverse City concurs. Her daughter, Amelia, 6,
has studied with "Miss Rose" weekly for about a year.

"She just has the perfect disposition, friendly and kind," Svoboda
said. "She’s really special, like a grandma."

Megregian graduated as a piano major from the Detroit Institute
of Musical Arts, part of the University of Detroit, and joined the
school’s faculty. She also completed and is certified to teach the
Kelly Kirby Method, an approach she has used for beginning students
throughout her teaching career.

"It’s basically ear training and then they read music, get the notation
and all the other basics," said Megregian of the four-book course
that takes a year or two to complete. "The kids like it because it’s
like a workbook almost, every time there’s something new they work on,
something that they can color or cut out."

As for learning the piano herself, Megregian is not really sure how
she got started. Her Armenian family fled to the United States from
Turkey after World War I, when she was 18 months old. She learned
English when she started kindergarten in Detroit, where her family
settled and her father found work at Ford Motor Company.

"How (my mother) managed to get a piano when we had no car, no
telephone," wondered Megregian of the old upright she learned to play
on, often while her mother sang along.

OSCE MINSK GROUP IMITATES TALKS: AZERBAIJANI DELEGATION DEPUTY HEAD IN PACE

Trend
Nov 25 2009
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani delegation deputy head in PACE accuses OSCE Minsk Group
of imitating talks to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"Minsk Group has been operating for 15 years. It has failed
to contribute in solving the conflict within this period. It was
busy with making tourist visits to the region. By exerting constant
pressure on Azerbaijan, the international community insists on the
need to solve the conflict within Minsk Group. But Azerbaijan can
not hope for solving the conflict within Minsk Group," Azerbaijani
delegation deputy head in PACE, MP Gultekin Hajibayli told media today.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. –
are currently holding the peace negotiations.

"Today, the power but not the law rules the world. From this point
of view, ways of solving the conflict are connected with powerful
Azerbaijani state, army and economy, our diplomacy and solidarity of
our people.

We face now and will face with the international organizations’
pressure.

We must be strong to resist this pressure," MP said.