Author: Andres-Papazian

COSMOPOLITAN LAUNCHES IN ARMENIA

Media Week

Feb 28 2011

Hearst-owned women’s glossy Cosmopolitan is continuing its expansion
in the Middle East, with a launch in Armenia.

The publisher, which owns the National Magazine Company in the UK,
has launched an Armenian edition, starting with the March 2011 issue.

Cosmopolitan Armenia will be published in partnership with Media
Partners CJSC and will have an initial print run of 5,000.

The launch comes shortly after the publisher launched a Middle East
edition in February and a Mongolian edition in December last year. It
will be the 63rd international edition of the young women’s title in
addition to its US flagship.

Duncan Edwards, president and CEO of Hearst Magazines International,
said: “We are confident that Cosmo will do well with Armenian women.”

The debut issue of Cosmopolitan Armenia will feature Armenian-American
socialite Kim Kardashian on its cover.

The magazine, which will be edited by Hrachuhi Utmazyan, will
feature advice and features on relationships, fashion, beauty and
entertainment.

Cosmopolitan is published in 32 languages and distributed in more
than 100 countries.

Hearst Corporation, which also publishes brands including Esquire,
Harper’s Bazaar and Good Housekeeping, is currently in final
negotiations with Lagardère to acquire the French publisher’s
international magazine business.

The deal, priced at ~@651m (£559m), includes a licensing agreement
for fashion magazine Elle.

From: A. Papazian

TURKEY INTRODUCED AS ARMENIA AND KURDISTAN IN KOSOVO TEXTBOOKS

Panorama
Feb 28 2011
Armenia

In the textbooks in Kosovo schools the territory of Turkey is
introduced as Armenia in its North-Eastern part and Kurdistan in
its South-eastern.

Turks who live in Kosovo tell that Turkish people are being offensively
introduced in maps, history and geography textbooks.

Turkish ~SDogan~T news agency writes that it made Kosovo Turks became
angry and furious about the information. It~Rs believed that the maps
were received from an Italian or American organization.

From: A. Papazian

BOOK REVIEW: THE GENDARME BY MARK T. MUSTIAN
by Mark Gavoor

Armenian Reporter

Feb 28 2011

I just finished this book which I received as a Christmas present.

When I first read the dust jacket blurb, I thought: “eh… I am not
sure I will enjoy this. The premise is too far fetched.” I read it
because I was interested, call it morbid curiosity if you would like,
in seeing how the author, Mark Mustian, would develop the plot.

I also read it because I have, as many Armenians do, an equally morbid
curiosity in hashing, re-hashing, and forever trying to make sense
of the Armenian Genocide. So, I read it the book and must commend
Mark Mustian for weaving what I believed was a lame premise into a
very good and engaging novel.

Mustian attempts to relate the Armenian Genocide from the point of
view of Turkish Gendarme charged with taking a group of Armenians
from Harput to Syria. This fellow Emmett Conn, the anglicized version
of the man born as Ahmet Khan, lost much of his memory from an injury
sustained after the Genocide at the Battle of Gallipoli. Circumstances
lead him to end up in the United States living in the state of
Georgia. At the end of his life, Emmett begins having dreams of his
role in the ethnic cleansing of Armenians from Turkey. The book is
about the piecing together of his memory and coming to terms with
his past and past actions before he dies.

I do not want to dwell more on the plot and the details of the book.

The power of the premise and how Mark Mustian brings it to life is
powerful. The reader needs to let the novel guide him and part of the
experience is lost if the entire plot is laid out in a review. It
is noteworthy to add that Mustian has done a wonderful job writing
about the Genocide and forced march form an Armenian region from the
point of view of a Turkish Gendarme. Armenians tend to portray Turks
as villains and heartless enemies. They are not often humanized in
the way Mustian has. I am not certain if any other author, Armenian,
Turk, or one of another nationality has attempted this. I believe it
has been done with the Holocaust. The only example that comes to mind
is the 1974 film, The Night Porter which was quite a controversial
and disturbing film.

Mark Mustian is a bit like Michael Arlen, the author of Passage to
Ararat. He came to realize and investigate his Armenian background
later in life. Mark Mustian knew of his Armenian heritage but he is not
prototypical in that he did not have a grandparent or great-grandparent
that went through the horrors of the 1915 Genocide.

In fact, his paternal grandfather immigrated to the Unite States so
much earlier than most Armenians that he fought for the Confederacy in
the Civil War. If he has enough information and background, I would
hope to see Mark Mustian write the story of his grandfather.

In this 30s, Mustian became interest in his Armenian heritage was
kindled when he read Peter Balakian’s Black Dog of Fate. Reading that
book inspired Mustian to learn more about Armenians in general and the
Genocide more specifically. He was so inspired that he took a trip to
Turkey and Syria from August 1-8, 2008. I can imagine the idea for the
book was born from that trip. Mustian has posted a brief travel log
on the his website:

Also like Michael Arlen, Mark Mustian embraced his heritage or part
of his heritage. The cynical would say both of them embraced their
heritage because there was a book in it for them. Maybe so, but I
look at this glass as half full. I am amazed how these two literary
gentlemen responded when they were exposed to Armenian people,
history, and culture. Both of them were fascinated enough to make
trips. Michael Arlen went both to Armenia (Soviet Armenia in those
days) and Turkey. Mark Mustian went to Turkey and Syria. That is no
mean commitment to learning something new about ones background.

Both men also being fixated and obsessed with the Genocide. Mustian’s
entire book is dedicated to this huge, grim, and recent episode in
Armenian history. And why should they become fixated and obsessed?

Most serious Armenians are obsessed with it. We all think and write
about it. We are still trying to come to grips with it and get closure
on it 96 years after the fact. As Mustian points in the suffix of
the book that many modern Turks do not understand why Armenians are
obsessed with the events of 1915. The Turks have moved on.

Of course, they have moved on and only dwell on these events from 1915
when Armenians raise it to the levels of national and international
press and politics. The victors, the vanquishers, never dwell on the
negative parts of their wins. Turkey survived and emerged from the
ravages of World War I and the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire
with a Republic that for the most part has thrived. They celebrate
that and do not dwell on how they secured that and who might have
suffered along the way. It is no different than the United States. We
celebrate our “purple mountains majesty from sea to shining sea.” We
do not dwell on the native peoples whose land, lives, and lifestyles
we destroyed to take over the land. Many Americans are surprised at
how much the remaining American Indians are obsessed and fixated on
this. The dynamic at hand is quite clear… at least to me.

One can also read a short biography of Mark Mustian on the website.

You will learn that beyond being an author, he is a
lawyer and city commissioner in Tallahassee, FL. If
nothing else, I highly recommend reading the backstory
It is
exactly like the backstory in the novel, I would have called it a
suffix, appendix, or have put it at the beginning and called it a
prefix. Read it… it is a good, short, piece of writing.

The Gendarme is quite well done and worth reading if the subject matter
appeals to you. It is interesting if you are Armenian and should be
of interest to Turks as well. I would generally recommend it to anyone.

From: A. Papazian

GORBACHEV, KGB ‘BEHIND’ SUMGAYIT MASSACRE

news.az

Feb 28 2011
Azerbaijan

Sumgayit events of 1988 organized by Armenian nationalists and their
supporters in face of Mikhail Gorbachyov and State Security Committee
of USSR.

The statement came from chief of the department for work with law
enforcement bodies of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan
Fuad Alasgarov told at the presentation of the website on Sumgayit
events of 1988.

‘Armenian nationalists and their sponsors have been trying to justify
Armenia’s aggression against Azerbaijan, genocide in Khojaly and
other military crimes by the Sumgayit events in 1988″, he said.

According to Alasgarov, , presented Monday and created
by the presidential administration of Azerbaijan at the personal
instruction of President Ilham Aliyev, contains a weighty response
to Armenian propaganda.

“The website posts archive materials, materials of the judicial case
and numerous facts, proving that the Sumgayit events were organized
by Armenian nationalists and their supporters in the face of Mikhail
Gorbachyov and USSR Committee of State Security”, chief of the
presidential administration department said.

According to Alasgarov, a documentary in three languages, to be
demonstrated on local TV channels today, was made on the basis of
archive materials at the initiative of the presidential administration.

Rustam Usubov: “Some new facts revealed during reinvestigation of
Sumgayit incidents”

Some new facts were revealed during the reinvestigation of Sumgayit
incidents, said first Deputy General Prosecutor Rustam Usubov at the
presentation ceremony of sumgayit.com website in the Academy of Public
Administration under President of Azerbaijani Republic.

Usubov said noted the establishment of special commission on
the incidents in the General Prosecutor’s Office and said that 5
criminal cases are renewed on these incidents: “It is said that the
Armenians are aggrieved from Sumgayit incidents, but in reality it
is wrong”. He said that during the reinvestigation they found that
some Armenians sent their properties to Russia and then burnt their
houses: “The Armenians confessed that they took this step in order
to obtain compensation. More than 100 rich Armenians withdrew their
money from bank”.

According to him, investigation also revealed several phone talks
between the city and Armenia and other countries during Sumgayit
incidents.

From: A. Papazian

OSCE CHAIR KEEN TO SEE KARABAKH PROGRESS

news.az
Feb 28 2011
Azerbaijan

The OSCE chairman-in-office has urged the Minsk Group mediators
to step up their work to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict
over Karabakh.

Audronius Azubalis made the remarks in Astana on Monday after
meeting the Kazakh foreign minister and last chairman-in-office,
Kanat Saudabayev, Interfax-Azerbaijan reported.

“I urge the Minsk Group to step up its work,” Azubalis told a briefing
in the Kazakh capital.

He said that agreement could not be reached without good will from the
conflict sides, but also required the determination of all participants
and the main OSCE players, beginning with the Minsk Group.

Azubalis said that Lithuania appreciated Kazakhstan’s efforts to
resolve the Karabakh conflict.

Referring to confidence building along the contact line separating
Armenian and Azerbaijani troops, Azubalis said: “We will take what
your president and your minister did and try to promote resolution by
one millimetre, two millimetres, at least to have snipers withdrawn,
at least to execute, one, two or three security measures, measures
of trust. We will see how it goes.”

The Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents are to meet for talks in Sochi
on 5 March with the mediation of Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev.

Russia is a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group alongside the USA
and France.

The group has been seeking a solution to the conflict, which began
in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims on the Azerbaijani
territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian armed forces occupied a swathe
of Azerbaijani territory from 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh
region and seven surrounding districts. Despite a ceasefire in 1994,
no long-term peace agreement has been reached. Exchanges of fire remain
frequent along the contact line separating the two sides’ troops.

The nub of the conflict remains unresolved – the competing claims of
territorial integrity, which Azerbaijan insists takes precedence in
the case of Karabakh, and self-determination, which Armenia wants to
see for the Armenians of Karabakh.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION REP. GRACIOUSLY GIVES SEATS TO RULING COALITION

news.am
Feb 28 2011
Armenia

President Serzh Sargsyan and the leaders of the ruling parties recently
signed an unconstitutional memorandum, the aim being Serzh Sargsyan’s
premature nomination at the 2013 presidential election in defiance
of the law, Raffi Hovhannisyan, Chairman of the opposition Heritage
Party, stated in Parliament.

“By making that step President Serzh Sargsyan actually suggested to
the Armenian public the following: `I am the State.` The document
is actually guarantee of Serzh Sargsyan’s presidency for the
following seven years – a period of further anti-national policy
of large-scale emigration and lawlessness,” Hovhannisyan said. The
current disproportion of parliamentary forces is the result of election
rigging. “But the ruling forces are dissatisfied with even such a
small number of opposition members in Parliament. Do not worry, dear
masters, the Opposition does not need to rig elections to get some
seats in Parliament. Take them as your heritage,” Hovhannisyan said.

He also mentioned the Armenian-Turkish protocols that are still on
the Parliament’s agenda.

The ruling coalition representatives present at the sitting raised
their voices in protest. However, the Heritage members ignored them,
as they walked out immediately after Hovhannisyan`s speech. Chairman of
the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaksutyun (ARF-D) faction
proposed a 20-minute interval in the Parliament`s sitting to “know
what from which.”

Armenian News-NEWS.am reminds readers that the Heritage Party has
seven seats in the 131-member Armenian Parliament.

From: A. Papazian

HOLLAND ‘LACKS INFORMATION’ ABOUT AZERBAIJAN
Leyla Tagiyeva News.Az

news.az

Feb 28 2011
Azerbaijan

News.Az interviews Tofig Hajili, co-chair of Azeri United, an
organization of Dutch Azerbaijanis.

What is the diaspora in Holland doing to mark the 19th anniversary
of the Khojaly tragedy?

There isn’t an official diaspora, organized by the State Committee
for Diaspora Issues, but there have been organizations here for the
past 10-15 years now, for example TurkAzNed, who mark the anniversary
of these tragic events in the established fashion. Our compatriots,
mostly from Igdir and Azerbaijan, gather at the organization, visit
the monument to the victims of Khojaly in the Hague and then usually
gather at the same table.

I regret to say, however, that these events used to be better attended.

Has there been any change in the attitude of the Dutch leadership or
public towards the tragedy and Azerbaijan’s territorial problem?

There have been no special changes there. I would even say that we
have lost much of what we achieved, since many activists are now
remote from these matters. As a result, there is a really big lack
of information about the tragedy in Holland. Many people in Holland
ask us why we have so little material about it, why the country~Rs
authorities do not appeal to the international courts and so on.

How strong is the Armenian lobby in Holland and what is its position
in official structures?

The position of the Armenian lobby is very strong; documentaries
about Armenia, about “the poor, suppressed ancient Armenian people~T,
about their “extermination” by Turks and all the rest of their usual
propaganda are shown almost every month or two. We used to have these
things just once or twice a year but it’s not in our favour that our
countrymen are less active now.

As a result, the Armenians have done a great job in counter-propaganda;
they work silently, but attain their goals. They have their people
everywhere, they are welcomed everywhere, but nobody wants to listen
to us. We have often met representatives of the Dutch parliament and
been told openly that we cannot expect anything without state support.

Why is their no support for your work?

We are accused of what we have never done, in particular, of contacts
with Alikram Humbatov [leader of a separatist movement in the south
of Azerbaijan, granted asylum in Holland] although he came to see us
only once and since then we haven’t been in touch.

In the past, there have been cases of Armenian emigrants, coming to
Holland, trying to pass themselves off as Azerbaijanis or refugees
from Azerbaijan. Is this still a problem?

The problem of pseudoemigrants does not exist now because Holland has
tightened up its laws and stopped accepting guests. Those who came
before are still here but there are almost no new emigrants from the
post-Soviet countries.

From: A. Papazian

DASHNAKTSUTYUN SHARES HERITAGE’S OPINION: AUTHORITIES WANT TO SEIZE OPPOSITION’S MANDATES

news.am
Feb 28 2011
Armenia

ARF Dashnaktsutyun considers the statement of oppositional Heritage
party’s leader is realistic and rational, head of ARFD parliamentary
group Vahan Hovhannisyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Earlier speaking in parliament, leader of Heritage party Raffi
Hovhannisyan said the ruling forces are dissatisfied with even such
a small number of opposition members. Later the Heritage members
ignored the voices of protest and walked out immediately.

Asked whether ARFD will follow Heritage’s lead if it boycotts the
parliament session, Hovhannisyan stressed moves of other political
forces cannot serve an example for Dashnaktsutyun. “If we make certain
steps we will do it based on our own analysis and decisions,” he added.

At today’s session the Heritage MPs left the hall saying the Opposition
does not need to rig elections to get some seats in Parliament. “Take
them as your heritage,” they addressed the ruling coalition. Party’s
leader Raffi Hovhannisyan slammed the coalition memorandum recently
signed by three Armenian parties, calling it unconstitutional. He added
memorandum’s objective was Serzh Sargsyan’s premature nomination at
the 2013 presidential election in defiance of the law.

From: A. Papazian

EU NOT TO ‘STAND ASIDE’ ON KARABAKH
Leyla Tagiyeva News.Az

news.az
Feb 28 2011
Azerbaijan

News.Az catches the EU’s outgoing special representative for the
South Caucasus, Peter Semneby, for a brief interview.

On 1 March you end your mission as EU special envoy for the South
Caucasus. What has happened in the past five years to bring Azerbaijan,
a country with an Islamic mentality but seeking European integration,
closer to European standards?

This is a complex issue in the sense that the answer is composed of
many parts. The fact that Europe has a better understanding of the
situation in the region and Azerbaijan, that direct economic interests
are growing and so on, the fact that the EU is growing aware that the
development of this neighbouring region mostly affects the European
Union are difficult to measure, but these are quite significant
changes which give Azerbaijan more stable ground for relations with
one of the country’s most important partners.

As part of the negotiation process, which is currently proceeding
under the association agreement, there are a number of more specific
issues that will have a direct impact on Azerbaijan. These are economic
reforms, modernization, political reforms, these relate to freedom
of movement, which is also on the agenda. This is certainly a long
process, but the fact that it is also on the agenda means a great
deal to both parties, since the development of human contacts will
eventually ensure more stable relations.

A question on Azerbaijan’s main problem – the Armenian occupation of
part of its land: Baku has recently been indignant at what it sees
as passivity in Brussels on a settlement. The row over the incomplete
reporting by the EU website of Jose Manual Barroso’s remarks in Baku
about territorial integrity also caused annoyance. Do you think a
conflict settlement will come soon and what role can the EU play in it?

I hope significant steps will be made on a conflict settlement, even
possibly in the near future, but I think that much remains to be
done before a complete solution can be achieved. We need to promote
the process.

As for the EU~Rs direct participation in a resolution, we make no
claims on the role of the OSCE Minsk Group, but this does not mean
we will or should stand aside. The EU has many means to support
and assist its partners, which are the Minsk Group co-chairs, on a
resolution of the conflict.

The fact that the European Union is actively developing its ties with
all the South Caucasus countries also means the EU has direct interest
in the stabilization of the situation. This also has a positive impact
on our readiness to make a contribution to a settlement.

From: A. Papazian

EXPERT SAID ARMENIAN GENOCIDE WAS FOLLOWED BY MASSACRE OF SUMGAYIT

Panorama
Feb 28 2011
Armenia

Hrayr Ulubabyan, the co-chair of “Sumgayit, genocide, publicity”
book said in a news conference today that the events happened in
Sumgayit should be submitted to the international institutions and
be recognized as genocide. He said Sumgayit is the development of
Armenian Genocide committed by the Turks.

Writer said Sumgayit, Baku and Shushi massacres, as well as Armenian
Genocide they all are interconnected. “The series of those genocides
are consequences of pan-Turkism. They were being carried out ruled
by pan-Turkism and pan-Islamism.”

Ulubabyan said that the issue should not be only presented as genocide,
he said that moral and financial compensations should be demanded. He
said a group should be formed including international lawyers,
materials, facts and documents should be presented to them to name
the massacre genocide.

“Sumgayit was genocide organized by Azerbaijan and coordinated by
Moscow. Facts proving that are enough,” he said.

From: A. Papazian