Author: Andres-Papazian

AZERBAIJANI RULING PARTY CONDEMNS PROPAGANDA ON IRANIAN TELEVISION

Trend
Jan 27 2011
Azerbaijan

The ruling New Azerbaijan Party condemned anti-Azerbaijani propaganda
made by the First Iranian TV Channel.

Media representatives in Iran must not act against the official
position of their country repeatedly voiced by the Iranian leadership,
Deputy Chairman of the party Ali Akhmedov told Trend.

The negative statements towards Azerbaijan were made at the first
Iranian TV channel.

Nagorno-Karabakh was represented as an independent state.

Azerbaijan does not interfere in the internal affairs of other
countries and urges other countries to do the same.

“We are ready to further develop and expand multilateral relations
with Iran based on mutual respect and national priorities,” he said.

He called on Iran’s official bodies to investigate these facts and
reveal the forces standing behind these materials.

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 United
States – are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

From: A. Papazian

BAKU TO ‘DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE’ TO RESOLVE KARABAKH CONFLICT

news.az
Jan 27 2011
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan is looking to establish peace and stability in the Caucasus,
above all, to resolve the Karabakh conflict, its foreign minister
has said.

Elmar Mammadyarov was talking in an interview with Russia Today’s
Arabic Service.

“In the 21st century you cannot build and support neighbourly relations
by turning a blind eye to the occupation of 20% of Azerbaijani lands
and the ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijani civilians in this area,”
Mammadyarov said.

“We should search for ways to settle the conflict which protect the
interests of all parties.”

“‘I have come to Moscow to continue the search for ways out of this
conflict through Russian mediation,” the minister said.

He met his Armenian counterpart, Edward Nalbandian, in Moscow on 24
January with the mediation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Although the need to reinforce the ceasefire was noted in a declaration
signed by the Armenian, Azerbaijani and Russian presidents at the
end of October, people are still dying on the contact line separating
troops, Mammadyarov said. An Azerbaijani officer was killed by Armenian
fire on the contact line on 25 January and a soldier on the 17th.

“We should do everything possible to settle this conflict,”
the minister said and went on to outline the basic subjects for
negotiation, known as the Madrid principles.

He said that first of all troops should be withdrawn from the occupied
lands, refugees should return to their homes and infrastructure in
the occupied lands should be restored.

“The current state cannot last for ever. In order to make a
breakthrough in the Nagorno-Karabakh situation, we should use all
means,” Mammadyarov said.

The minister especially noted the role of Russian President Dmitriy
Medvedev in attaining the agreement on the exchange of bodies and
prisoners between Armenia and Azerbaijani in the autumn.

Mammadyarov also described as successful the Meiendorf declaration,
signed by the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents following talks
mediated by Dmitriy Medvedev at Meiendorf Castle, near Moscow, in
November 2008. In that declaration, the presidents agreed to step
up their efforts to resolve the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh and to
develop confidence-building measures.

From: A. Papazian

TIME ‘TO FORCE’ ARMENIA TO PEACE

news.az
Jan 27 2011
Azerbaijan

‘Nagorno-Karabakh has a strategic place on the map of the Caucasus,
the importance of this territory for Azerbaijan is undeniable.

Armenia does not want to return the occupied lands. Hence, time has
to force Armenia to peace. The relevant proposals should be submitted
by the OSCE Minsk Group, otherwise no breakthrough in the Karabakh
process should not be expected’, political scientist Rasim Agayev said
today while speaking at a meeting of the Club of political scientists
at the International Press Center News.

The latest meeting of the ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia
was held behind closed doors, without a statement to journalists. This
shows the lack of results in talks, he said.

‘It is known that the main provisions of the Madrid Principles,
the idea of an interim status for Nagorno-Karabakh, and holding a
referendum in Karabakh are coordinated, but referendum remains the
stumbling block.

The president of Azerbaijan said that the referendum could be held in
10-15 years after the return of all refugees, while Armenians want to
hold a referendum immediately after the conclusion of a peace treaty.

Russia’s position remains uncertain, as part of the formula “arrange
as you want, and Russia will be the guarantor of the agreement’,
said Agayev.

From: A. Papazian

RA PRESIDENT: WE MAY HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE BUT TO CALL OUR SIGNATURE BACK

Panorama
Jan 27 2011
Armenia

Armenian-Turkish negotiations will be continued if Turkey ratifies
the protocols without preconditions, President Serzh Sargsyan said
in an interview with “Echo Moscow”.

Answering to the reporter’s question what possibilities there are
that the process will continue, President says: “It is possible
if the Turks ratify the protocols without any preconditions. They
have international obligations, the protocols must be ratified and
implemented. We are not ready to new negotiations and to any changes
in those protocols. I mean we are not ready unilaterally.”

President Sargsyan thanked Russia, USA and France for their opinion to
continue the negotiations without preconditions. “Thus, I think it’s
useless to start new negotiations. What shall we be speaking about?

The only continuation is that the Turks ratify protocols in their
parliament,” S. Sargsyan said.

Serzh Sargsyan did not exclude the possibility to withdraw the
signature. “If this continues, we may have no other choice but to
call it back.”

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA TO GEORGIA: QUIT YOUR WINE-ING
by Yigal Schleifer

EurasiaNet
Jan 26 2011
NY

Is the Caucasus region about to see the birth of yet another local
spat? As News.AZ reports, Georgia and Armenia appear to be heading
into a battle over the use of brand names, especially regarding wine.

>From the report:

Georgian media are urging President Mikheil Saakashvili to raise
with his Armenian counterpart the use of Georgian brand names by
Armenian producers.

Saakashvili is to pay an official visit to Armenia In late
February-early March.

The media are urging him to prick the conscience of the Armenian side
at the negotiations with President Serzh Sargsyan and to protect
the interests of Georgian producers, Russian newspaper Vzglyad’s
correspondent reports from Tbilisi.

Georgia’s patent agency has already begun investigations of the use
of Georgian brand names by Armenian producers.

The head of the agency, Irakliy Gvaladze, said this was “not the
first time that Armenia had tried to steal Georgian brands”.

Armenian officials, meanwhile, have hit back at the Georgian claims,
saying their brands are better recognized abroad so they wouldn’t
even need to use their neighbor’s brand names.

From: A. Papazian

CONTROVERSIAL FRIENDSHIP MONUMENT TO BE MOVED ACROSS TURKEY

Hurriyet
Jan 26 2011
Turkey

Following a decision to demolish sculptor Mehmet Aksoy’s ‘Monument
to Humanity,’ described by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan as
‘freakish,’ the Karþýyaka Municipality in Ýzmir has contacted the Kars
Municipality and asked if it could be moved to the western city. ‘Our
municipality needed a sculpture and decided to bring it to Ýzmir,’
says Karþýyaka Municipality Press Consultant Sedat Sozeri

Artist Mehmet Aksoy says he is surprised by the decision to move his
sculpture, ‘Monument to Humanity,’ to Ýzmir.

A large monument in the eastern city of Kars that was harshly
criticized by the prime minister will be relocated to the Karþýyaka
district of the western city of Ýzmir, a municipal representative
said Tuesday.

“We were looking for a special sculpture for Karþýyaka. We decided to
bring the ‘Monument to Humanity’ to Ýzmir when we heard it was going to
be demolished,” Karþýyaka Municipality Press Consultant Sedat Sozeri,
who visited the monument in Kars on Tuesday along with a nine-person
committee, told the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

Removing the monument from Kars would strip it of its symbolic meaning,
according to sculptor Mehmet Aksoy, who started working on the statue
in 2006 and dedicated it to the friendship of Turkish and Armenian
people. Kars was chosen as the location for the monument because it
is one of the cities nearest to Turkey’s closed border with Armenia.

“The Monument to Humanity should remain in its current place. It
should be preserved. This is very painful; as an artist, what this
sculpture is going through hurts my heart,” Aksoy said, adding that
he was newly informed about the developments and very surprised to
hear about the pending relocation of the monument.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan sparked the current controversy
around the monument on a visit to Kars earlier this month, when he
described the statue as “freakish.” Saying the monument, which is
placed on a high hill overlooking the city, threatened to overshadow
historical sights such as the Seyyid Hasal El Harakani tomb and mosque,
the prime minister ordered the statue’s demolition.

Following Erdoðan’s statement, the Erzurum Committee for Preserving
Cultural Assets decided to demolish the uncompleted sculpture, whose
construction was halted in 2008. The Karþýyaka Municipality got in
touch with the Kars Municipality and asked it not to destroy the
monument and instead allow it to be moved to Ýzmir, where it will be
placed on an empty hillside between the Mustafa Kemal neighborhood
and Bulent Ecevit Avenue.

“We never considered whether the monument is aesthetic or not,
beautiful or ugly. We don’t want discussions, we needed it and we
will take it,” said Sozeri of the Karþýyaka Municipality.

“If they did not consider the aesthetic features of the sculpture,
what did they consider? This is shameful; are they buying oranges or
apples in a market?” Aksoy said. “And how will they move this giant
sculpture? This is impossible; it can only be [moved from its place]
with dynamite. They did not ascribe the monument to Kars. Now will
they place it in Ýzmir?”

Dynamite not necessary

The unfinished Monument to Humanity is 35 meters tall and weighs 300
tons and is meant to represent efforts to foster friendship between
Turkish and Armenian peoples. Once finished, one of the pieces would
be shedding a tear to show regret while the other would be extending
a hand for reconciliation.

When asked if there was any other reason behind the Karþýyaka’s
municipality’s request for the monument, Sozeri said: “We don’t want
to comment on it. We needed the sculpture and will bring it to Ýzmir
if we can.”

Kars Municipality Public Relations Manager Ozlem Ozturk, who visited
the monument site along with Sozeri and his committee, refuted Aksoy’s
statement that the sculpture could only be removed with dynamite and
that it would be badly damaged if it were to be removed with a crane.

“Everything has a method, we are examining it technically,” Ozturk
said. “The archaeological site will be damaged if dynamite [is used].

This is why a technical committee will decide how to remove [the
monument].”

Addressing Aksoy’s statement last week that he would initiate a
lawsuit against Prime Minister Erdoðan, Ozturk said: “This is his
legal right. We have nothing to say.”

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN POP 101
By Bei Ru

LA Weekly

Jan 27 2011
CA

Raisa Lazarian: She was one of the more prominent jazz/pop vocalists
of the ’60s and ’70s in Armenia. During a trip to Armenia in 2005,
I found a record that featured her as a vocalist on a couple of
cuts. I was so impressed by her voice and her general funkiness
that I sought out more of her work and eventually found a couple of
her solo records, my favorite being a self-titled album from 1976,
released on the Russian-based Melodiya label. Highly recommended.

Zartong

A four-piece progressive-rock band based in France during the
late 1970s. They released their only album in 1978 under a small,
independent French label called Dom. Only a small number of copies
were pressed, making it really difficult to find in original form
nowadays. I first came across this record through a friend who had
it in her parents’ old record collection, and I was lucky enough to
track down a copy some years later. The music ranges from slow and
psychedelic, to up-tempo and percussion-driven, such as featured on
the song “Kele Kele” – an epic cover version of the folk tune written
by legendary Armenian composer Komitas. Makes you wonder how such an
innovative and talented band is still virtually unheard of some 30
years later.

Harout Pamboukjian

Definitely one of the best-known Armenian singers, and with reason. I
found sealed copies of his first few albums at an Armenian record
store in L.A., which currently only sells CDs but had a couple of
boxes of old stock they hadn’t gotten rid of in the ’70s/’80s. His
first album was recorded and released in Los Angeles in 1976,
and featured Pamboukjian’s unique vocal stylings over funky drums,
electric bass lines, violins and some slick keyboard work. Although
the album is a great listen all the way through, his cover version of
“Oor Eyir Astvats” (“Where Were You God”) – a song written by Arthur
Meschian about the Armenian genocide – stands out as a great example
of how Pambouk-jian’s heartfelt vocal delivery shines on ballads,
as well as funk-influenced party cuts.

The Vosbikian Band

Formed in Philadelphia in 1939. After a number of 78 rpm releases, they
released their first full-length album in 1955, and were notably the
first Armenian-American band to do so. They were known for playing
“Kef,” or party/dance music, and were commonly referred to as
“The Fabulous Vosbikian Band” throughout the East Coast. Spanning
generations of musicians, they independently released an album in
1975 called Armenian Dance Favorites, which featured members of the
original Vosbikian Band joined by a younger generation of Vosbikians.

I found the record for just a dollar at a thrift store in Los Angeles,
and didn’t think twice about picking it up.

Aram Khachaturian

Khachaturian was a Georgian-born Armenian composer and cellist, most
notably known for his masterpiece Gayane, a suite written for ballet
during the mid-20th century. Khachaturian had a way of combining his
love for Armenian folk melodies with classical instrumentation in a
way that was never before attempted or heard. I was introduced to his
music by my parents, who would constantly play his records throughout
our house, and as I got older I started buying every recording of
his I could find. Gayane – which still stands as my favorite of his
works – has been recorded and played by orchestras all over the world,
so fortunately for us it’s pretty easy to find on vinyl. I’ve always
loved the song “Lullaby” – a stunning, melancholy piece that I reworked
for a song I aptly titled “Gayane,” off my own album Little Armenia
(L.A.). Truly beautiful music by – in my humble opinion – one of the
greatest composers of the 20th century. Pamboukjian

From: A. Papazian

GUL: PRESIDENTIAL BODY MIGHT PROBE DINK MURDER

Today’s Zaman
Jan 27 2011
Turkey

The State Audit Institution (DDK), a body under the President’s
Office, might lead a separate investigation into the 2007 murder
of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, President Abdullah Gul
has said.

Speaking to members of press organizations accompanying him during a
visit to Strasbourg in the lobby of the hotel where he was staying on
Tuesday night, Gul said that the DDK could look into the Dink murder
in response to a question on that possibility.

“There is a murder trial going on, and that trial has come a long way
so we never thought of that. But there is no such rule that says it
can’t happen,” he said.

When reminded that the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) had
found Turkey guilty of failing to protect Dink’s right to life and
of failing to carry out a thorough investigation into officers who
failed to take the necessary measures in light of early warnings and
tips about the plot to kill Dink, Gul reiterated that it was possible
to order the DDK to investigate the allegations. He said the DDK did
not serve as a body that interrogated suspects, but rather a body
that made comprehensive investigations to share its finding with the
relevant government agencies. “I don’t know if it is something they
could do. I wouldn’t hesitate for a second [to order an investigation
into the Dink murder],” he said.

Gul said the murder had occurred despite a number of opportunities that
came up during the assassination plan’s inception, opportunities that
would have normally allowed the authorities to prevent it. He also
added that it was important that at least the trial process could be
completed in a manner that would leave no doubts in people’s minds.

“Also, the only way to make sure that such things do not happen again
is to completely illuminate such murders,” Gul said.

When reminded of an alleged attempt by the Council of State to prevent
a Turkish citizen of Armenian descent from serving as a bureaucrat
at the EU Secretariat-General, Gul said: “Can such a shameful thing be?

This is tantamount to rejecting our very own selves. But let me tell
you something: In the future, there will be developments that will
leave such things behind and that will ensure that all citizens –
Muslims and non-Muslims alike — will have the opportunity to serve
in higher positions. This is all I am going to say. You will remember
this when you hear about these developments.”

The Council of State has issued a stay on any appointments based on
Turkey’s EU Secretariat-General’s new expert admission examination
held two years ago following an objection filed against the exam
results. The real reason behind the stay ruling is allegedly to
prevent the Turkish-Armenian candidate who was successful in the
exam from being appointed. If this person is admitted to the EU
Secretariat-General, he will be the first Turkish bureaucrat of
Armenian descent to work at a public agency.

From: A. Papazian

REAL FACE BEHIND DINK MURDER STILL UNKNOWN, PM SAYS

Today’s Zaman
Jan 27 2011
Turkey

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that although the hitmen
who staged the assassination of Hrant Dink, the editor-in-chief of
the Turkish-Armenian Agos weekly, have been captured, the masterminds
behind the operation remain elusive.

Speaking to journalists on the way to Ukraine for an official visit
yesterday, Erdogan commented on the state of the Dink investigation
after Bugun Ankara representative Adem Yavuz Arslan gave him a copy
of his new book on the Dink assassination. Erdogan said: “The hitmen
we know. But it is not yet clear who is in the control center.”

Erdogan had asked Arslan questions about his book, inquiring whether
he concentrated on the Ä°stanbul or Trabzon leg of the murder. Arslan
said he tried to cover all the aspects of the murder, focusing on the
conditions in Turkey before the murder. Dink was killed outside the
Agos office in Ä°stanbul on Jan. 19, 2007, but his killers are from
Trabzon, where, according to the investigation’s findings, the plot
to kill him was hatched over a long period of time.

In response to a question from another journalist regarding criticism
that the government has not given the investigation enough support,
Erdogan said: “We captured the hitman and those around him within
36 hours and handed them over to justice. The rest is up to the
judiciary. But they haven’t been able to complete the trial in
four years. Most recently, the hitman was referred to a juvenile
court. We provided everything asked of us. The judiciary should make
more demands.”

In response to Erdogan’s question on who could be behind the
triggermen, Arslan had said that “the evidence points to a certain
place. The murders [including that of an Italian priest in Trabzon
and three missionaries in Malatya] seem to have been committed in a
certain psychological atmosphere.” He said the hitmen in all three
cases said their motive was the fear that Islam was under threat and
that more young people were converting to Christianity.

From: A. Papazian

DJ BEI RU MINES THE NEGLECTED GROOVES OF HIS HERITAGE FOR BEATS GOLD
By Liz Ohanesian

LA Weekly

Jan 27 2011
CA

L.A. means little Armenia

Little Armenia is more than a neighborhood on the eastern side of
Hollywood. And it’s more than the title of hip-hop producer Bei Ru’s
latest album. It’s a state of mind.

“We grew up in L.A., but it was amongst family, friends, it was kind
of like they brought their version of Little Armenia here,” Bei Ru
says when we meet for tea on Ventura Boulevard. “So, we grew up in
our own Little Armenia.”

Born Baruir Panossian in Los Angeles, Bei Ru is the son of ethnic
Armenian immigrants from Lebanon, who introduced him to the sound
of famed Armenian pop singers such as Harout Pamboukjian and Adiss
Harmandian. He grew up primarily in the San Fernando Valley, where he
attended an Armenian day school for a time, and occasionally traveled
with his family to Lebanon and Armenia. All this has informed Little
Armenia (L.A.), an album created almost entirely from samples of
Armenian music.

Little Armenia (L.A.) is the sound of a diaspora that settled in Los
Angeles, Armenian music filtered through the influence of albums like
Dr. Dre’s The Chronic and the seminal underground hip-hop compilation
Beneath the Surface. For his album, Bei Ru borrows from cultural
staples – like “Der Voghormia” (“Lord Have Mercy”) from Komitas’
Divine Liturgy and Aram Khachaturian’s Gayane – as well as obscure
funk, soul and jazz artists from the ’60s and ’70s, occasionally
layering the samples with live bass, drums, guitars and even some
horns. Linking together the tracks at times are snippets of dialogue
from 1970s English-language movies about Armenians coming to America.

“It was a cool ’70s cheesy funkiness that I felt complemented the
music,” he says of the footage.

Bei Ru arranged the album carefully, always making sure not to take
away from the soulfulness of the source material.

“So many people aren’t aware that there was that element in Armenian
songs,” he explains. “A lot of contemporary Armenian music is the
same songs played the same way for the past few hundred years, all
acoustic. It was a short era in the ’60s and ’70s that has this cool
funkiness to it that’s kind of forgotten. I wanted to focus on that
era for that reason.”

It’s the obscurities that seem to give Bei Ru a sense of purpose with
his music. “There were other artists that got popular, but there are so
many obscure albums and artists from that era that no one remembers,”
he says [see sidebar]. “I felt like it was a mission to expose people
to that. And, of course, I love the music. It has a special place
for me in my heart – there’s just something about it.”

Bei Ru has dug through crates in record shops from L.A. to Lebanon
to Armenia in search of forgotten gems, no easy task in a culture
that long ago abandoned vinyl in favor of compact discs.

“Unfortunately, a lot of people I spoke to had these old records and
they just threw them away,” he says of his experience in Armenia.

“They said, ‘We don’t listen to them anymore, there’s no use for
them.’ So it was difficult to find them. It’s perseverance and luck. I
came up with some good stuff over the years.”

Bei Ru recalls trying to score vinyl at Vernissage, a large outdoor
market in Yerevan. “They have old metal parts from the Soviet era,
everything you can think of, but I couldn’t find records,” he says.

“So I was asking around and one guy gave me another guy’s number
and he told me, he referred me to someone else, so I had to call him
and meet him in the coffee shop. It was this really long process of
meeting him, and at the end of the day I got a couple of records that
I had no idea what they were. It was all in Russian writing.” He took
a chance on the purchase and ended up using one of the songs on the
intro to Little Armenia.

Bei Ru’s album plays like a love letter to his heritage. Though
he plans to continue working with Armenian music, either on a more
“experimental” release or with live bands, Bei Ru says he does not
foresee a “sequel” to Little Armenia.

“I feel like I said everything I had to say on this project, so I
think it would be silly to try to re-create it.”

The quest for Armenian vinyl, though, will continue.

“It’s like archaeology to me. They’re kind of like artifacts, a lot of
these records, they were never repressed or anything. You can’t find
them anywhere. Finding them is like finding a piece of history. It’s
so awesome to me.”

From: A. Papazian