Author: Andres-Papazian

ARMENIA AND SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAN
Samvel Avagyan

news.am
July 29 2010
Armenia

Can sanctions against Iran affect Armenian-Iranian economic ties?

Numerous sanctions were applied against Iran before, which, however,
did not affect the bilateral economic ties.

The only exception was the IT sector: the European Union (EU) forced
Armenia to restrict the export of dual-purpose products for Armenian
hi-tech products not to be found in Iran. Also, Armenia must not
become a country for transit of hi-tech products to Iran. To specify,
we would like to inform the reader that the “restriction” applies
even to personal computers. The restrictions hindered the development
of Armenia’s IT sector, but the external pressure outweighed the
country’s capability to defend its interests.

However, Armenia and Iran found new fields of cooperation – first of
all, the energy sector. An Iran-Armenia gas main was constructed, and
a number of large-scale projects are being implemented or elaborated.

Among them are an HPP construction project in Meghri, an oil-products
pipeline, a high-voltage transmission line and an Armenia-Iran railway.

The EU’s unprecedented sanctions are to take effect on October 27.

They are aimed at the Iranian energy sector. Specifically, the import
of oil-and-gas production technologies to Iran will be banned. Iran’s
oil-and-gas- production sector needs modernizing. Since the EU issues
no warning to Iran’s allies, the Armenian-Iranian energy cooperation
will hopefully not be affected. Moreover, Iran is increasingly
interested in developing energy integration with Iran. The question
is whether Iran will sponsor the programs, as Armenia is unable to.

The sanctions will also be applied against the Iranian financial
sector. As far back as June 9, the U.S. Security Council sanctions
called on all the nations to be careful about all the money transfers
effected by means of Iranian banks. The U.N. also called on it
member-states to prevent the opening of Iranian bank branches The
Mellat bank is operating in Armenia, which is effecting transactions
with official capital. The bank’s assets total 16.2bn AMD (about U.S.

$45m). Of course, this is not a scale posing a threat to the nuclear
security of the U.S. and Europe. The bank’s main task is to serve
Iranian businessmen’s accounts in Armenia.

It should be remembered that 30% of the 3,700 companies founded in
Armenia are Armenian-Iranian joint ventures though some of them are
not actually operating. The aim of the EU financial sanctions is not
prohibiting, but establishing strict control over Iranian companies’
financial transactions in European banks. Specifically, a transfer
exceeding â~B¬10,000 is to be accompanied by an explanatory note. A
transfer exceeding â~B¬40,000 requires official permission. The
restriction, of course, applies to the Mellat bank as well. We are not
well informed of the bank’s cooperation with European banks. However,
it will not affect the Armenian banking system.

Therefore, in principle, the U.N. and EU sanctions will not have any
serious impact on the Armenian economy.

From: A. Papazian

DAUGHTER OF AZERBAIJANI MINISTER IN LOVE WITH ARMENIAN

news.am
July 29 2010
Armenia

“The daughter of a Chairman of an Azerbaijani State Committee,
having a status of Ministry, is indulged in love affair with a
young Armenian. The girl is studying in London,” the Hayots Ashkharh
daily writes.

“A source informing of it to the “Yeni Musavat” newspaper reported
that the news shocked even the elite of Azerbaijani authorities. The
Azerbaijanis, studying in London and learning about the love affair
of an Azeri girl, particularly Taleh Heydarov, son of Azerbaijani
Minister of Emergency Situations and the leader of Azerbaijani
community in Europe Kamaladdin Heydarov, brought cries of protest,
calling on the authorities to make father-minister take adequate
measures and put an end to this disgrace.

The attempts by Taleh Heydarov to press the young Armenian and his
girlfriend were doomed to failure. The loving couple continues to
live together.

From: A. Papazian

OSCE MG CO-CHAIRS CONSIDER CONFLICTING PARTIES’ EFFORTS INSUFFICIENT

news.am
July 29 2010
Armenia

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassador Igor Popov of Russia,
Bernard Fassier of France, and Robert Bradtke of the United States,
released the following statement today, the OSCE website reads.

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs (Ambassador Bernard Fassier of France;
Ambassador Robert Bradtke of the United States; Ambassador Igor Popov
of the Russian Federation) met with the members of the Minsk Group
July 28 in Vienna, Austria.

They briefed the Minsk Group on recent developments in negotiations on
the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, including:
discussions held in St. Petersburg June 17, 2010 by the presidents
of the Russian Federation, Armenia, and Azerbaijan; the meeting of
the Heads of Delegation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries
with the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia July 17, 2010;
and the joint statements issued by the Minsk Group Co-Chair countries
in Muskoka and Almaty.

The Co-Chairs stressed that the efforts made so far by the sides of
the conflict have not been sufficient to overcome their differences,
and that additional actions are needed to reinforce the ceasefire and
demonstrate a spirit of compromise. To assist the parties in their
efforts, the Co-Chairs plan to visit the region in early September.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN ARMY ROCKED BY DEADLY SHOOTINGS
Karine Simonian, Hasmik Smbatian

Armenialiberty.org

July 29 2010

Six Armenian army servicemen have been reportedly shot dead this week
in two separate non-combat incidents highlighting lingering abuse
and other serious problems within the country’s armed forces.

The Armenian Defense Ministry reported on Thursday evening that an
“incident” involving “use of firearms” and resulting in an unspecified
number of casualties took place at one of its military bases on
Wednesday. It gave no details, saying only that military investigators
have received “strictest orders” to clarify all circumstances of
the incident.

A source close to the Armenian government told RFE/RL’s Armenian
service that it occurred at an Armenian army unit in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The source said a soldier serving there shot dead four officers before
turning his gun on himself.

Artur Sakunts, an Armenian human rights campaigner, gave similar
information to the Lragir.am news service. But he cautioned that it is
“preliminary and unconfirmed.”

Armenia — A photograph of Artak Nazarian, an army officer found dead
in Tavush region. The shooting was reported two days after another
officer was found dead in at an army outpost on Armenia’s border with
Azerbaijan. Citing “preliminary information,” the Defense Ministry
said Lieutenant Artak Nazarian shot himself for unknown reasons.

Nazarian’s relatives swiftly rejected the official theory and accused
the military of a cover-up. “He believed in God and knew that suicide
is a great sin,” his grief-stricken mother, Hasmik Hovannisian,
told RFE/RL on Thursday. “He could not have committed suicide. They
savagely slaughtered my boy.”

“He was safe and sound when I gave him [to the army,]” she cried.

“What are they giving me back?”

Nazarian’s elder sister, Sona, was convinced that the 30-year-old was
either forced to commit suicide or killed by fellow servicemen. “If
it was a suicide, just imagine how much suffering and humiliation
he endured before resorting to that,” she said. “If it was a murder,
just imagine what predators live among us.”

Nazarian’s cousin Narek Gharibian was present at a forensic
examination of his body that was conducted at a Yerevan morgue on
Wednesday. Gharibian told RFE/RL that forensic medics found numerous
injuries on the dead officer’s face, hands, shoulders and feet and
believe that they were inflicted several hours before his death.

The medics will formally present their finding within a month, added
Gharibian. An official death certificate given to the family on
Thursday contains no definitive cause of the death. Nazarian’s face
was heavily made up when his body was brought home and lay in state
later on Thursday.

The relatives also said that Nazarian complained of having difficult
relations with his commanders and other officers shortly after
enrolling in contractual military service and being sent to an army
unit in the northeastern Tavush region last November. They said he was
treated as a “weak” officer who can not impose his will on soldiers.

Armenia — Hasmik Hovanisian, mother of Artak Nazaian, the officer
found dead in Tavush region.”The death of our Artak must be a lesson
to others,” said Sona Nazarian. “We’ll go to the end in order to
identify the guilty and have them punished with all the strictness
of the law so that there is no repeat of such cases.”

Sources told RFE/RL that military investigators, who are subordinated
to Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian, have questioned several officers
from Nazarian’s unit. None of them has been arrested or charged so far.

The Armenian Armed Forces have been plagued with hazing and other
abuses resulting in at least a dozen non-combat deaths each year
ever since their establishment in 1992. Senior and mid-ranking army
officers have rarely been prosecuted in connection with those crimes.

Those who are put on trial usually get off with short prison sentences.

In a June 2008 statement cited by the U.S. State Department earlier
this year, families of soldiers who died during military service
between 2005 and 2008 accused authorities of systematically conducting
false investigations into those deaths and destroying or tampering
with evidence in order to disguise homicides as accidents, suicides,
or the results of sniper attacks.

The Armenian military insists that it is doing its best to address the
problem in earnest. It says the number of such incidents has steadily
and significantly declined since the late 1990s. According to Defense
Ministry data, at least seven Armenian soldiers died due to abuse
and mistreatment and eleven others committed suicide last year.

From: A. Papazian

AUTHOR SKRYPUCH RESEARCHES LATEST BOOK IN KAP
Kevin Anderson

Kapuskasing Northern Times

July 29 2010

Canadian author Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch was in Kapuskasing recently,
researching her latest project – a young-adult book about the
internment of Turks in the camps located in Kapuskasing during the
first World War.

“They were rounded up on trumped-up charges revolving around some
theory they were conspiring to blow up the post office in Brantford,”
she said. “They were the first detainees at the camps here when they
arrived in December of 1914.”

Asked if her voyage to the Model Town had bore any fruit, Ms. Skrypuch
said the discovery of various artifacts, documents and photographs
from the era added some much needed pieces to the historical puzzle.

“It’s amazing how abundantly available information about that time and
subject matter is,” she commented. “The nice thing is, once you start
digging into this information everything just starts to reveal itself.”

Mislabelled as “slow” in school Ms. Skrypuch didn’t learn how to read
until she was in Gr. 4 for the second time. In defiance of her label,
when she finally did learn to read, she chose the thickest book in the
children’s section of the Brantford Public Library — Oliver Twist, by
Charles Dickens. Reading that novel was a turning point in her life:
not only did she become a voracious reader, but she set herself the
goal of becoming a writer one day.

She received an Honours BA in English from the University of Western
Ontario. After several years as an industrial sales rep, a career
change was in order. Marsha went back to university to take her Master
of Library Science degree. It was while at library school that Marsha
developed her passion for children’s literature.

Marsha worked for Agriculture Canada as a librarian while she was
taking her degree and upon graduation was given the position of
Librarian, Delhi Research Station. She resigned upon the birth of
her child.

Marsha was a full-time Mom for a year. Then she started writing book
reviews and freelance articles.

Marsha turned her hand to fiction in 1992, receiving well over 100
rejection slips in the process. In 1994, her picture book, Silver
Threads, was accepted for publication. It was published in 1996.

Marsha has a passion for writing about the bits of history that have
been shoved under the carpet. As of 2009, she has written five novels
set during the Armenian genocide — more than any other author in the
English speaking world. She also wrote Enough, the first commercially
published children’s book set during the Holodomor (Stalin-induced
famine in Ukraine).

Enough had been turned down by many publishers who considered the
topic too “controversial” for children, but it was published in 2000 by
Fitzhenry & Whiteside and is still popular nine years later. When it
came out, Marsha received hate mail and death threats. In May 2008,
President Victor Yuschchenko of Ukraine bestowed upon Marsha the
Order of Princess Olha for her championing of the Holodomor.

That same week, MP James Bezan’s private member’s bill C-459 was
unanimously passed. This Bill establishes a Ukrainian Famine and
Genocide Memorial Day and recognizes the Holodomor as an act of
genocide.

This forthcoming novel is expected to be published in spring of 2011
and will be available at the Ron Morel Museum in Kapuskasing.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN-CANADIAN DIRECTOR EGOYAN CONSIDERS FILM IN TURKEY

Hurriyet Daily News

July 29 2010
Turkey

World-renowned Armenian-Canadian director Atom Egoyan wants to make a
film in Turkey, saying he welcomes all manners of projects. Inviting
Turks and Armenians to engage in dialogue, Egoyan says, ‘We need
to speak about the events of 1915. Because we have failed to speak,
the West has not hesitated to [exploit] our wounds out of political
interest’

Atom Egoyan

Though known the world over for his critically acclaimed independent
films, Atom Egoyan is most synonymous in Turkey with his 2002 film
“Ararat,” which examined the events of 1915, attracting great anger
from Turkish nationalist circles. Now, however, the Canadian-Armenian
director says he could shoot a film in Turkey.

A joint project with Turkish directors “would be a good step toward
dialogue,” Egoyan told the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review
during a recent interview in Yerevan, where he was celebrating his
50th birthday along with his wife, Armenian-Canadian actress Arsinée
Khanjian.

A fan of Turkish Nobel laureate author Orhan Pamuk, and especially
his novel “Snow,” Egoyan said it would “be a pleasure” to adapt the
writer’s work to the silver screen.

Egoyan noted he was following a new generation of Turkish directors,
including YeÅ~_im Ustaoglu, Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Semih Kaplanoglu, and
said he had had a chance to meet several Turkish directors during the
International Golden Apricot Film Festival in Yerevan two weeks ago.

‘Ararat’ and Dink

“Ararat,” which provided a unique and artistic view of the tragedy in
eastern Anatolia during World War I, elicited a strong reaction not
only from Turks, but from the Armenian diaspora as well, Egoyan said.

“The diaspora wanted ‘Ararat’ to be a more striking ‘genocide’ film,”
Egoyan said. “I don’t blame them but there was a fact that they forgot:
It was my film, not theirs. More than the incidents that took place
in 1915, their effects on the younger generation concerned me.”

Despite the Turkish criticism of the film, the director said he
believed the country had begun to undergo a positive transformation
following the 2007 assassination of Hrant Dink, a Turkish journalist
of Armenian origin and editor of the daily Agos.

“As two publics, we need to speak about these incidents without a
mediator,” he said. “Since we don’t speak, the West has not hesitated
to [exploit] our wounds for political interests.”

Speaking about the current situation between Turkish and Armenian
people, Egoyan said he deeply believed that the iron curtain between
both peoples would be torn down as past incidents became topics
of discussion.

In contrast to the commonly held view in the diaspora, Egoyan said
he believed opening the closed border gate between Turkey and Armenia
was a significant step toward a peaceful future.

“Lifting borders will increase peace and welfare in the region,”
the director said. “It will provide an environment for dialogue.”

‘I am proud of my roots’

Born in Cairo before moving to Victoria, Canada, at a young age,
Egoyan said he was proud to have family roots in Arapgir, a district
in the eastern Turkish province of Malatya. “My biggest wish is to
visit this land of my roots at least once.”

Though he has long wished to visit Turkey, Egoyan said he had not
accepted any invitations from the International Istanbul Film Festival.

“The festival management set the condition that I would not use the
word ‘genocide’ if I came to Turkey,” he said. “It was not possible
for me to accept this demand. This is why I refused all invitations.”

However, a member of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture Arts, which
organizes the festival, told the Daily News that such a demand was
impossible because Egoyan had never been officially invited to the
festival. Moreover, the official said, the foundation had never any
official talk with the director.

Although known publicly as an Armenian director, Egoyan can only
understand Armenian, but does not speak the language. “It is completely
my fault to not speak Armenian. I did not put any effort to learn it,”
he said, adding that he did not have much linguistic talent.

Nonetheless, he said he could understand Turkish, even if he could
not speak it; like many Armenians from the diaspora, he said his
family occasionally spoke Turkish at home during his childhood.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN-AMERICANS FILE LAWSUIT IN CALIF. AGAINST TURKEY, BANKS SEEKING COMPENSATION
LINDA DEUTSCH

AP Special Correspondent
,0,6856442.story
6:20 PM PDT, July 29, 2010

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Armenian-American lawyers filed a federal lawsuit
Thursday against the Turkish government and two banks seeking
compensation for the heirs of Armenians whose property was allegedly
seized nearly a century ago as they were driven from the Turkish
Ottoman Empire.

Lawyers were seeking class-action status for the suit, a process that
attorney Brian Kabateck said could take as long as three years.

“We are rolling up our sleeves and are going forward,” he said.

The suit was filed on behalf of plaintiffs Garbis Davouyan of Los
Angeles and Hrayr Turabian of Queens, N.Y. It alleges breach of
statutory trust, unjust enrichment, human rights violations and
violations of international law.

It seeks compensation for land, buildings and businesses allegedly
seized from Armenians along with bank deposits and property, including
priceless religious and other artifacts, some of which are now housed
in museums in the Republic of Turkey.

Attorney Mark Geragos said it was the first such lawsuit directly
naming the government of the Republic of Turkey as a defendant.

“All of the lawyers involved have relatives who perished or fled the
Armenian genocide, which gives it a special poignancy for us,” he said.

The lawsuit claims more than a million Armenians were killed in
forced marches, concentration camps and massacres “perpetrated,
assisted and condoned” by Turkish officials and armed forces.

The U.S. government does not recognize the mass killings of Armenians
during World War I as genocide.

Also named in the lawsuit were the Central Bank of Turkey and T.C.,
Ziraat Bankasi, the largest and oldest Turkish bank with origins
dating back to the 1860s.

The lawsuit claims the government of Turkey agreed to administer the
property, collect rents and sale proceeds from the seized assets and
deposit the receipts in trust accounts until the property could be
restored to owners.

Instead, the government has “withheld the property and any income
derived from such property,” the lawsuit said.

A message left with the Turkish Consul General’s office in Los Angeles
was not immediately returned. After-hours e-mails seeking comment
from both banks were not immediately returned.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs believe records of the properties and
profits still exist, and they are seeking an accounting that could
reach billions of dollars.

Geragos said the biggest issue in Armenian communities is seeking
recognition for the ethnic bloodshed that allegedly claimed the lives
of as many as 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1919.

In 2000, the California Legislature recognized the deaths as genocide
when it allowed heirs to seek payment on life insurance policies of
dead relatives.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later invalidated the law.

Geragos has appealed that ruling.

Still, the heirs were paid nearly $40 million by New York Life
Insurance Co. and French insurer AXA.

(This version CORRECTS Corrects spelling of Kabateck in 2nd paragraf)

From: A. Papazian

1915, 1934, 1955, 1978, 1993, 2010…
ORHAN KEMAL CENGIZ

Today’s Zaman

July 30 2010
Turkey

There were two tragic incidents in two small towns in Turkey this
week. In Ä°negöl and Dörtyol “angry crowds” wanted to lynch some
Kurdish citizens.

They destroyed shops and buildings, they clashed with security forces,
burnt down official vehicles, attacked police stations to get the
“suspects,” who were believed to be Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)
members. In these two small towns, events seemed to have started for
different reasons but they progressed in almost identical patterns.

“Nationalist Turks” wanted to lynch Kurds and scare them away from
their neighborhoods.

All my senses and gut feelings tell me that these incidents and other
possible provocations that may follow them are neither incidental
nor spontaneous; they had been prepared for some time.

Since 1915 not a single mass provocation or massacre has developed
spontaneously on this soil. They all had been prepared quite
masterfully and diligently. Armenian massacres in 1915, anti-Jewish
pogroms in 1934, anti-Greek and Armenian pogroms in 1955, the Alevi
massacres of 1978, the Sivas massacre of 1993, they all were carefully
planned and organized by the deep state elements in this country.

Since Turkey has never had a full confrontation with these tragic
events, with this lynching culture or with the institutional mentality
which created the necessary infrastructure for these incidents to
occur, this human eating machine has been passed from one generation
to another.

At this point I would like to share with you a quite irritating
attitude of some Westerners with regard to atrocities in Turkey. Some
Westerners are quite ready to believe whatever you say about the
“deep state” which destroyed and massacred non-Muslims in Turkey;
however, when it comes to Ergenekon and recent provocations they
seem to believe that your explanations are just “urban legends.” A
schizophrenic Western mentality appears when dealing with Turkey’s
past and present. They do not want to see that those who carried out
all these massacres and the so-called modernizing forces of Turkey
were exactly the same people. They do not want to see the continuation
between the Turkification of Anatolia and the modernization of Turkey.

In one of my recent articles I tried to explain the provocative role
of the Hurriyet daily in the 1955 pogroms. From this historical
perspective, do not underestimate the psychological link between
Hurriyet columnists’ “innocent call” to question whether Turks and
Kurds must live together and these angry Turkish citizens’ efforts
to send Kurds “back” to the Southeast. Hurriyet’s writers have always
been quite inspired to show angry Turks where they can unleash their
“intense” feelings.

Who are these “angry Turks”? Most of them are “grey wolves,” namely
Turkish ultranationalists. Exactly as they had played their roles in
the massacres before 1980, now they are also quite active among the
masses who tried to lynch the Kurds. Before 1980, the Turkish Gladio
used these ultranationalist groups and I am 100 percent sure that if it
is investigated thoroughly these people’s connections with deep state
elements, like their ancestors’ connections before the 1980 coup,
will also be revealed. I would not be surprised if it is found out
that the local press and media had been playing quite a provocative
role for some time in these regions.

Today, a civil war between Kurds and Turks would be a panacea for the
return of the deep state to its full strength and for the restoration
of military guardianship. I know this is also seen by some circles as
a kind of paranoia but I have no doubt that between some segments of
the PKK and the Turkish deep state there are quite strong connections
and channels. It was not and would not be a surprise to witness
PKK attacks in regions which are most ready for these kinds of mass
provocations. Abdullah Ocalan, from his maximum security cell, had
foreseen that “there might be some clashes between Kurds and Turks
in some regions of Turkey.” So we can guess the PKK will intensify
its attacks in these sensitive regions.

Just before the referendum for the constitutional amendments and at
exactly the same time that the court ordered the detention of 102
high ranking military officers for allegedly being part of a coup
plan against this government, nothing is happening for nothing.

We will witness these well-known stories more and more: “All these
terrible things happening because of the Kurdish opening and so-called
democratization efforts,” “The Turkish military cannot fight against
the PKK efficiently because they are extremely demoralized due to
this Ergenekon investigation and recent arrest waves,” “All we need
is to restore the old system,” “After all, Ergenekon and other such
‘fantasies’ were produced to weaken the secular structure of Turkey,”
“If only we could get rid of this government,” and so on.

Our story is 100 years old. Can we get rid of this monster, the deep
state? Yes, if only we could stop being deceived by the fairytales
that are constantly being told on this soil. So, be alert out there,
everything depends on your awareness.

From: A. Papazian

ISTANBUL-BORN ARMENIAN PIANIST ARZRUNI TO GIVE CONCERT IN VAN

Today’s Zaman
July 30 2010
Turkey

Å~^ahan Arzruni, an Ä°stanbul-born and world-famous Armenian pianist,
will give a concert in Van province shortly preceding a Sept. 19
religious ceremony to be held in a 10th century Armenian church.

Arzruni graduated from the Ä°stanbul Municipal Conservatory,
where he studied piano, and moved to New York in 1964 to study at
the Juilliard School of Music on a scholarship from the Calouste
Gulbenkian Foundation. The artist contacted the Turkish Consulate
General in New York and expressed a desire to give a concert in Van,
stated the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

The ministry then communicated his proposal to the Van Governor’s
Office, Yuzuncu Yıl University in Van and the Armenian Patriarchate
in Ä°stanbul in order to secure their support in making arrangements
for the concert. According to a statement from the Foreign Ministry,
the concert will take place at Van’s Yuzuncu Yıl University on
Sept. 18, a day before the religious service is to be held in the
church on Akdamar Island in Lake Van.

On July 17, the Armenian Church of the Holy Cross, which has been
converted into a state museum, became a symbol of the tortuous
reconciliation process between Armenia and Turkey, as the government
prepares to open the site on Sept. 19 for a one-day religious service
that could become an annual event.

The church reopened in 2007 as a museum, following a $1.5 million
renovation project by the Turkish government. Despite church
officials’ pleas, they were not allowed to place a cross on top the
church. However, Munir Karaloglu, the governor of Van province, said a
cross will be placed on the dome before the Mass and will remain there.

Church officials say the holy site in Akdamar, built between A.D. 915
and A.D. 921, has been appropriated by the Turkish state because
the government considers it a public building, and the expression of
religious belief are not tolerated in public spaces under Turkey’s
strict secular Constitution. Often criticized in the West for its
treatment of Christian minorities, Ankara has encouraged having Mass
in the church in an attempt to prove their commitment to tolerance.

At the concert, Arzruni will interpret songs from renowned Turkish
composers such Yuksel Koptagel, Ferid Anlar and Adnan Saygun, as
well as Armenian composers such as Komitas Vardapet, Hovhaness and
Srvantsdyans. Arzruni will be joined by baritone Kevork Tavityan and
violinist Sevil Ulucan.

The concert will also feature a musical film titled “Akdamar,” produced
by Arzruni and inspired by Armenian composer and pianist Sirvart
Karamanuk’s works. Karamanuk, who is also from Ä°stanbul, died in 2008.

Arzruni explained that since his family’s roots go back to Akdamar,
he has an emotional connection to the region. He has continuously
investigated the musical roots of his Armenian heritage and researches
traditional Armenian music. He also has recorded a three-disc
anthology of Armenian piano music and co-produced an eight-disc set
of instrumental and vocal Armenian music.

In 2003, Arzruni was appointed Armenia’s Ministry of Culture
representative for music in the Armenian diaspora. He also regularly
delivers papers and organizes symposia for such institutions as Harvard
University, Columbia University and the University of Michigan at
Ann Arbor.

Arzruni is the author of several books and a regular contributor
of articles to academic journals. He has also written for various
editions of “The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians” and the
“Dictionary of the Middle Ages.”

From: A. Papazian

‘TOUGH GUY’ CHAIRS NATIONAL JURY AT ALTIN PORTAKAL FESTIVAL

Today’s Zaman
July 30 2010
Turkey

Turkish screen actor Kadir İnanır will head the national feature
film competition jury in this year’s Antalya Altın Portakal (Golden
Orange) International Film Festival, the organizers of the festival
announced Wednesday.

Antalya Mayor Mustafa Akaydın, who also heads the Antalya Foundation
for Culture and Arts (AKSAV), the cultural body affiliated with the
Greater Antalya Municipality which oversees the festival, announced
the members of the judging panels of this year’s event, as well as
other details as to special tributes and honorees, in Wednesday’s
press gathering at The Marmara Esma Sultan on the Bosporus coast,
attended by a crowded group of guests that also included top Turkish
stage and screen actors and jury members.

The 62-year-old İnanır, who has come to be associated with the
coldhearted but truthful tough guy characters who always fight
injustice in the dozens of films he appeared in, will preside over
the nine-member national competition jury, which also includes film
director Tomris Giritlioglu, screenplay writer Meral Okay, film
critic Atilla Dorsay, actress Meltem Cumbul, poet-author Murathan
Mungan and musician Gökhan Kırdar.

Glittering list

Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica will be a member of the international
feature competition jury, whose other judges have yet to be announced.

Kusturica, one of the few filmmakers to win the Cannes’s coveted Palme
d’Or twice — for “When Father Was Away on Business” and “Underground”
— will come to the city with his No Smoking Orchestra to perform
during the festival’s opening gala, like they did three years ago,
during 2007’s Golden Orange and Eurasia film festivals. A selection
from Kusturica’s films will also be offered in a special program
during this year’s festival.

Oscar-winning American documentary director Megan Mylan (“Smile Pinki”)
will join her Turkish counterpart CoÅ~_kun Aral and three other
documentary professionals from Turkey on the festival’s documentary
jury while Cannes award-winning Armenian-French filmmaker Serge
Avedikian (Chienne D’Historie/Barking Island) and young Turkish
filmmaker Mehmet Bahadır Er (Kara Köpekler Havlarken/Black Dogs
Barking) are among the judges of the short film competition.

This year’s festival will recognize veteran thespians Zeki Alasya
and Metin Akpınar, the stage and screen comedy duo best known for
their work with the 1970s and ’80s popular cabaret theater DevekuÅ~_u
Kabare, with lifetime achievement awards. Other lifetime achievement
award honorees will be actresses GulÅ~_en Bubikoglu and Nur Surer,
screenwriter Safa Onal and screenwriter-director Ertem Görec.

The main theme for this year’s festival is “Cinema and Social
Interaction,” under which a comprehensive program of film screenings,
panel discussions with actors and other film professionals,
and workshops on screenwriting and acting, aimed both at regular
festival-goers as well as inmates in prisons in the Antalya province
and the nearby provinces of Burdur and Isparta, will be offered.

The festival will this year mark its 47th edition, albeit with a
shortened slate that will run from Oct. 9-14, as opposed to previous
editions that usually lasted for around eight days.

Film submissions will continue until mid-August, after which the full
festival program will be announced.

From: A. Papazian