Author: Andres-Papazian

ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER MET WITH HIS UZBEK COUNTERPART

news.am
July 27 2010
Armenia

On July 26, the Armenian delegation headed by Defense Minister Seyran
Ohanyan returned from Afghanistan. Seyran Ohanyan met with Uzbek
Deputy Minister Tursun Normatov at the Termez airport in Uzbekistan.

The sides discussed the issues on current level and development
prospects of the bilateral and multilateral military cooperation,
Armenian Defense Ministry press service informed NEWS.am.

Termez Airport is a transit on the way from Germany to Kunduz and
Seyran Ohanyan thanked Normatov for the friendly attitude towards
Armenian peacekeepers.

On July 24-26, the delegation headed by Seyran Ohanyan was on a
working visit to Afghanistan.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA SHOULD FOLLOW AZERBAIJAN’S EXAMPLE, EXPERT SAYS

news.am
July 27 2010
Armenia

The international recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence will
make the Armenian sides’ positions stronger in the peace process,
the leader of “European Integration” NGO Karen Bekaryan told the
reporters on July 27, as to whether the recognition of Karabakh’s
independence will make Karabakh peace process of no sense.

“Eight countries have already recognized Nagorno-Karabakh. This makes
the positions of a negotiator stronger and pursues its interests,”
the expert said.

“Despite the talks within the OSCE Minsk Group, Azerbaijan does
its utmost to make different international agencies, for instance,
the United Nations, adopt resolutions and documents. The aim was to
influence the negotiation process by using additional instruments and
factors,” Bekaryan said. Both Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia should
step up efforts in all directions for recognition of Karabakh’s
independence.

From: A. Papazian

KAREKIN II NOT TO ATTEND SERVICE AT SURB KHACH

news.am
July 27 2010
Armenia

Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II will not visit Turkey to attend
the service at Surb Khach church in Akhtamar Island, the head of the
press service of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin Vahram Melikyan
told NEWS.am.

According to him, two high ranking clergymen will participate in the
service. However, Vahram Melikyan did not disclose their names and
the precise date of the visit, noting that relevant information will
be spread soon.

On September 19, Surb Khach church in Akhtamar Island will be opened
for services at the initiative of the Van Governor and Constantinople
Patriarchate. Turkish side stated that cross will be put on the dome.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT TO INITIATE TALKS WITH FRIENDLY STATES ON NKR RECOGNITION, EXPERT SAYS

news.am
July 27 2010
Armenia

The decision of The Hague International Court on Kosovo’s recognition
can serve as a background for the Karabakh peace process, the leader
of “European Integration” NGO Karen Bekaryan told the reporters
on Tuesday.

According to him, Armenia as a negotiating party, with the President
and Foreign Minister is somewhat constrained in the peace process. “In
this regard, I do not consider expedient expecting direct steps
from Armenian Foreign Ministry or President’s Office, as this will be
involved in the peace process,” Bekaryan said. He stressed the Armenian
parliamentary diplomacy has an opportunity to make interesting moves.

“If we remember the tools of the parliamentary diplomacy, we will see
each of them enables an opportunity to take certain steps,” Bekaryan
said, indicating the standing committees on Foreign Affairs, European
Integration, Armenian delegations in international organizations,
inter-parliamentary commissions and friendship groups.

Today, the Armenian parliamentary opposition has an opportunity to
hold consultations with friendly states to recognize independence of
Nagorno-Karabakh, he said.

According to the expert, the mass media and non-governmental
organizations, as well as the Armenian Diaspora should also be
involved in the international recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh. The
Armenian Diaspora should not initiate the recognition process of
Nagorno-Karabakh, but actively support the initiatives.

From: A. Papazian

ECONOMIC ASPECT CRUCIAL IN ARMENIAN-UKRAINIAN RELATIONS, ALEXANDER BOZHKO SAYS

news.am
July 27 2010
Armenia

Ukrainian Ambassador to Armenia Alexander Bozhko will complete his
mission in several months.

“It will be 5 years since I have been in office and it is rather long
period for politics. I remember how I presented my credentials to the
second Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and in September I will
deliver letters of recall to Serzh Sargsyan,” Ukrainian Ambassador
to Armenia Alexander Bozhko told the journalists on Tuesday.

He also mentioned that a lot of things have changed within recent
5 years. “We faced different events: from global crisis up to
Russian-Georgian war,” he said.

Alexander Bozhko considers economic cooperation crucial aspect in
the Armenian-Ukrainian relations. “In 2005 trade turnover between the
states made $118 m, whereas in 2008 this indicator reached $310m that
testifies to the dynamic development of bilateral economic relations,”
the Ambassador noted.

The diplomat stressed that Ukraine’s Embassy in Armenia did its utmost
to neutralize consequences of the crisis.

From: A. Papazian

HOTEL VIOLENCE AGAINST RUSSIAN, ARMENIAN TOURISTS IN TURKEY

news.am
July 27 2010
Armenia

An Armenian tourist who plans to spend his holiday in Turkey is
offered Mediterranean beaches, five-star hotels, perfect pastime
and vivid impressions. Believe us, vivid impressions are guaranteed,
whereas the desired blue water and five-star hotels are only a dream.

The Saranjyans, who recently returned from Turkey, met with a NEWS.am
correspondent. Below is a story told by the housemother Lianna Mamayan.

“The doctor advised a rest by the sea for my younger son’s health. We
decided to go to Turkey. We applied to the Tez Tour travel agency. We
preferred the Aventura-park five-star hotel in Alanya. We paid U.S.

$4,000 for four and insured ourselves. On July 6 we went to Alanya
and on our way there we knew from our companions that we were the
only family to stay at Aventura-park. I was a little worried –
I thought it would be better for us to have our nationals with us,
because we were going to Turkey.

“In short, our family went to the Aventura-park hotel. It was claimed
to be a five-star hotel. The same information was on the Internet.

However, an unbiased ranking would not even rank it among 3-star
hotels. The seashore was dirty and we knew that the sewage was flowing
into the water for swimming. To switch on the air conditioner we had
to have a deposit, the linens were dirty. We ‘enjoyed our holiday’
this way until July 16, when we had an incident no tourist in any
civilized country would meet with. First of all, the male personnel
were going beyond all the bounds in dealing with women, especially
Russian women – no matter they were with their friends or even married.

“We had the impression that the hotel staff did their best to please
the hotel owner and his son. The girls they struck up acquaintance
with were seen in company with the hotel owner and his son the same
evening. Two girls from Russia, one of them an Armenian girl, were
staying at the hotel with us. The hotel staff members tried to strike
up acquaintance with them, but were turned down. On July 16, the girls
were sitting at the table in the lounge. They were working on their
laptop. Waiters approached their table and pulled the cloth off the
table so that the laptop nearly fell on the floor. The girls reproved
the waiters, but they got into an argument and told the girls to ‘shut
up.’ Four young men from Russia were sitting at the next table – two
of them Armenians. They tried to find out what had happened. In answer,
Turks used foul language, and there was a scuffle. The security guards
did not do anything to part the sides. All the male staffers attacked
the four boys and beat them up in everybody’s presence. At last, some
of the holiday-makers interfered and parted the sides. The young men
were taken to one of the lounge bars.

“At that moment, my husband and I were coming back to the hotel
and tried to get in touch with our elder son Hovhanes. At that very
moment, Hovhanes returned to the lounge. The four young men, who had
made friends with him before, asked him to bring their mobile phones.

One of the hotel staff members hit Hovhanes with his shoulder and,
turning back to him, insulted him. Hovhanes said he was careful,
but the Turk began to push him. There was a fight, and 20 people
beat up my son. A Tatar man from Russia tried to help Hovhanes rise,
but the Turks attacked the man, beat him and broke his ribs. When
I saw Hovhanes after the scuffle, I could not recognize my son. His
face was swollen even after we washed the blood off. When my husband
Artur tried to find out what had happened, about 20 hotel staffers
took him and his friend Khachik out of the building and beat them
up. One of the staffers took out a knife, another sprayed tear gas.

“The nightmare lasted for three hours. I could not turn to anyone for
explanations. There was an Armenian woman from the United States with
us. She spoke Turkish. I asked her to talk to the hotel owner. I told
her that the hotel personnel were outraging, and we would complain.

‘Who are you going to complain to? I have no problems in Alanya.

Complain to whoever you want,’ the owner said. When he knew we were
from Armenia, he was filled with disgust.

“A Tez Tour agent arrived at the hotel. He could not do anything to
calm down the hotel staffers who were in the ‘heat of passion.’ I told
him Hovhanes needed medical aid. He had been stuck on the head. The
agent told me he could not get in touch with Armenia to specify the
insurance. He told me to get in touch with Yerevan myself. I showed
him the documents proving the insurance, but that did not help.

“Toward midnight Turkish policemen arrived and arrested the four
Russian young men, my husband and Khachik. They came to our room to
arrest Hovhanes. I thought it was a nightmare.

“I told the Turkish policeman he could not arrest my son, who was
under age. He was saying something in Turkish, moving forward to put
handcuffs on Hovhanes. I lost my nerves. I began to shout at him,
saying I would sue him and all police for illegally arresting innocent
persons, whereas those guilty were walking about the hotel. I told
him that arresting a boy under age was a crime.

“At last I told him to arrest me and my 11-year-old son because I was
not going to leave my children alone. The policeman looked at me and
left the room.

“My husband and Khachik did not stay at the police station long. The
Tez Tour agent went to the police station and talked to them, asking
them to release Artur and the other arrestees. They were released, but
the policemen tried to trump up charges against the four Russian boys.

They were charged with starting a drunken brawl. I do not know how,
but Artur and his friends persuaded the policemen to release the boys.

“I had never felt so helpless and lonely. I could not hold back my
tears after we came back. The group members asked me about what had
happened, and I told them.

“At that moment a woman said: ‘They should have behaved themselves,
nothing would have happened. I have spent my holiday in Turkey for
five years, and nothing like that has ever happened to me. Let them
set normal prices in their Armenia, and I will spend my money there.

“I was stunned. There was no point in answering. But our family
decided to never visit Turkey again.”

P.S. NEWS.am reminds readers that Armenia and Turkey have no diplomatic
relations, and Armenian citizens are defenseless in case of any legal
or other problems.

From: A. Papazian

IRATES DE-FACTO: AZERBAIJAN MUST SAY YES OR NO

news.am
July 27 2010
Armenia

The biweekly held an interview with Secretary of Prosperous Armenia
Party (PAP), member of Armenian delegation to PACE Aram Safaryan.

“Referring to the recognition of Kosovo’s independence, what steps
should be made to launch recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh and whether
we will benefit from it?

“I think it is early for Armenia to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh.

Recognition is conditioned by expediency. We are conducting talks
within the OSCE Minsk Group and if we unilaterally recognize Karabakh,
what is negotiated then? The negotiations may be doomed to failure.

The recent proposals by Minsk Group, the Foreign Ministers’ statements
in Almaty distinctly indicate the positions of Armenia and OSCE
are identical. Over the recent 16 years Armenian has not had such a
successful document as a foundation of negotiations. Now Azerbaijan
must say yes or no.

If Azerbaijan says yes, it will accept these foundations are a
matter of discussions, but it conflicts with their national vision,
according to which they must return Nagorno-Karabakh or at least to
give Karabakh autonomy, the refugees should return to their homes and
Armenian troops should be withdrawn from all the territories. In case
Azerbaijan says no, how it will substantiate this “no”. Today our
policy does not counter us with the world powers-Russia, U.S. and EU.

If this course is underway, the answers to all the questions to be
explained and thought in mind, will be expected from Azerbaijan,”
Safaryan said.

From: A. Papazian

BAKU WAS REJECTED BY ARONIAN AND THIS LOOKED NATURAL FOR EVERYONE, VESELIN TOPALOV SAYS

news.am
July 27 2010
Armenia

NEWS.am posts an open letter by Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov available
on Chessdom website.

“Dear President of FIDE, Dear members of the PB,

I am writing an open letter to you regarding the next World
Championship Cycle. After many promises and changes I learn that a
new place for the Candidates matches is being discussed, the one of
Kazan, Russia.

I believe that it is a strategic mistake to stage almost all the cycle
in one country. Four events of the FIDE Grand Prix, the World Cup,
and now possibly Candidates Matches are in Russia. This transmits
the message that FIDE can’t find sponsors and Organizers from other
countries, which is very sad.

I would also like to state that for me the venue of Kazan, or any
other venue in Russia, is totally unacceptable for another reason.

Everybody still remembers the unpleasant situations which my team
and I had to face during the WCC Match in Elista 2006.

Having in mind all this, I would like to declare that I would not
participate in any stage of the cycle for the World Chess Title that
takes place in Russia, in order to avoid problems and conflicts that
already took place there.

The venue of Baku was rejected by Aronian and this looked natural
for everyone. Before that, FIDE have changed their own rules and
regulations to avoid the WCC rematch Topalov-Kramnik with Sofia as a
venue. I believe it is logical to ask, if I play any matches in the
future, (especially against Russian GMs), that they should be outside
of Russia.

With respect, Veselin Topalov”

From: A. Papazian

SERZH SARGSYAN, LEVON TER-PETROSYAN TO CONCILIATE?

news.am
July 27 2010
Armenia

U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Marie L. Yovanovitch is engaged in intense
lobbying to launch dialogue between Armenian current President Serzh
Sargsyan and first President Levon Ter-Petrosyan,” the Haykakan
Zhamanak daily writes. When the newspaper tried to clarify from
representative of Armenian National Congress (ANC) Avetis Avagyan
whether the possible dialogue between the current and former
presidents was touched upon at Ter-Petrosyan-Yovanovitch meeting,
Avagyan declined to answer. It is unclear whether the issue will be
raised at the impending meetings. “According to our sources such a
meeting is expected in the near future. However, yesterday we failed
to get any official information, confirming a Ter-Petrosyan-Yovanovitch
impending meeting,” the daily writes.

From: A. Papazian

YUKSEL ARSLAN – PAINTING A MORE OPEN TURKEY
Mark Van Yetter

Global Arab Network

July 28 2010

Istanbul, Turkey – Looking at the shape of the art world’s character
today, there is one aspect that clearly stands out. Modern art’s
trajectory, which remains centred in Northwestern Europe and the
United States, is experiencing a shifting of axis. Countries long
exempt from participation, such as Turkey, are eager to establish
themselves as players in the art industry.

Several art centres, museums and galleries of merit have opened
their doors in Turkey over the last decade – and this trend seems
to be growing. These institutions have done much to expose Turkey’s
tradition of modern art, centred in Istanbul.

Notable among these include the art and cultural complex called
Santral-Istanbul which recently held a magnificently curated
retrospective of 76-year-old Turkish artist Yuksel Arslan. Living
in self-imposed exile in Paris to avoid censorship of the socialist
and satirist themes of his works, which focus on the working class,
the artist returned to Turkey in 2009 for a seven-month show.

In May 2010, a new gallery space, Rampa, hosted a large show of works
by Cengiz Cekil, the artist credited with establishing conceptual
art in Turkey, whose work reflects the political and social tensions
before the 1980 military coup. Another gallery of note, BAS, recently
featured a display of magazines and works by KORÄ°DOR, a group of
artists who worked between 1988 and 1995. It is only now that many
of these artists’ works have been seen in mainstream outlets in Turkey.

However, this movement is still small. Only recently have these forums
for artistic cultivation and dissemination begun to appear as the
Turkish public begins to embrace its artistic movements.

Considering the greatest achievements in modern art in the West, it’s
obvious that artists who radically threatened established societal
and cultural values were the ones who made the most important
contributions.

Western artists like Germany’s Joseph Beuys, regarded as one of the
most important artists of the 20th century, challenged the idea
that art must be confined to the making of objects. He developed
the idea of “social sculpture” and saw society itself as complicated
artwork which everyone takes part in creating. For example, to raise
eco-consciousness and social change, Beuys planted 7,000 oak trees in
Kassel, Germany with the help of volunteers. A basalt stone accompanied
each tree, collectively creating a sculpture entitled “7000 Oaks”.

Likewise, a group of Turkish artists and writers used modern art to
challenge the murder of the Editor-in-Chief of the Turkish-Armenian
newspaper Agos, Hrant Dink, a proponent of human rights. Creating a
life-size work of art, the artists covered themselves in newspaper
and lay down in the street where Dink was shot to protest his death
and the controversy surrounding his newspaper’s coverage of Turkish
society’s views on the Armenian deaths in 1915 by Ottoman forces.

But to understand the recent interest in Turkish modern art, one must
first examine the country’s recent history.

The last military coup in Turkey was in 1980. The military, which
staunchly protects Turkey’s secular political system, employed violent
methods, such as threatening journalists and assassinating left-wing
intellectuals in order to maintain the secular system during the years
leading up to and following the 1980 coup. With no space to challenge
the status quo, Turkey’s modern art scene remained underground for
a long time.

Since the founding of the Republic, Turkish society has neither had
the opportunity nor the outlet to be openly critical of the military
state. The Republic continued the Ottoman programme of supporting art
primarily as a tool to reinforce national sentiment. This is evident
in the large number of commissioned portraits and statues of modern
Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

However, in part due to new policies related to Turkey’s EU bid and
greater global exposure through the Internet, the last decade has
seen the emergence of a society more open to dialogue and debate
about various social and political issues. Turkish society is now
more willing to confront its brutal past. Topics that were never
permitted to be discussed are now open for debate.

Here I see the greatest hope for the emergence of a more open Turkish
society, one that works towards a vibrant open future. And, thanks
to an environment more conducive to open dialogue, there now appears
a foundation for interesting Turkish modern art to flourish.

Global Arab Network

* Mark Van Yetter is an artist and Director of Marquise Dance Hall,
an independent art space in Istanbul. This article was written for
the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).

From: A. Papazian