Author: Andres-Papazian

SERGEY SMBATYAN VISITS ARTSAKH

ARMRADIO.AM
28.08.2012 15:39

On August 28 President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan
received director and conductor of the Armenian State Youth Orchestra
Sergey Smbatyan, Central Information Department of the Office of the
NKR President reported.

A number of issues related to the development of culture in Artsakh
were discussed during the meeting.

The President expressed his gratitude to Sergey Smbatyan for the
concert held in Stepanakert within the framework of festive events
dedicated to the 21st anniversary of the proclamation of Artsakh
Republic, noting that the concert was accepted by the audience with
great enthusiasm

President Bako Sahakyan emphasized the importance of such events for
the development of culture and within this context stressed the need
of close cooperation with the Armenian State Youth Orchestra.

From: A. Papazian

REPUBLICANS VICTORY IN U.S. MORE ADVANTAGEOUS FOR ARMENIA – EXPERT

PanARMENIAN.Net
August 28, 2012 – 15:35 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The victory of a candidate from the Republican
Party in the U.S. presidential elections would be more advantageous
for Armenia, than that of the current president, Barack Obama,
a political analyst said.

According to Stepan Grigoryan, the Republicans are more active in
the foreign policy than the Democrats, who prefer to concentrate on
domestic problems.

Grigoryan added that if Russia were the only actor in the South
Caucasus, the problem of Nagorno Karabakh could be settled in favor
of Azerbaijan. “The existence of several major actors such as Russia,
the U.S. and the European Union, will give Armenia an opportunity to
maneuver,” he said.

The expert also noted that the U.S. Armenian community tends to elect
Obama, who is “a wrong choice.”

From: A. Papazian

ROCKY AND THE ARMENIAN

London Review of Books

Aug 28 2012
UK

In the age of Bradley Manning and girls in Vegas with cameraphones,
it seems quaint that France should be getting its political gossip
from the literary invention of 1641, the roman a clef. Le Monarque, son
fils, son fief: Hauts-de-Seine – chronique d’un règlement des comptes
by Marie-Celie Guillaume has stayed on the non-fiction (nobody’s
fooled) bestseller lists since it was published earlier in the summer
and has sold thirty thousand copies in France. Not content with having
caught Sarkozy leering at the Israeli model Bar Rafaeli, complaining
to Obama about Netanyahu, getting pissed with Putin, stealing a pen
from Romania’s president and calling a group of journalists his ‘amis
pedophiles’, France wants to read about their ex-president accepting
blowjobs for subsidies, stabbing political allies in the back and
giving his son one of the most powerful positions in his old fiefdom.

The roman a clef came out of the literary salons of 17th-century
Paris. Madeleine de Scudery gained her introduction to the Marquise
de Rambouillet’s salon in 1641, where she met Corneille, La Fontaine
and Madame de Sevigne, and began work on a novel that would run to ten
volumes and more than two million words, Artamène or Cyrus the Great.

A fashionable heroic novel set in ancient Persia, it was also
understood to incorporate pen portraits of the salonniers under
different names; a key was printed so nobody could miss the fact that
‘Cyrus the Great’ was also Le Grand Conde. It came out in 1649 and
was reprinted in 1650, 1653, 1654 and 1656. From 1657, Scudery’s own
samedi on rue de Beauce brought visiting royalty such as Christina,
Queen of Sweden together with academicians, grammarians, Louis XIV’s
advisers, as well as other women of letters such as the king’s secret
second wife, Madame de Maintenon. Another novel, Clelie, or Clef-ly,
came out in 1654 and depicted Louis XIV, among others, in its story of
love lost and found in Tarquin’s Rome. It became the bestselling book
of the century. The pattern was set: romans a clefs should be written
by posh insiders with a democratic impulse to let the world see power
as it is really is; the settings and names, playful but transparent,
should have an air of antiquity. And they should be bestsellers.

Guillaume’s ‘livre assassine’ fits the pattern. She is the daughter
of a baron, niece of Chirac’s justice minister and a descendant
of Napoleon Bonaparte’s brother-in-law. She was chief of staff for
Patrick Devedjian, the depute for Hauts-de-Seine and an old ally of
Sarkozy’s. Hauts-de-Seine, the second richest department in France,
was where Sarkozy started his political career and where he built his
stronghold. Sarkozy hung on to posts as the departement’s president and
mayor of Neuilly while serving as finance and then interior minister
under Chirac.

The novel begins just after Sarkozy’s 2007 election win in the Vieux
Pays (France). Monarque or Rocky (Sarkozy) summons his old friend
L’Armenien (Devedjian) to the Château (the Elysee Palace) to inform
him that he can’t give him the Sceau regalien (the Garde des Sceaux,
the Keeper of the Seals a.k.a. the Justice Ministry) as promised,
because ‘I am not a party man – I’m the Monarch now, the nation’s man
. . . I want my government to be open, to show that I can bring people
together no matter their party.’ When Devedjian was given the post of
president of Hauts-de-Seine (la Principaute) in 2007, and the Justice
Ministry went to Rachida Dati (Belle-Amie) instead, he told the papers,
including Le Figaro (La Pravda), that he was ‘in favour of a government
open to a wide range of people – even Sarkozyists’. When she hears
the news, Baronne (Guillaume) is furious that her boss – ‘a coiner
of killer lines and a tireless swashbuckler’ – has been overlooked:
‘But she’s nothing but a little courtesan!’ Rocky, meanwhile, is
already on the phone to the Tsar (Putin) about their bear-hunting trip.

The courtesans, the royalty, the stilted wit: it all hints at the
pre-Revolutionary France that inspired the first romans a clefs. Like
those it is also an inquiry into contemporary political conduct:
Guillaume, ickily on the side of her swashbuckling boss, is asking
whether France wants a president who believes that principles ‘are
only for people who lack imagination’ or someone of the ‘old style,
who believes in friendship and keeping promises’.

When the book came out on 14 June, Guillaume still worked for Sarkozy’s
party, but the book’s success forced Devedjian, who for years had
resisted Sarkozy’s requests for her head, to fire her. He has said
that Le Monarque, son fils, son fief ‘is a woman’s book, describing
an environment created by reptilian-minded men with a great deal of
natural brutality’. And the best sort of environment for a novelist,
especially the sort who’s just writing down what you say.

Guillaume’s novel, as UMP party loyalists realised, is un eloge
a la normalite. But the roman a clef may not be entirely dead
under Hollande: there are at least three novels about Dominique
Strauss-Kahn and two books about Valerie Trierweiler coming out this
rentree litteraire.

From: A. Papazian

EVEN NOAH’S ARK IS EMPTY IN THIS DRAMATIC LAND
By Simon Duncan

Independent

Aug 28 2012
South Africa

Istanbul – “And there is Noah’s Ark.” Silence greeted the prophetic
scene. “I can’t see it,” I said eventually. More silence. But I knew
the rest of the tour group staring at the hillside, in the shadow of
Mount Ararat, couldn’t see it either. Our guide, Denis, outlined the
contours of the hill again trying to make us see a boat shape while
we willed him to succeed.

“You can see better on the photos,” he said, conceding defeat. We
ventured inside to a makeshift museum, a stale, round room looking over
the hillside and protected by a white-haired man who sat at a table,
smoking. The yellowing aerial photographs showed the outline of a boat,
but archaeologists continue to survey and argue the provenance. What
struck me even more was that here were the apparent remains of one
of the great stories of the Bible and we were the only visitors. It
had been a recurring theme of my trip.

Part of the allure of visiting this part of eastern Turkey, was that
10 years ago it would have been near impossible to do so. Much of the
area was heavily militarised, with relations tense along the border
with Armenia and Iran. Tourists were vetted and chaperoned. Now,
with only the presentation of passports at occasional checkpoints to
bother us, we had the freedom to move about. Nevertheless, this part
of the country has been slow, or unwilling, to cash in on the European
tourist market. Guests at the busy hotels we stayed in appeared to
be fairly local; Iranians on a weekend break or Turkish families on
a trip to the seaside.

>From our starting place, Lake Van, we spent a week travelling north
via minibus, running parallel with Turkey’s eastern border, winding
our way across extinct lava fields in which the black rock had churned
the vast green emptiness. The land is rich in minerals, and zinc has
turned the soil blood-red. We would stop for tea and to stretch our
legs on the plains and feast on endless watermelons.

On a hillside overlooking the town of Dogubeyazit, a few miles from the
Iranian border and Noah’s Ark, stood the proud 17th-century Ishak Pasha
Palace. The Sultan was apparently so pleased with this creation that he
had his architect’s hands cut off to prevent him designing another. We
were the only people there to appreciate the Ottoman architecture and
panoramic scenery. As we left, a tribe of schoolchildren appeared from
nowhere. “Hello! Hello!” they shouted, pleased with using their one
English word and giggling when we repeated it back. Their teachers
insisted on taking a photo as the children gathered around the exotic
strangers. When we drove away we were waved off like royalty.

Further north, we came to Ani, a grand, desolate city, at the
end of a nondescript road to the Armenian border. It had served
as an important stopping point on the original Silk Road and at
its height nearly 200,000 people lived here. Again we were alone,
walking within 20m-high sand-coloured walls that provided respite
from the sun. The once grand monuments were now forlorn buildings,
ruptured by earthquakes and neglect. No signs told us which route to
follow or what we could or couldn’t touch. Like unruly school kids
we traipsed through shops in the agora, clambered over toppled marble
pillars that once supported roofs of grand churches and investigated
a vast broken monastery while swifts darted above.

At the far end of the site an earthquake had shifted some buildings
on to Armenian territory. “You could be shot if you go there,” Denis
warned; a reminder of its recent past. We saw clearly the orange-topped
lookout posts on the other side of the hills and I couldn’t quite
shake the fanciful feeling that I was being watched through crosshairs.

On our final days Denis navigated us and our minivan across mountains
drenched in tea plantations and cloud, and over roads that were
still being built to connect east to west. Our last excursion late
one afternoon took us to the Greek Orthodox Sumela monastery, founded
in the fourth century and carved out of the cliffs.

According to Denis this was normally a busy tourist attraction,
but the snowmelt that poured across the approach road and down into
the valley had put off visitors. Inside the complex, mist and rain
rendered the scene ethereal, while the views across the valley were
wrapped in thick cloud. Two-hundred-year-old fresco s appeared almost
freshly painted in the torchlight of the chapel. As we set off back
down the precarious track in the dwindling light, I noticed that we
were, once again, the only visitors there.

From: A. Papazian

YOUNG EURASIA FORUM DECIDES ON EURASIAN INFORMATION LEAGUE

News of Belarus

Aug 28 2012

TSAGHKADZOR, 28 August (BelTA) – Journalists and public figures
partaking in the first Eurasian youth forum Young Eurasia in
Tsaghkadzor, Armenia, have decided on the development of the Eurasian
Information League, BelTA has learnt.

The goal of the new organization will be to establish ties between
mass media and civil organizations in the post-Soviet Union space,
said Andrei Smirnov, one of the organizers of the event, Vice President
of the Eurasian Cooperation Development Fund (Moscow).

He stressed that the new organization is open to cooperation with
mass media, reporters, representatives of civil associations showing
interest in advancing the Eurasian Union project. It will not be
limited by the former USSR borders.

According to Andrei Smirnov, an agreement has been reached to prepare
an information package for every former Soviet Union member state to
explain the advantages of joining the Eurasian Union.

The first Eurasian youth forum Young Eurasia is taking place in
Tsaghkadzor, Armenia, on 22-28 August. Its organizer is the Eurasian
Cooperation Development Fund (Moscow) under the aegis of the Prosperous
Armenia party and RIA Novosti news agency. Partaking in the forum
are delegations from CIS and Baltic states.

From: A. Papazian

WORLD CHESS OLYMPIAD-2012: ARMENIA DEFEATED BOLIVIA 3:1

NEWS.am
August 28, 2012

The Armenian men’s chess team defeated Bolivia’s team by 3:1 at
the 40th World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey. Armenia’s Sergey
Movsisyan was defeated by his opponent Oswaldo Zambrano. Movsisyan’s
mistake in the 46th move was fatal and the Armenian GM had to admit his
defeat in the 51st move. In another match between the Armenian player
Vladimir Hakobyan and Jose Daniel Gemi, the Armenian GM defeated his
opponent. It allowed the Armenian team to win the Bolivian team by
3:1 on overall score.

From: A. Papazian

DIASPORA MINISTER AND UNICEF REPRESENTATIVE DISCUSS PROBLEMS OF SYRIAN ARMENIANS

news.am
August 28, 2012 | 20:32

YEREVAN.- Armenia’s Diaspora Minister Hranush Hakobyan received on
Tuesday UNICEF Representative in Armenia Henriette Ahrens to discuss
situation over Syrian-Armenian children. The Minister assured the
issues related to Syrian-Armenians are supervised by the government
under the order of President Sargsyan. She spoke about the assistance
programs to the Syrian Armenians. In her turn, Henriette Ahrens
expressed UNICEF’s readiness to lend assistance to the programs,
especially those concerning the Syrian-Armenian children. The sides
discussed possible fields for cooperation, exchanged thoughts on
education, health and social problems the Syrian Armenians are faced
with. Henriette Ahrens said she would present the results of the
meeting to the UNICEF to draw up possible assistance programs.

From: A. Papazian

ISRAELI AMBASSADOR: “AZERBAIJAN IS STILL IN THE LIST OF THREAT WARNING FOR ISRAELI CITIZENS BECAUSE OF ITS NEIGHBORS AND GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION” – INTERVIEW

APA
Aug 27 2012
Azerbaijan

Mikhail Lotem: “My government is doing a lot trying to bring the
situation back to normal, using all possible tracks to Turkish
government to also realize that it is in mutual interest”

Baku. Victoria Dementieva – APA. Interview with Israeli Ambassador
to Azerbaijan Mikhail Lotem

– You are finishing your diplomatic mission in Azerbaijan. What
changes happened during your diplomatic activity in Azerbaijan and
ho do you estimate the development of bilateral cooperation between
the countries?

– I think many years, if compared what happened during my first year
and the last half-year of my staying here, I see a huge difference.

One thing did not change – it is continuous and solid basis, very close
and ‘intimate’ dialogue between Azerbaijan and Israel on all levels:
senior official level, political etc. It is the dialogue between the
people which understand each other and who see similar ways.

– Is the development of trade observed, particularly in the field of
information technologies?

– There was a growth and I can not indicate the figures but I see two
things- one is the number of companies The new companies goes beyond
traditional infrastructure, content We have a few ideas of Israeli
IT companies to produce here.

There is another model of thinking when I talk about new things-
Israeli are interested to buy a local factory and upgrade it. Major
companies want to come and see the market potential of the region.

These are the companies in light industry, telecommunication and
medicine.

– During his visit to Azerbaijan, Israeli agriculture minister spoke
about the plans of signing bilateral agreements in this field. What
phase is this issue in?

– This is one of the agreements that are pending. I am sure that in
near future there will be an opportunity to sign it.

– And what are the other pending agreements?

– We are also going to sign an agreement on exemption of visa for
diplomatic passport holders. And there are also some technical
agreements that will facilitate the business community.

– South Caucasus like a non-secure place for Israelis. Azerbaijan is
regularly included in the list of non-secure countries for Israeli
citizens. Earlier this year Azerbaijani security organizations have
prevented the terrorist attacks against the Israeli citizens. How
does it impact on the embassy’s activity and bilateral relations?

– Yes. Unfortunately, there is a long list of countries. You saw what
happened in the last half-year, the attack was in Tbilisi, in Delhi,
Bangkok, Bulgaria, in few places of Africa.

We (embassy) are working usually, Israelis are not scared.

– Is Azerbaijan still included in the list?

– It is still in the threat warning. And it is not something specific,
it is a general warning, because Israelis want to keep an open eye.

And this warning is not to Azerbaijanis, but is with your neighbors.

We should be careful when we mind about it.

-What experience you could get during your appointment in Azerbaijan?

– Azerbaijan is an amazing example to how different groups and
different religions – Muslims, Jews, Christians – it does not matter
what faith you are – are you a Sunni Muslim or Shia, it is not an
issue. I think that here in Azerbaijan it is the evidence whenever I
asked in the street, people should understand and we can see it here
in Azerbaijan, that faith is not an issue.

– Who is a new Israeli ambassador to Azerbaijan and when he will
arrive?

– Mr Rafi Arpaz. He has been a career diplomat. His last appointment
was in Washington, he served in Switzerland, South America and West
Africa. He is more than 20 years in his job. So that gives us only
encouragement because I am sure that he will follow this important
mission. He looks forward to come to Azerbaijan. And he plans to
arrive on August 29.

– Israel and Turkey are trying to reestablish the dialog following
the tensions occurred after the incident that happened in 2010 in
Mediterranean Sea. What can you say about it?

– Every junior student of diplomatic relations faculty if you give
them a map and the issues that are involved and what is happening with
the countries they will tell you that these two countries- Turkey
and Israel – should go together. There are so many good reasons,
starting with economics, history – good relations of Turks and Jews
for centuries, and up to strategic interests and threats. We are in
a situation there we are. I know that my government is doing a lot
trying to bring the situation back to normal, using all possible tracks
to Turkish government to also realize that it is in mutual interest.

– Israeli foreign minister said that they didn’t intend to recognize
so-called “Armenian genocide”? But this issue was discussed in Knesset
and according to press reports, Israel’s minister of propaganda to
lay the flowers at “genocide” monument during the visit to Armenia?

– The Government of Israel has a very clear line presented itself
outside and also inside by Knesset -Israeli parliament. And we don’t
think that such kind of an issue should be politicized. It is an
event that needs to be studied, searched and valued historically not
politically. The Knesset discusses the issue almost on daily basis.

That is all things of democracy. Elected members of parliament
raise any issue but at the end of the day even those who see things
historically different don’t want that their interpretation of the
history become a political issue, because very easily you can go in
wrong directions. There is one Holocost and I don’t want and I think
nobody else wants it would become a matter of voting in the parliament.

– There are a lot of versions in international press about the
possibility of Israel’s attack on Iran. The politicians are divided
into two fronts while discussing this issue and some of them support
the start of these operations soon. But Israeli president was against
the operations without US support. What is your opinion on that?

– It is certain that if Iran keeps on doing that it is doing now they
will get to a bomb and the international community will not allow
them to get the nuclear bomb. Everything on the road that confuses
the Iranians, I don’t regret it.

– This year Israeli tourists visited the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh
region of Azerbaijan. What is Israel’s official position?

– It is not a tendency, only one time event. Obviously when political
interpretation I can guarantee you that the people who go there do
not make any political point. The Land of Israel within 1967 borders
or beyond 1967 border is full of historical sight-seeing. And if you
go to a place you go there because of political statement or you go
have a rest. Israelis start coming more and more to Azerbaijan for
tourism and they took aside the Karabakh issue and they want only to
visit Azerbaijan and that is all.

Officially we have a statement on our official site that who choose
to go may face the situation when they cannot enter Azerbaijan.

From: A. Papazian

UzDaily (English), Uzbekistan
August 24, 2012 Friday 5:23 PM GMT

Head of New Nakhichevan and Russian Diocese of Armenian Apostolic
Church visits Uzbekistan

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com)

Head of New Nakhichevan and Russian Diocese of Armenian Apostolic
Church Bishop Ezras paid a visit to the Committee on Religious Affairs
under the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan on 23 August 2012.

The visit is aimed at familiarizing with religious situation in
Uzbekistan and flock of Armenian Church in Uzbekistan.

Chairperson of the Committee on Religious Affairs Ortiqbek Yusupov
briefed about religious life in Uzbekistan and conditions for
development of religions, as well as interreligious tolerance.

Bishop Ezras expressed gratitude to the leadership of the Committee on
Religious Affairs for warm receipt. He highly rated attention of
Uzbekistan to religion. He also briefed the Uzbek side on reforms in
Armenia.

From: A. Papazian

Increasing number of breast diseases in Armenia – doctor

tert.am
17:00 – 25.08.12

An increasing number of women have been detected on different types of
breast diseases in Armenia over the recent years, according to Gayane
Hovakimyan, a specialist at the US-Armenian Health Center.

Speaking to Tert.am, the doctor said that the higher rate is linked to
women’s more frequent visits to the Center.

`The more they turn [to doctors], the more problems are detected,’ she
said. `Women have become more literate and visit doctors without
waiting till the symptoms develop into a disease.’

According to the Center’s statistics, 4,238 women have undergone
tomography examinations since January, with 2,205 more having passed
an additional ultra-sound testing. The latest digital equipment was
used to examine some 2,447 of the patients.

Armenia is the only country on the post-Soviet territory to have
digital mammography equipment, the technology being available only in
51 cities across the world.

Doctors at the center recommend women who have reached a certain age
to apply for diagnostic checkups every six month or every year to
prevent or detect a developing disease at an early stage.

From: A. Papazian