Author: Babajanian Karo

Mid Columbia Tri City Herald
Sept 3 2014

Akin’s ‘The Cut’ puts Armenian massacre on screen

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

VENICE, Italy — Fatih Akin’s “The Cut” is the first movie by a
director with Turkish roots to tackle an issue long taboo in the
country: the early 20th-century mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks.

The movie caused a stir in Turkey even before its Venice Film Festival
premiere, bringing the German-Turkish director criticism and threats.
But Akin insists he’s not a pioneer, or a provocateur. He’s simply
trying to bring the topic into the open.

“There (was) a trauma 100 years ago and — you know this from
individual analysis — if you don’t confront yourself with the trauma
you will never get cured,” the director said during an interview in
Venice, where “The Cut” is one of 20 films competing for the Golden
Lion prize.

“I think what counts for an individual counts also for society.”

Historians estimate that as many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed
by Ottoman Turks in 1915, an event widely viewed by scholars as the
first 20th-century genocide. Turkey denies that the deaths constituted
genocide, saying the toll has been inflated, and that people died on
both sides as the Ottoman Empire disintegrated during World War I.

The killings remain an inflammatory issue for Turkish nationalists.
Akin and an Armenian-Turkish newspaper received harassment and threats
after he gave an interview recently about the movie.

But Akin said Turkey has begun to debate the issue more openly.
Earlier this year, then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the
country was ready to “confront” the ethnic slayings, though he didn’t
use the word genocide.

“There is a process of analyzing this trauma in Turkey, and I am part
of the process,” Akin said.

“The Cut” confronts the story through the tale of an Armenian
blacksmith — the Biblically named Nazaret, played by “A Prophet” star
Tahar Rahim — who is torn from his family amid the killing and spends
years searching around the world for his daughters.

Criticism of the film in Venice has been more artistic than political.

In the screenplay by Akin and Armenian-American scriptwriter Mardik
Martin (who co-wrote Martin Scorsese’s “Raging Bull”), the Armenian
characters speak in English and the others in their own languages.
Some reviewers found that gave the film a stilted air.

And some felt Rahim’s performance was hampered by the decision to have
Nazaret rendered mute by a knife to the throat early on.

Akin was stung by the negative reviews, but said the most important
audiences for the film will be Turks and Armenians.

Shot on 35-millimeter film stock, rather than digitally, and using
widescreen Cinemascope lenses, it takes visual cues from the likes of
Sergio Leone and Terrence Malik, offering stunning panoramas as the
lonely figure of Nazaret travels from Turkey to Syria, Cuba, Minnesota
and North Dakota.

“When I was reading and analyzing about the genocide, I discovered
quite early that the genocide is not just about killing,” he said.
“It’s also about the diaspora, the spread of the Armenian folk all
over the world.”

“All my films are about migration,” said Akin, who was born in Hamburg
in 1973 to Turkish parents.

Akin has called “The Cut” the final chapter in a trilogy he’s named
“Love, Death and the Devil.” The two earlier instalments, “Head-On”
and “The Edge of Heaven,” both dealt with tangled identities and moved
between Germany and Turkey.

The director said all three films explored his relationship with his
ancestral land. Now he’s ready for a change.

“I am done with Turks,” he said. “I want to work with blonde people
called Hans, eating sausages.”

Follow Jill Lawless at

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Sept 3 2014

Armenian nuclear plant exploitation discussed in Yerevan

3 September 2014 – 3:28pm

Yerevan has started the fourth technical summit on security of the
Armenian nuclear power plant. Officials of the IAEA, U.S., AOSA,
Russia and the Czech Republic are attending the meeting. It will
continue until September 4. Armenian Minister for Energy and Natural
Resources Yervand Zakharyan emphasized the importance of the meeting
and expressed hope that the IAEA would support exploitation of the
power plant until 2026, Armenia Today reports.

The minister reminded that the decision to extend the lifespan of the
energy block by 10 years had been made in 2013, when the inability to
pay for the construction of a new energy block had become obvious.
Zakharyan added that a deal has been signed with Russia’s Rosatom to
realize the initiative.

Miroslav Lipar of the IAEA expressed amazement at the number of
attendees at the forum and emphasized that modernization of the
Armenian nuclear power plant would require big finances and the
assistance of IAEA member-states.

France to cause long-term damage to relations with Russia if refuses
to deliver Mistral

World
September 04, 21:52 UTC+4
France’s decision to suspend the delivery of the first out of two
Mistral ships to Russia has dealt a blow to the French-Russian
relations, the Franco-Russian Dialogue Association warns
(c) AP Photo/David Vincent/Archive

Mistral contract not suspended — French president

PARIS, September 04. /ITAR-TASS/. France would seriously damage its
relations with Moscow if it decides to cancel the delivery of Mistral
class helicopter carriers to Russia, the influential Franco-Russian
Dialogue Association comprising politicians and businessmen, warned on
Thursday.

France’s decision to suspend the delivery of the first out of two
Mistral ships to Russia has dealt a blow to the French-Russian
relations at a time when Russia is showing concrete efforts to reach
political and humanitarian deescalation in Ukraine, the Franco-Russian
Dialogue said.

A decision to cancel all supplies to Russia would cause a long-term
fracture in reciprocal ties which have seen active and dynamic
cooperation in areas like aviation, space, defense and high
technologies.

“Politically, it will mean that France will lose its privileged
status, which it has always had in recent years, in maintaining a
dialogue with Russia,” an association’s members warned.

Paris will have to pay an economic, social and financial price if it
decides to annul the Mistral contract with Russia. French businessmen
believe that even this temporary suspension has already undermined
Russia’s trust in France and its ability to meet international
contractual obligations. The Franco-Russian Dialogue said that France
should return to a realistic view of things and not to sacrifice
business ties to those who are going to benefit from the two
countries’ mutual estrangement.

French society split over anti-Russian sanctions — lawmaker

The Franco-Russian Dialogue headquartered in Paris was founded in 2004
under the patronage of Russian President Vladimir Putin and French
President Jacques Chirac. For the moment, it is being co-chaired by
the former French transport minister, Thierry Mariani, and Russian
Railways President Vladimir Yakunin. The association’s aim is to
strengthen strategic relations and privileged partnership between
Russia and France and develop an effective formal dialogue among
businessmen and civil societies.

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Sept 4 2014

Divorce rate increased by 35% in 2014

4 September 2014 – 6:53pm

2468 divorces took place in Armenia during the first 6 months of
2014, exceeding the 2013 data by 35% (646 cases). For this reason,
Armenia’s Ministry of Justice has asked the government to allocate an
additional 1.1 million drams ($2.7 million), so that additional
divorce certificates can be printed.

EIN News (press release), EU
Sept 4 2014

Europe and Eurasia: Secretary Kerry’s Trilateral Meeting With
Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Wales

Today Secretary Kerry met with President of Armenia Serzh Sargsian and
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev at the NATO Summit in Newport,
Wales to discuss efforts to resolve the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.
He expressed his strong concern for the recent violence along the Line
of Contact, marking the deadliest period in the conflict since the
1994 ceasefire took effect. The United States believes that the
cessation of hostilities and the normalization of relations between
Armenia and Azerbaijan will bring peace and prosperity to the peoples
of both countries, and will contribute to stability in the South
Caucasus. With these goals in mind, Secretary Kerry urged the
Presidents to strictly respect the ceasefire and take additional steps
to prepare their publics for peace.

Secretary Kerry encouraged the Presidents to work with the OSCE Minsk
Group Co-Chairs, who are committed to helping the sides reach a
peaceful and lasting settlement. He also applauded the Presidents for
agreeing to continue their dialogue on key elements of a settlement.
He called on the sides to enter into a more formal negotiation process
under the auspices of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs as proposed by the
Swiss Chairman-in-Office at the OSCE. A sustained process is necessary
to increase trust between the sides and build momentum towards a
lasting peace that the people of the region deserve.

Rasmussen and Cameron greet Armenia president

16:00, 04.09.2014

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and UK Prime Minister
David Cameron greeted Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan ahead of the
first meeting of NATO summit.

Serzh Sargsyan will participate in the meeting of the heads of state
and government from NATO and ISAF partner nations that is about to
start.

The Allied Heads of State and Government will meet with 27 partner
countries including ISAF contributors, among them Armenia.

As reported earlier, Armenian president is expected to deliver a speech.

Photo from UK Embassy Facebook

Erdogan removes his country from regional processes, Armenian
presidential spokesman

YEREVAN, September 4. / ARKA /. By saying during a visit to Baku that
Turkish-Armenian relations would not be normalized until a resolution
to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that would be beneficial for
Azerbaijan Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has in fact removed
his country from regional processes, Arman Saghatelyan, a spokesman
for Armenian president, said in his Twitter page.

Calling Turkey and Azerbaijan “two nations from one stem” Erdogan said
in Baku that Azerbaijan’s rights should be taken into consideration
when discussing a resolution to the Karabakh conflict. He reassured
Aliyev that “if the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia is
resolved, then the problems between Turkey and Armenia will also be
solved.”

Late last month Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan invited Turkish
president to take part in the commemoration of the 100th anniversary
of the 1915 Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Empire. The invitation
was handed by Armenian foreign minister Edward Nalbandyan who attended
Erdogan’s inauguration ceremony in Ankara.

“During the reception given after the ceremony in the honor of the
heads of delegations, minister Nalbandyan had a short conversation
with president Erdogan and handed him over the official invitation of
the president of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan to attend the Remembrance
Ceremony, dedicated to the victims of the Armenian Genocide that will
take place in Yerevan on April 24, 2015,” the Armenian foreign
ministry said in a statement.

In total, over 1.5 million Armenians were killed in Turkey during the
World War I. Turkey, the successor state of the Ottoman Empire,
refuses to recognize the Armenian Genocide. No diplomatic relations
exist between Turkey and Armenia, and the Turkish-Armenian border has
been closed since 1993.

Relations between the two countries deteriorated following the
escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as Turkey openly supports
Azerbaijan’s position in the dispute. In 2008, the Armenian president
initiated the process of establishing diplomatic relations between the
two countries.

In 2009, the “Protocol on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations
between the Republic of Turkey and the Republic of Armenia” was signed
by Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers in the Swiss city of Zurich.

The same year, Erdogan froze the agreement and made it clear that
Ankara would not establish diplomatic relations with Yerevan and open
its borders until the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict -0-

Georgian TPP to be built in Vanadzor will not affect
Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish relations

September 3 2014

On August 21-22, Georgia’s Prime Minister, Irakli Garibashvili, was on
an official visit to Armenia (in the photo, from the left). After the
visit, it became clear that an agreement was signed on building a
thermal power plant in Vanadzor. TPP will be built by Georgian Anaklia
IEP Holding. As reported by the Armenian community website in Georgia,
the owner of this company, Teimuraz Karchava, at the press conference
on August 26, in Tbilisi, has said, “During the construction and after
operation of the TPP, the Armenian Government exempts the Georgian
company from paying taxes for five years. Moreover, the whole
electricity consumed for the construction of plant will be exported to
Georgia.” To the question of Georgian journalists “why this plant is
being built in Armenia and not in Georgia,” Teimuraz Karchava
responded as follows, “For implementing construction in Anaklia
seaport and other projects, we need 400 megawatts of electricity.
Today, the Georgian energy system does not have this amount of free
electricity. It requires 18 months for the operation of the Armenian
TPP, whereas it requires 8 years for the construction and operation of
a hydropower plant in Georgia. Building a hydro power station in
Armenia, 18 months later, we would already have the required
electricity for us.” It is written in Georgia’s Armenian community
website, “Building a Georgian TPP in the territory of Armenia has
become an active topic of discussion for the Georgian media, and it is
impossible not to comment on the question of “Newpost” daily addressed
to the reader, “whether the construction of the hydro-power plant to
be built in Armenia would not generate tension in relations between
Georgia and Azerbaijan.” Surely, it would. In the event of
implementation of the anti-Azerbaijani project by Georgia, Azerbaijan
will have to introduce a whole series of sanctions against Georgia.
The transfer of oil and gas Turkey through Georgia will be terminated.
The construction of a railway connecting Azerbaijan and Turkey will be
terminated. Azerbaijan will close the border with Georgia and thus the
country will appear is a strict blockade. The entire Azerbaijani small
and large capital and businesses bringing hundreds of millions of
dollars revenue per annum to Azerbaijani treasury will be withdrawn
from Georgia. In the face of introduced sanctions against Georgia by
Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan and Turkey will find a new, alternative way to
carry out so vital for them mutual communication.” With regard to
these pessimistic and sarcastic remarks, “Aravot” asked the Regional
Research Center researcher, also analyst, Johnny Melikyan, whether
escalation of the Armenian-Georgian economic relations could truly
become an opportunity for counteractions in Azerbaijan, and whether
generated from the fear of this counteractions, the planned and
current Armenian-Georgian projects may fail or be terminated.
According to the analyst, “After the change of power in 2012, a
positive move in Armenian-Georgian relations has been observed. This
trend is directly related to Bidzina Ivanishvili’s giving a new
impetus to Georgian-Russian relations and starting a dialogue.
Georgia’s leadership views the relations with neighboring countries,
purely from the prospect of national interests of the state. Hence,
understanding how Georgian economy is dependent from Turkish and
Azerbaijani investments, trade and energy cooperation, the Georgian
government is trying to balance these relations with strengthening
Russian-Georgian and Armenian-Georgian relations. In this event, on
one hand, participating in Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish tripartite
partnership format, the bases of which were still laid in
Saakashvili’s presidency, in 2012, by the foreign ministers of the
three countries in Trabzon, Georgia at the same time is trying to
deepen economic relations with Russia and Armenia, especially in the
last 8 months. With regard to the construction of TPP in Vanadzor by
Georgian Anaklia IEP Holding and 600 million US dollar investment,
then I must say that despite the fact that Georgia receives natural
gas from Azerbaijan, and in the end a decision has been made to
implement the project in Armenia thanks to the gas and labor force
provided by Armenia, which shows the development of good neighborly
relations between Georgia and Armenia. Talking about the development
of relations and its impact on Georgian-Azerbaijani or
Georgian-Turkish relations, I must say that despite the fact that our
neighbors would be jealous to it, however, it will not leave any
impact both on the Armenian-Georgian relations, nor there will be a
review or termination of Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish projects: the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline,
Baku-Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki-Kars railway. Even our neighboring countries
declare that deepening of relations is expected in
Georgian-Azeri-Turkish trilateral partnership format, including
military partnership. But, eventually, no matter the Georgian
relations be with the neighbors, they will be within the national
interests: economic development and the status of a transit country
work for the benefit of this country.”

Melania BARSEGHYAN
Read more at:

Rosneft didn’t make offers over Nairit

Thursday 4 September 2014 11:42
Photo:

Yerevan /Mediamax/. A new package of proposals on the situation around
Nairit Plant will be submitted till September 15.

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Armenia Yervand Zakharyan
said this to employees of Nairit Plant who were holding a protest in
front of the Armenian government building today.

He said that they didn’t receive any offer from Russian Rosneft and
they shouldn’t have had hopes only with that company. Yervand
Zakharyan promised that the Nairit employees will get salaries for a
month within upcoming days.

Nairit Plant hasn’t paid salaries to its employees for 18 months.

After meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in Sochi on
February 24, 2014, former Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said
that Rosneft was going to invest around $ 500mln in Armenia.

”We listened to Rosneft President Igor Sechin’s report on the work
done and their plans. They are going to implement a program of around
USD500mln investments in Armenia. Within coming week, we will
thoroughly discuss what conditions we should create for the
investments to be carried out in short period of time. The program
concerns Nairit Plant as the newly built plant will mostly employ
Nairit workers in the first place”, Tigran Sargsyan said then.

KARABAGH
Le Président arménien dit que la décision du peuple de l’Artsakh est
irréversible

Le choix historique du peuple de l’Artsakh (Haut-Karabakh) est
maintenant une réalité irréversible a déclaré le président arménien
Serge Sarkissian dans un discours le 2 Septembre à l’occasion de la
Journée de l’Indépendance de la République du Haut-Karabagh.

> a continué le leader arménien.

>.

jeudi 4 septembre 2014,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com