Author: Babajanian Karo

FARHAD MAMMADOV: “THE WAR BETWEEN AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA MAY START AT ANY MOMENT”

APA, Azerbaijan
Dec 18 2012

Baku. Shamil Alibeyli – APA. “Absence of the third force between the
conflicting parties paves the way for the start of the war at any
moment”, said the head of the Center for Strategic Studies Farhad
Mammadov at the briefing, APA reports.

He said Azerbaijan is interested in signing the peace agreement
and conducting negotiations: “But Armenia is feignedly protracting
negotiations on the pretext of the upcoming presidential elections
in Armenia. Our country has not refused the war, because it is our
natural right. The war between Azerbaijan and Armenia may start at
any moment, because there is no physical barrier.”

The head of the Center for Strategic Studies said that Azerbaijan
doesn’t use upcoming presidential elections in 2013 as a pretext:
“Because Azerbaijani people and the government have a common approach
to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem.”

EXPERTS: U.S. SHOULD INTERVENE IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH PROCESS AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL

Trend
Dec 18 2012
Azerbaijan

For the progress towards a peace scenario in resolving the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the West and in particular the U.S. can play
a crucial role provided it intervenes in the settlement process at the
highest level, Senior Fellow at Johns Hopkins Centre for Transatlantic
Relations David A. Merkel said at an international conference organised
by the Jamestown Foundation in Washington on Monday.

A discussion on the role and influence of Azerbaijan in the region,
Europe and the world became the main theme of the conference, the
website of Voice of America reported.

“The Karabakh conflict is one of the areas where the policy of
‘reset’ can be effectively used by the Obama administration,” David
Merkel said.

The former U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza supported
Merkel’s position on the need for intervention at the highest
level, noting that participation in the solution of the region’s
“urgent problems” does not have to be carried out by the Democratic
administration. “This can also be done by Republican politicians,”
he said.

Bryza compared post-war Azerbaijan buying energy from Russia with
today’s rapidly developing country which has already become one of
the world’s largest oil and gas exporters.

“This is an incredible transformation in such a short time,”
Bryza said.

He noted that the United States has implemented extensive work in
this country, teaching the government democratic reforms and sharing
experiences in the fight against corruption. In the American diplomat’s
opinion, the country has not yet reached Western or European standards,
but is moving in the right direction.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France and the U.S. –
are currently holding peace negotiations.

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

TURKEY TO BEGIN SECOND RESTORATION OF HISTORICAL ARMENIAN CHURCH

Turkish Press
Dec 18 2012

The Armenian Akdamar Church, located on Akdamar Island on Lake Van, is
scheduled to be restored again as part of a project in line with
preservation programs which have been recently completed by the
Turkish government.

Turkey finished the restoration of the historical Armenian church of
Akdamar on Lake Van last year. A mass ceremony was also held at
Akdamar last fall, which was attended by thousands of Armenian
worshipers throughout the world and the Armenian community of Turkey
and led by Archbishop Aram Ateshian of the Armenian Patriarchate of
Turkey.

The second restoration project which is set to begin in April 2013 is
expected to take six months with a cost of approximately TL 1.2
million.

PROMOTING INJUSTICE

The Majalla Magazine
Dec 18 2012

blog: ANATOLIAN DISPATCHES
Turkey’s promotion policy raises eyebrows.

Terfi [ter-FIH], noun. promotion

It looked as though the Turkish government might be turning the corner,
putting aside its authoritarian instincts and breathing new life into
its European Union bid. First, parliament began debating a law that
would block promotion for judges whose rulings have been condemned by
the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Then, less than a fortnight
ago, on 5 December, deputies gathered to witness the swearing in of
the country’s first ever ombudsman, a post that is now a requirement
of European Union candidate countries.

But the great day was overshadowed by controversy over the identity
of the man parliament chose to do the job. It wasn’t so much the fact
that Mehmet Nihat Omeroglu– a former Supreme Appeals Court judge–felt
the need to specify on his CV that he neither drinks nor smokes.

Smoking is Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s pet hate and drinking,
well, drinking goes without saying. It wasn’t even the fact that the
prime minister was witness at his son’s wedding last year, nor that
his son, a manager at the publicly-owned Turkish Airlines, has been
rapidly promoted since tying the knot.

The cause of the controversy was the fact that Mr Omeroglu was
part of the Supreme Appeals Court committee that in 2006 found
the Armenian-Turkish journalist and editor Hrant Dink guilty of
“insulting Turkishness.” Dink had been prosecuted for a phrase
he wrote in a February 2004 article about the need to “replace the
poisonous blood associated with Turks with fresh blood associated with
Armenia.” It was clear from the most cursory reading that no insult to
“Turkishness” was intended. Dink was addressing the Armenian diaspora,
not Turks. “Move on”, he was saying. “The Turkish state will not budge
on the genocide. Concentrate on the future.” And that was what the
prosecutor to the Supreme Appeals Court told the judges in his advice:
“Let Dink go.” But the judgement took place against a backdrop of
nationalist hysteria, with ultra-nationalist crowds baying racist
slogans outside Dink’s offices in Istanbul, and prominent journalists
and civilian and military officials jollying along the lynch mob.

Twenty-three judges, one of them Mr Omeroglu, ignored the expert
reports and found Dink guilty. Dink took his case to the ECHR, which
condemned Turkey in 2010, but by then Dink was dead, murdered in broad
daylight by an 18-year old nationalist who had read about the case.

Faced with a barrage of criticism from Turkey’s severely depleted
opposition press since his appointment, Mr Omeroglu has remained as
cool as a cucumber. “We did a routine job on the file”, he told a
reporter from the Turkish daily Radikal. “I knew about Hrant Dink
from… the media, but I wasn’t even aware that the name on the
file was Hrant Dink. In fact, it wasn’t. It was written Fırat Dink
(a reference to a Turkified version of his name that Dink adopted in
the 1970s to avoid trouble with the authorities). We passed judgement
on the file according to our consciences.”

Ignoring the implications of the last sentence, the statement is simply
not credible, for all sorts of reasons. Dink is a very rare surname
in Turkey. Even if it was not, with ultra-nationalist mobs picketing
the courts where Dink arrived to give evidence, and prominent media
figures and civilian and military officials getting in on the action,
everybody in the country knew about the case against him.

Furthermore, as Dink’s former lawyer and the former Supreme Appeals
Court prosecutor (who was demoted to a position in the provinces,
by the way, not long after the Dink case) have both pointed out, the
files the Supreme Appeals Court judges received contained both names.

And then there is the fact that in a separate statement, Mr Omeroglu
assured reporters that he had read all eight sections of the long
article by Dink that ended in the phrase he was prosecuted for. Dink
always signed his articles Hrant, not Fırat.

But Mr Omeroglu’s most hostile words came after an opposition deputy
proposed taking the issue of his appointment to the European Court of
Human Rights. “This is an insult not to my person, but to the Turkish
state and government,” he said. “What sort of a deputy is this? This
attempt to blacken the name of the Turkish state in this fashion is
deeply upsetting. Don’t tar our state with this sort of complaint.

This would be to incriminate not me personally but the state itself. I
am nothing but an employee of the Turkish state, working honorably,
carrying out what the laws require.” Five mentions of the state
in six sentences: not bad from a man charged with representing the
public interest.

Nicholas Birch Nicholas Birch lived in Istanbul, Turkey, from 2002 to
2009, working as a freelancer. His work – mainly from Turkey and Iraq
– appeared in a range of publications, including the Washington Post,
Time Magazine, The Guardian and the Times Literary Supplement. Birch
was a stringer for the Wall Street Journal and The London Times until
the end of 2009. He now lives in London.

RUSSIAN CONTEST CELEBRITY CLAIMS HIS ARMENIAN SONGS CALL OF BLOOD

DECEMBER 18, 22:35

The voice of Edward Khachatryan attracts from the first seconds,
making a trip into the unknown and distant world of music. His name
was unknown till the selective round for the “Voice” project in
Russia. NEWS.am STYLE took an interview from the singer.

Armenian audience knows almost nothing about you, where do you
come from?

My roots go back to Western Armenia, from where as a result of the
Armenian Genocide in 1915 they spread and arrived in Akhaltskha,
Batumi, and Sochi, where I was born.

When did you start your career?

I dealt with music at a very young age with my brother Hakop, who is
a celebrity musician by the way. Since 1996, I have participated in
lots of contests and I have lots of rewards.

Have you ever been to Armenia?

Unfortunately I have only been once during my childhood, but I hope
to visit one day my historic homeland in the near future.

Do you speak Armenian?

It is difficult to speak but I understand well. Anyway I do have
Armenian songs in my repertoire, which are likely to be ‘call of
blood.’

In addition I prefer clever and wise, as well as beautiful and feminine
girls, regardless their nationality.

By Marina Adulyan

LA PORTA GIVES TALK ON MEDIEVAL ARMENIAN IDENTITY AT COLUMBIA

Posted by Taleen Babayan on December 18, 2012

NEW YORK~WOn Fri., Nov. 30, Dr. Sergio La Porta delivered an engaging
and insightful lecture about Armenian identity in the Middle Ages.

Hosted by the Armenian Center at Columbia University, the lecture,
titled ~SNetworks of Knowledge: Communication and Identity in 12th-14th
century Armenia,~T took place at the university~Rs distinguished
Faculty House.

Members of the Armenian Center Board during Dr. La Porta~Rs lecture
(Photo by Robert V. Kinoian)

Warmly welcoming La Porta back to his alma mater, Mark Momjian,
the chair of the Armenian Center Board at Columbia, highlighted his
achievements in Middle Eastern studies, including an undergraduate
degree from Columbia College, a Ph.D. from Harvard University in
Near Eastern languages and civilizations, as well as his subsequent
research and teaching positions. A specialist in medieval Armenia,
La Porta is currently the Haig and Isabel Berberian Professor of
Armenian Studies at California State University, Fresno.

~SThe students at Fresno State consistently rank Dr. La Porta as among
their favorite professors,~T said Momjian in his introductory remarks.

~SThey love the enthusiasm he brings to his lectures and the way he
engages class discussion.~T

Providing a historical backdrop of Armenia during the 12th-14th
centuries, La Porta touched upon Armenian dispersion and political
fragmentation in the region at the time. Because of Armenian
emigration, other groups began entering the area, resulting in
cultural integration among Armenians and the neighboring Georgians,
Turks, and Kurds.

While they were not the dominant culture in the region, La Porta
pointed out that Armenians were able to both adapt to their changed
environment and create a sense of community to keep the nation
together during a time of cultural hybridity. In reaction to this
hybridity, ~Sborders of barriers~T were created that emphasized
differences between these groups in relation to racial, economic,
religious, and dietary restrictions. ~SBy denigrating the other,
we get a clear distinction between who ~Qwe~R are and who ~Qthey~R
are,~T he explained.

Trade routes, the development of a cultic community, and the formation
of a textual community were integral to Armenian cohesion at the time.

The trade routes that passed through Armenia~Wincluding the
Mediterranean transit route, the Mongol silk route, and the Levantine
route~Wallowed the sharing of ideas across Armenia and helped
Armenians to create contact with the scholars, pilgrims, merchants,
and soldiers who traveled these routes. They also helped bolster the
Armenian economy.

~SIn the 13th century we witness increased economic prosperity,~T he
said. ~SHow come, at a time when there~Rs political fragmentation and
destruction, the economic situation doesn~Rt seem to be as negatively
affected? Part of the reason is you have all this capital moving
through Armenia, which is advantageous for the cities, especially in
eastern Armenia.~T

Armenia~Rs monastic centers also served as a bridge among the people.

During the 12th-13th centuries, Cilicia was the center of Armenian
intellectual activity, as it housed monastic centers and created
an intellectual group. ~SArmenians traditionally were not in urban
cities,~T said La Porta. ~SThey preferred hunting and feasting and
fighting in the beautiful countryside that is Armenia, and that is
where most of their monasteries were set up. These centers served as
important centers of cultural interaction and definition.~T

Scholars from Greater Armenia traveled to Cilicia to enhance their
education. ~SThese schools become primary centers of education for the
cultural and religious elite of Armenia,~T he said, noting that there
wasn~Rt a great degree of centralization among Armenians, and that
each monastery had its own traditions and rules. ~SA trans-regional
connection and a core curriculum were developed based on books,
sacred spaces, and certain texts, such as the Cappadocian Fathers,
Philo, and Aristotle.~T

The development of a cultic community also helped form connections,
especially the idea of pilgrimage sites, in particular Jerusalem.

~SPilgrimage sites served as points of communication and exchange,~T
he said. ~SYou have Armenians from all over converging on these
holy sites.~T

Although Armenians were able to maintain a sense of community
under difficult circumstances, La Porta pointed out that there were
challenges threatening this unity, in particular from missionaries
during the Middle Ages who traveled the trade routes near Armenia.

Franciscans and Dominicans friars converted tens of thousands of
Armenians to Roman Catholicism during this time, and while Armenians
kept their language, those who converted were in communion with
Rome and recognized the supremacy of the Pope. In response to these
attempts at conversion, the Armenian Apostolic Church fought against
the Latinization of the Armenian Church, and knew that a textual
community was, according to Dr. La Porta, ~Sessential for the success
of this response.~T

Concluding his compelling presentation, La Porta said there was ~Sa
new definition of Armenian communal identity through the creation of
shared communal and sacral boundaries and of an intellectual elite
built around a common textual corpus.~T There was a significance beyond
this period, and the cultural boundary markers that distinguished
Armenians from those around them, including religion and language, were
essential to the construction of an Armenian ~Snational identity~T in
the 18th-19th centuries. ~SThere are still ways Armenians are able to
connect to other Armenians even though they don~Rt live in one place,~T
said La Porta. ~SIt makes it capable for us to speak of an Armenian
community that extends from Glendale, Calif., to Yerevan, Armenia.~T

The evening concluded with a question and answer session followed
by a gift presentation~Wthat of a rare book on Armenian illuminated
manuscripts by Frederic Macler, a pioneer in the field of Armenian
Studies, to La Porta as a show of gratitude from the Armenian Board
at Columbia University. A reception gave guests the opportunity to
ask La Porta further questions about his research and Armenian history.

~SComing back to Columbia was a moving experience for me,~T he
said. ~SMy undergraduate experience has been essential for my continued
studies and research. To come back as a professor and speak to former
and current students was absolutely wonderful and brought back many
fond memories.~T

The Armenian Board at Columbia University was equally pleased at having
a prolific figure speak about Armenian identity and history on campus.

~SDr. La Porta~Rs lecture on the extensive trade and cultural
exchanges involving Armenians in the Middle Ages was a tour de
force,~T said Momjian. ~SDr. La Porta is a rising star in the field
of Armenian studies, and everyone privileged to hear his captivating
talk at Faculty House left asking when he was going to come speak at
Columbia again.~T

Echoing Momjian~Rs sentiments, Dr. Nicole Vartanian, the vice-chair
of the Armenian Center Board, said the lecture ~Sdemonstrated his
breadth and depth as a scholar and educator.~T

~SHis presentation was simultaneously ambitious yet accessible, and
the audience response was effusive. It was a great source of joy for
the Armenian Center to have hosted a room full of engaged attendees,
a range of Armenian and non-Armenian students, alumni, board members,
and community members.~T

Students, including Maxwell Rowles and John Doyle-Raso, who are both
candidates in the dual master~Rs degree program in international
and world history at Columbia University and the London School of
Economics, were also impressed with the evening~Rs presentation.

~SDr. La Porta~Rs lecture provided profound insights into Armenian
history and identity from the 12th-14th century,~T said Rowles. ~SI
particularly appreciated the precision of his approach and the ways
in which he made ~Qold~R history fun, new, and interesting. Economics,
language, politics, race, and religion were all remade and transformed
in Armenia during these years, and I am very grateful to Professor
La Porta for exposing this past to me.~T

~SI was impressed by Dr. La Porta~Rs enthusiasm and ability to
communicate a large amount of information so clearly,~T said
Doyle-Raso. ~SHis expertise is obviously far-reaching; I asked a
question that was outside the scope of the presentation, and he was
able to provide an interesting answer. I hope he will be back to
present again.~T

Upcoming activity for the Armenian Center at Columbia University
includes a course titled ~SMemories: The Armenian Genocide,~T planned
for the spring in Columbia~Rs Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian
and African studies (MESAAS), which will be taught by Board member Dr.

Armen Masroobian, chair of the Philosophy department at Southern
Connecticut State University.

TURKISH ANADOLU CALLED ARMENIAN ARA GULER “LIVING LEGEND OF PHOTOGRAPHY”

17:41, 18 December, 2012

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS: Outstanding Armenian photographer
living in Turkey Ara Guler participated in the contest of best
selection of photo of Turkish Anadolu news agency. As reports
Armenpress, in the article baout the contest Turkish Anadolu agency
called Armenian photographer “the living legend of photography”. From
the 36 photos presented in the contest Gyuler voted for the photo
with 3 Muslim children praying. He also highly evaluated another photo
representing a scene of Muslims’ life, as well as the photo of plane
landing the corps of the dead soldiers.

Another photo from that list was the legendary one where Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was taking photo of the best
photographer of the century Ara Gyuler.

Turkish and international events, human tragedies and developments
have been presented in 36 photos of the contest.

ROSTELECOM VICE-PRESIDENT DEEMS ENTERING NKR MARKET POSSIBLE

December 18, 2012 – 17:00 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Rostelecom OJSC leading Russian telephony provider
deems launching operations in Nagorno Karabakh possible in the future.

“Though we have no plans regarding Artsakh yet, we don’t rule out
entering Karabakh market in the future,” the company’s vice president
Naum Marder told a press conference Dec 18.

GNC Alfa CJSC, affiliate company of Rostelecom OJSC, launched
operations in Armenia in December 2012. The first service point opened
in Armenian city of Abovyan, with the service portfolio comprising
fixed telephony, broadband Internet services and ITV catch-up to be
provided for private subscribers.

Mr. Marder further noted, “There are also political issues, besides
the technical ones. It’s a common occurrence for operators to reconcile
countries.”

FRENCH MOVIE LEGEND ALAIN DELON VISITS GENOCIDE MEMORIAL

December 18, 2012 – 16:37 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – World famous French actor Alain Delon visited the
Armenian Genocide memorial complex today, Dec 18.

The actor arrived in Yerevan Dec 17 to attend the premiere of “Happy
New Year! Moms!” film, produced by Ghevond Andreasyan, Georgy Malkov
and Valeriy Saaryan.

The movie features stories by 5 different directors – Sarik Andreasyan,
Dmitriy Gracheva, Artyom Maximenko, Anton Bormatov and Klim Poplavsky.

The romantic comedy, set in Russia and France, centers on love for
mothers, with the main character seeking to fulfill her mother’s dream
by arranging a meeting with Alain Delon. The film budget totals USD
6 mln.

The film premiere is due today, Dec 18, in Yerevan’s Moscow cinema
house.

DISAGREEMENT OVER CANDIDATE WITHIN ARFD

Tuesday,
December 18

“Irates De Facto” wrote under the heading “They say…”: Depending on
the decision of Armenian National Congress (HAK), it is not ruled out
that ARFD will struggle for second honorary place. There is, however,
a disagreement within ARFD over the person of the candidate. Vahan
Hovhannisian is a suitable candidate, he has charisma, but the “Serzh
Sargsyan” wing of the ARFD does not like him, besides, he has already
been nominated once.

Armen Rustamian has no charisma, is not a great orator, and Serzh
Sargsyan likes Hrant Margarian more than Rustamian. So his candidacy
is in question. Hrant Margarian has no desire to try on “a candidate’s
uniform” because he feels fine without it. The issue is under
discussion, and it is not ruled out that rank-and-file members will
impose their decision-candidate on ARFD”.

TODAY, 13:46

Aysor.am