Author: Babajanian Karo

DIALOGUE OR MONOLOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS? (RATIONAL PARADIGMS AND IRRATIONAL CHALLENGES)

Published on November 20, 2012 Written by WPF Dialogue of Civilizations

Davit Mosinyan Davit Mosinyan A Paper by Davit Mosinyan, Associate
Professor, Armenian State University of Economics, delivered at the
10th Rhodes Forum

Peace and safety have become the most important normative criteria
for life in the contemporary world. If one tries to mention some
universal human values, probably, first of all, he would remember
these two. After the Cold War mankind has concentrated large portions
of intellectual potential and practical efforts for realizations of
these two values. As a result, some terms, including “dialogue”,
have become buzzwords. By the way, taking into consideration the
social-historical fact that the times of the dialogue between two kings
or two leaders have already passed, in geopolitical sense nowadays
“dialogue” is interpreted as “dialogue of civilizations”. Despite the
way how understand the term “civilization” (though in case of the
dialogue of civilizations it seems the huntingtonean understanding
is supposed), a question arises: when can one assert that dialogue
has already taken place?

>From the falsificationist point of view (i.e. when our goal is the
dialogue, and the clash of civilizations is in the focus of attention)
technical productivity of research may be increase: for instance,
one can argue that the wars in Iraq, Kosovo, the Armenian-Azerbaijani
war are not dialogues, correspondingly, between the USA and Iraq,
Serbia and Albania, Armenia and Azerbaijan. For the problems,
concerning the dialogue among civilizations, are not puzzles,
which need rational solutions: they are rather questions connected
closely with the destiny of humankind. Meanwhile much more effort is
necessary to adopt the verificationist point of view, because here
one is obliged to answer at least the following two questions: 1)
How to distinguish the dialogue from its imitations? 2) What does
constitute the normative basis for the dialogue of civilizations?

Professor Hans Kochler has in detail presented necessary
conditions and principles of dialogue: equality of civilisational
(cultural) ‘lifeworlds’, awareness of the ‘dialectics of cultural
self-comprehension’, acknowledgement of meta-norms of dialogue,
ability to transcend the hermeneutical circle of civilisational
self-affirmation, etc. . But there is one more significant aspect
of the issue: how to distinguish the dialogue from a complex
of monologues (from a dualogue)? The first main indication of an
established dialogue is the understanding, which, by the way, being
an existential property, each time manifests itself differently. The
civilization always carries some definite sense. By the way, some
finiteness, a definite level of organization is peculiar civilization
(though, indeed, the development of civilization is possible). From
this point of view, each civilization is a verbalization of a certain
sense. It means that the civilization in its unalloyed state is an
original monologue, which may meet another monologue-civilization. In
fact, if the dialogue is realized, then the sense of the one side
is distorted and stops to exist in its previous form. For instance,
as Huntington notes, the modernization (which is the same thing as
westernization in this case) in Turkey since Mustafa Kemal is an
example of the dialogue with Europe, as a result of which Turkey
stopped to exist in its previous condition. By the way, Orhan Pamuk
has criticized the authorities of that state for such a strategy.

This criticism impels to remember an old anti-socialist joke, as
Wallerstein illustrates:

Orator: Comes the revolution, everyone will eat strawberries and cream.

Worker in audience: But I don’t like strawberries and cream.

Orator: Comes the revolution, you will have to like strawberries
and cream.

Of course, it doesn’t mean a rejection of the idea of dialogue.

Nowadays we have no other way for co-existence besides the dialogue.

But we should take into account the mechanisms of organization of
the dialogue.

According to Habermas, “the issue is no longer whether ‘justice among
nations’ is possible at all, but whether law is the right medium for
realizing that kind of justice”. International law is not established
once and for all. It may change under the influence of superpower
and yield to some moral arguments. A danger of the endless monologue
arises in the case of domination of such rules of game.

Another scenario of the dialogue of civilizations, which is presented
by Huntington, is the following: the civilizations become much closer
or fight each other mainly on religious grounds. According to one
of the rational previsions by Huntington, Russia and Georgia will
gradually become closer, because they are parts of the same Orthodox
civilization. However, in spite of this important factor, as we see,
these two nations still can’t find common language for dialogue.

Probably, one can invent some ad hoc theory to explain this
‘irrational’ fact. It is possible to apply to ad hoc theories for a
long time, but our life does not get better from this.

Civilization is a multilevel phenomenon. Some irrational facts always
slip out from the rational conceptions of dialogues of civilizations,
as well as from that of life. From a certain point of view, the
‘dialogue of civilizations’ is an absolute and abstract concept, for
what we mean, when we speak about: political, economical, cultural,
or social dialogue? For instance, Japan is in dialogue with Europe
on the economical level so far (which is perhaps the most primitive
level), but it is very closed and autonomous in the cultural respect.

One of the irrational challenges of our days is intensification
of socio-cultural life, which is connected with the development of
mass communicative means and promotion of the internet. Professor
Kochler bases his analysis of new social media and internet on
Gustav Le Bon’s idea of ‘psychology of crowd’ (see, Hans Kochler,
“The New Social Media and The Changing Nature of Communication:
Anthropological and Political Implications”, 2012, pp. 6-7).

Internet is like a crowd, as each person there has opportunity to
participate in the ‘dialogue’ with his own rules of game. Despite
the political efforts of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic
of Azerbaijan for peace, one can find mutual insults of Armenians
and Azerbaijani in the commentaries to the YouTube videos about
Nagorno-Karabakh. In this case, internet is an original area for
mutual aggression.

There are various means for regulation of ‘internet behavior’.

Thus, Iran has limited its internet-space; Singapore executes
censorship on the internet by law, etc. Without disputing these
approaches, however, it is necessary to mention that thus they
refrained from a real universal dialogue. Being impersonal,
dialogue on the internet is the most global, the most sincere
and at the same time the most chaotic. The problem is that it is
impossible to control the world wide internet by law. Besides, with
the extension of opportunities for social virtual communication, the
forms of expression of human subconscious have also multiplied. So the
artificially created picture of convergence of the civilizations (what
was the case, for example, with the Soviet Union) becomes meaningless.

Those relations of civilizations are stronger, which are expressed
not only on horizontal level (here and now, for instance, political
relations), but also on that of perpendicular, i.e. over the time.

And in time the most resistant are cultural relations, which influence
both on individuals, and on the crowd. Philosophical principles lie at
the core of our identity of any kind. In this sense, it is difficult
to distinguish civilizations which are fertilized by each other in
philosophical sense. Remembering Nietzsche’s note on fertilizing and
fertilized nations, we can observe the following: Russia and Germany
belong to the different civilizations; in addition to it, because of
the World War II hostile feelings arose between them. But now these
two countries have reached quite serious level of dialogue. And this
is partially due to the philosophical relations, existing between
Hegel and Solovyov, Schelling and Berdyaev, Goethe and Tolstoy, etc.,
relations which one still may deep into. The same may be said also
about Germany and Armenia.

Internet is a space where horizontal and perpendicular levels of
culture meet. Due to the internet, humankind has become a real subject
of communication; as to national collectivity, it has become a fact,
as the will of population now can manifest itself just via pressing the
button ‘Like’, etc. It means that cultural and socio-cultural relations
can become a sustained basis for the organization of dialogue on the
state level.

Armenian Graves of the City of Surat Spotlighted at Surat Science
Museum Exhibition

22:26, November 24, 2012

In India, as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Week 19-25 November,
the Surat Science Museum holds an exhibition that spotlights the
Armenian graves of the city of Surat. The exhibition has already
caught the attention of the local residents who attended. The
exhibition, run by the Surat Science Museum has a photo gallery of the
Armenian graves with the English translations beside them.

Until recently the Armenian graves were only ever seen with their
Armenian script. Had it not been for a `pure chance’ moment, it is
unlikely the exhibition would ever have taken place. Photographs of
the graves were posted by Arpine Gyulinyan to the Indo-Armenian
Friendship NGO Facebook page and were spotted by Liz Chater, a
UK-based family history researcher.

Liz then contacted Arpine. Liz and Arpine started regular
communications and Arpine introduced Liz to Sanjay Choksi the
photographer who took the pictures. This heralded the start of a story
of collaboration and co-operation spanning three continents. Liz says:
“In a way without Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO Facebook page it
wouldn’t have happened. Sanjay Choksi and Piyush Dalal (Arpine’s
husband) took the photos, Arpine posted them to IAF Facebook page, and
I happened to see them. I asked if I would be allowed to post the
photographs of the graves on my website and said that I would try to
get the English translations of them.

A few months passed and with the help from the fantastically
knowledgeable historians Professor Sebouh Aslanian and Father Krikor
Maksoudian from the USA the translations began to take shape. This
truly international story of working together and co-operation would
not have brought such lime-light onto the Armenian graves of Surat. We
have all played a part and now the grave photographs and the
transcriptions form part of the Surat Science Centre Heritage
Programme this week.”

Although the exhibition ends on No ish translations can be permanently
found on Liz Chater’s website chater-genealogy.com.

Liz Chater has been researching the Armenians in India for the last 12
years. Seven years ago, Liz decided to start an ambitious project to
photograph and transcribe all the Armenian graves in India and to make
that information available to other interested researchers. Following
many trips to India she was able to place hundreds of pictures of the
Armenian graves onto her website.

Furthermore, Liz has recently self-published a book on Armenian graves
in Dhaka entitled: `Armenian Graves, Inscriptions and Memorials in
India ` DACCA 1722-1977′ in which the English translations from
classical Armenian have, for the very first time been made publically
available by her. She was kindly assisted with this project by Very
Reverend Father Krikor Maksoudian of Arlington, Massachusetts who
translated the classical Armenian script and who is also actively
translating the Armenian graves at Surat for her.

The Armenian graves at Surat have never previously been fully
translated into English and doing so, and bringing these translations
to the internet will enable other family history researchers and
historians access to what has been, up until now, `locked’ history.

Liz Chater’s genealogical database has over 10,000 Armenians who once
lived, worked and died in Asia and it is hoped that she will be able
to get this information published.

Napoli Monitor, Italia
24 nov 2012

Armeni e turchi: il racconto come cura

da week-end avisen del 16/11/2012

«Prima uccisero mio nonno e poi deportarono mia madre nel deserto
siriano, dove per poco non morì di fame. Era solo una bambina allora».
Inizia così un’intervista di storia orale a Lilith, donna armena di
ottant’anni, le cui memorie per le atrocità del genocidio armeno del
1915 abbondano di dettagli, e sono esposte con tale chiarezza che
sembra quasi sia stata lei a viverle, che fosse lei a giacere
abbandonata da sola nel deserto in Siria. Invece, le memorie non sono
le sue, ma della madre, che le ha accuratamente tramandate all’unica
figlia. Ora sono diventate parte di Lilith, le sue (post)memorie,
ereditate insieme al dolore, al senso di perdita, e a
quell’espressione triste negli occhi che solo un sopravvissuto
all’olocausto può avere.

Sono arrivata in Armenia per capire se la storia orale può essere un
metodo di riconciliazione nei rapporti fra turchi e armeni. Quasi
cento anni sono passati da quando la distruzione della propria
popolazione cristiana fu perpetrata dagli Ottomani, e la morte di un
milione e mezzo di armeni ancora oggi non è riconosciuta dal governo
turco. Nonostante diversi tentativi, i negoziati per vie diplomatiche
tra i due paesi hanno fallito e il confine resta blindato. A causa di
un conflitto ormai secolare e in mancanza di un dialogo aperto,
nessuno dei due popoli ha imparato, e neppure ne ha avuto la
possibilità, a superare i radicati pregiudizi sull’altro, così che il
silenzio e il passato irrisolto continuano a pesare su entrambe le
società.

Il progetto si chiama `Speaking to One Another’, parlare l’uno
all’altro, un tentativo portato avanti da una ONG di ricercatori
universitari, studenti e artisti per stabilire un dialogo tra turchi e
armeni attraverso la storia orale, il cinema, la fotografia e l’arte
performativa. Seduta nella camera da letto di Lilith, sorseggiando il
tè nero armeno, ho compreso che un passo è già stato fatto; turchi e
armeni sono sotto lo stesso tetto, a condividere insieme cibo, tè,
racconti e storie che sono per la maggior parte censurate in Turchia e
che in Armenia rappresentano il comune esercizio di memoria di un
passato doloroso. Il gruppo che sto seguendo consiste di due turchi e
due armeni. Io siedo in disparte, avida di comprendere le parole di
Lilith, così come gli stessi turchi, che non hanno cognizione della
lingua armena.

Uno degli studenti armeni si sforza di tradurre simultaneamente, ma
fatica a stare al passo del rapido flusso di Lilith. Per non
interrompere né disturbare l’intervista, riassume con voce leggera,
quasi sussurrando: «Dice che non odia i turchi, che non può biasimare
voi, i giovani della Turchia di oggi, perché non è colpa vostra, ma
dei vostri antenati». Gli studenti turchi rispondono con un timido
sorriso, grati e chiaramente sollevati dal fatto che Lilith non sembra
aver ereditato anche l’odio che ancora oggi molti armeni nutrono.

Ospitare dei turchi nei villaggi armeni, dove i sopravvissuti al
genocidio si sono stabiliti per la maggior parte dopo il 1915, a un
tiro di sasso dal confine turco, è di per sé controverso. Molti
armeni, come Lilith, non sono mai stati nell’est dell’Anatolia, oggi
ufficialmente parte della Turchia ma a cui gli armeni si riferiscono
chiamandola `Armenia dell’ovest’, la loro casa. Per loro, questo
spazio immaginario simbolizza un periodo fiorente della storia armena,
dove i cristiani vivevano in pace fianco a fianco con i musulmani. Un
progetto di storia orale simile a `Speaking to One Another’ svolto
l’anno scorso in Turchia ha dimostrato come molti degli abitanti dei
villaggi turchi ricordano le storie di pacifica convivenza con gli
armeni, che erano «apprezzati, lavoratori e persone di cultura».

Questi ricordi positivi raramente trovano spazio nel discorso pubblico
in Turchia, un dato di fatto che `Speaking to One Another’ prova a
sfidare. Il genocidio armeno è tuttora un tabù nella società turca, e
chi solleva il dibattito corre il rischio di essere incriminato sulla
base dell’articolo 301 del codice penale turco, che punisce i
colpevoli di `offesa all’essere turchi’. Scrittori come Elif Shafak,
Orhan Pamuk e il giornalista Hrant Dink sono tutti passati per le
maglie della giustizia solo per aver posto il problema. Hrant Dink,
cittadino turco di origini armene che ha dedicato la sua vita
all’opera di riconciliazione fra Turchia e Armenia, ne pagò le estreme
conseguenze quando fu assassinato nel 2007 da un giovane nazionalista
turco.

«Non avrei mai immaginato che un giorno sarei stata seduta a parlare
con dei turchi in casa mia», la nostra interprete armena traduce le
ultime parole di Lilith. «Noi armeni abbiamo solo bisogno del
riconoscimento di ciò che è accaduto, così da poter andare avanti con
le nostre vite», aggiunge. Tale riconoscimento è molto improbabile nel
vicino futuro. Quando I due paesi nel 2009 accettarono di iniziare un
processo di normalizzazione e di stabilire rapporti diplomatici, il
riconoscimento del genocidio non era neppure una precondizione, e il
tentativo si arenò presto, probabilmente per le pressioni
dell’Azerbaigian, alleato sempre fedele alla Turchia, i cui legami con
essa sono inflessibili non solo per via della comune cultura, ma anche
a causa dello stesso nemico, l’Armenia.

Nonostante il fallimento del processo di distensione fra i due stati,
la riconciliazione fra le persone comuni è forse più importante.
Sedendo nella casa di Lilith mi viene da pensare ai quaranta
partecipanti del progetto `Speaking to One Another’ che ho conosciuto
durante la mia permanenza in Armenia. Penso alle amicizie che ho visto
nascere tra i giovani turchi e armeni, tutte persone riflessive con un
una grande fiducia nell’attivismo come mezzo per costruire un futuro
più democratico. Specialmente gli studenti turchi, dissidenti pieni
della volontà di cambiare lo status quo del loro paese «fascista e
antidemocratico», come essi lo definiscono. Un giovane turco di Ankara
mi ha raccontato del suo arresto all’università, sospettato di
attività terroristiche solo per aver partecipato a due manifestazioni
per i diritti dei kurdi, apparentemente organizzate dal PKK,
organizzazione considerata terrorista dalla Turchia e dai paesi
occidentali. Rischia fino a otto anni di galera per la sua condotta.
Io vedo solo il suo coraggio, simile a quello della ragazza turca che
ha rotto i rapporti con la sua famiglia per aver preso parte a questo
progetto.

Il racconto di Lilith è solo una delle numerose interviste di storia
orale che questi giovani sono venuti a raccogliere, e tutte saranno
incluse in un libro che verrà pubblicato il prossimo anno. Nel
frattempo, una mostra itinerante girerà varie città del mondo che
condividono simili conflitti. Oltre a Turchia e Armenia, il progetto
verrò esibito a Cipro, in Georgia e in Germania, permettendo ai
visitatori di ascoltare le memorie personali di persone comuni. Lo
scopo principale del progetto rimane però la possibilità data a
cittadini armeni e turchi di conoscersi di nuovo dopo decenni di
silenzio, quel silenzio dove miti e leggendo trovano il tempo di
crescere e radicarsi. Oltre a ciò, il progetto offre una piattaforma
di comunicazione e di formazione, ed è la prima volta che il passato
condiviso di Armenia e Turchia è presentato insieme.

Spesso è difficile per un paese guardare senza pregiudizi al proprio
passato, perché la `narrazione di una nazione’ (come definita da Homi
Bhabha) è prima di tutto costruita su storie di eroismo. Perciò il
meccanismo di difesa da parte turca sembra essere l’atto di negazione.
Omettere l’oscura eredità dell’impero ottomano e consegnare una
selettiva, gloriosa, storia alle nuove generazioni ha significato una
diffusa ignoranza del proprio passato per i giovani turchi. Uno degli
studenti turchi mi ha confidato: «Crescendo non ho mai sentito parlare
del genocidio. È stato duro da ingoiare quando ne ho letto un giorno
accidentalmente». Non solo lo ha `ingoiato’, ma ne è diventato
ossessionato, e si è messo alla ricerca di cos’altro il suo paese gli
aveva nascosto. La maggior parte dei turchi trascurano o minimizzano i
fatti del 1915, affermano che anche i turchi musulmani persero la vita
in gran numero, e diventa presto chiaro che parlare del cruento e non
così eroico passato rappresenta una minaccia all’identità nazionale.
Come nella psicologia individuale la negazione dei traumi passati si
manifesta col tempo in un modo o nell’altro, similmente la negazione
delle atrocità nazionali si riverbera nella mancanza di confronto
democratico, e i suoi sintomi sono la violazione dei diritti umani e
l’eccessivo controllo statale sulla vita dei cittadini. La negazione è
il meccanismo di una mente immatura, disse una volta Anna Freud. La
Turchia non sarà mai capace di migliorare la sua democrazia finché non
riconoscerà che lo stato moderno di cui va fiera si innalza sulle
macerie di un genocidio. (sanja siljak)

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Nov 25 2012

Rediscovering Niksar a forgotten Turkish capital

One of the interesting things about Turkey that tends to go
uncommented is the way the country is studded with towns, villages and
even abandoned settlements that were at one time the capital of
powerful Anatolian kingdoms.
Some of the towns are well known — think, for example, of Bursa and
Edirne, both of them Ottoman capitals before Constantinople (Ä°stanbul)
stole their thunder. Then think of Konya, one-time capital of the
Selçuk Sultanate of Rum. Others, however, go less commented — think
of Karaman, from 1275 to 1483 the capital of the KaramanoÄ?lu Beylik
(princedom); of Becin, from 1260 to 1424 the capital of the MenteÅ?e
Beylik; of Birgi and Selçuk that took turns as capitals of the
AydınoÄ?lu Beylik in the 14th century; or of Kozan which, as Sis, was
once the capital of Armenian Cilicia. Yet other towns experienced
their moments in the sun in the far more distant past — think, for
example, of Amasya, capital of the Pontic Kingdom until about 183
B.C., or of Van, as Tushpa the capital of the Urartian kingdom in the
ninth century B.C.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it’s by way of introducing
Niksar, a small Central Anatolian town that now languishes in
obscurity even though it was, from 1077 to 1117, the capital of the
newly formed DaniÅ?mend Kingdom, an offshoot of the wider Selçuk
Empire. And if there’s the one thing of which you can be certain it’s
that any Turkish settlement that was at one time a capital is bound to
have enough historic monuments in it to justify a diversion from any
planned itinerary.

Melik GümüÅ?tekin Ahmed (DaniÅ?mend) Gazi’s burial place

Unfortunately, not a lot is known about Melik GümüÅ?tekin Ahmed
(DaniÅ?mend) Gazi, the man who put Niksar on the map. History is
silent, for example, on where or when he was born, although it does
relate how he rose to prominence after the decisive Battle of
Manzikert (north of Lake Van) in 1071 when the troops mustered by the
great Selçuk leader Alp Arslan routed those of the Byzantines, thereby
opening the way to Selçuk occupation of most of Central Anatolia.
DaniÅ?mend Gazi himself seized Tokat, Sivas and Niksar, although
alongside Sultan Kılıç Arslan I he then faced defeat by the troops of
the First Crusade at the Battle of Dorylaeum in 1097. To make up for
this disaster he captured one of the Crusader leaders, Count Bohemund
of Tarento, in 1100, keeping him prisoner at Niksar for three years
before riding south to capture Malatya (Melitene) in 1103. Just one
year later he was being laid to rest in the town that had become his
capital.

Today DanıÅ?mend Gazi’s tomb is the most obvious reason to visit
Niksar. It can be found in a quiet, wooded cemetery at the top of a
very steep hill where it still serves as a popular pilgrimage
destination. Nearby stand the tombs of members of the even more
obscure TacettinoÄ?ulları family who founded yet another beylik
(emirate) in the area in the 14th century, although recent restoration
has done nothing to improve their appearance. More inviting is the
untouched kümbet (tomb) that houses the remains of Aslan Kutalmıs, a
son of Süleyman Å?ah and thus a distant ancestor of the first Ottoman
rulers. Near it stands a poignant memorial placed by the grieving
parents of two of the victims of the 1999 earthquakes.

Niksar Kalesi and the Ulu Camii

Niksar’s other main claim to fame is a castle that crowns a second
equally steep hill. Banners around town suggest that it’s Turkey’s
second largest castle although this would probably come as news to
other similarly large fortifications such as the castle at
Å?ebenkarahisar. No matter — much work has been done on it recently
and although this tends to have diminished any appearance of great age
the castle is still a great place to come to get your bearings and
look down on a town of red-tiled roofs which is still hanging on to
much of its Ottoman fabric. Within the walls are the battered remains
of an old hamam (Turkish bath) as well as the YaÄ?ithane Medresesi, a
building dating back to 1157 that now houses a cafe and restaurant
with spectacular views. For the time being Niksar has no actual museum
so the castle provides a handy home not only for several tea gardens
but also for all sorts of scraps of masonry that testify to the town’s
pre-DaniÅ?mend history.

Heading down from the castle, you come to its outer walls, which are
far more impressive for having been more gently restored. Near one of
the gates you’ll be amazed to see the entire lid of a Roman
sarcophagus left over from the days when Niksar was Neocaesarea
pressed into service as building material.

Immediately across the road and down a steep flight of steps sits
Niksar’s Ulu Camii, a typically Selçuk-style low-slung building with a
colonnaded portico and a single minaret. Dating back to 1145 and
commissioned by one Çepnizade Hasan Bey, it’s one of Anatolia’s oldest
large mosques, which makes it all the more of a shame that it’s
usually kept locked.

Urban renewal Niksar-style

Its ancient history aside, Niksar has recently rediscovered its more
recent Ottoman past in the shape of a heritage of old wooden houses,
many of them now being restored with the help of Orta Karadeniz
Kakınma Ajansı (OKA), the development agency for the Central Black Sea
region. A couple now house lovely teahouses, the Adalı’nın Kahvehanesi
and the Hamdi ÇavuÅ? Kahvehanesi, overlooking the dry bed of a river
that once flowed through the town, while a miniature replica now
straddles the riverbed and provides a home for a women’s handicrafts
outlet. But the finest of all is the TaÅ? Bina KonaÄ?ı (Stone House
Mansion), a 19th-century city-center mansion with fine and colorful
wooden fittings that is being restored with the intention of turning
it into a hotel.

Not far away is another building that is the town’s pride and joy, the
TaÅ?mektep, a small porticoed building in grey and white stone that
served as the town’s primary school in the 19th century. Right beside
it is the magnificent Hükümet KonaÄ?ı that now houses the local
government. Built between 1905 and 1907, it’s a fine example of the
style called First National Architecture and forms a picturesque
grouping with the old schoolhouse. It was in front of here in June
1919 that a meeting was held to protest against the Greek occupation
of Smyrna (Ä°zmir), a fact now proudly advertized around town.

A double flight of stairs leads up to the Hükümet KonaÄ?i and in
between them can be seen the ÇarÅ?ı ÇeÅ?mesi, one of many fine fountains
that still dot Niksar. Dating back to the 19th century, it
incorporates stonework probably carved by a 13th-century Selçuk
sculptor, but this is as nothing to the Lülecizade KardeÅ?ler ÇeÅ?mesi
which reuses the lid of another Roman sarcophagus, this time adorned
with tiny carvings of a shepherd with his sheep and of a man milking a
cow. This fountain can be found beside the ÇöreÄ?i Büyük Camii, dating
back to the 13th or 14th century and itself interesting for the
unusual carving of a deer at rest that sits above the main entrance.

How to get there

Niksar is easily accessible by minibus from Tokat’s town-center local
bus station; there are plenty of services, making a day trip easy.
However, you might want to check the time of the last service back and
make a reservation if you want to spend the night in Tokat.

Legendary jazz accordionist Richard Galliano will be the honorary
guest of the anniversary concert of the National Chamber Orchestra of
Armenia

09:40, 23 November, 2012

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS. The National Chamber Orchestra of
Armenia will celebrate its 50th anniversary in a unique concert. Ástor
Piazzolla’s student, legendary jazz accordionist Richard Galliano will
be the honorary guest of the anniversary concert dedicated to the 50th
anniversary of the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia. In frames of
the concert Richard Galliano will introduce his “Opal” concert to the
Armenian audience.

In a conversation with “Armenpress” the Art Director and Chief
Conductor of the orchestra Vahan Martirosyan stated that they have
prepared a unique concert for the Armenian audience in tango style
accompanied by jazz improvisations. He said: “Richard Galliano has
already been in Armenia once and he expressed the wish to have a
concert in Armenia again. This is a very good occasion, I think.”

The Art Director is leading the orchestra since 2011 and to his
opinion the main change during this period of time is that he started
to like the orchestra playing. Vahan Martirosyan stated: “The
orchestra started to play in accordance with my tastes and wishes. Of
course there are several things to be corrected, but the fact that the
orchestra progressed remains.”

Vahan Martirosyan is the head of the Symphonic Orchestra of Cannes as
well. During his absence the orchestra is being headed by the
conductors invited from abroad. Among other things Vahan Marirosyan
made the following figurative statement: “This is a right approach,
because the art director is considered to be the mother tongue of the
orchestra, but as you know the state of the nation will not worth
envy, if it knows only one language. The mother tongue must be the
foundation so that the people could learn other languages as well.”

A number of surprises are considered in frames of the anniversary
concert, of which Vahan Martirosyan did not want to talk yet.

ARMENIE
L’ambassadeur de Pologne en Arménie ne voit aucune contradiction entre
une politique étrangère Eurasienne et Européenne

L’ambassadeur de Pologne en Arménie Zdzislaw Raczynski a déclaré à des
journalistes qu’il n’y a aucune contradiction entre une politique
étrangère de l’Arménie à vocation eurasienne et une politique
étrangère à vocation européenne.

« S’il vous plaît, vous devez la regarder convenablement. L’UE unit 27
pays et a une expérience de 55 ans. C’est une organisation
internationale d’un nouveau format établi sur des valeurs communes. Et
quand nous parlons des standards de l’UE, nous ne voulons pas juste
dire techniques, mais des valeurs et des principes en général. L’Union
Eurasienne est juste un projet. Mais est-ce que quelqu’un connaît ses
statuts, son administration, son adresse, où envoyer une lettre pour
entrer en contact » a dit l’ambassadeur.

Selon lui, il n’y a aucun besoin d’arguments maintenant, car c’est
juste un projet.

« Il n’y a aucune contradiction entre l’adhésion de l’Arménie à
l’Organisation du traité de sécurité collective (OSTC) et la
collaboration avec l’OTAN. L’Arménie est un Etat membre de la CEI et
coopère avec l’UE et il n’y a aucun espace pour des arguments et des
spéculations » a-t-il dit.

dimanche 25 novembre 2012,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

Serzh Sargsyan honors great Russian writer Kim Baksh

TERT.AM
16:30 – 24.11.12

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has bestowed an Order of Honor upon
the renowned Russian fiction writer, culture expert and Armenologist,
Kim Bakshi.

Receiving the great writer on Saturday, the president praised his role
in the the strengthening and development of Armenian-Russian
friendship and cultural ties. He thanked Bakshi for devoting numerous
works to the Armenian nation, its history and culture over the course
of his creative activity.

According to a press release by the Presidential Office, Bakshhi told
the president
that his new book, The Spiritual Treasures of Artsakh, will soon
enrich his literary series devoted to the Armenian nation.

Sargsyan wished the writer sound health and success in all his future
initiatives.

Kim Bakshi was honored on the occasion of the 21st anniversary of
Armenia’s independence.

THE COMPASSS BAND WILL APPEAR IN THE STYLE OF “THE BEATLES” IN “JUNIOR EUROVISION 2012”

16:15, 23 November, 2012

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 23, ARMENPRESS: The Armenian Delegation of the
“Junior Eurovision 2012” song contest will leave for the Netherlands
on November 26 in order to participate to international TV contest
in Amsterdam on December 1. Compass band introduce Armenia in the
contest. “Armenpress” cites that during the press conference on Public
TV on November 23 the responsible of the project “Eurovision” Gohar
Gasparyan mentioned that the group will introduce new and interesting
style in competition. Gasparyan said: “We will leave to Amsterdam on
Monday morning. This year the principles of the competition will differ
from the previous ones. The documental sector of a competition will
also be evaluated, which means that the participants will constantly
be at the center of the attention of cameras.” The video footage made
in the backstage will be shown in the form of video postcards during
the show.

The responsible of the project said: “We will introduce a music which
is loved by the children. As the boys say they will try to allure all
girls’ smiles. And we will appear in the style of “The Beatles”. The
video of the Compass band in “The Beatles” style is already prepared
by the director Hrant Movsisyan.

Member of Compass band Aram Tsaturyan said: “The responsibility is
great because we introduce our nation, country in the competition like
the “Eurovision” and we work every day, in order not to disappoint
people.” The members of the group consider the main competitors the
representatives of Israel and Russia.

FLATS PROVIDED TO FIRST-GROUP INVALIDS

Friday, 23 November 2012 13:48

The programme of providing Artsakh war first-group invalids with flats
will commence since 2013. This was reported by Minister of Labour
and Social Issues Narine Narimanyan at the NKR Governemnt session of
November 20 during her presentation of the 2013 annual programme of
invalids’ social protection and the list of arrangements planned by
this programme.

According to the annual programme the arrangements aimed at the
invalids’ social protection will be implemented in several directions
such as the protection of invalids’ rights and their public awareness,
the creation of equal and affordable conditions for the invalids,
their professional education, promotion of the their employment
possibilities as well as the extension of the scopes of cooperation
with the non-governmental organizations engaged in the settlement of
the invalids’ problems.

By July 1, 2012, there are 9130 invalids registered in the Republic
among them 419 young people under the age of 18.

ARMENIAN PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES HAVE A MONTH TO ELIMINATE FLAWS

tert.am
14:26 ~U 23.11.12

Armenian pharmaceutical companies have one month to get prepared for
checking and get certificates for exporting their medicine to the
European market.

Samvel Zakaryan, chairman of the Armenia’s Medicine Producing and
Importing Union, told the reporters today that a state agency has
been established to deal with the issue.

“The certificate is to register that the producer has prepared the
medicine in compliance with all the existing norms. The companies
were given 2-3 months to eliminate all the flaws,” he said.

“Three companies – Arpimed, Liquor and Pharmatech – are close to
getting the certificates,” Zakaryan said, adding that a number of
companies are not ready for getting the certificates as of the moment.

The reasons why the companies are not ready for certificates vary.

“For instance filters are being used for production of medicine which
are less effective than the European ones. Standards are changing
everyday and it is difficult to understand what should be done to
correspond to the standards,” he said.

Zakaryan said companies without certificates are very often being
deprived of opportunity to enter international market.