Author: Badalian Vardan

KARABAKH: FROM TBILISI TO MOSCOW
Naira Hayrumyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 15:19:54 – 24/02/2012

Russia launched humanitarian contacts with the Armenian and Azerbaijani
intelligentsia. Representatives of intelligentsia of both peoples
are currently in Moscow trying to talk.

The decision to launch humanitarian contacts was taken at the Sochi
meeting of presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia. Medvedev
took charge of supervising the contacts with the aim to settle the
dialogue between the two communities.

The initiative is not new: international organizations have been
holding various meetings with Armenians and Azerbaijanis for many
years. The difference with the current meetings is that they are
held in Moscow, while previously they were held in Tbilisi, Istanbul
or Brussels.

No need to dispute the fact that the lack of any contact between the
communities leads to the deepening of the abyss. But, before holding
such meetings, it is necessary to find out why these contacts suddenly
stopped in 2000. It is not difficult to find it out: Aliyev junior,
coming to power, changed the tactics of his father trying to settle
relations and cut all relations with Armenia.

This was expressed not only through prohibiting citizens to visit
Armenia and pursuing them for “unauthorized contacts with the
Armenians”. No, this was only a consequence of the new policy. Aliyev
considered wrong the policies of his wiser father, who used every
means to achieve goals, including a retreat, and realized that the
world has a permanent thing, and something more than ambitions. The
son decided that ambition is more important, and proceeded to lock-out
policy of Armenia.

By and large, none of the policies brought Aliyevs to their goal –
to return Karabakh but if the father tried at least to save his image,
the son, is not going to do it deepening the abyss always more.

Those, who try to organize cultural contacts, should direct their
efforts to the change of the policies of Aliyev the son and not the
condemnation of it. Because this policy is the reason of the lack
of contacts.

Otherwise, the meetings initiated by Medvedev will turn out
“grant-eating” and “NGO tourism” just like they used to call the
meetings of Armenians and Azerbaijanis sponsored by Western funds.

Apparently, the Western funds understood the lack of any perspective
of these initiatives, “ceding” this right to Russia.

These meetings are not only unpromising, but they are also possible to
give the opposite reaction. Say, if Azerbaijani intellectuals, having
the same manners of Aliyev, keep saying at the meetings, that Baku
will return its lands the same, and now they are just waiting for us to
die from starvation, these meetings will just deepen the abyss between
the peoples and even the wish to attend these meetings vanishes.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT CONGRATULATES MICHEL LEGRAND ON BIRTHDAY JUBILEE

Tert.am
24.02.12

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has congratulated French composer,
arranger, conductor, pianist, and Knight of Armenia’s Medal of Honor
Michel Legrand on the 80th anniversary of his birthday.

In a greeting address sent to the musician earlier today, the president
highly praises his talent and contribution to the development of
modern music.

“Your music is played around the world. It is thanks to outstanding
personalities like you that your two homelands – Armenia and France –
have been able to strengthen their ties.

With great warmth I remember our Yerevan meeting in September 2009. I
am sure we will have more and more meetings in future, especially in
Yerevan, because the Armenian people love you and take pride in you.

Congratulating you once again on your jubilee, I wish you health and
inexhaustible energy,” reads the congratulatory address.

Michel Legrand was born on February, 24 1932 in Paris.. His father
Raymond Legrand was a conductor and composer renowned for hits such
as Irma la douce and his mother, Marcelle Der Mikaëlian (sister
of conductor Jacques Helian), who married Legrand Senior in 1929,
was descended from the Armenian bourgeoisie. Legrand is a prolific
composer, having written over 200 film and television scores in
addition to many memorable songs.[2] He is best known for his often
haunting film music and scores, such as The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
(1964) and The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) featuring the song “The
Windmills of Your Mind” for which he won his first Academy Award.

CHORRORD INQNISHKHANUTYUN: REPUBLICAN MP TO DEVELOP GEORGIA’S FISH INDUSTRY?

Tert.am
24.02.12

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili continues developing his
country’s business environment, involving Armenian businessmen in
Georgia’s economy, says the paper.

Citing its sources, it claims that a lawmaker of the ruling Republican
Party of Armenia, Vardan Ayvazyan, left for Georgia recently to sign
deals on opening fish breeding companies in the country.

There, he reportedly met with a high-ranking Georgian police official
who later arranged his meetings with other top figures, the paper
comments.

AVANT-GARDE NOVEL JOURNEY TO VIRGINLAND WINS 2012 WRITTEN ART AWARD

Noyan Tapan
2012-02-24

Los Angeles, February 24, 2012 – California author Armen Melikian
won the 2012 Written Art Award in the General Fiction Category,
second place, for his novel Journey to Virginland: Epistle I. The
category’s first-place winner was Stephen Maitland-Lewis, for his
novel Emeralds Never Fade.

Journey to Virginland is “a nihilistic sojourn through fictional
Virginland in search of enlightenment,” wrote Monique Muro of the
Long Beach Book Examiner. Maitland-Lewis’ novel is the story of two
boys in Germany who are separated by the onset of the Second World War.

“I am honored that Journey to Virginland was chosen for this award
from among hundreds of books,” said Melikian, who has garnered three
other literary awards this year.

The anti-hero of the author’s novel, named simply Dog, travels through
a fictional replica of the known world and recounts his experiences,
contextualizing them with powerful commentaries on history, religion,
mythology, and the gender wars. Critic Kam Aures of Rebecca’s Reads
writes of Dog’s odyssey: “In this unique work there exists Dreamland,
which contains locales such as Pharaohland, Allahland, Socratesland,
WhiteBearland, and Napoleonland, [while] the physical United States as
we know it is named Satanland. In Virginland resides God, in Satanland
resides Satan.”

Aures adds: “Melikian has created a very intelligently written
original work of fiction. Journey to Virginland is a book quite out
of the ordinary.”

In addition to Aures’ review, Melikian has received praise from a
cross section of prestigious critics. Publishers Weekly wrote: “Dog
vs. God. In an iconoclastic story, Dog demolishes the foundations of
Western civilization.” And ForeWord Reviews stated: “An engrossing,
brilliantly crafted read. A searing commentary on the earth and its
inhabitants through the canine eyes of Dog. Melikian is an astonishing
writer who teaches his reader about the world and the human condition
through tragedy and humor.”

Commenting on the significance of the Written Art Award, Melikian said,
“It is uplifting to see that the literary community as a whole is
embracing a book that may best be categorized as anti-literature,
one that gleefully inverts the conventions of the novel.”

Melikian continued: “I applaud the courage of the Written Art Awards
judges for bestowing one of only two prizes in General Fiction to an
avant-garde work, a novel that detonates a nuclear bomb at the very
foundations of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Without a doubt, this
is a clear indication of the judges’ open-mindedness and impartiality.”

Book blogger Katie Hale of Arkansas wrote of Journey to Virginland:
“From the first page I was pulled in and intrigued by the oddities I
was reading. Not a typical romance, mystery or even suspense novel –
this book takes a look at things from a level I’ve never went to.

Imagine complete blatant honesty without worry of censorship about
religion, sexuality, war, politics and relationships and you will
have a good idea of the book I am speaking of.”

Hale continued: “I am shocked to read a book of this honesty, this
literary caliber, this level of brilliance, in our time. I only wish
it could become the Twilight of this time – a book that sweeps across
the social classes and impacts everyone opening their eyes to the
destruction WE have created in our world – the lies we have covered up
and the hypocrisy that plagues what used to be Christianity and Faith.”

Journey to Virginland is available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon,
and several other booksellers. For more information and a list of
bookseller links worldwide, visit JourneyToVirginland.com

UN SOLDAT ARMENIEN TUE PAR UN SNIPER AZERBAIDJANAIS
Stephane

armenews.com
vendredi 24 fevrier 2012

Un soldat armenien a ete abattu jeudi par un sniper azerbaïdjanais près
de la frontière entre des les deux anciennes republiques sovietiques,
a indique le ministère de la Defense a Erevan.

Le soldat Albert Adibekian, âge de 20 ans, a succombe a une blessure
par balle a la tete, a precise le ministère armenien.

“Cette provocation de snipers des forces armees de l’Azerbaïdjan qui
a entraîne la mort du soldat Adibekian ne restera pas sans reponse”,
a declare a l’AFP un porte-parle du ministère de la Defense, Davit
Karapetian.

Depuis fin 2011, 22 soldats ont peri le long de la ligne de front
du Nagorny-Karabakh, region separatiste azerbaïdjanaise peuplee
majoritairement d’Armeniens. L’incident de jeudi s’est cependant
produit loin de ce territoire dispute.

Rattache a l’Azerbaïdjan pendant la periode sovietique, le
Nagorny-Karabakh a proclame son independance, non reconnue par la
communaute internationale, après une guerre qui a fait 30.000 morts
et des centaines de milliers de refugies entre 1988 et 1994.

Un cessez-le-feu a ete signe en 1994, mais Bakou et Erevan n’arrivent
pas a se mettre d’accord sur le statut de la region qui reste une
source de tension dans le Caucase du Sud, une zone strategique situee
entre l’Iran, la Russie et la Turquie.

SAMVEL GARABEDIAN POURRAIT ACHETER LA MARQUE ROBERTO CAVALLI
Krikor Amirzayan

armenews.com
vendredi 24 fevrier 2012

Info ou intox ? Toujours est-il que le site Euromag.ru annonce que
le riche homme d’affaire armenien, Samvel Garabedian, proprietaire
du groupe ” Dashir ” s’apprete a acheter la celèbre marque italienne
de pret-a-porter Roberto Cavalli. ” Dashir ” a lance depuis quelques
annees le projet Casa Italia avec des boutiques presentant des marques
italiennes de luxe près du Kremlin et de la Place Rouge. Selon les
specialistes, la transaction pour la marque Roberto Cavalli menee par
Samvel Garabedian se porterait a près de 500 millions d’euros. Le
couturier Robert Cavalli avait quant a lui estime ses affaires a
un minimum d’un milliard d’euros. Mais selon Euromag.ru, d’autres
repreneurs etrangers de la marque italienne sont sur les rangs…dont
des chinois.

COURT’S REASONED OPINION ON DINK VERDICT UNSATISFACTORY, LAWYER SAYS

Today’s Zaman
Feb 23 2012
Turkey

An Ä°stanbul high criminal court on Thursday announced its reasoned
decision concerning an earlier ruling that there was no involvement of
an organized criminal network in the 2007 killing of Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, citing insufficient evidence to prove wider
involvement in the murder, which a lawyer for the Dink family says
is hardly convincing.

The Ä°stanbul 14th High Criminal Court said in its 216-page-long
reasoned decision, distributed to lawyers involved in the case on
Thursday, that the court could not establish the journalist was killed
by an organized criminal network. In what many said was a shocking
and frustrating ruling in the five-year-long trial of the Dink case,
the Ä°stanbul court last month cleared all suspects of charges of
membership in a criminal organization, angering lawyers and many
others who say the trial failed to shed light on alleged connections
between the suspects and state officials.

Cem Halavurt, a lawyer for Hrant Dink, told Today’s Zaman that the
court’s 210-page reasoned opinion was a confirmation of its verdict
listing all the evidence the court has for not establishing that
there is involvement of an organized crime network. “So the court is
listing all the evidence and we are listing all the evidence here,
and we see the clear involvement of a criminal network. The court
talks at length on why it failed to see evidence for suspecting an
organized network, but there is clear evidence indicating an organized
crime link, given what we know about the suspects. So this is about
interpretation or misinterpretation”

The court convicted Yasin Hayal, a major suspect in the killing of
Turkish-Armenian journalist Dink, of instigating a murder and sentenced
him to life in prison. Another suspected instigator, Erhan Tuncel,
was acquitted by the court.

“We have on our hands a situation in which it is unnatural for the
suspects to decide on and commit a murder on their own that would
bring about so many political consequences. This situation also
raises suspicion [of the involvement of a criminal organization
in the murder]. Suspicion is a rule of criminal law that should be
interpreted in favor of the suspect. Because of all these reasons,
it was necessary to acquit the suspects [of membership in a terrorist
organization] since the crimes of establishing, being a member of and
aiding a terrorist organization attributed to the suspects could not
be definitely proven with concrete evidence,” the court said.

The court added that the evidence on hand failed to establish when
and with what motive a criminal organization would have had a hand
in the murder.

Dink was shot dead on Jan. 19, 2007 by ultranationalist Ogun Samast
outside the offices of his newspaper in Ä°stanbul in broad daylight.

Even though five years have passed since his assassination, Dink family
lawyers and civil society organizations have long remained concerned
that evidence relating to the real perpetrators of the crime is still
being covered up and that even if the court’s ruling punishes the
hitmen, the public’s sense of justice will not be satisfied. The
assassination is suspected of being the work of Ergenekon, a
clandestine network whose suspected members — including generals,
military officers and many civilians — are currently in jail for
plotting a military takeover.

ARMENIAN DIPLOMAT URGES AZERBAIJAN TO REFRAIN FROM SPECULATIONS

Tert.am
24.02.12

Armenian Ambassador to the United Nations Karen Nazaryan has called
upon the Azerbaijani authorities to refrain from undue speculations
in the current efforts towards settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Speaking at the UN Security Council’s recent discussion, Women, Peace
and Security, the diplomat said that instead of resorting to dirty
policies, Azerbaijani authorities would better focus on the Minsk
Group-mediated peace settlement process and take measures towards
the implementation of the agreements signed at the recent trilateral
presidential-level meetings.

Addressing the key topic on the agenda – violence against women and
girls during conflicts – Nazaryan called for taking action towards
resolving such crimes and holding those guilty accountable to avoid
new victims in future. In that context, he stressed the importance
of launching fundamental institutional reforms and raising public
awareness.

“In just a few days, we will be commemorating the innocent victims
of Sumgayit, who were killed and subjected to violence just because
they were Armenians,” he said.

As for the Azerbaijani representative’s statement on the Khojalu
massacres, the ambassador considered his remarks pointless, noting
that the issues in the discussion agenda concerned only the violence
and atrocities committed during conflicts.

Nazaryan added that Azerbaijan continues breaching the Security
Council resolutions calling for adherence to the OSCE Minsk Group
format. He noted that Azerbaijan’s refusal to negotiate with the
elected authorities of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) is the
main obstacle to the conflict settlement efforts.

VATICAN ASKS TURKEY TO ALLOW IT TO EXAMINE1500-YEAR-OLD BIBLE

PanARMENIAN.Net
February 23, 2012 – 14:20 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The Vatican has requested that Turkey allow it to
examine a 1500-year-old Bible that was discovered by Turkish police
during an anti-smuggling operation in 2000 and handed over to the
Ankara Ethnography Museum.

As Today’s Zaman reported, citing Turkish Bugun daily, the Bible is
reportedly written in Aramaic, the language of Jesus, and is said to
be worth TL 40 million. According to the publication, the Bible was
seized from a gang smuggling artifacts during a police operation in
southern Turkey in 2010 and reportedly preserves its originality and
many traces of the period it’s from.

The gang was reportedly convicted of smuggling various items seized
during the operation, including the Bible, and all the artifacts
were kept in a safe in the Ankara Courthouse. The Bible, which was
reportedly kept in the courthouse for years, was only recently handed
over to the care of Ankara Ethnography Museum.

The leather-bound Bible is written on leather sheets and is now under
protection as it is regarded as a valuable cultural asset. Even a
Xerox copy of pages from the book is reported to be worth as much as
TL 3-4 million.

AZERBAIJANI EMBASSY IN RUSSIA ISSUES STATEMENT ON MEETING OF AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN INTELLECTUALS IN MOSCOW

APA
Feb 22 2012
Azerbaijan

Moscow. Farid Akbarov – APA. Azerbaijani embassy in Russia has issued
a statement on the meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian intellectuals
in Moscow.

The embassy told APA’s Moscow bureau that taking into account the
recommendations made at the meeting of Azerbaijani, Armenian and
Russian presidents in Sochi on January 23, 2012, the meeting of
Azerbaijani and Armenian intellectuals was organized in Moscow within
the framework of the development of humanitarian relations.

Representatives and ambassadors of the two countries participated in
the opening performance of the Musical Theater headed by Mikhail
Shvidkoy, Special Representative of the Russian President for
International Cultural Cooperation. Chairman of the Russian State Duma
Sergey Narishkin, famous art and culture figures, representatives of
the diplomatic corps in Moscow attended the event.

The delegations also held a meeting at the Public Chamber of
the Russian Federation. Rector of Baku Music Academy named after
Uzeyir Hajibeyli, people’s artist Farhad Bedelbeyli, rector of Baku
Slavic University, Professor Kamal Abdulla, rector of Azerbaijan
State National Conservatory Siyavush Kerimi, director of the State
Philharmonic Hall Murad Adigozalzadeh and Azerbaijani Ambassador to
Russia Polad Bulbuloglu represented Azerbaijan at the meeting. Rector
of State Theater and Cinematography Institute Armen Mazmanian,
parliamentarian Germine Nagdalian, editor-in-chief of Aravot newspaper
Aram Abramyan, director of Rolan Bykov Foundation Nune Manukyan and
Ambassador Oleg Esayan represented Armenia. Mikhail Shvidkoy, first
deputy chairman of the Public Chamber Mikhail Ostrovskiy, head of the
Public Chamber’s working group on international cooperation and public
diplomacy Alexander Sokolov, member of the Russian Public Chamber’s
commission for tolerance and freedom of conscience Alla Gerber and
member of the Russian Public Chamber’s commission on support for mass
media Andrey Dementyev also attended the meeting. Executive director
of the Humanitarian Cooperation Foundation of the CIS Armen Smbatyan
also attended the meeting.

Following this, the delegations continued the meeting at the editorial
office of the Rossiyskaya gazeta. Editor-in-chief of the newspaper
Vladislav Fronin, assistant editor Yadviga Yuferova and deputy director
general, head of the department for international projects Yevgeniy
Abov attended the meeting.

Editor-in-chief of the Rossiyskaya gazeta Vladislav Fronin made a
keynote speech at the meeting. The sides underlined the importance
of tolerance in Azerbaijani and Armenian societies, necessity of
increasing responsibility of media representatives.

The delegations continued the talks at the dinner organized by
Mikhail Shvidkoy, Special Representative of the Russian President
for International Cultural Cooperation.

The representatives from both sides gave various proposals.

Azerbaijani Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Russia
Polad Bulbuloglu said he wishes to put forward several initiatives
before the two countries.

“If these proposals are accepted, it is necessary to start their
realization,” he said.

The proposal was supported by the participants of the meeting.