Author: Badalian Vardan

AZERBAIJAN’S RELIGIOUS LEADER UNDECIDED ON YEREVAN TRIP

news.az
Nov 23 2011
Azerbaijan

The chairman of the Caucasus Muslims Department has reviewed the
agenda for a CIS Inter-Religious Council meeting in Yerevan.

Sheikh ul-Islam Allashukur Pashazade had the chance to study the
agenda for the meeting during a visit to Moscow, the Caucasus Muslims
Department told APA.

The Presidium of the CIS Inter-Religious Council, of which the sheikh
is a co-chairman, will meet in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, on 29
and 30 November.

The sheikh would also like to review draft documents to be signed at
the meeting by himself, Patriarch Kirill of Russia, Patriarch Ilia
II of Georgia and Catholicos Garegin II of Armenia.

Once he has seen the documents, Pashazade will decide on whether or
not to go to Yerevan.

The Caucasus Muslims Department is to receive copies of the drafts
in the next few days.

Azerbaijan and Armenia officially remain at war over the Azerbaijani
territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. The two countries signed a cease-fire
accord in 1994, but a peace deal has yet to be reached.

GOLDEN APRICOT ON WHEELS FILM FESTIVAL IN KARABAKH

news.am
Nov 23 2011
Armenia

STEPANAKERT. – Golden Apricot on the Wheels film festival visited
for the fifth time Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh] on November 19-21. It
showed movies in Stepanakert and Shushi cities.

The best movies and winners of the 8th Golden Apricot film festival
were included. A total of 9 documentaries, featured and short movies
were shown. The opening of the festival took place simultaneously in
the Palace of Culture and Youth in Stepanakert and in Narekatsi art
centre in Shushi.

The festival was carried out by the support of Karabakh Ministry of
Culture and Youth Issues, Pyunik human resource development centre,
and Artsakh Brandy Company.

MONDAY IS NATIONAL GINGERBREAD DAY

WIS TV

Nov 21 2011
Columbia, SC

(CNN) – Calling all man-shaped cookie cutters and edible houses:
Monday is National Gingerbread Day.

On Nov. 21, you can get a jump on one of our favorite ways to herald
the holiday season – and make your house smell oh-so-incredibly good
in the process.

Gingerbread was first made by an Armenian monk, Gregory of Nicopolis.

When he moved from Greece to France in 992, Gregory brought his tasty
creation with him and taught French priests the art of baking it.

Gingerbread grew in popularity and spread throughout Europe.

Monasteries and town square markets jumped on the idea and began
selling it in the 1500’s. Market Drayton in Shropshire became famous
for its product.

The confusing thing about gingerbread is that it can mean all kinds
of things. Some folks like to bake up a sweetly-spiced, moist loaf
of actual bread, while others dig out their cookie cutters and
start punching out crispy cookies. But the best part is they’re
all scrumptious

Have we got you salivating yet?

If you want just a taste of gingerbread so you can say you had some
this holiday season, you can always bake a batch of gingerbread
cookies.

HALF A MILLION THE LOSS FROM JESC 2011

oikotimes.com

Nov 22 2011
Greece

Posted by SUBMITTED on Nov 22, 2011 in ARMENIA, JESC

The Public Television of Armenia established the “Junior Eurovision
2011 Yerevan” Fund, which will organize the Junior Eurovision Song
Contest 2011 to be held in the capital Yerevan, on December 2 and 3.

The Contest’s revenue and spending estimations are already posted on
the Government’s official website.

In line with this assessment, the revenues are expected to be around
US$ 1.4 million, whereas the expenditures, $1.85 million. That is,
Junior Eurovision 2011’s budget deficit is approximately $450
thousand, and this deficit will be covered by Armenia’s State Budget.

Incidentally, ticket prices for the December 2 concert range between
3-15 thousand drams ($8-$39), whereas the December 3 concert tickets
are sold for 5-100 thousand drams ($13-$259). To note, the 3 or 5
thousand dram tickets were sold out long ago. The aforesaid Fund’s
largest amount (around $720 thousand) will be spent for the event’s
technical part and HDR recording.

ARMENIA-TURKEY PROTOCOLS WILL NOT BE RATIFIED – TURKISH MP

news.am
Nov 21 2011
Armenia

BAKU. – The protocols, which Turkey and Armenia signed, in Zurich,
toward normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations, will not be
ratified, Turkish parliament’s Foreign Affairs Commission Chairman
Volkan Bozkir stated, during a press conference in Baku, Azerbaijan,
on Monday, Trend News Agency of Azerbaijan reported.

“I am one of those responsible for the ratification of those documents,
and I can say they will not be ratified,” Bozkir noted.

PAPERBACK, ARMENIAN VERSION OF ‘FAMILY OF SHADOWS’ TO BE RELEASED

asbarez
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

The Armenian version of Family of Shadows

NEW YORK-The publishing house HarperCollins has announced the
paperback release of Garin K. Hovannisian’s Family of Shadows:
A Century of Murder, Memory, and the Armenian American Dream, the
dramatic history of the Hovannisian family: Kaspar-the survivor of
genocide and soldier of General Antranig; Richard-the historian and
pioneer of Armenian Studies; and Raffi-the repatriate citizen and
first foreign minister of independent Armenia.

The new edition is available on Amazon and at bookstores nationwide.

The book, which has accompanied its author on a year-long tour across
the United States and Canada, has received strong critical praise.

“Hovannisian brings a historian’s rigor, a poet’s lyricism, and a
native son’s passion to this remarkable book,” wrote Samuel G.

Freedman, columnist for the New York Times. David Ignatius of the
Washington Post called it “one of modern history’s great unexamined
stories.” For more information, visit

Family of Shadows has also been translated into the Armenian language
by Samvel Lazarian-the editor and translator most recently of James
Joyce’s Ulysses. The translation, titled Gerdastan Stverats, was
unveiled on September 6, 2011, at the Yeghishe Charents House Museum
in Yerevan. “It draws you from page to page with a magnetic force,”
remarked Levon Ananyan, president of the Writers’ Union of Armenia,
on the occasion of the release.

Three generations of Hovannisians: Garin, Raffi and Richard (photo
by Ara Oshagan)

The Armenian edition is now available at major bookstores in Yerevan
and at Abril, Berj, and Sardarabad bookstores based in Los Angeles.

All proceeds will be donated to Orran, a non-profit benevolent
organization founded by Raffi and Armine Hovannisian, which supports
needy children and elderly in Armenia.

TURKISH MP PUTS THE ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS ON THE ALTAR OF THE AZERBAIJANI DREAM

ARMENPRESS
NOVEMBER 22, 2011
BAKU

Head of the Turkish Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee
Volkan Bozkir stated during his recent visit to Azerbaijan that the
Armenian-Turkish Protocols will not be brought to the agenda of the
Turkish Parliament.

Armenpress reports, citing the Azerbaijani mass media, that after
the meeting with Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Ogtay Asadov
the Turkish MP told journalists, “I am responsible for bringing those
protocols to the agenda of the parliament, and I have decided not to
bring them to the agenda.

Referring to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Volkan Bozkir noted that
Azerbaijan and Turkey have the same position in the issue, and added
that Turkey will not open the Armenian-Turkish border until NK conflict
is settled.

TURKEY MUST ACCEPT ITS MISTAKES: EDITOR OF CNN TURK CALLS ON AUTHORITIES

ARMENPRESS
NOVEMBER 22, 2011
ISTANBUL

ISTANBUL, NOBEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS: Turkish journalist, political
commentator and writer Mehmed Ali Birand, who is the editor of CNN
Turk, stated that Turkey must face its history and accept its mistakes.

Armenpress reports that in the article published in Hurriyet Daily
News, Birand mentions that all the countries face the black pages of
their history sooner or later. “We have not spoken of our past openly
up today. It also concerns the Armenian Cause. Rejecting everything,
we only deceive ourselves,” he stressed and called on the authorities
not to play any more.

The Turkish commentator thinks that Turkey will not save itself,
insisting that “it was committed by the Ottoman Empire”. “The 100th
year of the Armenian events is approaching. If we do not take any
steps, we will not be understood and all the crimes will be put on us.

During his visit to Algeria several years ago Turkish former Prime
Minister Turgut Ozal apologized for the thing that during the French
colonialism period Turkey did not stand up for the liberation fighting
of Algeria. We did not lose because of it, but won. Let’s leave aside
the issues of home politics and look at those events from a wider
side of an angle. Let’s look at the face of the past,” the Turkish
commentator called on the authorities.

AZERBAIJANI DEFENSE MINISTER AND U.S. SECRETARY OF NAVY DISCUSS NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT

APA
Nov 21 2011
Azerbaijan

Baku – APA. On November 21, Azerbaijani Defense Minister,
Colonel-General Safar Abiyev met with U.S. Secretary of Navy Ray Mabus.

Press service of the Defense Ministry told APA that Abiyev spoke about
the current state of the relations between Naval Forces of the U.S.

and Azerbaijan. In his turn, Mabus underlined the necessity of
evaluating his visit as the part of significance given by U.S. to
Azerbaijan.

During the meeting, they exchanged view on Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno
Karabakh conflict.

TURKISH PARLIAMENT’S COMMISSION CHAIRMAN: “IF THE OCCUPIED LANDS OF AZERBAIJAN ARE NOT RESTORED, THE BORDERS WITH ARMENIA WILL NEVER BE OPENED”

APA
Nov 21 2011
Azerbaijan

Baku. Rashad Suleymanov – APA. Members of the Turkish Parliament’s
Commission on Foreign Affairs visited the Azerbaijani Parliament
today and held meetings at the Parliament’s Commission on Foreign
and Inter-Parliamentary Relations, press service of the Azerbaijani
Parliament told APA.

Underlining the Azerbaijan-Turkey relations as a symbol of regional
development and stability, Chairman of the Committee Samad Seyidov
said the two peoples always advocated for peace, but both faced with
terror and injustice throughout the centuries, but despite that they
always supported each other. He thanked his colleagues for still not
ratifying the protocols signed with Armenia.

Head of the Turkish delegation, Chairman of the Turkish Parliament’s
Commission on Foreign Affairs Volkan Bozkir said Azerbaijan was
the most important strategic partner for Turkey. He said they aimed
further to develop relationship between the countries.

Bozkir said if the occupied lands of Azerbaijan were not restored,
the borders with Armenia would never be opened. He thanked Azerbaijani
people and state for their assistance to the Turkish people during
the natural disaster.