Author: Badalian Vardan

ARTICLES ON TIGRAN KHZMALIAN’S FILM "ARMIN WEGNER: THE GENOCIDE PHOTOGRAPHER" INCLUDED IN BOOK PUBLISHED IN ITALY

Noyan Tapan
Oct 28, 2008

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 28, NOYAN TAPAN. The book "Identita e disgregazione"
("Identity and Destruction: Modern Cinema Pictures") recently published
in Italy contains two articles on the film "Armin Wegner: The Genocide
Photographer" of Armenian film director Tigran Khzmalian. Alessio
Scarlato’s article "Photo against the Genocide" analyses the idea of
T. Khzmalian’s film about the 1915-1920 Armenian Genocide as an onset
of the destruction which was not so much national as global. The author
underlines the viewpoint of the film director about the responsibility
of an individual and the role of intellectuals in history.

The second article contains an interview of T.Khzmalian with the
Italian cinematologist Silvio Grasselli. It presents the story of
the film’s creation and the impact of the genocide on the Armenian
national mentality.

The other articles of the book are dedicated to films of Alexander
Sakurov, Richard Stern and Anna Sandberg. The book was released by
Tertio Millennio Foundation and presented during the Venice Film
Festival.

PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF RUSSIA TO UN: PROCEDURES ON JOINING OF ARMENIA AND UKRAINE TO INTERNATIONAL URANIUM ENRICHMENT CENTER AT ANGARSK ARE COMING TO THE END

ArmInfo
2008-10-28 12:11:00

ArmInfo. The procedures on joining of Armenia and Ukraine to the
International Uranium Enrichment Center are currently coming to the
end, Permanent Representative of Russia to UN Vitaly Churkin said at
the session of UN General Assembly during discussion of the report
on the activity of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). As
the UN News Center reports, V. Churkin recalled that the Center was
created jointly with Russia and Kazakhstan in 2007 on the basis of
the Russian Federal enterprise . As V. Churkin said, the Center has
been opened for joining of the third states without any political
conditions. RF Permanent Representative also said that his country
intends to assist Ukraine "in enhancement of safety of Chernobyl NPP
site and speed-up of the object decommissioning process". "We shall
allocate $17 million for these purposes on account of nuclear safety
and the "Shelter" Chernobyl Fund, the Russian ambassador said. V,
Churkin also told about the Russian initiative on creation of a global
nuclear energy infrastructure that allows to assure equal access of
all the interested countries to the nuclear energy under reliable
observance of requirements of the regime of non-proliferation of
nuclear weapons.

TURKS AND ARMENIANS NEED TO SEE THAT THERE IS SOMETHING RATHER SHAMEFUL IN EXPECTING A THIRD PARTY TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE, TURKISH HISTORIAN THINKS

ArmInfo
2008-10-27 13:03:00

ArmInfo. ‘I think Turks and Armenians need to see that there
is something rather shameful in expecting a third party to solve
a problem that originates with us and needs to be resolved between
us. We own the problem.

We need to resolve it and we can’, – Turkish historian, Professor
Taner Akcham told ArmInfo correspondent when commenting on possible
recognition of the Armenian genocide by the candidate for US president
Barack Obama.

‘erhaps. Obama, like those who went before him, may forget the promise
he made. I would hope that he doesn’t forget because it would put
an end to this torturous relationship that Armenians and Turks have
endured.

Nevertheless, I don’t view Obama’s use of the word "genocide"
as working like some kind of charm, or being the source of a huge
resolution of the matter. Reagan had accepted and used the term also’,
– he concluded.

Would Kazakhstan Join the Group of the World’s Top 50 Competitors?

en.fondsk.ru
Eurasia
25.10.2008

Ale ksandr SHUSTOV

The recent report on global competitiveness in 2008-2009 downgrades
Kazakhstan;s position giving it a slot 6 points lower than in the
previous year. The fact is compelling enough for the researcher to take
another look at the goal the republic’s leadership set in 2006 of
Kazakhstan’s making it to the group of the world’s top 50 most
competitive countries by 20301.

Kazakhstan’s rating as a global competitor has in the last several
years been continuously deteriorating. In 2006-2007 the republic was in
slot 50, in 2007-2008 in slot 61, and in 2008-2009 in slot 66. Sharing
the upper half of the list along with Kazakhstan were Estonia (32),
Lithuania (44) and Russia (51). Placed in the lower half are Azerbaijan
(69), Ukraine (72), Georgia (90), Moldova (95), Armenia (97),
Tajikistan (116) and Kirghizia (122). The ratings were compiled for 133
countries. The Baltic countries and Kazakhstan that initially were in
the upper half of the list have dramatically worsened their positions,
whereas Russia’s last year’s rating of 58 was augmented to the 51st
place2.

Reports on global competitiveness are prepared by the World Economic
Forum (WEF), a Geneva-based independent organisation. The chief gauging
tool is the Index of global competitiveness, exclusively devised for
the WEF by Xavier Sala-i-Martin, a lecturer at the University of
Columbia, which comprises 12 parametres, including `Institute Quality’,
`Infrastructure’, Macroeconomic Stability’, `Public Health and Initial
Education’, `Higher Education and Professional Training’, `Efficiency
of the Goods and Services Markets’, `Efficiency of Labour Market’,
`Degree of Development of Financial Markets’, `Technological Level’,
`Market Size’, `Company Competitiveness’ and `Innovation Potential.’
All the indexes are united in three groups, namely `Basic
Requirements’, `Efficiency Factors’ and `Innovation Factors’ with
ratings of competitiveness calculated for each of the groups. The
ratings are based on official statistics and the results of interviews
with company managers3.

The index of global competitiveness is calculated based on a 7-point
scale. The overall estimate of Kazakhstan’s competitive performance in
2008 stands at 4.1 points. Kazakhstan’s most favourable section is
`Basic Requirements (4.3) and in particular its indices `Macroeconomic
Stability’ (4.9) as well as `Public Health and Primary Education’
(5.3). Aside from that the positive mark was given to ` Efficiency
Factors'(4.1), including `Labour market Efficiency’ (5.0), `Higher
Education and Professional Training’ (4.1), `Efficiency of Goods and
Services Markets’ (4.1) and `Market Size’ (4.1). The weakest elements
of Kazakhstan’s economy are innovations (3.2), the technological level
(3.2), infrastructure development (3.3), and development of
institutions (3.7), financial market (3.8) and the level of company
competitiveness (3.8). These were exactly the indices that
predetermined the decrease of Kazakhstan’s competitiveness compared to
the previous year.

On the whole the rating results reflect the pre-crisis state of
economy. Kazakhstan can be characterized as a country with a stable
macroeconomic situation, rather high human resource potential and
relatively developed consumer market, but with a low infrastructure and
institutional as well as the innovation technological level of
development and an inadequately competitive business. The report
compilers singled out the following factors that hinder the republic’s
economic development: corruption, tax regulation drawbacks, inflation,
the weight of tax burden and availability of financing. These
significantly mar the image of Kazakhstan’s `leopard’ that according to
the ideas of the country’s leaders was in a short period of time to
make a rush in economy and to catch up with the level of development of
such Asian `Tigers’ as Taiwan, Malaysia and South Korea4.

During the last 3 years instead of approaching its target of becoming
one of the top 50 most competitive countries in the world the republic
was steadily moving away from it.

The problems in Kazakhstan’s economy became evident as early as August
of 2007, when in the course of the U.S. mortgage crisis its banks lost
their access to inexpensive western credits that for a long time had
helped Kazakhstan to maintain high rates of economic growth. With
borrowing abroad becoming much more difficult resulted in a liquidity
crisis that did not take long to affect the financial and construction
sectors that were its locomotives of the growth of its GDP. With
average GDP in 2004 ` 2007 amounting to 10%, it was 37.5% in the
financial sector and 44.2% in the construction industry. This
phenomenal growth was financed by western credits that proved to be
less expensive than domestic ones. Starting from mid-2005 through the
early 2007 the volume of Kazakhstan’s banks’ borrowings abroad grew
from $800 million to $4.8 billion5.

When terms of granting western credits became more austere, the banks
were forced to decrease the volumes of financing of construction and
mortgage credits, which led to the slowing down of economic growth
rates. These rates went down to 5.1% in the first 6 months of 2008, or
50% of this index in 2007, when the growth rate was more than 10%6.

At the same time the banking crisis directly negatively affects one of
the chief indices of competitiveness ` macroeconomic stability that
previously was one of the basic advantages Kazakhstan enjoyed.

The second wind of the economic crisis that began in September of 2008
and this time had a global character, can affect Kazakhstan much more
negatively. Even a robust economy as Kazakhstan’s and its considerable
gold and hard currency reserves ($51.5 billion as of October 1, 2008)7,
the probability of further enhancement of the critical processes
remains rather high. According to analysts, the key role here could be
played by two major factors, the falling world oil prices whose
revenues had always been the collateral for the Kazakhstan authorities
to draw credits, and a poor grain crop that can result in shortages of
food stuffs. According to The Daily Telegraph , the chances of
Kazakhstan’s default, which similar to Iceland can seek a major credit
in Russia are about 70%8.

The crisis has already affected the outline of mid-term goals of the
government that according to president N.A.Nazarbayev should in
2009-2010 be `ensuring macroeconomic stability, social wealth and
modernisation of economy’9, as well as ensuring protection of revenues
and savings of the population.

The goal of becoming one of the top50 biggest competitor nations by
2030 is not yet on the agenda. In the conditions of the global
financial crisis whose scope is expected to be bigger than the Great
Depression of the 1930s Kazakhstan would rather address the issue of
economic survival rather than achieving important , but not at all
critical for most of the population, indices.

____________________
1 The Strategy of Kazakhstan’s Entry in the Number of the World’s Top
50 Most Competitive Countries. The Address of President of the Republic
of Kazakhstan N.A .Nazarbayev to the people of Kazakhstan. March,
2006.//Ak Orda. The official site of the president of the Republic of
Kazakhstan /
ww_akorda_kz.nsf/sections?OpenForm&id_doc=5D4 D3D423A0AB331462572340019E62
7&lang=ru&L1= L2&L2=L2-22

2 The Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009. World Economic Forum.
2008 /
_Reports/Reports/gcr_2007/gcr2007_rankings.pdf

3 USA, Switzerland, Denmark and Sweden top the list of the rating of
the World Economic Forum (the index of the global competitiveness.)
World Economic Forum. Ð?ÑеÑ?Ñ?-Ñ&#xD 0;µÐ»Ð¸Ð·. 2007. 31 окÑ?.
//

4 See: Nazarbayev N.A. Independence Strategy. Almaty, 2003. Pp.21-23

5 The Economics of Kazakhstan. A New Turn, Again! // International
Business Magazine KAZAKHSTAN. 2007. ?-4/

6 The GDP growth rates in Kazakhstan in the first 6 months amounted to
5.1% //Kazakhstan Today. Information Agency. 2008, July14. Kazakhstan’s
GDP growth rates went down by 50% in the first 6 months of the year.//
Ð?енÑ?Ð&#xB0 ;.ÑÑ?.2008. July 14. Quoted from:
NOMAD/

7 The speech of n.A.Nazarbayev, president of the Republic of Kazakhstan
at the extebded session of the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan
October 13, 2008. // AkOrda. The official site of the president of the
republic of Kazakhstan.
ns?OpenForm&id_doc=
A84F842492C1401C062574E1007CCEBB&lang=ru& L1=L2&L2=L2-15

8 Quoted from: I.Tsaregorodtseva. The Crisis Will Bring Russia Closer
to the CIS. Kazakhstan and Ukraine are Next on the List // RBC
Daily.Oct.15, 2008. ок/ 08/10/15/focus/385623

9 The speech of President of the RK N.A.Nazarbayev at the plenary
session of the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, October 13,
2008// AkOrda. The official site of the president of the Republic of
Kazakhstan /
ns?OpenForm&id_doc=
A84F842492C1401C062574E1007CCEBB&lang=ru& L1=L2&L2=L2-15

ARMENIA IS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT TURKISH-ARMENIAN RELATIONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.10.2008 14:42 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia is optimistic about Turkish-Armenian
relations, RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said on Thursday.

Armenia works for normalization of its relations with Turkey,
Nalbandian said in the Albanian capital of Tirana, where he attended
the Foreign Ministers meeting of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
(BSEC).

He said efforts are underway to open the border between Turkey
and Armenia and to establish diplomatic relations between the two
countries.

He said Turkish, Armenian and Azerbaijani officials, who held talks
in New York last month, might come together again. He added the
Caucasus Cooperation Platform, proposed by Turkey, was on the agenda
of the talks.

Such a platform would contribute to the stability and security in
the region, Nalbandian was quoted by the Anatolian Agency as saying.

Starting of a new process for the solution of the problems between
Turkey and Armenia was a remarkable effort for the stability of the
region, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan told reporters after
the meeting.

Babacan also said Turkey’s final goal is the normalization of its
relations with Armenia, as well as the relations between Azerbaijan
and Armenia.

Turkey and Armenia do not have diplomatic relations and the border
between the two countries is closed over the Karabakh issue.

A warmer period began between Turkey and Armenia, who for more than a
decade have not had any diplomatic relations, after Turkish President
Abdullah Gul paid a landmark visit to Armenia in early September.

ACCORDING TO KIRO MANOYAN, IT IS NO NEWS THAT ARF AND SERZH SARGSYAN HAVE SOME CONTRADICTIONS

Noyan Tapan
Oct 20, 2008

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 20, NOYAN TAPAN. "The ARF is against returning
the liberated territories to Azerbaijan," the head of the ARF
Dashnaktsutyun’s Hay Dat (Armenian Cause) and Political Affairs Office
Kiro Manoyan stated at the October 20 press conference. In his words,
the only way of solving the Karabakh problem is that Azerbaijan should
reconcile itself to the reality of losing Artsakh for ever. "Over 70
years, Azerbaijan enjoyed Karabakh – thanks to the USSR. After the
collapse of the USSR, it naturally lost Artsakh and should accept
this fact," K. Manoyan said.

According to him, it is no news that the ARF has some contradictions
with the president Serzh Sargsyan regarding the settlement of
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, in particular, the return of the
territories. In response to the question about the ARF’s attitude to
the statement that S. Sargsyan made at one time, saying that Agdam
is not an Armenian land, K. Manoyan noted that during a talk with
ARF members, S. Sargsyan denied making such an expression.

When answering the question about why the ARF is kept in the
coalition while it has differences with both the partner parties and
the president over the issues of Armenian-Turkish relations and the
Karabakh conflict’s settlement, K. Manoyan said: "The opportunity to
convince our partners and influence them keeps us in the coalition". He
added that when the ARF no longer has an influence on the other forces
making up the authorities, it will leave the coalition.

RUSSIA NOT INTERESTED IN RESOLUTION OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT BY MILITARY MEANS: PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA’S NATIONAL STRATEGY INSTITUTE

TREND Information
23.10.08 10:30
Azerbaijan

Mikhail Remizov, President of Russia’s National Strategy Institute
especially for TrendNews

Russia’s motives in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
are evident. Though it does not affect Moscow as in case of Georgia’s
conflicts with its former autonomies, it is of great significance for
Kremlin as it restricts geopolitical opportunities in the region and
it creates zone of vulnerability.

Armenia is Russia’s ally in the Collective Security Treaty Organization
(CSTO). If serious military actions begin and Russia finds formal
excuse refusing to help, not acting as a guarantee of security for
its ally, it will deal a serious blow to the image of CSTO and will
cast doubts over the core of ally ties with Russia. On the other hand,
Russia is very important partner of Azerbaijan. Russia does not want
to harm relations with Azerbaijan because of Karabakh problem.

Therefore, Russia is not interested the resolution of the conflict
by military means. Now it is more likely to happen. Azerbaijan has
lost its patience and more and more statements are made about the
necessity to solve the problem.

The other regional players can be interested in the escalation of the
conflict. Russia’s real aim is to prevent it. It does not mean that
the conflict will be settled. I do not believe in the resolution of
such land disputes that will satisfy both sides.

Certain political pragmatism could recommend Azerbaijan and Armenia
certain moderateness in this issue. Karabakh factor is ballast for both
sides in international policy. As a dynamically developing regional
power with a good potential, Azerbaijan does not need to spend energy
on the dead-end military conflict. Though Azerbaijan’s economic and
military potential is high, Nagorno-Karabakh has strong mobilized
potential given the number of the Armenians all over the world,
psychological readiness and opportunities of the Armenian diaspora.

Armenia is in geographic isolation, especially after Russia-Georgia
conflict. Armenia-Turkey relations are closely linked with the
Nagorno-Karabakh problem and Yerevan must solve this problem in order
to restore relations with Turkey. This would be favorable for both
parties. But the sides will hardly move towards each other. Therefore,
the best thing to do is to maintain status quo and to prevent next
struggle from sparking off.

The experience of Trans-Dniester conflict showed that Russia fails to
replace format of peacekeeping groups. At that time, Moscow could not
remove EU and US out of brackets. Furthermore, US is an important
player for Armenia and Azerbaijan on the equal level. Therefore,
main point is not to exclude US from the peacekeeping process, but to
prevent possible freezing of conflicts in the region. I feel America,
as an out-of-region player, considers any result of freezing of the
conflict acceptable for itself. At any case, it will mean to increase
zone of vulnerability of Azerbaijan and Armenia and strengthening
America’s stakes in the region.

Opinions expressed in this article may be different of those held by
Trend News

STRATEGIC DEFENSE COORDINATION COMMITTEE ESTABLISHED IN ARMENIA

WPS Agency
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
October 15, 2008 Wednesday
Russia

The Armenian National Security Council discussed results of command
post exercise Frontier’2008 of the CIS Collective Security Treaty
Organization and the condition of the republican judicial system,
National Security Council Secretary, Arthur Bagdasarjan, said.

According to Bagdasarjan, the National Security Committee appraised
the exercise and performance of the involved assets as successful
but recognized existence of certain shortcomings that warranted a
discussion and correction.

"President Serj Sarkisjan ordered the establishment of the
interdepartmental Strategic Defense Coordination Committee to carry out
reforms in this sphere," Bagdasarjan said. "Now that Frontier’2008 is
over, we will concentrate on the reforms in the sphere of conscription
and civil defense."

TURKEY WINS SEAT ON UN SECURITY COUNCIL
by Dragana IgnjatoviÄ

World Markets Research Centre
Global Insight
October 20, 2008

On Friday (17 October), Turkey, along with Austria, Japan, Uganda,
and Mexico, was awarded one of the five rotating seats on the
15-seat United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the 2009 and 2010
sessions. Turkey won 151 votes in the General Assembly vote, easily
surpassing the two-thirds majority (128 votes) required in the 192-seat
assembly, gaining a non-permanent seat on the UNSC’s Western European
and Others Group. Turkey, which last held a seat on the UNSC in 1961,
will take its seat on 1 January 2009.

Significance:Turkey’s victory is a significant coup for Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo an and his government, as they have been
intensely lobbying for the privilege since July 2003. Opposition
leader Deniz Baykal even put aside his Republican People’s Party
(CHP)’s contentious relationship with the government to commend
the success. The UNSC is the main decision-making centre of the
international organisation, having the power to impose sanctions and
dispatch peace-keepers. Turkey’s seat on the UNSC could place the
country in a potentially difficult position, especially if it is asked
to vote on issues close to home, such as putting Iran under sanctions
over its nuclear programme. Nevertheless, Turkey has made a concerted
effort in recent years to maintain and improve relations with its
neighbours in a bid to win the seat, making it adept at navigating
the "middle path." As a result, Turkey has become an increasingly
active participant in the Middle East, thawing its relations with
Armenia, supporting efforts to find a solution to the Cyprus issue,
and mediating between Syria and Israel. It is likely that Turkey’s
two years on the UNSC will be used to perfect its skills at mediating
between contending parties.

–Boundary_(ID_6JdQ9+9MOVLglZY0h0oPRg)–

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT LAYS A WREATH TO THE MEMORIAL TO THE VICTIMS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

ArmInfo
2008-10-21 12:06:00

ArmInfo. Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev has laid a wreath to the
Memorial to the victims of Armenian genocide at Tsitsernakaberd. He
also visited Institute-museum of the Armenian genocide and wrote a
message in the book for the honored guests: . Dmitriy Medvedev also
planted a fir tree in the alley near the trees planted by Vladimir
Putin and the British Baroness Caroline Cox. Dmitriy Medvedev was
accompanied by Armenian foreign minister Edward Nalbandyan and director
of the Institute-museum Hayk Demoyan. To recall, Russian State Duma
adopted a resolution on the Armenian genocide recognition.