ARMENIAN AND AZERI CHESS PLAYERS IN THE SAME TEAM
A1+
[08:42 pm] 02 May, 2007
Armenian Grand Master Vladimir Hakobyan, will henceforth play in the
Russian team "Ural." Azeri GM Temur Rajabov will also play in the team.
According to specialists, "Ural" is presently the strongest team in
Russia and it has a real chance to become the country’s champion.
Alexandre Grishchuk, Vladimir Malakhov, Vadim Zvaytsigev, Alexander
Motilyov, Constantine Sakayev and Aleksey Shirov also play in the team.
ATOM EGOYAN S’INTERROGE SUR LE SENS DES IMAGES
Par EmmanuÈle Frois
Le Figaro, France
02 mai 2007
DANS ses films, Atom Egoyan s’interroge sur l’identite, le souvenir,
la memoire, le deuil, la perte, la transmission du trauma, la famille,
le pouvoir de l’image dans la societe contemporaine. La retrospective
que lui consacre le Centre Pompidou permet d’aller au coeur meme
de son oeuvre complète : onze longs-metrages, des courts-metrages,
films experimentaux, series teles. Le cineaste est passionnant,
l’homme attachant et sympathique. Dès son premier film, Next of Kin,
en 1985, Atom Egoyan met en scène la notion de perte d’identite et
le desir de s’en creer une nouvelle avec l’histoire d’un jeune homme
adopte par des refugies armeniens. Il a appris, grâce a une video
enregistree pendant une seance de psychotherapie, que ce couple avait
dû abandonner son enfant.
"Ce qui etait fascinant dans les annees 1980, c’est que la video
venait juste d’entrer dans les foyers , confie le realisateur. Dans
mes films suivants, cette nouvelle technologie donnait l’illusion
aux personnages qu’elle apporterait un certain reconfort a leur
cerveau perturbe. En fait, elle les tourmentait, les torturait. "
Atom Egoyan, Canadien d’origine armenienne, est ne au Caire en 1960
et a ete eleve en Colombie-Britannique. " Je ne suis jamais alle
dans une ecole de cinema, avoue-t-il. Autodidacte, j’ai essaye de
comprendre peu a peu la grammaire cinematographique. En 1987, avec
Family Viewing, un dispositif d’ecrans et de cameras prenait la place
de la mère absente du jeune heros. J’avais ete très influence par
Rivette qui, dans L’Amour fou, utilisait le 16 millimètres et le 35
millimètres. Dans mes premiers films, Bresson m’a egalement inspire,
mes personnages avaient une presence fantomatique. " Le realisateur
ne s’interrogera vraiment sur ses racines armeniennes qu’a 18 ans. "
Mes parents qui etaient nes en Egypte, avaient cree une nouvelle vie
au Canada et ils etaient complètement assimiles. C’est lorsque j’ai
demenage a Toronto que j’ai rencontre un groupe d’etudiants armeniens
engages et activistes. J’ai decouvert le genocide en detail, le deni
de la Turquie, la memoire effacee… Les parents de mon père etaient
des orphelins du genocide. Mon grand-père n’en parlait jamais. Ma
grand-mère se souvenait seulement d’une chanson que chantait sa mère,
Reve, et que j’ai glissee dans Ararat. " Avec ce film sorti en 2002,
Egoyan evoque les consequences du genocide sur plusieurs generations
a travers l’histoire d’un cineaste d’origine armenienne qui doit
tourner un film sur le siège de la ville de Van, en 1915. " J’ ai
tente de montrer comment la geste epique ne peut etre le lieu de la
reconciliation. Elle doit se faire de facon individuelle. J’ai des
contacts avec des intellectuels turcs et des artistes. Et je suis
rempli d’espoir. Je crois au pouvoir de l’imagination et non au
politique. En juin a Toronto, je realise une exposition avec Kutluj
Ataman. Nous travaillons sur une installation qui porte sur la notion
de temoignage. " Miroir de la conscience Toujours dans le cadre de
cette retrospective, on pourra decouvrir ce jeudi Citadel, film recent
et inedit. " J’ai imagine une lettre a mon fils qu’il pourra voir dans
dix ans. " Atom Egoyan a filme avec sa camera digitale le retour de
son epouse et actrice fetiche, Arsinee Khanjian, a Beyrouth, la ville
où elle est nee et où elle a grandi jusqu’a ce que la guerre civile ne
l’oblige a quitter le Liban pour le Canada. " Elle y retournait pour
la première fois depuis vingt-huit ans. En voix off, j’explique a notre
fils, Arshile, l’histoire de ses parents. Il y a une vraie construction
dramatique meme s’il s’agit d’un journal." Son obsession autour de
l’image, instrument et miroir de la conscience, ne l’a jamais quitte. "
En 1992, il y avait eu un debat fort interessant entre les philosophes
Paul Virilio et Jean Baudrillard sur la nature de l’image. Baudrillard
pensait que l’image etait devenue un simulacre de la realite alors
que Virilio disait qu’elle etait la realite. Et mon travail etait
un peu au centre de ces echanges. " Sur ce thème, le Centre Pompidou
propose egalement des Lettres video qui furent echangees entre Paul
Virilio et Atom Egoyan. Mais, finalement, de quelle facon son cinema
va-t-il evoluer ? " Mon prochain film, Adoration , que je tourne
cet ete, parle d’adolescents qui communiquent sur Internet en se
creant de fausses identites. Il n’y a plus rien d’etrange a ce sujet,
rien de force ou d’artificiel, c’est devenu leur quotidien. Ce drame
explore ce territoire qui est devenu complètement naturel pour cette
nouvelle generation. Mais finalement, la vraie question du futur est
celle-ci : jusqu’a quand regarderons-nous des visages humains projetes
sur grand ecran ? Pour le 60 e anniversaire du Festival de Cannes,
Gilles Jacob a demande a des cineastes de plancher sur le thème de
la salle de cinema. Avec mon court-metrage de trois minutes, Artaud
Doble Bill, je tente une reponse. Antonin Artaud apparaît dans la
Jeanne d’Arc de Dreyer. Un spectateur en train de voir ce film essaye
de transmettre, de traduire cette experience a un ami absent. "
"L’Essentiel d’Egoyan", coffret 8 DVD aux Edition ARP Selection,
distribution TF1 video, 70 eur. Retrospective au Centre Pompidou,
du 3 mai au 4 juin.
–Boundary_(ID_ i+iBy5Wz35ZklQx1+x3g9Q)–
CBA BOARD LEAVES REFINANCING INTEREST RATE UNCHAGED – 4.5%
Noyan Tapan
May 02 2007
YEREVAN, MAY 2, NOYAN TAPAN. By the May 2 decision, the Board of the
Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) left the CBA refinancing interest rate
unchanged – setting it at 4.5%. NT was informed about it from the
CBA press service.
According to the same source, 0.1% inflation was registered in April
2007 on the previous month, in connection with which the 12-month
inflation made 4.2%, which is lower by one percentage point than the
same index in early 2007.
Discussing the macroeconomic environment developments in the first
quarter of 2007, as well as taking into account the low inflation
index in April, the CBA Board stated that inflation pressures from the
external sector remain mild as compared with last year (despite higher
international prices of oil products than was expected), while gross
demand developments do not pose a danger of extra inflation pressures.
The CBA Board also stated that in case of availability of new
information about economic development tendencies in the coming months,
the Board does not rule out the possibility of correcting interest
rates in the future.
ARMENIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT DROPS OUT OF PARLIAMENTARY RACE
ARMENPRESS
Apr 30 2007
YEREVAN, APRIL 30, ARMENPRESS: The former ruling Armenian National
Movement (ANM) of ex-president Levon Ter-Petrosian dropped out of the
race for May 12 parliamentary elections after the country’s Central
Election Commission (CEC) convened on April 29 to consider and approve
its application asking to invalidate its previous registration.
The party’s list of candidates for proportional elections was led
by its current chairman Ararat Zurabian. The list had altogether 70
names. However, several members of the party will be contesting the
elections under the majoritarian election system in single-mandate
constituencies.
The CEC declined also an application from Assyrian organization
‘Atur,’ which sought a permission to observe the May 12 elections,
on grounds that the organization’s regulations do not provide for it.
The CEC said it also decided that the names of the parties contesting
the polls must be printed on ballots in capital letters. CEC chairman
Garegin Azarian said the suggestion was made by the justice ministry
on grounds that the names of parties are registered with its registry
in capital letters.
Azarian said an opposition alliance bearing the English-language
Impeachment name did not agree and only the first letter of its name
will be in capital letter.
THE "DEMOCRATIC WAY" PARTY HOPES TO RECEIVE 7-15% OF THE VOTES
ArmRadio.am
30.04.2007 15:34
During the upcoming parliamentary elections, the "Democratic Way"
(DWP) hopes to gain 7-15% of the electors’ votes, leader of the party
Manuk Gasparyan stated in Yerevan today.
Manuk Gasparyan stated that they are ready to accept their failure
in case they lose in free and democratic elections.
"But if the election results are falsified, our party will appear
in the first lines of the barricades, and after May 13, I will not
return home, until the authorities are gone," Manuk Gasparyan stated.
The DWP is not a pro-Russian or a pro-US force, Manuk Gasparyan
stressed, criticizing the authorities of the USA and Russia, which
hold, according to him, "an evidently anti-Armenian policy." He
described as intolerable the interference of external forces in the
domestic political processes of Armenia, noting that "in case of need,
we will solve our problems ourselves."
The leader of the "Democratic Way" Party stated that he is not going
to run for President in 2008. According to him, the "Democratic Way"
will, most likely, support the candidate of the political force,
which gains the most of votes during the parliamentary elections
of May 12. The only exception, according to Mr. Gasparyan, is the
Chairman of the Council of the Republican Party of Armenia, Prime
Minister Serge Sargsyan.
E-TICKETS S7 AIRLINES ARE ON SALE
Arminfo
2007-04-26 13:20:00
After a test period, the S7 Airlines Air Company has started operation
of the modern technology of e-ticket sale.
As the Company’s press-service told ArmInfo, this method of the air
ticket purchase, offered by all the leading air companies of the world,
is the most popular in Europe and America and the most convenient for
the passengers today. Thus, 567 e-tickets were registered within the
last 5 days (April 20-24) through the site , that makes up
8,4% of the number of air tickets, having been sold over this period
through Internet. "On April 12, the passengers acquired the first
e-tickets for the S7 Airlines flights. This is an important step for
the development of the Russian civil aviation and achievement of the
world passenger service standards", Director General of "Sibir" Air
Company OJSC Vladislav Filiov said. "The implementation of e-ticket
in S7 Airlines was preceded by more than a year’s preparation of
many services of the Air Company and the work with the airports. Now,
the passengers of S7 can buy the tickets just as millions of people
do in other countries", V. Filiov said.
Today, the e-tickets are available for the passengers of S7 to fly
to the dozens of Russian cities, that is the main difference of S7
Airlines from another Russian carriers. The e-ticket is accepted for
all the own flights of S7 Airlines which are carried from Moscow
(Domodedovo), Novosibirsk (Tolmachiovo), Irkutsk, Vladivostok,
Cheliabinsk and the German cities. Only the internal flights are
presently served in Perm, the e-ticket is available in many other
directions, including the flights to CIS countries.
The S7 Airlines company turns the e-ticket from a novelty into a
customary element of comfort for all the passengers of S7. The key
advantages of the e-ticket are as follows: first, much time is saved
during purchase, second, the e-ticket is stored in the electron
form, thus, it cannot be forgotten, lost or stolen. After the e-
ticket purchase, it is always possible to change the flight details
via a 24-hour support service by phone 8(800)200-000-7, or in the
Sales Office of S7 Airlines. Third, registration for the flight with
e-ticket is always simple and takes minimum time.
The details on the advantages of using the new technology, the list
of directions the registered e-tickets are available in the "Electron
Ticket" section.
S7 Airlines company is the biggest Air Company in the internal air
lines of Russia, and it is in TOP-50 of the world air-carriers in
this segment. The S7 takes the second place among the Russian air
companies by the total number of passengers transported. In 2006,
the Company carried out over 40,000 flights and transported 4,9 mln
passengers and over 28,000 tons of cargo and mail. The air park of
S7 consists of 62 airliners Airbus A310, A319, Boeing 737-500/400,
Il-86 and Ty-154M.
ROBERT KOCHARYAN: STRONG, DEMOCRATIC ARMENIA MUST BE RESPONSE TO ORGANIZERS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Arka News Agency, Armenia
April 25 2007
YEREVAN, April 25. /ARKA/. Strong and democratic Armenia must become
the Armenian people’s response to the organizers and perpetrators
of the Armenian Genocide, RA President Robert Kocharyan stated on
the occasion of the 92nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in the
Ottoman Empire.
"Every year we revere the memory of the innocent victims of the
Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey. However, the memory of that
heinous crime has always been in our hearts," says the President’s
message.
Together with the Armenian people, this day is commemorated in many
countries of the world.
"The international community has come to realize that the Genocide
is a crime not only against one people, but also against the entire
humankind. Denial and concealment of this crime are as dangerous as
organization and perpetration," Kocharyan said.
According to the Armenian President, hardships and the sense
of injustice are uniting. "The Genocide made Armenians unite,
strengthened their feeling of identity and aspiration for independent
statehood. The Republic of Armenia, as a realization of all the
Armenians’ centuries-old dream, must develop as homeland for all
Armenians," Kocharyan said.
The RA President, accompanied by his wife Bella Kocharyan, laid a
wreath to the Memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915.
The Armenian Genocide was the first genocide in the 20th century
organized by the Government of Young Turks in 1915-1923. The
recognition of the Armenian Genocide is of principal importance for
the entire Armenian people, for the Genocide was aimed at doing away
with the Armenian Cause.
The Armenian Genocide has been officially recognized by a number of
countries, 40 US states, as well as a number of foreign Parliaments.
The best representatives of the world’s intelligentsia raised their
voice in support of the Armenian people.
The international community is now more active is expressing its
indignation over the crime against the Armenian people. Politicians
and intellectuals state that timely denouncement of the Armenian
Genocide would have prevented such tragedies as the Jewish Holocaust,
genocides in Cambodia, Sudan and Rwanda.
TURKS PROTEST AGAINST ABDULLAH GUL’S CANDIDATURE FOR PRESIDENTIAL POST
PanARMENIAN.Net
25.04.2007 17:38 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On April 24 protest actions were held in Ankara
against Abdullah Gul’s candidature for the presidential post of
Turkey. Protesters carrying portraits of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
gathered near Chankaya palace, the presidential residence. They
chanted "We want a president loyal to Ataturk’s principles". Drivers
passing by signaled expressing their support to protesters. The first
group of protesters dispersed after warnings of police, after which
another group of protesters gathered near Chankaya. Representatives
of non-governmental organizations also expressed their support for
secular system in Turkey. 14 activists have been detained.
Protesting against actions of riot police some participants of
demonstration chanted, "If it is a crime to hold the banner of Turkey,
arrest us!"
Another group of people in Kugulu Park chanted slogans like "Ways of
Chankaya are closed for shariat!" One more protest was held in the
Golden Crescent Square, where people chanted slogans against the
ruling Justice and Development party, Abdullah Gul and the United
States. Protesters who lined up in front of cordons of riot police
stated that Gul’s candidature does not meet the will of people and
it may increase tension in the society, APA reports.
On April 24 Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan offered Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul’s candidature for the presidential post from
Justice and Development party.
NEEDED: A FOCUSED, REALISTIC A.S. RESOLUTION
By Matthew L’Heureux
University of California, San Diego
The UCSD Guardian Online, CA
April 23 2007
April 23, 2007 – My eight quarters at UCSD have given me many things:
triumphs and successes, sleepless nights and headaches and perhaps
most importantly of all, the ability to witness numerous occasions of
unadulterated impracticality. As you may or may not find surprising,
many of those moments were spent behind my laptop in Price Center
Ballroom A, also known as the site of my year-and-a-quarter stint as
the A.S. Council beat writer.
A large part of my oft-thrilling job entailed sitting at council
meetings every Wednesday night to observe the highlights (and
lowlights) of our student government’s performance. While I don’t
deny that the council as an entity has done its fair share of
productive things over the years, there was always one particular
agenda item that habitually left me scratching my head and looking at
my watch: the generally well-meaning, but often misguided,
resolution.
For those unfamiliar with the concept of a resolution, it is a
nonbinding statement designed to communicate the council’s opinion on
an issue. In the last two years, the council has passed a whopping 30
of them, ranging in topics from the campus’s automated course
waitlist program, the proposed off-campus Hillel Center, national
immigration policy and – my favorite – a resolution to ban A.S.
President Harry Khanna from the Web site Facebook.com. (Seriously.)
However well-intentioned, most of these resolutions effectively fall
flat almost immediately after their passage – either the subjects
are too lofty to have an easy solution, or the sheer nightmare of
bureaucracy leads to nothing but bickering and wasted time.
Most recently, the council voted on April 18 to pass a resolution
offering condolences to families of the victims from the Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University shootings. After debate
about semantics led to a failed proposal to postpone the resolution
for a week, the meeting broke for a 30-minute recess.
This wouldn’t be the first time.
A little more than a year ago, the outgoing council debated
a resolution in support of establishing April 24 as a day of
remembrance for victims of genocide in Armenia. The stage was set
for what seemed to be an easy vote, with a passionate, knowledgeable
speaker explaining how his organization desired the council’s help
to honor all his countrymen who had died.
Now I’ll be the first to admit that, at the time, I knew next to
nothing about this incident and what I did know was vague and sketchy
(thanks, Making of the Modern World). So, I was not particularly
surprised when several councilmembers commented that they did not
feel prepared enough to vote on such a heated topic. However, this
argument quickly merged with the idea that it was not the council’s
place to make sweeping social generalizations, and that any such
undertaking would ultimately be pointless and ineffective.
Many councilmembers then began to ponder the body’s true purpose.
Some senators said that the council’s purpose is to be a body of action
on behalf of students, which should focus on student issues that it
can feasibly solve. Had I not been forced to hide behind my shield
of impartiality, I’d have been right there with the senators snapping
their fingers in agreement – the issue was not about what a government
would like to do, but understanding the limitations of what it can do.
No one in the room debated the horror of genocide or the
reprehensibility of its perpetuators. Similarly, I’m confident that
no one believed expressing condolences to grieving families was an
unworthy undertaking. But with UCSD’s student government structured
the way it is, resolutions have proven to have a mixed success rate –
often making the council appear weaker than it really is because some
of its rallying cries can realistically accomplish little.
In looking back at the resolutions of the past two years, only a
moderate percentage of them appear to have had any direct effect on
campus (or governmental) policy. Though the council advocated for
them, students lack complete control of their Student-Run Television
station, a problem-free course waitlist system, freedom from excessive
fee hikes, the Hillel Center and certainly a "just and comprehensive"
national immigration policy. As for Khanna and his Facebook addiction,
don’t be fooled – he’s online right now as I sit here writing this
column. None of this can be blamed on the A.S. Council, however,
because these were never problems that the council could actually do
anything about.
In fact, when resolutions pertain to UCSD directly, they seem to have
a much higher success rate – council support for the Office of Academic
Support and Instructional Services last year undoubtedly played a role
in garnering financial backing for the program when it faced severe
budget cuts. Similarly, a resolution encouraging the university to
provide fair trade products on campus might very well have impacted
Housing and Dining Services’ decision to offer fair-trade coffee
options. The problem with resolutions, therefore, is a simple one –
in order for them to be effective, the council must have a realistic
idea of what it can accomplish, and put its time and resources into
those particular projects.
The council recently received a wake-up call through unexpected
student support for Revelle College senior and former independent
presidential candidate Junaid Fatehi, perhaps the only candidate to
openly admit he didn’t want the position for which he was running.
Fatehi, who scorned councilmembers as mere figureheads who make empty
promises, only reinforced the idea that superfluous resolutions fail
to do the council any good. When 388 students vote for a presidential
candidate who urinates on Round Table Pizza’s wall at the announcement
of election returns, it makes a statement (however limited) about
student confidence in their own government. By attempting to solve
more problems than it has the power to change, the council shifts the
focus away from all that it is accomplishing, and dwells on what it
simply has no control over.
My advice to our esteemed leaders, from the perspective of a moderately
informed observer: If you must make a resolution, stick to the realm
of possibility and keep in mind the fine line between being politically
responsible and shooting for the moon.
KIRO MANOYAN: MANY TIMES THE US HAS CONFIRMED ITS RECOGNITION OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
ArmRadio.am
23.04.2007 16:06
The inclusion of the issue of recognition of the 1915 Armenian
Genocide in the foreign policy agenda of Armenia has strengthened
Armenian diplomacy and increased the number of countries recognizing
the fact of the Armenian Genocide, Head of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (ARF) Bureau’s Hay Dat and Political Affairs Office Kiro
Manoyan declared in Yerevan today. In his words, today the Armenian
authorities are aspiring to have Turkey recognize the Genocide not
only as a historic fact, but also as an acceptance of their guilt
and responsibility before the Armenian nation.
Kiro Manoyan said the US has many times reconfirmed its stance on the
Genocide. In his opinion, it took place in 1973, 1984 and 1993. Today
the question is on a completely different level – the recognition of
the Armenian Genocide is a fact, and the Congress simply demands from
the President to replace the expression "the tragic events of 1915"
with the word "genocide."
ARF representative expressed the opinion that "Turkey itself has
raised a noise around the House resolution, thus attaching importance
to the document and promoting the activity of the Armenian lobby."
In Kiro Manoyan’s words, the threats of the Turkish authorities to
the United States are common blackmail, since Turkey needs US support
and it will hardly undertake extremist steps against the United States.
Manoyan mentioned also that the opening of the Armenian-Turkish
border cannot be viewed as a reimbursement on the part of Turkey,
and the parties should negotiate the return of territories.