Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

ARMENIAN CHURCH WINS LAWSUIT AGAINST ISTANBUL CITY HALL

news.am
April 16, 2012 | 10:57

ISTANBUL. – A Turkish court ruled in favor of the claim which the
foundation of St. Nigoghayos Armenian Church of Istanbul’s Beykoz
district had submitted against the City Hall. The foundation had
filed a lawsuit demanding that the City Hall return the 37,500-m2
area belonging to the Church.

The foundation’s chairman Varujan Maghatyan noted they awaited this
court decision for long years, Sabah daily of Turkey informs.

“The Istanbul City Hall will appeal this court verdict, but we believe
the appellate decision will again be in our favor,” Maghatyan said.

From: Baghdasarian

FAREWELL TO PROSECUTOR GENERAL?
HAKOB BADALYAN

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 10:38:42 – 16/04/2012

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev awarded the Prosecutor General of
Armenia Aghvan Hovsepyan for his contribution to the Armenian-Russian
cooperation for strengthening the legal system and legitimacy.

This pre-election award to Hovsepyan is interesting, since the election
campaign is underway in Armenia. The point is that the likelihood
of election fraud is big, the importance of the Prosecutor General
increases.

What does Russia expect from the Prosecutor General in this period
of awarding him the election gift? Does it expect impartiality,
principled approach or the contrary?

Presumably, a lot of things are expected but it is a fact that Russia
is going to establish “direct contact” with the Prosecutor General
both before and after the elections bypassing the government system
and in particular the president.

Apparently, Russia has some issues with the president’s office in
terms of control and scenario of the election and does not trust Serzh
Sargsyan. Most probably, Russia suspects that Western influence on
the upcoming election will be bigger, and the course of developments
will be more consistent with the Western plans and ideas, expectations
both in the political and value sense.

Apparently, Russia feels to lack levers hence it decided to fill the
gap by way of establishment of “direct contact” with the Prosecutor’s
office, trying to gain levers of influence on Serzh Sargsyan and on
the election process.

It is not ruled out that Moscow is just trying to keep up with the
U.S. which has been providing technical and financial assistance to
the Prosecutor’s office of Armenia and apparently Russia feels weaker
in this direction, trying to reinforce its positions and prevent
retreat. But it is still interesting that this is happening in the
election period.

It is also possible that we deal with strategic fight for the
important institution of the Prosecutor’s Office. Apparently, after
the parliamentary elections the process of formation of the new
government will pose before the Prosecutor General the issue which
will be attentively followed by the political figures and poles
of Armenia, as well as by the geopolitical centers. In this case,
Moscow is showing interest by hinting that it trusts Aghvan Hovsepyan
as Prosecutor General.

Although there is no need to rule out that the award is Moscow’s
farewell to Aghvan Hovsepyan since usually such awards reveal certain
vectors of activities when activities become ineffective or lacking
prospect.

From: Baghdasarian

PRESS RELEASE
The Civilitas Foundation
One Northern Avenue, suit 30
Yerevan, Armenia
Tel: +37410500119
Email: [email protected]
Web:

Armenia’s politics are tough to understand. Armenia’s elections are
even tougher.

The parliamentary election campaign season is a mere 28 days and

1074 people are fighting for 131 seats.

[1]CivilNet.am will try to make the process understandable. You can
follow all the candidates in one district, or [2]the daily roundup of
who-said-what. You can see what [3]the organizations that are
following the elections are doing in the run-up to elections.

Or, you can attend or watch debates.[4] The first one was held last
Wednesday, with four of nine parties sending representatives. This
Wednesday, is the second of four debates. We think more parties will
participate. Attend if you can. Watch the livestream if you can. Or
watch the entire debate later the same day, here at
[5]Civilnet.am. These debates are held with the support of the US
Agency for International Development and Counterpart International
Armenia. They also enjoy the support of the Norwegian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs. I say all this not just to say thank you to them all,
but also to stress the importance of providing such forums for the
candidates to speak to the people. Parliamentary campaigns have never
seen debates before and

we’re proud to be able to host them.

Finally, besides the daily election round-up, at the end of each week,
there will be a rare, special look at the craziness (yes, the
craziness) of the week before.

The first week’s round-up can be seen [6]here.

Don’t miss it.

Discussion is moderated by

Aram Abrahamyan

Editor-in-Chief of Aravot Daily

The event will take place at the
Ani Plaza Hotel Yerevan, Ani Hall,
on Wednesday, April 18 at 2 p.m.
To confirm your participation,
please call 010 500-119.
Number of places is limited.

From: Baghdasarian

SITUATION CONCERNING IRAN DOES NOT AFFECT RUSSIA’S REGIONAL PRESENCE – ARMENIAN PM

news.am
April 17, 2012 | 11:13

In connection with the aggravating situation around Iran, Armenia is
not initiating any additional measure to strengthen Russia’s regional
presence, Armenia’s PM Tigran Sargsyan stated in an interview with
the Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily of Russia.

“I believe the CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organization]
is working very effectively, and it considers all the political
realities,” the PM said.

Tigran Sargsyan recalled that today around twenty percent of Armenia’s
trade circulation is carried out via Iran.

“This means, in case of a conflict, problems would arise in supplies
and in export via the Islamic Republic. We have a [natural] gas
pipeline, high voltage cables. We have visits by Iranian tourists,
investments, an Iranian Bank.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION SUPPORTER ZARAQOLU RECEIVES AN AWARD IN ANKARA

ARMENPRESS
APRIL 17, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, APRIL 17, ARMENPRESS: Ragıp Zarakolu, who had previously
recognized Armenian Genocide, was honored with the “Struggle against
discrimination” award of Ankara University, Armenpress reports,
citing Armenian “Akos” newspaper.

Zarakolu recently announced that he will not speak to the Turkish media
any more since human rights are violated in the country. Esma Yilmaz ,
a student of Ankara University, having read aloud the letter of the
Turkish intellectual, answered the latter with the following words:
“We won’t forget anything”.

Zarakolu, keeping his word, was not present at the award-giving
ceremony. The award was received by his sister.

From: Baghdasarian

The New York Times Blogs
(IHT Rendezvous)
April14, 2012 Saturday

Ripples on the Surface of Easter

by HARVEY MORRIS

As Orthodox Christians the world over celebrate Easter this weekend,
there are tensions within the Eastern Churches over religion and
politics and the relationship with other faiths.

ISTANBUL – A happy Easter to all our Orthodox readers.

The Catholic Church and the Protestant denominations celebrated the
most solemn Christian festival last week. But, by the impenetrable
astronomical calculations that govern this moveable feast, the
Orthodox Easter falls on Sunday, April 15.

>From Addis Ababa to Athens and from Moscow to Jerusalem, devotees of
Eastern Christianity will be observing the festival of the
resurrection with celebrations and, one hopes, without fisticuffs at
the traditional site of Christ’s tomb.

The Easter Saturday ceremony at the Church of theHoly Sepulcherin
Jerusalem sometimes gets out of hand when the Greek and Armenian
Patriarchs, sealed up together in the gloomy tomb, struggle to be the
first to extract the Holy Fire.

Thismiraculous manifestationof the Holy Spirit, according to
believers – skeptics say the prelates enter with matches or a lighter
– is then used to light thousands of candles in the teeming and
cavernous church.

The ancient ceremony often leads to scuffles among the thousands
crammed inside in which Greek Orthodox Palestinians, Armenians and
Syriacs usually take the lead.

These millenarian rivalries are not the only tensions within the
Orthodox Church, which predominates in Russia and the Balkans and
among the Christians of the Middle East.

The Patriarch of Constantinople (Istanbul), the spiritual leader of
the world’s Orthodox Christians, stepped into adispute within the
Greek Churchbefore Easter over a statement by one of its leading
clerics, Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus.

The offending Greek divine delivered an “anathema” in March against
the Pope, Protestants, Jews, Muslims and those who seek greater
dialogue among the world’s religions.

He thundered against the “fallen arch-heretic,” Pope Benedict XVI, and
“all heretical offshoots of the Reformation.” He also attacked “rabbis
of Judaism and Islamists,” and “those who preach and teach the
pan-heresy of inter-Christian and inter-religious syncretistic
ecumenism.”

The Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, wrote to Archbishop
Ieronymos of Athens and All-Greece, to express concern that “such
opinions evoke anguish and sorrow by running counter to the Orthodox
ethos.”

He wrote: “They risk unforeseen consequences for church unity in
general, and the unity of our holy Orthodox church in particular.”

Seraphim of Piraeus is not the only Orthodox prelate under pressure
these days. A number of scandals are enveloping the Russian Orthodox
Church, a frequent target of allegations of corruption and involvement
in politics.

In thestrange case of the missing watch, on which Michael Schwirtz
and Robert Mackey reported over at The Lede blog, the Russian Church
admitted this month to doctoring a photograph on its Web site of its
leader, Patriarch Kirill I.

Kirill, who backed Vladimir V. Putin in the Russian presidential
election last month, had admitted to owning the offending timepiece, a
top-of-the-range Breguet Réveil du Tsar model, which had been
airbrushed out of the photograph, but he claimed to never wear it.

From: Baghdasarian

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
April 15 2012

Former Dink case judge to be tried for bribery, corruption
0

15 April 2012 / METÄ°N ARSLAN , ANKARA
The Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) has permitted an
investigation of Erkan Canak — a former judge presiding over the case
of the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink — for
allegations of corruption and bribery.
Canak, former judge of the Ä°stanbul 14th High Criminal Court, who now
presides over a court in Sakarya, will be tried at the 5th Criminal
Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals in Ä°stanbul. If the court
finds him guilty, Canak will be forced to resign. Canak is accused of
`acting in a way that has shaken the trust and respect required by his
position, engaging in corruption and taking bribes,’ according to the
HSYK.

In 2010 Canak’s telephone conversation with another judge, Ali Hadi
Emre, was wiretapped. In the conversation Canak complained that he had
received threats from Kudbettin Avcı, a lawyer, over the release of a
drug baron from prison. Canak told Emre that Avcı threatened to spread
rumors about him if he refused to release the drug baron.

`If he continues to threaten me, I will go to the Justice Ministry and
tell them about everything. The baron was captured with 200 kilograms
of drugs. How can I release him?’ Canak asked, adding: `I have known
him for years. He is my friend. But he says he will complain to the
[Justice Ministry] inspector about me. I have nothing to be afraid of.
But why does he keep harassing me?’

Emre, in response, advised the judge to calm down and promised
everything would be better in the future.

It was later revealed that Canak agreed to accept a bribe from the
drug baron’s men to acquit the drug trafficker of the charges. The men
also arranged hotel rooms for Canak and hired prostitutes for him.

On Dec. 13, 2010, the HSYK removed Canak from the Ä°stanbul 14th High
Criminal Court, which was hearing the Dink case, on the grounds that
an earlier Ministry of Justice report alleged that he had close
contacts with suspects in the Ergenekon case, a clandestine
underground network accused of plotting to overthrow the government.

From: Baghdasarian

10 of the world’s weirdest film festivals

Mile-high horror, golden apricots and mustaches are some of the more peculiar inspirations for these offbeat movie celebrations

By Candice Ward 16 April, 2012

World’s weirdest film festivals”Look, schmuck — my pal here gets the
‘Best Mustache’ gong or you’re gonna meet Mr. Punchy.”

Were we to turn a spotlight on film festivals across the world then
stalwarts like Cannes, Toronto and San Sebastian would surely shine
brightest. And that’s only natural.

Occupying a darker corner of the stage, however, are scores of
cinematic celebrations that showcase the unorthodox, the weird and the
creepy.

If it weren’t for these quirky additions to the global festival
calendar, our great storytellers might never have known, for example,
the Kevin Norwood Bacon Achievement Award — a gong awarded for
exemplary achievement to a filmmaker or actor connected to Kevin Bacon
in six films or fewer.

With that taster still lingering in the senses, here are some of the
oddest and most wonderful celebrations of film, all (well, most)
screening at a town near you over the next year or so. Book your
tickets now.

1. Mile High Horror Film Festival (United States)

World
Not sure which one’s Dorothy, but The Emerald City definitely ain’t in
Denver.

If any part of this festival’s name gives you goose bumps in a good
way, head to Denver, Colorado, to experience a showcase of independent
horror films.

Celebrating an eerie yet enduring genre, this scare-fest last year
featured titles such as “Bunny Boy,” “I Saw the Devil” and
“Chillerama.”

We’re too petrified to ask what 2012 brings.

This one is not recommended for those with daemonophobia (fear of evil
spirits); hemaphobia (fear of blood); teratophobia (fear of deformed
figures); or, given the festival’s high-altitude location,
aeroacrophobia (fear of open, high places).

Daemonophobic aeroacrophobes should not even attempt to browse the
festival’s website.

October 5-7, 2012, at Denver Film Center/Colifax, Colorado, United
States. milehighhorrorfestival.com

2. Golden Apricot Film Festival (Armenia)

World

Armenian priests bless bushels of apricots ahead of the fruit’s
headlining movie festival. No, really.

This renowned festival is based on the theme “Crossroads of Cultures
and Civilizations” — a fitting subject for an event screened in a
country that can’t decide whether it’s in Asia or Europe.

Nine years running, the Golden Apricot now attracts more than 500
international films and this figure rises every time it’s held.

While the festival’s namesake, the apricot, is Armenia’s unofficial
fruit, we’re not sure how this ties into filmmaking.

However, both apricots and films are harvested there each July, and
this seems like a pretty palatable cause for celebration.

July 8-15, 2012, at various locations in Yerevan, Armenia’s
capital. gaiff.am

3. Incredibly Strange Film Festival (New Zealand)

Incredibly Strange Film Festival
Boom! Incredibly Strange Film Festival in your face.

What could be weirder than an incredibly strange film festival? One
screened in New Zealand, of course. Just kidding, dear Kiwis.

For 17 years, ISFF has dedicated itself to screening bizarre flicks
that would otherwise never see the light of day.

The self-professed “greatest collection of cult films ever” last year
featured titles including “Troll Hunter” (“Blair Witch Project” meets
“Where the Wild Things Are,” apparently), “Hobo With a Shotgun”
(down-on-his-luck man attempts to purchase lawnmower yet somehow ends
up with a firearm) and “Cold Fish” (serial killer story featuring
placid tropical-fish-store owner).

Incredibly Strange will be part of the New Zealand International Film
Festival (Auckland and Wellington) during July and August
2012. incrediblystrange.co.nz

4. KahBang Festival (United States)

World “C’mon guys — not that six-degrees thing again …”

This seemingly normal event features more than 50 films from budding
makers. Held in the U.S. state of Maine, KahBang is a tribute to
music, art and film run by hard-working curators. So far, so good …

Now, cue the aforementioned Kevin Norwood Bacon Achievement Award,
given for those valuable connections to “Footloose’s” very own Kevin
Bacon.

The coveted bauble was recently introduced in an attempt to prove that
the Internet-powered “six degrees of Kevin Bacon” actually exist,
rather than simply being the basis of a mindless pop-culture trivia
game.

>From August 9 at various locations in Bangor, Maine, United
States. kahbang.com/film

5. International Random Film Festival (Estonia)

International Random Film Festival
Round and round (Europe) it goes, where it stops, nobody knows.

This homage to all things arbitrary has no fixed abode and does the
rounds across Europe each year, but there’s even more randomness
afoot.

For filmmakers and punters alike, it’s gotta be hard to know exactly
what you’re in for each year, when the festival is run in a randomly
selected location, on a random date, with random awards.

The 2012 gongs included the Runaway Turtle Award, and The Spoon and
The Goldfish Award, but recipients didn’t know what each accolade was
for until presented. Yeah, we know — those crazy Europeans, eh?

2012’s Random Grand Prix was awarded to German film “Sudstadt.” To
learn how it was chosen, watch this video. It has something to do with
sprouts, and yes, it’s as random as it sounds.

IRFF 2012 has been and gone, but it is due to run again from December
8, 2013, in Garpenberg, Sweden (location and date randomly selected at
2012 festival). randomfilmfest.com

6. Fake Film Festival (Canada)

Fake Film Festival
Bork, bork, bork — the Fake Film Festival sweding its way to success.

Virgin Radio Vancouver regularly presents this competition where
developing directors ham up their own parodies of movies. For a silly
60-second submission, money and fame abounds, we’re told.

Entries are judged for their ability to entertain and recapture the
essence of the original movie, a process known as “sweding.”

This year’s shortlist included impressions of “Ferris Bueller’s Day
Off,” “Juno,” “Bridesmaids” and “Salt.”

The Festival ran in February this year. Look out for 2013 details on
the website.

7. Cinema in the Cemetery (Australia)

World
Cue gags about the audience being bored stiff, dead to the world and worse.

Surely a field planted full of corpses makes for a tough audience,
right? If you invite some live ones too, though, it’s not so bad, we
hear.

In fact, Sydney’s Cinema in the Cemetery is proof that motion pictures
are alive and well even in the deadest of locations.

St John’s Cemetery annually screens a diverse range of classics —
this year’s selection included Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller “Rear
Window” and 1980s cult classic “Ghostbusters.” You’ll probably need
someone to cuddle up to, so it’s a great occasion for a first date.

Will next screen in 2013 at St John’s, 81 Alt St., Ashfield, Sydney,
Australia. Check the Facebook page for details.

8. Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival (Japan)

World
“Well done on your film, Mr. Tarantino — have some melons.”

This Hokkaido festival lives on after 22 years and for that alone it
deserves the gushing “fantastic” moniker, simply because it’s survived
insurmountable odds.

The festival revived the coalmining town of Yubari when, around 1990,
the coal ran out.

As Yubari shifted its focus from black diamond to silver screen
effortlessly, the festival attracted movie royalty like Jon Voight,
Angelina Jolie and Steve Martin.

Quentin Tarantino even penned “Pulp Fiction” in his Yubari hotel,
we’re led to believe. Would have hated being in the next room when he
did the read-throughs, though.

In 2007, however, Yubari fell off a cliff (not literally) and became
Japan’s first bankrupt municipality. The festival was gutted, losing
its international competition section.

However, a community drive to continue in some form saved the Off
Theater program, which offers young Japanese directors Today, locals
greet festival dignitaries with candy made from the celebrated Yubari
melon, a delicacy fetching up to That’s why Grand Prize winners at
this festival don’t buy drinks for everyone — it’s slices of melon
all round instead. Very thin slices.

Last year’s Grand Prize winner was “Invasion of Alien Bikini,”
directed by Oh Young-Doo. The festival runs early in the year, so look
out for 2013 dates at yubarifanta.com

9. Bring Your Own Film Festival (India)

World
Puri would never be the same again after the movie nerds hit town.

Could this be sheer laziness on the part of the festival’s organizers?
Why spend hours on film selections when punters could bring their own?

In its defense, this east-coast Indian festival has the noble ethos of
removing standard film festival hierarchies, competition, juries and
laurels.

By inviting all comers to showcase their work, it supports a vibrant
grassroots community of film enthusiasts.

The next festival is set for early 2013 in Puri, India. byoffpuri.com

10. International Moustache Film Festival (United States)

World
Hairy is as hairy does at the International Moustache Film Festival.

While this list is in no particular order it should, like most every
festival we’ve mentioned, issue a prize — a grand poo-bah of
weirdness, if you will. And the International Moustache Film Festival
surely deserves to take home that accolade.

To enter this fur-fest, your film must contain a mustache-related
theme, or a key cast member must be “mustachioed” (organizers’ term).

Fake moustaches qualify, if you’re curious.

Prize categories include Best `Stache Growth Story, Best `Stache
Shaving Story, Best Moustache Death Relationship Story and Best
Collection of Moustaches in One Film.

According to the IMFF, “one lucky filmmaker will win one hundred,
U.S., American dollars.”

Guess that’ll cover the barbershop fee immediately after the festival,
then.

Deering Grange Hall, Portland, Maine, United States. IMFF 2012 was
held in March — check the website for 2013 details.

From: Baghdasarian

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
April 16 2012

Ankara moves to create its own diaspora

by Serkan DemirtaÅ?

Turkey is pushing the millions of people in its diaspora to organize
themselves in the interests of countering Armenian genocide claims and
fighting the growing threat of racism in Europe.

`We are working on drafting a strategy document on the diaspora. It
will respond to our priorities, objectives and working methods. We
will also outline our messages through this document,’ a senior
government official told the Hürriyet Daily News over the weekend.

The strong Azeri diaspora is likely to be a powerful allied force for
the Turkish diaspora. This strategy is being penned by the Overseas
Turks Agency, established in 2010, a government body led by deputy
Prime Minister Bekir BozdaÄ?.

As part of the plan to create a well-functioning diaspora, the agency
is planning to hold two massive meetings in June and September to
provide solid ground for Turkish nongovernmental organizations based
abroad and those who want to take an active part in such affairs. In
June, around 500 NGOs from mainly European countries and elsewhere
will be invited to Ankara for a conference on legal ways to confront
racist and discriminatory attitudes toward Turks.

`Our objective is to provide our citizens and NGOs information on ways
to claim their rights in a conscious and organized manner,’ the
official said. `We advise them to remain within the boundaries of the
law when they face racist attacks. We tell them to go to the police
and make written applications so that these attacks can be addressed
in a proper way using democratic means.’

The Turkish government is seriously concerned by growing racism in
European countries, especially in Western Europe, and is making it an
issue during political talks as well.

`However, we need to do more than this. We are encouraging them to
adopt dual citizenship and enjoy full-pledged rights,’ the official
added. In the second phase, officials want to gather around 2,000
Turks living abroad for a meeting in Istanbul which would mark the
establishment of what the official called the `Turkish diaspora.’ The
plan is expected to be strengthened by the establishment of alliances
with several other diasporas of like-minded countries ` especially
Azerbaijan.

In line with this idea, officials are planning on holding the meeting
on Sept. 15, the day when Nuri PaÅ?a, an Ottoman general serving under
the infamous Enver PaÅ?a, commander of the Eastern Army Group, saved
Baku from the Russians in 1918.

From: Baghdasarian

HAUT KARABAGH
Le président Bako Sahakian brigue un second mandat

Le 11 avril, Bako Sahakian, le président de la République du Haut
Karabagh a visité le village d’Ivanian près d’Askernan en participant
à la plantation d’arbres. B. Sahakian s’est ensuite dirigé à Mardakert
pour partciper à une réunion de la préfecture de la région. Bako
Sahakian a confirmé le soutien Stepanakert pour le développement de la
région de Mardakert « qui dispose d’un potentiel très important ». Le
président de l’Artsakh (Haut Karabagh) a également encouragé les
tombeaux travaux effectués dans la consolidation de la défense de la
région. Répondant aux questions, B. Sahakian a affirmé qu’il
briguerait un second mandat présidentiel en présentant sa candidature
aux prochaines élections présidentielles. Afin a-t-il expliqué, de
mener ses projets à leur terme au cours des cinq années du mandat
présidentiel supplémentaire.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 15 avril 2012,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian