Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

The Detroit News , MI
Jan 15 2012

Kevorkian paintings dispute in Oakland County court

By Mike Martindale , The Detroit News

Pontiac – Even after his own death, Jack Kevorkian can’t stay out of court.

An attorney and friend of Kevorkian will be in Oakland Circuit Court
on Wednesday fighting efforts by a Boston-area museum to dismiss a
lawsuit here that seeks the return of 17 of Kevorkian’s paintings that
were entrusted to the museum 12 years ago.
Kevorkian, who died in June at the age of 83, was involved in 130
assisted suicides and sparked an international “right to die”
dialogue. The controversial ex-pathologist had five criminal trials
before being convicted. He spent eight years in prison and was paroled
in 2007.

But before he went to prison, he loaned 17 of his paintings to the
Armenian Library and Museum Association, and Mayer Morganroth said
before his death that Kevorkian indicated to Morganroth he wanted the
artwork returned to Michigan for the benefit of his niece, Ava Janus,
who lives in Troy.

“The museum filed a lawsuit over the paintings in federal court in
Massachusetts first, so they feel that is the proper venue,” said
Morganroth, executor of Kevorkian’s estate.

“Well, Kevorkian lived here, his estate is here, and I am here. This
is the proper jurisdiction, not Massachusetts.”

The museum’s attorney, Gerald Gleeson, could not be reached for
comment Friday. His request to have the Oakland Circuit Court case
dismissed goes before Judge Martha Anderson on Wednesday.

Morganroth sued for the paintings’ return last year while preparing
for a New York City auction of Kevorkian memorabilia, including his
bizarre – some believe grotesque – oil paintings. Morganroth has an
agreement, signed by Kevorkian and an ALMA official that said the
paintings were to be returned to Kevorkian on request.

The museum contends the curator did not have the authority to make
such an agreement.

“Well, they never would have had the paintings if not for the
agreement,” Morganroth said.

The New York auction, which included Kevorkian’s infamous Thanatron –
Greek for “death machine” – fizzled, with many bidders scared off
because of the ongoing legal dispute, Morganroth said.

“There were six museums which stayed away (from the auction) because
of the dispute, and I can’t blame them,” said Morganroth. “We had bids
of $80,000 on some of the paintings, but they were withdrawn because
of the legal dispute.”
Morganroth said Kevorkian’s artwork had an appraised value of more
than $2.5 million.

From: Baghdasarian

Armenian filmmaker named candidate for Russian Minister of Culture

January 15, 2012 – 15:13 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Director General of Mosfilm Russian Film Studio,
filmmaker Karen Shakhnazarov was named a possible candidate for
Russian Minister of Culture, with current Minister Alexander Avdeev to
soon quit his post.

However, as Interfax reported, quoting a reliable source, `it won’t be
easy to find a man like Shakhnazarov to replace him on the post of
Director General.’

The head of governmental department for culture and education Denis
Molchanov, presidential advisor on cultural matters Yuri Laptev and
Deputy Minister Grigory Ivliev were also named among ministerial
hopefuls, Molchanov enjoying the best chances in the list.

With Avdeev, soon to become 65, announcing his intention to retire, no
official information is provided as to his successor.

From: Baghdasarian

SUEDE
Les azéris et turcs en Suède décident de s’unir contre la
reconnaissance du génocide arménien

Les représentants du Congrès des Azéris en Suède ont participé à une
réunion de la Diaspora Turque à Stockholm. Le but principal de la
réunion est le combat commun des disporas Azéris et Turques contre «
le génocide arménien au Parlement européen ».

Le président du Congrès Emil Mirzayev a dit que l’augmentation de la
coopération parmi les deux diasporas aideront à empêcher les arméniens
de disséminer des fausses informations dans les pays européens sur les
événements de 1915.

dimanche 15 janvier 2012,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

Armenians of France call to join demonstration in front of French
Senate on January 23

January 15, 2012 | 12:16

PARIS. – Coordination Council of Armenian organizations in France
(CCAF) calls all the French-Republicans, Democrats and humanists, to
join a demonstration in front of the French Senate at 2.00 p.m. local
time on Jan. 23 in order to support the bill criminalizing denial of
the genocides, Nouvelles d`Arménie reports.

`Encountering a propagandist campaign, in particular with hateful
accent, organized by powers against the bill and the fact that the
street will be occupied by those falsifying the history, we call on
the citizens, praising justice, to condemn denial, which kills the
victims for the second time and spreads hatred and fanaticism. We must
say no to denial, racism and xenophobia.

Say no to glorification of crime and threats by Turkish leaders’ the
statement reads.

To note, the French National Assembly passed on Dec. 22, 2011 the bill
criminalizing denial of the genocides, including the Armenian
Genocide. French Senate will discuss it on Jan. 23.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

From: Baghdasarian

APA, Azerbaijan
Jan 13 2012

Israel’s former defense minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer: The hearings
held at Israeli Knesset on the `Armenian genocide’ do not concern
Azerbaijan – INTERVIEW

[ 13 Jan 2012 15:25 ]
`This issue concerns only Turkey’

`Iran’s nuclear weapon can produce undesirable consequences for
Azerbaijan, too.’

Baku. Habil Suleymanzadeh – APA. APA’s interview with Benjamin
Ben-Eliezer, member of the Israeli Knesset, former minister of
defense, infrastructure and industry

-Mr. Ben-Eliezer, 20 years have passed since the establishment of the
diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Israel. Mutual visits have
been paid to Israel and Azerbaijan in the recent months. The trade
turnover between our states is increasing. What makes these two states
close to each other?

-First of all I should say that this is not my first visit to Baku.
This is my seventh visit to Azerbaijan. I have met with Azerbaijani
officials and I want all to know – Israelis trust Azerbaijan and
sympathize with it. There are similarities between our peoples. Both
states have unfriendly neighborhoods. Israel wishes to enhance
economic relations with Azerbaijan. We have got advanced experience
and technologies to offer Azerbaijan – agriculture, alternative
energy, information technologies and etc. There are sufficient common
moments and it is not accidental that our relations are moving
forward.

-The committee of the Israeli Knesset has recently held a hearing on
the `Armenian genocide’. Azerbaijan has a delicate approach to this
issue. How important is this issue for the Israeli political circles?
Is it realized in Israel that the recognition of the `Armenian
genocide’ can damage Israel’s image in Azerbaijan?

-Firstly, I must say that this issue does not concern Azerbaijan. The
essence of the issue is the following – the parliamentarians, who have
put forward this initiative, want to send a message to Turkey `Don’t
teach us a lesson’. This concerns only Turkey. No one in Azerbaijan
has a reason to worry about it.

– But it is possible to hear such thoughts that hearing on `genocide’
could have a negative impact on the Azerbaijan-Israeli relations….

– I don’t share this opinion because no one in Israel thinks that this
hearing could effect our bilateral relations. This is an issue caused
by the current Turkey-Israel relations, because Israel is not
satisfied with the policy of the current Turkish leadership. Frankly,
I don’t like this initiative, but some lawmakers are very dissatisfied
with Turkey, but they never think to hurt Azerbaijan. I should say
again that this issue is related directly to Turkey.

– By the way, is there a chance for reconciliation between Turkey and Israel?

– I am an Israeli politician, who calls for dialogue and normalization
of the relations with Turkey. Now Israel is making all efforts to
cross the gap between us and reach an understanding. Turkey is an
important country for us due to its strategic position and economic
potential. We support the restoration of the relations and
reconciliation, but the problem is that Turkey has no such intention.
We don’t see any reason to maintain tensions.

– Currently all international community focuses attention on Iran and
many hint to the possibility of war. Azerbaijan is concerned about the
war with Iran that will create difficulties for Azerbaijan. Do you
share concerns of Azerbaijan?

– The essence of the issue is that Iran threatens not only Israel and
the West, but it threatens the Islamic world and its major part –
Sunnis, including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and others. Azerbaijan is
an Iran’s neighbor. Iran does its best to get nuclear weapon. I was
Israel’s defense minister and I guess that Iran could get it in the
next two or three years. I think Azerbaijan can not be calm in this
situation. If Iran gets nuclear weapon, it will change its attitude
toward other countries, including its neighbors. Iran’s nuclear weapon
can produce undesirable consequences for Azerbaijan too. If we recall
recent threats by some forces in Iran against Azerbaijan, everything
becomes clear. Ahmadinejad always says that their goal is to destroy
Israel. How we can keep calmness?! This is a statement of insane and
inadequate person. Azerbaijan is a small country, but it can defend
itself, but it shouldn’t forget that it has a neighbor, which
threatens the world.

From: Baghdasarian

All Voices
Jan 14 2012

Armenian Deputy FM enthusiastic about Armenia’s European integration process

Yerevan : Armenia | Jan 14, 2012 at 3:28 AM PST

The European integration is among the priorities of our country’s
foreign policy. The negotiations on the Association Agreement are one
of the pivotal elements of that process. The 8th round of talks will
take place in Brussels later this month, Armenian Deputy Foreign
Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said in an interview with Radiolur.

The policy of European integration is targeted at the solution of
issues not only on the foreign but also the domestic political field.
Zohrab Mnatsakanyan underlines that there is a strong interconnection
between the policy of implementation of comprehensive reforms assumed
by the authorities and the policy of European integration.

The Deputy Foreign Minister attaches importance to the fact that there
is a broad consensus on both political and social fields on the issue
of Armenia’s path of development as a truly European country.

As Armenia’s chief negotiator in Armenia-EU Association talks, Zohrab
Mnatsakanyan says to be satisfied with the current dynamics of
negotiations. Twenty out of 28 clauses of the Agreement have already
been closed and the Deputy Foreign Minister is enthusiastic about the
further talks in the new year.

From: Baghdasarian

Agence France Presse
January 11, 2012 Wednesday 1:47 PM GMT

Legendary Soviet WWII spy dies at 87: official

MOSCOW, Jan 11 2012

One of the legendary Soviet agents of World War II, who infiltrated a
British spy school and protected the “Big Three” in the Tehran
conference, died aged 87, Russia’s intelligence service said
Wednesday.

Gevork Vartanyan, working under the codename Amir, in 1942 managed to
attend an entire British training course for Russian-speaking spies in
Tehran whom London then wanted to send all over the Soviet Union.

According to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) — the
successor to the Soviet KGB — his work helped expose the British
network which existed despite London’s wartime alliance with Moscow.

But Vartanyan’s greatest exploit was his role in ensuring security at
the 1943 conference in Tehran between the Allied “Big Three” of Soviet
tyrant Joseph Stalin, British prime minister Winston Churchill and US
president F.D. Roosevelt that started to draw up the map of postwar
Europe.

Vartanyan — aged just 19 at the time — led a group of young Soviet
agents who exposed in its early stages a Nazi plot codenamed
“Operation Long Jump” to assassinate the three Allied leaders at the
conference.

“Everyone in foreign intelligence will remember Gevork Andreyevich for
his overwhelming love for the motherland and his fidelity to his
duty,” the spokesman of the SVR, Sergei Ivanov, said in a statement.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev described Vartanyan as a “legendary
spy, a true patriot of his country and an extraordinary personality.”

“He participated in stunning special operations which have gone down
in the history of our foreign intelligence,” he said in a letter of
condolence to Vartanyan’s family.

The SVR said in a statement on its website that Vartanyan died on
Tuesday. A source in the service told the state RIA Novosti news
agency that he died at a Moscow hospital Tuesday afternoon.

During a life remarkable even by the standards of a spy and parts of
which are still shrouded in secrecy, Vartanyan worked in tandem with
his wife Goar, who was also an agent.

According to the SVR, they worked undercover together for 30 years in
different foreign countries as “illegals” after World War II.

The SVR still gives no specifics about this work, saying only that it
was in “extreme conditions” and in “complicated circumstances”.

They only returned to the Soviet Union in 1986 with Gevork Vartanyan
continuing to work in the service until 1992.

“Everything we did was important for the motherland. But the most
important things cannot be discussed at the moment,” he said before
his death in comments broadcast by Channel One television.

He was born in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, the son of an
Iranian factory owner of Armenian origin, and received top honours
from the Soviet Union as well as Russia and Armenia for his work.

His father had also carried out espionage work for the Soviet Union
and it was for this that he took the family back to Iran in the 1930s.
By the age of 16 the young Gevork was already working to expose
“Fascist spies” in Iran.

From: Baghdasarian

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Jan 13 2012

PACE officials to visit Armenia on January 16 for monitoring

The co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe (PACE), John Prescott and Alex Fischer, will visit Armenia on
January 16-17 to monitor and collect facts, News Armenia reports.

The co-rapporteurs plan to meet Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan,
Chairman of Parliament Samvel Nikoyan, Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian, Justice Minister Grayr Tovmasyan and head of the Central
Electoral Commission Tigran Mukuchyan.

The European officials will also meet representatives of political
parties, public associations and delegations of PACE.

The sides will discuss resolution N1837 on investigation into the
deaths of 10 people during mass disorders in March 2008, formation of
independent systems for complaints to the police and formation of
relations between the society and police. The officials will also
discuss preparations for parliamentary polls of 2012 and other issues
of monitoring.

From: Baghdasarian

Famous French historian acknowledged negative public policy of denial in Turkey

January 15, 2012 | 01:08

PARIS. – Pierre Nora, famous for his negativistic ideas, acknowledged
at a French Mémoire et Histoire (Memory and History) TV program by
Alain Finkielkraut on France Culture, that Turkey runs a state policy
of denial, Nouvelles d`Arménie reports.

He does not change his negative attitude on the bill criminalizing
denial of the Armenian Genocide and is for establishing an
international tribune by independent historians, who would have
expressed their opinion on the Armenian issue. According to him, it is
the only way to put an end to the problem between the two states.

`Turkey must recognize it,’ he concluded.

Finkielkraut, who is also against the bill, stated that those debates
opened their eyes on obvious lie, which presents moderate Islamism by
the Turkish Justice and Development Party.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am has informed earlier, French National
Assembly passed the bill criminalizing denial of the Armenian
Genocide. The bill penalizes denial of the genocide intending a year
of imprisonment and/or 45,000 fine. French Senate will vote on it on
Jan. 23.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

From: Baghdasarian

Postponing Elections?

Naira Hayrumyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 15:43:38 – 13/01/2012

During the first hearing of the case of the ex-chief of the traffic
police Margar Ohanyan who is accused of embezzlement of public funds
Ohanyan threatened to make revelations. The court did not accept the
petition to change the preventive measure. And today on the day of the
second hearing everyone is waiting for Ohanyan’s revelations.

The press reports guess that the revelations will hardly be related to
the theft of petrol which could be forgiven, as Ohanyan’s ex-boss Alik
Sargsyan said. Most probably political revelations will be made,
particularly related to the alleged secret deal of Kocharyan’s
supporters revealed by Serzh Sargsyan.

The press also suggested that the case of the ex-chief of Criminal
Investigation of the Police Hovhannes Tamamyan is also related to this
deal. Interestingly, the investigation would not end, and yesterday
Tamamyan’s attorney Vaghinak Gevorgyan told the Haykakan Zhamanak that
the investigation may last till the end of the year. It means that
Tamamyan will not appear in public by the end of the year.

The silent confrontation between Serzh Sargsyan and Robert Kocharyan
slips into almost all the political and other affairs in Armenia. For
example, the resignations of Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan and Mayor Karen
Karapetyan are also associated with the Serxh Sargsyan’s efforts to
protect himself from Kocharyan’s `people’. Vova Gasparyan’s
appointment to the position of the Chief of Police was found by many
to be a tool against Kocharyan’s team, and Vova Gasparyan has already
said he threw the `fishing net’.

Against this background, the process in the parliament is interesting.
For the first time in many years, it is difficult for the analysts to
predict how many seats each force will have in the next parliament.
Doubts concern the forces loyal to Sargsyan and Kocharyan rather than
the opposition.

Today, Republican MP Gagik Melikyan said his party considers the
upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections in one context. Some
experts have already noted that the forces loyal to Robert Kocharyan
will try to receive as many seats in the parliament as possible to
ensure the platform for Robert Kocharyan’s nomination. And Serzh
Sargsyan evidently fears this.

Understanding this danger, Serzh Sargsyan’s team will perhaps be
interested in the postponement of the parliamentary elections until
fall. If the parliamentary elections are postponed from May to
November, it will be harder for Serzh Sargsyan’s rivals to prepare for
them.

This is only one of the schemes which can be applied in parallel to
the discussion and adoption of legislative amendments. Amendments
could be adopted at least because it is hard to find reasons why Serzh
Sargsyan would be interesting in keeping the single-member districts
which could be taken by his wealthy rivals.

From: Baghdasarian