Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

GEORGIAN FILM DIRECTOR SACKED FOR SLAMMING PRESIDENT?

Tert.am
17.08.11

A Georgian film director is reported to have lost his job for slamming
President Mikheil Saakashvili.

The Georgian Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection has confirmed
that Robert Sturua has been dismissed from the Shota Rustaveli State
Drama Theatre where he was an artistic director. No further details
are reported.

Sturua’s first spoke of his dismissal in a message on his Facebook
page. “Sacked,” he said on the social networking website, not
disclosing other facts. Later he made public a ministerial decree which
was signed on August 9 and became effective since August 15. But this
document too, gives no details on the reasons behind the decision to
sack him.

“I have [never] concealed my critical approach to the Georgian
authorities,” the director said.

In an interview with a Georgian magazine in July, Sturua said the
people in his country should call for their government’s resignation.

“The Georgian people should turn their backs on this regime as did
the Germans on Hitler. The Georgians need to repent. The authorities
need to take charge of the church to save the country. If you idolizes
the devil, your very likely to meet the evil,” he said.

Earlier, Sturua had accused President Saakashvili of demonstrating
hatred for the people.

“Well, he is an Armenian, what to do,” he told the Georgian news
agency Gruzinform.

His statement reportedly mounted a strong rage in Armenia and Georgia.

Sturua was accused of racism and xenophobia.

Robert Sturua was born in 1938 in Tbilisi. He is best known as the
stage director of plays by Shakespeare, Brecht and Chekhov. In 1982,
Sturua was honored with the title of USSR Merited Artist.

From: Baghdasarian

HRAPARAK: AUTHORITIES-BLACKLISTED BUSINESSMAN

Tert.am
17.08.11

At least one businessman will not find his name on the ticket of the
Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) at the next parliamentary elections.

According to the information at the newspaper’s disposal, Manvel
Ghazaryan, the owner of the Vedi Alco company, who was elected to
Parliament in the Vedi single-member constituency, will not run for
Parliament at the next elections.

Although getting into Parliament in single-member constituencies has
recently become “a habit”, he has to “give up his hobby” this time.

After speaking at the 2008 rallies and supporting Levon Ter-Petrosyan,
Mr. Ghazaryan was “blacklisted” by Armenia’s authorities and has faced
serious problems over the past three years. One of his relatives
created a problem for him as well. Nubar Kirakosyan, Ghazaryan’s
brother-in-law, who had been director of the Ararat branch of the
Armrusgasprom Company until July 2011, has now been charged with
embezzlement. Kirakosyan is rumored to have “bootlegged” gas to the
local gas stations thereby causing damage to the company. Mr.

Ghazaryan pledged to “cover” his brother-in-law’s “sins” and resolved
the problem.

From: Baghdasarian

LA QUESTION DES VISAS ENTRE L’AZERBAIDJAN ET LA TURQUIE
Stephane

armenews.com
mardi 16 aout 2011

Les premières informations concernant l’abolition du regime de visa
entre la Turquie et l’Azerbaïdjan ont ete publiees en novembre 2009.

Se referant a une declaration du Premier ministre Turc Recep Tayyip
Erdogan de nouveaux articles ont dit que la decision finale de
supprimer des visas serait prise pendant une visite en Turquie du
Ministre azeri des Affaires Etrangères Elmar Mammadyarov.

De plus, le depute Nizami Caferov a rappele que la Turquie avait pris
l’initiative sur la question en 2007, mais que l’Azerbaïdjan n’avait
pas encore pris une decision.

” Il doit y avoir des raisons au choix de l’Azerbaïdjan de retarder
le fait de prendre une decision sur cette question ” a affirme
Nizami Caferov.

Elmar Mammadyarov a affirme qu’il y avait quelques obstacles
bureaucratiques.

Nous pouvons essayer de trouver une reponse en jetant un coup d’oeil
a la presse azerie. Rovsen Agayev, expert economique, a affirme
qu’il n’y a aucune raison economique pour supprimer les visas pour
les citoyens turcs par l’Azerbaïdjan, mais que c’est une question
politique et legale.

” Il y a des raisons simples derrière les questions qui semblent etre
difficiles de comprendre a l’exterieur. Les autorites azeries et les
bureaucrates ne veulent pas perdre la moindre ressource monetaire.

Donc ils n’ont pas supprime le regime de visa pour l’Iran et la Turquie
” a affirme le politologue Zerdust Alizade.

Fuat Kahramanli, vice-president du Front Populaire d’Azerbaïdjan,
pretend que son gouvernement ne veut pas supprimer le regime de visa
car le problème n’a pas ete resolu jusqu’ici et la partie azerie a
produit beaucoup d’excuses.

” Je pense que le gouvernement azeri voit cela comme une question
inquietante pour son pouvoir ; donc, la solution est retardee. À mon
avis la volonte de la Russie sur cette question doit etre consideree.

L’Azerbaïdjan, en ne resolvant pas le problème, donne un message a
la Russie impliquant qu’elle est plus proche ‘et plus intime avec
la Russie. Mais independamment ne pas resoudre le problème rend les
relations plus tendues ” a dit Kahramanli.

Des discussions dans l’Assemblee nationale d’Azerbaïdjan le 22 fevrier
ont eu lieu a ce sujet. Fazil Mustafa, president du Grande Parti de
la Creation, a propose que les restrictions de visa soient annulees
entre les deux pays. ” La contrainte de visa pour la Turquie doit
etre eliminee comme elle l’a ete avec la Georgie. Ce sera en faveur
des interets strategiques de l’Azerbaïdjan ” a dit Mustafa.

Un depute du Nouveau Parti d’Azerbaïdjan, Siyavuc Novruzov, a ete en
faveur de la suppression du regime de visa, proposant de commencer
entre la Turquie et la Republique autonome du Nakhchivan. Des sources
azeries ont ecrit que plusieurs vistes d’Erdogan en Azerbaïdjan ont
ete remises en raison des divergences d’avis qui ont surgi entre
Bakou et Ankara sur cette question.

” La question du visa est une question psychologiquement importante
pour la Turquie. Ce n’est pas une question monetaire. L’Azerbaïdjan
ne met pas en application les visas pour les citoyens de la Russie
et les pays turcophones. J’espère que l’Azerbaïdjan cherche une facon
de le supprimer bientôt ” a dit le minitre d’Etat turc Zafer Caglayan.

From: Baghdasarian

THE FIRST EXHIBITION OF ARMENIAN JEWELERS ASSOCIATION TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN ON SEPTEMBER 21

Mediamax
Aug 16, 2011
Armenia

Yerevan/Mediamax/. The first exhibition of Armenian Jewelers
Association with participation of numerous famous companies will be
held in Yerevan on September 21, on the 20th anniversary of Armenia’s
independence.

President of Armenian Jewelers Association (AJA) Gagik Gevorkyan said
this during his meeting with President Serzh Sargsyan, Mediamax was
informed in the presidential press service.

The Armenian President congratulated Gagik Gevorkyan on his appointment
in the position of AJA President.

The parties touched upon prospects of expanding relations among
Armenian jewelers all over the world, as well as developing jewelry
in Armenia.

From: Baghdasarian

TRASH DUMP ESTABLISHED NEAR MATERNITY HOSPITAL IN ARMENIAN CAPITAL POISONS NEARBY ATMOSPHERE

news.am
Aug 16, 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – A trash dump has been established in the South-Western
part of Armenian capital, adjacent to the maternity hospital.

The dump has been established last year, and every day the smoke from
the burning refuse in the dump reaches the hospital. At the same time,
according to experts, burning of organic materials leads to pollutants,
including dioxin emission, which is poisonous. The dioxin spreading
with the smoke in the nearby atmosphere leads to emergence of malignant
tumors and anomalies in births.

It is likely that the dump does not work on legal basis and it is not
clear who allowed the installation of the trash dump in the densely
populated area and in the neighborhood of the maternity hospital,
reports the “EcoLur” environmental organization.

From: Baghdasarian

NEW PRICES FOR PRECIOUS METALS IN ARMENIA

news.am
Aug 16, 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – Armenian Ministry of Finance has set the following prices
for precious metals for August 15-21.

Gold: the purchasing price is AMD 19,018.47 per gram (AMD 1124.77
increase), the selling price is AMD 20,672.25 per gram (AMD 1222.58
increase).

Silver: the purchasing price is AMD 422.22 per gram (AMD 45.05
decrease), the selling price is AMD 458.93 per gram (AMD 14.67
decrease).

Platinum: the purchasing price is AMD 19,116.65 per gram (AMD 45.05
decrease), the selling price is AMD 20,778.97 per gram (AMD 48.97
decrease).

Palladium: the purchasing price is AMD 8,010.98 per gram (AMD 686.31
decrease), the selling price is AMD 8,707.59 per gram (AMD 745.99
decrease).

From: Baghdasarian

ALBUM REVIEWS: TO WHAT STRANGE PLACE

Scotsman

Aug 15 2011
UK

By Scotsman critics

Our critics take a look at some of this week’s new releases….

…

To What Strange Place: The Music of the Ottoman-American Diaspora
1916-1929 Thompkins Square, £29.99 *****

THE story of this fascinating triple-CD begins and ends with tears. It
begins with the flight of Turkish-Armenians from Turkey in 1915, when
hundreds of thousands were murdered or driven into exile; it ends when
the 1929 Wall Street crash threw most of America’s new immigrants onto
the scrap-heap. In between, a remarkable musical culture flourished
wherever Armenians, Turks, and Greeks were clustered together:
here we encounter the unmistakeable sounds of all three cultures,
fundamentally one and the same.

Almost everything here was recorded in Manhattan. These musicians moved
among the cafes of New York’s Little Armenia and its Sephardic quarter,
playing with and listening to each other, surrounded by men wearing
fezes and smoking water-pipes. Many were also peddlers, or engravers,
or waiters, or fruit-sellers; they played to recover their sense of
identity, and to accompany their traditional dances.

“Ah, I wish I had never gone, /Ah, I wish I had never seen/ Darling
you, America,” sings Achilleas Poulos from Anatolia in 1926: this was
a very strong love-hate relationship. One of these CDs consists of
American releases for Ottoman emigres of music by their compatriots
back home: record companies made a killing this way, trading on the
nostalgia market. The other two are of the genuine thing – emigre
stars performing for their communities.

Some of the recordings are very rough in quality, others surprisingly
good, but two tracks stand out. The first is by the Greek singer Marika
Papagika (1890-1943), one of the most popular immigrant singers in
America. The other is by Armenag Chah-Mouradian, a blacksmith’s son
whose sweet rendition of a Komitas song literally tugs the heart.

MICHAEL CHURCH

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA’S PRESIDENT MEETS SERJ TANKIAN IN YEREVAN

news.am
Aug 15 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan attended the official
opening ceremony of TUMO centre for creative technologies in Yerevan
on Sunday.

During his visit, Serzh Sargsyan noted the opening of the centre of
creative technologies is of strategic significance to Armenia. The
president expressed gratitude to Mr. and Mrs. Simonyans, who funded the
establishment of the centre, the presidential press service informed
Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Later President Sargsyan met with System of a Down frontman Serj
Tankian at the centre. Serzh Sargsyan and Serj Tankian referred
to the renowned musician’s public activities. The famous musician
assured he will continue his efforts to international recognition of
the Armenian Genocide. The singer expressed hope “System of a Down”
rock band will give a concert in Armenia in the near future. The
Armenian leader wished Tankian creative achievements and thanked him
for his pro-Armenian activities.

Serzh Sargsyan also attended the concert dedicated to the opening of
TUMO centre.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIANS CELEBRATE FIRST VICTORY OVER TURKISH BANKS

news.am
Aug 15 2011
Armenia

LOS ANGELES. – Los Angeles Federal Court made the first in history
decision regarding the lawsuit of descendants of Armenians who
lost their property during Armenian Genocide filed against Turkish
government and two Turkish banks – the Central Bank of the Republic
of Turkey and T.C. Ziraat.

A group of pontiffs headed by Alex Bakalian accused Turkey of
confiscating properties and illegal use of lands as a result of the
Armenian Genocide, Nouvelles d’Armenie reported.

They demand return of territory which also includes the Incirlik Air
Base – air base of US armed forces.

The court ruled that pontiffs’ lawyers were denied access to the bank
Ziraat and were provided with false information. Security officials
deliberately planned to thwart the process, the court ruled.

It was noted that Turkey was also recently informed of the trial
through U.S. Embassy in Ankara and Foreign Ministry. Turkey must
submit its conclusions by August 19.

“Banks are trying to complicate the process. Finally, after months of
maneuvering and numerous attempts to escape the notification, the U.S.

Federal Court demanded that the banks respond to inquiry of the
Armenian side,” said Vartkes Yeghiayan, one of the lawyers involved
in the case.

From: Baghdasarian

Israel to deploy drones in north Iraq

press tv
Sat Aug 13, 2011 11:2PM GMT

The Israeli army has stepped up its military activities in Iraq’s
autonomous Kurdistan Region and is planning to station a number of
unmanned aerial vehicles in the area in northern Iraq.

Israel plans to deploy new equipment, including six drones, in the
region in cooperation with the Kurdistan Democratic Party, a Press TV
correspondent in northern Iraq reported on Saturday.

Four of the aircraft will be stationed at the Khalidiyah airbase in
the northern oil city of Kirkuk and two others will go to the airport
in the city of Mosul, the capital of Nineveh governorate.

Israeli intelligence agents and military advisers, equipped with
special transmission devices, are also being sent to Mosul to train
security forces in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.

Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government President Massoud Barzani has
reportedly agreed to the concession in return for the admission of a
number of Iraqi Kurd students to Israeli universities.

Barzani gave Israel the green light to deploy military drones in
northern Iraq without gaining the approval of the Iraqi central
government in Baghdad, which has no diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv.

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From: Baghdasarian