Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

Golden Apricot Armenian Panorama to present Armenia of the 1960th

July 10, 2011 – 16:41 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Two films telling about Armenia of the 1960th, Gagik
Stepanyan’s To Its Normal Course and ‘We’, the joint film of Ashot
Adamyan and David Matevosyan, are presented within the frames of
Golden Apricot, the eighth international Armenian film festival, in
the nomination of Armenian Panorama.

The film To Its Normal Course is about raising the monument to the
Armenian Genocide victims in mid- 1960th.

The film directed by Ashot Adamyan and David Matevosyan ‘We’ tells
about We and Our Mountains film which was shot 40 years ago.

The winner in the nomination Armenian Panorama will be defined by
chairman of Elena Stishova (Russia), Armen Dovlatyan (Armenia), Nirmal
Dkhar (IUndia), and other members. 17 films are presented in the
nomination.

From: Baghdasarian

AUSTRALIAN MICHAEL THOMPSON WANTS TO MAKE DILIJAN SCHOOL BEST ACADEMIC SCHOOL IN EUROPE

Mediamax
July 6, 2011
Armenia

Australian Michael Thompson will head DILIJAN International School.

Mediamax was informed on this in the press service of DILIJAN project.

They noted that a big international competition was announced for the
position of the Headmaster of DILIJAN School. After the selection
among candidates from various countries with management experience
in best international schools, as well as the experience of opening
new schools, over 20 of them were interviewed.

Three best candidates entered the final stage. They passed interviews
with the members of the Board of Trustees during their three-day visit
to Armenia. Michael Thompson from Australia was unanimously recognized
the best candidate for the position of DILIJAN School Headmaster.

Mediamax reports that Michael Thompson has significant experience
of international school management, management of schools under IB
system. He has worked in various countries. In Australia he headed
one of the best schools of the country – The SCOTS PGC College.

“Michael has already taken up work, demonstrating high level of
interest in making DILIJAN School one of the best schools in the
world and the best academic school in Europe”, the press service of
the project informed.

From: Baghdasarian

ISRAELI PARLIAMENT NOT TO RECOGNIZE SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
M. Aliyev

Trend
July 5, 2011

There is no chance for the Israeli Parliament to recognize the
so-called Armenian genocide, the president of International Association
“Israel-Azerbaijan” Joseph Chagall said.

About 115 of 120 MPs of the Israeli Parliament act against the
recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide, he told Trend in Baku.

“Only five MPs are trying to manipulate this issue,” he said. “But
they have no chance as it is not in the interests of the state.”

He said that Israel will never recognize the independence of the
so-called “Nagorno-Karabakh Republic”. “This is the land of Azerbaijan
and must be returned to Azerbaijan,” he said.

He said that the conflict must be resolved peacefully through
negotiations.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. –
are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

From: Baghdasarian

TURKISH DIRECTORS HEAD TO YEREVAN FOR FESTIVAL

Hurriyet
July 6, 2011
Turkey

One of the greatest directors in Turkish cinema, Nuri Bilge Ceylan,
as well as the young award-winning director Ozcan Alper, are going to
Yerevan for the Golden Apricot Film Festival that will start Sunday
and continue until July 17

The Golden Apricot Film Festival starts with the blessing of apricots
at a church in the capital Yerevan. This year’s event will open Sunday
with the same tradition.

Yerevan’s International Golden Apricot Film Festival will again welcome
some of the most prominent directors in contemporary Turkish cinema
when it kicks off its eighth edition Sunday in the Armenian capital.

Following appearances by award-winning Turkish directors Fatih Akýn
and Semih Kaplanoðlu last year, the festival is preparing to host Nuri
Bilge Ceylan, who recently won the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film
Festival for “Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da” (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia),
and Ozcan Alper, who is best known for his film “Sonbahar” (Autumn).

The Golden Apricots, which will last until July 17 and feature other
well-known movie makers such as Wim Wenders and Atom Egoyan, will
also feature a special screening event for Turkish films.

Apricots will be blessed

The festival will start Sunday with the blessing of apricots at a
church in Yerevan.

The theme of this year’s festival is the “Crossroads of Cultures and
Civilizations,” festival art director Susanna Harutyunyan recently
told the Hurriyet Daily News in an email interview. “The title may
well serve as our impassioned mantra for building cultural bridges
and fostering dialogue.”

Harutyunyan said the festival would feature more than 160 films.

Armenians interested in Turkey

Last year, 40 films from Turkish cinema attracted great interest from
Armenian audiences, Harutyunyan said.

“Among these, some of the most popular films were ‘Waiting for
the Clouds’ by Yeþim Ustaoðlu, ‘Climates’ by Nuri Bilge Ceylan,
‘My Marlon and Brando’ by Huseyin Karabey, ‘Hidden Faces’ by Handan
Ýpekci, ‘Autumn’ by Ozcan Alper, ‘Kosmos’ by Reha Erdem, and others,”
she said. “Generally, the interest toward Turkish films was great.

Politically, there always arises divergence of thought among people,
which is simply inevitable. But culturally, Armenians are interested
in what is going on in Turkey and want to deal with Turkish people.”

Harutyunyan said they had been carrying out joint projects with Turkish
nongovernmental organization Anadolu Kultur since 2008 and added
that they also had connections with the International Istanbul Film
Festival and the International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival.

“In this way, a bridge has been established between Turkish and
Armenian directors. As the Golden Apricot International Film Festival
has been ambitious in becoming an influential film festival in the
region, it has begun productive cooperation with already-established
and long-standing festivals in the region, such as the International
Istanbul Film Festival and Golden Orange International Antalya Film
Festival,” Harutyunyan said.

A festival for regional

filmmakers

“Yerevan’s Golden Apricot Festival has become a premier destination
for regional filmmakers. We welcome films representing diverse ethnic
groups, religions, and nations that depict the human experience;
the everyday life of people, [both] ordinary and extraordinary, as
well as their troubles and their joys, as they try to find meaning
in a changing world, and as they struggle to redefine themselves in
a world that recognizes fewer and fewer boundaries,” she said.

Problems solved with Malatya festival

Harutyunyan also noted the problems that occurred between Turkey and
Armenia last year due to the Golden Apricot Film Festival.

A decision to organize a film festival in the eastern Turkish province
of Malatya was made. This festival was also named the International
Golden Apricot Film Festival. This caused a 24-hour crisis and it
ended when the Malatya mayor took a step backward as the name of the
festival was changed to the Malatya International Film Festival.”

From: Baghdasarian

KARABAKH RESOLUTION ‘PROBABLY REQUIRES COERCION’

News.Az
July 6, 2011
Azerbaijan

Wed 06 July 2011 05:55 GMT | 1:55 Local Time

News.Az interviews Alexander Karavayev, deputy general director of
Moscow State University’s Information and Analytical Centre.

President Dmitriy Medvedev is said to be very disappointed
that no document on the Basic Principles for a settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was signed by the Armenian and Azerbaijani
presidents during their meeting in Kazan. May he stop his personal
mediation as a result?

As a means of pressure on the parties, this threat is quite acceptable
and stems from the need to mobilize participants in the negotiations.

Medvedev really ended up in a stupid situation. It seems there were
nine meetings in this format. None of the other post-Soviet conflicts
has attracted so much effort from the Russian president.

So, it is natural that Moscow will now look for ways to “put pressure”
on the sides. However, in my opinion, the problem is not only about
uncompromising Yerevan and Baku. Moscow, unfortunately, cannot
ensure the necessary tough preparation of agreements and monitor the
implementation of the preliminary stages.

This requires not only an arbiter, but an organizer and a leader
able to impose ideas and force their realization. The call to end the
debate on the Karabakh topic and get to the point should be addressed
to the Russian presidential administration.

Do you think that the conflicting parties can voluntarily reach a
peace agreement?

In principle , it is likely that Armenian and Azerbaijani society will
become mature enough after 30 or 40 years to find a civilized solution
to this problem. But this requires progressive social development in
the Caucasus region, especially in Armenia and in Azerbaijan.

This kind of optimism persists in relation to Azerbaijan. But I
cannot say this in respect of Armenia. It is technically possible to
organize high level, multi-cultural social communication. It can even
be maintained for decades, until it becomes organic. So it was in
the Caucasus till Soviet modernization, especially after World War II.

Therefore, this model is possible.

But the problem is that this time will not come by itself. This is
not a summer that will come round in any case. Such an environment
needs to be developed.

And a similar question: can Armenia voluntarily return the land
that it seized by force? Can the country’s leaders, who personally
participated in this occupation, do this?

Such a voluntary decision for the government and society are certainly
different parts of the problem. Changes in society can be talked
about in the context of historical development proceeding from the
fact that this particular process is not always controlled. The impact
on power is a more predictable area.

You can create conditions under which the Armenian authorities will
take this step voluntarily. And they will, respectively, have to
“push” this decision as necessary in their society.

Actually, this method will help to adopt a peaceful solution. Even if
we accept the need to wait decades until the moment the Armenian and
Azerbaijani societies become mature enough for this voluntary action,
even in this case, the first step is up to the representatives of
the Armenian government.

If you rely on public opinion, more than one generation can
be replaced, and things will remain the same. Therefore, the
voluntary peaceful resolution of the Karabakh problem depends on the
voluntary decisions of a strong government in Yerevan, ready to make
concessions. Only a reformer is capable of this.

President Ilham Aliyev said that the model of South Tyrol, where the
majority of the population is Swiss German but the area is under
Italian jurisdiction, could be applied to Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku
earlier praised the model of Tatarstan and other Russian regions. Can
the Armenians be persuaded to accept this proposal in exchange for
a set of economic preferences, including the inclusion of Armenia in
regional projects?

This is possible only through the skilful assistance of intermediaries,
and if the mediators actually work on the resolution, not just arrange
meetings and papers.

Those who have dealt with the issue in an unbiased manner agree that
we can develop a very real set of measures to realize the scenario
of demilitarization of the occupied territories and the integration
of Karabakh to Azerbaijan under the principles of very wide-ranging
autonomy.

However, the problem is that there is still a debate even among
experts, opponents and supporters of this idea. This is the first
problem. The second problem is that, as I have already indicated,
sponsors of the settlement process do not want to “roll up their
sleeves”. Even the work of Medvedev, with all due respect, did not
have rigidity and did not introduce specific obligations. Everything
was done based on good will.

And this probably requires coercion and the imposition of a resolution
scenario. Neither Moscow nor Washington wants to do deal with this due
to the low importance of the conflict on the global level. This can
be acceptable to Washington while it cannot be acceptable to Moscow.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas visited Baku a couple of days ago.

How true are the pessimistic predictions that the Karabakh conflict
can be as lengthy as the Middle East conflict?

I share this suspicion, but there are various research positions. One
of the most prominent contemporary conflict experts, Ted Robert Gurr,
analysing the various ethnic and regional conflicts, came to the
conclusion that if a separatist conflict is not solved for more than
14 years, it will most likely not be resolved in favour of the party
that has suffered since it eventually accepts the defeat.

The Middle East conflict is an example of another kind. Israel has
shown that it is not ready to come to terms with the Palestinians. The
fact that the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict has been protracted points
to its long-term nature, like the one in the Middle East.

F.H.

From: Baghdasarian

LAFAYETTE BREWING COMPANY REVAMPS MENU WITH NEW ITEMS, OLD FAVORITES

Journal and Courier

July 6, 2011

Artichoke hearts, crimini mushrooms, red and yellow peppers: These
vegetables became a new sandwich that even Lafayette Brewing Company
owner Greg Emig will eat.

“I’m not a vegetable guy,” he said.

My Big Fat Greek Pita is one of the new items at the downtown Lafayette
restaurant. The new menu debuted June 27, a little earlier than their
usual annual tweak of the menu.

“We wanted to get things rolling this summer,” Emig said.

The big fat pita’s vegetables are tossed in a Phillipe Maison dressing
and served on pita bread with a spicy feta spread and fresh spinach.

Gorgeous, full and delicious were the words waiter and bartender Troy
Reutebuch used to describe the dish.

LBC is also using its in-house smoker more with the new menu. The
Brew Pub Club, smoked brisket sandwich and hickory smoked wings all
have a smoky flavor.

“Anything we do that’s smoked is going to be good,” Reutebuch said.

Both the sandwich and the wings are cooked over hickory wood for
12 hours.

LBC tested new ideas throughout the year. Reutebuch tasted the chipotle
stout sauce with the hickory smoked wings while Emig was perfecting
the recipe.

“It’s going to be phenomenal,” Reutebuch said.

The sauce is mixed with oatmeal stout beer, one of the restaurant’s
house-made brews. The beer cheese crock appetizer, served hot, also
uses the stout beer.

Chicken taco salad is another new item. LBC makes its own
cheddar-jalepeño tortilla bowls.

For something fresh and light, the vegetable platter appetizer is
an option.

The dish “sounded good” to Lafayette resident Dan Schumacher. The LBC
regular comes weekly on Fridays with various area clergy who often
don’t eat meat during their meals.

The platter is a returning item. Emig posted a question on the
company’s Facebook profile asking people what items they wanted to
see return.

“It generated 50-plus responses.”

The vegetable platter and the Armenian Chicken sandwich were the
winners and are now back on the LBC menu.

“There’s going to be a lot of people happy that the Armenian chicken
is back,” Reutebuch said.

The Armenian sandwich is simple, Emig said. It’s garlic mayonnaise
on a warm pita with sliced chicken breast.

“Then you can do a lot of different things with it.”

Customers can add other vegetables if they desire, making it their own.

Schumacher has tried a few dishes over the years, but hadn’t recognized
the new menu as he sat with a different crowd: his wife, Judy and
their two friends.

“Maybe tomorrow I’ll look a little closer,” he said.

While Schumacher may not have noticed the changes, overall the new
menu has garnerned positive comments, Emig said.

“We’re happy,” he said. “We like to keep things fresh for our
clientele.”

Location: 622 Main St.

Hours: 11 a.m. to midnight Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 1
a.m. Fridays and Saturdays, noon to 8 p.m. Sundays More information:
Call (765) 742-2591 or visit

From: Baghdasarian

KARABAKH GETS READY FOR 20 ANNIVERSARY OF ARTSAKH REPUBLIC DECLARATION

news.am
July 6 2011
Armenia

STEPANAKERT.- President of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan
convened working consultations to discuss organization of events
dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Artsakh Republic declaration.

Issues related to preparation for solemn events were discussed during
the meeting.

President Sahakyan instructed the members of organizing committee to
take all the necessary measures to hold the events in compliance with
the planned program.

From: Baghdasarian

MOSCOW OPPOSES CHANGES IN KARABAKH MEDIATION FORMAT

Interfax
July 6 2011
Russia

Attempts to change the format of mediating the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict at a stage, when a decision must be made on this problem,
are counter-productive, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

“Essentially, we have reached a situation where decisions must be
made. I do not think that conversations, especially at this decisive
stage, about changing the mediation format, will be productive,”
he told a press conference after talks with his Armenian counterpart
Edward Nalbandian.

“Such talks only create an illusion that if the form is changed, the
content will sort itself out. Normally, the ideas about constantly
changing the mediation format divert attention from the substance,”
the Russian minister said.

“The same applies to other situations. There are quite a few ideas
about changing the format of the Transdniestrian settlement process. I
think all this comes from evil,” Lavrov said.

The format involving the Minsk Group is fairly efficient, it has
amassed sufficient experience in the negotiating process over
Nagorno-Karabakh, Nalbandian said.

“Attempts to shift it to other formats – I very much liked the
expression used by Sergei Viktorovich [Lavrov] – are “from evil,”
I think, that is really so,” the Armenian foreign minister said.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN CONNECTIONS
By Gary Payton

The River Journal

July 7 2011
Idaho

on Gary’s Faith Walk

As I gaze on the long winter snow receding on Baldy Mountain above
Sandpoint, I am taken back to another mountain and another place just
weeks ago. On that spring day, I looked out across the just waking
city of Yerevan, Armenia upon the snow-covered slopes of Mount Ararat,
the biblical mountain rising across the border in Turkey to 16,854
feet. In the book of Genesis, it is written, “in the seventh month,
on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the
mountains of Ararat.” (Genesis 8:4)

Armenia is far distant from our daily consciousness here in the North
Country. Armenia today is a land locked nation of 3 million in the
southern Caucasus, a former republic of the Soviet Union, and the
first nation to adopt Christianity in the year 301. Armenians are an
ancient people who over the millennia have survived the onslaughts of
invasion, conquest, natural disasters, and genocide at the hands of an
imperial power. Their faith sustained them in the most desperate times.

My purpose was twofold: to explore new ways of connection with the
Armenian Apostolic Church, the Armenian Catholic Church, and the
Armenian Evangelical Church and to visit clinics, schools, cultural
centers and farm cooperatives supported by an NGO associated with
the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

In multiple visits over the past decade, I’ve traveled extensively in
former communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Yet, twenty
years after the breakup of the USSR, the legacy of the era stills holds
a grip on many parts of society. The gap between the richest and the
poor is immense, former party officials having snapped up pieces of
industry as a rough and tumble version of capitalism returned.

Authoritarian governance based on centuries of autocratic leadership
continues to dominate the political culture. And the spirit of
volunteerism on which so much good work happens in the West is
virtually unknown. Nurtured by the state for decades, it is many’s
view that if tasks and caring are to happen, the state should do it.

In sharp contrast to this legacy stands the heritage of the 1,700 year
old Christian tradition in Armenia. Traveling through villages and
cities, one is rarely out of sight of a stone church, the remains of
a monastery, or intricately carved stone crosses, called “khatchkars”
which mark the landscape and tell the story of faith across centuries.

And, all have ongoing programs to assist “the least of these.”

In my faith walk, I regularly encounter followers of Jesus renewing
their churches after the nearly 70 years of “militant atheism” imposed
by communist leaders. Working with, talking to, and observing these
church leaders I reflect on the role of organized religion in the
United States. European settlers brought their expressions of faith to
this land over 400 years ago. Some were puritanical and exclusionary.

Some were proponents of religious freedom. Some were extensions of
European-based church structures.

So in this month when we celebrate our 235th birthday as a nation,
what role will our church traditions play in shaping the century
ahead? Will they serve as guardians of culture as in the case of
Armenia? If so, whose culture? Will they welcome other expressions
of faith or condemn them? And, will the institutional structures
which were built in the 19th and 20th centuries survive into the 21st
century in an era of “flattened” organizations, distributed leadership,
and intense individualism?

Travels in Armenia or elsewhere in the world always place a mirror
before my face as I examine my relationship with God and the
institutions of which I am a part.

From: Baghdasarian

Armenian greens held rally to protect dolphins

news.am
July 7 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – Another protest action held in Yerevan against limiting
dolphins’ freedom in national dolphinarium.

The green activists demanded to create normal conditions for dolphins
and had posters that red: “Animals should live in natural environment”,
“Do not put dolphins into jail”, “Spare dolphins.”

Armenia does not meet the essential conditions for keeping dolphins,
they claim. Besides, environmental organizations are not allowed to
carry monitoring.

The organizers of the motion filet lawsuit demanding to release
dolphins. However, the first lawsuit was rejected earlier.

From: Baghdasarian