Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

ARMENIA COULD PROTECT GETASHEN IF…

June 13, 2011

“Arabo” detachment commander Manvel Yeghiazaryan says negotiations
over Karabakh are impossible unless the status of Nagorno Karabakh
is determined.

We propose that Karvachar, Lachin, Shahumyan, Getashen and Martunashen
be declared inviolable lands. There is only one way to settle the
Karabakh issue – we should all unite and stick to our position,”
he said.

On June 13, 1992, Azerbaijani militants attacked the Shahumyan region
and exiled the Armenian population of Getashen. Members of “Arabo”
detachment fought hard to protect the territories but they were unable
to keep them.

Manvel Yeghiazaryan says in those years they were naïve and did not
realize that superpowers were interested in the region, especially
in oil.

“The Soviet Union was on the verge of collapse and all countries
were in two minds – one wanted to quit Russia, the other – Europe,
etc.” he recalled.

Member of “Arabo” detachment Hakob Hakobyan says Shahumyan could have
been saved if Armenia had received military support.

“We had a chance to keep Shahumyan but we were pressurized by outer
forces. Were we supported from the rear, the fall of Shahumyan would
have been avoided,” he said.

Manvel Yeghiazaryan does not think that the Armenian and Azerbaijani
President will sign a document during their upcoming meeting in Kazan.

“If they make such a step, they might lose their power. Our future
generations will not forgive us if we sign the document, ” he said.

From: Baghdasarian

LITHUANIAN AMBASSADOR IS HOPEFUL ADVANCEMENT WILL BE RECORDED IN KAZAN

Panorama
June 13 2011
Armenia

“Lithuania supports OSCE Minsk Group efforts towards the resolution
of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” Lithuanian Ambassador to Armenia
Giedrius Apuokas answered to Panorama.am question during a news
conference today.

“Though Lithuania chairs OSCE, we think that the final decision and
initiative belongs to the OSCE Minsk Group,” Giedrius Apuokas said.

According to the Ambassador for the peaceful resolution of the conflict
special attention must be paid over the dialogue and atmosphere of
mutual trust between the conflict sides.

Lithuanian Ambassador says though advancement is felt, many things
still need to be fulfilled.

Referring to the forthcoming presidential tripartite summit in Kazan,
Ambassador said similar meetings are advancement, too. Giedrius Apuokas
says he’s hopeful the sides will manage to record advancement in Kazan.

From: Baghdasarian

West unsuccessful in attempts to undermine Iran from within
Sergei Balmasov
Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey
13.06.2011 20:20

The West, particularly the U.S., is trying to undermine Iran from
within. In addition to terrorism and spying they utilize ethnic and
religious cards. Foreign special services are particularly active in
regard of the Iranian Azeris and Kurds, trying to provoke them to
oppose the central government.

Will this idea work? The chairman of Russia’s Islamic Committee Heydar
Jemal shared his thoughts in an interview with Pravda.ru.

“The seriousness of the national and religious issue in Iran is
clearly exaggerated. Of course, the most important group for the
subversive forces is Azerbaijanis as the largest minority in terms of
numbers. There are some liberal-minded residents of the city of Tabriz
who would really like to get a new state of Azerbaijan. It is them who
the West is trying to feed, particularly the U.S.

Yet, such people are the minority. In the foreseeable future, driving
a wedge between the Azeris and Iranians is virtually impossible. If
the US bets on it, it would needlessly lose time and money.”

“Why? Judging by the publications of Western media, Washington and
Brussels believe that it is not the Persians who are severely
oppressed by Tehran.”

“The mistake of the U.S. is that it looks at the situation too
superficially. They think that the Azerbaijanis living in Azerbaijan
and Tabriz are the same thing. And this is a mistake. They share the
name, but in fact they are two different peoples. To understand this,
it is enough to take a look at Baku and Tabriz Azerbaijanis. The
former are darker, while the latter are much lighter.

In the 1950s-1960s some people, including in the Soviet Union, dreamed
about all sorts of manipulations with the Iranian and Soviet
Azerbaijan, considering the people living there as one people. But
those who know the situation only laughed at those plans.

If we consider the situation from an economic perspective, the
majority of Iranian Azeris are happy. Moreover, when you take a closer
look at the role of the Azeris in Iran, it becomes clear that a
significant proportion of small and medium-sized businesses in the
country are controlled by them. In Tehran people in the business
community can safely communicate only in Azeri.

As for the power, even here the Azeris have no serious complaints.
Amongst them there are a lot of the Iranian ayatollahs, including such
well-known ones as Khamenei. They share portfolios with the Persians
approximately 50 /50. So if you look at the proportion of Azerbaijanis
in Iran, then in politics they have if not the controlling, then the
blocking power.

“Is the U.S. unable to “unite” the Azerbaijanis in a single state?”
“Baku is generally not recommended to play these games. Despite the
uneasy relations with Iran due to the geopolitical games of third
countries and the attitude towards Armenia, the implementation of this
project in the first place would affect Baku. For the city it would be
a catastrophe. In this case, it would be the Tabriz who come there and
attach Baku to themselves.

If we compare the developments here with the events in the former
Soviet republics over the past 20 years, everywhere, with the
exception of Belarus, there was degeneration. In Iranian Azerbaijan,
on the contrary, during this time a long path of development has been
paved. Incidentally, even in the worst era of military confrontation
with Iraq, the Azeris not only did not betray Tehran, but gave it a
few divisions of volunteers.

There is no doubt that if it comes to a conflict with the West, their
attitude will be even more explicitly pro-Iranian. There is no
explicit confrontation with the Persians or with the central
authorities in Tehran in Iranian Azerbaijan.”

“Where, then, did the considerations on the oppression of other
peoples of Iran come from?”
“These are illusion that the West believed in. Let me remind you that
the name “Persia” was officially abolished in 1935. This wise maneuver
allowed making the constituent peoples not to feel hurt. It was not
just a change of signs to “Iran”. The rest of the population has
gained almost equal rights with the Persians. Altogether, it allowed
Iran to become a regional superpower. So the Americans are clearly
late with driving a wedge between the different peoples of Iran.

The most the external forces can hope for in playing the ethnic and
religious cards are some rallies in Kurdish areas. Even there, as a
result of the work conducted there in the last years, the situation
has markedly improved, and therefore America cannot rely on the
cooperation of the Iranian Kurds. The representatives of the other
peoples living in Iran should not be underestimated either. They would
not want to transform their country into a kind of Kyrgyzstan for a
hundred dollars.”

From: Baghdasarian

Courier Laval, Montreal, Canada
6 juin 2011

Premier disque pour le jazzman Arden Arapyan

Publié le 6 Juin 2011
Benoit LeBlanc Sujets : General Motors , Montréal , Arménie , Floride

Arden Arapyan lance Vahak, son premier album. Le pianiste de jazz
lavallois a été récipiendaire du Grand Prix de jazz General Motors, au
Festival international de jazz de Montréal, en 2008, avec l’ensemble
qui porte son nom,

Cherchant un titre accrocheur, qui illustre bien son jazz aux
multiples influences ethniques, le musicien a fixé son choix sur le
prénom de son père. Ce qui décrit bien son style, principalement ancré
dans ses origines arméniennes,

«Mon père est un grand amateur de musique, qui a déjà chanté dans un
groupe, raconte Arden Arapyan. Pendant nos longs voyages jusqu’en
Floride, c’est lui qui m’a fait découvrir des musiques de tous les
pays, de toutes les langues: en italien, français, espagnol et bien
sûr, arménien.»

Longue aventure

Si les neuf titres ont été finalement enregistrés en avril 2009,
l’album a été lancé en mars 2011, sous étiquette indépendante.

«Ce sont des pièces que j’ai composées de 2003 à 2009, la plupart pour
des concours, indique Arden Arapyan. Ça touche beaucoup de styles.»

L’Arménie au coeur

L’album s’ouvre sur une ligne traditionnelle arménienne de clarinette,
cadeau de Vagharshak Adamian, dans Kamin. L’ensemble pousse plus loin
cette mélodie à force d’une polyrythmique efficace, avec le piano
d’Arapyan, la batterie de Michael Gasselsdorfer et la basse de Kyle
Morin.

Sur Donadzar, le groupe reprend une chanson de Noël arménienne, dans
des arrangements dynamiques à la John Coltrane, alors que Romance est
un réarrangement d’un air classique du grand Aram Khachaturian,
transformé en ballade jazz.

Avec Sevane, le jeune compositeur donne sa version d’une très vieille
chanson traditionnelle, qui célèbre la beauté du plus grand lac
d’Arménie. Dernière touche accordée au pays de ses ancêtres, la pièce
Urgency s’attarde plutôt à une musique de danse guerrière, bien
explosive.

«Nous avons fait mijoter subtilement ces airs traditionnels pour en
tirer toute leur intensité, en y allant de rythmiques inusitées, très
contemporaines, souligne Arden Arapyan. Je n’ai pas fait exprès de
mettre autant de références arméniennes. Ces racines sont en moi. Je
voulais aussi développer un son original.»

Tour du monde

Le groupe aime aussi jouer avec les rythmes moyen-orientaux, notamment
sur Quicksand, un air soutenu par la darbouka de Charbel Akiki et une
mélodie épurée.

La trompette de Ron Dilauro et le saxophone de Giovany Arteaga se font
surtout sentir sur Tough Luck et El Rey Leon, dans lesquels Arden
Arapyan déploie son amour du jazz d’Amérique du Sud, plus
spécifiquement cubain.

«J’ai fait appel à l’un des meilleurs percussionnistes de musique
latine du Québec, Kiko Osorio. Il est hallucinant!» observe le
pianiste et compositeur, qui a grandi dans Chomedey.

Jazz et blues

Avec Ain’t got no blues, qui termine son premier opus, Arden Arapyan
retourne aux sources du jazz. On sent l’influence de Charlie Baker.
«Il me manquait une pièce, précise-t-il. Je l’ai composé en deux
minutes, pendant un arrêt à la salle de bain.»

D’ici l’automne, Arden Arapyan promènera son matériel sur les scènes
du Québec et de l’Ontario, espérant recevoir bientôt des invitations
des festivals internationaux de musique jazz.

Information sur Arden Arapyan et sa musique: .

From: Baghdasarian

The Straits Times, Singapore
June 12, 2011 Sunday

‘Armenia’ ship arrives in Singapore

Crew of eight on journey to visit countries where members of the
Armenian diaspora have settled

BY: Jennani Durai

In May 2009, a group of eight Armenians set sail on a boat named
Armenia with one intention: to visit every country where Armenians
have historically had a presence.

On Thursday afternoon, they made it to Singapore after stopping at
more than 10 other countries, and docked at the One Degree 15 Marina
Club at Sentosa Cove. Last night, they received a warm reception from
the local Armenian community at the Armenian Apostolic Church of St
Gregory the Illuminator along Hill Street, where a dinner was hosted
in their honour. There are about 80 Armenians living here.

The voyage is not an official government trip, but crew member Armen
Nazaryan, 70, said that 10 per cent of the trip’s expenses were paid
for by the Armenian government. The rest of the money came from
private businesses and individual donors.

The head of the expedition is 76-year-old Zori Balayan, who is well
known in his country as a journalist and novelist. He and Mr Nazaryan
are the oldest crew members; the other six are in their 20s and 40s.

Mr Balayan, who said he has been dreaming of such a voyage for 50
years, said: ‘I’ve been studying the Armenian diaspora for many years,
and our intention was to visit all the countries that Armenians have
spread out to.’

The diaspora is mainly the result of the Armenian genocide in 1915,
when rulers of the Ottoman Empire are said to have killed more than
1.5 million of them, and tens of thousands fled the country. Of the 10
million Armenians worldwide, only three million live in the small
land-locked country in south-eastern Europe.

The boat set off from France, sailed across the Mediterranean to the
United States and South America.

The expedition was temporarily derailed in December 2009, when the
cook on board fell seriously ill. The crew flew back home, where the
cook eventually died. ‘That was definitely the lowest point of our
journey,’ said Mr Balayan.

One year later, the crew picked up where they left off in South
America, and continued to Easter Island, New Zealand and Australia.
They stopped by Timor Leste and Surabaya in Indonesia before arriving
here. They leave for south India today.

Sisters Loretta and Jessie Sarkies, descendants of the Sarkies
brothers who founded the Raffles Hotel, were among the 40-strong crowd
who gathered to welcome the seafarers yesterday.

‘We are very proud that they’ve come. We were at the marina to welcome
them and I felt so proud to see ‘Armenia’ at the side of the ship,’
said Ms Jessie Sarkies, 64. Added elder sister Loretta, 70: ‘We always
try to meet Armenians who are visiting, to welcome them to Singapore.’

The expedition is scheduled to end in Cyprus in August, but Mr Balayan
is already planning another two voyages. ‘One trip is not enough to
cover all the countries where Armenians have had a presence,’ he said.

From: Baghdasarian

GEORGIE
Russie/Géorgie : la situation a un potentiel d’escalade dangereux

Les participants aux discussions de Genève entre Russes et Géorgiens
ont estimé que la situation sur le terrain était stable, mais
imprévisible, avec un potentiel d’escalade dangereux, Tbilissi
menaçant même de se retirer de ces pourparlers.

Le 16e cycle de discussions de Genève réunissait les protagonistes de
la guerre éclair d’août 2008 – Russes, Géorgiens, ainsi que des
représentants des deux régions séparatistes de Géorgie au coeur du
conflit, celles d’Akhazie et d’Ossétie du Sud – sous l’égide de
l’Union européenne, de l’ONU et de l’Organisation pour la sécurité et
la coopération en Europe (OSCE).

Les participants ont achevé leur 16e session, a déclaré le
représentant européen, Pierre Morel, au cours d’une conférence de
presse.

Dans le groupe de travail 1, les participants ont passé en revue la
situation de sécurité sur le terrain qui a été estimée stable, mais
imprévisible, avec un potentiel d’escalade dangereux dû à des
développements et des incidents hautement préoccupants, a-t-il dit.

Cette situation requiert un effort collectif des participants pour
réduire la tension, a-t-il ajouté, soulignant qu’il fallait renforcer
la confiance entre les parties.

Un tel degré d’incidents après deux ans et demi de travail intensif
est un signal alarmant, a-t-il fait valoir.

Malgré tout, les participants ont décidé de se revoir le 4 octobre
prochain pour un nouveau cycle de discussions.

Toutefois, Giorgi Bokeria, chef de la délégation géorgienne, a jugé
possible un échec des discussions de Genève si la situation sur le
terrain ne venait pas à s’améliorer.

Nous avons toujours eu pour position fondamentale qu’il était
préférable d’avoir un lieu pour discuter, a-t-il expliqué.

Mais cette campagne d’explosions effectuée de manière très
transparente par des agents de sécurité russes conduit la situation à
un niveau difficile, a-t-il ajouté, indiquant que les Géorgiens ne
pouvaient pas avoir une discussion avec une partie qui poursuit une
escalade de la campagne de terreur.

Les tensions restent élevées entre la Géorgie pro-occidentale et la
Russie depuis la brève guerre qui a opposé les deux pays en août 2008
pour le contrôle de l’Ossétie du Sud.

Au cours des derniers mois, la Géorgie, ancienne république
soviétique, a affirmé avoir déjoué plusieurs tentatives d’attentats
sur son sol et interpellé des suspects.

Le président géorgien Mikheïl Saakachvili estime que le Premier
ministre russe et homme fort du pays Vladimir Poutine cherche à
reprendre le contrôle de la Géorgie en rétablissant l’Union
soviétique.

En août 2008, l’armée russe avait envahi une partie de la Géorgie,
alliée des Etats-Unis, pour repousser les forces géorgiennes qui
tentaient de reprendre le contrôle de l’Ossétie du Sud.

Un cessez-le-feu négocié par l’UE a mis fin au conflit, mais Moscou a
reconnu dans la foulée l’indépendance de ce territoire ainsi que de
l’Abkhazie.

dimanche 12 juin 2011,
Sté[email protected]

From: Baghdasarian

YEREVAN-JUR: WATER CHLORINATION STATIONS ARE RECONSTRUCTED AND RE-EQUIPPED IN YEREVAN

/ARKA/
JUNE 10, 2011
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, June 10. /ARKA/. Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) will
sooner or earlier participate in negotiation process on regulation
of Karabakh conflict, considers the Chairman of National Assembly of
NKR Ashot Ghulyan.

“Today the largest enemy of independent participation of NKR in this
process is Azerbaijan. However, I consider that it is conditioned
by the wish of Azerbaijan and as it is fixed in the main documents
of OSCE Minsk Group and Budapest summit, Karabakh will participate
in negotiations sometime”, he said to the journalists in the frames
of eighth meeting of Armenian-Karabakh committee on inter-parliament
cooperation in Yerevan.

After the last meeting of NKR president Bako Sahakyan with co-chairmen
it was stated that NKR sees its participation in all the phases of
negotiation process.

Today, significant activation of negotiation process is observed as
in the past there have also been active phases of the process which
seemed to be close to the solution of the conflict.

Answering the question whether there are contradictions between Armenia
and NKR regarding the document being on the table of negotiations,
Ghulyan said that Karabakh parliament in 2008 had a political
announcement where it said that NKR has some provisions regarding
Madrid principles, “however, as these elements are regularly changed,
it is difficult to speak about the situation today in the context of
their acceptability”.

“However, the position remained unchanged and we insist on our
provisions”, he said.

Speaking about the expectations on the issue of recognizing NKR by
Armenia, Ghulyan said that “we can achieve relevant position through
discussions on inter-parliamentary level and consultations with
various bodies of authorities”.

Karabakh conflict started in 1988 after announcement of coming out of
Nagorno- Karabakh from Azerbaijan. On December 10, 1991 referendum took
place in Nagorno- Karabakh where 99.89% agreed to become independent
from Azerbaijan. On May 12, 1994 military actions were terminated in
the zone. About 25-30 thousand people died from each side and about
1 million had to leave their houses.

Cease-fire continues till now. From 1992 till present negotiations
are conducted on peaceful regulation of the conflict in the frames of
Minsk Group of OSCE, co-chairmen of which are USA, Russia and France.

From: Baghdasarian

AZERBAIJAN WANTS MOSCOW TO PAY MORE FOR USE OF QABALA RADAR STATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 9, 2011 – 16:37 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Azerbaijan wants Moscow to pay more for the use
of a radar station that is part of Russia’s warning system against
attacks from beyond its southern frontiers, a senior Azeri official
told Reuters.

Russia operates the Qabala radar station under a 10-year agreement
with the ex-Soviet republic, which stands on the Caspian Sea between
Russia and Iran. It expires in August 2012. “The Russians want us
to extend the lease. We are ready to consider cooperation but the
conditions should be reviewed,” Azeri Deputy Foreign Minister Araz
Azimov said in an interview.

When asked what exactly should be changed in the agreement, Azimov
said, “They should pay more.” Russia is now paying $10 million
per year.

“The risk is bigger, the issue is more prominent and the importance of
Qabala has increased,” Azimov said. He did not say how much Azerbaijan
wants Russia to pay or explain the risk, but Western nations are
concerned about what they call a growing threat of a missile attack
by Iran.

“Looking at similar situations in which the Russian Federation pays
the rent, they pay much more than they pay to Azerbaijan,” Azimov said.

The Qabala facility is part of a ring of early warning radar stations
built during the Cold War. Some are in ex-Soviet republics, forcing
Moscow to seek agreements on their use or abandon them, and to begin
building new radars inside Russia.

In 2007 Russia offered to the United States joint use of the Qabala
station as an alternative to the Bush administration’s planned European
missile shield, aimed largely to protect against a potential threat
from Iran.

The United States rejected the proposal, saying the Qabala radar would
not be useful. President Barack Obama has scaled back the planned U.S.

missile shield and NATO and Russia agreed last November to cooperate
on missile defence, but they have so far failed to agree a common
approach.

From: Baghdasarian

NKR HAS RESERVATIONS REGARDING MADRID PRINCIPLES

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 15:48:44 – 10/06/2011

In a briefing following the meeting of the NKR-Armenia
interparliamentary commission NKR Speaker Ashot Ghulyan did not rule
out an agreement in Kazan. However, he said, Kazan may also lead to
a deadlock.

Ghulyan thinks the process of talks over Nagorno-Karabakh was activated
by the statement of the co-chair countries in Deauville.

“This activation is not the first time, we have had stages of
activation in the talks which seemed to bring us closer to the
settlement. This time the same cycle seems to repeat. Naturally,
at the heart of it is the statement of the co-chair countries which
seems to define the activity but the general impression is, I would
like to note, that the expectations of the NKR National Assembly are
not optimistic,” he said.

As to how acceptable the document on the table is for NKR, Mr. Ghulyan
said they have reservations about it.

“We have reservations regarding the principles of Madrid but since
this document and its elements change frequently, today it is highly
difficult to tell in what status and how acceptable they are.

Naturally, our stance is unchanged, and our reservations remain but
we also understand that this document is on the table of the talks
which is of interest for the sides,” Ghulyan announced.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN PREMIER PROPOSES MINISTERS CONTROL IMPLEMENTATION OF STATE PROGRAM

/ARKA/
JUNE 10, 2011
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, June 10. /ARKA/. Speaking at a recurrent Cabinet session
today Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan proposed that ministers
take under their control implementation of the government program.

“Some 20 days are left before half f the year is finished and all
the ministers should submit public reports on the implementation of
government programs and how they are implemented”, said Sargsyan.

During these 20 days the ministers should take control of unfinished
government programs so that they are accomplished.

From: Baghdasarian