Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

AZG Armenian Daily #147, 20/08/2005

Aid

‘DOING OUR PART TO HELP’

IN-KIND DONATIONS AID ARMENIA’S DEVELOPMENT

“After observing an operation at the University Hospital #1 in Yerevan, my
husband Roberto, who is a surgeon, was awed by the great lack of medical
supplies, the extremely outdated equipment, and the huge difference in
conditions under which Armenia’s doctors operate,” explained Nadia
Rodriguez. “For example, we were told that surgeons are instructed not to
use sterile gloves on patients who cannot afford the extra $5 fee. By
American standards, this is unbelievable! We wanted to help improve the
conditions in Armenia’s public hospitals for the sake of both the patients
and the doctors.”

Since February 2005, Mrs. Rodriguez, working with the Fund for Armenian
Relief (FAR), has coordinated with hospitals in the northeast to donate
supplies and equipment to Armenia. These range from such basics as sterile
gloves, blood tubes, and wound closure kits to more complicated machinery
such as fetal heart rate monitors, defibrillators, critical care monitors
and x-ray equipment. Mrs. Rodriguez has secured more than $170,000 worth of
gifts in-kind. “I hope this is only the beginning,” she states.

“Since we had the contacts, my husband and I wanted to do our part to help.
Jeffrey Welsh, Vice President of resources and materials management at
Meridian Health, has been extremely helpful in offering equipment for our
cause. Through him and others we have been able to secure equipment that is
more modern than the equipment currently in use by many U.S. hospitals! If
only we knew more people that hold similar positions in other hospitals
throughout the US. Our goal is to have a continuous flow, in bulk, of
updated medical supplies to Armenia.”

The gifts in-kind identified by Mrs. Rodriguez complement FAR’s Continuing
Medical Education (CME) program. This program offers post-graduate training
opportunities to Armenia’s doctors in order to enhance their skills and
knowledge in their chosen fields of medicine. The medical equipment and
supplies will be distributed to the hospitals and clinics where FAR trainees
and their mentors practice.

IN-KIND DONATIONS

Gifts in-kind are contributions of material items made by a donor to help
support the operations or services provided by a nonprofit organization.
FAR, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in New York, accepts
all in-kind donations, with the exception of medicine, that would be needed,
useful, and helpful to the people of Armenia and Karabakh by the
container-load.

Gifts in-kind have been particularly bountiful for FAR in 2005.

Continuing a long tradition, New York’s Jack Torosian donated valuable
science and reference books to FAR for specialized schools and universities
in Armenia.

More than $100,000 worth of medical equipment and supplies has been
collected by Dr. Raffi Avitisian and Serop Demirjian of Cleveland, OH to be
sent to Armenia for FAR’s CME Program.

Dr. Dennis Vollman, of the Southgate Radiology & CT, Nuclear Medicine and
Ultrasound in Michigan, donated a CT scanner and an ultrasound unit, valued
at $85,000. This was not the first time Dr. Vollman worked with FAR. He had
sent medical equipment to Armenia through FAR immediately after the 1988
earthquake.

New York Presbyterian Hospital sent 800 epidural anesthesia kits, amounting
to close to $10,000, to Armenia’s public hospitals thanks to the efforts of
FAR Board member Dr. Edgar Hovsepian.

Harry Minoian persuaded the Niagara Falls Board of Education to donate
approximately $300,000 worth of brand-new textbooks to Armenia through FAR.
The subjects of these books cover history, literature, U.S. government and
foreign languages, including English as a second language, French and
Spanish. FAR will distribute these much-needed textbooks to its Ounjian
School, Catholicos Vasken I School, Mathevosian School, as well as other
public schools with foreign language specializations.

Florida’s Lucine Harvey secured enough children’s goods, ranging from basic
necessities, like clothes, shoes, mattresses, pillows, towels, soaps, and
toothpaste, to school supplies to fun items, like toys and bicycles, to fill
three 40-foot containers. These diverse goods, valued at more than $145,000,
will benefit FAR’s Siranoosh summer camp in Yeghegnadzor, the Yeghegnadzor
college, the Dilijan Children’s Health Center, and the Yerevan Children’s
Reception and Orientation Center for homeless children.

Hagop Vartevarian of New Jersey contributed new bath towels and bed sheets,
worth more than $3,000, for FAR’s Vanadzor Old Age Home and the State
University Guest House in Yerevan.

Gregory Manuelian of New York donated a professional digital camera having a
$1,000 market value for FAR’s Press Office in Armenia and Karabakh.

Mike Hovsepian, through Pennsylvania’s Global Rubber, Inc., gave 1,600
square feet of rubber mats worth $12,450, for a new playground built by FAR
at the Nork Orphanage in Yerevan.

AmeriCares has donated 171,600 8-ounce bottles of Ensure, the nutritional
beverage, to FAR via UAF. A 40-foot container filled with 62,400 bottles (20
pallets) is currently on its way to Armenia to help beneficiaries at FAR’s
soup kitchens, the Old Age Homes in Vanadzor and Gyumri as well as the Hagop
S. Touloukian Senior Center in Gyumri. Two more containers (packed with the
remaining 35 pallets) will be sent to Armenia shortly.

AmeriCares also gave more than 9,200 bottles of children’s vitamins (four
pallets) to FAR via UAF. These essential supplements were distributed to
needy children through hospitals, polyclinics and youth institutes.

Since its founding in response to the 1988 earthquake, FAR has served 10
million people through 130+ relief and development programs in Armenia and
Karabakh. It has channeled more than $250 million in humanitarian assistance
by implementing a wide range of projects including emergency relief,
construction, education, medical aid, and economic development. FAR is
dedicated to realizing the dream of a free, democratic, prosperous, and
culturally rich Armenia.

For more information about in-kind donations or to send contributions,
contact the Fund for Armenian Relief at 630 Second Avenue, New York, NY
10016; telephone (212) 889-5150, fax (212) 889-4849; ,
[email protected].

Dr. Roberto Rodriguez of Boston, MA (right) observed an operation performed
by Dr. Gevorg Yaghjyan (left) in University Hospital #1 in Yerevan. That
experience inspired him and his wife, Nadia, to fundraise for gifts in-kind
with the goal of having a continuous flow, in bulk, of updated medical
supplies to Armenia.

FAR Executive Director Garnik Nanagoulian (far left) was impressed with the
collection of medical gifts in-kind that Dr. Raffi Avitisian (far right) and
Serop Demirjian (second from left) of Cleveland, OH were able to amass to
send to Armenia for FAR’s CME Program. They began looking for ways to help
Armenia’s medical professionals after mentoring Dr. Mushegh Israelyan
(second from right) from Karabakh.

By Fund for Armenian Relief
From: Baghdasarian

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x118
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: [email protected]
Website:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, August 19, 2005

AGBU Builds Second Karabakh Village, Dozens Prepare to Move Into
Border Region

Perhaps as early as this year, ten families will move into the newly
established village of Pareshen in Karabakh’s southeastern Hadrut
region, thanks to the generosity of AGBU. By the close of 2005,
the 900,000-hectare (2.2 million acre) site will be reconstructed,
becoming the 40th village in the region and the second built by AGBU.
The ten two-room houses will be built with funds raised by AGBU London
from the British Armenian Community.

>From June 11 – 15, 2005, AGBU London Chairperson Harout Aghajanian
and Treasurer Bedros Aslanian visited the site to finalize details of
their local committee’s initiative. On June 13th, Pavel Nadjarian,
head of Karabakh’s Migration, Refugees and Repopulation Department,
and Aghajanian signed the agreement on village construction, and the
official cartographic survey was completed on June 22nd.

The name Pareshen, submitted by Professor K. Pilikian, was selected
from a list of 20 entries in a village-naming competition organized
by AGBU London. The project will be overseen by the London Chapter
and managed on the ground by AGBU’s Yerevan and Stepanakert offices,
utilizing the services of an independent architect and construction
firm chosen through a contract bidding and selection process.

Phase One is now underway with a budget of £53,000 (roughly USD$96,000)
from the generous donations of members of the UK Armenian Community and
matching funds from AGBU London Trust. Each home is approximately 5.2
million drams (approximately £6,600 or USD$12,000), but more funds are
required to complete a viable village with a minimum of 20 dwellings.

“We must develop Pareshen into a large and prosperous community that
will attract more and more people interested in the sustainability
of the village and contributing to the economic development of
the region. AGBU is playing the lead role in these objectives,”
said Aghajanian.

Karabakh authorities have taken the responsibility for supplying
water and electricity to Pareshen, and will also build a road that
will connect it to other villages and regions. AGBU London will also
meet the expense of connecting the homes to the water and electricity
networks.

NORASHEN CONTINUES TO GROW

Pareshen is the second village funded and built by AGBU. The
first, Norashen, is also located in the Hadrut region, adjacent to
Pareshen, and was built with financial support provided by AGBU France
District. Today, it is home to 100 residents, including 32 school-aged
children and 14 pre-schoolers, 23 houses and a kindergarten. On May 4,
a medical center, made possible through the gifts of French donors
Ara and Silva Aharonian, the Union of French Armenian Doctors (UMAF)
and the financial support of the Karabakh government, opened in the
village. While the center has a permanent nurse, doctors and nurses
form Hadrut regional clinic will visit the rural community twice a week
to examine and treat local villagers free of charge. AGBU Central Board
Member Levon Kebabdjian, Ara Aharonian and the Deputy Prime Minister,
Health Minister and Social Welfare Minister for Karabakh all attended
the ceremonial ribbon cutting. The youthful spirit of Norashen is
underlined by the fact that two weddings took place in the village over
the past two years, a remarkable number for a settlement of its size.

Pareshen will share the kindergarten, primary school and all-purpose
clinic facilities of neighboring Norashen. Both villages will also
share a secondary school, currently being built with funds raised by
AGBU Sydney and AGBU Southern California District.

Last October, over 100 AGBU members visited Norashen after the
organization’s General Assembly in Yerevan. During the excursion to
the remote area, members witnessed first-hand the enormous impact AGBU
funds have had on a region still recovering from the 1991-94 War of
Independence. During the visit, Karabakh President Arkady Ghoukassian
praised AGBU for its vision and contribution to the Republic’s
sustainability, particularly with the repopulation initiative.

The Karabakh Repopulation Project is a pan-AGBU venture first
initiated by the organization’s French District. To date, AGBU
Chapters in France, London, Sydney, Toronto and Los Angeles have
contributed to the Repopulation Project with others poised to join
in the fundraising effort.

In addition to this project, AGBU supports other initiatives in
Karabakh, including the renovation and renaming of Alex Manoogian
Street in the capital city of Stepanakert, the reconstruction of a
multi-story apartment complex for war veterans and war widows, the
building of a modern secondary school in the capital and the funding
of the Karabakh Chamber Orchestra.

If you would like to contribute to the Karabakh Repopulation Project
please call 212-319.6383 or email [email protected]. To contribute
directly to the Pareshen village project, please make your check
payable to “AGBU London Trust – Pareshen Project” and mail it to AGBU
London, Pareshen Project, PO Box 3102, Barnet, UK, EN4 0ZL.

Established in 1906, AGBU () is the world’s largest
non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City
with an annual budget of $26 million, AGBU preserves and promotes
the Armenian identity and heritage through educational, cultural and
humanitarian programs, annually serving some 400,000 Armenians in
35 countries.

–Boundary_(ID_rCIt6LN0mgz0uDwbshjbag)–
From: Baghdasarian

Armenian FM expects ‘new elements’ to emerge at Moscow meeting

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Aug 18 2005

Baku, August 17, AssA-Irada — New ‘elements’ may come up during any
round of talks on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict
over Upper Garabagh, Armenian foreign minister Vardan Oskanian
has said.

The Azeri and Armenian foreign ministers’ meeting due in Moscow
on August 24 is the continuation of the Warsaw meeting of the two
countries’ presidents, Armenian media quoted Oskanian as saying.

“We are working to fulfill the tasks set forth by the Presidents,”
said Oskanian. He added that certain progress has been achieved in
this area.*
From: Baghdasarian

EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
AMERICAN AVENUE 1
YEREVAN, ARMENIA
TELEPHONE (+374 10) 46 47 00; 46 47 01; 46 47 02
E-MAIL: [email protected]

August 17, 2005
U.S. Embassy Yerevan Hosts U.S. Department of Energy Workshop
Monday 15 August through Wednesday 17 August, the Embassy of the United
States of America in Yerevan sponsored a Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
Commodity Identification Training (CIT) demonstration workshop at the
Armenia Marriott Hotel in Yerevan. This seminar was conducted by a United
States Department of Energy (DoE) training team. The workshop familiarized
officers from the Armenian State Customs Committee and the National Security
Service with the enforcement of export controls for WMD-related materials
and helped train the officers to recognize these controlled commodities.
Richard Talley, Team Leader, noted that, while this is a very complex
subject, the interest and questions asked by the more than 20 participants
indicated an excellent understanding of the importance of this information
to Armenian border security.
Following the workshop, the DoE Training Team will host a two-day Export
Control Technical Exchange in Yerevan for representatives of institutions
responsible for the licensing and enforcement of the Republic of Armenia’s
export control laws and regulations. During the exchange, both sides will
discuss export control and will share experiences and best practices related
to export controls. Representatives of the State Customs Committee, the
National Security Service, the Ministry of Trade and Economic Development,
the Commission on Export Control, and technical experts involved in review
of export licenses have been invited.
This training and technical exchange is sponsored under the United States
Export Control and related Border Security (EXBS) Program, which has been
operating in the Republic of Armenia for almost five years. The EXBS Program
is designed to strengthen the borders of Armenia by providing the latest in
interdiction equipment, and developing the enforcement skills of the
Armenian Border Guards and the Customs Service in the fight against
worldwide terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and chemical and
biological warfare.

The trainer, Dr. Kirsten Laurin-Kovitz from Argonne National Laboratory.
The seminar was conducted by a United States Department of Energy (DoE)
training team
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Commodity Identification Training (CIT)
demonstration workshop at the Armenia Marriott Hotel in Yerevan
From: Baghdasarian

Poetry reading paves the way for film’s journey into dreams, misery of teens tried as adults
By Jane Ganahl

San Francisco Chronicle, CA
Aug 16 2005

Joie Barnhart of the Richmond District is here because her friend
said it would be a cool way to spend a Thursday evening in San
Francisco. No age limit at CELLspace gallery, so a 16-year-old is
welcome. Besides, says the dark-haired, black-eyelinered youth, as
she puts her purse down next to her folding chair, “I like to write
poetry, and I hear there are some good poets who are going to read.
And there is a movie.”

What kind of movie? She smiles. “I’m not sure.”

The documentary in question is “Juvies,” a grim look at what happens
to teenage offenders when they are sucked into the adult prison
system. This will not be an evening of “Must Love Dogs” jocularity.

Organizer Stephen Elliott is milling around the audience, looking
worried. One of the four writers scheduled to do a reading has not
arrived, and the event is past its 7 p.m. start time. He approaches
his friend Dave Eggers and says, “Do you think you might be able to
read if he doesn’t show?”

Eggers starts to grimace, but just then Marc Bamuthi Joseph is seen
in the doorway of the cavernous performance space. Relieved, Elliott
hurries off to greet him. Elliott is one of those rare writers who is
equally at home behind a keyboard or a podium. The Bay Area author
and journalist had a banner year in 2004; his novel, the ironically
titled “Happy Baby,” was named one of the best books of the year by
the Village Voice (among others) and garnered him both a Commonwealth
Club medal and a finalist spot in the New York Library’s Young Lions
Award (which was won, coincidentally, by his local friend, Andrew
Sean Greer).

But if literature inspires him, his own history drives him. Having
spent much of his childhood in foster homes as a ward of the state,
Elliott has become a writer-activist. For political causes, yes
(including last year’s presidential race, which led to his nonfiction
work, “Looking Forward to It: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and
Love the American Electoral Process”), but mostly for the cause of
youth behind bars.

“I’d been researching an article about Proposition 21,” he tells the
capacity audience from the stage. “And learned that it’s a terrible,
terrible proposition. It passed in California in 2000, mandating that
children be tried as adults.”

A smattering of boos from the audience. Joie shifts in her seat.

“I’m talking about kids who vandalize … who break a window, ending
up in adult prison.”

Elliott then reads a section of the story he wrote, focusing on one
young offender, Alonso, who ends up in solitary confinement, just
hoping to die, while still in his teens.

He is followed in readings by Kirya Traber, a stunningly confident
young woman who took first place, with her team, at the recent
International Youth Poetry Slam. Her poem, about a boy she loved who
fought the law, is both poignant and harrowing. Newly acclaimed
writer (and sometime SFGate.com columnist) Beth Lisick (now on the
New York Times extended best-seller list for her “Everybody Into the
Pool”) heightens the mood by reading an unintentionally hilarious
press release from HBO about the show “Entourage” and its own version
of the “Boston T” (as in shirt) party.

And slam champion Marc Bamuthi Joseph is his usual tornado of
activity, in and out of the audience, accompanying his own poetry
with wildly inventive dance movements that make him look alternately
like a flapping bird and a turtle. He finishes his set with a solemn
pronouncement: “How much money does it take to educate a child? Seven
thousand dollars. How much money does it cost to incarcerate a child?
Ninety thousand dollars.”

Elliott retakes the stage to introduce Leslie Neale, director of
“Juvies. ” “I’m humbled by the many voices onstage tonight,” she
says, brushing aside long blond hair. “I know that it …” she trails
off, as if fighting tears, “it would make the kids very happy.”

She introduces the film by noting that it was “damn near impossible
to photograph kids in detention.” But somehow she managed, with the
cooperation of authorities, to put cameras not only in her own hands,
but those of the detainees.

Narrated by actor (and former juvie) Mark Wahlberg, who also
executive produced, “Juvies” has circled the country on tour to
campuses and theaters. (Information on getting a copy of the film can
be found at juvies.net.) And the film has the audience gasping from
the get-go.

It focuses first on Michael Duc Ta, who goes by Duc. At age 16, he
was arrested when gunfire erupted from a car he was driving. Although
no one was injured, and he had no prior arrests, Duc was put into the
adult prison system and sentenced to 35 years to life.

When Duc is interviewed by his friends, he breaks down in tears,
talking about having been beaten by his father throughout his
childhood. When Duc’s parents are interviewed, his father admits to
the beatings — one of which was so severe it led to his own arrest.
Duc’s mother weeps uncontrollably.

Asked what he would like people to know about him, Duc thinks, then
responds: “I’m not such a bad guy after all. I’m not a lost cause.”

And it’s only the beginning. One girl already has a baby from whom
she is separated; her own mother is schizophrenic and her father is
in the state pen. Another girl, just 14 and the daughter of Armenian
immigrants, is also probably in for life for a gang shooting.

Joie and her friend cover their mouths with their hands while they
watch; others in the audience sniff audibly.

After the documentary is over, Neale takes the stage again and asks
if there are questions. What happened to Duc? Everyone wants to know.

“Due to grassroots efforts, 25 years have been taken off his
sentence,” Neale smiles. “That’s still 11 years to life, so there’s a
good chance he might not make it out.”

And, she says, there is still much to be done. “These kids changed my
life,” she says. “I hope you’re moved to do something. Anything.”

When Joie tiptoes out, she smiles and breathes, “Wow. Intense!”
From: Baghdasarian

Film’s threesome proves troublesome
By Ben Widdicombe, Jo Piazza and Chris Rovzar

New York Daily News
August 14, 2005

Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth and Rachel Blanchard have a wild menage
a trois in their new film, “Where the Truth Lies.” But how much of
their three-way will you get to see?

Director Atom Egoyan and ThinkFilm execs are wrestling with the
MPAA ratings board over whether the film should get an NC-17 or the
preferable R.

Word is the ratings sheriffs have gotten hung up on four scenes in
the movie, based on Rupert Holmes’ novel about a journalist trying to
find the truth behind the breakup of a famed comedy team years before.

A lesbian sex scene – featuring a woman dressed as Alice in Wonderland
– was less troubling than Blanchard’s trifecta romp with Bacon and
Firth, who play the comic duo loosely based on Jerry Lewis and Dean
Martin. The next morning, Blanchard is found dead in the hotel room.

The “Sweet Hereafter” director writes in SLM magazine that the
MPAA is concerned with “the actual number of thrusts seen.” Before
shooting his actors, he recalls, “I resorted to playing with dolls,
trying to figure out angles and configurations.” But in the end,
he couldn’t disguise the sexual mechanics.

“I needed these scenes to feel lurid and unbridled,” says the
Oscar-nominee and four-time Cannes Film Festival prize winner.

Having promised producer Robert Lantos an R, Egoyan has continued
whacking away at the offending scenes.

But one insider tells us, “The mystery of the girl’s death hinges
on that scene. If he cuts any more, the audience won’t know what
happened.”

ThinkFilm is due to get a verdict on the latest edit this week. If the
NC-17 sticks, the company could appeal, or it could release “Where
the Truth Lies” without a rating, as it did with its raunchy comedy
“The Aristocrats.”

It’s safe to say the movie is a departure for Blanchard, that sweet
girl from TV’s “7th Heaven.” She admits her boyfriend “cringed” when
he saw her triple-header – partly because “he would suffer endless
taunts of ‘One degree of Kevin Bacon!'”

PHOTO CAPTION: Kevin Bacon (l.), Rachel Blanchard and Colin Firth
figure in a steamy scene director Atom Egoyan is fighting to retain in
‘Where the Truth Lies.’

From: Baghdasarian

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Aug 13 2005

MINISTER OF NATIONAL SECURITY MEETS WITH DELEGATION OF GERMAN
INTELLIGENCE SERVICE
[August 13, 2005, 19:45:41]

At the invitation of the Minister of National Security of Azerbaijan
Eldar Mahmudov, a delegation of the Federal Intelligence Service of
Germany led by its Chief August Hanning stayed in Baku from August
11 to 13.

On August 12, the members of the delegation accompanied by
Lieutenant-General Eldar Mahmudov and other Ministry’s officials
visited the Alley of Honor in Baku to pay a tribute to the national
leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev, and the Martyrs Alley to
commemorate those who gave their lives for independence and territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan.

Later on the same, Chief of the Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service
August Hanning and his delegation met with Minister of National
Security of Azerbaijan Lieutenant-General Eldar Mahmudov.

The Minister informed the delegation members on the legal and
democratic reforms implemented in Azerbaijan under the leadership
of President Ilham Aliyev, and the work done to maintain political
stability and security in the country, which, according to him, are
the most important factors to ensure its socio-economic development
as well as realization of the large-scale international projects.

Lieutenant-General Eldar Mahmudov also told of the concrete steps
taken in fight against organized crime and international terrorism,
illegal migration and drug trafficking and touched upon criminogenic
situation in the region and the factors influencing on it, as well
as the aftermath of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.

In turn, Chief of the Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service August
Hanning shared his impressions of staying in Baku, expressing
satisfaction with the existing cooperation between corresponding
structures of Azerbaijan and Germany. He also expressed confidence
this visit would be very useful for strengthening of the relationship
between the two countries in general.

The parties exchanged views on a number of other issues of mutual
interest including prospects of mutually beneficial cooperation
between the two countries’ special services.
From: Baghdasarian

SWEDEN WILLING TO ASSIST IN KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT

YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, NOYAN TAPAN. At the August 12 meeting between the
Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian and the delegation headed by
the Swedish Prime Minister Staff’s State Secretary Lars Danielsson
Gunnar, the sides underlined the necessity for further development of
the Armenian-Swedish relations and the importance of paying mutual
visits. According to the RA MFA Press and Information Department, the
delegation is in Armenia within the framework of a regional visit.t
V. Oskanian appreciated Sweden’s assistance to Armenia with the aim of
ensuring the maximum involvement of Armenia in the EU Program
“European Neighborhood Policy”. He also pointed out the successful
process of the technical programs implemented in Armenia since 1995
with funds of the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). At
the request of the guest, the Armenian Foreign Minister presented the
current programs on Armenia’s cooperation with the EU and the NATO, as
well as issues related to the relations between Armenia and Turkey.

Speaking about the process of Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement,
Lars Danielsson Gunnar noted that his country is interested in seeing
the region conflict-free in the shortest possible time. He also
stressed his country’s willingness to provide both political and
economic assistance in order to help reach agreements aimed at the
conflict settlement.
From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN “MACBETH” ON POLISH STAGE

PanArmenian News Network
Aug 5 2005

05.08.2005 04:17

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Yerevan Drama Theater after Hrachya Kaplanian
will take part in the Shakespeare International Theater Festival to
be held in Gdansk and Gdynia (Poland) August 6-13, Gazeta Wyborcza
reports. The festival will open with the performance “Comedy of
Mistakes” staged by the New Theater from Lodz. Polish theater-lovers
can appreciate the art of Armenian actors on August 8 and 9. The
Yerevan Drama Theater will perform Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth”
directed by Armen Khandikian. To note, theaters form Germany and
Ukraine will present the same play. Theaters from Israel, Ukraine,
Hungary, Italy, Belarus and other states will take part in the
festival.
From: Baghdasarian

Ankara postpones Deiss visit to Turkey

Swissinfo, Switzerland
Aug 5 2005

The Turkish authorities have postponed a visit to Turkey next month
by Swiss Economics Minister Joseph Deiss.

They have cited agenda problems of his Turkish counterpart, although
it is widely considered in Switzerland that the real cause for the
postponement is the Armenian genocide issue.

It is the second time that Ankara has made such a delaying move. In
September 2003, Turkish authorities cancelled a visit by the Swiss
foreign minister, Micheline Calmy-Rey. She eventually visited the
country in March.

The Swiss authorities confirmed reports in Friday~Rs edition of
the Zurich newspaper Tages Anzeiger and Geneva~Rs Le Temps that
Switzerland~Rs ambassador to Turkey had received an official note
cancelling Deiss~Rs trip.

It said that the Turkish economics minister, Kürsad Tüzmen, was
unavailable on the dates that had been pencilled in. As a result the
planned trip could not take place in September.

However the Turkish embassy in Bern said the visit had only been
postponed and denied any link to a criminal investigation into a
Turkish party leader in Switzerland.

“Mr Deiss’s visit is to be worked out through mutual contacts on both
sides in the period ahead,” Sibel Gal, press attaché at the Turkish
embassy, told swissinfo.

Snub

The snub is the latest episode in tensions between Ankara and Bern,
provoked indirectly by the commemoration two weeks ago of the 1923
Treaty of Lausanne, which defined the borders of modern Turkey.

Ankara has criticised Swiss authorities for opening an investigation
into Doðu Perinçek, head of the Turkish Workers~R Party who denied
the Armenian genocide at a news conference in canton Zurich.

Under Swiss law, any act of denying, belittling or justifying genocide
is a violation of the country~Rs anti-racism laws.

Perinçek, who appeared before the public prosecutor of Winterhur, is
also the subject of investigation for the same reason in canton Vaud.

A similar investigation in Winterthur has been opened in the case of
Turkish historian Yusuf Halaçoðlu.

The Turkish government, which has strongly condemned the Swiss action,
considers that the investigations are contrary to international law
and has demanded they be stopped.

Diplomatic spat

In a diplomatic spat, the ambassador of Switzerland in Turkey was
last week summoned to explain Switzerland~Rs position, while Turkey~Rs
envoy in Bern visited the Swiss foreign ministry a day later.

The Swiss economics ministry has expressed regret at Ankara~Rs
decision, hoping that the visit could take place at a later date.

The trip was a working visit with a delegation of Swiss business
leaders. Such trips take place about once every four years with
countries that represent an important market for Switzerland.

The ministry commented that if the real reason for the postponement
were due to the investigations it would regret that because Switzerland
practised “the separation of powers which is an essential value of
its democracy”.

The House of Representatives is the only federal institution that
has officially recognised genocide against the Armenians.

–Boundary_(ID_jNAs7v+PoMXWhEFeaiRvbA)–
From: Baghdasarian