Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

GERMAN EXPERT: NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT NOT FROZEN

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Nov 27 201

27 November 2013, 12:03 (GMT+04:00)
By Sara Rajabova

While the officials of some countries refer to the Azerbaijani-Armenian
Nagorno-Karabakh as a frozen conflict, others argue that it is wrong
to consider the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as frozen.

German political scientist and expert on the post-Soviet area Heiko
Langner has said that the conflict cannot be considered frozen,
as many people think.

In his interview with Vestnik Kavkaza news agency, Langner said people
are being killed on the frontline and clashes are taking place and
it is therefore wrong to consider this conflict frozen in this context.

“On the other hand, I don’t see any opportunities for the settlement
of the conflict in the near future. If we look at the OSCE Minsk Group
which is responsible for talks on the settlement of the conflict,
we will see that the only mediator which has real power in the South
Caucasus is Russia,” Langner said.

He said neither France nor the U.S. can compete with Russia. “And
only under the mediation of Russia can the conflict between Armenia
and Azerbaijan be settled. The key to the Karabakh conflict lies in
Moscow,” he said.

He said that only cooperation between Yerevan, Baku, and Moscow can
lead to resolving the situation.

Langner also said that Armenia can continue its policy of
illegal occupation of Azerbaijani territories, but it pays a high
price-economic underdevelopment, massive poverty, poor social
conditions for its population, massive migration, and serious
demographic problems.

“International diplomacy should try to move Armenia away from its
isolated position in the region; but it requires that Armenia change
its current foreign policy and be ready to move forward in the process
of the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” he said.

According to Langner, Yerevan should refuse maximalist demands to
reach a compromise with Azerbaijan.

He said that then Azerbaijan and Turkey will stop the economic
isolation, and Armenia would benefit from it.

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing
of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were
killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale
hostilities. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20
percent of Azerbaijan’s territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and
seven surrounding regions.

Turkey broke off diplomatic relation and closed borders with Armenia
because of the country’s aggressive policy.

Armenia continues the occupation of Azerbaijani territories in defiance
of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and
unconditional withdrawal.

Peace talks brokered by mediators from Russia, France and the U.S.

have produced no results so far.

From: Baghdasarian

ABOUT 38 % OF ARMENIANS EXPECT THEIR COUNTRY’S ECONOMY TO GROW AFTER JOINING CUSTOMS UNION

YEREVAN, November 27. / ARKA /. About 38 % of Armenian citizens expect
their country’s economy to grow after it joins the Russia-led Customs
Union, according to the findings of a public opinion survey conducted
by Armenian Marketing Association, the official representative of
Gallup International Association in Armenia.

The findings were unveiled today by Aram Navasardyan, head of Armenian
Marketing Association, at a press conference at Novosti International
Press Center.

According to him, some 28 % of respondents said they expect prices to
drop, and 8% believe that prices will rise. Another 17% of respondents
said they did not expect any changes from the membership, while 18 %
said they could not answer this question.

“Overall, the survey showed that 64% of respondents support the
Customs Union, which is made now of Belarus , Kazakhstan and Russia,”
Navasardyan said.

He also said 28 percent of respondents spoke against Armenia’s
membership in the Russia-led bloc and 19 % were indifferent to it. He
said the attitude to Armenia’s accession to the Customs Union was
virtually identical both in Yerevan and beyond it.

According to the survey, conducted in October, 64% of respondents were
positive about Armenia’s membership in the trade bloc, down from 67
percent reveled by an earlier survey conducted in April.

The survey conducted on the initiative of Gallup International
Association on 9-16 October 2013 involved 1,067 respondents in Yerevan
and the provinces of the country. -0-

– See more at:

From: Baghdasarian

GAZIOSMANPASA’S VICE MAYOR DEFENDS DEVELOPMENT PROJECT WITH RACIAL SLUR

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Nov 26 2013

Some 600 homes, occupied mostly by Roma, were evacuated and demolished
in Sarýgol under Turkey’s urban development legislation.(Photo:
Today’s Zaman) 26 November 2013 /TODAY’S ZAMAN, ÝSTANBUL

A vice mayor of Ýstanbul’s Gaziosmanpaþa district has countered
objections to the planned sale of land plots in a local neighborhood
to outsiders using anti-Semitic and discriminatory remarks.

Like many other districts in Ýstanbul, Gaziosmanpaþa has been a major
attraction for contractors who want in on Ýstanbul’s much-criticized
“urban renewal projects” that opponents say are profit-oriented
development plans that violate most principles of urban development
and disregard environmental concerns.

The Gaziosmanpaþa District Council convened an emergency meeting to
discuss development plans for the area on Monday. During the session,
the council voted to allow non-local residents to buy housing in
Sarýgol, a neighborhood in the district, voiding an earlier council
decision allowing the sale of district housing only to current area
residents. When faced with objections from locals who were present
at the council session and Republican People’s Party (CHP) members
from the district council, Yýlmaz Ozkan, the vice mayor, defended
the move, allegedly saying, “It is not like we are selling [houses]
to Armenians, Greeks or Israelis abroad.”

Ozkan’s comments were taken out of the session minutes according to
the Radikal daily, but a representative from a local organization who
was present at Monday’s meeting has confirmed that the words were,
in fact, spoken. He also told Today’s Zaman he has Ozkan’s words
recorded on tape. In response to a phone call from Today’s Zaman
on Tuesday, Ozkan sent a written statement by e-mail, admitting to
having said the reported words. However, he said he had not meant to
be racist. To prove his point, he recalled that he had used the word
“abroad,” indicating that he hadn’t meant ethnic Armenians or any
other minority group residing in Turkey. “The examples I gave were
completely random countries,” he said in the statement, asserting
that he had meant the homes were not being sold to foreigners.

Some 600 homes, occupied mostly by Roma, were evacuated and demolished
in Sarýgol under Turkey’s urban development legislation concerning
“gecekondu” housing — homes that are constructed without permits. The
area is home to 2,500 people. The district council earlier decided
to allow the sale of the new housing rising in place of those 600
homes only to district residents, but voided that decision on Monday,
arguing that only 191 of the 725 new housing units had been sold.

In January, the district was added to those under the scope of Law 6306
on the Transformation of Areas Under Disaster Risk, often called the
“Disaster Law,” which overrides other development-related legislation
where it is enacted. The Disaster Law gives enormous powers to the
Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning and other authorities
to implement development plans in areas declared to be at disaster
risk. Critics say it provides a legal excuse to drive locals out and
build luxury projects anywhere contractors deem fit.

From: Baghdasarian

LONELY COUNTRY

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Nov 26 2013

26 November 2013 /KORAY CALIÅ~^KAN, RADÄ°KAL A military coup took place
in Egypt. The coup is evil, and Turkey has expressed its concerns.

However, the Muslim Brotherhood is more effective in expressing
their reaction to the coup than Turkey is. Turkey entered a heated
and unnecessary debate with Egypt rather than negotiating with the
country through diplomatic channels. None of the Muslim countries,
apart from Turkey, chose this path, which led to the expulsion of
Turkish Ambassador to Egypt Huseyin Avni Botsalı. Now, we have no
ambassador in Syria, Israel, Armenia or Egypt. Turkey’s harsh stance in
the Middle East serves no good purpose. Turkey is gradually becoming a
lonely country in the Middle East, despite its great economic potential
and cultural ties in the region.

From: Baghdasarian

IN A RICH HISTORY OF PREPOSTEROUS ENDINGS IN OPERA, TIRIDATE’S AWAKENING TO THE GOOD AND TRUE IN “RADAMISTO” RANKS HIGH.

The New York Times
November 22, 2013 Friday

Rethinking Further War

By JAMES R. OESTREICH

Through most of this long work by Handel, the tyrannical Tiridate,
king of Armenia, is bent on taking over Thrace and, with it, Zenobia,
the wife of its prince, Radamisto, who fights on its behalf. At
the last minute, Tiridate, his forces in revolt, sees the error of
his ways, offers his own throne to Radamisto’s father, the captive
King Farasmane, and reconciles with his own wife, Polissena (not
incidentally, Radamisto’s sister).

It is to the credit of James Darrah in his production of “Radamisto”
— a joint venture of Juilliard Opera and the period-instrument
Juilliard415 that opened on Wednesday evening at the Peter Jay Sharp
Theater, conducted by Julian Wachner — that he injects real drama
into the formulaic final chorus of joy. Polissena first recoils from
Tiridate’s touch, then stalks off, crossing the stage and hesitating
before turning and running to join him in a passionate kiss at the
curtain.

Mr. Darrah’s spare staging is generally effective, though he may be too
eager to stress bodily contact: Characters lean away from each other’s
grip, or clutch and fondle others. The sight of Tiridate’s aides
avidly pawing his wife by way of consolation seems implausible at best.

The set (designed, like the evocative lighting, by Emily MacDonald
and Cameron Mock) consists of little more than a standing wall in the
center of the stage, with symbolic props strewed about: daggers, ropes
of captivity, chairs doubling as thrones. Sara Jean Tosetti’s costumes
are elegant or rough, as needed, in a vaguely Middle Eastern style.

Staging “Radamisto,” an almost unrelieved series of da capo arias,
is unquestionably a challenge. (This production cuts some arias,
or parts, and runs three hours.) But the bigger challenge here may
fall to the singers and players, since they are working within the
somewhat recent memory of a stellar concert performance of the work
at Carnegie Hall in February, with the countertenor David Daniels
singing Radamisto and Harry Bicket conducting the English Concert.

All hands responded well to Mr. Wachner’s vigorous conducting on
Wednesday. The fire in the string playing was remarkable, as was much
of the work of the young singers.

Especially fine were Mary Feminear, soprano, as Polissena, and Virginie
Verrez, mezzo-soprano, as Zenobia. The Radamisto, the countertenor John
Holiday, began tentatively but gained stature as the evening unfolded.

Aubrey Allicock, a bass-baritone, was properly blustery as Tiridate.

Elliott Carlton Hines, a baritone, sang well in the small role of
Farasmane and, bound in chains of ropes, served as one of Mr. Darrah’s
striking props.

“Radamisto” repeats on Friday and Sunday at the Peter Jay Sharp
Theater, 155 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center; 212-721-6500,
juilliard.edu/radamisto.

URL:

From: Baghdasarian

RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY SIGNS COOPERATION AGREEMENTS WITH AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA, KAZAKHSTAN

Interfax, Russia
Nov 22 2013

MOSCOW. Nov 22

Ongoing matters related to Russia’s transfer of the Gabala radar
station to Azerbaijan have practically been resolved, Azeri Defense
Minister Col. Gen. Zakir Hasanov told his Russian counterpart Sergei
Shoigu.

The ministers met on the sidelines of the 65th meeting of the Council
of CIS Defense Ministers in Moscow on Thursday.

“I am aware that the Gabala [radar] has been practically transferred
and, to my knowledge, there are no problems here. Ongoing matters are
being resolved or, actually, have been resolved by now,” the Azeri
defense minister stated.

Shoigu said that Russia-Azeri relations had a long history, which was
now continuing, and “numerous outstanding issues were being settled.”

“I think today we will focus on current affairs, such as the transfer
of Gabala, and future cooperation plans,” he said.

Shoigu also held a bilateral meeting with Armenian Defense Minister
Seyran Ohanian.

“Relations between our countries and defense ministries have been
developing actively. We have met before this year and I am ready to
discuss defense and military-technological cooperation with you,”
Shoigu told his Armenian colleague.

The same issues were on the agenda of a meeting between the Russian
minister and his Kazakh counterpart Adilbek Dzhaksybekov.

The Russian Defense Ministry signed bilateral cooperation agreements
for 2014 with the colleagues from Azerbaijan, Armenia and Kazakhstan.

From: Baghdasarian

RENOWNED PIANIST SERGEI BABAYAN TO PERFORM IN ISRAEL

November 25, 2013 – 13:51 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – A top Armenian-American pianistSergei Babayan will
perform a single concert November 26 in Israel to open the country’s
young pianists’ competition, culbyt.com said.

Babayan began his musical studies at age six. A student of legendary
teachers and musicians as Gornostayeva, Naumov, Pletnev and Vlasenko
in the Moscow Conservatory, Sergei Babayan was one of the the
first pianists from the former USSR who was able to compete without
government sponsorship after the collapse of the system.

In 1989, Babayan travelled to the United States. That same year
he won first prize in the Robert Casadesus International Piano
Competition.After he won first prize in the Palm Beach International
Piano Competition and first prize in the Hamamatsu International
Piano Competition, he became a Laureate of the Queen Elisabeth Music
Competition in 1991. He won first prize in the Scottish International
Piano Competition and third prize at the Busoni International Piano
Competition. He was a prize winner at the Esther Honens International
Piano Competition.

In 1996, Babayan founded the Sergei Babayan International Piano
Academy at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS PLANS TO INCREASE FLIGHTS TO YEREVAN

Monday,
November
25

Armenia International Airports CJSC, which is the manager of Yerevan’s
Zvartnots Airport, conducted negotiations with Air France with
the aim of increasing the weekly number of flights from 3-4 to 7,
starting from 2014.

It is planned to increase the number of flights to the United Arab
Emirates from 7 to 11 starting from December of this year, Armenia
International Airports said.

The company is also discussing with other airlines the possibility
of increasing flights to Armenia.

“Progress has been observed since the Armenian government took a
decision about transition to the open sky policy,” the company said
in a statement.

TODAY, 16:39

Aysor.am

From: Baghdasarian

NKR DEFENSE MINISTER: DEFENSE ARMY’S LOSSES DECREASED BY 40 PERCENT IN 2013

18:37 25/11/2013 ” REGION

The command staff of the NKR Defense Army constantly makes efforts
to avoid extraordinary situations as much as possible and reduce
the losses to the minimum, NKR Defense Minister, Commander of the
NKR Defense Army Movses Hakobyan told Armenpress news agency in
an interview.

“The death of each soldier is a serious loss for the commend staff
of the Defense Army as they are not just common soldiers for us, but
sons, brothers and Armenians who could have a family, strong future and
contribute to the development of our motherland if they remained alive.

“It should be noted that despite the aforesaid reasons, the
command staff of the Defense Army constantly makes efforts to avoid
extraordinary situations as much as possible and reduce the losses
to the minimum. I would like to mention that in 2012 we recorded the
lowest amount of losses as compared to the previous years and the
losses of the Defense Army in the current year decreased by 40 percent
compared to the previous year. Notwithstanding, this reduction is not
a criterion for us. It will be a criterion for us when the deaths in
the Army are totally excluded. This is a very complicated but solvable
issue,” Mr Hakobyan said.

“In accordance with my promise, in 2012 and 2013 the Azerbaijani
army gave 5 victims or injured for each of our loss. Nevertheless,
notwithstanding this statistics, in comparison with the Azerbaijani
army, we do not accept the loss of even one Armenian soldier. Our
aim is to exclude the fatal cases in the army during military duty
or in any other situation.”

Source: Panorama.am

From: Baghdasarian

US SKIER CHASES OLYMPIC DREAM FOR ARMENIA IN SOCHI

Topic: Preparations for Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games

Born to Armenian parents in California, American skier Arman
Serebrakian will race for the former Soviet republic at the Winter
Olympics in Sochi next year.

© Photo Arman Serebrakian 18:28 25/11/2013

WASHINGTON, November 25 (by Carl Schreck for RIA Novosti) – US athletes
are unlikely to be hometown favorites at the Sochi Winter Olympics, but
California-born skier Arman Serebrakian may garner more local support
than most thanks to the Russian city’s sizeable Armenian population.

“That’s a huge motivation for me, because of the diaspora living
there, and Sochi is pretty close to Armenia. So it’s going to be
great having that extra support,” Serebrakian, an American alpine
skier set to hit the slopes for the Armenian ski team in Sochi,
told RIA Novosti this week.

Serebrakian, 26, was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area in a
family of ethnic Armenians from Iran and was once a top-ranked American
junior skier who dreamed of racing for the US Ski Team. That dream,
however, crashed along with him in a 2006 accident on the slopes in
Utah that left him with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

He managed to recover and go on to a successful college racing career
at the University of Colorado, though his childhood goal of skiing
for the United States had long since been wiped out.

But in 2009 he was approached by the Armenian Ski Federation, which
knew that he had an Armenian passport and invited Serebrakian to race
for the former Soviet republic in international competitions.

“I thought long and hard about it, and I decided it would be a great
honor to do that and a great way to represent my heritage and family
by doing what I love,” he said.

Serebrakian, whose ethnic Armenian parents came to the United States
from Tehran in 1980 following the Iranian Revolution, grew up immersed
in Armenian culture at his home in the small town of Novato, 30 miles
(48 kilometers) north of San Francisco.

“Our life at home was pretty much completely Armenian,” he told RIA
Novosti. “We spoke the language. We still speak the language to each
other at home. The food we eat … all the traditions and everything.”

Skiing occupied a sacred place in their home as well. His father,
Armen, is a surgeon who brought Serebrakian to the slopes for the
first time when his son was 18 months old.

“The story goes that about a month or two after I learned how to walk,
my dad took me up to ski,” said Serebrakian.

His sister, Ani, was a late starter by comparison. She began skiing
at the age of two and raced for Armenia in the 2010 Winter Olympics
in Vancouver.

Sochi will be Serebrakian’s first Olympic Games, and he has taken a
year-long break from his medical studies – he is interested in becoming
a surgeon like his father – to train, with a trip to Armenia planned
ahead of the games, which are set to kick off February 7.

“Armenia has these great, great mountains, and they have one ski
resort, and it’s very nice,” he said. “The terrain is honestly world
class, and when the snow comes, it’s really good.”

Despite its location in the Caucasus Mountains, Armenia does not have
any competitive ski racing tradition to speak of, so there were not
many Armenian skiers for Serebrakian to look to for inspiration as
a child.

Instead he grew up idolizing tennis legend Andrei Agassi, whose father
is also from Iran and of Armenian descent, as well as admiring the
bobsled duo Joe Almasian and Kenny Topalian, fellow American-Armenians
who became the first Olympics athletes for the newly independent
country when they raced at the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer,
Norway.

Armenia has won a total of 12 Olympic medals and just one gold since
Almasian and Topalian broke the Olympic ice for the country’s blue,
orange and red flag, and all of those came in the Summer Games events
of wrestling, weightlifting and boxing.

Still, Serebrakian expects that he and his teammates will have
considerable support from Armenian fans in Sochi, home to a large
percentage of the 281,000 ethnic Armenians who, according to 2010
census data, live in the Krasnodar Region, where the Black Sea resort
is located.

Unofficial estimates have put that number at 500,000 or higher.

Serebrakian said he hopes his relatives will be among the fans living
in Armenia who travel to Sochi to cheer on their athletes.

“I’m very excited about that,” he said.

From: Baghdasarian