Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

ARMENIAN TOP LEADERSHIP PAID TRIBUTE TO YEREABLUR PANTHEON

13:15, 28 January, 2013

YEREVAN, JANUARY 28, ARMENPRESS: Armenian top leadership on the
occasion of the 21th anniversary of formation of the Armed Forces
of Armenia visited Yereblur military pantheon. The President of the
Republic of Armenia, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Serzh
Sargsyan, His Holiness, Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, Nagorno
Karabakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan¸ Artsakh Diocese head Pargev
Archbishop Martirosyan, National Assembly speaker Hovik Abrahamyan,
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan, NKR
Defense Minister Movses Hakobyan, and high ranking military officials
laid flowers on the graves of Vazgen Sargsyan, Andranik Ozanyan, laid
wreath on the mamorial commemorating the memory of freedom fighters,
Armenpress reports.

Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan came forth in the briefing with the
journalists “Armenian Army Day is a national holiday. Our army, passing
21 years of path has guaranteed Armenia’s people security. I wish our
people peace and assure the army is ready to confront all provocations
“. Besides Minister Ohanyan congratulated soldiers standing in the
frontier line, as well as victims’ families.

From: Baghdasarian

MILITARY SONG THE BEST COMPANION OF ARMENIAN SOLDIER IN BATTLEFIELD

11:09, 28 January, 2013

YEREVAN, JANUARY 28, ARMENPRESS: Exclusively military – patriotic
songs are scheduled to be performed in all military units of the
Republic of Armenia in connection with the 21st anniversary of Army
day. Artsrun Hovhannisyan, Defense Ministry press secretary stated
in the briefing with Armenpress, the Ministry undertakes measures so
that each unit to have its own song. According to the interlocutor
the combat path of majority units possessing their song pertain to
the day date rather old. The hymn of Armenian Army “My Dream Homeland
Armenia” will be performed in all military units of the Republic
during morning and evening roll call. The song is also dedicated to
the memory of Vazgen Sargsyan.

“My Dream Homeland Armenia” in principal is the symbol of the Army

Composer of “My Dream Homeland Armenia” Robert Amirkhanyan stated
in the briefing with Armenpress, the song rises gorgeous but subtle
patriotic feelings.” Once a soldier appealed to me stating the song
helps him to overcome difficulties, to continue to believe” composer
noted. In the words of Amirkhanyan this is a full assessment for his
creation: the song encourages a soldier.

Ten songs by Goosan Haykazun are performed in the Army as marches

” Getashen”, “Armenians let us unite “, “Come zoravar”, “Dance Artsakh
people” and other well knowen military patriotic songs created in
different years are authored by Goosan Haykazun . All these songs are
particularly popular among the Armenians. Goosan notes, most of the
songs he wrote while participating in Artsakh war. According to him he
felt there was a need of such songs, they inspired people then. Goosan
Haykazun underscores nothing units more powerfully than the song.

Armenian General Staff Military Band participates in most important
events held in the Republic

Armenian General Staff Military Band was founded in 1992 November by
Armed Forces General Staff military orchestra Division head, chief
military conductor Armen Poghosyan.

Currently the Military Band cooperates with a number of military
organizations, internal troops, Honor Guard unit, as well as with
the people representing pop and classical music.

Song “I have the honor” authored by Colonel Armen Poghosyan is
scheduled in the frame of 21 th anniversary gala concert of January
28, 2013. Military Band also participates in various international
festivals. It was the winner of an International Military Festival
hosted in Sweden in 2010.

From: Baghdasarian

Expired cosmetics – time bomb

news.am
January 13, 2013 | 00:18

Expired women Cosmetics are a ticking time bomb, according to new
study in the UK.

It was discovered that almost one in two women keeps cosmetics for
about 6 years, while the expiration date is significantly shorter.
This causes huge reproduction of toxins and bacteria that are
pathogens and significantly increase the risk of eye infections such
as bacterial conjunctivitis, blepharitis, and inflammation of the
eyelids, Raut informs.

Thus, the eye shadows are considered the main cause of the spread of
infection, as they are applied very close to the eye. Next on the
harmfulness are lipstick and liquid foundation that women keep on
average for 4 years, respectively, which is more than three years
longer than they should be kept. Mascara and eyeliner are kept in
average for 3 years.

The most frequently replenished beauty products are face powder, blush
and bronzer, but even they are kept for about a year longer than they
should. While doing this strictly contraindicated, as cosmetics easily
becomes an excellent breeding ground for bacteria, such as
Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermis.

From: Baghdasarian

British and European Logic

Igor Muradyan
13:47 26/01/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:

The ongoing processes and developments in Europe seem to have an
indirect link to the political future of the countries of the South
Caucasus, especially that the process of integration is extremely
slow. However, Europe is related to this region far not only by the
`integration’ process but also mostly regional games. Therefore, the
region should follow the politics of leading and other European states
more attentively and closely.

The world of analytics is divided to European (more exactly,
Franco-German) and Anglo-Saxon analytical `schools’ and thoughts. As I
was looking into the problems of setup of European armed forces in the
late 1990s, I came to know the ways of political projection of British
and French researchers.

The British prefer working with actual political resources, the French
keep in mind that a preliminary solution of institutional issues will
predetermine the rest. In this regard, the British view the European
Union as a toolkit, while the French consider it Europe’s historical
mission.

The UK is considering leaving the EU, and if the British think about
doing something, they do it, and it is impossible to apply European
logic to London way of thinking. In fact, the Americans immediately
brought into the political discussion of this issue all the possible
arguments, such as leaving the EU will weaken the UK and deprive it of
such an important lever as influence on Europe. Thus the Americans
proved again that European thinking prevails in them not due to the
influence of the Franco-German and Celtic ethnic influence on the U.S.
policy but the establishment of the United States as an antipode and
ontological rival of the British oligarchic-aristocratic monarchy (to
put it in more figurative terms, the French templar model opposed to
the Venetian one).

Though the stereotypes are deeply rooted in the history of existence
of the EU as a projection of De Gaul-Adenauer and Mitterrand-Kohl
models, unification of Germany has significantly modified the
arrangement of forces in Europe, and the French were attracted by the
British, i.e. the memories of the classics of Antanta. Hence, the U.S.
and France have a similar opinion on the stay of the UK in Europe
though their motives are different. The United States pursues
mega-goals of control on Europe which would be difficult to implement
without the U.K. France is interested in such goals as maintenance of
the balance of forces in Europe and activation of the foreign policy
of leading European powers.

But how can the British policy be motivated, and what is the logic of
London in this case?

Even though some principles and approaches may be effective and
justified, the loss of actual goals renders most traditional methods
in politics meaningless. The UK has lost its interest in global,
European and regional politics due to its economic interests. It
remains a leading military and economic power, has important
geopolitical presence in a number of regions, is one of the pillars of
NATO and Transatlantic politics, is a world financial center.

At the same time, the UK has lost the status of an industrial power
and its economic interests are determined by raw material and energy
resources rather than hi-tech. The problems of Europe are too
burdensome and unnecessary for the British.

They say the British never lose. It may true but when a country is
already not trying to enter into foreign political games, there will
be nothing to lose. The UK has been unable to prevent rapprochement of
Germany and Russia (first of all, breakdown of German-Russian
relations on energy supply), establishment of the German-Central
European economic area and German economic expansion to traditionally
areas of British influence.

The UK and France have been unable to involve Germany in a more active
regional policy. France is rushing forward in foreign political and
military issues, leading the Franco-British military alliance (trying
not to demonstrate this).

The UK did not take part in the developments in the Mediterranean and
the Near East, now already in Africa. The games using Turkey’s
ambitions were not successful either, and even London has growing
doubts on the intensification of integration of Turkey with the EU. At
the same time, the UK relies on its centennial experience in world
markets and successfully cooperates with sources of raw materials and
oil in all the regions, including Russia, the Caspian, Africa, Latin
America and the Near East, of course.

London is currently concerned about two directions of foreign economic
activities – raw material resources and export of weapons. It is
worried about absence of hindrances. The UK is losing interest in
Europe, it is not going to perform functions in Europe which are in
line with the U.S. interests rather than its own ones, and leaving the
EU will be quite in line with the British concept.

In this regard, debritainization of the EU meaning more limited
relations and interests of London in the EU will, one way or another,
lead to the diminishing role of Turkey and its satellite Azerbaijan in
Europe. It is possible that it will lead to modification of
configuration of energy flow to the West.

From: Baghdasarian

Cihan News Agency (CNA) – Turkey
January 20, 2013 Sunday

Lawyer Çetin: MIT knows about Dink murder but does not release facts

ISTANBUL (CIHAN)- ‘Are MIT officials sitting and reading newspapers
despite all the salaries that they get from us? Or are they lying? The
prosecutor said that MIT would not share much information with the
courts. I believe that MIT has quite a lot of information with regards
to the murder of Dink but they don’t provide it. This is actually the
fate of all political murders in Turkey’

A number of state institutions had information about the plans to
murder Hrant Dink, the late chief editor of the Turkish-Armenian
weekly Agos, and among them is the National Intelligence Organization
(MIT), which has been withholding valuable information from the
courts, the chief lawyer for the Dink family has said to Monday Talk.

“We [the plaintiff lawyers] had a letter from the court to MIT asking
them to submit all the relevant information regarding the murder of
Dink. The response we received was that MIT had no information other
than what the daily newspapers had reported! After what recent new
reports have revealed, I asked the prosecutor to file a case against
MIT in regards to that response. Are MIT officials sitting and reading
newspapers despite all the salaries they are receiving from us? Or are
they lying?” asked Fethiye Çetin, a lawyer representing the family of
Dink, who was assassinated on Jan. 19, 2007 by a young man under the
influence of ultra-nationalism.

Although a local court said in its final verdict last year that a few
individuals were acting alone to kill Dink, many segments of society,
including the prosecutor in the case, the president, the prime
minister and several ministers, have expressed dismay because they
felt that the ruling was unjust and there was an organized network
involving officials behind the murder. The Dink family’s lawyers
appealed the ruling and all eyes are on the Supreme Court for its
decision.

Çetin has said that MIT probably has quite a lot of information about
Dink’s assassination but did not provide it. According to recent news
reports, a number of letters sent anonymously to MIT reveal the
illegal activities of structures — such as the Tactical Mobilization
Group (STK) — within the Turkish military. The letters say that the
STK was behind a number of assassinations that rocked the country in
the past, including an armed attack on the Council of State in 2006,
the killings of three Christian missionaries at the Zirve publishing
house in Malatya in 2007 and the murder of Dink.

Çetin elaborated on these issues and more, answering our questions.

*** Although the chief prosecutor has expressed an opinion that is
favorable to the argument of the Dink family’s lawyers, from what I
see from the family members of Dink to Dink’s friends, a number of
people have been feeling pessimistic about obtaining justice from the
Dink case. Do you share the same feelings?

The Istanbul court’s verdict was so bad that people from every level
of society, including ministers, the prime minister and the president,
have not been able to digest it. It seems like there was a glimmer of
hope when the chief prosecutor of the top court said that this is an
organized crime. However, six years have passed and we feel like we
are starting all over again because that’s what we have been saying
>From the beginning. The prosecutor’s notice says that the suspects are
not just limited to the ones who have been punished by the local court
in Istanbul and there is an organized structure which needs to be
exposed. This gives us some hope. Therefore, the prosecutor’s notice
is positive for us because it says that there is an organized
structure which was established specifically to fight against
non-Muslim minorities. The chief prosecutor also questioned the role
of police informant Erhan Tuncel in the murder and questions Tuncel’s
release.

*** Would you remind us of his role?

Although Tuncel is suspected of having incited Dink’s murderer, he is
also probably the one who tipped off the Istanbul police about the
murder plan. Important evidence, including Tuncel’s police records,
were hidden from the court. In fact, Tuncel’s file with the police was
destroyed since it constitutes a “state secret,” according to
officials.

*** What are the negative elements that you see in the prosecutor’s
opinion which was presented recently in a formal notification?

The notification from the prosecutor says that this organized
structure was formed in order to attack the unity of the nation; this
argument is based on Article 302 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK),
which was typically used in terrorism cases with regards to the
Kurdish issue in Turkey. While the chief prosecutor argued that an
organized network has been fighting against minorities, he emphasized
the ethnic and national identities of these minorities, therefore
classifying those minorities, who are Turkish citizens, as “others.”
What does he mean by saying that these minorities are from another
nation? This is the language that is often used in Turkey for
minorities, considering them as “foreign.” However, the language of
the judiciary should not be the same; it should be neutral. In
addition, the top prosecutor argues that this organized crime network
aimed to put Turkey in a difficult position internationally! There are
so many other explanations that could have been found to explain what
this crime network has been doing, like disturbing public order, going
against basic freedoms and human rights, disturbing public peace,
etc., and all of these could have been based on several articles of
the TCK. Additionally, we pointed out several — more than 30 —
irregularities and deficiencies in the investigation. The top
prosecutor’s notice mentions only four of those.

‘Court holds information about public officials’ role’

*** One important thing which the chief prosecution mentioned is with
regards to the lost camera footage and phone records, right?

In 2008, we demanded the records of phone calls made around the time
of the assassination on the day of the murder. We were only able to
have those records in court recently, a week before the case was
closed. Moreover the police provided misleading information to the
court about the phone records. Contrary to police investigations,
which found no phone conversations between the suspects on the day of
the murder, we found at least five cell phone numbers belonging to
people who were present at the crime scene on the day of the murder
that were directly connected to two suspects in the investigation. The
Telecommunications Directorate (TIB) gave the court some information
about conversations that took place around the time of the murder, but
said their records showed no link to any of the cell phones. TIB’s
statement is not true because one of the numbers assigned to a cell
phone present in the area at the time of the murder was used in 19
calls to a suspect between Oct. 22, 2005 and Jan. 27, 2007. In
addition, footage from active security cameras at shops and banks
located close to the crime scene were mysteriously lost!

*** Has the top prosecutor’s notification been sent to you yet? What
is your next step going to be?

We don’t have it yet. Journalists got a hold of it. When we receive it
officially, we will add our opinion and demand that the Criminal
Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals look at it immediately. There
is an investigation opened by an Istanbul court following the ruling
of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) against Turkey with
regards to the Dink case. We expect that this “secret” investigation
to move forward and become public.

*** Why is it still “secret”?

The prosecution may decide to have a secret investigation in order to
protect evidence and prevent the suspects from escaping but this
secrecy is related to the suspects; we, the co-plaintiffs, should have
had access to the case file. It is ridiculous that we don’t have
access to the file. We could have been helpful in this case.
Therefore, we applied to the Constitutional Court through the new
application mechanism voicing our criticism in that regard about two
months ago after exhausting all other judicial processes.

*** When do you expect the Istanbul court to make its findings public
or at least let you know the details of its investigation?

The prosecutor might have been waiting for the fourth judicial reform
package to be implemented. According to the fourth judicial package,
investigations can be opened against public personnel involved in
crimes such as murder or injuries without requiring authorized
permission from the affiliated institutions. This is quite important
for our case.

‘Court ignores clues, testimonies, evidence’

*** Media reports last year revealed that the undisclosed sections of
a report prepared by the State Audit Institution (DDK) accuse police
and intelligence officials of negligence in the murder of Dink and
call for the investigation of certain individuals.

The DDK had recommended that Dink’s murder should be handled as a
whole, taking into account developments before and after his murder.
In addition, it pointed out the need to investigate the role of public
officials in not preventing the murder and not submitting evidence
related to the murder after he was killed. Additionally, as we did,
the DDK’s report emphasized the need to combine all investigations and
cases related to the Dink murder for a full evaluation of the whole
picture. When there are several ongoing cases, the complexity of the
case was ignored and it has been reduced to individual acts with no
ties of individuals to some institutions.

*** What does it all tell you? After all those years, what is the
conclusion that you’ve reached?

We have realized that there is an internal fight among and between
various institutions in Turkey and they are trying to accuse each
other over the Dink case. Unfortunately, the Dink case has been
instrumentalized in this ongoing fight. If we genuinely want
democratization in Turkey, we should move beyond this and reveal the
roles of the police, the gendarmerie, MIT, civilian bureaucracy and
individual civilians in society.

*** Would you elaborate on civilian individuals’ roles?

We all complain about the deep state structure in Turkey but why has
it been continuing for so long? Regular citizens are the ones who are
paying the salaries of many of those people nested in the state. There
is now a well-established mentality in the country which is
discriminatory, aggressive, ultranationalist, against foreigners and
racist. This mentality has been persistent and its dissemination has
been conducted through the media and education. When the Justice and
Development Party (AK Party) came to power, it decided to fight
against this.

*** And some people who targeted Dink are now on trial in the case of
Ergenekon.

Despite our demands, they have not been allowed to testify about their
role in the murder of Dink. Those people, including ultranationalist
lawyers, the heads of some associations and some people from the
media, used the judiciary; they made Dink an object and target of
hate. Without investigating those people’s role, we will not be able
to find their links to an organized network. We tried to have it
investigated but to no avail. We listed their names one by one but our
demands have not been met. Besides, Dink had written two articles
right before his death naming those who had been threatening his life.
Even in an ordinary murder case, the prosecution first looks at clues,
like letters and notes, left behind after someone’s murder. Plus,
Dink’s family went to the prosecutor’s office and named the people
whom they suspected. In the case of Dink, all of this has been
ignored.

*** As you know, there are news reports about a number of anonymous
letters sent to MIT which revealed the illegal activities of
structures formed within the Turkish military. The letters contain
information on the illegal activities of some groups set up within the
General Staff, such as the STK. What are your thoughts on this?

We had sent a letter from the court to MIT asking them to submit all
the relevant information regarding the murder of Dink. The answer we
received was that MIT had no information other than what the daily
newspapers had reported! After what recent new reports have revealed,
I asked the prosecutor to file a case against MIT in regards to that
response. Are MIT officials sitting and reading newspapers despite all
the salaries that they get from us? Or are they lying? The prosecutor
said that MIT would not share much information with the courts. I
believe that MIT has quite a lot of information with regards to the
murder of Dink but they didn’t provide it. This is actually the fate
of all political murders in Turkey. The STK’s role has been discussed
in Turkey because of its role in an alleged assassinated plot against
[Deputy Prime Minister] Bülent Arinç. After the revelation of
Ergenekon, I have always said that the Dink murder was the work of
something even greater than Ergenekon. After the Dink, [priest Andrea]
Santoro and Zirve murders, and after looking all the evidence, the
clues lead me to something like the STK. The plan talks about three
“sensitive” cities to concentrate on: Trabzon, Malatya and Hatay,
cities where conflicts related to Turkish minorities have been
arising.

‘People are saying “enough,” that’s why Dink not forgotten’

*** On Jan. 19 this year, six years after the murder of Dink, hundreds
of thousands of people held a demonstration demanding once again for
justice. There have been political murders before in Turkey but it
seems like the Dink case has not faded away. Why do you think that is
so?

It’s because people who care have said “Enough is enough!” It has been
obvious that Dink was unjustly criminalized for insulting Turkishness,
he was targeted and he was threatened. At the end he was murdered.
Society has been feeling hurt because all of this was done so openly
and so carelessly. On top of that, the court ruled last year that the
murder was the work of a few individuals, like it was an ordinary
killing. Society has said “Enough!”

*** But you say that there is still not enough political will to
expose the real criminals.

We need political will to resolve such murders because the links are
in the deep structures of the state. It is impossible to reveal those
ties without the support of the government. No prosecutor can do this
without the government’s support. When Dink was killed, Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that this murder was indeed targeting the AK
Party government and he promised on his honor to find the murderers.
Last year, after the Istanbul court’s final verdict, Erdogan said that
he would not allow this case to be forgotten in the labyrinths of
Ankara. Since then, we have not yet seen an improvement.

*** Your last comments?

We have to be careful, especially as 2015 (the centennial of the
events of 1915) is approaching. We should avoid all acts that will
make the Armenian citizens of Turkey feel like foreigners.
Additionally, like all regular citizens in this country, I really
don’t like to live in a country where criminals remain unpunished. On
the contrary, like in the case of Dink, some officials who had roles
in murders have been promoted. I won’t renounce my rights in the case
unless the criminals are exposed and punished.

From: Baghdasarian

Cihan News Agency (CNA) – Turkey
January 19, 2013 Saturday

Dink remembered on 6th anniversary of murder as calls for justice grow

ISTANBUL (CIHAN)- Tens of thousands of people on Saturday remembered
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink on the sixth anniversary of his
murder and called for justice.

Thousands of people marched from Istanbul’s Taksim Square to the site
of Hrant Dink’s murder in 2007,the Agos weekly headquarters in Sisli,
as they do every year on Jan. 19 since Dink’s murder to support his
family and demand justice.

Saturday’s commemoration ceremonies were marred by clashes between
demonstrators and police in Istanbul as the commemoration ceremony
ended. Police reportedly used pepper gas during the clashes.

The late editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, Dink,
was shot dead by ultranationalist teenager Ogün Samast in Istanbul on
Jan. 19, 2007. Dink was convicted in 2005 for “insulting Turkishness”
despite an expert report that he had not committed the said crime. He
received threats from extremist rightist groups and ultranationalist
circles until he was murdered.

While Samast was sentenced to 22 years, 10 months in prison by a
juvenile court, Yasin Hayal was given life in prison for inciting the
murder. In a separate trial, two gendarmerie officers were convicted
merely on charges of “dereliction of duty” in the run-up to the Dink
murder. During the five-year trial process, both lawyers for the Dink
family and prosecution presented evidence indicating that Samast was
not acting alone. The prosecution believes the killers are affiliated
with the Ergenekon network, whose suspected members currently stand
trial on charges of plotting to overthrow the government, but so far
it has not been possible to question them about Dink’s murder.

On Jan. 10, The Supreme Court of Appeals’ Chief Public Prosecutor’s
Office asked the high court to overturn a highly controversial ruling
>From last year that ruled out the involvement of an organized criminal
network in the killing of Dink. The top prosecutor said that Dink was
obviously killed specifically because he is from a different ethnic
group, and his murder was part of the planned and systematic activity
of a criminal network aiming to damage the state’s unity.

Friends of Hrant are saying “We are Here Ahparig! (“ahparig” means “my
brother” in Armenian) this year and last week kicking off a week-long
memorial of events ranging from film screenings to exhibitions, from a
symposium to a story-reading and musical performances which started at
Cezayir Meeting Hall on Jan. 12-13 with a symposium entitled “Hrant
Dink Operation: 6 Years.”

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled in September 2010
that Turkey had failed to investigate and prosecute those who were
responsible for Dink’s murder and this constitutes a violation of
Dink’s right to life.

From: Baghdasarian

No Verdict Again in Sevag Balýkçý Murder Trial

A military court in Diyarbakir district resumed the trial of Kývanç
Aðaoðlu who is suspected for allegedly killing Sevag Balýkçý during
their compulsory military service, ruling to continue suspect’s
lending trial until the next session on February 28.

Ekin KARACA
[email protected]
Diyarbakýr – BIA News Desk
25 January 2013, Friday

A military court in Diyarbakir province resumed the trial of Kývanç
Aðaoðlu who is suspected for allegedly killing Sevag Balýkçý during
their compolsory military service on April 24, 2011 – 96th anniversary
of Armenian Genocide.

The court ruled to continue suspect’s lending trial until the next
session on February 28.

Garo Paylan, an activist from Justice For Sevag Initiative, said
Turkey’s main forensic institution wrote a report proving that Kývanç
Aðaoðlu’s rifle was shot in parallel to the victim, an evidence that
might refute claims for accident.

“The advocates of victim’s parents pointed out the contradiction in
witnesses’ testimonies. They demanded witness testimonies before the
court and a new investigation. The testimony process might have been
flawed because they were all taken in different cities,” Paylan said.

He also reminded the court’s order to decide on the testimonies
according to the upcoming expert report.

“Turkish state feeds hatred against minorities”

Nor Zartonk and Justice For Sevag Initiative made a public statement
prior to the court session.

Reminding the recent attacks on elderly Armenian women in Samatya, the
declaration said the incidents occurred due to the inevitable
consequence of hatred narrative towards non Turkish-Muslims.

“For over 150 years, the authorities in this land always sacrificed
individuals and groups which they could not assimilate. Just like in
1915, the crimes against Armenians in Turkey still go unpunished.
Racism and chauvinism is fed by state authorities to be used against
minorities.” (EKN)

From: Baghdasarian

European Union News
January 19, 2013 Saturday

Ida Kar: Bohemian Photographer

London

Plymouth City Council, UK Government has issued the following news release:

Ida Kar: Bohemian Photographer
Portraits of Artists from Paris, London and St. Ives

Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery, Drake Circus
26 January to 13 April 2013

In 1960 Ida Kar (1908-74) became the first photographer to have a
retrospective exhibition at a major London art gallery.

Russian-born, of Armenian heritage, she received public and critical
acclaim from her contemporaries.

She remains surprisingly little known today, yet she was instrumental
in encouraging the acceptance of photography as fine art.

Her portraits offer a fascinating insight into post-war cultural life
and her subjects included some of the most celebrated figures from the
literary and art worlds of 1950s and 1960s Europe and Russia.

This exhibition will be drawn from the Ida Kar Archive, acquired by
the National Portrait Gallery in 1999 and will include around 40 of
her portraits.

A number of the artists Kar photographed are represented in the
Museum’s permanent collections, particularly artists from the St Ives
School. Selected works by them will also be on display.

For further information please visit:

From: Baghdasarian

TendersInfo
January 19, 2013 Saturday

Armenia : TWO transportation projects worth $3 billion launched

The company Rasia said that by order of Armenian president Serzh
Sargsyan, the Minister of Transportation and Communications Gagik
Beglaryan announced the commencement of “The Southern Railway of
Armenia” and “The Southern High-Speed Railway of Armenia” projects,
worth $3 billion.

Senior government officials, ambassadors, representatives of
investment and sovereign wealth funds in addition to corporate leaders
>From Armenia, China, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Iran
attended the signing ceremony.

Also, “South Caucasus Railways”, the Ministry of Transport and
Communications of the Republic of Armenia and Rasia inked a tripartite
Memorandum of Understanding on regional cooperation intended for the
development of The Southern Railway of Armenia.
It is believed that the Southern Railway of Armenia will be a
single-track electrified railway 316 km long, running from the area of
Ghawar, situated beside Lake Sevan, to the southern border of Armenia
close to the town of Meghri where the line will be linked with the
current main Armenian railway system.

The Southern high-speed railway of Armenia will cover 110 km and will
be extended from Sisian to the southern border of Armenia close to the
town of Meghri.

From: Baghdasarian

Conscript killed in Armenia military unit

15:38 =95 27.01.13

*A conscript in an Armenian military unit was killed on Saturday evening,
reportedly of a gunshot released by a fellow serviceman.

According to the Ministry of Defense, Senior Sergeant Artak Galstyan died
of wounds after Yuri H. Gareginyan, a junior sergeant serving in the same
military unit, fired a bullet from a service gun.

A probe into the incident has been launched.

In a statement, the Ministry has extended its condolences to Galstyan’s
family and friends.

From: Baghdasarian