Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

What’s Wrong With Azerbaijani Oil?

– Igor Muradyan
–
– Monday, 29 October 2012, 13:35

Great Britain has played a major role in ensuring stability and security
in the South Caucasus and the Caspian Sea by launching oil and gas projects
there. Great Britain cannot allow damage and destruction of oil production
and transportation facilities where it has invested 35-40 billion dollars.

British Petroleum (like Total of France) is a foreign political instrument
for the British government which cannot ignore the interests of this
company. BP’s sales are lower than the sales of major U.S. oil companies
which, despite being an important political resource for the United States,
do not have a big role in the foreign policy of the United States.

At the same time, British Petroleum is not just a foreign political
instrument but first of all a commercial organization interested in the
strategic security of its business. BP is a global company, has a huge
experience of work in many countries and regions, including in exploration,
and it is not a major problem to estimate the oil reserves in the Caspian
region.

Oil mines in Azeri-Chirag-Gyuneshli were thoroughly studied in the Soviet
period, in the 1970-80s, and estimated at 540 million tons, which was oil
in place by the time of signing the Contract of the Century. The contract
for the production of Azeri, Chirag and the deepwater Gyuneshli was signed
on 20 September 1994 and entered into force on 12 December. In addition,
BP-Amoco’s share was 34.1367 % but this U.S.-British company is actually
the operator and conductor of this project.

Later the reserve of these mines was estimated at a proven 940 million tons
and a confirmed 1.03 billion tons. During extraction in the framework of
the Contract of the Century (taking consideration of estimates for 2012)
288.5 million tons or 53.5% of initially proven and 30.7% of confirmed oil
reserves was extracted. In 2009 40.3 million tons was extracted instead of
the planned 46.8 million tons, in 2010 the estimated amount was 42.1
million tons, extraction totaled 40.6 million tons, and in 2011 extraction
was 36 million tons despite the estimate of 40.2 million tons. By the end
of 2012 33 million tons will be extracted though 35.6 million tons has been
planned.

The Azerbaijani side first explained decline by extraction problems. It
made allegations against BP without coming up with substantiated claims to
this company relating this issue. At the same time, judging by oil in place
and plans regarding decline in the extraction rate should not have been so
significant, and the rate of decline should have been less steep.
Apparently, the Azerbaijani leadership is taking precautions in case
decline of extraction is more significant as to lead to cardinal change in
the economic, social and political situation in Azerbaijan.

It is also necessary to take into consideration that despite fluctuations
the oil price is expected to continue to drop which, together with a
drastic decline in extraction, will end up in a catastrophe for Azerbaijan.
The launch of extraction and export of natural gas will mitigate the
consequences but gas is not oil in neither an economic, nor a political
sense.

In this situation doubts occur that from the very beginning of
implementation of the project the oil reserves were exaggerated, which is a
common practice among raw material companies for the purpose of boosting
capitalization of enterprise. Besides, despite efforts, it has been
impossible to reveal the rate of producible oil in these mines. Earlier the
rate of producible oil in the Caspian region did not exceed 60%.

Considering assessments by the coryphaei of geology in the Soviet Union
well-aware of the Caspian geology, the originally announced amount of 540
million tons or a little more was the real amount of producible oil. Hence,
over half of it has already been produced.

Assessments by British experts on energy hold that the amount of production
of oil may drop to 25 million tons. Ostensibly, if oil in place is about
250 million tons, its extraction will continue for 10 years or so. In this
case, the entire scheme of the political component of this project
including Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan will be destroyed. This pipeline will have to
be used to transport the oil of Kazakhstan which is mostly transported to
Chine or the Russian oil and in this case Russia may buy this oil pipeline.

Hence, running out of the Caspian oil at such a fast pace may lead to
political troubles, considering that Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan had first of all a
political nature and was therefore supported by the U.S. government. In
this regard, a strategy of prolonging the term of extraction was worked out
and it is possible that this strategy was drafted at the beginning of the
project. Earlier it had been supposed that the political leadership of
Azerbaijan is trying to save its oil for future generations but Baku’s
current reaction defies any patriotic intention. The leader of Azerbaijan
aims at fast extraction of oil and gas to enrich himself, his family and
his clan in the shortest possible period.

Hence, the interests of the family ruling Azerbaijan contradict not only
BP’s intentions but also the U.S. political interests, possibly also the
U.K.’s interests. It should be noted that from time to time BP has tried
certain initiatives on Azerbaijan’s to lobby its interests. At the same
time, the company’s representatives claimed that Azerbaijan is not an
important partner to make special efforts for its interests.

In 2005 certain timid efforts to lobby Baku’s interests in European
organizations were made which ended up in a fiasco. There was an impression
that this fiasco was planned to demonstrate to Azerbaijan that these
efforts are futile and cannot lead to success. Some British experts think
the United Kingdom cannot afford to lobby Azerbaijan’s interests because
it is not appropriate for a great power.

`The interests of the Aliyev family are appropriately represented in
London, which is sufficient.’ The rookery of the ruling family is in London
and not in Washington or Ankara. Azerbaijan became rich because we are
there, the British expert claims. So, Aliyev will not find it easy to
reproach his partners or rather patrons.

From: Baghdasarian

Munich Lecture Series: The Ottoman Empire and Its Eastern Provinces

14:40, October 29, 2012

The Turkish Studies Chair of the Institute of Near and Middle Eastern
Studies at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU), with the support
of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Lisbon) and the Gomidas Institute
(London), will be hosting a new lecture series entitled `The Ottoman Empire
and its Eastern Provinces’.

The lectures will be given by leading scholars from Turkey, Switzerland,
Sweden and the United States on a variety of topics that still resonate
with us today. Each month one speaker will make their presentation to a
critical audience in Munich, and each talk will be reported for the benefit
of the broader scholarly community.

The first lecture, `The Violence of Neighbours: Inter-Religious Violence in
Late Ottoman Diyarbakır,’ by Dr. David Gaunt (Södertörn University,
Stockholm)* *will take place on November 7.

For a complete schedule please go to the LMU
website
.

From: Baghdasarian

Gagik Tsarukyan slams Hrayr Tovmasyan (video)

2012-11-04 12:30:16

A video was posted on the web where Gagik Tsarukyan, PAP president,
during the meeting with students, referring to the statement made by
Hrayr Tovmasyan, RA Minister of Justice, that sewing eyes and mouth is
a common thing for prisoners and likewise accidents happen in all
prisons of the world, he said `Our Minister of Justice without a shame
says how girls pierce their ears, defendants sew their mouths and
eyes. Why does a person do this, out of disappointment or injustice?
Instead, everyone should be correspondingly punished, should give
explanation why he acted that way.
The question must be raised personally to the Mr. Minister of justice
by saying it is not something like piercing an ear but you, as the
Minister of justice, are fully obliged to send a special investigatory
group for examining why that occurred, and represent public as both
society, public and students wish to be informed’.
Below is the video.

From: Baghdasarian

Nikol Pashinyan: Why March 1 case is not being disclosed?

2012-11-04 19:18:11

The RA NA ANC party presented a petition to create RA NA temporary
commission in relation with the events which took place on 1st and 2nd
of March, 2008 and the document has been grounded by a series of
points.
Lurer.com talked to Nikol Pashinyan, the NA ANC Party MP to find out
whether there are new disclosures on March 1 case or no and which are
ANC upcoming steps.
`The disclosure process of March 1 is where it was in 2008. I wish to
remind that investigation body involved injured people or, at least,
majority of them with difficulty in the case as victims. They didn’t
want to involve them as victims. And the reason was because the case
was conducted by authorities who executed those killings. If those
injured have been recognized as victims, they already had had to admit
with presumption that they were murdered as a result of illegal
actions but initially they wished to have a hypothesis based on the
fact they were murdered as a result of legal action’, said Pashinyan.
ANC deputy said if we study the last report of ACS we will see that
they are trying to have compromising information on victims’ actions.
`They try to show that victims have initiated certain illegal actions.
In fact, the Government hasn’t refused that presumption yet, that is
why, March 1 case is not revealed so far’, the latter said.
Pashinyan also mentioned that the revelation of March 1 three killings
out of ten is of no complication.
`We know the full names of those police officials who applied
`Cheryomukha 7′ type of weapon and they are guilty for the death of
three people. People are clear but the case is not revealing’, the ANC
deputy notices.
Referring to ANC upcoming steps Nikol Pashinyan informed that ANC has
put the draft decision related to March 1 into circulation, the main
reason is the following: to form parliamentary commission which will
investigate the legality of actions of those officials which were
engaged or currently are engaged in the discovery of murders of March
1.
`We said that we should be consistent on the discovery of March 1
murders but we also should realize that current Government is not
interested to reveal those killings. Actually, word formations of some
March 1 victim relatives are precised: as long as this authority is on
power, murders won’t be revealed. If no, then current authorities
should prove it’.

Gayane Hambardzumyan

From: Baghdasarian

REVUE DE PRESSE
Des faïences opposent le Louvre et la Turquie
Elodie Maurot et Delphine Nerbollier

La Croix – 30/10/2012

La Turquie accuse le Louvre d’exposer, dans son nouveau département
des arts de l’Islam, des `uvres « volées » dont elle réclame la
restitution.

Quels sont les objets du litige ?

L’affaire a été lancée par le journal turc Radikal qui a publié samedi
27 octobre un article intitulé « Elles sont toutes à nous » . Le
journal fait notamment référence à trois panneaux de faïence d’Iznik,
exposées au Louvre dans le tout nouveau département des arts de
l’Islam.

Selon le quotidien, ces faïences proviendraient de la mosquée Piyale
Pasha, `uvre de l’architecte ottoman Sinan, et située dans le quartier
stambouliote de Kasimpasa. La Turquie estime à huit le nombre de
panneaux dérobés dans cette mosquée achevée en 1573. Jusqu’à présent,
cinq avaient été identifiés dans des musées américains et européens.
Selon Ankara, les trois derniers se trouvent donc à Paris.

D’autres pièces de la collection du département des arts de l’Islam
font l’objet de litige. Parmi eux se trouvent des faïences originaires
des tombeaux des sultans Selim II, Murat III et de la bibliothèque de
Mahmut Ier . Selon Ankara, elles ont été emportées en France dans les
années 1880 par Albert Sorlin Dorigny. Chargé de les restaurer, il les
aurait offertes au Louvre au lieu de les rendre. Comment réagit le
gouvernement turc ?

Le ministre de la culture, Ertugrul Günay, a confirmé les allégations
lancées par le journal. Il a déjà envoyé au Louvre deux
fonctionnaires, qui ont rendu un rapport. « Nous suivons de très près
ces `uvres inestimables qui ont été volées, a déclaré le ministre.
Nous avons entamé un processus pour (les) récupérer. »

Avec cette affaire, ce ministre turc tient une nouvelle occasion de
faire entendre sa voix, lui qui `uvre avec insistance pour le retour
de milliers de pièces, selon lui dérobées ou pillées et exposées en
dehors de son pays. Jusqu’à présent, Ertugrul Günay a hautement
médiatisé les cas de l’autel de Pergame, exposé au Musée d’État de
Berlin, et du trésor de Troie, visible en partie au Musée Pouchkine de
Moscou et dont 24 pièces viennent d’être restituées par un musée
américain.

Mais les méthodes employées par Ankara pour faire valoir ses demandes
font parfois l’objet de polémique. En 2011, afin de récupérer le
sphinx d’Hattusa, les autorités turques avaient menacé de priver de
fouilles l’Institut allemand d’archéologie sur ce même site d’Hattusa.
Quelle est la position de la France ?

Les autorités françaises ont déjà été saisies, il y a plusieurs
années, d’une demande de restitution de carreaux de faïence provenant
du mausolée de Selim II. Au regard du droit international (convention
de l’Unesco du 14 novembre 1970) et du droit français, il avait été
conclu que les `uvres ne pouvaient faire l’objet d’une procédure de
restitution.

Pour le Louvre, interrogé lundi 29 octobre, cette position reste
valable à propos de la nouvelle polémique. Le musée français indique
que toutes ces `uvres « ont été acquises au XIXe siècle de bonne foi
par les institutions françaises » et qu’elles sont entrées dans ses
collections, « par don ou achat, dans des conditions légales » .

Concernant la provenance des carreaux aujourd’hui revendiqués, le
catalogue officiel indique que des études scientifiques remettent en
question l’idée qu’ils proviendraient de la mosquée Piyale Pasha et
que « leur provenance reste un mystère ». Pour le musée, la réponse «
la plus constructive » à ce type de différend passe par « une
politique d’ouverture et le développement de coopération scientifique
» avec les autorités turques.

dimanche 4 novembre 2012,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

REVUE DE PRESSE
Cognac : un ensemble immobilier qui interpelle le bon goût

Hrair Hakobyan, l’homme d’affaires arménien qui a acheté les vignes et
le chteau de Chtenay, a un projet de zone pavillonnaire de haut
standing. Le point

Mercredi soir, suite à l’assemblée constitutive qui visait à
renouveler le conseil de quartier du Champ-de-Foire, le maire Michel
Gourinchas s’est plié à l’exercice de la question directe. Il a, entre
beaucoup d’autres questions, été interrogé sur le projet de zone
pavillonnaire de Hrair Hakobyan, homme d’affaires arménien qui a
acheté le chteau et les vignes de Chtenay.

D’importants travaux de restauration du chteau sont en cours. Il
deviendrait un lieu de séminaires et d’accueil haut de gamme. Hrair
Hakobyan est aussi l’associé d’Armen Petrossian sur le dossier du
caviar à Bourg-Charente.

Chalets, casernement

L’Angoumoisin Jean Mardikian sert d’intermédiaire et de relais local
pour toutes ces affaires. Contacté régulièrement, ce dernier estime à
chaque fois qu’il est trop tôt pour en parler. En l’état,
l’investisseur arménien a en projet de btir, sur sa propriété de
Chtenay, un ensemble de maisons de haut standing, consacrées pour
moitié au tourisme et, pour autre moitié, à du locatif durable. Cet
ensemble, qui n’existe pour l’heure que sur croquis, longerait la rue
Robert-Daugas. Aucune demande de permis de construire n’a été déposée.

Michel Gourinchas a tenté de noyer l’esturgeon, évoquant les ambitions
premières de Hrair Hakobyan qui étaient d’installer sa ferme piscicole
sur place, à Chtenay. L’édile a juste confirmé que l’investisseur
avait un projet « pour les catégories `plus plus` » et que la mairie
veillait au bon goût de l’ensemble. Les premiers plans n’ont en effet
pas du tout convaincu l’équipe en place. Au tout début, il était
question de chalets. Ensuite, ont été présentés des btiments d’«
architecture communiste », dixit le maire. « Casernement américain des
années 50 », pour Jean-François Hérouard, le maire adjoint qui a le
dossier en charge, absent de la réunion de quartier. Où l’on comprend
que tout est une question de point de vue.

Un côté folklorique

Quoi que sérieux, le dossier se révèle quelque peu atypique, voire
folklorique. Pour la première ébauche, l’architecte arménien
souhaitait disposer les maisons en quinconce. Depuis, il a été demandé
de « dédensifier » le nombre de maisons… La deuxième version,
arrivée voici quinze jours, est l’`uvre d’une architecte bulgare qui
travaille avec une traductrice arménienne qui vit en France. Et enfin,
plus récemment, Hrair Hakobyan a envoyé son fils traiter, en anglais,
avec la mairie.

pour lire la suite cliquer sur le lien

dimanche 4 novembre 2012,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

JERUSALEM
L’Eglise arménienne s’inquiète de la probable fermeture du Saint
Sépulcre au public…pour une affaire de factures d’eau

Sainte Etchmiadzine par son secrétaire de presse le Père Varhram
Mélikian se déclare inqui-te sur les informations parvenues de
l’Archevéché de l’Eglise arménienne de Jérusalem faisant état d’un
risque de fermeture du Saint Sépulcre dont les Arméniens sont l’un des
propriétaires. Selon l’Archevêque arménien de Jérusalem, Aris
Chirvanian, depuis deux ans déjà une commission se penche sur une
dette importante sur la fourniture d’eau sur le site du Saint Sépulcre
envenime les relations entre les églises et les autorités israéliennes
avec la menace de la fermeture des lieux au public. Jadis c’est la
ville de Jérusalem qui assurait le paiement des factures d’eau. Mais
après le transfert de la gestion du réseau d’eau à une société
privées, les choses se sont compliquées et les dettes des factures
d’eau s’accumulèrent. « Nous avons espoir que l’on trouvera une
solution et qu’on ne fermera pas les portes du Saint Sépulcre au
public » dit le Père Vahram Mélikian. Avant même la création de l’Etat
d’Israël, l’eau n’était pas à la charge des religieux. Mais il y a 15
ans, la société « Kihon » a pris en charge la distribution des eaux de
Jérusalem. En 2004 les dettes du Saint Sépulcre envers la société «
Kihon » s’élevaient déjà à 3,7 millions de shekels (953 000 dollars)
puis quelques mois plus tard, ces factures cumulées des pénalités et
intérêts de retard étaient portées à 9 millions de shekels. « Kihon »
a par ailleurs donné un aspect juridique à cette affaire en demandant
aux tribunaux administratifs de bloquer certains comptes des églises
de Jérusalem.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 4 novembre 2012,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

1915: HEROES AND MURDERERS

Cihan News Agency (CNA)
November 2, 2012 Friday
Turkey

ISTANBUL (CIHAN)- “Heroes are totalitarian.” It has been a long
time since I first read the book “Cehenneme Ovgu, Gundelik Hayatta
Totalitarizm” (Prisoners of Ourselves: Totalitarianism in Everyday
Life) by Gunduz Vassaf, but I still remember this sentence from it.

Whenever I hear the word “hero,” I cannot help but affix “totalitarian”
to it.

Vassaf narrates how we escape from freedom via heroes and recreate
the order again and again. Heroes are presented to us as men of
sacrifice who show courage and no human weakness. They are leaders,
military servicemen, religious clerics, revolutionaries, freedom
fighters and others.

Every group of people has their own heroes. As we try to become like
these heroes, we turn into men which the order we are in desires. I
recently explored a hero who is not totalitarian. This hero does not
look like the others. And we, the people of Turkey, do not know him
because knowing him requires going through an unusual cognitive and
spiritual process, remorse and a huge confrontation.

There is a huge paradox there. If we get to know him, we will become
richer and our souls will become more at ease. However, to become
familiar with him, we first have to go through a spiritual turbulence
and a state of discomfort. We know that he exists thanks to foreign
movies. Watching “Schindler’s List” by Steven Spielberg or “Hotel
Rwanda” by Terry George, we actually witness his life. However, the
culture we grew up in prevents us from getting to know him better. We
do not know the meaning of rejecting to participate in a campaign of
murder based on individual remorse and conscience while society and
the state were committing a huge crime and that crime was becoming
a part of daily life and the symbol of a new status quo.

We have Hollywood Schindlers, but movies have not been made for
them in this country. Their names are not in history books. From
the perspective of our formal history, they are traitors. I believe
that one of the big losses associated with our failure to confront
the 1915 tragedy is being deprived of not knowing them. In fact,
we hold a sense of guilt in our subconscious. But we do not know the
stories of those people who did not participate in heinous acts while
the entire community was being involved, who refused to comply with
orders and harbored their Armenian neighbors in their houses.

We do not know them. We are not aware of how Urfali Haci Halil, who
hid his Armenian neighbors in his home for one year, bought bread for
eight extra people, what he felt about the outer world when he closed
the doors of his home, how his relations with the community changed or
how he was afraid of the death decrees for those who harbored Armenians
in their homes. For us to know and feel all these, we should first
address the lies in our history and feel the atmosphere of massacre
and tragedies in this country.

If we could pass these stages, we will know about not only Haci
Halil but also the Ottoman bureaucrats who did not obey orders to
deport Armenians and were executed or exiled for non-compliance. Konya
Governor Celal, Ankara Governor Hasan Mazhar, Kastamonu Governor Resit
Pasa, Basra Governor Ferit, Yozgat Governor Mehmet Cemal Bey, Kutahya
Governor Faik Ali Ozansoy, Muntefek Governor Bedii Nuri, Lice District
Governor Huseyin Nesimi Bey and Batman District Governor Sabit Bey will
all guide us on the path towards spiritual purification and serenity.

If we could bear the anguish and look at our history honestly, the
religious people of this country will promote the honorable tradition
of Muslims who strongly opposed the murder of Armenians in Bogazlayan,
stressing that there is no killing of innocent people in the Quran. If
we could look at 1915 honestly and talk openly about everything, we
will start to meet the real heroes. Of course, this will come after
huge pain and mourning. They will be our real heroes.

After so many years, we have made some progress towards confronting
the past but there is still a long way to go. I think that these
heroes will guide us on this journey. I bow to them with great respect.

ORHAN KEMAL CENGIZ (Cihan/Today’s Zaman) CIHAN

From: Baghdasarian

AN ETHNIC LOBBY HARMS NATIONAL INTERESTS, WASTES TAXPAYER MONEY

The Sacramento Bee
Nov 2 2012
CA

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 2, 2012 — THE FOLLOWING IS BEING ISSUED BY THE
AZERBAIJANI-AMERICAN COUNCIL

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Ahead of next
week’s elections, collusion of some ethnic lobbies with electoral
politics continues to hurt our national interests. Case in point is
the Armenian-American special interest groups’ attempt to turn U.S.

foreign policy against Azerbaijan and in favor of Armenia.

In 1991-1994, the two post-Soviet nations fought a war over the
Nagorno-Karabakh region, which ended with Armenia’s occupation of
the fifth of Azerbaijan and an expulsion of over 800,000 Azerbaijanis.

Meeting with the Armenian-American constituents last month,
Congressmen Brad Sherman (D-CA) and Howard Berman (D-CA) raced
each other on damaging U.S.-Azerbaijani relations. Mr. Berman even
called on Secretary Clinton “to suspend Azerbaijan from all future
NATO-sponsored activities.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) has been striving to ensure that
the U.S. aid to the victims of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is directed
only to ethnic Armenians and away from Azerbaijani refugees.

Accommodating the same special interest, in 2010-2011, Senators Robert
Menendez (D-NJ) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) obstructed the confirmation
of Matthew Bryza as the Ambassador to Azerbaijan… by arguing that
his wife is Turkish.

Since attaining independence in 1991, Azerbaijan has been a steadfast
partner of the United States. After 9/11, the country promptly
opened its airspace and contributed forces for the U.S. missions in
Afghanistan and Iraq, and remains the main over-flight and landing
route for our forces in Afghanistan. Sharing its longest border with
Iran, Azerbaijan has thwarted a number of terrorist plots against
Americans, such as the March 2012 apprehension of 22 suspects trained
by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to attack U.S. and Israeli embassies.

Moreover, developed by Western companies, Azerbaijani oil and gas
safeguard Europe’s energy security.

In contrast, Armenia is a member of the Russian-led Collective
Security Treaty and hosts Russia’s only military base in the South
Caucasus. While receiving over $2 billion in U.S. assistance since
1992, Armenia’s government delivered 1000 RPG-22M rockets and 260 PKM
machine guns to Iran in 2003. According to the U.S. State Department
cables, these weapons were used in the 2008 killing of a U.S.

serviceman, Sgt Matthew Straughter, by the Iran-backed militias
in Iraq.

These facts highlight the necessity of decoupling such ethnocentric
lobbying from electoral politics to protect national interests and
to save taxpayer dollars from funding America’s adversaries. The
upcoming elections are an opportunity to face that challenge.

SOURCE Azerbaijani-American Council

From: Baghdasarian

SHEKHAR KAPUR’S NEXT ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Hindustan Times
Nov 2 2012
India

The latest topic to catch filmmaker Shekhar Kapur’s fancy is the
Armenian genocide, and he knows it’s going to be challenging. Kapur’s
latest film deals with the systematic extermination of minority
Armenians in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) by the Ottoman Empire during
and after the Great

War (1915-1923). (The Armenians had been settled in Anatolia for
generations after their tiny country in the Caucusus region northeast
of Turkey was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1514) The event,
termed genocide by Armenians the world over, caused the deaths of 1
to 1.5 million ethnic Armenians in Anatolia.

Kapur had recently tweeted that he was going to Yerevan, Armenia’s
capital, to collect material on the event. The idea, he said, came
to him from a script sent by the man who wrote Motorcyle Diaries.

“It is a part of world history though a very shameful one,” Kapur
said. “The idea came to me based on a script sent to me by the
screenwriter of Motorcycle Diaries (Puerto Rican Jose Rivera). I fell
in love with the script. It is a challenging project though. It will
require lots of money, lots of passion and organisation. But there are
a lot of passionate people behind this project. So it will hopefully
see the light of day,” he said.

However, filming of the movie will not start before another year, says
Kapur, who is yet to begin work on his long-pending movie on water
wars, Paani. The Armenian genocide is a particularly touchy topic
in the political state that succeeded the Ottoman Sultanate in 1923,
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s Republic of Turkey.

So taboo is the topic for both – the Turkish government and ordinary
Turks, that a Nobel laureate like Orhan Pamuk was prosecuted and
found himself on the hit list of a far-right Turkish group for openly
stating that Turkey had committed genocide against the Armenians.

Does Kapur fear inviting similar censure? “I invited the wrath of
upper castes, the government and the censor board with Bandit Queen.

But I did not back down. I believe in fighting for what I believe in,”
he said, adding, “Moreover there has been a shift in Turkish society.

Nobody from that period is alive today. The new generation believes
that their nation is great and has to move on.”

From: Baghdasarian