Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

DANCE REVIEW

A layered treat of sound, light, moving images

Ruth Bronwen of Kinodance Company in the new work "Denizen."
(JODI HILTON for the boston globe)
By Terry Byrne, Globe Correspondent | May 4, 2007

In the opening scene of the world premiere of "Denizen," Kinodance Company’s
contribution to the Boston Cyberarts Festival, two dancers wander the stage
moving in unison — arching their backs, reaching up in supplication, spinning
and searching for a place to rest. To the sound of a bouzouki playing in a
mournful minor key, the fluid choreography is hauntingly beautiful, filled with
wonder and longing.
This opening sets the tone of exploration for the stunning "Denizen," which
then takes us into Armenia, a land of song and sheep, community and culture. An
homage to the 1975 film "Seasons," by Armenian filmmaker Artavazd Peleshian,
"Denizen" integrates film, a scenic design, and especially lighting into the
dance to create a theatrical experience with enormous dramatic impact.
As we travel into Armenia, filmmaker Alla Kovgan projects images of rural
Armenia, from herds on a hillside to conversations around a haystack. At first,
the images, projected behind and sometimes on the dancers, appear through a
narrow lens, as if the audience is secretly observing this landscape. But then
the lens opens and we are drawn into this world, losing the sense of a film
screen’s frame and feeling part of the flow of movement among the dancers .
Peleshian’s film observed the Armenian connection to the land as well as the
tension that created. Kovgan’s images celebrate the country’s ancient history
with dance sequences filmed in an abandoned monastery, among a herd of sheep,
and in a bucolic meadow, but they also capture images of loss and struggle.
Choreographers Ingrid Schatz and Alissa Cardone place the dancers — Ruth
Bronwen, DeAnna Pellecchia, Pape N’Diaye, and themselves — onstage in various
combinations, sometimes without the film, sometimes in the midst of the film
action. The result is a breathtaking synthesis of live and filmed dance, with
the dancers onstage complimenting and competing with the images of the dancers
on the screen. N’Diaye, a dancer from West Africa, incorporates his own
energetic dance style and a song sung in Wolof (the language of Senegal) into
the piece.
Lighting designer Kathy Couch makes the lighting a performer in its own
right, projecting the dancers’ shadows onto the screen in tandem with the filmed
dancers, making red-orange flames lick a dancer onstage while the images offire
rage behind her. Set designer Dedalus Wainwright has created a backdrop of
woven strips (a wonderful metaphor for this production) that allow light topass
through in dramatic ways, while an abstract sculpture suggests haystacks in
the Armenian fields. The backdrop also blurs the edges of the film frame,
making the images spill out onto the stage so that the merging of two different
pieces of media is surprisingly seamless.
The final element of "Denizen" is the musical score, a mix of Armenian tunes,
Russian compositions, plaintive piano, original music, and found sounds (brea
thing, snatches of song, a crackling fire) for a rich aural landscape, put
together by Andy Bergman.
The layering of emotionally potent choreography, exotic imagery, sounds, and
staging add up to a daring and dramatically theatrical experience.

US OFFICIAL URGES TURKEY TO OPEN BORDER WITH ARMENIA

ASSA-IRADA
Published: May 02, 2007

The United States believes that Turkey should open the border and
establish normal relations with Armenia, US Assistant Secretary of
State Daniel Fried has said.He praised the opening of the Armenian
Akdamar church in Turkeys Van province. We welcome the Turkish
governments step to restore an Armenian church in the eastern
part of the country. Even if the church operates just as a museum,
this step by Ankara is worthy of praise, he told a news conference
in Washington. Fried stated that anti-nationalist tendencies are
intensifying in Turkey. After the killing of Hrant Dink [ethnic
Armenian journalist] by extremists, about 100,000 Turks took to the
streets chanting we are all Armenians, we are all Hrant. These were
slogans against nationalism. It is good to see such tolerance in the
Turkish society, the US official said.The controversial editor-in-chief
of the Armenian-speaking Agos newspaper, Hrant Dink, was gunned down
while he was leaving the editorial office in Istanbul in January.The
assistant secretary said the Turkish government has never threatened
or blackmailed Washington over the adoption of a resolution on the
so-called genocide of Armenians by the US Congress. I can assure you
that Turkey has never declared it will take retaliatory steps if the
resolution is passed. Ankara only said the Turkish public will term
the move as an insult.Turkey simply warned that should the US Congress
pass the resolution, its parliament would take similar steps against
the United States. This is not blackmail, but a rather different
approach, said Fried.Armenians say Ottoman Turks killed 1.5 million
people in 1915, a claim strenuously denied by the Turkic world.

AMERICAN TRICKS OR USA-RUSSIA-AZERBAIJAN CONSPIRACY?
By A. Haroutiunian

AZG Armenian Daily
03/05/2007

Intentions of the US authorities to establish anti-missile defense
bases in South Caucasus are becoming more and more realistic,
bringing some discord between the statements by Azerbaijani and
Georgian officials.

It is interesting that Foreign Minister Gela Bejhuashvili, on behalf
of the Georgian Government openly states that Georgia is ready to
host American military bases.

In the meanwhile, "Day.az" states that the USA suggested
Azerbaijan and Russia to found a common military base in Gabalinsk,
Azerbaijan. According to Azeri media, Pentagon representative said
that the USA would be grateful to Russia and Azerbaijan if they give
consent to joint exploitation of Gabalinks radiolocation station.

Note that Armenia is left outside all those strategic plans.

COMPROMISES ARE DEMANDED ONLY FROM AZERBAIJAN
by R. Orudzhev

Source: Echo (Baku), April 27, 2007, p. EV
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
May 2, 2007 Wednesday

Elmar Mamedyarov, Vardan Oskanyan and domestic experts comment on
statements of Mathew Braiza

Comments On Statements Of Mathew Braiza, Co-Chair Of The Minsk Osce
Group On The Course Of Negotiations On Nagorno-Karabakh Regulation;

For the second time during the period of his participation in work of
the Minsk OSCE group, American co-chair Mathew Braiza reveals some
details of ongoing negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh regulation
to the public.

For the second time during the period of his participation in work of
the Minsk OSCE group, American co-chair Mathew Braiza reveals some
details of ongoing negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh regulation
to the public.

In his interview with Voice of America, Braiza said that negotiations
on a peaceful resolving of the conflict were close to an agreement
on the basis of principles proposed by the Minsk group in 2006.

Braiza pointed out that "these principles will constitute the basis for
a formal agreement. I hope that in the next few months the presidents
will approve these principles and then will come a stage of intensive
negotiations for the signing of a final peace treaty.

The diplomat disclosed the essence of the principles discussed in
the court of negotiations. The parties negotiate on the immediate
withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from five districts around
Nagorno-Karabakh and return of these districts of Azerbaijan, the
deployment of peacekeeping forces there and the return of refugees.

Negotiations on the terms for the return of Kelbadzhar and Lachin
continue. Braiza summed up: "Even in this aspect we are close to
achieving an agreement."

Another principle is the provision of a corridor connecting
Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia for trading and civilian purposes.

Negotiations will be continued further and the status of
Nagorno-Karabakh will be determined at a certain stage through
"common voting." The Azerbaijani party is against the use of the word
"referendum" because the conduction of a referendum contradicts
the constitution of the country and that is why, in his words,
"we discuss the organization of voting at a later stage."

In turn, commenting on the statement of Braiza, Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister Elmar Mamedyarov has said that Azerbaijan first of all
advocates the complete withdrawal of Armenian forces from the
occupied territories. Mamedyarov emphasizes that Armenian forces
should "definitely" be withdrawn from Kelbadzhar and Lachin but evades
answering the question about the withdrawal of Armenian armed forces
from Nagorno-Karabakh.

Mamedyarov states without any further clarification that "if
Nagorno-Karabakh receives the highest status of autonomy within
Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani community should have the possibility to
return. After the restoration of a normal coexistence, we will settle
the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijan. We
will also continue a discussion dedicated to organization of the
referendum."

According to Mamedyarov, if an agreement on any of the principles
is not achieved, the remaining principles will also be considered
rejected.

Recent statements of Armenian Foreign Minister, Vardan Oskanyan, in
his interview with Austrian newspaper Der Standard look interesting
against this background. Commenting on the proposals of Azerbaijan
regarding the joint use of the Lachin corridor, Oskanyan says that
this issue "is not discussed. The corridor is a guarantee of the free
and unopposed communication between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

However, it should be viewed as a part of Nagorno-Karabakh. The
Azerbaijani party recently tried to promote the idea of its common
use but this had never been a subject of negotiations. International
intermediaries refused this new idea at once too." Oskanyan confesses
that Yerevan is seeking a formula where the status of Nagorno-Karabakh
is settled for Azerbaijanis at the very end and for Armenia at the
very beginning: "We should have a clear notion about the future
attitude on the issue of status. This is a central element of a
treaty. We speak about referendums and the self-determination of
residents of Nagorno-Karabakh. All the rest is secondary. People who
have lived in Nagorno-Karabakh before the beginning of the conflict
should have a right to take part in the referendum too. The question
is if they should return to Nagorno-Karabakh at the moment of voting
and this question belongs to the issues to which it is possible to
return later." One way or the other, how likely is it that Baku will
finally agree to observe all the conditions outlined by Braiza?

Political scientist Rasim Agaev says that "there is nothing new yet
in the statement of the American diplomats if we proceed from the
final goal of achievement of a mutually acceptable compromise.

Bilateral consent on the withdrawal of troops from some occupied
territories was achieved in the past and the parties spoke about
this many times. A novelty is an attempt to substitute the word
"referendum" with the term "voting" or plebiscite. At any rate, the
essence does not change because of this. Every time, the co-chairs
and the West give us the rotten fruits of their work in glossy
packaging. There is an obvious attempt to give independence to a
self-proclaimed republic separated by force and finally to merge
it with Armenia. This is what is meant. Everything what Braiza and
other intermediaries say now about an achieved rapprochement and the
discovery of a certain formula shows that they are preparing Azerbaijan
for certain forced compromises. Along with this, I do not think that
this will move Azerbaijani authorities closer to making any kind of
decision. If intermediaries could manage to force Armenia to agree
with certain compromises acceptable for us, simultaneously a treaty
would possibly be achieved. So far, I do not see any concessions on
the part of Armenia."

Elkhan Mekhtiev, head of the center of peace and the resolving
of conflicts, comments: "I think that changing the wording from
"referendum" to "voting" does not change anything in the essence of
the issue. The fact that Azerbaijani authorities have already agreed
with a referendum is clear to me. But on which terms? This is not
clear. I mean that the parties have not agreed on the issues to be
settled by people during the referendum. The Armenian party interprets
this as a referendum about the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh
and Baku believes that people will have to choose if they agree
for autonomy within Azerbaijan. I think that in speaking about the
referendum, intermediaries mean the exclusion of Nagorno-Karabakh from
Azerbaijan. This issue is put on the agenda according to the insistence
of the Armenian party. As to the liberation of five districts and the
settlement of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh after that, Azerbaijan
agreed with this back during the presidency of G. Aliev when such a
proposal was voiced by the European Union. Now Ilkham Aliev does not
wish to agree with the same terms without the coordination of all
follow-up steps because Armenians have already agreed to withdraw
their forces from Kelbadzhar and Lachin only after the determination
of Nagorno-Karabakh’s status in their favor. This means that we should
determine the agenda of the referendum now."

A 70-YEAR LEGACY OF LOVE
By Rudy Larini

Star Ledger, NJ
May 2 2007

Haig and Elsie Gamarekian sway gently in a swinging loveseat in front
of their Clifton home, rummaging through time-misted reminiscences
of two long lives.

After a time, as a visitor rises to go, Haig Gamarekian springs to
his feet.

"But wait," he says. "I promised I’d sing you a song before you leave."

With that, he bursts into a homespun, off-key ditty about days of
old and men long gone — of suffrage and Carnegie and Rockefeller
and Henry Ford.

His wife can only sigh, glance at the visitor and shoot her husband
a loving wince.

After seven decades, she knows his antics all too well.

The Gamarekians, he 94 and she 93, will quietly celebrate 70 years
of wedded bliss today — a remarkable milestone they attribute to an
abiding faith in family values.

"Having a close-knit family," Elsie Gamarekian said. "And him being
the boss."

Ben Beitin, a Seton Hall professor of psychology and family therapy,
said such longevity in marriage is highly uncommon, the human life
span being what it is. But he said the secret of any long-lasting
marriage is universal: it must be based on a "foundation of romance,
love, communication and accepting each other’s differences."

In the case of the Gamarekians, he said, their Armenian heritage also
may have played a role.

"I’m sure they took messages from their culture of what it means to
stay in a marriage," the professor said.

The Gamarekians met in the mid-1930s at an Armenian party in Newark,
hometown of then Elsie Holopikian.

He stopped by her house the next day to ask for a date, but not before
enduring a grilling by her brother, Charles.

"He had to see him and talk to him and know who he was before I was
allowed to go out with him," Elsie Gamarekian said. "I was brought
up very strict, no dating, no nothing."

It wasn’t a long courtship — maybe a year or so, in their faded
recollections — before they married at the Westminster Presbyterian
Church in Paterson, Haig Gamarekian’s hometown. It was the height of
the Depression, and they couldn’t afford a wedding reception.

Instead, they celebrated quietly with family and friends.

"We didn’t have much money, so we just took the bridal group out and
had dinner in a restaurant," Elsie Gamarekian said.

The Gamarekians have two children — Miriam and Charles — five
grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

"We have a good, close family," Haig Gamarekian said. "I believe
in that."

"They are definitely the foundation of our family," said granddaughter
Lisa McAteer of Milford, Pa.

"They are two of the most loving, giving people," she said. "We’ve
learned so much from them. They’ve inspired us, and we look to benefit
from the same love in our own lives."

She recalled how her grandparents would drive up to her family’s home
in Sparta every Tuesday night when she was growing up.

"Tuesday night was spaghetti night and grandma would cook her famous
spaghetti," McAteer said. On weekends, her grandparents would come
to the house to baby-sit the kids so her parents could have a "date
night," she said.

Daughter Miriam Gamarekian attributes her parents’ long marriage to
"their compatibility and their respect for each other."

"They’re so into each other, even at this age," she said. "They’re
matriarchs of the family, or whatever the word is. We look up to them."

She said her parents remain spirited despite their advanced age.

"They’re minds are always going," she said, adding her mother enjoys
crossword puzzles and helps out on her computer with her daughter’s
party-planning business.

Haig Gamarekian was born in Paterson and his parents died a year
apart before he was 13 years old. He went to live with an uncle in
Paterson and worked in his grocery store. Gamarekian went to work
in the printing and engraving business and eventually owned shops in
Passaic and then Clifton before retiring when he was 65.

Now, he said, he looks back fondly on some of the things age no longer
allows him to do.

"You get to my age, you live on batteries. I’ve got a pacemaker. When
you get older, you miss the things you used to do around the house,"
he said, staring at the front lawn of the house where they have
lived for 45 years. "Cutting the grass. I used to have a garden in
the back. You miss those things."

His wife, who was born in New York City and grew up in Newark, worked
more than 30 years for a real estate and insurance firm in Paterson.

She earned her real estate license when she was in her late 40s,
but never sold any property.

"I’m not a salesperson," she admitted sheepishly, her mane of neatly
coifed, silver-gray hair belying her age.

The Gamarekians live simple lives. Haig Gamarekian usually drives
each morning to his son’s paving stone business in Lyndhurst, where
he opens mail and runs small errands.

They also care for a 12-year-old Yorkie named "Pebbles" given to them
by a granddaughter.

"She does us good," Elsie Gamarekian said. "We sit outside with her.

He walks her."

And with a disbelieving smile, she said, "Old age stinks.

"But we’ve had good times — memories," she added, the smiling
returning. "Oh yes, we have nice memories."

NEW MARKET ENTRANT ADC PROMISES FASTER, CHEAPER SERVICES

TeleGeography, DC
May 1 2007

Former monopoly ArmenTel and alternative telco Fibernet face fresh
competition in the Armenian fixed line internet access market in the
shape of Armenian Datacom Company (ADC). The newcomer launched on 27
April and promises to deliver faster, cheaper services in the near
future. ADC, an Armenian-Norwegian closed joint venture founded in
2006, has set up a USD3.4 million fibre-optic network in the capital
Yerevan, initially targeting business users. It has access to its
own satellite, bypassing the need to use ArmenTel’s limited capacity
satellite – which is used by other companies providing internet
services in the country. ADC plans to invest a further USD1.5 million
in the short term to improve services and is already promising cost
savings for users: ‘Unlike our competitors’, our network will provide
internet access and data transmission services at prices that will
be lower by 25%,’ a spokesman said.

Karabakh travel agencies will participate in international expos

29-04-2007 12:17:54 – KarabakhOpen

In 2007 the government allocated 2 million drams for the promotion
of tourism, informed the ministry of territorial administration and
development of infrastructures.

The money will be spent on booklets, the creation of a travel
information service, and a documentary film lasting for 10 minutes. 300
thousand drams will be spent on the creation of a photo gallery, 160
thousand for participation of travel agencies of NKR in international
and regional expos.

We were also told at the ministry that 7854 thousand drams of
investments in the travel business are expected from individuals and
donors. 3080 thousand drams will be provided for the participation of
the Karabakh travel agencies in MITF 2007 international expo in Moscow
and 100 thousand for the stand of NKR in GST 2007 in Yerevan. Besides,
it is planned to set up a Web site on the travel resources of Karabakh,
as well as to publish the Karabakh Guide in Russian.

AMENDMENTS TO BE MADE IN OVER 30 BYLAWS RELATED TO CIVIL AVIATION SECTOR

Noyan Tapan
Apr 26 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 26, NOYAN TAPAN. Issues related to civil aviation
were discussed during the April 26 working meeting of the Armenian
president Robert Kocharian and the Head of the Civil Aviation Main
Department adjunct to the RA government Artyom Movsesian.

A. Movsesian presented to the president the process of work done by the
concessionaire of Zvartnots Airport and told him that the airport’s
new passenger complex will be put into operation in late May, after
which the issue of constructing the second complex will be discussed.

The interlocutors also spoke about the necessity to make amendments
in about 35 bylaws after adoption the Law on Aviation in the new
edition. R. Kocharian said that these must by high-quality documents
in disciplinary and execution-related respect.

According to a press release of the RA president’s press service,
problems relating to the work of airlines were also addressed at
the meeting.

The president gave instructions concerning the issues discussed.

CANDIDATE FOR DEPUTACY HAMLET HOVSEPIAN WITHDRAWS HIS CANDIDATURE

Noyan Tapan
Apr 26 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 26, NOYAN TAPAN. Hamlet Hovsepian, member of Union of
Freedom Fight Veterans Party, registered as a candidate for deputacy
by majoritarian system at Yerevan electoral district N 5 withdrew
his candidature on April 26. Noyan Tapan correspondent was informed
about it by CEC Secretary Hamlet Abrahamian.

Four candidates continue electoral campaign at the above mentioned
electoral district: RA MPs, non-partisan Tatul Manaserian and RPA
member Levon Sargsian, as well as Chairman of Liberal Progressive
Party of Armenia Hovhannes Hovhannisian and member of Constitutional
Law Union Hayk Babukhanian.

So, in total, 129 candidates pretend on deputy mandates by majoritarian
system at 41 electoral districts.

To recap, the deadline for withdrawing candidatures in May 2.

U.S. SENATOR REAFFIRMS ‘HOLD’ ON ARMENIA ENVOY PICK
By Emil Danielyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
April 25 2007

A U.S. senator has pledged to continue to block the congressional
confirmation of President George W. Bush’s nominee to be the next
U.S. ambassador to Armenia over his failure to describe as genocide
the mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey.

Bush, meanwhile, again refused to use the term "genocide" with regard
to what he called "one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century"
in an annual message to the Armenian community in the United States.

Bush has twice nominated career diplomat Richard Hoagland to
replace John Evans, the previous U.S. ambassador in Yerevan. Evans
is believed to have been recalled by the White House last year
for publicly referring the 1915 slaughter of some 1.5 million
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as the first genocide of the 20th
century. The statements made two years ago contradicted successive
U.S. administrations’ policy on the highly sensitive issue which takes
into account Turkey’s long-standing strong denial of the genocide.

Senator Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, blocked Hoagland’s
mandatory endorsement by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last
September and reaffirmed the so-called "hold" in January. Menendez
remained adamant in opposing the ambassadorial appointment on
Tuesday as he spoke at a ceremony on Capitol Hill that marked the
92nd anniversary of the genocide.

"I wish the Ambassador [Evans] was back in Armenia, but if we
cannot get him there, I refuse to release my hold on Ambassador
Hoagland because of his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee," he said, according to the Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA).

Evans also attended the event along with about two dozen lawmakers.

"If we dare not call the 1915 events genocide, we make it more likely
that current genocides, such as that in Darfur, will continue and
future genocides will occur," he was reported to say.

The ANCA is strongly opposed to Hoagland’s appointment, having
branded him a "genocide denier." But the more moderate Armenian
Assembly of America has effectively urged the Senate to confirm Bush’s
nominee. Assembly leaders say that Hoagland never explicitly denied
the genocide and that the prolonged absence of a U.S. ambassador in
Yerevan is damaging Armenia’s interests.

Both lobbying groups criticized Bush on Tuesday for his continuing
refusal to characterize the Armenian massacres as genocide. In a
statement, Aram Hamparian, the ANCA executive director, said the
president "missed yet another opportunity to speak with moral clarity
about the Armenian Genocide and to bring America back to the right
side of this key human rights issue."

"I join my fellow Americans and Armenian people around the world in
commemorating this tragedy and honoring the memory of the innocent
lives that were taken," Bush said in his April 24 statement. "The
world must never forget this painful chapter of its history."

Bush said a "sincere and open examination of the historic events of
the late-Ottoman period" should be an "essential part" of efforts to
improve Turkish-Armenian relations. He went on to praise Washington’s
"strong and vibrant ties" with Armenia. "Our Nation is grateful for
Armenia’s contributions to the war on terror, particularly for its
efforts to help build a peaceful and democratic Iraq," he said.

The ANCA the Assembly have been lobbying Congress to pass a
resolution affirming the genocide and urging the U.S. president to
do the same. The draft resolution was introduced to the House of
Representatives in January and has since been co-sponsored by more
than 190 members of the chamber. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top
House Democrats have supported such bills in the past.