Author: Chilingarian Babken

OSCE SECRETARY GENERAL TO ARRIVE IN ARMENIA ON DECEMBER 14

Noyan Tapan

Dec 12, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 12, NOYAN TAPAN. A delegation led by OSCE Secretary
General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut will be in Yerevan on December
14-17.

According to the RA Foreign Ministry Press and Information Department,
during the visit OSCE Secretary General will meet with RA President
Serzh Sargsyan, Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, Prime Minister
Tigran Sargsian, Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, National Security
Council Secretary Artur Baghdasarian, as well as RA NA factions’ heads.

MATTHEW BRYZA: I WOULD LIKE TO CONTINUE WORK ON SETTLEMENT THE KARABAKH CONFLICT

ArmInfo
2008-12-11 08:10:00

ArmInfo-TURAN: Usually the change of administration in Washington
means the change of the leadership of State Department, including the
State Secretary and his entourage. The talk is about the replacement
of political diplomats, carrying out foreign policy, but as a rule,
it does not touch career diplomats, Turan was told in the exclusive
interview by the Assistant of the U.S. State Secretary Matthew Bryza
responding the question if he will continue the work on settlement
the Karabakh conflict in the new U.S. administration.

"I am a career diplomat, and I hope to remain on my post, I would
like to bring to end, and to see the signing of the peace agreement,"
Bryza said. He admitted that the question on his staying on the post
of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair will be solved by the new leadership
of State Department, and situation will be clarified in the end of
January. Concerning the talks on settlement of Karabakh conflict,
Bryza noted positive mood of the countries.

"I do not think that president Aliyev wants war," Bryza said commenting
on complaints of Armenian President that Moscow Declaration does
not rule out use of the force for the solution to the conflict. He
considers there is a good dialogue between the presidents of the two
states, and they trust each other. Bryza said that relations between
Aliyev and Sarkisian are better, than the relations between Aliyev
and Kocharian, and it is evident.

Concerning the often and mutually exclusive interpretation of his
statements by Armenian and Azerbaijani journalists, Bryza said
that he always tries to be as honest as possible. The principles of
settlement, which are being discussed at present, are the combination
of territorial integrity and self-determination, and the sides should
decide themselves how to solve it, Bryza said. "It is a pity that
sometimes journalists try to use what meets their expectations and
interests. The truth is that when you see one thing, you should not
close your eyes to another thing. Journalists must be professionals
and must understand it. The information should be built on the
understating of the question’s essence, instead of making it of
phrases, which you like more," Bryza said.

SECURITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES PROGRAMS OF ARMENIA’S FURTHER COOPERATION WITH INTERNATIONAL STRUCTURES

Noyan Tapan

Dec 8, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 8, NOYAN TAPAN. Issues regarding the work done
in 2007-2008 on Armenia’s Actions Plan within the framework of the
European Neighborhood Policy, first and foremost tasks and primary
events for the coming two years were discussed at the Security Council
sitting convened on December 6 by RA President Serzh Sargsyan.

The next problem discussed at the Security Council sitting regarded
the work done by RA in 2007-2008 within the framework of membership
to CSTO and work done in the direction of fulfillment of the decisions
adopted at Organization Council 2008 September session.

According to the report provided to Noyan Tapan by the RA President’s
Press Office, issues related to the work done in 2007-2008 within the
framework of the Armenia-NATO Individual Partnership Actions Plan and
2009-2010 actions plan, as well as issues regarding court and legal
sphere reforms were also discussed at the sitting.

TURKISH AND ARMENIAN LEADERS TAKE 2008 PEACE AND SPORT AWARD

Hurriyet
Dec 5 2008
Turkey

Turkish and Armenian presidents were awarded for a peace and sports
prize for their landmark meeting in September.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul and his Armenian counterpart Serzh
Sargsyan were awarded in the International Peace and Sport Forum’s 2008
session in Monaco for their landmark meeting in Yerevan in September.

Gul and Sargsyan were awarded for a photograph of the historic
handshake during the qualifying match for the Football World Cup
between Turkey and Armenia.

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic ties and their border has been
closed for more than a decade, as Armenia presses the international
community to admit the so-called "genocide" claims instead of accepting
Turkey’s call to investigate the allegations, and Armenia’s invasion
of 20 percent territory of Azerbaijan.

A warmer period began the two countries began after Turkish President
Abdullah Gul paid a landmark visit to Yerevan in September on the
occasion of a Turkish-Armenian World Cup football qualifying match.

"Thanks to football, this moment marked the end of nearly two decades
of diplomatic silence", the organization said on its website.

H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco presented the award jointly to
Mahmut Ozgener, President of the Turkish Football Federation, and to
Armen Grigorian, Armenian Minister of Youth and Sport, who exchanged
long greetings on stage.

Today.Az, Azerbaijan
Dec 4 2008

Mubariz Ahmedoghlu: "Armenians can lose in a referendum in Nagorno
Karabakh, which they suggest to hold"

04 December 2008 [15:36] – Today.Az

The issue of holding a referendum in Nagorno Karabakh is not dangerous
for Azerbaijan, said head of the Center of Political Innovations and
Technologies Mubariz Ahmedoghlu.

He considers that if theoretically we imagine that Azerbaijan agrees
to hold a referendum, the results can be negative for Armenians, who
offer them.

"Armenians consider that there are more Armenians than Azerbaijanis in
Nagorno Karabakh. But a simple calculation shows that it is not like
that. According to them, there are 137,000 Armenians in Nagorno
Karabakh and jist 65,000-70,000. They should realize that no one will
allow them to hold a referendum with results to be defined by the
50%+1 vote principle. They adopt the law which says that the results
of the referendum must be held by the 2/3 principle", said he.

Ahmedoghlu considers that in such a situation the results of the
referendum can be in Azerbaijan’s favor. He said of 137,000 of Nagorno
Karabakh Armenians, 20,000 are Armenian servicemen.

"Moreover, of 137,000 we must also deduce 20.000 people, who come from
former Shaomyan. In this case there are 90,000 Armenians who can not
make 2/3 of majority against 70,000 Azerbaijanis", considers the
political scientist.

/Day.Az/

URL:

"PEACE AND SPORT IMAGE OF THE YEAR 2008" PRIZE AWARDED TO SERZH SARGSYAN TO BE HANDED TODAY

ARMENPRESS
Dec 4, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS: Monaco’s "Peace and Sport"
organization awarded Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan "Peace and
Sport Image of the Year 2008" prize for the best display of friendship
through sport.

Prince of Monaco Albert II will pass today the prize to the Armenian
Sport and Youth Affairs Minister Armen Grigorian at the "Peace and
Sport 2008" international forum.

A. Grigorian told Armenpress that the chairman of the International
Olympic Committee and heads of different sport federations will
participate in the event.

The chairman and founder of the organization Joel Buzu in the letter
addressed to the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan noted that the
chief jury has unanimously decided to grant the prize to the President
of Armenia for symbolizing hand shaking image with Turkish President
Abdullah Gul.

The forum is held under the auspices of Prince of Monaco Albert II.

UNDP AND ITALIAN GROUP OF EXPERTS UNFOLD ARMENIAN HERITAGE RESTORATION PLANS AT ARMENIAN CYPRIOT COMMUNITY GATHERING

Gibrahayer
Wednesday 3 December, 2008

… During the Ottoman period the church was restored several
times. One is recorded in 1688. In 1788 the Baptistery was
built. Finally in the second half of XIX c. many works are
documented. In 1858 the pointed arches that support the north side
of the porch were constructed. Two years later the bell tower was
built. The collapse of the central part of the porch may have been
the reason for the restoration of the works.

To this period date the most significant changes to the interior of
the church to adapt it to the Armenian creed. The hirdbay flooring
was raised from the level of first and second bay. The altar was put
on the uppermost part: it was composed of a masonry block in which
were reused marble slabs coming from ancient monuments, like the
Mirabel’s family slab. The front of this higher part of church’s
floor had decorated tiles. In the first bay the women gallery was
built. Women’s entrance was from the west entrance, while men’s
entrance from the northern gate (see M. de Mas Latrie 1846 report) …

THE LIBERATED TERRITORIES CAN NEVER BE AN OBJECT FOR MUTUAL CONCESSIONS – ARARAT DAVTYAN

Hetq
December 01, 2008

A Hetq Interview with Lernik Hovhannisyan, Secretary of the ARF
Artsakh Youth Union

Mr. Hovhannisyan, recently, at the initiative of your organization,
youth groups in Artsakh participated in "round table" discussion
of the Karabakh issue. What resulted was a condemnation of those
statements that "call into question the justice and victory achieved
by the blood of thousands of Armenia’s sons". What was meant by this?

The young people of Artsakh cannot remain indifferent to what is being
said in the press and by certain political leaders on the issue. For
us, those views, that call for the exchange of Armenian lands for
other Armenian lands are unacceptable; for example Shahumyan for
Aghdam. Especially when we are talking about returning the liberated
territories.

printable version

email to friend These are historic Armenian lands as witnessed by the
city of Tigranakert and the recent discovery of medieval Armenian
stone crosses in the Aghdam region. There are other sources that
confirm that the liberated territories are Armenian. For instance,
there are 17th century Persian sources that speak about the presence
of the Armenian Meliks. As a result, we condemn all approaches that
assume any change to the territories as set forth in the Constitution
of the RMK (Republic of Mountainous Karabakh).

Thankfully, the government of the RMK shares this opinion. We are
certain, just as the RMK government is certain, that any attempt to
settle the Artsakh conflict without the participation of the RMK is
doomed to failure.

In other words, Artsakh must have an equal place at the negotiations
table and the RMK Foreign Ministry is actively taking steps to
achieve such an objective. Proof of this is the fact that the OSCE
Minsk Group Co-chairs, during their last visit, held closed meetings
at the RMK National Assembly.

Can we infer from your statement that the people of Artsakh will not
accept any agreement that includes a return of various lands?

As an ARF representative let me say that our party has made its
position clear on many occasions. The Artsakh Central Committee, and
the Supreme Council of Armenian and the ARF Bureau, have stated that
there can be no discussion of the return of any lands. This view has
also been expressed by the RMK authorities.

But the Armenian side has always noted that the Artsakh conflict
must be resolved via mutual concessions. If this is the case what
concessions will we grant?

We have already made concessions. First, we agreed to the 1994
ceasefire.

Second. The Republic of Armenia has yet to recognize the independence
of Artsakh. The liberated territories can never become the object of
concessions. We have nothing to return. Furthe rmore, a portion of
the RMK, the region of Getashen, Shahumyan and parts of Martuni and
Martakert, remain occupied by Azerbaijan. The issue of their return
must be put on the negotiations table as well.

It seems that on an official level we are not making such claims. All
the while Azerbaijan comes forth with much stronger demands and
our authorities counter this by stating that the conflict must be
resolved through concessions on the two sides. In the context of
what you stated, doesn’t it appear that the current negotiations that
have been going on for years are redundant? Negotiations are always
useful but they must continue without any reference to the return
of any lands. All of us are aware that if such a thing happens the
threat of warfare grows.

What about the international security guarantees that are being
discussed?

In any event, the final guarantor of security is our army and this
was proved back in March and just recently with the attempted Azeri
military incursion. We can agree to the presence of any international
force on RMK lands. Yes there will be such pressures brought to bear
but we must resist them and build our statehood in unison.

THE INTERESTS OF KHARABAKH ON TOP OF EVERYTHING

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
29 Nov 08
Armenia

"I don’t pursue a goal to support or not to support any politician,
especially when the conversation goes around the Karabakh issue. For
me, the interests of Karabakh are on top of everything, and in
this respect, we are really facing a serious problem, i.e. the
non-participation of Karabakh.

Therefore, we have to do all our best to change this situation as
quickly as possible.

Long-term non-participation is a serious obstacle in terms of changing
the situation, but it is necessary to make certain steps in that
direction. I am sure that in case of making those steps, it will
be possible to achieve that in future," TIGRAN TOROSYAN mentioned
yesterday in response to the question of "Hayots Ashkharh".

New Straits Times, Malaysia
Nov 30 2008

The grand old dame

MARINA EMMANUEL

She may be getting on in years but the venerable grand dame of Penang
is at her sparkling best, writes MARINA EMMANUEL.

TIGRAN, an Armenian, started in 1884 with the Eastern Hotel in George
Town and a year later elder brother Martin opened the Oriental Hotel.

The Oriental was extended and renovated entirely in 1889 and the
Sarkies brothers gave up the Eastern.

The savvy Sarkies, not wanting to lose the goodwill and familiarity of
the Eastern name, renamed the Oriental as the Eastern and Oriental
Hotel, which became better known as the E&O Hotel.

The two brothers from Isfahan in Persia, as Iran was known then, were
joined later by two more brothers, Aviet and Arshak, and they went on
to found a string of luxury hotels in Singapore, Indonesia and Burma.

The E&O has since evolved into an institution in Penang which has
welcomed kings and queens, Hollywood royalty and noted scribes.

Besides serving as a home away from home for the likes of Noel Coward,
Douglas Fairbanks, Hermann Hesse, Rudyard Kipling and Somerset
Maugham, this famous architectural landmark has also been a valued
part of the personal history of local weddings, birthdays and other
milestones.

By the 1920s, the E&O was being hailed as `the premier hotel east of
the Suez’.

It boasted more than a hundred rooms, 40 of them with adjoining
bathrooms, hot and cold running water, individual telephones and a
842-foot seafront, touted as `the longest of any hotel in the world’.

`Today, after weathering two World Wars, and more reversals of fortune
than it has changes of ownership, the E&O has reclaimed its legacy,’
said the hotel’s director of group communications and investor
relations, Lyn Chai.

In telling the story of the hotel’s legacy, the E&O Group will be
launching a coffee-table book The E&O Hotel ‘ Pearl of Penang next
week.

The book, authored by Australian-based freelance writer Ilsa Sharp,
contains personal photographs, stories and anecdotes from individuals
who have helped inject colour into the story.

A notable feature of the book is the previously unpublished pictures
by one of the pioneers in Malaysian photography, Sultan Ismail
Nasiruddin Shah, the 15th Sultan of Terengganu and fourth Yang
di-Pertuan Agong.

`My grandparents stayed at the E&O in 1954 when the pictures were
taken,’ said Raja Mohd Zainul Ihsan Shah, who is the grandson and
custodian of The Sultan Ismail Photograph Collection.

The royal couple stayed at the E&O after visiting their sons, Tengku
Seri Paduka, Ibrahim, and Tengku Seri Laksamana Raja, Sulaiman, who
were studying at the Malay College Kuala Kangsar.

Raja Ihsan said his grandparents appreciated the hotel and its
historical value.

Describing his late grandfather as a photographer who was accomplished
technically and pictorially with strong compositions, Raja Ihsan said:

`His favourite camera was a German-made large format Plaubel Makina 3
and he visited the factory in Germany in 1968 when he was the Yang
diPertuan Agong.’

The E&O also provided a backdrop for a love story of a couple from
different continents.

Patsy Addington, an American, married Malaysian Victor Oorjitham at
the Tamil Methodist Church in July 1956.

The book talks about how the bride wore a dress she had sewn herself
while Oorjitham made all the plans for the wedding while she was in
the US.

The newly-weds held their tea reception at the E&O and guests were
served sandwiches, curry-puffs and cake.

Fifty years later in 2006, the couple returned to the E&O to celebrate
their golden wedding anniversary where tea was almost like how it was
in 1956 ‘ sandwiches, curry puffs, scones, fresh fruit, cake as well
as a replica of the wedding cake.

The Oorjithams had found the hotel almost like how it was in 1956.

`All over the world, many and much more difficult restoration works
have been carried out most successfully like the Dorchester in London
and Danieli in Venice,’ says E&O managing director Datuk Terry Tham.

Restoring the hotel to its original splendour has been painstaking and
financially demanding but Tham hastens to add that the sight of the
many original furniture and fittings never fails to bring back
positive emotions to those who share a love for heritage in general,
and the E&O in particular.

`Until today,’ says Tham, `one of the most talked-about features of
E&O is the famed echo dome in the main lobby, which is regarded as a
triumph in engineering and construction.

`One of the oldest Java trees in Asia still stands on our lawn, along
the longest sea frontage of any hotel in the region.

`To build a new five-star hotel from scratch would have been an easier
option but it would mean chopping down the Java tree, a sacrilege.

`You cannot create heritage overnight. I consider it a rare
opportunity and privilege to be able to contribute to E&O’s continuing
legacy.’

Photos
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