Author: Dabaghian Diana

NATO DOES NOT APPROVE MILITANT RHETORIC OF AZERBAIJAN

Yerkir
20.06.2007 18:07

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – "Though NATO is not involved in the settlement
process of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the alliance thinks that
peaceful negotiations are the only solution to the problem," NATO
Secretary General’s Special Representative in South Caucasus Robert
Simmons stated to a press conference in Yerevan.

He said, work of OSCE MG is productive and constructive, and NATO
is ready to provide assistance if the conflicting parties ask. "But
we do not approve militant rhetoric of Azerbaijan, which became more
frequent recently," R. Simmons underscored.

PM HARPER CONDEMNS INTERFERENCE OF TURKISH GOVERNMENT IN CANADIAN DOMESTIC AFFAIRS

ArmInfo
2007-06-20 13:12:00

The Prime Minister of Canada Steven Harper emphasized that "Canada’s
recognition of the Armenian Genocide" is sometimes not easy "for
the foreign service of Canada" to accept. The Prime Minister made it
clear that the "ultimate position of the elected government is the
position of the Government of Canada."

Furthermore, in a response to NEPMCC President Tom Saras’ query about
the interference in Canadian internal affairs of representatives
of foreign governments and pressuring or coercion of Canadians and
Canadian organizations to follow certain policies, the Prime Minister
condemned such practices and said that he found it "unacceptable"
for these diplomats to pursue such interference. He reminded members
of the media that as head of "the Government of Canada I can not tell
you what write in your newspaper and foreign governments can not tell
what to write."

Mr. Saras’ query referred to a recent attempt by the Turkish Embassy
to silence Mr. Saras after his condemnation of the assassination of
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. The Turkish Embassy launched a
vicious campaign to discredit Mr. Saras and called for his resignation
as NEPMCC president.

GDP GROWS BY 10.2% IN ARMENIA IN JANUARY-MAY 2007 ON SAME MONTHS OF LAST YEAR

Noyan Tapan
Jun 20 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 20, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenian GDP grew by 10.2% in
January-May 2007 on the same months of last year and made 684 bln
339.8 mln drams (about 1 bln 905.8 mln USD). The GDP index-deflator
made 3.5%.

According to the RA National Statistical Service, industrial production
grew by 1.2% in January-May of this year on the same months of 2006
and made 265 bln 697.6 mln drams, while industrial production without
diamond production grew by 7.9% to 263 bln 355.6 mln drams.

The gross agricultural output increased by 1.3% to 89 bln 288.3 mln
drams, construction – by 11.6% to 102 bln 438.6 mln drams, retail
trade – by 11.2% to 294 bln 538.9 mln drams, services – by 16.5%
to 203 bln 759.4 mln drams.

The foreign trade of Armenia grew by 39.1% on January-May 2006 and
made 1 bln 536.33 mln USD. Exports increased by 24.9% to 423.58 mln
USD, imports – by 45.3% to 1 bln 112.75 mln USD. The foreign trade
without diamonds grew by 52.6% to 1 bln 400.2 mln USD, exports –
by 43.3% to 357 mln USD, imports – by 56.1% to 1 bln 43.2 mln USD.

In Jauary-May 2007, consumer prices grew by 4.5% on January-May 2006,
industrial production prices – by 0.6%.

The monetary incomes of the population increased by 24.4% in
January-May 2007 on the same period of last year and made 682 bln
781.7 mln drams, monetary expenditures – by 22.3% to 676 bln 892.9
m ln drams. The average monthly nominal salary made 71.016 thousand
drams (18% growth), including the salary of employees of budgetary
institutions – 52.221 thousand drams (16.6% growth) and that of
employees of non-budgetary institutions – 88.659 thousand drams (18%
growth). The average exchange rate of one US dollar made 359.08 drams
in January-May 2007 and 416.04 drams – in 2006.

The number of the unemployed officially registered in Armenia made
86.9 thousand as of late May 2007, declining by 3.9% as compared with
the same index of last year.

WRITERS MAKE HI-TECH LINK TO BOOK FESTIVAL
Tim Cornwell – Arts Correspondent ([email protected])

Scotsman, United Kingdom
June 15 2007

NORMAN Mailer and Alice Munro are among the writers appearing at this
year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival – but they won’t turn
up in person.

Catherine Lockerbie, the director, explained that the writers will
be interviewed from the United States and Canada live on stage in
Edinburgh, via a high-definition broadband link.

In what she claimed as a world festival "first", both will talk to
and sign books for about 50 members of the audience.

The ‘LongPen’ technology allowing this to happen is the brainchild
of Canadian writer Margaret Atwood, who even claims it’s a "green"
device because it cuts down on global travel. She will be using it
herself to interview her compatriot Alice Munro, widely seen as one
of the world’s finest short story writers, in her Ontario home.

Controversial American novelist Norman Mailer, world- famous ever
since the publication of The Naked and the Dead in 1948, is, at 84,
too unwell to fly to Edinburgh. He will be interviewed by leading
Scottish novelist Andrew O’Hagan.

The festival unveiled its 2007 line-up for 11-27 August yesterday.

With 600 authors from more than 40 countries, there is a strong
international flavour. Strands will focus on China and its
extraordinary growth, and on India, with the 60th anniversary of
independence and the 150th anniversary of the Mutiny.

Ms Lockerbie called it the "biggest, most international and most
Scottish programme in the book festival’s history", that proved how
culture and festivals "are crucial to this country’s identity, image,
economic health, international reputation and sense of self".

International visitors include the former Cambodian child soldier and
land mines campaigner, Loung Ung; the Turkish intellectual Elif Shafak,
prosecuted for referring to Armenian genocide in one of her novels;
and the top Basque writer Bernardo Axtaga.

Last year, the festival netted three Nobel prize winners. This year
it has none, and the festival’s thrust is aimed at "writers of the
world" rather than celebrities.

Coups include the actor and writer Alan Bennett, who appeared in
Edinburgh in Beyond the Fringe in 1960, but rarely makes festival
appearances.

Charles Spencer, brother of Diana, will talk about his history of
the swashbuckling Prince Rupert of the Rhine. Singer Billy Bragg
talks on The Progressive Patriot, his book on what it means to be
English, and British. Others are the US novelist Joyce Carol Oates,
the Nigerian-born Booker Prize winner Ben Okri and last year’s biggest
seller, the broadcaster Andrew Marr.

On the Scottish front authors range from Iain Banks to Alexander
McCall Smith and the poet John Burnside. Other highlights include
Ian McEwan, Doris Lessing, and General Sir Michael Rose on his new
book on how American revolutionaries fighting British forces used
the same techniques as Iraqi insurgents.

In another example of new technology put to good literary use, Lucy
Hawking is bringing the science adventure book she wrote with her
father, Professor Stephen Hawking, to the children’s section of the
festival. Her father will take questions live from the audience by
text message, with the answers appearing on screen.

A lively children’s section will look at graphic novels for the first
time, with Alan Grant and Cam Kennedy, who produced a graphic version
of Kidnapped.

PUPPET THEATRE FESTIVAL TO BE HELD WITHIN FRAMEWORK OF "HAYFEST" INTERNATIONAL THEATRE FESTIVAL
By Nana Petrosian

AZG Armenian Daily
15/06/2007

In summer, "Hayfest" international theatre festival will launch
in Armenia. This is the fifth one and will include the third
internationbal puppet and children theatre festival in its program. The
particiapnts from 15 various countries will partake in the festival.

The Yerevan State Puppet theatre will represent "Lazy Houri" play
based on the tale by Hovhannes Toumanian.

Rouben babayan, Art Director of the Yerevan State Puppet Theatre,
stated that though "Hayfest" international theatre festival was
established in 2003, it was recognized the main theatre festival of
the South Caucasus.

YEVGENY GLADUNCHIK AWARDED FRIDTJOF NANSEN FUND MEMORIAL MEDAL

Noyan Tapan
Jun 13 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 13, NOYAN TAPAN. Yevgeny Gladunchik, Director General
of Electric Networks of Armenia company, was awarded Fridtjof Nansen
Fund memorial medal on June 13. Felix Bakhchinian, Fund Chairman,
mentioned that Y. Gladunchik was awarded the prize for a number of
charity programs implemented on his initiative. In particular, by
those programs assistance has been provided to Vanadzor orphanage,
old people’s homes, construction of Russian church, etc.

Y. Gladunchik expressing gratitude for giving him the high award said
that those charity programs had been started by company’s former heads
and he just continues their business together with the collective.

Scotsman, United Kingdom
June 10 2007

Too much of a good thing
IAIN GALE

THE problem with Venice is that sometimes even the most informed
observer can’t tell what is art from what is just a part of everyday
life. As you walk and walk through the city’s labyrinth of tiny
streets or cruise the canals in packed motor buses your eyes struggle
to take everything in. Every tiny canal leading off the canal Grande,
every little side street strung with washing, yields an unexpected
vista packed with possibilities. One glimpse and it’s gone. And the
same is true of the 52nd Venice Biennale. For it’s that time again
and wherever you go here, from the Giardini with its official
pavilions to the massive Arsenale and the explosion of exhibitions
across the city – you are afforded tantalising glimpses of
creativity.

But such is the nature of contemporary art and so invoking as the
Biennale now become that the boundaries have become blurred. I’m
pretty certain that the wooden boat covered with children’s
paintings, moored by the Salute, is a work of art and I’m positive
the same could be said of the huge skull made from aluminium pots and
pans opposite the Ca Rezonico. What about that lorry containing a
mattress parked at the Arsenale? Or red, white and blue public
lavatories in the Giardini. And will someone please tell me why
life-sized pink crocodiles have been tied to the balconies of
selected houses along the canal? Perhaps they just mark out the
venues for more parties.

For the Biennale is all about parties. It’s where the international
art world comes to play. This year though I can’t help feeling that
the time might have come to put the toys back in the cupboard. The
Biennale has taken over Venice. To a greater extent than I can ever
remember, it is suffocating the city of Turner and Tiepolo and we
should remind ourselves that sometimes less is more. With 31
pavilions in the Giardini, 27 outside, dozens of artists in the
Arsenale, 42 shows across the city and now a selling art fair, this
festival no longer complements its hosts and in its ubiquity also
seems to have lowered its standards.

Such criticism cannot be applied to the Scottish Pavilion – our third
– which stands out as one of the highlights of the festival. Under
the aegis of the National Galleries, curator Philip Long has brought
together artists who represent the breadth and intelligence of
contemporary art in Scotland. The venue at the Armenian College in
Palazzo Zenobio is grander and more user friendly than before and
work is given space to breathe. It was also perfect for the opening
party, which was less self-conscious than in previous years, throwing
off any couthy, chippy Scottishness to become as truly international
and cosmopolitan as the art. And that, after the Prosecco has flowed,
is what we are here for.

Of the six Scottish (or Scottish trained) artists, four stand out in
particular and could easily hold their own alongside any in Venice
this year. Charles Avery’s seductive, supremely accomplished drawings
go from strength to strength, luring us into his parallel world. They
are complemented by his three dimensional work and, in particular,
the huge figure 2 in the courtyard, with its hint of arcane
significance. Henry Coombes, too, offers some engaging work – in
particular a short video piece which marries the visceral reality of
deer stalking with an inspired surrealism. Rosalind Nashashibi’s
reconstructed posters and moving video filmed on an Italian trawler
are as punchy and wistfully enigmatic as ever and Lucy Skaer’s
reptilian frottages reinforce the sense of duality that seems to run
through this show which fully engages the intellect with its subtle
brilliance.

The same cannot be said of rather too many of the international
offerings on view here. Those not to miss, however, include Sophie
Calle’s poignant if over-earnest love letter in the French Pavilion,
the Russians’ wonderfully slick and disturbing shower of contemporary
images and Canadian artist David Altmejd’s witty and disturbing
hybrid businessmen with turkey heads. And of course there is Tracey
Emin, who was clearly thrilled to have been chosen for the British
Pavilion. I have always held an ambivalent attitude to her work –
admiring the tent and the bed – but being less certain about the
drawings. Here though my doubts are annulled by work that shows an
innate talent both in draughtsmanship and intellectual content.

The problems are in the city itself where there are now so many
independent shows that it would take an entire week to do all
justice. It remains to be seen whether in two years this great
artistic monolith will have expanded still further. In the meantime
it is worth remembering that Venice is not just a vast gallery space
to be used as we will. It is itself a living work of art and the
greatest benchmark against which to judge anything on view. It has
always been a generous host to the art that invades it every two
years. But I can’t help wondering whether as its hospitality seems on
the brink of being abused, that host is beginning to hint that we
should take care not to upset the fragile balance between old and
new.

That said, this is still the only place to go if you want to gauge
the current state of world art. And whatever your views on whether
there is such a thing as Scottish art, the works on show here
carrying that label more than justify our confidence in our ability
to hold our own on the international stage.

ARMENIAN FM TO ATTEND ISTANBUL GATHERING
Suleyman Kurt Ankara

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
June 4 2007

The president of neighboring Armenia, which has no ties with Turkey,
has been invited to attend a regional summit of the Black Sea countries
in Ýstanbul, but the country is expected to be represented at foreign
ministerial level.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Greek Prime Minister Costas
Karamanlis are most likely to attend the summit of the Black Sea
Economic Cooperation (BSEC), officials said. Ukrainian President
Victor Yushchenko is also expected to be in attendance at the meeting,
hosted by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer.

The BSEC was founded in 1992 to boost cooperation and economic
integration among regional countries in the post-Cold War era,
but the organization has largely failed to materialize many of its
ambitions. Turkey, which took over the presidency of the BSEC for six
months in May, wants to use its term at the helm of the organization
to revitalize it by developing concrete projects. One such project
is the construction of a 7,500-kilometer highway that will be built
around the Black Sea. The highway plans will be introduced to the
public during the Ýstanbul summit.

On the sidelines of the summit, BSEC and UN Development Program (UNDP)
officials are expected to sign a cooperation accord. UNDP President
Kemal Derviþ will be among the participants of the meeting.

Ankara sees the June 25 summit as an opportunity for the BSEC to
revive itself and extricate itself from a political crisis that is
hindering the organization’s decision-making abilities.

–Boundary_(ID_3RB+0w2QSijpimQYKACYJw) —

UNLESS RPA MAKES COALITION WITH ARFD, ITS COOPERATION WITH THAT PARTY WILL BE "FRAGMENTAL"

Noyan Tapan
Jun 05 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 5, NOYAN TAPAN. According to observation of Board
member of Republican Party of Armenia, Galust Sahakian, every time
after elections a stage of serious discussions over formation of
machinery of State starts in the home political sphere. As the latter
said at the June 5 meeting with journalists, after these elections
also negotiations among parties proceed in the stormy way. Their
peculiarity, in G. Sahakian’s words, is that presidential elections
are expected in nine months: a fact that has an impact on positions
of forces included in the parliament.

G. Sahakian said that RPA has common program verges with Bargavach
Hayastan and ARFD. As the RPA member mentioned, currently there are
"fragmental agreements" with ARFD and if ARFD is not included in
the coalition, RPA will implement "fragmental cooperation" with
ARFD. G. Sahakian explained that this means to cooperate in certain
spheres, for instance, in social sphere or sphere of foreign policy.

In response to the question, whether for being included in the
coalition with RPA ARFD should support Serge Sargsian’s candidature at
the 2008 presidential elections, G. Sahakian said that there should
not be disagreements over main issues (in this case S. Sargsian’s
candidature: NT) among forces included in the same coalition who are
going to pass 5-year way with one another. In RPA representative’s
words, presence of such disagreements is just absurd. G. Sahakian
found it difficult to answer the question, whether ARFD will become
an opposition party in case of being left out of the coalition.

Touching upon the opposition, G. Sahakian stated that the reason of
oppositionists’ deafeat is their disability to work with the people.

Zharangutiun Party, which G. Sahakian considers "competitor
opposition," in difference to a number of opposition forces not having
passed to the parliament, worked with the electorate rightly. In
G. Sahakian’s words, he does not consider the number of votes gained
by Orinats Yerkir Party as a victory.

WCC EX SECRETARY GENERAL VISITS ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Jun 05 2007

ETCHMIADZIN, JUNE 5, NOYAN TAPAN. On May 30 on the invitation of
World Church Council (WCC) Armenian Round Table Fund, Doctor Konrad
Reiser, WCC Ex-Secretary General arrived in Armenia on a week-long
visit. This was reported to Noyan Tapan by Mother See of Holy
Etchmiadzin Information Service.

During the visit D. Reiser came up with lectures in the Gevorgian
theological Seminary of Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and Vazgenian
theological school, as well as in YSU Theological Faculty. The lectures
mainly touched upon different issues of environmental conservation and
ecumenical relations. The lectures were presented within the framework
of "Green Theology" educational project, which is conducted due to
the joint efforts of WCC Armenian Round Table Fund and Vazgenian
theological school in Sevan.

On the days of the visit Konrad Reiser was received by Catholicos
of all Armenians Garegin II. On June 3 K. Reiser was present at the
grand mass in Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

Accompanied by the monks of Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and
officials of WCC Round Table Fund, WCC Ex-Secretary General visited
different monasteries and sanctuaries, cultural and educational
institutions, took part in the presentation of the book "Environmental
Conservation and Theology". D. Reiser also attended the regular
meeting of the Council of Trustees of WCC Armenian Round Table Fund.