Author: Ekmekjian Janet

AN OP-ED BY PROFESSOR CHARLES FRIED: GETTING AT THE TRUTH

Harvard Law Bulletin, MA
Dec 13 2006

The following op-ed, Getting at the truth, was published in The Boston
Globe on December 13, 2006.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the egregious president of Iran, is hosting a
conference this week on whether the Holocaust really happened. There
are serious questions that someone with Ahmadinejad’s hostile attitude
toward the state of Israel might ask about the Holocaust — did it
justify the settlement of its survivors in Palestine in the first
place and has Israel misused the Holocaust to justify the Israeli
settlements in the occupied territories — but whether the Holocaust
ever happened is not one of them. To even somewhat sensible, mildly
educated people, Ahmadinejad’s conference is like having a conference
about whether the world might be flat after all.

Although Iran surely intends this as an affront to Israel and
Jewish people everywhere — my family and I fled Czechoslovakia
in 1939, leaving my grandparents and many relatives behind to die
in Theresienstad and Auschwitz — the real victims of this minor
latter-day outrage are the Iranian people and rational discourse
everywhere.

What Ahmadinejad’s conference proclaims is that truth has no place
in the world of politics; that if your ends are just, you can say
anything, no matter how far-fetched. Ahmadinejad tells us that his
pursuit of advanced nuclear capabilities is for peaceful purposes only:
power generation, medical applications, and not as part of a weapons
program. Why would a rational person put faith in any assurance from
a man so contemptuous of truth or even think there is any point in
negotiating with him?

But Ahmadinejad’s tortured logic seems almost broad-minded compared
with Turkey’s stringent criminal prohibition on any suggestion that
such a thing as its genocide of the Armenian people ever happened.

Many brave Turkish writers and journalists have suffered persecution
in recent times for proclaiming what no reasonable person would deny.

Yet the Armenian genocide is as certain a historic fact as Hitler’s
European Holocaust, for which Ataturk’s may well have served as a model
and feasability study. (A recent brief, horrifying and thoroughly
documented account can be found in Niall Ferguson’s "War of the
World.") Turkey and Iran turn truth into either a crime or charade.

And then there is the converse: What about countries like Canada
and many in Europe that make it an offense to offer propositions
derogatory of races or religions, or to deny the Holocaust, or
proposed legislation in France that would make it a crime to deny the
Armenian genocide. Here, too, the truth and how we come to know it
suffers. States that forbid such palpable lies degrade the currency
of truth as much as those who proclaim a lie as their national policy.

For in the end, the only way to bite the nickel to make sure it’s
genuine is in discussion, debate, assertion, and counter-assertion.

That is the process in which extremists in Iran and Turkey are shown
to be what they are — charlatans and liars. But states that shut down
that process, even to inane propositions like Holocaust or Armenian
genocide denial, debase the currency of truth every bit as much
as their opposites, For in their zeal, they assign to themselves,
to politics, and to official power (with its attendant machinery
of prosecutors, judges, juries, and jailors) an authority that can
reside only in the forum of individual judgment and conviction.

There is such a thing as truth; that is why Holocaust deniers are
fools or liars. But that is exactly why there can be no such thing as
official truth — truth endorsed, policed, and enforced by the power
of the state. Truth is above politics, and judges politics, which
is why politics has no authority to proclaim it. Official truth is a
contradiction in terms. In one respect the Turks seem worse than the
Iranians: They make it a crime to tell the truth, while Ahmadinejad
claims to doubt what only a fool or scoundrel would deny. Because
there is a truth about the Holocaust and Armenian Genocide, this
doubt is foolish, but that judgment is not a judgment of politics
but of the free mind that judges politics.

SHORT MEETING BETWEEN ARMENIAN AND GREEK DEFENCE MINISTERS TAKES PLACE ON DECEMBER 12 IN YEREVAN

Noyan Tapan
Dec 12 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 12, NOYAN TAPAN. On December 12, RA Defence Minister,
Secretary of the National Security Council under RA President, Serge
Sargsian had a short meeting with Greek Defence Minister Evangelos
Meimarakis at Yerevan’s Zvartnots airport. The latter was leaving
for Afghanistan by Greece-Armenia transit flight for the purpose of
meeting with the servicemen of Greek peacekeeping subdivision. As
Noyan Tapan was informed from RA Defence Ministry Press Service,
during the meeting, the sides touched upon a number of issues relating
to Armenian-Greek military cooperation.

EAFJD: EU SHOULD ADOPT TOUGHER RESOLUTION ON TURKEY

PanARMENIAN.Net
12.12.2006 17:56 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The European Armenian Federation (EAFJD) says that
European Union Foreign Ministers’ decision to partially freeze the
negotiations with Turkey should be tougher. "The Armenian lobby
organization is sure that Turkey must be punished both for Human
Rights violations, and for treatment with ethnic minority groups,
blockade of Armenian-Turkish border and the Armenian Genocide denial,"
says the statement, provided by AP. In her part, the head of European
Armenian Federation Hilda Tchoboyan underlined that EU member states’
decision complicated the relations with Turkey, reports RFL/RL.

ARMENIAN TEEN WINS BBC TALENT CONTEST

Malaysia Sun, Malaysia
Big News Network
Dec 10 2006

A 17-year-old Armenian singer has won the BBC World Service’s Next
Big Thing competition in London with her song, I Like, written by
her siblings.

The BBC reported Saturday that the singer known as Silva beat out
six other acts from around the world at the final competition.

Judges praised the song as fresh and new and they called her
performance second to none. Silva had worked with her brother and her
sister on the fetching song. She later said that the glowing comments
from the judges gave her the confidence to make the step up to the
international level.

Silva told the BBC, It’s terrific; it’s unbelievable to be in first
place.

The competition, part of the BBC’s Generation Next season, featured
performers under 18.

GEORGIA: TAMING OF A REVOLUTIONARY STATION

A1+
[03:45 pm] 09 December, 2006

Rustavi-2 television loses its fearless reputation.

The television station that was at the forefront of Georgia’s Rose
Revolution has lost audiences and its reputation for political
investigation, amidst accusations of pressure from the new authorities.

During the peaceful demonstrations against the government of former
president Eduard Shevardnadze of November 2003, the programmes of
Rustavi-2 were broadcast to crowds in the centre of Tbilisi on a huge
screen. As the revolution gathered momentum, Rustavi-2 worked round
the clock, urging people to join the rallies.

However, just a few months after the Shevardnadze administration fell
and Mikheil Saakashvili was elected president of Georgia, the media
climate began to change. Two television channels – Iberia and Ninth
Channel – were taken off the air, and the popular political talk
shows broadcast by Rustavi-2 and other companies began disappearing.

The official rationale for the closure of the two channels was
their own financial problems, while the ending of the talk shows was
explained as an internal management decision. However, the opposition
started accusing the new government of putting pressure on the media
and violating freedom of speech.

Rustavi-2, which had helped bring the new government to power, began
experiencing problems too. First the company was declared bankrupt
and the majority of its shares sold to a little-known businessmen
Kibar Khalvashi, who was a close associate of then minister of defence
Irakly Okruashvili. Two weeks ago, the day after Okruashvili resigned
as defence minister, Khalvashi again sold his controlling stake in
the company.

For viewers, the most important change has been in the content of
Rustavi-2’s news programmes. The news programme Courier has lost the
reputation for boldness, which made it so popular.

"Rustavi-2 broadcasts only the latest news from the interior ministry
or the president’s briefings, there’s nothing interesting to watch,"
Marina, 49, told IWPR.

Ia Antadze, a commentator with Radio Liberty, said the changes at
Rustavi-2 were directly linked to the balance of political forces
in the Georgian government, with two camps linked respectively to
Okruashvili and Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili.

She said Merabishvili had control over the Alania and Mze television
companies and influence over public television, while Rustavi-2 and
Imedi were associated with Okruashvili.

After the Rose Revolution, Rustavi-2 broadly continued to support the
new government. David Kikalishvili, presenter of the news programme
Courier P.S., explained, "After the revolution, the journalists
regarded themselves as revolutionaries, and, proceeding from interests
of the revolution, they agreed with the owner’s position that the
political temperature should be lowered."

The staff protested for the first time three months ago when the
authorities demanded the resignation of general director Nika
Tabatadze. The news section held a strike that lasted for several
hours. A crisis meeting was called, which staff say was attended by
Okruashvili and Gigi Ugulava, mayor of Tbilisi – although no one has
confirmed this in public.

The news team all then quit the company, but without making any
comment.

"They said nothing, because they had nothing to say," said Paata
Veshapidze, editor of 24 Hours newspaper, pointing out that they had
put up with the major changes at the station unquestioningly and it
was hard for them suddenly to take a determined stand.

However, one leading journalist, Eka Khoperia, announced live on
television that she was quitting because of "unacceptable demands from
certain representatives of the authorities", whom she did not name.

Following the mass resignations, Koba Davarashvili, a close friend of
Economics Minister Giorgy Arveladze, was appointed general director of
the company, and a former head of the press service of the governing
party, the National Movement, was put in charge of the news section.

But ratings have dropped dramatically. The Courier news programme
used to have an audience share of 50-60 per cent, but now only gets
between six and 11 per cent of the audience.

"The authorities are well aware of the power the television has,"
said Paata Veshapidze. "They do not want to have such a powerful bomb
that may explode at any moment."

The latest audience figures show that Rustavi-2 now lags behind Imedi,
a television company owned by businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili,
who is an associate of former Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky.

In August, Imedi signed a partnership agreement with Rupert Murdoch’s
media giant News Corporation.

Before the local elections in October, Imedi’s news programmes took
a critical line with the government and government figures boycotted
the channel’s political talk show Reaction for several months.

In its turn, the opposition has shunned Rustavi-2, saying the channel
has turned into a "branch of the government".

Experts say that the media is less independent and critical of the
government than it used to be and that is harder to obtain information
from official sources.

But, said television critic Ninia Kakabadze, "there are not enough
factual arguments to say that the authorities are directly putting
pressure on the media.

"To any question why this or that journalist has been sacked or why
this or that programme has been shut down the authorities give one
simple answer – we have nothing to do with this, this is what the
management has decided. That is why the main question is, who the
management is, how they take decisions and who influences them."

"Independent reporting is hampered by journalists’ self-censorship,"
said Tamara Shamil, a media expert with the Caucasian Institute of
Peace, Democracy and Development in Tbilisi. "Most of them are waiting
to see how their new masters will react."

By Eka Kvesitadze in Tbilisi for Institute for War and Peace
Reporting’s Caucasus Reporting Service

EPIC TO INTIMATE IN `YACOUBIAN BUILDING’
by Lael Loewenstein, Special to The Times

Los Angeles Times
December 8, 2006 Friday
Home Edition

Erected in downtown Cairo in 1934, the Yacoubian apartment building
was one of the largest, most luxurious edifices of its day. Over the
years, however, the building fell into disrepair, and the rooftop
dwellings that had been used as servants’ quarters were rented out
to the destitute and downtrodden. Torn between attempts to modernize
and entrenched Islamic tradition, Egypt saw soaring poverty.

Much as the edifice named for its Armenian builder came to represent
a cross-section of Egyptian society, "The Yacoubian Building" weaves
narrative strands into a dense, diverse tapestry, and the film by the
young director Marwan Hamed serves as a commentary on contemporary
Egypt — with salient debates about religious fundamentalism, gender
roles, tradition versus modernity, homosexuality, political corruption,
even abortion. Coming from a culture where many of these topics are
taboo, it’s nothing short of groundbreaking.

It’s perhaps appropriate that a film about the residents of one ofthe
most expensive buildings of its era also happens to be thecostliest
Egyptian film. Just 28 when he made this, his firstfeature, Hamed
assembled a cast of some of Egypt’s most celebratedactors (albeit
largely unknown to Western audiences). The script,adapted by veteran
screenwriter Waheed Hamed (the director’s father)from the popular
novel by Alaa’ Al Aswany, follows several disparatecharacters.

The Yacoubian’s residents include Zaki Pasha (Adel Imam),
anover-the-hill playboy evicted from the family apartment by
hisoverbearing sister (Issad Younis); Hatem Rasheed (Khaled El
Sawy), agay newspaper editor who seduces a handsome young soldier
(BassemSamra); Haj Azzam (Nour El Sherif), a sexually frustrated,
outwardlyreligious millionaire who takes a young widow (Somaya El
Khashab) asa second wife but exposes his selfishness and hypocrisy
when heforces her to have an abortion; Taha (Mohamed Imam), a
roof-dwellingyouth who turns to religious extremism. Bridging the
tales, thelovely, desperately poor Bosnaina (Hind Sabry), leaves
her firstlove, Taha, when he becomes obsessed with Islam and finds
a jobworking for Zaki, who, newly chastened, is the first man to
treatBosnaina with respect.

Hamed balances these story lines with skill, elicits
credibleperformances from his cast, and deftly handles variations in
tone andscale. At times, the film, Egypt’s official Oscar submission,
is epicin scope. At others, it’s intimate and tender. At more than 2
1/2hours, "The Yacoubian Building" is nothing if not long. But it’s
awindow into a culture that few of us get to see.

Unrated. Run time: 2 hours, 38 minutes. In Arabic with
Englishsubtitles. Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd. (323) 848-3500.

PROVISIONS OF THE AGREEMENT ON KARABAKH SETTLEMENT TO BE PRESENTED AT DARTMOUTH CONFERENCE

ArmRadio.am
08.12.2006 11:56

Two-day meeting of the Dartmouth Conference participants, featuring
the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs is starting in Snegiri settlement
near Moscow. The provisions of the concise agreement on the Karabakh
conflict settlement elaborated earlier by the Conference will be
presented to the Co-Chairs.

MINISTRY OF FINANCE REVIVES THE LOTTERIES

A1+
[07:01 pm] 07 December, 2006

In November the RA Ministry of Finance and Economy has given to
licenses to organize lotteries. In the same month two organizations
of lotteries have been fined for 100 000 AMD each, another has been
fined for 1 100 000 AMD, and another has been warned.

Since the beginning of the year a total sum of 872.5 million AMD
has been paid by the casinos and lottery organizations. On the
whole, 15 lotteries and three casinos have been given licenses this
year. Alongside with this, 13 lotteries and five casinos have lost
their license.

At present there are 56 lotteries and 61 casinos operating in Armenia.

WE SHOULD GIVE CONTENT TO POLITICAL STRUGGLE IN ORDER TO PREVENT CONFLICTS AMONG PARTIES, CHAIRMAN OF CHRISTIAN-DEMOCRATIC UNION OF ARMENIA SAYS

Noyan Tapan
Dec 05 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. There are some opposition parties in
Armenian home political sphere that feel the danger of being left out
of political processes in case of not succeeding at the parliamentary
elections of 2007.

Khosrov Haroutiunian, Chairman of the Christian-Democratic Union
of Armenia, gave such an estimation to the current policy of the
Armenian parties at the December 5 press conference. In his words,
it is not excluded that the forecasts of Galust Sahakian, Head of the
parliamentary faction of the Republican Party of Armenia, will come
true. According to his forecasts, rough conflicts will take place among
some political forces in the preelection period. The Chairman of the
Christian-Democratic Union of Armenia declared that the possibility
of these conflicts should be neutralized. And for this, in his words,
"we should first of all give a quality and content to the political
struggle" for not physical, material or party members’ quantitative
abilities, but "parties’ conceptions on public life" to start to
conflict with one another. As Kh.Haroutiunian is affirmed, the idea
"politics is struggle for power" has been already exhausted.

POLAD BULBULOGLU: ARMENIANS’ CONCERT IN MOSCOW AIMED TO CAST SHADOW ON CLOSING CEREMONY OF RUSSIAN YEAR IN AZERBAIJAN

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Dec 5 2006

"Armenians wanted to raise the flag of separatist regime and sing its
hymn in the concert held in Moscow. But we did not allow them. We
sent a very serious note to Russian Foreign Minister on behalf of
the embassy.

As a result of our reaction all symbols of false state were gathered
from the concert hall," Polad Bulbuloglu Azerbaijani Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary ambassador to Russia told the APA exclusively.

The ambassador estimated the Armenians’ concert "Golos Artsakha"
in Moscow as diversion.

"This is Armenians’ diversion. Solemn closing ceremony of Russian
year in Azerbaijan was held on December 4. Armenians’ concert in
Moscow aimed to cast shadow on closing ceremony of Russian year in
Azerbaijan. But nothing serious happened in the concert," he said.

The ambassador said that the Azerbaijani students detained during
the event have already been released.

"We had asked the young men not to participate in the event. But
40 students were taken to the police and released after offering
explanation," the ambassador said.