Author: Elizabeth Jabejian

ANCIENT FORTRESS OF TIGRANAKERT FOUND IN MARTAKERT

AZG Armenian Daily
28/08/2007

Dr. Hamlet Petrosian, the head of the expedition of the Institute of
Archeology and Ethnography, held a news conference on August 24 near
the ruins of the ancient Armenian town of Tigranakert discovered near
the village of Surenavan in the region of Martakert.

As a result of the excavations, the archeologists discovered an
ancient Armenian fortress. The digging of the wall of the fortress
and the church still continue, the southern gate was cleared of the
layer of sand. A great number of exponents of ancient and medieval
culture were discovered by the archeologists.

"In exploring the site we discovered a new fortress.

We think it was also built during the times and power of King Tigran,
but we still continue our researches.

We continue digging the citadel, the fundament of the fortress,
the terrace and the church. We hope to get a full idea of the main
compound by the end of the excavations. I also hope to find writings
near the church. We found some fragments but I cannot state yet they
are Armenian lithographs," Hamlet Petrosian said.

The archeologist said the excavations are impeded by financial
problems. He said unfortunately this year the Yerkir Union which
supports the excavations provided less funding. "Unfortunately, we
got no help from innumerable Armenian organizations and agencies,
not even the government of Armenia and the Academy of Sciences. Only
the government of Karabakh provided 3.5 million drams in July
after we turned to the prime minister. Meanwhile, the excavations
finish but we haven’t sufficient financial sources yet. Yesterday
they promised to transfer the money today, I hope they will. This
is the first time the government of Karabakh has helped us, I
commend them," Hamlet Petrosian said. "In Azerbaijan they say this
is political excavations. I want to state officially this is not
political excavations because the political bodies pay no attention
to us. This is an academic initiative. I haven’t noticed any politics
on behalf of the government so far," the historian said. By the way,
the excavations of Tigranakert started in 2005.

In the first year the location of the town was identified,
afterwards in 2006 part of the wall of the citadel, the wall of one
of the neighborhoods and part of an early Christian basilica were
discovered. Hamlet Petrosian is hopeful that the excavations will
continue next year and new buildings and objects will be discovered.

THE KURDISH QUESTION
By Lydia Wilson/Armavir

TIME
, 28804,1642444_1642441_1648069,00.html
July 30 2007

It’s 4 a.m. and the groom is tucking into what looks like raw trout,
stopping every now and then for a shot of vodka. He’s 25 and a
fledgling entrepreneur, flush with Russian money. The bride is 16
and a village girl. Earlier in the day, she arrived at the wedding
to a traditional Kurdish welcome – which in this part of Armenia
consists of being showered with red apples and sweets, hurled down
from a rooftop by her new husband’s drunken cohorts. But she has long
since left the party, and retired to the conjugal bed.

As we wait for our homeward taxi to arrive, we wonder, pityingly,
why her husband hasn’t joined her. Custom demands that the marriage be
consummated on the wedding night (and a red apple be presented to her
family on the morrow if the bride is found to be a virgin). "She’s
probably exhausted and just lying there waiting for him," whispers
my scandalized companion Nahro. But here’s the groom, heedlessly
drinking vodka with his friends, and with us – for we, too, are
pouring more shots.

In Armenia, there are rural, mountain-dwelling, poverty-stricken Kurds
and there are urbanized, lowland-living, comparatively wealthier
Kurds. We are sitting among the latter in the village of Argavand,
located in the province of Armavir on the Turkish border – and when
it comes to which group makes the better first impression, there’s no
contest. The lowland Kurds of Armavir mostly migrated to this region
during World War II and live as a tiny minority among the Armenians,
with whom relations are often strained. Racism and harassment are a
fact of daily life. Violence is common. Their religion, Yezidism,
has strong similarities to the Abrahamic religions of Judaism,
Christianity and Islam, yet is branded heretical by all three. All of
this means that the lowland Kurds can be a bit circumspect in the way
they carry themselves, and sometimes reticent about their ethnicity.

There’s none of that in the mountains. In fact, there’s not much
of anything in the mountains except snow and the cheery, forthright
welcome of a people who have hardly anything else to offer. The Alagyaz
district – a cluster of 11 Kurdish Yezidi villages – is just 50 km
from the Armenian capital Yerevan, but in terms of development it
might as well be a universe away, for the people there live a spartan
if not subsistence-level life. They moved to these mountains nearly
200 years ago – fleeing persecution in Turkey – and very little has
changed since. There is no running water; people and livestock live
under the same ramshackle roof; the schools are unheated and woefully
underequipped; and the only health care for miles around is provided
by a single nurse and clinic – funded not by the state but by private
donations, and responsible for everything from delivering babies to
pulling teeth. The state, in fact, is glaringly absent in many facets
of life. Perhaps this is the price the district pays for its open
sympathy for the militant separatist guerillas, the Partiya Karkeren
Kurdistan, or Kurdistan Workers’ Party – a sympathy that the Kurds
in Armavir would almost certainly not express if they shared it.

These political realities mirror the apparent social differences
between the lowland Kurds and their highland relations. Encounters
with the lowlanders are self-conscious and awkward, leaving me feeling
as if I’m on display; meetings with the highlanders are marked by
spontaneous warmth and the ready inclusion of the traveler in their
midst. The contrast strikes me hard as we sit in Argavand, waiting
for a taxi that seems like it will never arrive, and wondering for how
much longer the young groom will sit up drinking when he ought to be
in bed with his new wife. I recall an evening in the mountains, when
we were invited to the local schoolmaster’s for dinner, and I got out
my violin to learn some of the simple, beautiful Kurdish tunes. Before
long others joined in, and after a few more vodkas dancing started. It
all seems so remote from the morose gathering we now find ourselves in.

But the taxi does finally pull up outside. As we putter home, Nahro,
who understands the Kurmanci form of Kurdish, talks with the driver
about the groom’s reluctance to go to his bride on their wedding
night. The driver says something in reply and Nahro blanches. "What?

What is it?" I ask. Nahro translates: as well as consummation on the
wedding night, local custom equally stipulates that the groom not
leave the party until the last guest departs. So if anyone had been
forcing the bride to stare at the ceiling, waiting for her husband
during tonight’s lonely, agonizing hours, it was us. Suddenly, I’m
mortified by my own presumption. In fact, I want the night to swallow
me up – but dawn is already breaking.

DID PROMO TOURS IN BELGIUM GET REWARDED WITH POINTS?

Belgovision.com, Belgium
May 14 2007

In the last month preceding the Eurovision Song Contest, seven of this
year’s participants visited Belgium to promote their Eurovision Song
Contest entry. Edsilia Rombley (the Netherlands), Evridiki (Cyprus),
Hayko (Armenia) and Kenan Dogulu (Turkey) are the ones who also
received points from Belgium in the end.

At the end of April, Belgovision.com and 12Points.tv organised a promo
tour for Cypriot representative Evridiki and Dutch representative
Edsilia Rombley in Belgium, which offered them publicity in different
ways. Both Eurovision ladies could count on the Belgian support in
the semifinal. Belgium gave 10 points to Edsilia and 5 points to
Evridiki. However, that was not sufficient to qualify for the final.

That Turkey and Armenia can count on the support of their immigrants
in Belgium already became clear last year. In April, Hayko visited the
Armenian community in Brussels in order to encourage them to support
him in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. With success. Hayko
received 10 points from Belgium in the final. Only Kenan Dogulu did
better, receiving the 12 points in both the semifinal and the final.

Three more Eurovision Song Contest candidates visited Belgium in
April. However, it turned out to be a waste of time for Koldun from
Belarus, Olivia Lewis from Malta and Marija ~Jestić from Bosnia
& Herzegovina, who didn’t get any point from Belgium. Furthermore,
Irish folk band Dervish performed at the music festival Dranouter
Aan Zee but didn’t promote their song They Can’t Stop The Spring.

Ireland, which finished last in Helsinki, also got 0 points from
Belgium.

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ARSHAK SADOYAN DOES NOT LOSE HOPE OF RECEIVING FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM THE US FOR CONDUCTING PRE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN

Noyan Tapan
Mar 07 2007

YEREVAN, MARCH 7, NOYAN TAPAN. In response to the letter of the
"Union of National Democrats" (UND) Party, the US embassy in
Armenia replied that it cannot provide financial assistance for
using TV time. According to the embassy, this idea has no relation
to "our long-term programs on election assistance and democracy
development." Whereas, as the UND chairman, NA deputy Arshak Sadoyan
stated at the March 7 press conference, a number of embassies
and international organizations expressed their willingness to
provide financial assistance for holding free and fair elections in
Armenia. "We are not satisfied with the answer of the US embassy. In
this connection a question arises: Will the US provide the promised
6.5 mln dollars only to the authorities, thanks to which elections
are falsified each time?" A. Sadoyan said. He said that the UND will
again apply to the embassies of the US, Germany, Italy, Great Britain
and France, the Yerevan Offices of the UN and OSCE and the US Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice. In the words of A. Sadoyan, if C. Rice does
answer their letter this time too, he will apply through famous mass
media outlets to US tax payers, informing them that their country’s
officials "make promises which they do not fulfil."

Arka News Agency, Armenia
Feb 14 2007

CE ATTACHES PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE TO ELECTRONIC MEDIA IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, February 14. /ARKA/. CE attaches paramount importance to
electronic media in Armenia, special representative of the CE
Secretary-General to Armenia Boyana Urumova at the "Objectivity,
balance and impartiality in covering the elections" round-table
discussion held on February 13-14 in Yerevan.
According to Urumova, electronic media play an important role in
providing impartial coverage of the elections due to their wide
spread all over the world and particularly in Armenia. That is why CE
attaches importance to the pluralism in the electronic mass media of
Armenia on the eve of the elections, Urumova said.
The "Objectivity, balance and impartiality in covering the elections"
round-table discussion was held by the CE Department for Mass Media
together with "Internews" and the Yerevan Press Club. N.V. -0–

Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), Iran
Dec 1 2006

Iran-Armenia expand agricultural cooperation Service: Economy

ISNA – Tehran
Service: Economy

TEHRAN, Dec. 01 (ISNA)-Iran’s minister of agriculture trip to Yerevan
resulted in various agreement notes between Iran and Armenia.

According to the agreements made producing and growing decorative
plants in Armenia were emphasized on.

Iran also announced readiness to cooperate in the construction of
garden houses in Armenia.

Both sides also agreed to exchange various kinds of cold water and
hot water fishes and holding short term courses for design and
carrying out modern methods of watering in Armenia.

It was also agreed that Armenia exported 2 thousand tones of life
stock sheep and 6 thousand tones of life stock calf annually to Iran
from 2007 to 2009.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Father Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version:
BEIN G DIFFERENT IS GOD’S GIFT AND CALL
(Dialogue with the youth- Number 6)
It has been a consistent truth that when individuals and communities have
blindly affirmed their ‘difference’, they have generated religious, national
and cultural tensions. This exclusive behaviour has more times than not led
to alienation. We should avoid this sort of exclusive and alienating
behaviour. In fact, acknowledging diversity is an important aspect of
Christianity.
Diversity is manifest in God’s nature as Trinity and is an essential part
of His revelation and work. For Christians, therefore, diversity is a
profoundly important concept.
1) Diversity is God’s Gift. God created for us a world of diversity.
God-given diversity is sustained by coherence and interaction, wholeness and
integrity. Diversity, which is a dominant feature of the human race, has
produced identities and roots.
2) Diversity is God’s Call. God called people to be the steward of His
creation, to be His ‘co-worker’. What a distinct privilege, indeed. We are
called to witness the richness of diversity and preserve and enhance it for
the fulfilment of God’s design for humanity and creation.
Today we are living in multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious
societies. As Armenian Christians how should we respond to God’s call to
preserve and protect diversity? The direction we should take to deal
responsibly with pluralism in the context of our Christian
self-understanding and vocation is clear, we must:
a) Affirm our identity. Roots shape identity, ensure continuity, safeguard
integrity and give security. Because identity is not only a social necessity
but also a vital dimension of human existence and self-understanding, in
order to occupy a specific place in human society, we must remain faithful
to our identity. In order to give substance and meaning to our life, we must
attach ourselves firmly to those values, traditions and beliefs that
constitute our specific identity.
b) Respect the other’s identity. While we should remain faithful to our
identity, we must respect the other’s identity. Affirming our identity does
not mean becoming its prisoner. The other is not our enemy; he or she is our
neighbour, our fellow human being. Hence, we do not have the right, under
any circumstances, to impose our values and reject those of the other.
Mutual respect and mutual acceptance must determine the way we treat each
other.
c) Understand ourselves in relation to the other. The globalised and
interdependent world of today compels us to broaden our sense of identity. I
am because you are, and you are because I am; we are, indeed,
interconnected. Self-centred and self-contained identity breed intolerance.
When we recognize the values of the other, we gain strength and become
responsive to the challenges of our times.
d) Work towards deepening common values. Living together with others as a
community means that our values and perspectives, our traditions and beliefs
are in harmony with the other. Living together may produce harmonious
community in one place; yet, in other place, it may engender fragmentation.
Therefore, we must commit ourselves to a dialogue of values; we must also
deepen the core values rooted in our belief systems, in our cultures and our
common humanity.
e) Learn to live as a community of diversities. God not only created us to
be different, He also called us to live together peacefully with our
differences. This is precisely the Christian understanding of community
which implies diversity. When diversities creatively interact, then
community is built; when diversities collide, then community is destroyed.
Societies cannot progress without diversities. And the community is enriched
and strengthened by reconciled diversities.*
In our ‘global village’, we have become global citizens; we have become
interdependent. We are no longer strangers; we are neighbours. We share many
things with our fellow human beings. We have commonalities, but we also have
differences. Because God created us different, we must respect the other’s
right to be different. Rejecting the other as an expression of our
faithfulness to our values and identity will polarize us and lead to
violence. By rejecting the other, we deny his or her humanity. Rejection
creates exclusiveness and exclusiveness fragments the community. Our
differences must interact, not collide; they must lead us to dialogue, not
isolation. We must transform living together into a source of mutual
responsibility and accountability.
The Armenian people have a long and rich experience of living together
with others. Interaction with our environment has fostered our resolve to
preserve our identity. It has also helped us to broaden our perspectives,
enhance our knowledge and enrich our experience. Indeed, the very fact that
a church of apostolic origin, the Armenian Church, and an ancient people,
the Armenian people, have survived the upheavals and vicissitudes of history
is an eloquent testimony to the courage, openness and commitment to live as
community in the midst of diversities. The same vision should guide us
today. The youth have a pivotal role to play in this respect.
ARAM I
CATHOLICOS OF CILICIA
5 November 2006
Antelias-Lebanon
——————————– ——————————————–
* I have elaborated some of these thoughts in my new book, For a Church
beyond its walls, which is under publication.

ELMAR MAMMADYAROV: THERE ARE STILL DISAGREEMENTS IN THE KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT
Public Radio, Armenia
Nov 16 2006
We discussed the suggestion presented by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs
in Moscow and came to the conclusion to continue the talks, said the
Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov, commenting on the
results of the meeting with Armenian FM Vartan Oskanian, Mediamax
agency reports.
Elmar Mammadyarov informed that after the November 20 the OSCE Minsk
Group Co-chairs will visit Yerevan and Baku. They suggested to arrange
the meeting of Presidents following their visit to the region. Azeri
Foreign Minister considers that the meeting of Presidents may be held
November 28 in Minsk in the framework of the summit of CIS leaders.
Commenting on the course of the talks with RA Foreign Minister,
Mammadyarov said here are still disagreements. He noted also that for
two years negotiations have been held in the framework of the Prague
process, and Armenia understands the position of Azerbaijan. “It is
still early to speak about any progress. It will be possible only
after the meeting of the Presidents,” said Elmar Mammadyarov. He
noted that the talks will be completed this year.

HERITAGE HEADQUARTERS FORCIBLY VACATED, SEALED: WHAT ARE THEY AFRAID OF?
Lragir.am
31 May 06
Yerevan, 30.05.06, ACNIS. Today at noon, as Raffi Hovannisian and
his colleagues were at work, the Heritage Party’s main office was
surrounded and entered by a group of 10 uniformed bailiffs from
the Service for Mandatory Execution of Judicial Acts (SMEJA) of the
Ministry of Justice.
In an unprecedented and incredible reversal of their execution
yesterday of the Court’s April 14 injunction against the defendant
theater’s restriction of access to Hovannisian’s premises and property,
and without further court order, the ministry officials, led by Vahram
Yenokian and joined by Yerevan’s commando-clad “chief evicter” Tigran
Tadevosian, forcibly vacated the premises, evicting Hovannisian and
his staff from the headquarters which has been theirs for 12 years
and which they had succeeded in reentering just yesterday, nearly
three months after its initial closure. All office doors, external
and internal, were then sealed.
As part of the official report prepared by Yenokian and his underlings,
Raffi Hovannisian recorded that “the instant operation by the SMEJA
bailiffs, who are supposed to be servants of the law, is illegal,
a travesty of civil rights and justice, and a sad reflection of the
subservience of the judiciary to the whims, caprices, and personal
interests of the executive branch of power, in particular the incumbent
presidency. I am being compelled to leave under the threat of force
and against my will.”
Upon the formal closing of his office within 24 hours of its hopeful
reopening, Hovannisian condemned the petty, parochial fear that drives
such acts of lawless retribution across the Republic, and vowed to
continue his quest, together with his fellow citizens, to achieve a
nation of laws, rights, and dignity.

SERGE SARGSYAN: I DON’T THINK COLOR REVOLUTION THREATENS ARMENIA
PanARMENIAN.Net
08.03.2006 20:55 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “A revolution will hardly take place in Armenia,”
RA Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan told Russian journalists. “I think
this phase is already over, since revolutions are attractive during a
certain period for a certain part of the society. Then soberness and
understanding come. I have always been an adherent to evolutionary
but not revolutionary development,” he added. “I do not think color
revolution threatens Armenia. The Armenian society is able to develop
evolutionary. This September we will mark the 15th anniversary of our
republic. 15 years in not very much but for Armenia it’s a sufficient
term to be considered a mature state.
Unfortunately our first republic existed several months only and
these 15 years is an achievement for us,” Serge Sargsyan said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress