Author: Emil Lazarian

Lraper Org
11/7/06
ARMENIAN PATRIARCH
MESROB II: “ECEVIT WAS A GREAT MAN OF STATE”
His Beatitude Mesrob II, Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul and All Turkey, sent
a message to Rahsan Ecevit, wife [Mustafa] Bulent Ecevit, on the occasion of
his death. In the message the Patriarch said he had followed the late
leader, who served as Prime Minister and previous President of the Social
Democrat Party (DST), since his elementary school years, and that his
passing has plunged the country into mourning. Expressing his condolences,
His Beatitude the Patriarch desired the comfort of the Holy Spirit for
Rahsan Hanim, who shared her entire life with the late leader.
His Beatitude the Patriarch also telephoned Zeki Sezer, President of the
DSP, made known his sorrow at the death of Bulent Ecevit, and expressed
condolences to all of his colleagues.
PRESS STATEMENT
His Beatitude the Patriarch said the following in his statement to the
press.
“I feel deeply sorrowful at the loss of our former Prime Minister, the
Honorable Bulent Ecevit. He was one of those large personalities who put his
stamp on our country’s political history. With his decisiveness, political
consistency, modesty, and multi-talented character, Bulent Ecevit has
written his name into Turkish history with letters of gold.
“The Honorable Bulent Ecevit signed off on important decisions in both the
domestic and international spheres, and he introduced many new views of
Turkish politics. We met on several occasions and established a good
relationship and mutual understanding.
“I pray that the grace of Almighty God be with Bulent Ecevit and grant peace
to his soul, and I extend my condolences both to the Honorable Rahsan Ecevit
and to all of Turkey.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

REGNUM
NOVEMBER 9, 2006
REGNUM » News » Mass burial place of Armenians.
Mass burial place of Armenians and Assyrians found in south-eastern Turkey
Turkish police instructed residents of one of villages located in the
country’s south-eastern vilayet (region) to keep silence concerning mass
burial place found on October 17 in the area. According to Kurdish Ulkede
Ozgur Gundem paper published in Turkey, the burial place may contain remains
of victims of the Armenian Genocide.
According to the periodical, digging grave for one of their relatives,
villagers of Khirabebaba struck against burial place full of skulls and
bones. According to the source, remains of at least 40 persons lie there.
The villagers themselves are sure; remains of no less than 300 Armenians
killed in 1915 lie in the grave. Journalists who got to the spot to receive
detailed information were stripped of access to the burial place. Professor
of history at Sodertorn University David Gaunt maintains that remains of 150
Armenians and 120 Assyrian men from neighboring city of Dara (now Oguz)
killed on June 14, 1915 lie in the common grave.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARONYAN TO MEET WITH AZERI REPRESENTATIVE
A1+
[12:10 pm] 07 November, 2006
Today Armenian chess player Levon Aronyan will meet with Shakiryar
Mamedyarov, a chess player from Azerbaijan in the second phase of
Memorial Tournament of Michael Tall, ex World Chess Champion.
Reminder; the Azeri chess player met with Alexei Shirov in the first
tournament and tied the meeting.
Levon Aronyan beat his Russian representative, Alexander Morozevich in
the first tournament of the Memorial Tournament held in Moscow. Grand
Masters Boris Gelfand and Ruslan Ponomaryov also enjoyed victories. The
other two games of chess ended in a draw.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EXPLORING OPEN STUDIOS IN A CLOSED CITY CROSSES MORE THAN THE GREEN LINE
Cyprus Mail, Cyprus
Nov 7 2006
JOHN Updike once wrote “What art offers is space”. Of course, he
was talking about inner spaces, the spaces of the imagination and
ideas, to give voice to feelings and emotions that cannot be other
wise expressed.
But this weekend I literally found art in different spaces. A treasure
hunt through the old town of Nicosia on both sides of the Green Line:
like a party game of clues and adventure. It’s been a journey into
alleyways and hidden corners, a chance to meet new people and make
new friends: a maze to find the amazing.
It started in Club Red on Wednesday night and since then I’ve been
wandering in search of studios. Getting lost, getting wet but mostly
getting to know this place more intimately: the interesting by-product
of Open Studios is that it makes you walk where you would normally
never walk. Wine offered, music playing, each studio as individual
as the artist. It makes you make the city your own.
My first open door was near Famagusta Gate, to the studio of Pola
Xadjipapa-McCammon and Christos Christou. Little red arrows drew us
down cobbled streets to find six people sitting round smoking and
drinking in an old house like a private party.
Shyly we entered and were immediately given a glass. I recognised
Christos’ pieces, but Pola`s were new to me and what fascinated me was
a series she’d done on the Cyprus railway. I never even knew Cyprus
had had a railway. The conversation flowed with the wine, like a
private viewing all for us. But more than that, it was personal and
relevant. We asked and she answered, not a lecture or a pretentious
spiel, but a chance to understand the processes and the thoughts
behind a painting.
On Saturday night we walked down Perikleous Street, past the strip
clubs and red light joints, a road I’d normally avoid in the dark,
but just a few hundred metres down and the mood changed. First stop,
Nicholas Panayi’s gallery, with a video installation of baklava
makers mirroring paper makers from China, a few steps further
was Lia Bouyiatzi’s extraordinary space. Huge, larger-than-life
canvasses in black and white of nude women: women beautiful because
of their voluptuous vulnerability. There was something intimate
and inspirational about sitting over yet another glass of wine in a
studio rather than a gallery, paintings propped against walls, among
brushes and books. This project gives you a chance to understand the
personality of the painter in their environment. Nowhere was this more
apparent than on Sunday afternoon when we finally found, through a
torrential downpour, the absolutely magical studio of Ayhatun Atesin
near the Abrahamet Cultural Centre. We wandered at first, confused
by the map, into a derelict house full of mangy cats and old tin
baths, and then, sodden to the bone, saw the next house with its
walls of embedded ceramic shards. We knocked gingerly on the door,
and were greeted by the widest of smiles and the warmest coffee. And
the most extraordinary and beautiful sight: tabletops brimming with
perfectly formed ceramic shoes, like a Manolo Blahnik shop front or a
scene from Cinderella. They would be shipped the next day to Istanbul
for the opening of her exhibition “Silent Walk”. But more than that,
the old house was an Aladdin’s cave of delights: photos, pots, plates
covered in iridescent blues and hues of every tone. Her life’s work,
on every surface a story, no need to talk, just look.
Opening studios within closed walls is crossing more than one divide.
It is opening not just doors but the opportunity to connect across
the line, physically and emotionally. Of course, there is sadness as
you walk, things you’d rather not see but are, nevertheless, reality.
We found ourselves wandering through the totally ruined Armenian
Church in Arabahmet, with its graffitied walls and broken spirit,
just paces from the artists’ studios.
But for those who really want to reclaim their city, artists can give
hope, so get a map, take an open mind, and walk.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NKR PRESIDENT LEAVES FOR USA
Arka News Agency, Armenia
Nov 7 2006
STEPANAKERT, November 7. /ARKA/. President of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic (NKR) Arkady Ghukasyan left for the USA to take part in the
traditional telethon in Los Angeles scheduled for November 23.
During his visit, the NKR president is to hold meetings with
representatives of political, public, religious and business circles
of the Eastern and Western coasts of the USA.
Executive Director of the “Hayastan Fund” Naira Melkumyan earlier
reported that the telethon that are to precede the November 23 telethon
are to be held in Armenia in November 15-17 and in Paris on November
16-19. Melkumyan also reported that the organizers expect to raise
more funds than last year, when a total of $7.7mln were raised.
The funds raised last year were directed to the rehabilitation of
the NKR economy.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

OSKANYAN: ARMENIA REPEATS READINESS TO ENTER INTO DIALOGUE AND NORMAL RELATIONS WITH TURKEY
Arka News Agency, Armenia
Nov 7 2006
YEREVAN, November 7. /ARKA/. On Monday, Armenian Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanyan, commenting on his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul’s
recent interview with Liberty radio station, reiterated that Armenia is
willing to enter into dialogue and establish normal ties with Turkey.
We remain amazed that a letter sent by President Kocharian to Prime
Minister Erdogan in April 2005 remains ignored, simply because the
Turkish authorities did not like the response contained therein,
and do not wish to broaden the scope of discussion beyond history.
“President Kocharian clearly said to Prime Minister Erdogan that the
“suggestion to address the past cannot be effective if it deflects
from addressing the present and the future. In order to engage in
a useful dialog, we need to create the appropriate and conducive
political environment. It is the responsibility of governments to
develop bilateral relations and we do not have the right to delegate
that responsibility to historians. That is why we have proposed
and propose again that, without pre-conditions, we establish normal
relations between our two countries”, Oskanyan said.
“In that context, President Kocharian said, “an intergovernmental
commission can meet to discuss any and all outstanding issues between
our two nations, with the aim of resolving them and coming to an
understanding”, the minister said.
Oskanyan also called Foreign Minister Gul’s recent comments to
RadioLiberty, insisting that the existence of flights between Armenia
and Turkey, and of Armenian citizens in Turkey, is evidence that
‘the borders are essentially open disingenuous.
“First, the number of Armenians from Armenia living and working in
Turkey do not approach the numbers he claims. Second, open borders
assumes direct contacts between peoples, unobstructed relations
across the border and a functioning transport infrastructure”, the
minister said.
“We stand by our response which we consider to be a positive one and
we wonder whether the Turkish insistence on a historical commission
is genuine. After all, we have in fact agreed to discussions on all
issues, in the context of open borders.
Further, so long as Article 301 which criminalizes mere discussion
of the genocide topic remains on the books in Turkey, an invitation
to open dialogue cannot be taken seriously. Finally, outside Turkey,
scholars – Armenians, Turks and others – have studied these issues
and have reached their own independent conclusions. The most notable
among these is the May 2006 letter to Prime Minister Erdogan by the
International Assn of Genocide Scholars wherein they collectively
and unanimously affirmed the fact of the Genocide and called on the
Turkish government to acknowledge the responsibility of a previous
government”, Oskanyan said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EU-ARMENIA ACTION PLAN TO CREATE NEW OPPORTUNITIES OF ARMENIA-POLAND COOPERATION
PanARMENIAN.Net
07.11.2006 13:57 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Yesterday Armenian FM Vartan Oskanian met with
Polish Senate Marshal Bogdan Borusewicz, reports the Press Office of
the Armenian MFA. During the meeting the parties positively evaluated
the level of bilateral relations, noting the readiness of the parties
to make steps to strengthen these. After a historical excursus in
the Armenian-Polish relations, the Polish Senate Marshal expressed
confidence that both states today attach new meaning to the bilateral
cooperation. Vartan Oskanian highlighted that the EU-Armenia Action
Plan will create new opportunities of Armenia-Poland cooperation. At
the instance of Borusewicz the Armenian FM presented the priorities of
Armenia’s foreign policy, as well as informed of latest developments
in the Karabakh settlement. The interlocutors exchanged views over
Armenian-Turkish relations, as well as opportunities to mitigate
tension in the Russian-Georgian relations.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ALIYEV AND SOLANA DISCUSSED KARABAKH ISSUE
PanARMENIAN.Net
07.11.2006 16:56 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Being on official visit to Brussels Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev met with EU Secretary General for the Common
Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana. After the meeting President
noted that this meeting gives chances to bilateral relations and the
discussions on the development of international relations.
Having said that Azerbaijan’s position on the settlement of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict remains unchanged, the President added that “the
problem must be solved within the frame of Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity.” “This principle is reflected in the international legal
norms; with the exception of Armenia all countries of the world,
the international community recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity. We think that Azerbaijan’s occupied territories should
be released, the refugees should return to their motherland and
the conflict should be solved within the restoration of Azerbaijani
borders,” the President said.
Informing of the results of the meeting with Ilham Aliyev Javier
Solana said the discussions were productive. The situation in the
region, the Nagorno Karabakh issue, the Action Plan to be accepted
within the framework of European Neighborhood Policy, situation in
Georgia were also discussed at the meeting, APA reports.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NAZARBAYEV URGED KAZAKH COMPANIES TO INVEST IN ARMENIAN ECONOMY MORE ACTIVELY
PanARMENIAN.Net
07.11.2006 16:41 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev urged Kazakh
companies to invest in Armenian economy more actively. “Kazakhstan
develops at a high rate. I urge you to study the situation in
Armenia, invest and earn money,” Nazarbayev said at a business
forum in Astana. “We discussed bilateral relations with the Armenian
President. Trade and economic relations are the major ones here and
these are at a very low level today,” Nursultan Nazarbayev said. “The
number are so low – $14-15 million, this does not fit either needs
or potential of our countries,” the Kazakh leader added.
In his turn Armenian President Robert Kocharian noted that the
structure of the economies of Kazakhstan and Armenia “could
complement one another.” “We have a normative legal basis for
economic cooperation. The attractive investment climate in Armenia
allows businessmen investing money and being sure that his property
is protected,” the Armenian leader said. He added that banking, IT,
vegetable processing, mining, metallurgy and other fields may be most
attractive to Kazakhstan, reports Kazakhstan Today.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PACE TO DISCUSS SOUTH CAUCASUS DRAFT STABILITY PACT
PanARMENIAN.Net
07.11.2006 17:17 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Members of the PACE Standing Committee will
discuss the Stability Pact in the South Caucasus in San Marino
November 17. PACE President Rene van der Linden will take part in
the conference.
The draft Stability Pact in the South Caucasus will be introduced at
the meeting. Political Affairs Committee Rapporteur Adrian Severin
(Romania) will make a report on the issue. The draft was adopted by
the Political Affairs Committee October 5, 2006, reports Trend.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress