Author: Emil Lazarian

FRENCH ARMENIAN CONDUCTOR ALEXANDER SIRANOSIAN AND CELLIST ASTGHIK
SIRANOSIAN TO HAVE CONCERT DEDICATED TO 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF GENOCIDE
IN YEREVAN
YEREVAN, APRIL 6, NOYAN TAPAN. The concert of Alexander Siranosian, a
French Armenian Conductor and his daughter, cellist Astghik Siranosian,
dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, will
take place in Aram Khachatrian concert hall of Yerevan on April
8. According to the information submitted to Noyan Tapan from the
State Philharmonic Orchestra, some works of Edvard Mirzoyan will be
performed at the concert to the accompaniment of the Philharmonic,
and the performance of “Italian Symphony” of Vincent D’Indi, a French
composer, will be presented to the memory of Pope John Paul II.

EBRD TO LAY STRESS ON PRIVATE SECTOR IN ITS ACTIVITIES IN ARMENIA
YEREVAN, APRIL 6, NOYAN TAPAN. The fact of appointing a resident
representative in Yerevan by the European Bank of Reconstruction
and Development (EBRD) means that Armenia has become a most
important partner for the bank. The newly appointed head of the
EBRD Armenian Office Michael Weinstein stated this at the April 5
press conference. According to M. Weinstein, EBRD is going to lay
stress on the private sector during its activities in Armenia. At
the same time he did not exclide the possibility of big projects’
implementation. It was noted that in 2004 alone, agreements on the
implementation of 7 new programs of a total of 8 mln euros in Armenia
were signed. Besides, it is envisaged that this year the bank will
conclude 12 transactions of 15 mln euros in Armenia. The total value
of the Armenian agreements signed by EBRD made about 88 mln euros as
of Decemer 31, 2004. In the opinion of the former EBRD representative
to Armenia Nikolay Hadjiyski, over the last 2.5 years, SME, services,
the information technologies sphere, the financial sector and banking
system have undergone a considerable development. It was indicated that
Armeeconombank was the first Armenian bank, in whose capital ERD had
its share. At present, the same activities are being carried out with
respect to other commercial banks. In 2004, the Eurobank made direct
investments in the concern Shen. Negotiations on two other similar
transactions are underway, in case of success at least 20% profit
from each one are expected by the bank. At the same time N.Hadjiyski
pointed out that a great deal has to be done in order to develop the
investment environment in the country. According to him, recently
the investment climate in Georgia has been substantially improved
– the state started assisting the private sector. Incidentally,
the Eurobank expects similar processes to take place in Ukraine as
well. According to the EBRD regional director Mike Davey, although
the RA banking system has stabilized, it is far from being considered
developed. The amounts of deposits and loans are quite small compared
with the GDP. At the same time, M. Davey stated that he is “inspired
with what he has seen”. It was noted that EBRD is also interested in
agriculture and mortgage crediting.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ELEMENTS OF PACKAGE AND STAGE-BY-STAGE SOLUTION VARIANTS TO BE CONSIDERED
Azg/arm
7 April 05
Kazimirov Describes Today’s Process as ‘Dead Standstill’
If the package solution of Karabakh issue was the only alternative
for the Armenian side for the last years, then today elements of
stage-by-stage solution are in process of discussion, Vladimir
Kazimirov said yesterday at discussions organized by Cooperation
for Open Society NGO and Yerevan Press Club. Former Russian OSCE
co-chair’s opinion is based on the hearings on Karabakh issue at the
National Assembly of Armenia on March 29-30.
The foreign minister of Armenia stated during the hearings that the
elements of both package and stage-by-stage solution are on the
table of discussions, “including the political status of Nagorno
Karabakh”. Vartan Oskanian labeled the present stage of settlement
process a “tough stage” and reconfirmed, in fact, that the solution
cannot be only that of package. Official Yerevan gave up demanding
exclusively package solution according to which all issues – the
status of Karabakh, neighboring territories, return of refugees,
guarantees for security – are to be solved by one package.
“If people wish to choose the stage-by-stage solution this issue needs
really to be discussed in the parliament and then tell the authorities
that we lose our time and that we should take the stage-by-stage
solution. All variants are just variants. I treat none of them as
traitorous or heroic. The issue needs to be solved”, Vartan Oskanian
said to a press conference on December 13, 2004.
How close are the sides to the resolution? The Russian co-chair of
the OSCE Minsk group told the Liberty Radio on the eve that the Minsk
group prepared a new package of suggestions that will be put before
Robert Kocharian and Ilham Aliyev and “everything now depends on the
presidents’ decision”. “We have reached to a point that a high-level
political decision needs to be taken, and the two presidents have to
give clear orders to their foreign ministers”, Yuri Merzlyakov said.
The Foreign Ministry of Armenia is unaware what stands for the
Russian co-chair’s optimism. The Minsk group will meet Armenian
and Azeri presidents separately in London on April 15. The press
secretary of the Foreign Ministry, Hamlet Gasparian, told daily Azg
that the meeting of Oskanian and Mamediarov “is not envisaged, there
is no arrangements”. Apparently, the Minsk group will hand out the
“new package of suggestions” in London.
Former Russian Minsk group co-chair, Vladimir Kazimirov, does not
agree at all that the sides are close to settlement. Conversely, he
thinks that the process is in “dead standstill”. Instead, Kazimirov
offers his own solution variant of small packages – “the guarantee
plan”. Kazimirov considers the package solution an ideal one but
emphasizes that it is unreal.
Official Yerevan occasionally states that it will reach recognition
of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. So, Oskanian noted on December
22 of 2004 that, “The realization of Karabakh’s self-determination
right may be not immediate”. Logically this mean that the status of
Karabakh is being left over for the future and the other key issues
– neighboring territories, refugees, guarantees for security – are
being settled separately.
Concerning a possible referendum in Nagorno Karabakh, Vladimir
Kazimirov who has been looking into the Karabakh issue since 1992
thinks that “the referendum is the last way out” when all other means
are used up. Meanwhile he asks when the referendum will take place,
in 5, 10 years, who will take part and similar questions.
By Tatoul Hakobian
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN SOLDIER CAPTURED BY AZERIS
06.04.2005 05:01
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ April 1, 2005 an Armenian soldier born in 1985,
who was serving his service for a fixed period in the Noemberyan
region of Armenia was captures by Azeris, Arminfo agency reports
according to the international working group on search for missing,
hostages and prisoners of war in the region of the Karabakh conflict
(IWG). The IWG expressed hope that the Azeri party will return the
captured immediately after the essential examination in accord with
the agreements achieved March 18 in Tbilisi. At that the IWG members
inform of numerous appeals to the Karabakh leadership not to delay
the return of the POWs as it incites the other conflicting party to
retaliatory steps. They again called the NK authorities to pass Hayal
Abdulayev, Hikmet Tagiyev and Ruslan Bakirov to the International Red
Cross. The appeal says in part, “No sensible explanation can be given
on the prolonged detainment of three Azeri soldiers in Karabakh. The
IWG is a public structure and does not possess the right to demand
reports from the conflicting parties, however both the Armenian and
Azeri parties treated our efforts aimed at search for missing and
release of POWs with trust.” According to the report, Bernhard Klazen
has many times applied to Arkady Ghukasian, Victor Kocharian and Masis
Mailian and was assured that the prisoners will be released soon. “The
meeting of the Armenian and Azeri State Commissions held in Tbilisi
on March 18 established mechanisms for the further work. We hoped
that the NK representatives will join the activities and established
immediate contact with the RA State Commission. “The protraction of
returning the POWs will only deteriorate the relations and do harm
to those captured and those who can be captured in future”, the
IWG representatives say adding that the resolution of humanitarian
problems should not be complicated with political reasons.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS RELEASE
April 6, 2005
The Lectures Committee-
The University of Wisconsin-Madison
Venue: Elvehjem Museum of Art
800 University Avenue
Madison, WI 53706-
Contact: Hrag Varjabedian
Tel: (608) 608-238-5610
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
“Notions of Otherness: Between the Margins, the Frame, and the
Translation”- A film screening and presentation by Los Angeles film/
video artist Tina Bastajian-
On Thursday, April 14th the University of Wisconsin Madison will
present, “Notions of Otherness: Between the Margins, the Frame, and the
Translation” a screening and presentation by Los Angeles film/video
artist Tina Bastajian. This program is free and open to the public
and is located on campus at the Elvehjem Museum of Art, L140- at 6pm.
Sponsored in collaboration with the Lectures Committee and the Visual
Culture Studies Program, Armenian Students Association, the Department
of Art, the Department of Anthropology, the Department of Communication
Arts, and the Department of Languages and Cultures of Asia.
Informed by exilic and diasporan cinemas, Tina Bastajian’s work
deals with challenging topics such as cultural identity, belonging,
displacement, race and gender, and the passing on of traumatic
experiences through oral stories. Finding one’s place inspires both
her narratives and visual strategies. The totality of Bastajian’s
work presents notions of Otherness, which become prevalent between
the boundaries and structures of cultures, and the translations that
take place between them, in the process engendering the construction
of identities.
There will be a moderated talk with the artist showing her three
selected works, which include: “Pinched Cheeks and Slurs in a Language
that Avoids Her” – A triangulation of themes positing layers of a
monologue, mirrored images and a conversation heard and overheard as
a young girl questions her belonging to a culture and language that
is both familiar and alien. An ironic twist challenges racial slurs
through the wisdom embodied in the making of Armenian coffee and the
reading of coffee cups.
“Jagadakeer … between the near and east” is a cinematic meditation,
which forms an intricate series of transitions to explore memory,
nostalgia, displacement, erasure and reconnection to articulate a
fragmentary vision of the Armenian Genocide as a visual/aural backdrop.
The suppressed traumatic oral stories of the filmmaker’s survivor
grandmother are a point of departure, juxtaposed with stylized
tableaus, found footage and home-movies with recurring but disparate
narratives that are interrupted and staggered. These starts and stops,
like memory itself, frame the invisible to evoke a sense of homeland,
a lost and enigmatic landscape.
“Garden Dwelling” is a video essay that (re) visits the lost homeland
of the artist’s family in Eastern Turkey. Rather than dwell on the
travelers’ daily itinerary and the big sights, this journey takes us
to the spaces in between: the awkward translations, the mystifying
exchanges, the unspoken tensions that still linger across the closed
border between Armenia and Turkey. The film becomes a graceful,
nuanced treatment of the filmmaker’s ambivalent relationship to her
historic homeland.
This event is free and open to the public.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

LITHUANIAN MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENSE TO PAY OFFICIAL VISIT TO
ARMENIA ON APRIL 5-7
YEREVAN, APRIL 4, NOYAN TAPAN. On April 5, a delegation headed by
Gediminas Kirkilas, the National Defence Minister of the Republic of
Lithuania, will pay an official visit to Armenia on the invitation of
Serge Sargsian, the National Security Council Secretary attached to
RA President, the Defence Minister. In the framework of the visit,
G.Kirkilas will have meetings with the Catholicos of All Armenians,
RA Prime-Minister, RA Defence, Foreign Ministers, Chairman of the
NA Standing Committee on Defence, National Security and Internal
Affairs. According to the information submitted to Noyan Tapan by
Colonel Seyran Shahsuvarian, the RA Defence Minister’s Press Secretary,
on April 5, the National Defence Minister of Lithuania will visit the
Military Institute after RA Defence Minister Vazgen Sargsian, meet
the Chief and the professors’ staff of the Institute, get acquainted
with everyday life of the Institute. On April 6 the delegation will
visit Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex to lay a wreath to the Memorial
to the Armenian Genocide victims. It will also visit Matenadaran,
the National Gallery. The results of the visit will be summed up at
the press-conference to take place on the same day. The delegation
will leave Yerevan on April 7.

THEATRICAL TOURS AND WEEK OF RUSSIAN FILMS TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN ON
OCCASION OF YEAR OF RUSSIA IN ARMENIA
YEREVAN, APRIL 5, NOYAN TAPAN. On April 6-9, the collective of
Moscow Art Academic Theatre will perform on tour in Yerevan within
the framework of the Year of Russia in Armenia. The troupe consisting
of 20 actors will represent the “Moon Monster” performance by Richard
Kalinoski’s play. The performance dedicated to the 90th anniversary
of Armenian Genocide was staged by Alexander Grigorian, Art Director
of Yerevan Russian Dramatic Theatre after Konstantin Stanislavski,
in Moscow. The Yerevan premiere of the performance will take place
on April 7. Susanna Khachatrian, Chief of the Foreign Relations
Department of RA Ministry of Culture and Youth Affairs, informed Noyan
Tapan’s correspondent that, in all probability, the Moscow troupe will
represent another performance, as well. According to S.Khachatrian,
on April 11-17, a week of Russian films will be held in connection
with the Year of Russia in Armenia. A delegation of 10 famous Russian
figures of cinematography will arrive in Yerevan on the occasion of
the week of Russian films.

Iran, Kuwait to finalize gas export contract soon
Tehran Times Economic Desk
06 April 05
TEHRAN – The supplementary contract of gas export to Kuwait will be
finalized within the next three months, managing director of National
Iranian Gas Export Company, Roknoddin Javadi said on Tuesday.
He added that the volume of contract is 9.5m cu. m per day and it
will be increased depending upon more demand from Kuwait.
“According to the memorandum of understanding recently signed between
Iran and Oman, Iran exports 30m cu. m gas to this sultanate but the
volume will be possibly increased up to 70m cu. m based on the said
contract”, Javadi also said.
He went on to say that Armenia gas export contract is now complete
and the construction operations are underway by the National Iranian
Gas Company (NIGC).
Javadi said that the Gazprom experts operations in this regard have
nothing to do with Iran’s contract for exporting gas to Armenia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian cook spices recipes with history
By Susan O’Neill CORRESPONDENT
Sunday, April 3, 2005
Worcester Telegram
For Barbara Ghazarian, writing her cookbook was originally a way to help
satisfy her husband’s desire for meals from his Armenian heritage.
Instead, “Simply Armenian” became filled with her collection of family
recipes, and also looked at the rich Armenian history of immigrants who made their
way to Whitinsville. Mrs. Ghazarian calls it “a culinary memoir.”
“The reason I did it was because I was trying to feed my husband, who is 100
percent Armenian, and second, I consider myself a storyteller, and so I was
looking back into my heritage and the Armenians who have been in Whitinsville
for more than 100 years,” Mrs. Ghazarian said.
Nominated for the Julia Child Award by the International Association of
Culinary Professionals, Mrs. Ghazarian took 10 years to complete the cookbook as
she gathered the stories and tested the recipes. Detailing the early history of
her maternal great-grandfather from the village of Pazmashen in the Ottoman
Empire during the late 19th century, to his arrival in Whitinsville to work at
the Whitin Machine Works foundry, Mrs. Ghazarian discusses many of the
recipes’ origins.
“It’s important to say this is village food, and Whitinsville is a village
too, so it is from one village to another,” she said. “All through the book,
there are recipes from the many families, my family, my husband’s family, rooted
back to Armenia,” she said.
Immigrants had few utensils, so over time, recipes also evolved. Mrs.
Ghazarian said early in the 1920s, many families gathered and held picnics cooking
meats and vegetables on skewers over an open fire, known as shish kebab. She
said she took her scientific background as a molecular biologist and kept each
recipe in the tradition of the family, while making it fit modern kitchens.
“I thought that I had a way, as someone who was half Armenian, to give a
voice to each recipe,” she said.
Mrs. Ghazarian said it took a long time to finish the book because she took
great care to make a smooth translation, since many of her family’s recipes wer
e not made using modern kitchen utensils.
While some recipes might get lost in the translation, others are impractical
in the age of convenience.
“My grandmother made bastegh, which is grape roll-up. It is simple to make,
if you have the ability to clear out a room in your house, lay down a white
sheet, pour the fruit mixture on the sheet and let dry for 10 days,” Mrs.
Ghazarian said. “I have no idea how my grandmother made this.”
She didn’t give up too many of the traditional recipes in the book. One she
describes as the most popular takes two days to prepare and a month before it
is ready to consume. Soujouk is the Armenian version of beef jerky and made in
early fall in order for it to dry out.
“I was in a bookstore in Beverly Hills and a woman came up to me and asked,
â~@~XHow long do you think it will take to dry in Beverly Hills?’ which was funny
because I didn’t consider that weather,” Mrs. Ghazarian said. She now lives in
northern California.
The Armenian culture also embraces the Christian religion and more than half
of the recipes are considered vegan, made without animal products because of
the fasting required at Lent.
Mrs. Ghazarian said she wrote each recipe with the step-by-step instructions
for those who wanted to attempt ethnic cooking or are somewhat intimidated
with complex processes.
Ingredients are available at some international markets, such as Reliable
Market on Chandler Street in Worcester. She wanted to encourage cooks to take
one of the recipes and make it their own.
“This captures the soul of Armenian cooking. You can find out about culture
and enjoy cooking,” she said.
The book is available on Amazon.com and from Enfield Books, PO Box 699,
Enfield, NH, 03748, 603-632-7377.
–Boundary_(ID_Z/3XF114PN4oQAp4b3rHvA)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Turkish press 05 April 05
BBC Monitoring Service – United Kingdom
Apr 05, 2005
The following is a selection of quotes from editorials and
commentaries published in 5 April editions of Turkish newspapers
available to BBC Monitoring
Turkey/ USA
Hurriyet [centre-right, largest circulation] “Iraq will continue to
be the most sensitive subject in our relations with the EU… We
should not wait for the USA to launch an operation against the PKK
[Kurdistan Workers’ Party] militants in Iraq… Despite that, our
[Turkey and the USA’s] interests match each other in terms of the
protection of Iraq’s territorial integrity, because the USA does not
want to allow any event that will increase Iran’s influence in the
region.” (Commentary by Ilter Turkmen)
Milliyet [centrist] “The government is getting ready to give a
positive answer to the US demand to use Incirlik [military base in
southern Turkey] as the main logistics base [of the USA for
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan]. This phase is basically over…
Work on [specifying] the rules of the undertaking and explaining
logistic equipment is almost finished… According to official
statements, detailed clarifications are being made to prevent any
future disagreements, as to allow the use of the base except ‘war
planes and war equipment’.” (Commentary by Fikret Bila)
Cumhuriyet [secular, Kemalist] “…Last week, Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan implied that perhaps not all but at least some of the
US demands on Incirlik [base] might be met… Without the approval of
the parliament, which vetoed the 1 March motion, how will the
government give the USA permission to use Incirlik with a written
decree? Will this not cause a new division in the AKP [as it has
already lost a number of its MPs]?” (Commentary by Ozgen Acar)
Aksam [centre-right] “The amount and the type of changes that have
taken place in Turkish-American relations only in one year is
surprising. In a very short time, Ankara and Washington have
unexpectedly experienced heated discussions. Still, the two capitals
are waiting and staring at each other. There is only one determining
factor of what have been experienced and what will happen afterwards:
‘Whether the expectations will be met satisfied or not'” (Commentary
by Ismail Kucukkaya)
Turkey/ EU
Hurriyet “With regard to the Armenian and Kurdish issues, the EU and
the USA have put the Wilson principles on the agenda again. After the
Cyprus issue is resolved in the way the Greek Cypriot and Greek side
desires, the Kurdish issue will be put on the table ‘under the cover
of federation’ during the EU-Turkey talks, and then if the federation
bait is caught, towards the end of the talks, the Armenian issue will
be put on the table.” (Commentary by Ozdemir Ince)