Author: Emil Lazarian

AN OUD OL’ TIME
By Jessica Freiman
Jerusalem Post
Oct 6 2005
Armenian-American oud player and composer Ara Dinkjian, founder
of instrumental quartet Night Ark, will perform at the Jerusalem
International Oud Festival’s closing show this year. Performing along
with Dinkjian at the concert will be Israeli musicians Zohar Parasko
on percussion and Adi Renrat on piano.
The 2005 Jerusalem International Oud Festival, produced and managed by
Confederation House in the Yemin Moshe neighborhood, will be held this
year between November 14th and 26th. The joint performance is based on
Dinkjian’s own compositions as well as traditional Armenian folksongs.
Dinkjian, 45, is an American-born Armenian who grew up listening to
traditional Armenian music alongside American pop and jazz. His big
break came in 1986 when RCA Records offered him a recording contract,
prompting him to found Night Ark, which achieved great success in
the music world and remains a symbol of original instrumental music
combining Mediterranean melodies with jazz, pop, and classical music.
Israelis will recognize Dinkjian’s work from Yoav Izhak’s song “Ze
HaZman Lisloach”; Dinkjian composed the melody.
Dinkjian, considered one of the world’s best oud players, will perform
at the International Oud Festival’s final show on Saturday November
26, 2005 in Jerusalem.

DEVEDJIAN: LA TURQUIE “TRES LOIN DU COMPTE” POUR ENTRER DANS L’UE
Agence France Presse
4 octobre 2005 mardi 7:37 AM GMT
PARIS 4 oct 2005
Le depute UMP Patrick Devedjian, conseiller de Nicolas Sarkozy,
a estime mardi que le processus d’adhesion de la Turquie a l’Union
europeenne etait reversible, ajoutant que la Turquie etait “très loin
du compte” pour entrer dans l’UE.
“Je crois et j’espère” que le processus est reversible, a declare
Patrick Devedjian sur France Info au lendemain de l’ouverture des
negociations d’adhesion de la Turquie.
Le depute des Hauts-de-Seine, qui, d’origine armenienne, a souvent
plaide pour la reconnaissance du genocide de 1915 armeniene, a indique que
“trente-cinq chapitres devaient etre analyses” pour dire si la Turquie
satisfait aux conditions et que les vingt-cinq membres de l’UE devaient
“statuer a l’unanimite”.
“Or, la Turquie est très loin du compte. Ce n’est pas un etat
democratique, c’est encore un pays qui pratique la torture, c’est un
pays qui refuse la liberte d’expression”, a-t-il fait valoir.
–Boundary_(ID_sq9o5M7VLPxyoqTWYm+ICA)–

PRESIDENT OF THE CONGRESS OF LOCAL AND REGIONAL AUTHORITIES VISITS ARMENIA
Council of Europe

Oct 5 2005
/noticias.info/ Giovanni Di Stasi, President of the Congress of
Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, is paying an
official visit to Armenia from 4 to 6 October. He has met President
of the Republic Robert Kocharyan, Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan,
Speaker of the National Assembly Artur Baghdasaryan, Minister of
the Territorial Administration Hovik Abrahamyan, Minister of Foreign
Affairs Vardan Oskanyan, and Mayor of Yerevan Evand Zakharyan..
During the visit, the Congress President proposed to create a Network
of Local and Regional Authorities from the Caucasian countries. Mr Di
Stasi also confirmed the readiness of the Council of Europe Congress
to assist the Armenian authorities in implementing the amendments
to the Armenian Constitution, in particular concerning the status of
the city of Yerevan.
On 5 October, Mr Di Stasi participated in the opening of the 18th
Annual Seminar of the European Network of Training Institutions for
Local and Regional Authorities (ENTO), organised in co-operation with
the Congress and the Communities Association of Armenia. The aim of
the seminar is to provide a forum for in-depth debate and exchange of
information, experiences, best practices on the theme “Training and
Transborder Cooperation in Europe”. The sub-themes of the seminar are
“Transcaucasian co-operation” and “Training for Emergency Planning”.
The seminar is targeted at directors of training centres, training
project managers, senior executive officers responsible for training
and local public services, decision-makers, local and regional
elected representatives, practitioners and academics involved in the
subject. The seminar format places special emphasis on innovative
working methods, such as the open space method, presentation of
national examples and the best practices and networking.
President Di Stasi, Minister of Territorial Administration Abrahamyan
and the ENTO President Gert Fieguth will give a press conference on
Thursday 6 October at 10.00 a.m. in the building of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs.
During the visit, the President was accompanied by Deputy Chief
Executive of the Congress Antonella Cagniolati and Congress Secretariat
member Vyacheslav Tolkovanov.
For further information please contact Natalia Lapauri, Communities
Association of Armenia Tel. +374 91404853 or Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Tel. +374 10544041
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr. Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version:
THE CATHOLICOSATE OF CILICIA PARTICIPATES IN THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS IN THE
VATICAN
The eleventh Synod of Bishops of the Catholic Church started in the Vatican
on October 2. The conference entitled “Holy Mass the source and climax of
the Church’s life and mission” will go on till October 23.
Around 250 Catholic Bishops and 12 representatives from the Oriental
Orthodox, Orthodox, Anglican and Evangelical Churches all over the world are
participating in the conference.
Bishop Nareg Alemezian, Ecumenical Officer of the Catholicosate of Cilicia,
participates in the conference on behalf of the Catholicosate.
The conference started with the Holy Mass held in the St. Peter Cathedral on
October 2. Pope Benedigdos XVI presided over the Holy Mass. The official
opening was held on October 3 in the Boghos VI hall of the Vatican.
Cardinal Francis Arinze, a member of the Synod’s presidency, welcomed the
attendants highlighting the important role of Holy Mass in the life of the
Church and the purpose of the Synod.
Bishop Nicola Eterovitch, the secretary of the conference, explained the
procedures to be followed and spoke about the importance of Holy Mass.
The conference started its sessions and discussions thereafter.
##
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the Ecumenical
activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

STEPANAKERT LABELS ICG REPORT ‘PARTIAL AND PRO-AZERI’
By Tatoul Hakobian
AZG Armenian Daily #178
05/10/2005
Home | Print | Send | Rating
Karabakh issue
The Foreign Affairs Ministry of Nagorno Karabakh commented last week on
International Crisis Group’s “Nagorno Karabakh: Viewing the Conflict
On the Ground” report published September 14. The Ministry’s comments
show that Stepanakert is not satisfied with the Group’s report.
Political analyst Davit Babayan, aide of NKR President, told daily Azg
that “the report is made in best interests of Azerbaijan. You have
an impression that the document was prepared by an Azeri ministry”
and “instead of approaching the day of regulation, the report had a
negative influence on the regulation process”. In Babayan’s opinion,
which is harmonious with the comments of Karabakh’s FAM, the report
makes an impression that Nagorno Karabakh is a militarized state
totally dependent on Armenia as well as it pictures Karabakh conflict
as a territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan that came
about as a result of Armenia’s aggression.
“A serious deficiency is that report passes in silence over the
fact that 90 per cent of Armenians became refugees as a result of
ethnic cleansings, pogroms and police’s castigations organized by
the Azerbaijani authorities in 1988-1991. Whereas 85 per cent of
the Azeris were compelled to leave their homes during the military
operations beginning from 1993. Besides, no force was applied to get
them out but they left with the retreating Azeri forces obeying Azeri
authorities’ order”, the statement of the NKR Foreign Ministry reads.
The report seems more pro-Azeri when considering the issue of refugees
and internally displaced persons (IDP). “The number of those Armenian
refugees that the authors claim to belong to the most suffered category
is curtailed by 35.000 (those are the IDPs from Shahumian, Martuni
and Martakert). This number of Armenian refugees is contrasted with
425.000 Azeri IDPs.
Favoritism towards Azerbaijan is obvious in figures too: the Azeri
refugees are mentioned 186 times whereas the Armenian ones only 40. The
Armenian refugees are often mentioned in negative context as illegal
inhabitants of Karabakh-controlled territories”.
“The first sentence of the report’s first chapter informs that ‘NK is
perhaps the most militarized society of the world’. Informing that NK
armed forces count 18.500 soldiers, the authors fail to mention that
Karabakh’s Defence Army is compelled to hold back the Azeri army of
40.000 on the opposite side of the border”, the Foreign Ministry’s
statement says.
Yet, Stepanakert sees the positive sides of the report too. It points
out particularly that Nagorno Karabakh has a point in claiming for its
independence, the Karabakh-controlled territories were not occupied
by Armenia and Azerbaijan’s claims of one and a half million IDPs
and claim of 20 per cent of Azeri territory being under Karabakh’s
control does not correspond with the reality. As negative aspects
of the report Stepanakert points out to the neglected interests
of Armenian refugees and IDPs, something that is a discrimination
from the non-governmental organization, the report contains threat
of resumption of military operations in the conflict zone, the
ICG does not recognize the borders of NKR and proceeds from the
Soviet administrative division, the authors tend to hold Armenia
and Azerbaijan equally responsible for the outbreak of the conflict
(this approach was used by the Soviet authorities in 1988-1991 opening
doors for Azerbaijan’s aggression against NKR).
The ICG will make public its second report, “Voices From the
Negotiation Table”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT FOR DEVELOPMENT OF SPORT
ARKA News Network, Armenia
Oct 4 2005
YEREVAN, October 4. /ARKA/. RA President Robert Kocharyan is for the
development of sport in the country. Awarding prizes to the winners
of the 4th games held among Yerevan’s comprehensive schools, the
President stated that the organization of competitions in Armenia is
the evidence that sport is back at schools. Kocharyan pointed out the
necessity of all necessary measures to create conditions for people
“to feel shame for not being sport-lovers.” “Healthy and well-educated
young people are the best guarantee of Armenia’s development and
security. That is why we will continue the construction and repair of
schools and do out best for our schools to be the best in the region
in the technical and educational aspects,” Kocharyan said. He stressed
that he will do everything in his power for Armenia’s society to be
based on knowledge and healthy mode of life, which will allow it to
build up stable and secure future. The winners of the 4th competition
among Yerevan schools are School #56 in the Arabkir community, School
#91 in Malatia-Sebastia and School #6 in Erebuni. P.T. -0–

EU DEADLOCKED IN WAR OF NERVES OVER TURKEY TALKS
New Zealand Herald, New Zealand
Oct 5 2005
04.10.05
LUXEMBOURG – The start of Turkey’s historic accession talks with
the European Union was in jeopardy last night after EU foreign
ministers failed to overcome Austrian demands for an alternative to
full membership.
EU president Britain said ministers would try again for a deal
overnight but said the planned opening ceremony today was uncertain
and could slip.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said a planned review of Croatia’s
progress towards EU entry talks had been postponed and would have to
wait until Turkey was sorted out.
“It is a frustrating situation, but I hope and pray that we may be
able to reach agreement,” Straw told a post-midnight local time news
conference after five hours of tough wrangling with Austria.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn played down the threat to
Turkey’s 42-year-old entry bid, saying: “I am confident we will have
a positive outcome and start negotiations [today].”
But a Turkish official said nerves in Ankara were “extremely stretched
… Every minute that passes is making things more bitter and it
won’t be nice starting negotiations with all these bruises.”
With Austrian voters overwhelmingly hostile to Turkey’s entry, Foreign
Minister Ursula Plassnik waged a lone battle demanding that the EU
spell out an alternative to full membership, not only in case Turkey
did not meet the criteria but also if the EU felt unable to absorb
the vast, populous, poor Muslim state.
Diplomats said the 24 other members insisted they could not make
any change to the central plank that the aim of the talks would
be accession.
“Isolation and pressure is never going to work in politics. It’s not
going to work inside the European Union, certainly not. The union
should have and must have a different style,” Plassnik said after
three tense meetings with Straw.
Asked whether Austria was prepared to veto the start of talks, she
said it took all 25 member states to agree.
The EU has already irked Ankara by demanding that it recognise Cyprus
soon and open its ports and airports to traffic from the divided
Mediterranean island.
The European Parliament compounded Turkish irritation last week by
saying Turkey must recognise the 1915 killings of Armenians under
Ottoman rule as an act of genocide before it can join the wealthy
European family.
Fanning Turkish anxiety, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy
cast doubt on whether Turkey would ever join the EU, saying the talks
might end in an enhanced partnership instead.
Douste-Blazy, who stayed away from yesterday’s meeting, said that
Turkey was a long way from having the same values, laws and human
rights as the European Union.
“I think it will be very hard for Turkey because we will be asking
a lot. We’re asking it to change its laws.”

KARABAKH HOLDS ANOTHER INTERNATIONAL CHESS TOURNAMENT
By Emil Danielyan
Armenialiberty.org, Armenia
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Oct 4 2005
The unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) is hosting another
international chess tournament which has brought together some of
the world’s leading chess players and is touted by organizers as the
first event of its kind in the South Caucasus.
The ten-day tournament, sponsored by the Karabakh government and the
Chess Academy of Armenia, got underway at the weekend, with two dozen
players from 11 countries, including the United States, Russia and
China, vying for the top prizes in two separate competitions.
“This tournament is very significant for the chess world,” one of
the organizers, Aram Hajian, told RFE/RL from Stepanakert on Tuesday.
“There has never been a tournament of this strength held anywhere
in the Caucasus,” he said, pointing to the average rating of the
participants. “It’s one of the top chess events happening this year
anywhere in the world.”
The most prominent and highly rated of the contenders is Vassily
Ivanchuk, Ukraine’s top grandmaster who has won European chess
championships in the past. Among other renowned participants are the
veteran Russian grandmaster Alexey Dreev, the reigning U.S. champion
Hikaru Nakamura and one of China’s top players, Bu Xiangzhi.
Armenia is represented at the tournament by its highest rated player,
Levon Aronian, and four other grandmasters. All of them are members
of its national chess team, one of the best in the world. The small
South Caucasus nation boasts 19 grandmasters, the largest per-capita
number of top-class chess players in the world.
Not all of the participants of the Stepanakert tournament are men.
Kateryna Lahno, a 15-year-old Ukrainian and the current women’s
champion of Europe, was deemed strong enough to compete with the
male players.
It is the second international chess tournament held in the
Armenian-controlled territory in less than two years. The first such
event took place in Stepanakert in March 2004 and was dedicated to
the 75th birth anniversary of the late Tigran Petrosian, the Armenian
former world champion who dominated the game in the 1960s. It was
opened by Boris Spassky, the Russian-born grandmaster who had defeated
and replaced Petrosian as world champion in 1969.
The “honorary guest” at the current tournament is another former
chess heavyweight, Lajos Portisch of Hungary.
The 2004 tournament drew protests from Azerbaijan which always
denounces the presence of foreign dignitaries in Karabakh as an
affront to its sovereignty over the disputed region. Reaction from
Baku is expected to be the same this time as well.
Hajian, who is a member of the Yerevan-based Chess Academy’s
governing board, believes that the ongoing tournament is a “very
positive image-building event” for the Karabakh Armenians. “Karabakh
has become well known to the world as the location for a war for
self-determination for the Armenians living here,” he said. “Although
the fighting ended eleven years ago, I think that many people have
not grasped the fact that life here has gone on and that there is a
whole generation of young people and a society in general which is
moving on.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TAKING IT OUT ON TURKEY
by Josie Appleton
Spiked, UK
Oct 4 2005
The tortured debate about the Turks joining the EU is a product of
crises in the West more than the East.
Turkey appears to be causing drama in the European Union (EU). First
there was talk of crisis, when EU nations couldn’t agree on the issue
of Turkish membership. Austria led the opposition, backed up by blocs
within countries such as France and Germany. Now that accession talks
are agreed, rhetoric abounds about this being a ‘truly historic day
for Europe’.
This isn’t about Turkey, though. Instead, it’s about EU elites
jostling for position. Elites shaken over the recent ‘no’ votes
on the EU Constitution are now trying to take a stand on Turkish
accession. Some hope that Turkish membership will pave the way to
a confident, multicultural Europe; others think that keeping Turkey
out will keep Europe secure. But Turkey is neither the cause of nor
solution to the EU’s problems – and the membership debate can only
expose the EU elites’ isolation and vacuity.
The UK, which currently holds the EU presidency, is the staunchest
supporter of Turkish entry. By letting in a Muslim nation, the Brits
argue, the EU will prove its cosmopolitan credentials. Part of this
is about invigorating Europe internally; sociologists Ulrich Beck and
Anthony Giddens recently argued that accession is part of a project
for a vibrant, post-national Europe, based on diversity (1). European
politicians also hope to win the favour of Muslim communities both
abroad and at home, an argument that gets US backing. The Turkish
prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently claimed that membership
‘would help to build a bridge between Christian and Muslim countries’,
while rejection would reveal the EU as a ‘Christian club’ (2).
Austria and co, meanwhile, counter Turkey in an attempt to win favour
with their own populations. One opponent warned of the danger of
letting in ‘a poor, culturally alien nation’. Former French president
Valery Giscard d’Estaing, who spearheaded the effort to rewrite the
Constitution, has taken this tack in an attempt to save his reputation,
arguing that ‘there is an obvious contradiction between the pursuit
of Europe’s political integration and Turkish entry into European
institutions’ (3).
Both sides are on a hiding to nothing. It will take more than a bit of
‘diverse’ Eastern spice to enliven stodgy EU politics. Similarly, it is
delusional to think that radical Islamists will call off their battles
just because Erdogan has a seat in Brussels, any more than they will
be won over by Bush and Blair reading the Koran. Meanwhile, posturing
against Turkey isn’t going to solve the problems of Giscard and others
– that is a see-through attempt to cover up their own failures.
This debate reveals the isolation of EU leaders from their publics.
On the one hand, both Turkish and European people are told to just
accept that accession is inevitable. Erdogan counsels that ‘in today’s
Turkey, there is no possibility left other than change.
Turkey will no longer yield to political deadlocks to those who are
ideological exploiters of emotion’ (4). Similarly, US deputy assistant
secretary of state, Matthew J Bryza, argued that ‘our friends in the
EU completely understand how important it is to continue that process
of Turkey’s anchoring in Europe. It would be a shame if that process
didn’t complete itself. But I think it will’ (5).
‘The process’ is really a business for Brussels lawyers. Turkey has
been busily passing the kinds of laws that will help it jump through
EU hoops – giving Kurds more autonomy, abolishing capital punishment,
and cleaning up archaic legislation such as the rape law. These changes
aren’t bad things in themselves; the problem is the automatic way in
which they were brought through. ‘We returned the abnormal heartbeat
of this country to normal’, said the prime minister.
The crowd-playing opponents of accession are no better
Supporters present accession as a continuation of Turkey’s past,
especially the dramatic Westernising reforms brought through by Mustafa
Kemal Ataturk in the 1920s. But while Ataturk’s (often heavyhanded)
reforms were driven by revolutionary zeal, today’s Turkish elite is
copying out the EU lawbook. Modernisation now is about bowing down in
acceptance, not seizing the reins of national destiny. Hence the EU’s
insistence that Turkey recognise the Armenian genocide. The Turks are
asked to prove their membership of the Western club by flagellating
themselves – joining UK prime minister Tony Blair in apologising for
the potato famine, and former US president Bill Clinton in apologising
for slavery.
EU publics are viewed with similar contempt. Opposition to Brussels’
plans is seen as the result of a chauvinistic yearning for security.
Beck and Giddens say that suspicion of the EU is driven by ‘social
and economic anxieties’ and an ’emotional return to the apparent safe
haven of the nation’; they warn that there is no option but to adapt
to globalisation and adopt their cosmopolitan attitudes.
Given this, it’s no surprise that both EU and Turkish publics have
started going cool on the idea of Turkish membership. Turkish support
has gone down from three quarters to two thirds over the past year, and
60,000 people gathered in Ankara on Sunday to voice their opposition
to the process. Speaking to the rally, party leader Devlet Bahceli
argued that Turkey was facing ‘an environment of enmity from outside
and an environment of treason from within’ (6).
The crowd-playing opponents of accession are no better, though. This is
a desperate attempt to connect with a distant public, appealing to what
elites see as the masses’ knee-jerk racism. Their attempt at populism
could win them attention, but is unlikely to provide a secure support.
The debate about Turkish membership may be leading to a fracas in the
EU, but Turkey itself isn’t the cause of the problem. The discussion
may look east, but its roots lie in the west.

TAVUSH-2005 IN TOWNS AND VILLAGES OF ARMENIA
By S. Melkonian
AZG Armenian Daily #177
04/10/2005
Culture
The Union of Theatre Workers of Armenia is holding Tavush-2005 Theatre
Festival with the participation of the actors from Yerevan’s theatres.
On October 1, Gabriel Sundukian Academic Theatre staged Muratsan’s
“Ruzan” in Ijevan. That very day the singers of Yerevan Opera and
Ballet Theatre performed in Dilijan. Hovhannes Tumanian Puppet Theatre
presented “The Three Piglets” in Touz.
The meeting in Khashtarak village of Ijevan was extremely interesting.
Haykaz Yeranosian introduced the life of honored artist of Armenia,
Armen Gulakian. Gulakian’s students, actor Vladimir Abajian and
reciter Svetlana Khanumian, presented a wonderful bouquet from the
Armenian poetry.
This action by the Theatre Workers’ Union was received with special
warmth in this village neighboring with Azerbaijan, as the last 10-15
years were a period of cultural stagnation for the village.