NO WILLINGNESS TO WORK AT NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ALREADY
Panorama.am
18:44 28/02/2007
Today the National Assembly could not hold its session because
it could not secure a quorum. Only 23 deputies were registered at
12:00 and because of that Vahan Hovannisyan had to stop the session
announcing 3-hour break. The parliament did not secure a quorum at
15:00, either. So, the government question-answer session will not
take place today.
DAVID NALBANDIAN THE 10TH AMONG BEST TENNIS PLAYERS OF THE WORLD
ArmRadio.am
26.02.2007 13:57
With 1 995 points Argentinean Armenian tennis player David Nalbandian
holds the 10th place in the list of best tennis players issued by
the Professional Tennis Association today. The list is headed by
Swiss Roger Federer with 8 120 points. The latter beat the record,
leading the list for 161 subsequent weeks.
American Andy Roddick is the second with 2 830 points.
Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 22 2007
Turkey’s new foreign policy: `If you’re not everywhere, you’re nowhere’
by KERIM BALCI
Ankara is passing through a busy period. The top items on the
domestic political agenda are changing positions with a dazzling
speed.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül is already the Speedy Gonzalez of world
politics. Within the last month, he has been to Albania, France, the
US and Saudi Arabia. Next week, he will be in Afghanistan and
Pakistan. Simply following his mobility as an analyst is difficult.
Turkey’s foreign policy initiatives are not limited to the activities
of Gül. Chief EU negotiator Ali Babacan is quite active on the EU
front. The prime minister himself is participating both rhetorically
and practically in the foreign policy execution process. And there is
the chief of the general staff, who not only visits foreign
countries, but also uses the opportunity of meaningful distance
provided by these trips to criticize, support and lead Turkey’s
foreign policy.
Classic Turkish foreign policy was one dimensional. Ankara had a
non-proactive, all-cards-in-the-same-deck crisis resolution tactic.
Whenever Cyprus was an issue, the Aegean continental shelf would be
pushed to the edge of the policy making process. And elections… the
ballot box was the black hole of Turkish foreign policy.
Today, the government of Turkey has a multifaceted foreign policy.
This is not to glorify the Justice and Development Party (AK Party)
government; this is the new face of world politics. In the past, the
ruling paradigm of international politics was a bloc-based
correspondence. Most of Turkey’s foreign policy options were either
created or eliminated within the framework of NATO. But today Russian
President Vladimir Putin is wrong; the world is no longer uni-polar.
It is true that the US is able to impose military occupation on
countries, but it is not able to impose foreign policy decisions.
Even not on its strategic allies!
The first fruits of a multifaceted Turkish foreign policy, it seems,
will be harvested in the Middle East. Turkey has already convinced
the leaders of the Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq — and that
without even directly speaking to any one of them — that it is
better not to speak about an independent Kurdistan. The Greek
Cypriots’ claim for oil exploration in the Mediterranean was repulsed
at the same time as Turkey was dealing with the Armenian genocide
resolution waiting in the US Congress. In addition, it was dealing
with European pressure to amend the so-called `Notorious’ Article 301
of the Turkish Penal Code; it was dealing with the approaching threat
of a commencement of Kurdish separatist terrorism and it was dealing
with its new role as a mediator in Israeli-Arab relations … and,
cross your fingers, Ankara hasn’t stumbled.
Turkey’s new dynamism in regional and global politics was probably
also felt in regional capitals. This explains the recent traffic
between Ankara and these capitals. Israel’s acceptance of a Turkish
delegation to inspect the recent excavations in the vicinity of the
Aqsa Mosque, or Iran’s offer to engage in strategic relations
including joint oil production and marketing all attest to the truth
that this role is welcomed in the region. Now the critical question
is whether Turkey will be able to fulfill this role.
The biggest necessity of a multi-faceted foreign policy is qualified
human resources management. In order to knock the doors, one needs
only a finger, but once the doors are open there need to be a mouth
and a brain working at every door. And these brains need to be
interconnected and in a constructive dialogue. The apparent
discrepancies between foreign policy discourses of the prime
minister, president and the chief of the general staff not only
consist of foreign policy makers, but leverage is also given to
foreign diplomats opposed to Ankara’s new role.
UCLA international conference on Indian Ocean Armenians
ArmRadio.am
23.02.2007 12:00
`Ebb and Flow of the Armenian Communities of the Indian Ocean’ is the
theme for the next UCLA international conference, Saturday and Sunday,
March 17-18, 2007. Sixteen scholars from Armenia, Europe, and North
America will discuss the important commercial, cultural, and
intellectual roles of the Armenian communities of Southeast Asia from
the seventeenth through twentieth century.
The Saturday sessions will focus on cultural and intellectual themes,
including the current state of the Indo-Armenian community, while the
Sunday afternoon session will feature three presentations on the
long-distance trade of the New Julfa merchants and their interaction
with the mercantile forces in the Indian Ocean and beyond.
The conference is sponsored by the UCLA Armenian Educational
Foundation Chair in Modern Armenian History and co-sponsored by the
Center for India and South Asia, Department of History, International
Institute, Center for Near Eastern Studies, and the AGBU Southern
California District Committee. It is the sixteenth consecutive
conference in the UCLA series on Historic Armenian Cities, Provinces,
and Communities.
As in past conferences in this series, Richard and Anne Elizabeth
Elbrecht of Davis will mount a pictorial exhibit, this one on the
Armenian churches, buildings, and institutions of South Asia.
The conference proceedings in this series are edited and prepared for
publication by Richard Hovannisian. To date, six volumes have been
released: Van/Vaspurakan, Bitlis-Mush/Taron, Kharpert/Tsopk,
Erzerum/Karin, Sivas/Sebastia, and
Diarbekir-Urfa/Tigranakert-Edessa. The seventh, Armenia Cilicia, is
being co-edited with Professor Simon Payaslian of Clark University and
will be published in 2007, to be followed by volumes on the Armenian
communities of Constantinople, Smyrna, the Black Sea-Pontus region,
Kars and Ani, Caesarea, Jerusalem, and New Julfa.
Arminfo
2007-02-23 19:58:00
U.S. present to effectively fight the bird flew in Armenia
The U.S. Embassy to Armenia presented Armenian Republican Laboratory
of Diagnosis and Anti-Virus with the contemporary equipment against
the bird flew. Minister of Agriculture David Lokyan said that the
$300 thnd present includes Real Time PRC equipment – spotting the H5N1
virus on the molecular level, two mobile laboratories, rapid-tests,
special vet overalls and other.
"Armenia is much liable for spread of the virus – as the bird flew was
spotted in Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The virus should be
neutralized at the early phase that will decrease chances for its
spread in the republic," he pointed out.
Anthony Godfrey, U.S. Charge d’Affairs to Armenia, emphasized the
importance of the interstate cooperation in the fight with such
diseases. He said that fight with the bird flew is the key objective
of every state. He pointed out that the virus damages agriculture and
really threatens countries of the world. Mr. Godfrey said he hopes
that the victory over the virus will be achieved under the joint
efforts of the countries.
There was no case of the bird flew in Armenia. Import of poultry from
the states where the H5N1 virus was spotted, was banned in the
republic.
MP: ARMENIA’S FUTURE DEPENDS ON LEADERSHIP’S BALANCE POLICY
Arka News Agency, Armenia
Feb 22 2007
YEREVAN, February 22. /ARKA/. Armenia’s future depends on the
authorities’ balance policy, Vazgen Manukyan, Armenian National
Democratic Union leader and MP, said Tuesday at a press conference
in Yerevan.
In his opinion, first of all Armenia should leave without attention
provocations coming from Azerbaijan.
"Along with that, Armenian authorities should make ties with Armenian
communities worldwide closer and search for allies instead of using
their positions for earning money", he said.
Manukyan thinks that Armenia’s foreign policy should be based on
force and sees this force in democracy. He thinks nationalist ideas
are peculiar to Armenian people and blame Armenian authorities for
not using this resource for the state development and "suffocating"
it instead, "making favor to our enemies, first of all Azerbaijan.
MINISTER: SITUATION IN ARMENIA NO THREAT TO ITS SECURITY
Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS General Newswire
February 20, 2007 Tuesday 6:38 PM MSK
Armenian Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian rejected the idea that the
domestic political situation in Armenia constitutes a threat to the
security of Armenia or Nagorno- Karabakh.
The Armenian armed forces must play their role as a source of extra
confidence for Armenia’s government at talks to settle the Armenian-
Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is de facto an
independent state, Sarkisian told reporters in the Nagorno-Karabakh
capital, Stepanakert, on Tuesday.
At a ceremony in Stepanakert on Tuesday marking the 19th anniversary
of the start of Nagorno-Karabakh’s drive for secession from Azerbaijan,
Sarkisian awarded the Order of Tigran the Great to the Nagorno-Karabakh
army for its "great services to the country."
At one of the anniversary events, young people marched through
Stepanakert carrying an enormous Nagorno-Karabakh flag and
chanting demands for the international recognition of the enclave’s
independence.
On February 20, 1988, the Nagorno-Karabakh legislature decided to ask
the parliament of the then Soviet Union to remove it from Azerbaijan’s
jurisdiction and make it part of Armenia.
LENT STARTS ON FEBRUARY 19
Noyan Tapan
Feb 19 2007
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 19, NOYAN TAPAN. Lent, the period of 48 days up to
Easter, starts on February 19. This year Easter will be celebrated
on April 8.
During Lent, Christians use food of plant origin. They give up not
only certain foodstuffs but also bad habits: garrulity, bad language,
lying, etc. The 40-day Lent symbolizes the period of Christ’s prayers,
fast and repentance. Jesus Christ fasted in the name of saving mankind,
he repented instead of humans so that repentance of those keeping
the fast will get meaning and reality. Lent comes to its middle on
March 14. By tradition, on this day people make gatas (Armenian cakes
with fillings of flour, butter and suger) in which they put a metal
coin. The coin brings good luck to the person who get a piece of cake
with it. According to ancient rules, any weddings and offerings were
fordidden during Lent. Catholicos Vazgen I allowed weddings during
Lent – but only on Saturdays and Sundays.
TREND, Azerbaijan
Feb 16 2007
AZERI SPOKESMAN BACKS REGIONAL ALLIANCE’S INITIATIVE ON FROZEN
CONFLICTS
Baku, 16 February: The initiative to raise the issue of frozen
conflicts with the UN is a joint initiative of the GUAM member states
[Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova] and stems from the
similarity of challenges and threats facing these states and from
their aspiration to address them together. Tahir Tagizada, head of
the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s press and information policy
department, told Trend news agency while commenting on the OSCE Minsk
Group co-chairmen’s recent statement in which they urged the
conflicting parties to give up the initiative within the UN General
Assembly.
He said that the initiative is the real reaction to the existing
challenges that face the states. "Azerbaijan does not intend to
change the format of the negotiations. But it should be remembered
that the UN is not a new forum for discussing the Karabakh conflict.
Suffice it to remember the four well-known UN Security Council
resolutions. Therefore, at a time when wide international discussions
are going on concerning the correlation of the principles of
international law and the extent of the priority of these principles,
we consider it especially important to continue constrictive efforts
to address specific aspects of the situation in the region, including
within the framework of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict between
Armenia and Azerbaijan. We think it necessary to continue working
actively with the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group in order to
explain to them the constructive contribution that the discussion of
this issue with the UN could make to the development of the
negotiating process. And we do not think that the steps taken by the
GUAM member states in the UN match this description," Tagizada said.
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:
SAI NT VARTANANTS CELEBRATED IN ANTELIAS
"THE CHRISTIAN FAITH IS NOT A MERE CREED
BUT A QUALITY OF LIFE", HIS HOLINESS ARAM I
One of the most important Armenian national holidays, St. Vartanants, was
celebrated in Antelias on February 15 with a Holy Liturgy in Saint Gregory
the Illuminator Cathedral and a ceremony in the Hall of the Veharan, where
the faithful gathered to listen to His Holiness.
Bishop Nareg Alemezian, who celebrated the Mass, stressed three points in
his sermon for reassessing the importance of Vartanants in modern times.
"First, the life of Christians gains meaning with the belief in the eternal.
We are destined to inherit a very important heritage. Our glory is in being
with God forever. Second, even though each persecution is a temptation, it
also is an experience of becoming stronger with God. Third, Christianity is
the reflection of collective faith and belonging in all aspects of life:
belonging to God and belonging to the Church, which is to the family of
faith," said Bishop Alemezian.
The procession of the Cilician Brotherhood members and Seminary students
then moved to the Veharan, where they performed songs dedicated to
Vartanants; songs about the glory of martyrdom, ultimate sacrifice and the
primacy of faith; songs that have educated generations and continue to shape
their resilience.
In his message the Pontiff said: "The Vartanants battle is not a mere event
that happened in 451 AD on the banks of the Deghmoud River in Avarayr. The
Vartanants battle is a living reminder of the crucial importance of the
Christian faith in our life."
The Catholicos then emphasized two main points: "First, Christian faith has
become one with our nation’s life. It is not an individual phenomenon; it
must be articulated to the life of community. When the enemy pointed its
knife towards Christian faith, the whole nation stood up for resistance. The
western self-centered and individualistic approach to Christian faith, which
has also started to take roots in our lives, does not correspond to the true
concept of Christian faith and to our historical experience. Vartan and his
followers clearly showed the unbreakable unity of faith and nation."
"Second, Christian faith is not a form, a costume or a creed; it is a
quality of life and a committed struggle for the Kingdom of God. When in 451
AD Christian Churches were fighting over the form of faith in Chalcedon, the
Armenians were spilling their blood for the survival of that faith.
Christianity has been in essence a life for our nation and should remain
that way forever," he continued.
His Holiness concluded that it is with such an understanding of faith and
firm commitment that the Armenian Church, should continue its struggle of
faith against new day threats and challenges. The ceremony ended with the
"Cilicia" song.
The same day, Holy Mass was held in all the Armenian Churches and special
ceremonies were held in all the Armenian schools.
#
View the photos here:
*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
mission 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.