Author: Felekian Ara

UNDP AND IZMIRLIAN FOUNDATION SIGN COOPERATION AGREEMENT TO BOOST RURAL COMMUNITIES DEVELOPMENTS

AZG Armenian Daily
08/02/2007

Today, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Armenia and
the Izmirlian Foundation announced a new phase in their partnership
directed toward economic and cultural development of rural communities
in Armenia. UNDP and Izmirlian foundation are already working together
in the town of Meghri in Southern part of Armenia, and with this
agreement the parties will continue and expand their work. As part
of it, the local Crafts Center will be renovated and revitalized,
to generate employment opportunities in this region. Also, the local
church’s old and beautiful frescoes will be protected by renovating
its roof, as they are being depleted because of rain and snow. And the
major component of the project will be the organization of the garbage
system of the town by providing the needed machinery and equipment.

This project is a continuation of an earlier initiative of UNDP
and Izmirlian Foundation – the establishment of Bed-and-breakfast
Guesthouse in Meghri city. Then, a XIX century cottage house has
been reconstructed into a small hotel facility fostering the region’s
potential for ethno-tourism development. In this way, a small tourist
route will be enabled. Other projects are being discussed by the
two institutions, to continue supporting towns and rural villages
of Armenia, particularly supporting projects that enhance local
development and job creation opportunities. Syunik marz is located in
the South of Armenia. The city of Meghri is one of the southernmost
parts of Armenia. It is situated on the lower part of the Fortress
of Meghri, in a large slope. Due to its location in the beautiful
highlands of the Armenian south and the availability of various
historical-cultural monuments, the city of Meghri has the potential
of becoming a center of tourism if the corresponding infrastructures
are developed.

In the long run, development of tourism will contribute to sustainable
economic development and improvement of the welfare of the community
residents through creation of employment in the sphere of tourist
services.

The Lesser District of Meghri presents an open-air museum of folk
architecture, and this district is especially valuable because a
section of the settlement has been preserved up to now. The church
to be renovated is also located in this district.

By renovating and revitalizing the Crafts Center, UNDP And Izmirlian
Foundation aim to contribute to the reduction of unemployment in
this remote community, especially among young people. The Crafts
Center will become a training facility that will prepare a variety
of crafts people, and this will also conduce to the development of
Meghri as a tourism center.

The overall project budget for this phase is $155,000.

The beneficiaries of the project are the population of Meghri
(12,200 people).

ARMENIAN ICE DANCER TO PARTICIPATE IN THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

ArmRadio.am
05.02.2007 16:53

Anastasia Grebyonkina-Vazgen Azroyan ice dancing pair will participate
in the World Figure Skating Championship to start in Tokyo, Japan,
on the 18th of March.

President of the Figure Skating Federation Samvel Khachatryan told
Armenpress that the World Championship is much harder than the
European one, since it features participants from the American and
Asian Continents. It will be hard for Armenian figure skaters to
repeat the 14th place of the European Championship. It should be
taken into account also that the Armenian pair participated in the
European Championship with an injury.

The Washington Post
February 4, 2007 Sunday
Final Edition

A Novel Indictment;
Elif Shafak’s novel almost got her thrown in jail for three years.

by: Reviewed by Barry Unsworth

THE BASTARD OF ISTANBUL
A Novel
By Elif Shafak
Viking. 360 pp. $24.95

Two extended families, one Turkish living in Istanbul, the other in
San Francisco, part of the Armenian diaspora. Through the
interactions among and between them, we trace the tragic patterns of
blame, denial, suppression of memory that have characterized
relations between the two peoples since the massacres and
deportations suffered by the Armenians at Turkish hands in the early
months of 1915, perhaps the first example in the 20th century of what
has come to be called ethnic cleansing, and systematic enough to be
regarded as a policy of genocide — two out of three Armenians living
under Ottoman rule were done to death. The Turkish state has yet to
acknowledge these atrocities, in spite of ample historical
documentation.

Elif Shafak has chosen to write The Bastard of Istanbul in English, a
decision to be applauded, though with mixed feelings. The novel
deserves to reach a wide readership, for reasons not entirely
literary. By putting into the mouths of her characters explicit
reference to these events, for using the word "genocide," Shafak fell
afoul of Article 301 of the Turkish penal code and was tried on a
charge of "insulting Turkishness," which carries a prison sentence.
It is only a few months since this charge was finally dropped. The
case received wide press coverage both in the United States and in
Europe and has served as a highly public — and highly salutary —
example of the lengths to which an insensate nationalism can go in
the suppression of elementary freedoms. It has also, of course, acted
as an extreme example of the denial that is a central theme of the
novel.

However, a novel is first of all a structure of words, and it has to
be said that the structure is sometimes shaky in this one. Certainly
we British must be on our guard against looking upon the English
language as the last of our colonial possessions, quite failing to
notice that it was lost long ago under the combined assault of a
billion or so people all over the globe who regard it as theirs too,
and often use it more vividly and inventively than we do. There is
also the risk of being regarded as an inmate of a Home for Aged
Pedants who has been let out for the day. All the same . . . "A
tortuous moment," what can that be? How can a person’s nose be called
"blatantly aquiline"? How can you "listen to your Middle Eastern
roots"? What does it mean to say that "sex is far more sensual than
physical" or to describe a truth as "stringent and stolid"? These
perplexities intensify at times to outright rebellion. No, no, no, a
person cannot, at one and the same time, be "almost paralyzed" and
"wallowing" in something. A gaze of mutual love cannot be called, in
the same breath, "a prurient moment."

These are just a few random samples. I am pretty sure Shafak would
not write things like this in her native Turkish. Should it matter?
Too large a question to deal with here. Irritation at the way the
author seems sometimes to muffle up or undermine her own meanings is
compounded with regret by the fact that a lot of the time the writing
is very good, eloquent, bold, full of shrewd insights, with veins of
satire and poetry and fantasy running through it, and turns of phrase
that are witty and aphoristic, like the description of the way her
family deals with the extremely difficult Auntie Feride: "They had
figured out one way of dealing with insanity, and that was to confuse
it with a lack of credibility."

The narrative mode most resembles that of a storyteller in the oral
tradition, leisurely and digressive and entirely arbitrary, moving
from the horrors of the past to the pathologies of the present,
through four generations, from Istanbul to San Francisco to Tucson,
Ariz. Information is withheld from us until the moment is deemed
ripe. Everything comes together finally in a resolution both powerful
and moving, but this device of long-delayed information, which is
employed throughout, can sometimes put a strain on our belief — and
on our patience. Early in the novel, the unmarried Zeliha, one of the
Turkish contingent, announces to the assembled family that she is
pregnant. Rage, consternation, abuse, tears. But not one of these
five women thinks of asking her who the father is. A natural enough
question, surely. We have to wait 300 pages to find out. Two-thirds
of the way through the book and 19 years later, we are told quite
casually that her daughter Asya has been having an extremely
variegated and crowded sex life, going to bed with all and sundry. We
have seen her grow up, we have been told all manner of things about
her; why has this been kept from us? It is hard to see what purpose
is served by these implausibilities of narrative.

One of the great strengths of the novel is the sometimes caustic but
always humorously tolerant treatment of the various family members,
especially those in Istanbul. A relish for the quirks and
eccentricities of character runs through and irradiates the whole
book. Auntie Feride, who changes her hair color and style "at each
stage of her journey to insanity," so that in the end the doctors, in
order to understand her illness, start keeping a hair chart; Auntie
Banu, who comes into her own as a clairvoyant and believes that she
has a djinn on either shoulder, one wicked and one good; Auntie
Zeliha, audacious and independent, the woman of the future.

Recurrent throughout is the theme of past trauma and its effects in
the present, the feeling of exile, the rooted sense of injustice, the
rage at silence, the longing for a firm identity. Gradually the
elements come together: the discussions online with fellow Armenians,
the conversation of the strangely disembodied characters at the Café
Kundera, the revelations of the evil djinn on Auntie Banu’s left
shoulder, and, above all, the friendship that develops between two
girls from the different families. And we come to see that this need
to confront the past, with all its load of error and guilt, is
something that concerns not just Turks and Armenians but all of us,
and that what is true between races and peoples is also true in
individual lives. Throughout the novel, passing from one generation
to the next, is a gold brooch in the shape of a pomegranate, a
memorial to the unoffending victims and a symbol of continuity and
reconciliation.

It is this last word that one keeps coming back to. But there is no
reconciliation without justice. Elif Shafak’s novel brings the
possibility of it a step closer, and we are all in her debt for this.
*

Barry Unsworth’s most recent novel is "The Ruby in Her Navel."

US military chiefs eye confrontation with Iran
By Philip Sherwell in Washington,

Sunday Telegraph/UK
04/02/2007

America’s military chiefs are at loggerheads with the country’s
diplomats and spies over tactics for confronting Iranian agents in Iraq
over their role in lethal attacks on US forces.

American drones are flying over Iran in search of intelligence about
its nuclear facilities

The rift has spilled over into a dispute about how and when to publish
alleged evidence of Iranian backing for Iraqi militias and Iran’s
provision of supplies and technology for roadside bombs, the biggest
killer of American soldiers in Iraq, a White House adviser revealed.

It is fuelling fears among some US diplomats – shared by Britain and
its European allies – that hawks within President George W Bush’s
administration are preparing the ground for military action against
Teheran before he leaves office in 23 months.

Angered by the mounting toll of troops killed by ever-more
sophisticated devices, US commanders insisted last month that the White
House give them authority to target and kill Iranian operatives in Iraq
as part of the new 21,500-troop "surge" strategy ordered by Mr Bush.

But the State Department, headed by Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice, and the CIA had argued against openly targeting Iranian agents,
most of whom claim to be diplomats based at Teheran’s network of
consulates, liaison offices and cultural offices in Iraq.

They contended that this approach could escalate into direct armed
conflict with Iran, which is under intense international pressure to
give up its nuclear programme.

The State Department and the CIA, which both objected to the way the
Bush administration used pre-war intelligence on Iraq, also wanted to
publicise clear evidence of Iranian interference in Iraq as a way of
justifying the US stance.

"The military’s highest echelons really do not want the release of
details of what Iran is up to as they don’t want the Iranians to know
what’s working and what’s not," the administration adviser said.

"The military and the State Department and CIA are coming at this from
very different approaches. State and the CIA believe we should respect
the supposed diplomatic immunity of these Iranians. But the military
has had enough and they say ‘to hell with their fake diplomatic
immunity’."

The splits within the administration come as reports emerge of new
variants of "explosively formed projectiles" allegedly made with
Iranian help.

The Pentagon said the first soldier was killed by one of the devices on
Jan 22, but it is refusing to give further details of their use because
it wants to limit the information available to its enemies.

The US has also suggested that Iranian operatives may have been
involved in the abduction and killing of five soldiers in Kerbala, a
potentially explosive accusation. But Stephen Hadley, Mr Bush’s
national security adviser, acknowledged on Friday that the intelligence
briefing on Iranian interference in Iraq – publication of which has
been delayed twice – was still being refined.

The build-up of anti-Iran rhetoric and despatch of two US aircraft
carriers to the region has echoes for some of the run-up to the
invasion of Iraq, prompting suspicions about the intentions of the
remaining hawks within the administration, led by the vice-president,
Dick Cheney.

The defence secretary, Robert Gates, sought to play down these concerns
on Friday, saying that the US was not planning for a war with Iran but
was determined to stop Iranians supplying bombs for attacks on American
troops in Iraq.

Dan Goure, a Pentagon consultant, said that targeting Iranian
operatives in Iraq was crucial to Mr Bush’s "surge" strategy. "You
cannot try to deal with the militia if you’re not dealing with the
Iranians backing them," he said. "The message now is that the gloves
are off. This is Bush’s last chance in Iraq and he isn’t going to hold
back."

The US has also increased flights of unmanned spy planes over the
border corridor between Iraq and Iran, to track movements across the
frontier to back up its claims about Teheran’s behaviour.

The drones were being flown into Iran from bases in Iraq to maintain a
24-hour check on a corridor running along "much" of the Iranian side of
the border, an American intelligence officer told this newspaper.

The US is intent on not launching any attacks that could inadvertently
hit Iranian soil. But once suspects were a few miles from the border
inside Iraq, they would be "whacked", the officer said.

John Pike, director of the military think-tank GlobalSecurity.org, said
there were 600 or 700 drones operating in Iraq and "the air is thick
with them".

The Iranian military had upgraded gun and missile posts a few miles
into its territory and was trying to bring down the drones, the
intelligence officer said. The US is also believed to be flying drones
above Iranian territory in search of intelligence about its nuclear
facilities. The drones can use radar, video, still photography and air
filters designed to pick up traces of nuclear activity to gather
information that is not accessible by satellites.

Teheran claims it developed its secret atomic programme for civilian
energy purposes, but Western governments believe it is pursuing a
nuclear bomb.

¢Mr Bush has asked Congress for an additional $245 billion (£125
billion) for Iraq and Afghanistan for the next two fiscal years. If
approved, the overall cost of the "war on terror" since the Sept 11
2001 attacks will rise to nearly $750 billion (£381 billion) – more in
real terms than was spent on the Vietnam war.

PRICE FOR PETROL FALLS BY 5.7% AND FOR DIESEL FUEL BY 1.9% IN JANUARY
IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, NOYAN TAPAN. A 5.7% and 1.9% fall in price for
petrol and diesel fuel, respectively, was registered in January in
Armenia.

According to the data of RA National Statistical Service, in 2007
January as compared with 2006 January, price for petrol fall by 13.1%
and as compared with 2005 by 9.1%. A 1.5% and 3.5% growth of prices,
respectively, was registered on the line of diesel fuel in the same
period.

Mediamax Agency, Armenia
Jan 31 2007

NKR government approved the programme of mortgage crediting: credits
will be granted for a 20-year term at the annual interest rate of 6%

Yerevan, January 31 /Mediamax/. The government of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) approved the program of mortgage
crediting.

As Mediamax was told in the press service of the NKR government, this
is the first long-term programme, directed to improve the housing
conditions of the citizens and to stimulate house-building in the
republic.

In accordance with the programme, the amount of the mortgage credit
will make up to 15mln AMD, but should not exceed the 80% of the sales
value of the apartment or the construction of a separate house.

The credit will be granted for a 20-year term, at the interest rate
of 6% per year.

The NKR Prime Minister Anushavan Danielian noted that soon a social
mortgage program will come out, also directed to improve the housing
conditions of the population.

Armenian Assembly of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:

PRESS RELEASE
February 1, 2007
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
E-mail: [email protected]

SENATOR BIDEN INTRODUCES RESOLUTION CONDEMNING HRANT DINK’S MURDER &
HONORING HIS LEGACY

Washington, DC – Today, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman
Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) introduced legislation condemning the
assassination of Hrant Dink and honoring his legacy of tolerance and
peaceful change.

"We commend Senator Biden for spearheading this important legislation,"
said Executive Director Bryan Ardouny. "The atmosphere that led to this
killing must be changed, starting with the repeal of Article 301 of the
Turkish Penal Code. As a moral leader, America must ensure that minority
populations in Turkey are afforded every protection."

Dink, who worked hard to foster dialogue and understanding between
Armenians and Turks, was gunned down outside his newspaper office on
January 19 in Istanbul, Turkey. An outspoken advocate for democratic
reform, Dink stood trial several times for his public comments on the
genocide and was convicted in October 2005 for "insulting Turkishness"
under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. He received a six-month
suspended sentence and was set to appear in court again in March 2007
for affirming the Armenian Genocide.

"Hrant Dink was a leading voice in Turkey’s Armenian community and an
eloquent advocate for human rights, press freedom, and democracy,"
Senator Biden told the Assembly. "His assassination was an outrage and
a tragedy. Hrant’s legacy deserves the Senate’s respect. His murder
demands our action."

The Senate bill is similar to H. Res. 102, which was introduced by
Congressman Joseph Crowley (D-NY) on January 29 with the support of the
Armenian Assembly. The Biden resolution condemns Dink’s assassination
and supports Turkey’s pledge to conduct an exhaustive investigation into
his killing. Furthermore, the legislation urges Turkey to take
appropriate action to protect freedom of speech in Turkey by repealing
Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, which criminalizes public
discussion on the Armenian Genocide. The resolution also calls on
Turkey to reestablish full diplomatic, political and economic relations
with Armenia.

For more information on Hrant Dink, including Assembly statements, media
coverage, photographs, and video from the memorial service at St. Mary’s
Armenian Apostolic Church, please visit the Hrant Dink Resource Page on
the Assembly’s Web site at

Th e Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of
Armenian issues. It is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt membership organization.

###

NR#2007-022

Editor’s Note: Below is the full text of the Biden Resolution, which was
introduced today in the United States Senate.

110TH CONGRESS
S. RES.

RESOLUTION

Condemning the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist and human rights
advocate Hrant Dink and urging the people of Turkey to honor his legacy
of tolerance.

Whereas Hrant Dink was a respected, eloquent advocate for press freedom,
human rights, and reconciliation;

Whereas, in 1996, Mr. Dink founded the weekly bilingual newspaper Agos
and, as the paper’s editor in chief, used the paper to provide a voice
for Turkey’s Armenian community;

Whereas Mr. Dink was a strong proponent of rapprochement between Turks
and Armenians and worked diligently to improve relations between those
communities;

Whereas Mr. Dink’s commitment to democratic values, nonviolence, and
freedom in the media earned him widespread recognition and numerous
international awards;

Whereas Mr. Dink was prosecuted under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal
Code for speaking about the Armenian Genocide;

Whereas, notwithstanding hundreds of threats to Mr. Dink’s life and
safety, he remained a steadfast proponent of pluralism and tolerance;

Whereas Mr. Dink was assassinated outside the offices of Agos in
Istanbul, Turkey, on January 19, 2007;

Whereas tens of thousands of people in Turkey of many ethnicities
protested Mr. Dink’s killing and took to the streets throughout the
country to honor his memory;

Whereas the Government of Turkey has pledged to undertake a full
investigation into the murder of Mr. Dink;

Whereas the Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has stated
that when Mr. Dink was shot, "a bullet was fired at freedom of thought
and democratic life in Turkey";

Whereas the Foreign Minister of Armenia, Vartan Oskanian, stated that
Mr. Dink "lived his life in the belief that there can be understanding,
dialogue and peace amongst peoples"; and

Whereas Mr. Dink’s tragic death affirmed the importance of promoting the
values that he championed in life: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That the Senate –

(1) condemns the murder of Hrant Dink as a shameful act of cowardice
perpetrated with contempt for law, justice, and decency;

(2) supports the pledge of the Government of Turkey to conduct an
exhaustive investigation into the assassination of Mr. Dink and to
prosecute those responsible;

(3) urges the Government of Turkey to repeal Article 301 of the Turkish
Penal Code and work diligently to foster a more open intellectual
environment in the country that is conducive to the free exchange of
ideas;

(4) recognizes the decision of the Government of Turkey to invite senior
Armenian religious and political figures to participate in memorial
services for Mr. Dink;

(5) calls on the Government of Turkey to act in the interest of regional
security and prosperity and reestablish full diplomatic, political, and
economic relations with the Government of Armenia; and

(6) urges the people of Turkey to honor Mr. Dink’s legacy of tolerance.

Anatolia News Agency, turkey
Jan 31 2007

Turkey: Another suspect remanded in custody in journalist’s killing
case

Istanbul, 31 January: An Istanbul court arrested on Wednesday [31
January] another man suspected of involvement in the killing of
prominent Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

The 30-year-old suspect, Salih Hacisalihoglu, was detained in the
Black Sea city of Trabzon earlier this week and was brought to
Istanbul for further interrogation.

With the latest arrest, seven people, including Ogun Samast, who
confessed to slaying Dink, are currently under custody.

Dink was shot dead on 19 January outside the offices of his weekly
Agos in Istanbul.

GENNADY MELIKYAN APPOINTED FIRST VICE PRESIDENT OF CENTRAL BANK OF RUSSIA

Yerevan, February 1. ArmInfo. Feb 1 Gennady Melikyan was appointed
first vice president of the Central Bank of Russia, reports
ITAR-TASS.

Since Apr 19 Melikyan was the director of the board of the bank. He is
also the chairman of the Banking Control Committee.

So, now the Russian CB are 4 first vice presidents: Aleksey Ulukayev,
Georgy Luntovsky, Gennady Melikyan and Tatiana Paramonova.

Panorama.am

20:05 31/01/2007

ARMENIAN CAPITAL FLOWING FROM ARMENIA

`Grand Holding’ refused to answer questions of Panorama.am saying they
are discontent about the interpretation of facts on Michael
Vardanyan. They also complained that the information was posted at
Panorama.am portal apart from `My Right’ newspaper. It became clear
from the conversation that they are discontent that the article was
titled `Rat run’ referring to Michael Vardanyan’s leaving the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (Dashnakcutiun).

It is well known that the behavior of some Armenian businessmen is out
of any rational thinking. Moreover, the Armenian oligarchs use to
close information to public at unreasonable excuses or even depending
on their mood at that particular moment.

We must inform Hrant Vardanyan, the chairman of `Grand Holding’ that
we are not asking why he did not file a law suit against Ruben
Hakhverdyan for insulting him as he intended to. Nor do we ask why he
got hold of 30 ha land at Jrvej forestry without any legal grounds.
We also do not ask what is the aim of the film on Ruben Hairapetyan
shot at the order of H. Vardanyan. The question of `My Right’
newspaper relates to the investment made by the company in Armenia and
abroad in the course of the last three years.

Hrant Vardanyan does not lose the chance to flow the Armenian capital
out of the country in the case when the Armenian president, government
institutes put every effort to advertise the Armenian investment
environment and pay $1000 to CNN for promotion.

H. Vardanyan thought about foreign investment when the dollar was
sharply devaluated in Armenia and when the business of exporting
companies stopped bringing as much profit as was planned. It was then
that Vardanyan said he will export capital if the currency exchange
remains the same. The Armenian dram not only kept its positions but
also strengthened against USD. Only in 2006 it strengthened against
USD by 10 percent. Taking into consideration this fact we may say that
Vardanyan could timely export the Armenian capital. It is clear after
all these why `Grand Holding’ refused to answer our questions.

Source: Panorama.am