Author: Felekian Ara

CONTEST FOR THE TITLE "THE PEAK OF IDIOCY"
Vardan Barseghyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on May 22, 2008
Armenia

In the recent times the anti-American moods have significantly grown
among our society, linked with the strict assessments and demands
heard from the USA regarding the post-election processes. No matter
who makes those demands – Council of Europe, Venice Committee, or
Ago Group? It is the position of the West, which is traditionally
associated with America in the people’s consciousness.

The fact that the USA likes to teach others is not a secret. No one
will be shocked by hearing this. That no one likes America is also
not a secret. The anti-American demonstrations all over the world are
often showed on TV. Even those countries which we consider full of
love towards America also hate the latter. Anti-American moods flourish
even in those countries that successfully staged colored revolutions,
such as Georgia and Ukraine. In Tbilisy for example only lazy people
don’t laugh at the street named after George Bush.

Now, let’s touch upon Europe. For around half a century, the Europeans
treated American values with regard, in the times when there was a
fear towards the Soviet Empire. After the collapse of the latter this
respect immediately vanished. Today the leadership of the Council
of Europe directly announces that America doesn’t have the right
to speak about the Human Rights. The Western Europeans manifest an
emphasized cold attitude towards any initiative taken by the USA:
be it the war in Iraq or Turkey’s membership to the European Union.

In short it seems the world is ready for a united anti-American
outburst.

Washington’s behavior tells on everyone’s nerves. Our compatriot,
political scientist Sergey Kurghinyan recently compared Americans
with a bug. Why is American economy the most progressive in the
world? Because they suck others’ blood.

Though everything is not that much unequivocal, as regards
anti-American moods. The relations between the USA and Europe
or the USA or for example France and Germany can have different
manifestations. But we shouldn’t be under illusion; it is a dispute
between friends, inside a single civilization, a civilization that has
reached unimaginable triumph, in the history of the humanity. Market
economy, democracy, social state – these are the achievements of the
western civilization that has ensured the best quality of life for
their citizens. Life without wars and world without borders.

However what we really think is that anti-American moods will be
very harmful for our country. Yes we do have a strategic partner, in
the person of the Russian Federation. But who said that we shouldn’t
be friends with America as well. It will be an idiotism to spit on
the opposite direction of the wind. In the contest for the title
"The Greatest Idiotism" anti-American attitude would have a very
honorable place.

For a small country like ours, America is really a complicated
partner. But to spread anti-American moods among the society – this
can be done only towards a hostile enemy.

PUBLIC DISCUSSIONS OVER ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS BEING HELD IN YEREVAN

Noyan Tapan

Ma y 20, 2008

YEREVAN, MAY 20, NOYAN TAPAN. The possibility of Armenia’s and Turkey’s
joint efforts under the circumstance of global challenges and threats
was discussed at the international conference organized on May 20
in Yerevan.

Armenian and Turkish experts, representatives of diplomatic missions
accredited in Armenia and a number of international organizations,
students took part in the conference organized by the Eurasia
Cooperation Fund and the Analytical Center for Globalization and
Regional Cooperation.

The dialogue and cooperation program between Armenia and Turkey,
which has been implemented by the Eurasia Cooperation Fund since
2006, contributes to improval of relations among people, cooperation
between NGOs and business circles, which creates a basis for regional
integration, stability, and countries’ economic development. Steven
Banks, the Head of the Political Department of the U.S. Embassy,
said. In his words, the United States with active diplomatic efforts
tries to contribute to establishment of contacts between Armenia and
Turkey, but these efforts of NGOs can also assist in the issue of
establishment of diplomatic contacts.

Stepan Grigorian, the Director of the Analytical Center for
Globalization and Regional Cooperation, said that public discussions
over Armenian-Turkish relations can be more efficient, as they are
held in an unconstrained atmosphere. According to him, in spite of
many problems, there are also some issues, in connection with which
the two countries’ interests may coincide.

In the political scientist’s opinion, in particular, the Kosovo problem
is among them, the independence of which has been recognized by Turkey,
and Armenia will recognize it sooner or later.

CHANGES IN HOLDING DEMONSTRATION LAW ADOPTED

Panorama.am
20:55 20/05/2008

Today the parliament has adopted the project of changes on the RA
law of "Holding meetings, demonstration, rallies and marches" by 92
votes for the changes.

The chairman of the NA Tigran Torosyan who is the author of the law
project said that the reforms have been presented to the Council of
Europe Venice Committee. In particular the procedures of providing
verified information have been clarified. The organizers of the
demonstration, marches, mass meetings and rallies should inform
the correspondent state bodies five days before the event. The
correspondent bodies have right to deny the request if the authorized
bodies find not secure points. The requestors can appeal to court
and the court should make a decision within 24 hours.

According to the legislation the representatives are allowed to hold
spontaneous mass meetings for only 6 hours. The chairman said that the
legislation feats international standards and is aimed to establish
democratic norms in the country.

VOTE FOR SIRUSHO TONIGHT!

armradio.am
20.05.2008 18:22

There are only few hours left till the first Semi-Final of the 2008
Eurovision Song Contest and 19 delegations are getting more and
more nervous as they all are hoping to qualify for the grand final
on Saturday. The second Semi Final is expected on May 22, the Final
will take place on May 24. Ten participants from each Semi Final will
qualify for the Final.

The Armenian entrant at Eurovision 2008 – Sirusho – will perform 14th
in today’s Semi Final. Sirusho’s "Qele-Qele" enjoys glorious reception
all over Europe and does not leave the top 5 of the favorites in many
charts and predictions. Moreover, she is leading in some pre-charts.

Thus, according to the results of voting at ,
Armenia is leading with 19% of the votes. Georgia and Turkey follow
with 13% each.

According to the data of a Belarusian website – –
Sirusho is in the lead with 32% of the votes. Russia comes second
with 28%.

The third is Azerbaijan with 26%.

Bookmaking offices predict a different thing. According to their
forecasts, Armenia, Russia, Serbia, Sweden and Ukraine will make the
top 5.

Yesterday Sirusho participated in the first general rehearsal at the
Belgrade Arena. According to the official website of the Eurovision,
Sirusho looked fantastic on stage with her short white, grey and
black dress while singing her entry "Qele-Qele." Pyrotechnics were
used at the end of this uptempo and entertaining performance.

Supporting Sirusho on the stage tonight will be Razmik Amyan and
Tigran Petrosyan and three dancers. The show has been staged by famous
Russian choreographer Sergey Mandrik.

The first Semi-Final will be shown live in all the 19 participating
countries. Lots of other countries will broadcast as well.

Televoters from the 19 participating countries will be able to vote
for their favorite songs as well. The local televoting numbers will
be displayed on screen during the show and will also be available. We
call on Armenian of Europe not to forget to charge their phones and
vote for Sirusho tonight, since every vote can be decisive.

However, let’ remember that experience shows that Eurovision is
unpredictable. We can only wish success to our representative and
hope that "the sunlight taken from Armenian land" will help to win the
hearts of Europeans and will bring a long-expected victory to Armenia.

Good luck to Sirusho! Good luck to Armenia!

WELL-ATTENDED JOINT CONCERT PAYS TRIBUTE TO ARMENIAN COMMUNITY
Anne Andlauer

Today’s Zaman
May 19 2008
Turkey

The least that can be said of the Å~^iÅ~_li Symphony Orchestra and
its Swiss-trained conductor Serâ Tokay is that they do not lack
artistic audacity. Only three years into its existence, the young
ensemble has gained respect from critics for its musical endowment
and endeavors. A concert held last Saturday provided another occasion
to prove those critics right.

The performance, on May 17 at Ä°stanbul’s Lutfi Kırdar Convention
and Exhibition Center, was a joint concert by Ä°stanbul’s Å~^iÅ~_li
Symphony and the Vartanants Choir. The latter is an amateur choir
conducted by renowned cantor and State Opera Chorus member AdruÅ~_an
Halacyan. Some 1,000 people filled the concert hall on Saturday and
were visibly filled with the artists’ communicative passion.

Tokay conducted both ensembles for two hours, through classical pieces
by Mozart, Verdi, Bizet and Donizetti. The pieces included sequences
from Mozart’s "Requiem Mass in D Minor," Verdi’s operas "La Traviata"
and "Nabucco" and Bizet’s famed "Carmen." Knowing the orchestra’s
affinity with Russian and Slavic composers, Saturday’s program was a
challenging one for the musicians and their chief. "We adapted to the
repertoire of the choir and soloists," Tokay told Today’s Zaman ahead
of the performance. "Italian compositions have little in common with
the Slavic soul that we like to express, but one also learns while
dealing with the unfamiliar."

The joint performance was a first for the young orchestra but also for
the choir, which Halacyan has headed since 1985. "I had this dream of
a partnership between the choir and a symphonic orchestra," Halacyan
recalled. Å~^iÅ~_li Mayor Mustafa Sarıgul, who attended Saturday’s
concert, was the architect of Halacyan’s encounter with Tokay and
thereby of their collaboration, the choir conductor said. "The
singers and I have been preparing for 23 years to perform music at
a professional level."

Halacyan has served the Vartanants Choir since childhood, starting
as a cantor in the church. The 76-year-old ensemble is known for
its wide repertoire of Turkish, Armenian and European pieces. "This
concert is dedicated to the Armenian community but also reflects
the cultural diversity of Å~^iÅ~_li Municipality," Halacyan said,
observing that Armenian Ä°stanbul Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan attended
the performance as well.

As a result, the program featured pieces by Turkish composer
Dede Efendi and Turkish-Armenian artists Ara Bartevyan and Sirvart
Karamanuk. The ensemble notably performed Karamanuk’s symphonic poem
"Ah!… Tamar," while Ä°stanbul State Opera soloists Zafer ErdaÅ~_
(bass-baritone), Caner Akın (tenor), Aylin AteÅ~_ (mezzo soprano)
and Ayten Telek (soprano) gave a remarkable demonstration of their
virtuosity in half of the 18 pieces.

"Karamanuk’s symphonic poem, which is composed of one movement and
lasts about 20 minutes, has only been performed three times since
its creation. The first performance took place in Yerevan in 1968,"
Tokay said. The orchestral conductor added that although she did
not know the choir or the pieces beforehand, she accepted the offer
immediately. "This was a new experience for me and my musicians and
I hope we will repeat it. The main challenge was of course to conduct
simultaneously the choir and the orchestra, as if it were one single
ensemble or body," Tokay said.

During their interview with Today’s Zaman, Tokay and Halacyan engaged
in a discussion about their respective positions. Tokay argued that
a choir needed a conductor more than the orchestra did. "Of course,
musicians have to pay great attention to the gestures and breathing of
the conductor," she explained. "But once they know their score well,
there is no need for the conductor to give a starting sign to every
single group of instruments. Technique is the key to a successful
instrumental performance."

The choir, however, needs constant attention to and from the conductor,
Tokay said. "Singers are much more sensitive to the instructions and
attitude of the conductor. They need him or her in order to stay in
tune, but also for their voice to express the right feelings. Inner
parameters matter more than in the case of an orchestra."

Halacyan nodded and added two ideas to the observations: "First,
it is crucial for all the singers to know each other very well,
much more than for the musicians. There needs to be a kind of fusion
within the choir and with the conductor, so that a quick glance is
enough for everybody to understand each other."

The choir conductor also noted "the key importance of mediation or
non-mediation." In the case of an orchestra, he said, the instruments
come between the musicians and the conductor and technique is essential
for the mediation to function. "But in the case of a choir, there is
no mediation. The relation is one of immediacy and that explains why
the conductor is all the more important for the singers to give the
best of themselves."

For that matter, Halacyan recalled that the Vartanants Choir
was an all-amateur choir wherein 55 male and female lawyers,
physicians, carpet traders and jewelers gathered to sing like
real professionals. "Some of them didn’t even know the music scale
when they started singing with the choir. I think they became like
professionals without even noticing it," Halacyan said. "They sing with
their heart and that is how they improve." That, "and an outstanding
choir conductor," Tokay added with a smile.

–Boundary_(ID_cytlHYVlWWxNJX0Y0IDd6Q)–

HULIQ (press release), NC
May 16 2008

Sirusho of Armenia Astonishes At Eurovision Rehersal

Eurovision 2008 rehersals are continuing in Belgrade ahead of next
week’s Eurovision 2008 song contest and the first three participants
to rehearse today at the Belgrade Arena were Sirusho of Armenia, the
Hind from the Netherlands and the Finnish rockers of Teräsbetoni.

According to Eurovision.tv first rehearsal of the day was Armenia’s
Sirusho, who astonished everyone at her first rehearsal last Monday
and her great performance at the party thrown by the Russian
delegation at the Euroclub.

Sirusho and her three backing dancers once again delivered a steady
performance, opening with the dancers entangled around Sirusho’s legs,
making Sirusho wave in the air when she stoops.

Sirusho did not wear her final outfit for the semi-final on the 20th
of May, but it was revealed by a person from the Armenian delegation:
Sirusho’s dress is classy, sexy and shiny. During the rehearsal, fire
was blowing up from the stage and the pyrotechnics were tried
out. Given the expressions on Sirusho and her dancers’ faces, it was
seeming like they were quite content with rehearsals. Later at the
press conference, Sirusho and the Armenian delegation expressed their
satisfaction with today’s rehearsal.

Furthermore, Sirusho told the fans and accredited press that there had
been some security issues regarding some of the elements which were
supposed to be used in the act. Sirusho explained that this of course
is unfortunate, but it does not matter because in the end it is the
vocal perfomance that counts.

Sirusho’s dress will be designed by famous Russian designer Igor
Chapurin, who is well-known in Paris, Moscow, New York, Tokyo,
etc. The dresses for the rehearsals and press-conferences are acquired
from Dolce & Gabbana prete-a-porter collection and Armenian designer
Kivera Naynomis, more known as Arevik Simonyan, reports Eurovision’s
Armenian website.

Sirusho is ranking on Top three levels of major online bookmakers’
sites as the favorite to win this year’s Eurovision 2008 song
festival.

Visit our previous story on this topic to listen to Sirusho’s
performance of Kele Kele that will be presented in Eurovision 2008.

Ekklesia, UK
May 17 2008

Armenian spiritual leader decries genocide denial

By Ecumenical News International
17 May 2008

Catholicos Karekin II of the Armenian Apostolic Church, visiting Pope
Benedict XVI in Rome, has spoken of the "genocide" suffered by his
compatriots in the Ottoman empire, and said that those with power
should ensure that justice prevails – writes Luigi Sandri.

"We … appeal to all nations and lands to universally condemn all
genocides that have occurred throughout history and those that
continue through the present day," Karekin said in St Peter’s Square
on 7 May, where he had been invited by Pope Benedict to speak at the
pontiff’s general audience.

"The denial of these crimes is an injustice that equals the commission
of the same," noted Karekin, who holds the title of "Supreme Patriarch
and Catholicos of All Armenians".

Armenia says 1.5 million of its people died between 1915 and 1923 in a
systematic genocide initiated by the Young Turks’ government ruling
then in Istanbul. Turkey, however, rejects the term "Armenian
genocide" and says mass removals were intended to clear people from a
war zone. It acknowledges that people died, but holds that the number
was far less than that given by Armenia.

Karekin was accompanied by Armenian bishops from North and South
America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East for his 5-12 May visit to
Rome, which followed an earlier visit to the Vatican in 2000, when he
met Benedict’s predecessor, Pope John Paul II.

"Today many countries of the world condemn the genocide made by the
Ottomans against the Armenian people, as John Paul II said when I was
in Rome," noted Karekin, who received Pope John Paul in Armenia in
2001.

Two days after Karekin spoke at St Peter’s Square, Pope Benedict
received the Armenian delegation at the Vatican. At the meeting,
Benedict said, "The recent history of the Armenian Apostolic Church
has been written in the contrasting colours of persecution and
martyrdom, darkness and hope, humiliation and spiritual re-birth."

Still, noted the Agence France-Press in a report, Pope Benedict did
not employ the word "genocide" that had been used by his predecessor.

The Pope and the Catholicos underlined the achievements of the
Armenian-Catholic ecumenical dialogue during the past 12 years to seek
greater Christian unity.

Karekin II invited the pontiff to visit Armenia, and expressed the
hope that the international community would support the right to
self-determination of Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-populated region
situated in neighbouring Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliev, suggested earlier during 2008
that his country could use force to regain control over
Nagorno-Karabakh. The area has been under ethnic Armenian control
since a 1994 cease-fire ended a six-year war.

[With acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International is
jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World
Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the
Conference of European Churches.]

GROUP OF RUSSIAN JOURNALISTS ARRIVED IN STEPANAKERT

DeFacto Agency
May 15 2008
Armenia

YEREVAN, 15.05.08. DE FACTO. A group of Russian journalists from
renowned Russian mass media arrived in Stepanakert. In part, the
group includes the representatives of Russia TV Channel, Russia Today,
RBK-daily and Independent newspaper.

As it became known, the visit is of acquaintance nature. May 14 the
Russian journalists were present at the sitting of the NKR National
Assembly.

MAJORITY OF DRAFTEES IN ARMENIA IS INELIGIBLE FOR MILITARY SERVICE

Azeri Press Agency
May 14 2008
Azerbaijan

Yerevan -APA. According to Abovian TV channel of Armenia, 500 young
people of 800 recruited by Kotayk military commissariat of Armenia
were found ineligible for military service, APA reports.

Ineligible draftees were sent to check-up again. Chief Doctor of the
medical commission Nune Avetisian related ineligibility of draftees
with their birth after earthquake in Spitak. "Generation born after
the earthquake in a difficult time for Armenia is recruited now for
military service. They have grown up in cold and dark conditions
and therefore they have serious health problems". Earlier draftees
have problems in breast, backbone and foots. Now there are many
young peoples with mental disorder, nervous and eye diseases among
the draftees.

YEREVAN OFFERS AID CHINA AFTER DEVASTATING EARTHQUAKE

ARKA
May 14, 2008

YEREVAN, May 14. /ARKA/. Armenia’s President Serge Sargsian has
presented his condolences to Leader of the People’s Republic of
China (PRC) Hu Jintao on the devastating earthquake in the southwest
province of Sichuan. The President offered aid to China after the
violent tremors.

He told Jintao that Armenian people condole with the friendly Chinese
nation on the massive loss of life in the earthquake in Sichuan,
the RA President’s press service reports.

"We feel great sorrow for the families of the victims and we hope
the injured will recover soon. I am sure Chinese people will collect
their strength to restore the moral and material damage caused by
the disaster," the RA President said in his telegram.

Sargsian expressed readiness to offer assistance to China, taking
into account Armenia’s experience in responding to disasters. -0-