Author: Hakobian Adrine

WHEN ARMENIA IS NOT A COMPONENT IN THE ARMENIAN AND TURKISH RELATIONS
James Hakobyan

Lragir.am
11:47:39 – 20/03/2009

Barac Obama is not the first U.S. president candidate who promised
to recognize the Armenian genocide during his electoral campaign. In
other words, if he does not fulfil his promise, it can hardly be a
tragedy for the U.S. Except the Armenian community in the U.S. no on
else will note that Obama went back to his promise. But, considering
that Obama is a decent person, he will try to reason why he cannot
fulfil his promise on the Armenian genocide recognition now. And the
reason may be the Armenian and Turkish relations, which acquired a new
external shade after the "football diplomacy". Within the framework
of this diplomacy, conversations on the opening of the Armenian and
Turkish border began to circulate very often. It is not ruled out,
that Turkey will bind a red ribbon on the Armenian and Turkish border
and cut it on the eve of the April 24 at the opening ceremony of the
Armenian and Turkish relations. Evidently, Barac Obama is not the
person who will ruin the Armenian and Turkish relations. It is above
all doubts that he may prefer harming his reputation by going back
on his promise rather than ruining the Armenian and Turkish cordiality.

To this extent, it is probably senseless to except that on April
24 Obama will pronounce the word "genocide" and also that the
U.S. administration will not obstacle the Congress to adopt the
resolution on the Armenian genocide. What is that theatrical
spectacle needed for which is being played on these days through
the conversations on the opening of the border and through the
resolution introduced on the Congress Agenda? This show is performed in
connection with the visit of Barac Obama to Turkey in the beginning of
April. Turkey will try to manoeuvre with the help of the conversations
circulated about the opening of the Armenian and Turkish border,
and the U.S. will try to make some demands to Turkey with the help
of the resolution introduced before the Congress. In other words,
Turkey and the U.S. are balancing each other before Obama’s upcoming
visit to Turkey. But this does not mean that the visit is the end; in
other words, if nothing valuable is reached during the meeting the U.S.

will certainly recognize the genocide. Everything is continuous and
natural, and Turkey will go on the exploitation of the Armenian and
Turkish relations in its sake and the resolution will assume the role
of an instrument against Turkey for the U.S.

This entire is so simple that even a person who is not aware of
anything seems to be able to understand everything. Moreover, the
simpleness is so evident that one begins to doubt whether questions
of this scale maybe so simple. No doubt, there are other components
in the 0ATurkish and American relations, besides the Armenian and
Turkish relations and the question on the Armenian genocide. And these
components may wield influence on the significance of the Armenian
and Turkish relations and the genocide issue.

But, the question is that Armenia does not seem to have any role in
all of this. In other words, for instance, the Armenian and Turkish
relation is a component, but Armenia is not. At first sight it seems a
paradox, but everything is very logic. The point is that the process
called Armenian and Turkish ties, even if at some point was under
Armenia now Armenia does not have any other role besides meeting with
the Turkish officials. Armenia succeeded in one thing: Turkey does
not demand trilateral meetings with the participation of Armenia,
Turkey and Azerbaijan. It is clear that this format would be just
unacceptable for the Armenian government because the threat to the
Armenian security is too evident in this case. Although this format
creates additional work for the Turkish party, after each meeting
with the Armenian side it has to meet with the Azerbaijani side too,
nevertheless Turkey made that step, because in the opposite case it
may lose every chances to meet the Armenian authorities, while Turkey
needs them just for its links with the U.S., let alone its relations
with the EU and Russia.

In this state of things, it seems that the main worry of Armenian
should be the elevation if its position and, for example, the
Genocide recognition issue should be viewed in this context. Will the
recognition increase the Armenian role both in connection with its
relation with Turkey and in general with the regional matters? But,
perhaps, the problem is that Armenia, especially during the last
months, has embraced too many enterprises which in fact do not have
anything in common with the Armenian State interest and has done this
for hiding its failures in the home policy, and afterwards, Armenia
lost both its capacity to decide its own role and the capacity of
thinking about it.

WHAT WAS RUSSIA’S ‘BLISS’?

Aravot
March 6 2009
Armenia

Irrespective of high-style words politicians use worldwide when
speaking about principles and justice, the fact is that any politics
is based on deals. And it is not necessary for a deal to be "rational"
and be measured by mere material benefits.

Sometimes, one of the parties to a deal (usually the stronger one)
simply enjoys it, while the other one gets a privileged loan, for
example. It is not necessary for the deal to be immoral either;
there are many sincere and transparent deals. What matters is this:
a political force or a state has something to offer [to someone] and
expects something in return. For example, with the help of abstract
principles it would have been impossible to persuade Vatican or
Christian states to start crusades if it were not for their concrete
political and economic interests. Armenia’s first president [Levon
Ter-Petrosyan] writes about this in his book "The Crusaders and
Armenians."

It is sometimes very hard to understand what the parties’ interest
in a certain deal is. This is the job of political experts. (However,
they often go to "cookie gardens" [a slang phrase in Armenian meaning
"pretending not to understand the real reasons], so it is difficult
to make anything of their explanations).

As you may have guessed already, I am speaking about the meetings
held in Moscow. It is clear that Russia’s close and far friends
were after money, and it should be said that they succeeded in
that. Belarus President Alyaksandr Lukashenka agreed to set up a
joint anti-aircraft defence system with Russia (in response to the
American plans in Eastern Europe), and got 2bn dollars in privileged
loans for that. Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev decided to shut
down the American base near Bishkek and received a super privileged
loan to the tune of 2bn dollars.

These are Russia’s "kaifs" [feeling of pleasure] that this country is
ready to pay for despite the growing financial and economic crisis
inside the country. Armenia has received 0.5bn dollars in this
"money giveaway" but it is unclear what we have given or promised
for that. Theories like recognizing Abkhazia and South Ossetia or
getting in the rouble zone don’t seem credible to me. We are waiting
for explanations from analysts.

It is good to get 500m dollars when not expected. For a couple of more
months, we’ll sell dollars to "stabilize" dram. Dram will smoothly –
or not so smoothly – plunge at some point anyway. I don’t think that an
economic crisis is the worst thing. We have overcome situations worse
than that. When there is lack of information, you begin to think of
bad things. For example, famous Eurasian philosopher Aleksandr Dugin
has said recently that initiating military conflict could help hamper
the Nabucco project. It is clear where, isn’t it? Let me just remind
you that Dugin is not a psychopath, neither is he an adventurer. He,
according to some reports, is the Kremlin’s chief ideologist.

SYSTEM OF A DOWN LAYS WASTE TO NO-MOSHING RULE
Ernest A. Jasmin, The News Tribune

The News Tribune, Tacoma, WA
Oct 6 2005

Fans were reminded that there was a no moshing policy in effect
as they filed into KeyArena Wednesday night for System of a Down’s
headlining set.

Ahahahahahahahahahaha!!! That’s a good one.

System’s sound – a freaky, agro blend of thrash metal, punk and
Armenian folk – is the sort of thing the good lord created moshing for
in the first place. And even if the band kicked off on a mellow note
— with singer-guitarist Daron Malakian singing “Soldier’s Side,”
visible only in silhouette behind a curtain that sported the logo
from System’s May release “Mezmerize” — they quickly revved things
up, thus galvanizing fans and laying waste to that moshing rule,
with anti-war blast “B.Y.O.B.”

As the wild-eyed Malkian screamed the song’s opening line — “why do
you always send the poor?” — it was like shaking a hornet’s nest.

Fans bounced, pumped their fists and howled their approval, and
presently clusters of amped kids began moving in angry typhoon
swirls. Pockets of mostly male fans in the general admission floor
section continued to bounce off of one another like testosterone
fueled bumper cars throughout System’s phenomenal 100-minute set.

So much for the rules. But it was all in good, clean fun, a few
visible scuffles aside. System – also lead singer Serj Tankian,
bassist Shavo Odadjian and drummer John Dolmayan – delivered the
goods from a modestly furnished stage, backed by no video clips and
a relatively simple light show, leaving little to distract from the
band’s politically charged metal sound, which did more than enough
to satisfy by itself.

New songs from System’s “Hypnotize” album, the companion piece to
“Mezmerize,” due out next month, were among the highlights. Malakian
introduced the title track after “Revenga”(((CQ))) and “Know.” It
was a soaring mid-tempo number with a pretty, melodic lead-in that
compared favorably with many of the best songs in the band’s arsenal.

Later, after a spirited, sing-along delivery of breakthrough hit
“Chop Suey, Malakian eased into another new song with modified lines
from Neil Young’s “Hey Hey My My (Into the Black).”

“Hey hey, rock ‘n’ roll is turning gay,” he sang, adding “Not that
there’s anything wrong with gay” during the pregnant pause that
preceded “Kill Rock ‘N’ Roll.”

“Mezmerize” was decent but slightly uneven effort. And the two new
songs provided hope that the innovative band had saved the best
for last.

For the rest of the set System drew pretty evenly from its three
proper studio albums, which also include the band’s self-titled 1998
debut and smash follow up “Toxicity.” Only the menacing “Mr. Jack”
made the cut from outtakes compilation “Steal This Album.”

The band wasn’t afraid to stray from the album versions of its material
or inject a bit of quirky humor into the mix.

Malakian began “Cigaro” by himself, delivering the song’s raunchy
chorus power ballad style. “War” was given the most radical makeover,
with Malakian digitizing his voice, Roger Troutman style, with the
aid of a Roland synthesizer. This approach took a bit of steam out
of one of the band’s best songs, but System gets points for being
bold enough to mix things up.

Later, Malakian snuck a verse of Dire Straits’ classic “Sultans of
Swing” into the set before “Aerials,” personalizing the classic refrain
by singing “we are the System of a Down”; a fun touch that lead into
“Aerials.”

Of the new songs, ballad “Lost in Hollywood” went over best. Sure,
it sounded weird the first time you heard Malakian sing that “throw
your hands in the air” line, a cliche adopted by roughly every rapper
ever. But “Hollywood” was a great anthem in the live setting, as fans
brandishing lighters and glowing cell phone screens as they swayed
to the music.

This would have been a great walk off, and “Question” seemed a little
anticlimactic as a follow up.

The band took a bow, sans encore, several songs later, finishing with
the formidable one-two punch of “Suite-Pee” and “Sugar,” two of the
most powerful numbers from the debut. This critic could have used a
couple more songs from that album in lieu of “Psycho” and “Bounce”
from the lesser “Toxicity” album. But all in all it was a pretty
impressive set.

Opening band Hella would have been the least accessible band this
critic has seen all year if not for a few excruciating minutes catching
a band called The Locust at Bumbershoot Labor Day weekend.

The Cali quartet could be interesting in small doses, but spent too
much time playing in four disconnected tangents (drummer Zach Hill,
also a member of Team Sleep, sounded like he was playing a solo the
entire time) that blended into a bunch of murky noise.

A number of forces conspired to distract your faithful reviewer during
The Mars Volta’s hour-long, beginning with a drunk jackass with his
face painted like Skeletor, who kept wandering up and down the aisle,
occasionally eclipsing the stage and spouting such profound wisdom as
“wh**********oo!!”

Then there was the girl who plopped herself in the seat directly
to your left only to sleep through most of Volta’s set. (For the
uninitiated, imagine napping through Metallica or Black Sabbath.)
This may or may not have been the early stages of an overdose based
on the lack of reaction the first few times her fauxhawked friend
attempted to shake and slap her out of her stupor.

But I digress.

Volta – lead by charismatic singer Cedric Bixler and guitarist
Omar Rodriguez — was perched near the top of this critic’s best
performances list last year, thanks to a titanic opening slot for A
Perfect Circle at the Tacoma Dome.

This time around, the Volta seemed to have reeled it in a bit. Last
year’s 40-minute set consisted of two discernible songs, delivered
as epic jams.

This time the eight-piece band drew its psychedelic set from The Mars
Volta’s sophomore disc “Frances the Mute.” That album’s lead single
“The Widow” seemed over in the blink of an eye compared to fiery,
sprawling deliveries of “Cygnus … Vismund Cygnus” and “L’Via
L’Viaquez.”

The afroed Bixler even seemed a bit more subdued than last year, though
still more energetic and compelling than 99 percent of the front men
in rock. He didn’t do any flips or pick up the mike stand with his
teeth this time around. But he channeled the spirits of James Brown,
Robert Plant and maybe Turbo from “Breakin'” as he punctuating his
soaring vocals with a considerable arsenal of funky dance moves.

The Volta was brilliant, but just not quite as brilliant as the band
seemed in ’04.

Ernest Jasmin: 253-274-7389 [email protected]

U.S. CAN NOT GIVE UP TURKEY IN THE REGION

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.03.2009 16:10 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed
late on Wednesday that U.S. President Barack Obama will be visiting
the country on April 6 and 7, Hurriyet Daily News reports.

Erdogan told in an interview with a news channel that he invited Obama
to attend a meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations initiative in
Istanbul on April 7 and expressed surprise that the U.S. president
not only accepted the invitation but decided also to pay an official
visit to Ankara the day before.

The U.N.-backed Alliance of Civilizations initiative was lunched in
2005 in a bid to help overcome prejudices and misunderstandings between
different cultures and religions. It is co-chaired by Turkey and Spain.

"I didn’t expect (an official visit) that soon… Combining the two
occasions is very meaningful for us," Erdogan said in an interview with
broadcaster TGRT Haber. He said Obama’s visit carries high importance
for both Turkey and the United States. "Turkey is a country that the
U.S. can not give up in the region," he added.

Erdogan said the agenda of bilateral talks with Obama would include
the Middle East conflict, efforts to end the division of Cyprus and
Turkey’s bid to join the European Union.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Turkey earlier this
month, saying that it was time to buttress relations between the two
NATO allies.

PRESIDENT OF ‘MIKA LIMITED’: HIGH COST OF RAILWAY TRANSPORTATION REDUCES POSITIVE EFFECT FOR EXPORT DEVELOPMENT CAUSED BY INCREASE OF EXCHANGE RATE

ArmInfo
2009-03-19 13:43:00

ArmInfo. High cost of the railway transportation largely brings to
naught the positive effect for export development caused by increase
of the dollar-dram exchange rate, President of "Mika Limited" Holding,
owner of "Mika Cement" plant Mikhail Baghdasarov told journalists
when commenting on the cement export prospects. ‘We understand that
the railway needs to recoup its work, however, the tariffs may be
increased smoothly – by 10%, and not by 90% at once like in June,
2008. We almost stopped using the railway in this period, and we had
to deliver the cement by cars for some time’, M. Baghdasarov said.

As Director of ‘Mika Cement’ plant Naira Martirosyan said, 30% discount
for export transportation, announced by SCRW, took effect very late,
that may cause loss of markets. According to her, the discounts were
announced by SCRW in December 2008, however, they were finally formed
only in February 2009. ‘As a result, we yield an essential part of
foreign markets, in particular, in Georgia, to the Turkish cement over
the last half year’, N. Martirosyan said. She added that besides the
tariffs, SCRW increased the station expenses and the payment for use
of wagons by almost 300%. ‘We carry our products in 34 wagons per
day. It means that such increase has become very sensitive for us’,
the director emphasized. In particular, she said, the company has to
stop supplying cement for the Olympic construction in Sochi because
of the high railway tariffs.

INSTRUMENTAL PERFORMANCE PRESIDENTIAL AWARD FINAL TAKES PLACE IN YEREVAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.03.2009 21:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Instrumental Performance presidential award final
took place in Yerevan today.

Linos string quartet, pianist Arus Ajemyan, violinist Mary Khojayan,
oboe player Mane Harutyunyan and clarinetist Narek Harutyunyan are
competing for victory.

The name of the winner, who will receive a diploma, medal and $2500
award, will be announced on May 15.

The annual contest for young musicians and vocalists is
conducted with the assistance of Hayastan All Armenian Fund

RA NA IN SECOND READING AND COMPLETELY ADOPTS PACKAGE OF AMENDMENTS AND ADDENDA TO CRIMINAL CODE AND CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

Noyan Tapan
March 18, 2009

YEREVAN, MARCH 18, NOYAN TAPAN. On March 18, the RA National Assembly
in the second reading and completely adopted the package of amendments
and addenda to the Criminal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure
discussed the day before. Like the voting of the previous day, this
time also the only opposition Zharangutiun faction voted against. The
former NA Speaker, independent deputy Tigran Torosian was also against.

The parliament also in the first reading adopted the package of bills
authored by the government, which envisaged amendments to the valid
laws On Property Tax and On Ensuring Traffic Safety.

PHYSICS: STUDIES FROM S.G. GEVORKIAN AND COLLEAGUES REVEAL NEW FINDINGS ON PHYSICS

Science Letter
March 17, 2009

According to recent research from Yerevan, Armenia, "We measured the
Young’s modulus at temperatures ranging from 20 to 100 degrees C for
a collagen fibril that is taken from a rat’s tendon. The hydration
change under heating and the damping decrement were measured as well."

"At physiological temperatures 25 to 45 degrees C, the Young’s
modulus decreases, which can be interpreted as an instability of the
collagen. For temperatures between 45 and 80 degrees C, the Young’s
modulus first stabilizes and then increases when the temperature is
increased. The hydrated water content and the damping decrement have
strong maximums in the interval 70 to 80 degrees C indicating complex
intermolecular structural changes in the fibril," wrote S.G. Gevorkian
and colleagues (see also Physics).

The researchers concluded: "All these effects disappear after
heat-denaturation of the sample at 120 degrees C. Our main achievement
is a five-stage mechanism by which the instability of a single collagen
at physiological temperatures is compensated by the interaction
between collagen molecules."

Gevorkian and colleagues published their study in Physical Review
Letters (Thermal (In)Stability of Type I Collagen Fibrils. Physical
Review Letters, 2009;102(4):8101).

For additional information, contact S.G. Gevorkian, Yerevan Physics
Institute, Alikhanian Bros St. 2, Yerevan 375036, Armenia.

Publisher contact information for the journal Physical Review Letters
is: American Physical Society, One Physics Ellipse, College Pk,
MD 20740-3844, USA.

DID THEY MAKE THE PAYMENT?

A1+
07:53 pm | March 17, 2009

Economy

The money from the sale of "Bjni" actually hasn’t made it to the state
budget, concluded today the "Bjni mineral water factory" CJSC, which
has appealed to the Service for Compulsory Enforcement of Judicial
Acts of the RA Ministry of Justice asking to provide the materials
of the court order, but the service has not provided them to date.

"In addition, the Service for Compulsory Enforcement of Judicial
Acts is showing passivity when it comes to handing the buyer the
products that were put up for auction. We think that the reason for
not handing the copies of the materials of the court order is very
clear: the payment has not been made. We are certain that there has
not been any bank transfer. Perhaps the SCEJA is preparing a false
check transfer with the hope that the factual payment will be made,"
as stated in the statement.

According to the company, that is also the reason why the payment
has not been transferred to the state budget, that is, the State
Incomes Committee, there has not been a notice of the payments and
the additional amount has not been returned to the owner.

In the text of the statement Director General of the "Bjni" mineral
water factory" CJSC Laert Harutyunyan asks:

"Why doesn’t the service transfer the tremendous amount of money
to the state budget? What is the reason? Why is the SCEJA avoiding
to hand the materials of the court order to the company when it is
really obligated to do so?"

The "Bjni" administration asks the RA Prosecutor General’s office
and the RA Police to check to see whether the prepaid amount has been
transferred to the SCEJA’s cashbox or not and how the amount has been
brought to the service (who brought it, who accepted it and so on),
why the amount has not been distributed to the owner and why those
responsible have not been brought to justice.

The letter has been sent to the RA Prosecutor General, Chief of RA
Police, RA Ombudsman and Head of the RA State Incomes Committee.

"A1+" tried to find out from the Service for Compulsory Enforcement
of Judicial Acts why the copies of the required documents are not
being provided.

"The sides participating in the process may take an excerpt from the
case and may take advantage of that part of the law, but doesn’t the
law state that we have to copy and provide the eight-volume case?" said
press speaker for the Service for Compulsory Enforcement of Judicial
Acts Ruben Grdzelyan. But why aren’t the checks provided? "They can
come, sit down, look, read and take excerpts. If they haven’t done
that, then this statement is a political speculation on their part."

He assured us that "the money has been transferred by the foreseen
order" three days after the auction and has been distributed based
on articles on state assets, committees of state incomes and to the
SCEJA for court order expenses.

Yousuf Karsh’s portraits are exhibited in Seoul
18.03.2009 00:41 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Seventy of Karsh’s portraits from the collection of
the Museum of Fine Arts Boston are currently part of the "Karsh 100"
exhibition at the Hangaram Art Museum, Seoul Arts Center, Korea Times
reports. The exhibition marks the 100th anniversary of Karsh’s birth,
who died in 2002 at the age of 93, Korea Times reports. "Karsh 100"
runs through May 8.

The Armenian-Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh, a master of portrait
photography, is widely known for his iconic portraits of some of the
most famous men and women of the 20th century, such as Winston
Churchill, Albert Einstein, Mother Teresa, Ernest Hemingway,
Jacqueline Kennedy and Audrey Hepburn.

Throughout his career, Karsh took portraits of 15,312 of the most
notable people around the world.

Karsh had once written about his "fascination for the inner power of
his subjects." His goal was "to photograph the great in spirit,
whether they be famous or humble."

The Karsh exhibition in Seoul is divided into three sections,
"Portraits," featuring his famous works of people; "On Assignment,"
showing images of post-war Canada; and "The Early Years," featuring
early experimental images.

Aside from the famous portraits of Churchill, Hepburn, Kennedy,
Einstein and Hemingway, there are also revealing portraits of Pablo
Picasso, Dwight Eisenhower, Humphrey Bogart, Jacques Costeau, Helen
Keller and Fidel Castro.

Korean photographer Lim Young-kyun had a chance to meet Karsh in New
York in 1982. His portrait of Karsh is included in the exhibition.