Author: Hambardsumian Paul

ARMROSGASPROM TO ISSUE BONDS FOR 1BLN DRAMS BY END OF JUNE

ARKA
June 3, 2008

YEREVAN, June 3. /ARKA/. ArmRosgasprom is to effect the second issue
of its bonds for 1bln drams by the end of June.

The Press Service of the Company reports that the respective agreement
on issue and placement of the bonds signed between ArmRosgasprom
closed joint stock company (CJSC) and ArmSwissbank CJSC provides for
secured placement of bonds.

The volume of the issues is 1 billion Armenian drams with nominal bond
value being 50,000drams and maturity period being 3 years. Interest
rate is set at an annual of 9.5% and coupon yield is to be paid once
every half a year.

Investors are expected to be able to purchase bonds at a price lower
than the nominal one, which will result in investor’s annual bond
yield making 10%. In this case the placement price will be determined
based on the formula developed.

In September 2007 the Board of Directors of ArmRosgasprom approved
a bond issue program for total of 5bln drams to finance the gas
installation process in Armenia.

The first issue of coupon bonds of ArmRosgasprom with an 18-month
retirement period was completed on July 4 2007. The volume of the
issue was 1bln drams.

The company issued 100,000 mid-term coupon bonds with nominal value
of 10,000 drams and a 9% annual interest rate.

At the end of September 2007 corporate bonds of ArmRosgasprom for
1bln drams were registered and listed on the Armenian Stock Exchange.

"ArmRosgasprom" holds the monopoly for supply and distribution of the
Russian natural gas on the domestic market of Armenia. The company
was founded in 1997. Its capital is $580mln currently.

The shareholders are "Gasprom" open joint stock company (72.16%),
Armenia’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (22.78%) and
"Itera" oil and gas company (5.06%). ($1=305.42drams).

OFFICIAL YEREVAN HOPES FOR POSITIVE RESULTS OF ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTIAL MEETING

ARKA
June 4, 2008

YEREVAN, June 4. /ARKA/. The RA Foreign Office hopes for positive
results of the upcoming meeting between Armenian and Azerbaijani
Presidents Serge Sargsyan and Ilkham Aliyev, stated RA Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandyan.

"It is the way it must be. Otherwise, a strange situation will
develop, and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen will have to make
certain conclusions," the Minister told a news conference.

The Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders are to meet in Saint Petersburg
on June 6. It will be the first meeting after Serge Sargsyan’s election
as RA President.

Minister Nalbandyan pointed out the necessity for avoiding steps that
would torpedo a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
on the threshold of this important meeting. He reported that, after
their meeting, the two countries’ Presidents are likely to instruct
the Foreign Ministers to continue the negotiations.

It is a statement on further negotiations that will be a positive
result of the meeting. Nothing more should be expected after the
first meeting, the Minister said.

Nalbandyan also reported that, at a news conference held jointly with
RF Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the sides stressed the necessity
for a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Since 1992, negotiations for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict have been conducted within the OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired
by the USA, Russia and France.

ARMENIA PREPARED TO CONTINUE TALKS ON PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT BASED ON MADRID SUGGESTIONS: FOREIGN MINISTER

Trend News Agency
June 5 2008
Azerbaijan

Armenia is prepared to continue talks on peaceful settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of Madrid suggestions made by
the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Edward Nalbandyan, the Foreign
Minister of Armenia, said, Novosti-Armenia reports.

"These suggestions are the result of long-term efforts of the co-chairs
and their contacts with the conflicting sides. The Madrid document
really contains several suggestions presented to the Foreign Ministers
of the two countries and we are prepared to continue the talks based
on them," Nalbandyan said to a press-conference on 4 June.

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group presented base principles on
peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to be considered
by the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia in November 2007 in
Madrid. The co-chairs consider that the Madrid suggestions are fair
and balanced.

According to the Foreign Minister of Armenia, the existence of the
documents and formed suggestions was confirmed during the recent
press-conference in Moscow by the Foreign Minister of Sergey Lavrov
as well.

Nalbandyan said that currently the issue is not considered with
regards to preparation of new proposals by co-chairs, Armenia and
Azerbaijan. He once again assured that his country is prepared to
continue talks on the basis of the suggestions. "Azerbaijan should
be prepared for it as well," the Foreign Minister said.

/City-Update

The Newton Tab

Newton, Massachusetts

City Update

Tuesday June 3, 2008

Recognizing one of Newton’s strongest voices

David Boyajian, who ignited a nationwide debate with a letter to the
TAB’s sister paper, the Watertown TAB & Press, last summer, was
honored with a resolution from the Governor’s Council on April 30.

The resolution recognizes Boyajian for his role in the campaign
against the Anti-Defamation League’s denial of the Armenian Genocide
and for questioning the appropriateness of towns’ affiliation with the
ADL’s No Place for Hate anti-bias program.

The resolution mentioned Boyajian’s `successful efforts to have
communities sever ties with the ADL’s No Place for Hate and to end the
Massachusetts Municipal Association’s sponsorship’ of the program. The
resolution further described the ADL’s opposition to Congressional
affirmation of the Armenian Genocide as `depriving the Armenians of
their history.’

The ADL has yet to unambiguously acknowledge the genocide and has
opposed recognition of it by the U.S. Congress.

Boyajian, Armenian-Americans and human rights advocates have argued
that No Place for Hate’s human rights mission is incompatible with the
stance of the ADL on the widely recognized genocide committed against
Armenians by Turkey from 1915 to 1923.

Boyajian’s letter in the Watertown TAB & Press on July 6, 2007, and
his subsequent activism sparked the issue, which soon became
international news.

About 50 people attended the proceedings, many of them
Armenian-Americans. A group of Wellesley High School political
science students on a field trip to the State House also
attended. Wellesley is affiliated with No Place for Hate.

Watertown decertified its No Place for Hate on Aug. 11, 2007. In the
months following, Arlington, Bedford, Belmont, Lexington, Medford,
Needham, Newburyport, Newton, Northampton, Peabody, Somerville and
Westwood followed suit.

ANCA CALLS FOR CONGRESSMAN STEPHEN COHEN TO END HIS SHAMEFUL DENIAL OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.06.2008 15:34 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian National Committee Political Action
Committee (ANC-PAC), the nation’s largest Armenian American political
action committee, is calling for Congressman Stephen Cohen (D-TN) to
end his shameful denial of the Armenian Genocide. Cohen, a Democrat
who represents the Ninth Congressional District in Tennessee, is a
known genocide denier who has actively worked to oppose legislation
to mark the murder of 1.5 million Armenian Christians who died in
the first genocide of the 20th century, the ANCA told PanARMENIAN.Net.

Cohen, a member of the Congressional Turkish Caucus, was elected to the
U.S. House of Representatives in 2006 to a majority African American
district in and around Memphis, Tennessee. His victory was largely
seen by political pundits and observers as the result of a Democratic
primary that included 14 candidates, most of them African Americans,
who split the vote, thereby allowing Cohen to prevail. In 2008, the
African American community has largely rallied around candidate Nikki
Tinker, who is challenging Cohen in a Democratic primary slated for
this August.

"Congressman Cohen practices what I charitably call selective
amnesia on the Armenian Genocide," commented Cohen’s constituent,
Dany Beylerian from Memphis. "He should be ashamed for wantonly
kowtowing to a foreign government’s [Republic of Turkey] demand that
the premeditated murder of the Armenian people be denied.

It is unbelievable that the Congressman talks about the Holocaust
and the ongoing genocide in Darfur from one side of his mouth and
uses the other to deny the Armenian Genocide," added Beylerian.

On October 17, 2007, just seven days after the House Foreign Affairs
Committee adopted the Armenian Genocide resolution (H.Res. 106),
Cohen joined Congressman John P. Murtha, Chairman of the House
Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense at a press conference to urge
the House Leadership to not bring the Armenian Genocide Resolution
to the House Floor for a vote. Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL),
chairman of the Congressional Turkish Caucus, also participated in
this genocide denial press conference.

In an October 18, 2007 article by New York Times reporter Carl Hulse,
Cohen was quoted explaining his opposition to the Armenian Genocide
resolution: "I’ve got the compassion for the people, the Armenians
that are fighting for their ancestors," said Cohen. "But these are
real-life situations, and sometimes your heart has to give in to your
head and do what makes sense for your country."

Earlier this month, Cohen was asked at a town hall meeting in Memohis
why he has chosen to engage in the ugly and immoral practice of
genocide denial. He responded by sharing with his constituents that
Congress should not legislate history. In an ironic twist, Cohen has
introduced legislation apologizing for slavery, himself promoting
the legislating of history.

In answering Beylerian at the town hall meeting, Cohen carefully
crafted his statements so as not to use the word "genocide." He
claimed that Turkey was too important an ally and referred to the
Armenian Genocide as a war between Armenian and Turkey.

Knowingly or unknowingly, his response is drawn directly from the
genocide denial arguments crafted by firms lobbying on behalf of the
Turkish government that are paid over $2 million annually to deny
the Armenian Genocide. When pressed whether he would promote the
interests of a German government that denies the Holocaust, Cohen
did not provide an answer.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
May 29 2008

As I stand applauding

by Fehmi Koru

Did Nuri Bilge Ceylan say `I dedicate this to my beautiful and lovely
country’ as I thought I heard him clearly say, or `I dedicate this to
my beautiful and lonely country,’ as is widely being reported in the
Turkish media, during his best director award acceptance speech at the
Cannes Film Festival.

His success as a Turkish filmmaker is really unique. Almost all his
early works were neglected by Turkish moviegoers. In a country where
the movie industry is moving upward, Ceylan’s `Distant’ has attracted
only 20,000 spectators in Turkey. He doesn’t give into pressure from
film critics to the effect that he should speed up the pace of his
story-telling in the movies he shoots.

His new movie for which he won the Best Director Award in Cannes,
`Three Monkeys,’ hasn’t yet seen daylight in Turkey. As I gathered
from reviews, the story of the film is familiar to my ears. A
politician runs down a youngster and sends his driver to prison in his
place. While the driver serves his sentence in jail, the politician
sexually abuses the driver’s wife. The movie is based on the stories
of different people with family secrets. One of the critics even
called `Three Monkeys’ a thriller.

A thriller by Nuri Bilge Ceylan?

All his movies tell the stories of perplexed people in modern-day
Turkey and depict the human condition. The people in his movies are in
between something, never reaching their goals easily. He cannot really
tell their stories with a quicker pace; I wonder how he shot a movie
described as a thriller.

Ceylan’s rise to international acclaim didn’t start with `Three
Monkeys’ at the 61st Cannes Film Festival. His first film, `Koza’
(Cocoon), was screened at Cannes in 1995 and his last two movies,
`Distant’ and `Climates,’ both won awards at film festivals including
Cannes. The Best Director Award for `Three Monkeys’ at Cannes is a new
page in his consistent search for perfect.

Turkey isn’t famous for its success stories related to fields that
showcase individual efforts. Art in all its forms isn’t encouraged as
is the case in different countries in Turkey’s league. We don’t care
much about preserving our national treasures let alone supporting
people who endeavor endlessly to achieve international fame. When we
see a universal success story, we become suspicious of
behind-the-scenes hanky-panky. If another country praises one of us,
or gives awards to a Turk, he or she is subject to the strictest
scrutiny.

Look what we did to Orhan Pamuk, the one and only Nobel Prize winner
from Turkey. Pamuk is regarded by most in the Turkish media as being
hand-in-hand with Turkey-bashers, giving in to their line —
criticizing our beloved country for deeds we never did. All these
accusations stem from what Pamuk said once when we were discussing the
heated `Armenian question.’ He asked for empathy from the Turkish
public toward people who believe that they lost their loved ones
during a real human tragedy less than a century ago.

That simple line of inquiry made Pamuk suspicious in the eyes of many
here in Turkey who believed that he didn’t win the Nobel Prize in
literature for his excellent novels devoured by readers the world
over, but because he sold his soul to Turkey’s foes.

Since I haven’t seen his latest film, `Three Monkeys,’ I am a bit
curious if Nuri Bilge Ceylan is going to receive the same kind of
treatment by the crowd who never believes in the merit of their own
countrymen.

It’s no coincidence that Turkish movies are being recognized at
international festivals. Cannes has been following Ceylan since he
made his debut there 13 years ago, but yet other Turkish moviemakers
and directors have walked down the red carpet, too. Fatih Akın,
the German-born Turkish movie director who makes his movies for
international audiences, won the Best Screenplay Award for
`YaÅ?amın Kıyısında’ (The Edge of
Heaven) last year at Cannes. Zeki Demirkubuz and Semih
KaptanoÄ?lu are also known as established moviemakers, and their
films watched by audiences everywhere.

In Turkey these directors have a devout circle of followers — ones
who never miss a movie directed by Ceylan, for instance — but their
box office numbers never reach the level of their populist rivals in
the country. `Recep Ä°vedik,’ a new blockbuster that earned more
than $3 million for its producers, is a dark comedy portraying the
most obnoxious man imaginable. You don’t need to be an experienced
director to shoot the movie `Recep Ä°vedik,’ and incidentally,
its 23-year-old director happens to be the younger brother of the star
who plays the Recep Ä°vedik character in their joint
production. Whereas Ceylan’s `Distant’ was seen by a mere 20,000
movie-goers in Turkey, millions of people rush to the theaters to
watch `Recep Ä°vedik.’

I don’t think I heard him wrong, Nuri Bilge Ceylan must have said `My
beautiful and lovely country’ rather than `My beautiful and lonely
country.’ The country Turkey is both beautiful and lovely, no doubt
about it, and loneliness is the fate of the directors and artists who
carry out their art in the strictest isolation without expecting to
receive applause from large audiences in their own country.

OFF THE SHELF: CRITICS ON THE DEATH OF CRITICISM; THE DEBATE OVER BARBARA COLOROSO’S EXTRAORDINARY EVIL; FROM BOOK TO PURSE
Ronald Nurwisah

National Post
May 28 2008
Canada

A weekly roundup of what’s going on in the book world in Canada
and abroad:

A couple of book critics from Salon (Laura Miller and Pierre Bayard)
gnash their teeth over whether their jobs are obsolete. Who’s to blame:
academics, bloggers, videogames?

After 340 years and a list of 22 men that reads like a high school
literature textbook, the organizers of a high-profile British literary
festival are asking the Queen to consider appointing a woman to the
post of poet laureate when current laureate Andrew Motion steps down
next year. The poet laureate is responsible for writing poems to mark
special occasions.

The Toronto District School Boards sparked controversy last week
when it pulled another book from its classrooms. This time around,
it’s Barbara Coloroso’s Extraordinary Evil, a book that examines
genocide through the lens of the Armenian uprising, the Holocaust
and the Rwandan genocide.

Members of the Turkish community objected to the portrayal of the
Armenian genocide in Coloroso’s book.

The board has received condemnation from various people in the
literary community. Patsy Aldana, publisher at Groundwood books,
is no stranger to censorship by the TDSB. Their book Three Wishes,
which looked at children in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was
pulled by the board. Here are some of Aldana’s comments:

What is offensive in your decision is that it reflects what seems
to have become the TDSB’s habitual response to pressure – get rid
of books that are "problematic." This is a Grade 11 course – thus
obviating the weasel words "age inappropriate" used in the THREE WISHES
case. Is Barbara Coloroso’s argument unworthy of being considered,
discussed, debated?

Barbara Coloroso’s publisher David Davidar also comes to his author’s
defense here.

If you’re anything like me you probably have a few handsome but
seldom-read hardcover books lying around. This neat DIY project turns
a hardcover book into a handbag or in my case, a man-bag.

Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
May 27 2008

Darchinyan confident of beating champ

May 27, 2008 – 3:06PM

Australian Vic Darchinyan rates IBF super flyweight World champion
Dimitri Kirilov as very beatable and predicts he will "destroy" the
Russian in their world title bout in August.

Darchinyan recently returned from Armenia, the country of his birth,
where he spent a few weeks preparing for his big fight return to North
America.

His August 5 clash with 29-year-old Kirilov will take place in either
Las Vegas or Vancouver.

Darchinyan was unimpressed by Kirilov’s performance in his first
defence in which he managed only a draw against Mexican challenger
Cecilio Santos, who had suffered seven previous professional losses.

"I know I’m going to destroy him, I’m very confident about this
fight," said Darchinyan of Kirilov, who has a record of 29 wins (9
KOs), 3 losses and a draw.

"I think he’s very beatable. All he can do is move, he’s not a big
puncher."

Darchinyan will head to America on June 24 for extensive pre-fight
sparing in Los Angeles and Texas.

His manager, Elias Nassar, revealed Darchinyan was also getting
assistance from staff at the NSW Institute of Sport.

"They are getting involved in nutrition and vitamin intake, so Vic
peaks on the day," Nassar said.

If Darchinyan defeats Kirilov, his first defence could be against his
old adversary Nonito Donaire, the only man to beat him in the
professional ranks.

Filipino Donaire, who took away Darchinyan’s IBF and IBO flyweight
world titles last year, is expected to move up to super flyweight and
could challenge WBO champion Fernando Montiel provided the Mexican
successfully defends his title this weekend against former Darchinyan
victim Luis Maldonado.

Donaire is also expected to appear on the August 2 promotion.

Used to beating up bigger sparing partners in the ring, Darchinyan is
now doing the same on computer games.

He was involved on Tuesday in one of several launches world-wide of
the Don King Prizefighter game.

As the only super flyweight, Darchinyan was testing himself out
against bigger foes in the game including lightweights Joel Casamayor
and Nate Campbell.

MINISTER NALBANDIAN LEAVING FOR BRUSSELS

armradio.am
27.05.2008 10:53

RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian is leaving for Brussels today.

On May 28 at the NATO headquarters Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian
and Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan will participate in the sitting
of the North-Atlantic Council in the 26+1 format, where the process
of accomplishment of the Armenia-NATO Individual Partnership Action
Plan will be discussed.

On May 29 Edward Nalbandian will pay a three-day official visit
to Moscow, where the Minister will have meetings with his Russian
counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS
Affairs Alexey Osarovsky and the Secretary General of the Collective
Security Treaty Organization Nikolay Bordyuzha.

Minister Nalbandian is also expected to meet with representatives of
the Armenian organizations of Russia.

Within the framework of the visit Minister Nalbandian will make a
speech before the students and faculty of the International Relations
Institute of Moscow.

Minister Nalbandian will return to Yerevan on the 1st of June.

ATOM EGOYAN’S LAST-MINUTE JITTERS
Peter Howell

Toronto Star
May 23 2008
Canada

Canadian film icon identifies with newbie Collingwood filmmakers

CANNES, France-Atom Egoyan laughed yesterday when he heard the story
about two Canuck neophytes attempting to sell their homegrown horror
film here.

"I made that, actually!" Egoyan quipped, referring to Scarce,
a cannibal hillbilly flick by hoser horrormeisters Jesse Cook and
John Geddes.

"I wrote and directed it. I paid them to pretend they were me."

Egoyan, 47, was in a bit of a giddy mood, doing breakfast interviews
on scant hours of sleep after arriving in Cannes late the night before
from Israel, where he received an award for his 2002 film, Ararat.

Before going to bed he had to attend a 2 a.m. technical briefing at
the Palais des Festivals, to prepare for last night’s world premiere
screening of his film Adoration.

Egoyan can easy identify with rookie filmmakers arriving in Cannes
for the first time. He feels that way himself, even though Adoration
is his 12th feature and the fifth to premiere in competition at the
Cannes Film Festival.

"This is a very weird experience for me. I’ve never come into a
festival like this because I’m usually around, but I had to be
away. I now have no idea of what the alchemy of this festival is,
which is both a blessing and a curse."

He was alarmed to find that the press screening for Adoration would
overlap with the press conference for Steven Soderbergh’s Che, a
four-hour, 28-minute opus about Latin revolutionary Ernesto (Che)
Guevara that also kept critics up late the night before.

Egoyan was concerned his film wouldn’t be viewed with fresh eyes.

"At this point of the festival, I would imagine people are kind
of exhausted.

"So I’m not quite sure how attentive people can be after eight days of
very intense film watching. But it’s a risk you take and I’m excited
to see what happens to it."

On the other hand, the sensory overload at Cannes might work in
Adoration’s favour.

One of the movie’s themes is the proliferation of Internet chat-rooms,
which Egoyan sees as developing into online substitutes for community
meetings. The film also deals with hidden truths and the distortion
of facts through gossip and misperception.

It stars Scott Speedman, Arsinée Khanjian, Rachel Blanchard and
newcomers Devon Bostick and Katie Boland.

"What I get excited about are structures where your mind is racing and
you’re wondering, What is going on, what are the connections?" Egoyan
said.

"There’s a play between what the viewer is imagining and where the
film is moving and I’ve always found that really exciting. I love to
be in that zone, but I know some people might find it frustrating."

Adoration is a return to the more minimalist style of Egoyan’s earlier
work, following the grander scale of Where the Truth Lies, his Cannes
competition entry from 2005.

The new movie was proudly filmed in Toronto on a budget of $6 million,
which is a small sum for a filmmaker of Egoyan’s stature.

But like those horror lads from Collingwood, he’s excited about the
freedom you get when you don’t have a lot of money to account for.

"You can experiment a lot more. There’s not that same set of
expectations and I think it’s really a question of finding that
threshold where you’re allowed to do what you do best."

Now if only he could get some sleep, too.

–Boundary_(ID_4RkET9nLkGbpLIzwYCgxJA)–