Author: Jagharian Tania

ARMENIA’S GOVERNMENT APPROVES DEVELOPMENT OF REAL ESTATE CADASTRE

Arka News Agency, Armenia
Feb 27 2007

YEREVAN, February 26. /ARKA/. The RA Government approved the
comprehensive development program of the real estate cadastre in 2007,
said Manuk Vardanyan, the head of the RA State Committee of the Real
Estate Cadastre, last Thursday.

He said that 14 programs of developing the system of real estate
cadastres will be implemented in 2007, the financing totals AMD 729mln
($2,061ths).

"The main programs are directed to the implementation of geodesy,
cartography and estimation of real estate. The programs implemented
the last eight years were completed, and in 2007 the database will
be refreshed," he said.

According to the comprehensive program, it is intended to implement a
unique real estate cadastre in the country’s territory, increase the
effectiveness of geodesy and cartography management, form a system of
effective management of land resources, and support the development
of real estate market.

Vardanyan said that thanks to the comprehensive program, a special
secret coordinating system used for defense will be implemented in
Armenia. Besides, a VGS-84 European coordinating system, to which
Armenia has recently joined, will be implemented in the country.

While specifying the geodesic coordinates by VGS-84 and Baltic
systems, the transition from target to altitude indices will be
realized. Vardanyan said that in 2007 a powerful geodesic centre will
be equipped: more than 100 stations will be exploited which will be
able to determine any spatial coordinates.

HISTORIAN HALACOGLU: LET’S EXCAVATE DISPUTED SITE TOGETHER

New Anatolian, Turkey
Feb 26 2007

Yusuf Halacoglu, head of the Turkish Historical Society (TTK), is
urging a leading Armenian historian to officially declare his intent
to work alongside Turkish historians at an alleged mass grave site
near Harput.

Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Halacoglu said that Armenian
historian Ara Sarafian claimed Leslie Davis, who was on the Harput
Council in 1915, said 12,000 Armenian were killed and thrown into a
valley near Lake Hazar.

"Upon his allegations I told Sarafian we should open this so-called
mass grave together," said Halacoglu. "The allegations are so
groundless that it wasn’t possible to find a grave to put 12,000
people in those days. Moreover, it was impossible to cover up 12,000
people by working with shovels."

Halacoglu said that when the Armenian historian went there to do
research he didn’t find anything. "So I told him that he can’t claim
what he didn’t find as real by citing some reports as evidence,"
he continued. "Basing allegations on rumors of missionaries without
researching the Ottoman archives or other archives isn’t suitable for
a scholar or historian. I proposed to Sarafian that we investigate
together what had happened to the Armenians all over Anatolia in those
days, and what had happened to Muslims; in other words what happened
generally in 1915. Upon my offer I think they came with a suggestion
to work together regarding the alleged mass grave in Nusaybin."

Claiming that both Ottoman and Armenian archives should be researched
thoroughly regarding the issue, Halacoglu said that working alone
doesn’t work out.

The historian added that Sarafian didn’t write to him directly. "He
should have make contact directly with us," said Halacoglu. "Now
if he didn’t write to us officially his intention won’t be seen as
sincere. They should have sent us their offer officially. We can’t
solve a problem by just saying, ‘Let’s deal with an event in Harput.’
It may only be a beginning. The reason behind my accepting his
suggestion immediately was to show that we don’t have anything to
hide. We can work wherever they want."

Halacoglu said that they are ready to confront everything with every
kind of method. "If they want to open a grave, then let’s do it;
if the want to do research, let’s do it," he said.

Stating that the atrocities Armenian committees committed on Turks
and Muslims should also be dealt with, Halacoglu said that the
Armenian Dashnak organization’s atrocities were recorded in archives
in Yerevan and Boston. He added that opening these archives will shed
light on history.

Halacoglu also said that forming a tribunal to deal with the 1915
events is not possible. "If such a court is formed, then it should
deal with the deeds of many countries," he claimed. "What Armenians
or Russians or Greeks did to Turks should be investigated by the
tribunal as well. In other words, 5.5 million people were deported
in the Balkans, which can be called ethnic cleansing. This should
also be investigated."

Halacoglu said that some world parliaments say Turks should
confront their past. "But which Turks? Turks in the Middle East,
in the Caucasus, the Balkans? Turks today?" he asked. "How can they
accuse me of committing the worst crime of humanity before giving me
a chance to defend myself? If I make an application at the European
Court of Human Rights I can get compensation. Accusing them of hurting
me and humiliating me with their accusations, I can get a huge amount
of compensation. We can do it together."

Halacoglu said that rather than officials, ordinary people and
non-governmental groups should do this against the 19 countries
which have taken decisions regarding the so-called Armenian genocide,
including Italy, Germany, Belgium, Poland and France.

Armenians claim that large numbers of Armenians — with figures
ranging between 600,000 and 1.5 million — were massacred by Turks
during World War I, which they say amounts to genocide. The Turkish
side says that there were many deaths on both sides, fiercely denying
any systematic massacres.

Mauritius Times, Mauritius
Feb 23 2007

So Depressing – What are we to do?

— Paramanund Soobarah

These are depressing times. Koffi Annan, a giant amongst men who
strove for justice and legality against very heavy odds, has been
replaced by one man whose only qualification was that he had the
support of the White House. Saddam Hussein, long time President of
Iraq who played the Americans’ game by conducting an eight-year long
war with Iran, and who sadly turned the American weapons on some of
his own people he suspected of collaborating with the enemy, was
hanged with indecent haste in a most atrocious and shabby manner
after a mock trial. Even the worst criminals deserve a fair trial and
a decent execution.
Saddam’s crime was no greater than that of the Turks, great allies of
America, who, because they suspected the Armenians among them of
collaborating with the British and French during the First World War,
killed more than a million of them. The only important thing in the
Iraq war seems to be the number of `American’ lives lost. The seven
hundred thousand or so Iraqis killed is of no consequence at all. And
the carnage goes on. It is becoming clear even to Americans that it
needs somebody like Saddam to keep the peace among the various
factions in Iraq. (Nobody wants a free Kurdistan or an independent
Shia country in the Arabian Peninsula.) In the meantime violence and
fundamentalism are raising their ugly heads in Afghanistan again,
because the country was left unguarded in order to deploy resources
to Iraq, then a totally innocent country in what has been termed the
War on Global Terrorism.
The incubation area of this folly, North West Pakistan, nurtured by
Zia Ul Haq and Hamid Gul with the help of American arms and Saudi
money during the Cold War –ostensibly to drive out the Soviets from
Afghanistan — was initially strongly encouraged and later ignored,
even though it cost thousands of Indians – of all religious
denominations – their lives. Who cared in those days whether Indians
lived or died? The violence also started in Pakistan, but for many
years it was fashionable to find in it `the hand of the enemy’
(namely India). But after three attempts on the life of President
Musharraf, the truth has come home to everybody. This week a lady
Minister in Pakistan was shot and killed as she was to address a
public meeting. The killer, a mason by trade, said he had no regrets
as he was doing God’s bidding, and will do it again if freed: women
who do not wear the veil infringe divine law and deserved to die.
Such thinking is rife in Bangla Desh and South East Asia, and is
slowly gaining ground in India. Violence is also rife in Somalia and
western Sudan, and is raising its ugly head in Algeria again, where
more than a hundred thousand were killed in the eighties out of
disagreement among factions of the same religion. Nobody is at peace
in Britain and in Western Europe generally – a climate of fear is
generally pervading these countries.

Mauritius stands out as a haven of peace. We shall shun the obvious
question `for how long?’. The reason lies in the distribution of our
various ethnic groups in the population, and in our history. Some
politicians wish to change this distribution by relocating large
groups of people they think are likely to vote for them in areas
where a small change in the ethnic distribution of voters may improve
their prospects. They may be playing with fire. Let them turn to the
policies of Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam for inspiration. We must all
recognise that his son Navin is following in his footsteps in this
regard.

But how is Navin doing on other matters? When in the constituencies
we voted for Rama Sithanen et al, it was not for the love of them.
They counted for naught in our decision. We were absolutely fed with
the `mari deal’ crowd who set sound legal advice from within the
government aside and went out to a private lawyer to justify their
murky transactions, and who plundered the coffers of the national
regulatory bank to feather the nests of their friends. We decided
that it was Navin Ramgoolam who should be our Prime Minister and so
voted for the fellows he sent us in our constituencies. One fellow,
who thinks he is a very big man and is surprised when the government
of the day does not act according to his wishes, puts our voting
choices down to the épiderme of some of the people concerned. When in
the forties the people revolted against the capitalists (who killed
Anjalay in the bargain), they paid scant attention to the épiderme of
the people they were opposing.
But what are we getting from Navin Ramgoolam in return, beyond his,
one must accept, sound communal politicking? He cannot blame Rama
Sithanen or Dharam Gokool or others for government policies. We did
not vote for them to lead the country. Had he sent us a monkey in our
constituency, we would have voted for it, for that would have been
the only way for us to get him as Prime Minister. And what has he
done so far, beyond the changes introduced in the first 100 days?

In his economic policies he has decided to favour the very rich and
the very poor with all sorts of incentives and to crush the middle
class – be they salaried people or planters or managers of SMEs. Let
him do an honest count of how much he has given to the very rich and
weigh that against what the so-called National Residential Property
Tax, the cancellation of the tax on first fifty tons of sugar, the
cancellation of the assistance with exam fees, the removal of the
subsidy on rice and flour,etc., will bring him. He will find that
these taxes won’t even bring him ten per cent of the tax incentives
he has given to large companies and to the IRS people – a clear case
of robbing Peter to privilege Paul.
In education, he is abolishing the CPE exams. The people who copied
the `Key Stages’ of education idea from the UK (nominally Steven
Obeegadoo), misled the Nation by not including a fundamental element
of that idea, namely the national assessment of progress at the end
of each Key Stage. They left us with just two of them instead of
four, namely at the ends of the Sixth Standard and of the Fifth Form.
>From Standard One to Six, it was all automatic promotion year after
year, and then blamed those who passed the CPE for the failure of the
rest. The same sort of whining went on in secondary education as
well. We all agree that the failure rate at the CPE is unacceptably
high. But is the abolition of the examination, and extending
automatic promotion up to Form III the solution? What we want is
examinations every year by the schools, and national assessment at
the end of each Key Stage. Then only will parents – regardless of
their épiderme — have a true picture of the performance of their
children.

One feature of Navin Ramgoolam’s administration is causing us a great
deal of concern. That is the suppression of information. The
government websites have gone dead. If you turn to the Legislative
Assembly website, you won’t find any information on current
legislation. About education all you will find is Steven Obeegadoo’s
Rat Race document. The MES have stopped giving detailed results of
examinations gradewise and schoolwise. If we don’t know, we can’t
comment and will leave them in peace – they think. Is this proper
behaviour from a government which pretends to be in favour of the
right to information? And what does the Attorney General think about
this?

Another feature of Navin Ramgoolam’s management is the quality of
English his speakers use at the MBC. It is so bad that I have given
up watching the English bulletin. But this evening (Wednesday 21
February) my wife told me that there was something or other about
mother tongues on, and given my interest in Bhojpuri, I decided to
watch the 9 o’clock bulletin. What attracted my interest most was the
awful English of the male voice whose face thankfully not not
visible. The female newsreader was by and large quite acceptable (she
still has to learn the `fishmonger’ rhymes not with `longer’ but with
`hunger’). But the male speaker is absolutely hopeless. Is that the
sort of English we wish our children to learn?

This Friday, the 23 of February, is exactly the 200th anniversary of
the passing of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act by the British
Parliament, following a difficult but in the end successful campaign
by William Wilberforce. The forces of evil are at work again in the
world at large: it is quite possible for the people in the
SubContinent and in Europe to live in peace side by side, but they
are choosing not to. It is quite possible for the world to live
without oil and even without coal, but it is choosing not to; it
prefers to go on damaging the environment and financing global
terrorism. There is nothing we can do about in Mauritius.
But limiting ourselves to our own affairs, let us, on this
anniversary day, rededicate ourselves to the ideas of freedom and
justice for all. If the government continues with its policies of
suppressing information, favouring the few at the expense of the
majority financially, and wrecking our education system instead of
improving it, that will make slaves of all of us. We must begin to
think of an alternative.

Paramanund Soobarah
[email protected]

A1+

THREE DIRECTIONS FOR KARABAKH
[03:59 pm] 22 February, 2007

more images `I welcome NKR President Arkadi Ghoukasyan’s intention to
run for the presidency for the third term’, Arthur Baghdasaryan,
leader of the OYP announced today in the Friday Club. In his opinion
Arkadi Ghoukasyan’s decision is vital for the future well-being of the
NKR and international community.

Caspian-Caucasian International Commission will conduct missions in
the NKR, Abkhazia, and South Osetia in 2007. On February 12-13 the
commission convened its first sitting in Brussels. The key issue of
the discussion was the relationship of Caspian-Caucasian region with
the European countries. The sitting was attended by Arthur
Baghdasaryan.

The leader of the OYP focused on three directions on the NKR
issue. First of all, he underlines the necessity of establishing
democracy in the NKR. Secondly, the NKR authorities must implement
the EU neighborhood action plan unilaterally. And finally, NKR must
gradually be involved in the negotiation procedure. `Peter Semneby, EU
Special Representative for the South Caucasus will visit the NKR in
close future.’

The regional visits of Mr. Semneby and the commission testify to the
fact that the NKR status has increased which is an important factor
during the negotiation process’, Mr. Baghdasaryan maintains. Then he
reminded the stance of the OYP on the Karabakh issue; the conflict
must be settled via compromises.

IT IS ENVISAGED TO STIPUALTE BY LAW REQUIREMENT ON APOLITICAL BEHAVIOUR OF PROSECUTORS

Noyan Tapan
Feb 21 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 21, NOYAN TAPAN. At the February 20 special
siiting of the RA National Assembly, the RA Minister of Justice Davit
Harutyunian presented in second reading the package of bills on the
prosecutor’s office, which was passed in first reading at the morning
sitting on the same day.

Particularly, after the first reading a new article on apolitical
behaviour of prosecutors was stipulated.

According to it, a prosecutor may not be a member of any party or
otherwise be engaged in political activity. Under any circumstances,
a prosecutor must display political restraint and neutrality. A
prosecutor may participate in elections of state and local
self-government bodies only as a voter and may not participate in
a pre-election campaign. It is also stipulated that a prosecutor
has no right to be a member of any trade union, organize strikes,
demonstrations, rallies, processions or participate in them.

Panorama.am

19:53 17/02/2007

CATHOLICOS LEAVES FOR FRANCE AND INDIA

Catholicos of All Armenians, Garegin B, will take part
in the first meeting of diocese representative bodies
in Paris to be held within the framework of Armenia’s
days in France.

Holy See Echmiatsin press services report that on
February 22, the Catholicos will leave for India from
France. During the 10-day visit he will visit Dely,
Kalcata, Madras and Bombay. The head of the Armenian
church will also pay visit to the Armenian embassy and
will hold meetings with the Armenian community.

The Catholicos will pay visit to different Armenian
holy sites, among them Chinsura St. Hovhan Karapet
Armenian church, one of the oldest Christian church in
the East.

Source: Panorama.am

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 17 2007

Armenian diaspora invited to church opening

Turkey has invited members of the Armenian diaspora and Armenian
religious leaders to the opening of a restored ancient Armenian
church in April, but Culture Minister Atilla Koç is careful to dispel
any political connotation, saying the restoration is simply part of
Turkey’s effort to revive its inherited cultural legacy.

Culture and Tourism Minister Atilla Koç
The Akhtamar Church on an island off the southern shore of lake Van
in eastern Anatolia is expected to be opened on April 15 after
completion of an ongoing renovation. Turkey has already spent YTL 3
million (nearly $2 million) to restore the church, Koç said in an
interview with Today’s Zaman. Asked whether the renovation was an
attempt to counter Armenian genocide claims, Koç clearly dismissed
it.
"We repair the houses of worship of not only monotheistic but also
polytheistic religions," said the minister. "We consider them our
inherited legacy. … We consider them as our wealth."
Koç’s Tourism Ministry has already invited important figures from the
Armenian diaspora and leading Armenian religious leaders and it plans
to extend invitations to the culture minister of Armenia and
countries that host significant Armenian population at home, such as
Lebanon, Ukraine, Russia and the United States. "We will host 200
distinguished guests," he told Today’s Zaman. The guests will be
taken to Van on airplanes chartered from Turkish Airlines. The
10th-century church fell into near ruin during the events of the
World War I years, which Armenians say amounted to genocide of the
Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire. Turkey categorically
denies these claims.
Though Koç says the renovation is out of respect for Turkey’s
cultural inheritance, opening of the renewed Akhtamar Church may come
as a further incentive to ease acrimony between Turks and Armenians
after a funeral for slain journalist Hrant Dink in Ýstanbul, which
drew 100,000 people raising banners that read "we are all Armenians."
In his lengthy interview, Koç also responded to criticism over a new
tourism promotion campaign featuring human figures replacing the
letter "T" in the word Turkey. He said this was simply a matter of
taste and that what some people like may not be liked by others. He
also said his ministry was determined to go ahead with efforts to
move fish farms away from sea tourism sites and dismissed as
"nonsensical" charges that Turkey has turned into a "cheap tourism
paradise."

What was the cost to restore Akhtamar Church?

We spent YTL 3 million on restoration. The old mosques in Anatolia
are restored by the Foundations General Directorate, while churches
and synagogues are restored by our ministry. Our restoration projects
are not limited to temples of the three monotheistic religions.
Places considered sacred by polytheistic religions have also been
restored. With respect to restoration, Turkey has turned into a
worksite.

How many churches and synagogues were restored?

Between 2005 and 2006 we restored 10 churches. These restoration
projects include Giresun’s Virgin Mary Monastery, Kars’ Ani Þehir,
Karaman’s Çameli Church, Ürgüp’s Mustafa Paþa Aya Nikola Monastery,
Trabzon’s Sümela Monastery, Trabzon’s Hagia Sophia Museum, Akhtamar
Church in Van, the ancient church in Akdaðmadeni, the Armenian church
in Amasya’s Merzifon district and Kars’ Tigran Honest Church.

Will there be other projects related to Armenian structures?

We will launch the restoration of the Ani ruins in Kars. Ani has some
interesting characteristics. There are eight mosques and eight
churches. Their dates of construction are parallel. Muslims and
Christians have lived in the same neighborhood in peace for years. To
date, no project has been implemented with respect to the Ani ruins.
We will be the first one to tackle this issue.

For the first time, you have invited representatives of the Armenian
diaspora. Who else are you planning to invite?

We have invited the culture ministers of EU countries. We will also
invite the culture ministers from Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Lebanon,
Syria, Georgia, the US and Canada, which have significant Armenian
populations. We have invited important figures from the Armenian
diaspora, Armenian religious leaders and representatives from
cultural organizations. We will host 200 distinguished guests.

Some argue that the restoration on Akhtamar and Ani is a counter move
against the Armenian genocide claims. What would you say?

No, it has nothing to do with the genocide claims. We repair the
houses of worship of not only monotheistic but also polytheistic
religions. We consider them as our inherited legacy. These lands have
seen hundreds of nations and governments. We attend to all of their
legacies. There are more than 600 compositions in this cultural
blend. These composers include Armenians, Jews and Greeks. We
consider them our wealth.

Promotion campaign

There is criticism against the usage of human figures to replace the
letter "T" in Turkey. Employing a foreign company in the advertising
process has been criticized as well.

The images in those posters are only a small part of our promotion
initiative. There are lots of small promotional videos. These
promotional activities are not restricted to Ýstanbul only but also
apply to Ýzmir and Muðla. This is a matter of aesthetics. What you
like much may not be liked by someone else. For instance, some people
in Turkey argue that Orhan Pamuk is a good novelist, while others say
he is not. But he won the Nobel Prize. That is it.

2007 will be the year of elections. Will the elections have an effect
on Turkish tourism?

Why should it be affected? Tourism is influenced by terrorism and
bird flu, but why should it be influenced by elections? There are
elections in every part of the world. Are they criticized?

Has Turkey turned into a cheap tourism paradise due to package tours
and high participation by Russian tourists?

These statements are without merit. The phrase "cheap tourism" makes
no sense. Will those Russian tourists pay more if they go to Egypt?
As long as the sea-sand-sun mindset is dominant in the Mediterranean,
you have no choice but to arrange package tours.

In connection with the Varyag, you were expecting 1 million tourists
from China. Have your expectations been fulfilled?

This is empty talk. No government can make promises about sending
tourists. Tourists go wherever they want. You cannot force them to
visit a particular country, can you? For Chinese tourists, we have
the "Eight days for 8888 yuan" campaign. Last year, China sent 32
million tourists to various countries. We are planning to attract
only 300,000 of them. We have no ambitions to attract 1 million
tourists.

The number of American tourists declined after March 1, 2003, when
the Turkish Parliament rejected a government motion to militarily
cooperate with the United States on Iraq. What are the figures for
this year?

After Sept. 11, for the first time, 500,000 American tourists visited
Turkey. American tourists tend to spend more money. I hope there will
be an increase in this figure.

Do you think that the pope’s visit to Turkey will boast faith-based
tourism?

The pope’s visit to Turkey was an important event. It will have
indirect effects on tourism. It would be too far-fetched to argue
that Christians will show more interest in this country due to the
pope’s visit. Faith-based tourism is not a widely accepted concept.
Only Muslims’ pilgrimage to Mecca can be considered as such. Yet the
number of tourists going there is about 5 or 7 million. Nevertheless,
we are still trying to attract 23 million tourists to Turkey.

It seems you are determined to remove fish farms.

Yes, we are determined on this issue. However, we are not removing
them but taking them away from sea tourism sites. The criteria we
have introduced are in compliance with internationally accepted
criteria. Fish farm operators should take no offense, but it is
inappropriate to establish fish farms next to beaches.

Does your ministry have a cultural policy?

I have said it many times, and I now reiterate that I have no
cultural policy. Cultural policies are drafted during the
establishment of a new state or after revolutions. For instance, if
you introduce communism, you will formulate a new cultural policy.
This country has an 800-year-old heritage. This heritage will
suffice.

Do you, as the culture minister, have fancies?

I have dreams, not fancies. Fancies are mirages. And mirages are
lies; they will not come true. Dreams, on the other hand, may come
true.

The ministry is preparing an inventory of our cultural assets, but we
saw that museums were robbed.

We have prepared an inventory of our cultural assets. If you do not
prepare an inventory, you will never know whether or not you have
been robbed. To find out if any historical piece has been stolen or
not, we must resort to the inventories or we must conduct
inspections. The last inspection at the Afrodisias museum was
conducted in 1955. Museums were once under the jurisdiction of the
Education Ministry, and the education minister would appoint teachers
to tend to the museums. We do not even know if the objects registered
by them from museums are real or not. Now we have a chance to
discriminate between false and real objects as well as to identify
what has been stolen.

Thanks to the movie "The Mummy," Egypt attracted a lot of attention.
Why has Turkey failed to produce such a film, even though it has a
richer historical heritage?

When asked, everybody will say they want to visit the Pyramids.
Although everybody longs to go to Egypt, they will not go there for a
second time since nobody wants to visit Egypt twice. On the other
hand, there are tourists from Russia, the US and Europe who have
visited Turkey for five or six times. Tourists visiting Turkey are
intent on coming again. Annually, 5 or 6 million tourists visit
Egypt. Turkey, on the other hand, was host to 20 million tourists
last year. Why do you fail to see this fact?

17.02.2007

ERCAN YAVUZ, ALÝ ASLAN KILIÇ ANKARA

The Daily Telegraph (Australia)
February 17, 2007 Saturday
State Edition

Invisible champ’s mission

by DAVID LEWIS

YOU could not miss world champion boxer Vic Darchinyan as he greeted
the media ahead of his latest title defence yesterday — he was just
about the only one there.

Hurt and embarrassed at being ”invisible”, the Armenian immigrant
vowed to punch his way to prominence, starting with the
”destruction” of Mexican Victor Burgos in California on March 3.

Darchinyan — flanked by his IBF and IBO flyweight belts and rows of
near empty seats — outlined plans to challenge Anthony Mundine.

Sandwiches went uneaten and complimentary coffee and tea grew tepid
at the unglamorous Auburn RSL as the man with a 27-0 record —
including 21 KOs — expressed incredulity at being bigger in Armenia
and the US then he is here.

”Yes, it hurts a little,” he said. ”I don’t know what more I have
to do. I’ve been here seven years, won all my titles boxing for
Australia and I want people to back me.”

Respected Ring Magazine tends to agree, voting the ”Raging Bull”
the sixth most exciting boxer on earth in a recent poll.

”I’ve got a big cabinet at home which I aim to fill by becoming the
best pound-for-pound fighter out there,” added Darchinyan, looking
more mail clerk than mauler in his civvies.

While his bout with Burgos will be lucky to find a TV time slot on
delay with the Main Event event Channel, it will be live on Showtime
in the States and it will top the breakfast bill in Armenia where
citizens of the capital Yerevan will delay going to work to catch
their idol at work.

ARAM I CATHOLICOS DISCUSSES PRESENT STATE OF LEBANON WITH U.S. AMBASSADOR

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Feb 15 2007

ANTELIAS, FEBRUARY 15, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Jeffrey Feltman,
the Ambassador of the United States of America to Lebanon met on
February 14 with Aram I Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia. Gina
Winstanley, the U.S. Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director of the
Department for Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon who visited Lebanon
for a short time was also present at the meeting. The present state
of Lebanon with all its sides and the alarm being continued to stop
the possible variants were widely discussed during the meeting. His
Holiness first of all expressed his anxiety on the occasion of the
alarm being continued, saying that Lebanon is on the way of falling
itself, and unfortunately "political responsible persons do not
touch upon the hard consequences of the created situation." Aram I
Catholicos, particularly, said: "It is necessary, on the initiative
of Saudi Arabia and by cooperation with Iran, to invite political
and community responsibles of Lebanon to Saudi Arabia to widely
discuss and reach corresponding agreement on the main issues Lebanon
is interested in." His Holiness Patriarch also mentioned that only
such an initiative may be influential and give stable solution to
the present uncertainty. He proposed that the meeting participants
present his viewpoint to the authorities of Washington.

esctoday.com, Netherlands
Eurovision Song Contest
Feb 15 2007

Armenia: Complete semi finals line-up

André will co-host the final show

The second representative of Armenia at the Eurovision Song Contest
will be chosen on February 25th. Eighteen artists will compete in two
semi finals, and the best three from each will compete at the
Armenian national final. The audience will have the opportunity to
choose one act of each semi final via televote, the other four
finalist, two from each semi final, will be chosen by a jury.

First semi final, February 23rd at 19:00:

Jacklina Tumanyan Angel (music and lyrics by Thomas Thontholm/
Michael Clauss/ Danne Attlerud)

Hariel Sando Only music makes me strong (music and lyrics by Harutyun
Apresyan)

R.P. Blue bird (music and lyrics by Vahan Khachatryan/Hayk
Harutyunyan/Arpine Shahnubaryan)

Nelly Poghosyan So I will go (music and lyrics by Arsen Adonts/ Twana
Rhodes)

Gevorg Martirosyan New ways (music and lyrics by Vahram Petrosyan/
Sergey Grigoryan)

Asta My story (music and lyrics by Edgar Hakobyan)
Arshaluys Sargsyan Let today (music and lyrics by Emil Svajyan/
Arshaluys Sargsyan)

Sergey Grigoryan I’m yours (music and lyrics by Sergey Grigoryan)

Emmy You’ve done it (music and lyrics by Raf Herrero)

Erik Let it not seem less (music and lyrics by Zara Petrosyan)

Second semi final, February 24th at 19:00

Hayer You need a girl (music and lyrics by Brandon Stone)

Meri Voskanyan Again, again (music and lyrics by Meri Voskanyan/ Adam
Kesselhaut)

Meri Voskanyan Carry me in (music and lyrics by Meri Voskanyan/ Adam
Kesselhaut/ Cande De Rouge)

Marianna Hovhannisyan I’ll prove I am stronger (music and lyrics by
Emil Svajyan/Anush Manukyan)

Sargis Edwards Rain (music and lyrics by Sargis Edwards)

Karine Asiryan Your heart is hot (music and lyrics by Roman Ignatyev/
Natalya Sidortsova/ Anita Hakhverdyan)

Hayko Anything you need (music and lyrics by Hayko/ Karen Kavaleryan)

Vo.X I’m my lover’s (music and lyrics by Aram Rian)

Arina Hovhannisyan Colour of my tears (music and lyrics by Arnold
Fritzsch)

Lana Khachatryan Hate when you’re gone (music and lyrics by Emil
Svajyan/ Anush Manukyan)

There will be no televote during the final night on February 25th so
the winner will be decided by a jury. The hosts of the final show are
André, the first Armenian Eurovision Song Contest participant, and
Gohar Gasparyan, First Channel music programs’ host.

A very special thanks to Zaven Shegrikyan for his contribution to the
article.

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