Author: Jalatian Sonya

Bjni plant (Armenia) to be re-operated soon

YEREVAN, February 20. /ARKA/. The new owner of the Bjni plant Ruben
Hayrapetyan said that the enterprise will resume production late this
or early next month.

The Bjni plant was put up for forced sale on February 16 and auctioned
off for 4.441bln AMD ($14.5mln).
`We will start the acceptance process next Monday, the enterprise is
most likely to resume production late in February or early in March,’
Hayrapetyan told reporters.

As regards possible investments, he said that any specific statements
can only be made after the acceptance process has been completed.

`Investments will be made if necessary,’ Hayrapetyan said. He does not
rule out the purchase of a modern production line.

He stressed that no dismissals should be expected. `Experienced
personnel are much more efficient than new people,’ Hayrapetyan
said.`0–

THE ART OF MUSEUM DIPLOMACY
By William Lee Adams

TIME
cle/0,9171,1880606,00.html
Feb 20 2009

When western diplomats seek concessions from Iran, they typically
dish out tough rhetoric and threaten sanctions. Neil MacGregor, the
cherub-faced director of the British Museum, uses a more refined
arsenal: cultural relics and priceless artifacts. In January,
MacGregor traveled to Tehran to finalize the loan of treasures from
eight of Iran’s best museums. In exchange, he promised to loan the
National Museum of Iran the Cyrus Cylinder, a 2,500-year-old clay
cylinder inscribed with decrees from the Persian emperor Cyrus the
Great. Following a request by the Iranian Vice President’s office,
he also vowed to raise international awareness of damage done
to archaeological sites in Gaza during Israel’s recent military
operation. The lofty maneuvering paid off: three weeks later, dozens
of crates containing Persian rugs and 17th century mosque ornaments
were winging their way to London.

At a time when more conventional channels of communication between
Britain and Iran have stalled, MacGregor’s cultural diplomacy is
opening up another avenue for dialogue. The British Museum, especially
since MacGregor took the helm in 2002, has used traveling exhibitions
and curatorial exchanges to successfully engage museums from China
to North Korea to Sudan. "The more difficult the political relations
are, the more important it is to try to understand the history of the
country with whom we’re having difficult conversations," he says. (See
pictures of 250 years of the British Museum.)

With "Shah ‘Abbas: The Remaking of Iran" the British Museum seeks to
break down the perception of Iran as a hostile state on the fringe —
politically and culturally — of the modern world. The exhibition,
which runs until June 14, brings together an astonishing collection
of Persian artifacts, many of which have never been seen together
inside Iran, let alone outside the country. The show highlights the
accomplishments of Shah ‘Abbas, who ruled Persia from 1587 to 1629,
ushering in a golden age for arts and culture, and opening the country
to European trade. Says MacGregor: "He created a multi-faith society
in touch with the rest of the world. That’s why now he is someone
really worth thinking about."

Given recent events, that’s an understatement. On Feb. 3, one day
after Iran launched its first domestically produced satellite,
Britain’s Foreign Office condemned the move, saying it raised
"serious concerns about Iran’s intentions." Two days later, the
British Council, a body that promotes international cultural dialogue,
suspended its operations in Tehran citing "intimidation" of its staff
by Iranian officials. But the organizers of the Shah ‘Abbas show were
unperturbed. Curator Sheila Canby says the spirit of inquiry that
museums share helps them transcend political tensions. "We’ve been
told by Iranian and British officials that this is just the kind of
exchange that should happen," she says. "No matter what else happens,
this is a benign and informative way to exchange ideas."

That may be true, but officials at the British Museum speak from
a privileged position. They don’t answer to the government and can
freely pursue a cultural agenda with any country. For Iran’s curators,
politics underscores every exchange, and sending relics abroad requires
authorization from some of Iran’s most powerful bureaucrats. That
makes the Shah ‘Abbas show all the more significant. "Iranians feel
they are misunderstood, misrepresented and sometimes rather snubbed by
the West," says Michael Axworthy, director of the Centre for Persian
and Iranian Studies at the University of Exeter. "There are few things
the Iranians look for more than an appreciation for where they are
coming from culturally and intellectually."

The Iran on show is a far cry from the clichéd picture of an angry,
anti-U.S. Islamic state with a Holocaust-denying President. Under
Shah ‘Abbas, Iran became a center of diplomacy and trade. Glorious
paintings from the early 17th century depict British envoys
who traded gold and silver for silk rugs; other prints capture
negotiations in which Iranians mingle with Uzbeks and Indians. Like
his contemporary Elizabeth I, Shah ‘Abbas waged war to defend his
nation’s territory. But unlike England, MacGregor says, the Shah’s Iran
"accommodated other faiths," as seen by gospels beautifully illustrated
by Armenian Christians who were forcibly resettled in Iran from 1603.

The legacy of Shah ‘Abbas stems from the architecture of his capital,
Isfahan. With its mosques, minarets and brightly colored tiles, the
city’s vast central square remains one of the world’s most dramatic
public spaces. "A lot of what he did was inspired by the rivalry with
the Ottomans," Axworthy says. "It was intended to create an impression
of magnificence so that Isfahan was taken as seriously as Istanbul."

The idea of using culture as a way to impress is as relevant
today. "For élites and those who visit museums, artistic exchanges
can contribute to soft power," says Joseph Nye, a political science
professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government who defines soft
power as "the ability to get what you want through attraction rather
than coercion."

It’s an idea that’s enjoying a resurgence in popularity. Last year,
ahead of the Beijing Olympics when China faced renewed criticism over
human rights, the British Museum staged exhibitions on the history of
the Games in Shanghai and Hong Kong, sending more than 110 invaluable
items, including the 2nd century marble statue The Discus Thrower,
which the museum had never allowed overseas. And on Feb. 16, the
directors of Beijing’s Palace Museum and Taipei’s National Palace
Museum brokered a deal to send Chinese imperial artifacts to Taiwan for
the first time in 60 years. In a show scheduled to open in October, the
pieces will be reunited with objects taken by nationalists when they
fled the mainland after losing China’s civil war. Analysts interpret
Beijing’s conciliatory approach as a bid to improve China’s image in
Taiwan, perhaps to soften opposition to reunification. Whatever’s
behind it, Beijing’s more amicable stance is welcome news to Chou
Kung-shin, director of the Taipei museum. "Cultural exchanges,"
she says, "are the most convenient and effective way to establish
communications across the Strait." (See pictures of the Beijing
Olympics.)

There are, of course, limits to the effects of this form of
diplomacy. The Shah ‘Abbas exhibition isn’t likely to convince visitors
that Iran should have access to nuclear arms. But in chronicling
the nation’s former glory, it may help explain why many Iranians
feel entitled to them. Curator Canby says there’s also a bigger
point. "I don’t think of it in terms of redressing public opinion,"
she says. "Museum relationships are based on something other than
politics."

That something is an appreciation of beautiful objects and the
history they embody, two things curators will go to great lengths
to protect. After U.S. troops invaded Iraq in March 2003, looters
besieged the country’s national museum, stealing 8,000 objects that
had come from ancient Mesopotamia. Donny George, the Iraqi museum’s
former director, phoned from Baghdad and described the situation to
a curatorial colleague in London. That curator spoke to MacGregor,
who phoned then Prime Minister Tony Blair’s culture secretary. A
few hours later, U.S. tanks were moving into position to guard Iraq’s
finest museum. "It was possible entirely because of the long links kept
between curators even through the worst moments of Saddam Hussein,"
says MacGregor. In a world where political relationships can be as
fragile as an ancient vase, that’s a lesson leaders would be wise
to remember.

FILM CASTS LIGHT ON DARK CHAPTER OF TURKISH PAST
By Ayla Jean Yackley

Reuters
Feb 20 2009
UK

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Mihail Vasiliadis’s friends warned the teenager
to leave work early and go home to his family on September 6, 1955.

Within hours, mobs were attacking thousands of shops, churches and
homes throughout Istanbul in a rampage against ethnic Greeks that
eventually led thousands to leave Turkey.

"It was the shock of a lifetime, but it was something that wasn’t
talked about for 50 years," said Vasiliadis, who was aged 15 at the
time and is now one of just 2,800 or so Greeks left in Istanbul. He
is now the editor of Apoyevmatimi, Istanbul’s last Greek-language
newspaper.

Now a film entitled "Guz Sancisi," or "The Pain of Autumn," tells the
story of that night more than half a century ago, the first time a
Turkish movie has tackled the events that Istanbul Greeks call their
"Kristallnacht."

The fictional love story of Behcet and Elena, a Turkish man and
a Greek woman, is set against the tension that culminated in the
real-life destruction of 5,300 businesses and houses owned by Greeks,
Armenians and Jews.

More than 500,000 people have seen the film since its release last
month, according to its distributor Ozen Film.

Television talk shows and newspapers have covered both the film and
the discussion of the events on which it is based.

Its makers say the public debate is a result of an easing of curbs
on freedom of expression accompanying Turkey’s drive to meet European
Union membership standards.

"This film couldn’t have been made 10 years ago," said Etyen Mahcupyan,
who wrote the screenplay and is editor of the Armenian community
newspaper Agos.

"Though the laws on the books still limit free speech, the reality
is there’s less and less that can’t be criticised."

PHOTOGRAPHS VANDALISED

As recently as 2005, demonstrators stormed an Istanbul gallery and
vandalised photographs on exhibit from a prosecutor’s investigation
into the 1955 events.

"Until now, we’ve either used silence or shouted to block out the
past," said Murat Belge, literature professor at Bilgi University
and a political columnist, who was prosecuted in 2006 for criticising
Turkey’s treatment of minorities. "It’s a major shift that we’re now
using art to examine it."

On the night in question, thousands of protesters converged on central
Istanbul, incited by news reports that Greeks in Thessaloniki had
bombed the childhood home of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of
modern Turkey. It emerged later that the reports were false.

Tension between Turkey and its historical rival Greece was high at
the time over Cyprus.

Police and soldiers stood by when the protest turned
violent. Cemeteries were desecrated, churches were looted and about
a dozen people died, said Dilek Guven, a historian and author of a
2005 book on the subject, "The September 6-7 Events." Hundreds of
women were raped, she said.

Damage was estimated at $50 million, or about $400 million in today’s
terms. Most of the attacks were against Greek-owned targets, but
almost a third were aimed at property owned by Armenians and Jews.

More than 5,000 people were arrested and most were later acquitted.

Prime Minister Adnan Menderes and two members of his government,
deposed in a 1960 military coup, were found guilty the following year
of violating the constitution and executed.

During the trial, one of the principal charges the judges heard was
that the Menderes government was behind the 1955 events.

Research by Guven and others has shown the conspiracy ran deeper,
involving the military and the intelligence service, and was aimed at
pressuring minorities to abandon their property and leave the country.

NEVER DISCUSSED

"A film like this might be just a film in another country," said
Mahcupyan. "Because there’s been a vacuum and this issue was never
discussed, the film now fulfils an important mission."

Today, 60 percent of Greeks living in Istanbul, seat of the
Greek-dominated Byzantine Empire for 1,000 years until 1453, are
aged over 55, says the Rev. Dositheos Anagnostopulous, a spokesman
for the Greek Orthodox Church in Istanbul.

One and a half million Greeks left Turkey for Greece in 1923, when the
Turkish republic was established, and thousands more emigrated when a
"wealth tax" imposed on minorities in 1942 wiped out their fortunes
before it was repealed two years later.

About 120,000 Greeks were living in Istanbul in 1955, said
Anagnostopulous. After the attacks 50,000 more left, and the final blow
was in 1964 after fighting between Turkish and Greek Cypriots. By 1966,
just 30,000 Greeks remained, he said.

Istanbul, a city of 15 million people, is also home today to about
60,000 Armenians and fewer than 20,000 Jews.

"September 6-7 was our Kristallnacht," Anagnostopulous said,
referring to the Nazi pogrom of 1938. "The chances of something like
this happening again are slim, because Turkish youth today are more
critical in their thinking. But to be sure, they need to learn that
this catastrophe occurred, that’s why the film is important."

The Ecumenical Patriarchate, the spiritual centre of the world’s
250 million Orthodox Christians, is still based in Istanbul. The
EU has criticised the Turkish government’s refusal to recognise the
patriarchate’s legal status and its ban on the training of Orthodox
clergy.

Anagnostopulous said a 2006 change in the law on non-Muslim foundations
has relaxed restrictions on Greeks’ property rights. However, the
government has returned only one of the handful of buildings that the
European Court of Human Rights has ruled it had illegally seized over
the years.

The Turkish government has never formally apologised for the state’s
role in the violence 54 years ago.

"We are aware in Turkey of what we have done, but we fail to confront
it, and we keep repeating it," Belge said. "This is a society that
fails to bury its dead, and so you have a lot of ghosts roaming
around."

OSCE ENVOY URGES ARMENIA TO FOCUS ON REGIONAL ENERGY PROJECTS

AzerNews Weekly
Feb 18 2009
Azerbaijan

Armenia should focus on energy projects in the region, rather than on
conflicts, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly`s special representative on
the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict said during
a visit to Baku.

Goran Lennmarker, speaking at a meeting with members of the Azerbaijani
delegation at the OSCE PA on Friday, said that since Armenia is a
small country with a weak economy in the South Caucasus region, its
authorities should place an emphasis on boosting its economy, and
the best way to do this is to participate in regional energy projects.

Lennmarker visited Azerbaijan as part of his tour of the region
to study the current state of talks on the Garabagh settlement. In
conclusion, he will prepare a report on the outcome of the visit and
submit it to an OSCE PA session due in Vienna February 19-20.

Further, Lennmarker stressed the importance of finding a solution to
the Garabagh problem.

"I reported three years ago that a `golden opportunity` had emerged for
settling the conflict. This opportunity is still open," he said, but
added that it was unclear how long this would be the case, therefore,
the conflicting sides should take advantage of this opportunity.

The special envoy emphasized that a negotiated solution was the only
option to resolve the long-standing dispute, and said both parties
should make concessions to reach that goal. "Both sides will not be
able to achieve a 100% result regarding the conflict settlement."

He noted that the OSCE Minsk Group – a team of diplomats brokering the
peace process – was seeking a neutral and mutually beneficial solution.

Bahar Muradova, Vice-Speaker and head of the Azerbaijani delegation
at the OSCE PA, said Azerbaijan was deeply concerned over their being
no resolution to the Garabagh conflict. She emphasized that the OSCE
and European countries should be interested in resolving the conflict
as much as they are interested in capitalizing on the resource-rich
South Caucasus republic`s energy potential, as ensuring security in
the turbulent region serves the interests of Europe as well.

"We would like to take advantage of the European model in the
settlement of conflicts," the vice-speaker added.

Underlining the importance of the South Caucasus on the world stage,
Lennmarker said the European Union`s having paid little attention to
the region in the past was a mistake.

"The situation has changed now. The EU is currently trying to
intensify its relations with the South Caucasus states. The European
New Neighborhood Policy (ENNP) was launched for that purpose," he said.

Lennmarker emphasized that integration between the 27-member bloc
and regional countries should not be strictly technical, but this
requires a change of people`s mindset.

"Europe is moving slowly on this decision and the rapprochement
of the South Caucasus toward Europe is gradually taking place,"
Lennmarker said.

Lennmarker called on the South Caucasus states to step up regional
cooperation, saying interaction among Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia
was pivotal to ensuring a bright future for the region. Regional
developments, in particular Russia`s incursion in the Georgian rebel
region of South Ossetia, should encourage unity of the South Caucasus
states, he said.

"Unity of the South Caucasus states should be strong in the future,"
the special envoy said, noting that these countries should draw closer
to Europe and assist each other to defend their independence.

Lennmarker noted that among regional states, Azerbaijan stands out for
its rapid economic growth, therefore, it has a great responsibility
in promoting the expansion of regional cooperation.

"Azerbaijan should play a special role in the area in ensuring peace
in the South Caucasus. The more it develops economically, the greater
responsibility it assumes," he added.

CELEBRATION OF HOVHANNES TUMANYAN’S JUBILEE KICKED OFF IN DSEGH
Karen Ghazaryan

"Radiolur"
19.02.2009 18:16

The arrangements dedicated to Hovhannes Tumanyan’s 140th jubilee
kicked off in Dsegh, the poet’s birthplace.

President Serzh Sargsyan delivered a speech at the opening
ceremony. The President noted that it was a good opportunity to
remember and pay tribute to the great poet’s memory.

Serzh Sargsyan added that his visit was symbolic also because exactly
one year ago he was elected President of the Republic of Armenia.

"I think it was my duty to work so as to bring closer the day when
we will be able to call the Motherland of Hovhannes Tumanyan and
Motherland of all of us "My new Motherland, my strong Motherland,"
Serzh Sargsyan said in his speech following the visit to Tumanyan’s
home-museum.

Within the framework of the visit Serzh Sargsyan also familiarized
with the socio-economic situation in Lori marz. He visited Tashir
textile factory, talked to the employees and familiarized with the
problems of local producers.

The President also visited Vanadzor school #1 and participated in
the solemn ceremony of opening of the monument to tehCatholicos of
All Armenians, Vazgen I.

Later President Sargsyan visited the newly constructed Chess House
of Vanadzor.

ARMENIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS: CONFISCATION AND SALE OF BJNI PLANT BRIGHT EVIDENCE OF UNDECLARED WAR OF ARMENIAN RULING REGIME AGAINST BUSINESS-ENVIRONMENT

ArmInfo
2009-02-19 10:17:00

ArmInfo. Armenian National Congress (ANC) has harshly criticized the
sale of Bjni mineral water plant. The plant was confiscated from the
family of Khachatour Sukiasyan, businessman and parliamentarian,
who is currently in hiding. Sukiasyan is accused of complicity in
March incidents in Yerevan in 2008.

ANC declares that the public sale of Bjni was held with many
violations, and the grossest violation was the circumstance that the
proceedings in the case of confiscation and sale of the plant have
not been over yet. ‘The regime has demonstrated one more time that
it neglects any provision of the Constitution including the property
right and inviolability. Hereby the regime has ruined the institute
of property and broken the trust of small and medium-sized business
in property and future’, the ANC statement says.

The authors of the statement are surprised that there are supporters
and executors of the regime’s will among big businessmen who do not
understand that under the present regime they may prove in the same
situation tomorrow.

PARUYR HAYRIKIAN AGAIN PROPOSES MARKING FEBRUARY 18 AS ARMENIAN PEOPLE’S LIBERTY DAY AT STATE LEVEL

Noyan Tapan
Feb 18, 2009

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 18, NOYAN TAPAN. February 18 is a too symbolic
day for the Armenian people: in 1920 on that day, when Armenia
was under the Bolshevik dictatorship, the people revolted
and liberated Yerevan. Paruyr Hayrikian, the Chairman of the
National Self-Determination Union, said at the February 18 press
conference. Thus, according tom him, February 18 became a day
symbolizing a victorious fight for freedom.

"It seemed there was no force that would be able to prevent the red
terror of the Bolsheviks. However, on that day the Armenian people
drew away Bolsheviks from Yerevan and released from prisons hundreds of
intellectuals, national-state figures sentenced to death," P. Hayrikian
said adding that it was the first victory over Bolshevik dictatorship.

P. Hayrikian said that years running they have proposed marking
that day as Armenian people’s Liberty Day at the state level. "The
very years made us understand that for having Liberty Day society,
especially the authorities should understand the price of liberty,"
the party leader said.

ARMENIAN ECONOMIC EXPANSION IN ABKHAZIA

Messenger.ge
Feb 18 2009
Georgia

The Georgian media has reported that businessmen from Armenia are
buying vacated properties in Abkhazian territory, particularly the
Gagra region. Armenians are buying the houses of expelled Georgians
along the sea coast and at the sites of tourist infrastructure
development prospects. Many tourists from Armenia could now start
entering Abkhazia instead of Adjara via Russia.

MP Paata Davitaia thinks that Russia is encouraging these Armenian
businessmen to buy property in Georgia (Abkhazia). He says this is
yet another attempt by Russia to implement a divide and rule policy,
because obviously Georgia will not be happy with the Armenians’
conduct in the breakaway region.

Armenian expansion is not welcomed by the ethnic Abkhaz population
either. Abkhaz nationalist Professor Rikirba for instance insists
on the urgent resettlement of Turkey’s ethnic Abkhaz population
in Abkhazia because the Armenian population threatens to swallow
the Abkhaz.

Davitaia sees in this process an attempt to unite Abkhazia with Russia.

GOVERNMENT DENIES RUMOR ABOUT BANKS BEING WARNED OF CHANGE IN ARMENIAN DRAM’S EXCHANGE RATE

Noyan Tapan
Feb 18, 2009

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 18, NOYAN TAPAN. Both the Armenian government and
the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) on February 18 denied the press
rumors that the government and CBA have warned the banks about a
change in the exchange rate of the Armenian dram against the dollar
soon. NT correspondent was informed by the press service of the
government that there could not even be such a warning to banks by
the government. In the words of spokeswoman for CBA Zaruhi Barseghian,
this is false information and has a political implication.

It is noteworthy that in the February 18 issue of Armenian Time daily,
it was written: "The Armenian government and the CBA have informed and
warned all the banks operating in Armenia that the exchange rate of the
dram against the dollar will rise up to 420-450 drams in the next two
months. The aim of this warning is that the banks will take it into
account when making their plans for the near future and thus avoid
unexpected situations. The problem is that the CBA is not able to keep
the dram’s exchange rate any more. Only during two days of this week,
the CBA carried out an intervention of more than 20 million dollars".

ARMENIAN DEPUTY FINANCE MINISTER: TOO PREMATURE TO SPEAK ABOUT JOINING RUBLE ZONE

ARKA
Feb 17, 2009

YEREVAN, February 17. /ARKA/. Armenian Deputy Finance Minister Vardan
Aramyan, speaking Tuesday before Yerevan State University’s students,
said he found it too premature to speak about joining ruble zone.

He thinks a full legislative and economic harmonization is needed
for that.

The deputy minister denied rumors going around about Armenia’s possible
entry in ruble zone.

He said that before forming euro zone, European countries passed a
long way of legislative harmonization.

They have established free trade, formed common customs zone, common
economy and ensured free movement of capital before introducing.

Aramyan said Armenia has no such agreement with Russia.

"We can’t join ruble zone, because our countries haven’t reached
necessary degree of integration yet".