Author: Jane Topchian

Sadgeh Hedayat’s Buried Alive
By Syma Sayyah, Tehran
Payvand, Iran
Sept 2 2005
Buried Alive is a famous short story by the 20th century Persian
writer Sadgeh Hedayat. In the story Hedayat recounts the diary of
the last days of a man who struggles with suicide. This story was
recently published in a new book by the Hedayat office.
In this book, there is the original Persian text, a translation to
Armenian by Mr. Khachik Khacher, who is a well known writer of short
stories in Armenian, and an English text. The English translation
is the work of Mr. Carter Bryant and was part of a collection titled
“The Blind Owl” published under the editorship of Dr. Michael Hillman
in the USA in 1978.
This book was launched publicly last week at a ceremony which
was attended by many well known scholars of Persian and Armenian
origin in a packed hall at the Artists Forum in Tehran. The program
started surprisingly promptly. First Mr. Jahangir Hedayat, the head
of the Hedayat Office in Tehran, made a short speech explaining
the event and the book. He then introduced and gave some background
information on Mr. Khacher the Armenian translator and the publishers
(the Varjavand Publishing House). He also pointed to the fact that
this is the second authentic book of stories of Sadegh Hedayat that
has been published recently by the Hedayat Office in Tehran using
the original manuscripts. The first one was “Three drops of blood”,
which was published by Nashreh Cheshmeh.
There has also been a book of Sadegh Hedayat pictures which have been
very well received by the public in Iran and abroad, and another book
of his paintings and drawings which is ready to be published. Mr.
Jahangir Hedayat’s easy narrative and pleasant soft voice made
everyone listen carefully to all the information and anecdotes. He
told the story of the “Buried alive” plot, the reasons why Hedayat.
had such a fondness for Armenians, the story of his friendship with
an Armenian painter and the fact that when he committed suicide in
Paris in 1951, by turning the gas on in his small flat, he had made
sure that he would be found by an Armenian couple he was very fond of.
Afterwards Mr. Kacher came to the podium and made a short speech during
which he thanked Mr. Amir Cheltann for his kindness and guidance when
translating the book.
We then were entertained by a short performance based on an extract
of the story wonderfully staged by a group of young actors under the
direction of the well known cinema and TV personality Mr. Seyrous
Ebrahim-Zadeh. It was indeed very well done! After a enjoying a drama
piece in Armenian, the ceremony came to a close and the guests could
buy the new book. Your place was indeed empty (we missed you)!
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CIS, OSCE AND UN ON THRESHOLD OF REFORMS
By Tatoul Hakobian
AZG Armenian Daily #154, 31/08/2005
Reforms
Armenia is actively participating in the discussions of the CIS,
OSCE and UN reforms and has its concrete positions. Vartan Oskanian
doesn’t agree that the CIS is about to collapse as a structure. At
the CIS Summit in Kazan, Armenia joined the other states and voted
for Kazakhstan’s candidacy for the position of the country in chair
of the OSCE in 2009. In response to our question why Armenia votes
for a country that still has a pro-Azeri orientation in the Nagorno
Karabakh issue, Mr. Oskanian said that Armenia wasn’t fully siding
with Kazakhstan and when the time comes and the issue is discussed,
our country will announce its concrete position. “Kazakhstan’s position
in the Nagorno Karabakh issue has never been neutral till now,” Mr.
Oskanian said.
Armenia won’t be represented on the level of the president at the
UN General Assembly, this year, too. RA Prime Minister will lead the
Armenian delegation, while Vartan Oskanian will accompany him.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER PRESENTS ARMENIA’S APPROACHES TO REGIONAL PROBLEMS TO PACE PRESIDENT
YEREVAN, AUGUST 19, NOYAN TAPAN. At the August 19 meeting with the
PACE President Rene van der Linden who is on a three-day visit to
Armenia, the RA Foreign Minister Vartan Osklanian presented Armenia’s
approaches to the regional problems, in particular, to the developments
around the Nagorno Karabakh problem and to relations between Armenia
and Turkey. According to the RA MFA Press and Information Department,
during the conversation, the sides addressed the issues of developing
and strengthening democracy in Armenia, and the process of honoring
Armenia’s commitments towards the Council of Europe. In this connection
they exchanged ideas about the constitutional reforms in the country
and discussions held on this issue, as well as about the referendum
to be held this autumn.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
July 13 2005

Seminar on Garabagh conflict starts in Tbilisi

Baku, July 12, AssA-Irada
A seminar on ways of settling the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper Garabagh
conflict started in Tbilisi, Georgia on Tuesday.
Deputy chairman of the parliamentary commission on international and
inter-parliamentary relations Gultakin Hajiyeva is representing
Azerbaijan in the 4-day event organized by the International Crisis
Group, an organization engaged in the prevention of deadly conflicts
worldwide.*
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Pan Armenian News
LENNMARKER: I WAS COMMISSIONED NOT TO DISPLAY TACT
05.07.2005 05:06
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ «After making public my report I have not got in touch
with the Karabakh party. However I suppose they did not like it, as the
Nagorno Karabakh local authorities wish to conquer independence,» said OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly (PA) rapporteur on Nagorno Karabakh Goran Lennmarker,
reported AzerTAj. «However I should speak the truth. I was commissioned not
to display tact. I have to openly speak: we cannot admit forming a large
number of dwarf states in the Caucasus. There should be three regional
superpowers that are treated with respect. Otherwise chaos will appear,» he
is sure. It should be noted that Lennmarker stated in his report that
providing independence to Nagorno Karabakh is not an alternative to the
conflict settlement. Answering a question why he called Armenia an
«aggressor» in his report, Lennmarker stated, «Because I did not wish to
remind of the past in my report. It creates risk. I tried to find ways of
conflict settlement looking into the future.»
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Turkish press 24 June 05
BBC Monitoring Service – United Kingdom; Jun 24, 2005

Turkey and the EU
Hurriyet [centre-right, largest circulation] “The EU countries which
saw Turkey’s EU membership ‘possible’ back in 1963, have now started
to say, ‘Let us discuss’. What will you discuss? Is this a new style –
taking a decision and then entering discussions later?… Thank god
that this atmosphere has not spread to all EU countries yet. It has
not, but this does not mean that it will not. That is why we have to
see that we are being pushed towards an open and honest confrontation
with the EU, and make our preparations accordingly.” (Commentary by
Oktay Eksi)
Milliyet [centrist] “Europe is discussing its models. On the one hand
there is a model led by the UK: it highlights such concepts as
‘competitive economy, globalization, economic modernization’, and by
the same logic supports EU enlargement as well as Turkey’s full
membership. On the other hand, there is the ‘social model’ led by
France. It is fond of the public sector and is deeply doubtful about
concepts like ‘competitive economy and globalization’. By the same
logic, it is against EU enlargement and Turkey’s membership.”
(Commentary by Taha Akyol)
Blair’s speech in European Parliament
Aksam [centre-right] “A historical call was made by Blair who set out
the presidency’s programme yesterday in the European Parliament. Blair
reminded people of the existence of new roads towards a new European
democracy with his emphasis on the EU’s ‘need to learn to
compete’… As Blair said regarding the referenda, ‘this is neither a
crisis of EU institutions nor a crisis of the institutions of the
states concerned. This is a crisis of political leadership’… The
French referendum result was caused by the lack of leadership by
French politicians.” (Commentary by Nuray Basaran)
Radikal [centre-left] “…Blair did the right thing by putting the
blame on European leaders for the fiasco that took place in the [EU]
constitution referenda in France and Holland. He openly admitted there
was a leadership problem within the EU and said, ‘the people will
support us on the issue of enlargement if we explain to them the truth
in the right way’… His statement ‘we will fulfil our obligations
towards Turkey and Croatia’ was placed in one paragraph of his speech
in such a way as to cause no reaction.” (Commentary by Murat Yetkin)
US-Turkey relations
Cumhuriyet [secular, Kemalist] “In order for Turkey to be a strategic
partner of the US, there should be a unity of interest between the two
countries and they should act together on every issue… In our
country, there is no opposition to the US people. What we are against
is US policies and their implementation by the current US
administration.” (Commentary by Zekeriya Temizel)
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline
Zaman [moderate, pro-Islamic] “After the pumping of the first oil into
the BTC [Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan] the Armenian prime minister… said:
‘Armenia is searching for alternative solutions to re-establish the
balance that has been upset’, stating that the pipeline would
negatively affect the regional balance of power. It is obvious that
the change in this balance of power is not in Armenia’s favour… It
is true that the pipeline has greatly bothered Yerevan.” (Commentary
by Kadir Dikbas)
Kurdish issue
Milliyet [centrist] “The Turkish armed and security forces have lost
nearly a brigade in their armed struggle with the PKK [Kurdistan
Workers’ Party]… The total number of deaths is 30,000. Just as it
was thought that this bloody episode in history was closed, doubts
such as ‘was this merely an interlude, is the second act beginning
now’ are intensifying… The bloody fingerprints of the issue
increasingly turning into a Turkish-Kurdish polarization are being
perceived.” (Commentary by Guneri Civaoglu)
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

New York Times: June 7, 2005
Uncover Your Eyes
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Labado, Sudan
Last fall President Bush declared the slaughter here in Darfur to be
genocide, and then looked away. One reason for his paralysis is apparently
the fear that Darfur may be another black hole of murder and mutilation, a
hopeless quagmire to suck in well-meaning Americans – another Somalia or
Iraq.
It’s not.
We’re again making the same mistake we’ve made in past genocides: as in the
slaughter of Armenians, Jews, Cambodians, Rwandans and Bosnians, we see no
perfect solutions, so we end up doing very little. Because we could not
change Nazi policies, we did not bother to bomb rail lines leading to death
camps; today, because we have little leverage over Sudan, we do not impose a
no-fly zone to stop the strafing of civilians or even bother to speak out
forcefully.
Yet this town of Labado underscores that Darfur is not hopeless, that even
the very modest actions that the international community has taken so far
have saved vast numbers of lives.
A desert town that used to hold about 25,000 people, Labado was attacked in
December by the Sudanese military and the militia known as the janjaweed.
For several days, the army burned huts, looted shops, killed men and raped
women.
For months, Labado was completely deserted and appeared destined to become a
ghost town. But then African Union forces, soldiers from across Africa who
have been dispatched to stop the slaughter, set up a small security outpost
of 50 troops here. Almost immediately, refugees began returning to Labado,
followed by international aid groups.
Today there are perhaps 5,000 people living in the town again, building new
thatch roofs over their scorched mud huts. The revival of Labado underscores
how little it takes to make a huge difference on the ground. If Western
governments help the African Union establish security, if we lean hard on
both the government and the rebels to reach a peace agreement, then by the
end of this year Darfur might see peace breaking out.
For now, Labado is only an oasis, and when the people here step out of the
town they risk being murdered or raped by the janjaweed militia.
Refugees fleeing to Kalma from a village called Saleya described how nine
boys were seized by the janjaweed, stripped naked and tied up, their noses
and ears cut off and their eyes gouged out. They were then shot dead and
left near a public well. Nearby villagers got the message and fled.
Aid workers report that in another village, the janjaweed recently castrated
a 10-year-old boy, apparently to terrorize local people and drive them away.
The boy survived and is being treated.
Yet along with atrocities, there are hopeful signs. While Mr. Bush should do
more, he has forthrightly called the killings genocide and heaped aid on
Darfur, probably saving hundreds of thousands of lives.
Indeed, aid shipments have brought malnutrition rates in much of Darfur
below those of other places in Sudan, partly because donor governments have
“borrowed” aid from other regions. So children are going hungry in southern
and eastern Sudan as a consequence of Darfur.
If Mr. Bush led a determined effort to save Darfur, there would be real hope
for peace here – plus, the international image of the U.S. would improve.
And a new Zogby poll commissioned by the International Crisis Group found
that Americans by margins of six to one favor bolder action in Darfur, such
as a no-fly zone.
But Mr. Bush is covering his eyes. Last year administration figures like
Colin Powell and John Danforth led the response to Darfur, but now neither
Condoleezza Rice nor the White House seems much interested.
Darfur will never be a Somalia or Iraq, because nobody is talking about
sending in American combat troops. But simply an ounce of top-level
attention to Darfur would go a long way to save lives.
In 1999, Madeleine Albright traveled to Sierra Leone and met child amputees
there, wrenching the hearts of American television viewers and making that
crisis a priority in a way that eventually helped resolve it. Ms. Rice could
do the same for Darfur if she would only bother to go.
Mr. Bush values a frozen embryo. But he hasn’t mustered much compassion for
an entire population of terrorized widows and orphans. And he is cementing
in place the very hopelessness he dreads, by continuing to avert his eyes
from the first genocide of the 21st century.
E-mail: [email protected]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

IF DRAFT TO CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS HAS NO MATERIAL REFORMS,
REFERENDUM IS CONDEMNED TO FAILURE: GURGEN ARSENIAN
YEREVAN, JUNE 3, NOYAN TAPAN. At June 2 meeting with the CE Venice
Commission’s experts, Gurgen Arsenian, the NA “United Labour
Party” Chairman, and Grigor Ghonjeyan, a party member presented the
party’s position concerning the process and future steps of carrying
out the obligations taken in front of the PACE by Armenia. Gurgen
arsenian informed the Noyan tapan coresspondent about this after the
meeting. According to him, as the representatives of the political
force responsible for the fulfillment of the obligations taken in
front of the PACE by Armenia, they informed the experts that if
the draft to constitutional amendments has no material reforms the
referendum will be condemned to failure. “It does not mean that the
people of Armenia does not want to become a full and equal member
of the European family or is against the European values’ system,
just the people of Armenia will not welcome the amendments which it
does not consider a reformation,” the faction’s members informed the
Venice Commission. G..Arsenian is sure that if the coalition was ready
for reforms and acception of proposals made by the faction, it would
vote for the “United Labour Party” faction’s draft appreciated by
the Venice Commission. Whilemean, the coalition did not participate
in the vote of the above-mentioned draft. “United Labour Party” voted
against the coalition’s draft as “it is agaist building such a country,
having such a governing system.” The faction does not want that a
negative attitude is displayed towards Armenia in the conclusions
as he does not believe that “the Armenian people has peculiarities
of the mentality.” “We are very normal people and want to live in a
normal democartic country,” Arsenian mentioned. According to him, the
rulling coalition has no political will of fulfilling real reforms,
otherwise, it could do that during the previous 11 months, and not
only satisfied with giving promises. “There is no confidence among
the political coalition that if a real democracy is established in
the country, they can come to power with the people’s assistance,”
Gurgen Arsenian emphasized. The Venice Commission also met with
Arshak Sadoyan, a NA Deputy, the author of another refused draft to
the constitutional amendments. The latter also presented the experts
his considerations concerning the constitutional reforms’ process. The
MP is going to present details at the June 3 press-conference.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARKA NEWS AGENCY PUBLISHES THE SECOND ISSUE OF THE FINANCIAL-ECONOMIC
BULLETIN “CREDIT ORGANIZATIONS OF ARMENIA”
YEREVAN, May 26. /ARKA/. ARKA News Agency published the second issue
of the financial-economic bulletin “Credit Organizations of Armenia”
(key activity indices). This quarterly bulletin is based on the
officially published financial reports of credit institutions on their
activities.
The bulletin has about 20 pages of charts on various activities of
credit institutions. It has 11 sections: 1. General description of
credit institutions. 2.Assets. 3.Liabilities. 4.Capital.
5.Profits/Losses. 6.Information of money flow. 7.Normative indices of
activities of credit institutions. 8.Capitalization indices.
9. Profitability index 10.Summary indices of activities of credit
institutions.11.Summary indicators of efficiency of credit
institutions.
The information contained in the bulletin gives the general picture of
the financial position of Armenia’s credit institutions and allows a
comparative analysis of their activities. The product also contains
technical and methodical comments on the tables.
ARKA News Agency has been working since May 1, 1996. It specializes in
financial, economic and political information. Since 1999, ARKA has
been issuing the quarterly bulletin “Basic Indicators of Armenian
Banks.” , and since March 2005- “Credit Organizations of
Armenia”. A. H. -0–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT APPOINTS RA AMBASSADOR TO SPAIN, PORTUGAL
YEREVAN, May 24. /ARKA/. RA President Robert Kocharyan has assigned a
decree appointing RA Ambassador to Italy Ruben Shugaryan RA Ambassador
to Spain and Portugal, the RA presidential press service
reports. P.T. -0–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress