Author: Jane Topchian

US to provide equal aid to Azerbaijan, Armenia
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Feb 9 2005
Baku, February 8, AssA-Irada — The United States, in its 2006 draft
state budget, allocated $5,000,000 and $750,000 in assistance under the
“foreign military funding” and “international military education and
training” provisions respectively to Azerbaijan and Armenia each. At
the same time, the document states that if a country violates the
territorial integrity of another, US assistance will be withdrawn.
The draft state budget, forwarded by President George Bush to the US
Congress on Monday, designates a total of $482 million in assistance to
the former Soviet Union countries. The funds will be allocated through
the US Agency for International Development (USAID) for economic and
democratic transition programmes. The Bush administration believes that
these funds are also needed for the support of Central Asian states,
as well as Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, of the anti-terror campaign
and for regional security issues.
The draft budget also envisages increasing funding for foreign
assistance programmes by 14%. The figure amounts to $16.2 billion in
the current fiscal year.
In the draft budget, the Bush administration also focused on expanding
diplomatic and other activity of the US Department of State in Islamic
countries. It also suggested that a library and information centres
entitled “America-oriented” be set up in the Middle East countries
and other Islamic states.*
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Karabakh minister hopes OSCE to be satisfied with results of factfinding mission
Mediamax news agency
4 Feb 05
Yerevan, 4 February: The foreign minister of the Nagornyy Karabakh
Republic [NKR], Arman Melikyan, today expressed his hope that the
OSCE factfinding mission, which has already visited six of the seven
districts controlled by the NKR, will be satisfied with the results
of the work that has been carry out.
Speaking at a briefing in Stepanakert today, Melikyan said that “our
help to the mission is a demonstration of good will in reply to the
peacekeeping efforts of the international community”, Mediamax new
agency reports.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS RELEASE
U.C. Berkeley Armenian Studies Program
Contact: Prof. Stephan H. Astourian
Tel: (510) 643-8872
Email: [email protected]
AMBASSADOR JOHN EVANS TO SPEAK AT U.C. BERKELEY, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19.
UC Berkeley-The Honorable John M. Evans, U.S. Ambassador to the
Republic of Armenia, will speak in the Toll Room of the Alumni House
at U.C. Berkeley on Saturday, February 19, 2005, from 2:30 to 4 p.m.
Ambassador Evans was confirmed by the Senate on June 25, 2004 and was
sworn in as the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia on August 11, 2004. He
presented his credentials to President Kocharian on September 4, 2004.
This event is organized by Professor Stephan Astourian, Executive
Director of the Armenian Studies Program at UC Berkeley. Ambassador
Evans will give a speech entitled `Report from Armenia: 2004-2005,’
present a video about the work of the Embassy and of the United States
Agency for International Development (USAID) in Armenia, and engage in
an open conversation with the faculty, students, and community members
attending this forum.
A native of Williamsburg, Virginia, Mr. Evans studied Russian history
at Yale (B.A., 1970) and Columbia, where he began a Ph.D. before
joining the Foreign Service. In the first part of his career, he
served in Tehran (1972-74), in Prague (1975-78), in the Executive
Secretariat and Office of the Secretary of State (1978-80), in Moscow
(1981-83), at the U.S. Mission to NATO (1983-86), and as Deputy
Director of the Soviet Desk (1986-89). His role in coordinating the
American response to the Armenian earthquake of 1988 earned him a
medal and statement of appreciation from the Armenian government of
that time.
Mr. Evans also served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Prague (1991-94),
and as Consul General in St. Petersburg (1994-97). He was then chosen
to lead the OSCE Mission to Moldova, an international mediation and
peace-keeping effort (1997-99). On his return to Washington in 1999,
Mr. Evans assumed the direction of the State Department’s Office of
Analysis for Russia and Eurasia, winning a Meritorious Honor Award and
the CIA Director’s Exceptional Performance Award. From May 2002 until
his appointment to Yerevan, he directed the Office of Russian Affairs
at the State Department. Ambassador Evans will be accompanied by
Mrs. Donna Evans, former President of the World Affairs Council of
Washington D.C.; Mr. Robin Phillips, Mission Director in Armenia for
USAID; and Mr. Aaron Sherinian, the Embassy’s Political Officer and
Assistance Coordinator in Yerevan
The best public parking for this event is the Martin Luther King, Jr.
Student Union Garage located on Bancroft Way (left turn from Telegraph
Avenue). More information about all available parking lots can be
found at
For traveling directions to the campus, please go to the following
URL: A large campus
map is available at
The Alumni House is in the D3 square.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA THIS WEEK
Monday, February 1, 2005
In this issue:
NKR hosts international monitors
Kocharian meets Pope John Paul II, Italian leaders
Armenian leaders take part in Auschwitz commemoration
NKR HOSTS INTERNATIONAL MONITORS

French, Russian and U.S. envoys who have led the Karabakh mediation
efforts joined by officials from four other Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) states, arrived in the region over the
weekend to inspect areas that have served as a security buffer for
Karabakh since 1993. The monitoring mission, proposed by the mediators
and agreed to by the conflicting parties last year, seeks to determine
the number and nature of Armenian settlements in formerly Azeri areas
under Armenian control.

Meeting with the delegation, Karabakh’s President Arkady Ghoukasian
welcomed their mission, suggesting that it could finally put to rest the
many Azeri claims about Karabakh. Azeri officials had refused to endorse
of similar monitoring in the past. The mission was agreed to last
November after Azerbaijan, succumbing to international pressure, agreed
not to press for a pro-Azeri United Nations resolution with support from
members of the Organization of Islamic Conference.

Azerbaijan has backed off serious negotiations over Karabakh’s status,
with its President Ilham Aliyev saying last year that he was not “in a
hurry” to settle the conflict. Instead Aliyev has called for
intensification of what his officials have described as “information
war” against Armenians in all international venues. The Azeri president
has also significantly boosted spending for the country’s military
forces, long plagued by under-funding and disarray, in an effort to
substantiate his frequent threats to unleash a new war in Karabakh.

Karabakh Defense Army Commander General Seyran Ohanian said last week
that judging by military intelligence reports, “Azerbaijan is not
prepared to start hostilities.” Nevertheless, his command was taking
Azeri threats seriously. Ohanian told a press conference that his forces
made significant progress in improving their defense posture and were
prepared to undertake retaliatory operations should fighting resume.
(Sources: Armenia This Week 11-1; Mediamax 1-26; RFE/RL Armenia Report
1-26; Noyan Tapan 1-27)

PRESIDENT KOCHARIAN VISITS WITH POPE JOHN PAUL II, ITALIAN LEADERS
Armenia’s President Robert Kocharian completed a three-day official
visit to Italy and the Vatican last week. Meeting with Kocharian, Pope
John Paul II underscored “friendly and respectful relations between the
Catholic Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church.” Armenia, having
adopted Christianity in 301 AD, some years before Rome, has had an
independent church since 451 AD. Relations between the two churches have
grown closer since a 1996 joint declaration that addressed theological
differences. Earlier this month, Pope John Paul II blessed the statue of
the Armenian Church founder, St. Gregory the Illuminator, that has been
placed among the founding saints that surround the exterior of St.
Peter’s Basilica in Rome. John Paul II, who visited both Armenia and
Azerbaijan in recent years, also expressed hope that “true and lasting
peace” comes to Nagorno Karabakh.

Kocharian also held talks with Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, discussing ways to expand
bilateral economic relations. Armenia’s trade with European Union member
countries has increased substantially in recent years and it now makes
up the largest share of Armenia’s overall foreign trade, but bilateral
trade with Italy stood at just $68 million last year. Kocharian was
accompanied by Trade and Agriculture ministers who met with Italian
businessmen and encouraged them to invest in Armenia. (Sources: Armenia
This Week 10-5-01, 9-6-02; Arminfo 1-28, 2-1; Zenit.org 1-28)

SENIOR ARMENIAN OFFICIALS TAKE PART IN AUSCHWITZ COMMEMORATION
Prime Minister Andranik Margarian and Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian
last week traveled to Poland and New York, respectively, to pay respect
to victims of the Holocaust. Margarian took part in ceremonies at the
site of what was the largest Nazi death camp in Auschwitz, in
present-day southern Poland, and subsequent conference on the theme in
Krakow. Last week marked the 60th anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation
by Soviet forces towards the end of World War II. Up to 6 million
civilians, most of them Jews, but also Russians, Poles, Gypsies and
homosexuals, died in the Holocaust, up to 1.5 million at Auschwitz
alone.

Oskanian joined counterparts from Germany, Israel and several other
states at the United Nations special session on the liberation of
Auschwitz. The U.S. was represented at the UN by Deputy Defense
Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who lost most of his extended family in the
Holocaust, and by Vice-President Dick Cheney in Poland. At the UN,
Oskanian, himself a descendant of Genocide survivors, urged the
international community not to turn a blind eye to continued ethnic
persecution around the world and to undertake immediate action to stop
the ongoing genocidal campaign in Darfur. Speaking of the Holocaust, the
Armenian Genocide and other crimes against humanity, Oskanian stressed
the need for both the victims and perpetrators to transcend the trauma
by renouncing such evils and summoning the good will to forgive.
(Sources: Armenian Foreign Ministry 1-24; Reuters 1-25; Mediamax 1-31)
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ARMENIANS TO FACE COMPUTER DATABASE FAILURES JAN 1 2005
TSAGHKADZOR, DECEMBER 27. ARMINFO. Tens of thousands of holders of
social security cards may face computer database failures while
carrying out financial and social transactions. Such an opinion was
expressed during the “Social Security Cards Application” workshop held
recently in Tsaghkadzor by Social Reforms Program with the financial
support of USAID-PADCO.
All the problems will be quickly eliminated though.
The PR executive of Armenia’s Labor and Social Security Ministry
Hasmik Khachatryan says that Jan 1 2005 all Armenian citizens will
have to obligatorily hold social security cards. 2,730,137 people have
applied for the cards with 1,542,850 cards issued by territorial
social services.
To remind, the law on social security cards application took force
July 1 2004. The law say that each Armenian citizens should be give a
social security card upon providing an authorized body with necessary
information and documentation about himself. He should obligatorily
mention his card number when receiving his salary, pension, allowance
or compensation as well as when making social payments, paying taxes
and duties, opening banking accounts. Having no social security card
is administratively punishable.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azeri reporter pesters Yulia Timoshenko about being Armenian
Ukrayinska Pravda
26.12.2004
According to Ukrainska Pravda online edition, Yulia Timoshenko was asked
by a “horrified” Azeri reporter today at her press conference if it was
true that she was Armenian by origin. (The Russian media said her
father’s surname was Grigyan). Timoshenko replied that she was in fact
Latvian on her father’s part, and pledged to seek peace between
Armenians and Azeris.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESIDENT PUTIN: RUSSIA AS NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT INTERMEDIARY AND GUARANTOR ONLY
RIA Novosti
December 23, 2004
MOSCOW, December 23 (RIA Novosti) – As far as the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict is concerned, Russia is ready to act as an intermediary and
a guarantor only, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
“We have formulated our approach [that is as follows]: we are ready
to act as an intermediary and a guarantor of the agreements possible
between the parties to the conflict – Armenia and Azerbaijan,” the
president said at a news conference on Thursday.
“We do not want to become a long-term unfavorable partner for one
of the parties. We are unwilling to assume responsibility for that,”
President Putin emphasised.
In his opinion, the two sides have to reach agreement on their own.
President Putin underlined that Russia had been present at the
Caucasus for centuries, “We’ve got our own interests in the South
Caucasus. These interests should be assured but, of course, they also
have to go with the interests of other nations, including Georgia,
Armenia and Azerbaijan.”
According to the president, Russia has been pursuing proactive policies
in the region.

VARDAN OSKANIAN: ANTI-SEMITISM AS PHENOMENON DOES NOT EXIST IN ARMENIA
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 22. ARMINFO. Anti-semitism as a phenomenon does
not exist in Armenia. Minister of foreign affairs of Armenia Vardan
Oskanian had declared during the meeting with representative of the
Jewish community of Armenia a day before. ARMINFO was informed in the
press office of the Foreign Ministry, the head of the foreign political
office of Armenia had expressed readiness to be more consecutive
in connection with isolated manifestations of anti-Semitism. The
leaders of the Jewish community had informed Vardan Oskanian
that the community of the republic is actively working and gained
international contacts. During the last two years the representatives
of the community have taken part in the conference on the topic of
anti-Semitism organized by OSCE. They also mentioned that the Jews
have never felt foreigners in Armenia and considered themselves full
citizens of Armenia. The government of Armenia, different offices
and organizations have assisted the spiritual and cultural life of
the Jewish community. At the same time, they expressed regret that
several official persons and individuals venture to make anti-semite
statements. Vardan Oskanian mentioned that Armenians and Jews who
have analogous history and historical-cultural common traits, have
all the grounds to act with joint efforts. He highly assessed the
contribution of the Jewish community of Armenia and welcomed their
consecutive assistance to the development of Armenia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Daily Star, Lebanon
Dec 6 2004
Iran: A tumultuous time captured in Isfahan’s portrait photography
Hundreds of images and thorough research produce a unique documentary
of a nation in transition, 1920-1950
By Kaelen Wilson-Goldie
Daily Star staff
BEIRUT: In one picture, a young woman strikes a playful pose in a
photographer’s studio. With lustrous black hair and a coy smile, she
wears a man’s suit jacket over a full-skirted white dress. She has one
hand plunged rakishly into her pocket and one hip extended suggestively
toward the camera. Exaggerating the feminine and masculine attributes
of body language, her stance is that of a dancer and gangster at once.
In another, three men face the camera with hands clasped respectfully
behind their backs. Two are formally dressed and standing a few
steps back. The other, in the foreground, is bare-chested and built
like a truck. The triangular set-up is rigged to show off one man’s
athletic prowess, as the depth of field makes the flanking men seem
tiny in comparison.
In yet another, a wedding portrait captures a blissful bride and groom
with hands held delicately in the center of the frame. The standing
groom smiles down on his sitting bride, who directs her peaceful
gaze off camera. The photograph seems to be a study in matrimonial
convention until you realize that both subjects are women. An early
example of women dressed in drag, the groom’s voluminous tuxedo
jacket camouflages her breasts, her hair is swept up under a hat,
and a fake moustache adorns her upper lip.
These are portrait photographs from Isfahan, three among the hundreds
that have been published in a new book by Iranian artist, academic
and activist Parisa Damandan. “Portrait Photographs from Isfahan:
Faces in Transition, 1920-1950” focuses on a tight but tumultuous time
frame, when Iran was undergoing rapid social, political and economic
transformation. Damandan, who was born in Isfahan and remembers her
own early experiments with having her picture taken by a professional
photographer, returned to her hometown to find evidence of the
old studios and commercial practices that once flourished in the
ancient city.
The book resulting from her research reveals as much about how
photographers worked in the first half of the 20th century as it does
about how people in those times saw themselves, how they constructed
their identities before the camera and, in turn, how the identity of
a nation took shape, fell apart and reformed against a backdrop of
industrialization, modernity, political change and looming revolution
and upheaval.
“My age and the generation I belong to [is] a link between this
period and now,” explains Damandan, taking a break from her work to
answer questions by e-mail about her book. “There is evidence that
is still alive – existing, forgotten and endangered archives. I have
studied the history of photography before this period, and [I have]
followed the traces back to the appearance of photography in Iran,
and soon after in Isfahan.
“The main part of my collection of photographs dates back to 1920
to 1950. It is an important period, as the country is changing from
traditional to modern and industrial, and there are also a lot of
changes in the faces and in portrait photography itself.”
The period is also important, she adds, because “portrait photography
became popular in this period in Iran, almost a century after the
1850s when it became popular in Europe.”
Damandan studied photography at the University of Tehran in the late
80’s and early 90’s. She mounted a few exhibitions of her own work in
Iran, the U.K. and the Netherlands, but soon devoted all her time to
more academic research on photo-portraiture. The legwork for “Portrait
Photographs from Isfahan” began with her undergraduate thesis. And
over the past 10 years, Damandan has not only written a great deal on
the subject, she has also assembled traveling exhibitions and amassed
an impressive personal collection of archival images.
“Portrait Photographs from Isfahan” introduces readers to the lives
of such photographers as Minas Patkerhanian Mackertich (an Armenian
who learned how to take pictures in India before settling in Isfahan)
and his son Vahan (who took Damandan’s baby pictures in the late
60’s). Damandan traces the development of Isfahan’s portrait studios,
following the well-worn story of photography’s evolution overall (from
an expensive practice reserved for the elite to a more affordable
commodity accessible to the middle classes) and in light of the
particular modifications made to that narrative in Iran.
To this, Damandan adds the story of a city, a country and a people.
The book is full of surprises – cross-dressing women, Isfahan’s
community of Russian prostitutes and the flood of Polish refugees
who took up temporary residence in Iran during World War II. And it
captures telling evidence of changing times – women casting off and
taking up the veil, the significance of gymnasiums as a social space
in men’s lives, family configurations, gender roles at social events
and the growth of industry (textile factories, workers on strike) that
is evident both on the landscape and in the photographs themselves.
In addition to Damandan’s narrative, “Portrait Photographs from
Isfahan” includes essays by Iranian writer Reza Sheikh (who looks at
the relationship between portraiture and democracy) and Dutch writer
Josephine van Bennekom (who explores the differences between and
encounters among Iranian and European portraiture). These texts are
embedded with ideas that warrant further research. Yet the pictures
lend themselves to endless interpretation, raising a number of pressing
issues about the collection and study of historical photography.
“I have gathered more than 50,000 photographs,” says Damandan. “I am
keeping them in my personal archive at home, not in a good situation.
Most of them are glass-plate negatives and are very fragile and need
to be preserved in particular conditions of temperature and moisture.”
Searching for images like these is often an act of salvaging prints
and negatives from age, time, ruin and decay. But once they are
found, how can they be preserved? And who should take charge of such
efforts? The photographs Damandan has unearthed reveal a great deal
about Iran’s past, but to what extent do such archives constitute
cultural patrimony? Are they a part of a nation’s heritage? And if so,
who has the right or responsibility to protect them?
“There is no special organization yet in Iran to be responsible for
such archives,” explains Damandan. “And we don’t have a photographic
museum.”
What’s more, the book itself – as a portable representation of
Damandan’s collection – is unavailable in Iran: “Unfortunately,
the book couldn’t be published in Iran because of the portraits of
unveiled women,” she says. “It won’t be distributed in Iran, so the
book really can’t be seen here.” Damandan is hoping to place the book
in a few libraries, so that students will have access to it and in
hopes that it will provoke further research.
The fact that her work can’t be shown in Iran hasn’t diminished
Damandan’s efforts.
“Wherever I travel in Iran, I am usually curious to find the origins of
portrait photography,” she says. “I have spent some time in Kurdistan
for this reason, and I am busy with a project in Bam, again making
my research.”
Seventy-two hours after a massive earthquake struck the southeastern
city in December 2003, Damandan arrived on the scene to help. For
the past 10 years she has been involved with a Dutch organization,
AIDA (Association International de Defense des Artistes), which
she describes as a second home. When she got to Bam, she realized
she wasn’t the best person to help rescue workers pry bodies from
fallen buildings. But she was qualified to save the city’s copious
photo archives. (She met a woman whose two sons had been killed in
the quake, one had been married the day before, and his mother was
hoping to find his wedding pictures among the rubble.) So she secured
support from AIDA to fund a rescue mission of a different sort.
“The first time I went,” says Damandan, “I started to dig out photo
studios which were ruined in the disaster. I dug out six archives
and have made several trips until now. Later, I will work on these
archives, clean them and make a new archive … I am focusing on
making a memorial photo wall in Bam,” she adds, and next year, she
will begin working on another book. It promises to be more somber
than “Portrait Photographs from Isfahan” but it will no doubt prove
as valuable – and as fascinating – an archive.
Parisa Damandan’s “Portrait Photographs from Isfahan” is published
by Saqi Books and the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development.

Tacy Ltd., Israel
Nov 7 2004
ARMENIA CUT DIAMOND OUTPUT FALLS 25%
Armenia produced US$160 million worth of cut diamonds in the first
nine months of 2004, marking a decrease of some 25 percent as
compared to the same period of 2003, according to a spokesman for the
Trade and Economic Development Ministry of Armenia.
Sales of cut diamonds fell to US$157 million, while exports fell to
US$156 million.
The decreases are attributed to a drop in supplies of Russian rough
diamonds. Armenia imported just 100,000 carats of rough diamonds from
Russia in the nine months under an intergovernmental agreement that
provides a quota of 400,000 carats for 2004.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress