Author: Jhanna Virabian

esctoday.com, Netherlands
Aug 19 2005
Athens 2006: What is already known?
Fri 19 Aug 2005 20:18:11
Source: esctoday.com
Written by: Marcus Klier
Only three months after the contest, many countries have already
launched information about their appearance in the 2006 Eurovision
Song Contest which will take place on 18th and 20th of May 2006 in
Athens, Greece.
National finals in 2006
It’s the turn of the Dutch speaking part of Belgium to organize the
national final. Before the final, there will be a series of
semifinals. The show will be hosted by Bart Peeters in February. As
for their neighbours, the Netherlands, then only a final will be
organised, hosted by Paul de Leeuw.
National finals are still rather popular in Scandinavia. Sweden has
already announced the dates of their selection. The final will be
held on 18 March. It’s also known that some former Eurovision Song
Contest participants want to take part in it again, namely Jessica
and Magnus, who formed the Duo Fame in 2003. But this time as solo
artists.
Denmark has also announced their dates for the final, being 11
February. The songs are allowed to be performed in every language.
Finland will have semifinals and a final, which will take place
exactly a month after the Danish final – on 11 March.
Monaco was said to withdraw again in 2006, but the country shows
interest in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest next year which makes
it likely that they will also participate in the adult version again.
As for Ireland then the casting show You’re a star will no longer
choose the singer to participate in the contest like it used to the
previous years.
The most active country has been Bulgaria because they are already
looking for songs to participate in their national final. And also,
it’s known that the winner of the latest edition of the Albanian Pop
Idol show, Erti Hizmo has won a ticket for the Albanian national
final in 2006, like Anjeza Shahini did in 2004.
Internal selections getting more popular
Probably due to the good results last years by artists chosen
internally there has been an increase in that area. So far 3
countries have announced that they will choose their representatives
this way. Starting with Turkey having three candidates for Athens:
Nil, Izel and Sefarad. The Greek broadcaster ERT wanted to ask
Despina Vandi according to MAD. The result of the proposal is not
known. The selection will be similar to last year when the singer was
chosen by ERT and the audience had the choice between several songs.
Switzerland will use the a similar format too because of their last
year’s success with the Estonian band Vanilla Ninja.
Things are not clear with Germany as after a preselection with only a
few well-known artists in 2005, Germany hopes for support by the
music industry like in 2004. Many famous artists have already told
that they won’t take part. It is not even known if there will be a
national final. Jürgen Meier-Beer, head of delegation has quit his
job, his succeeder is Jan Schulte Kellinghaus.
But not all countries which have taken part in the song contest to be
held in Athens next year. Austria withdrew from the 2006 Eurovision
Song Contest after a bad result in 2004 and 2005. Still, presumably
40 countries, together with the possible newcomers Armenia and
Georgia, will be allowed to take part in the 51st Eurovision Song
Contest.
–Boundary_(ID_DyQksvW5pzfTNsSUwDivlw)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Grieving Relatives ID Greece Crash Victims
By ELENA BECATOROS
AP Online; Aug 15, 2005
Grieving relatives, many black-clad and weeping, arrived at a central
Athens morgue Monday by bus, taxi or on foot to try to identify the
remains of some of the 121 people _ including 10 families _ killed
in Greece’s worst plane crash.
A young woman, eyes shaded by dark sunglasses, slumped to the ground
outside the building in the hospital complex, her head in her hands.
An elderly couple embraced as they got off the bus that took them
straight from Athens airport to the morgue. Two men helped a woman
toward an area set aside for the victims’ relatives as her cries
echoed around the hospital courtyard.
“What can I say? I have no words to say because I lost my whole
brother’s family, two kids and my brother and … his wife,” said
Albert Toutounzian at Larnaca Airport before boarding a flight
for Athens.
Hagop Toutounzian, 51, his 45-year-old wife Hilda and their two
sons, 12-year-old Bariet and 16-year-old Ara, were on the Cypriot
government’s official list of victims from Sunday’s crash of Helios
Airways flight ZU522.
The bodies recovered from the crash site on the slopes of a mountainous
region north of Athens were initially taken to a morgue in an eastern
Athens suburb. From there, those which authorities believed could be
identified by relatives were ferried in ambulances to the morgue in
the hospital complex in central Athens.
A brush fire sparked by the crash burned through much of the plane’s
debris, strewn across two ravines and surrounding slopes, charring
many bodies beyond recognition.
Those would be identified by DNA tests and other forensic methods,
and would remain in the mortuary in eastern Athens, Greece’s Deputy
Health Minister Thanassis Yiannopoulos said.
“This is the hardest part of the tragedy,” Yiannopoulos said.
In the central Athens morgue, orderlies could be seen dragging body
bags, some bloodstained, from the ambulances and into the building
before relatives were taken in.
Officials said only 24 had been identified by Tuesday night.
The room in which the identification was taking place was small, and it
was taking time for the relatives to file through, said Eleni Antoniou,
a Cypriot coroner who was part of a Cypriot medical delegation that
traveled to Athens.
“Only five or six relatives enter the room at a time and this is a
very slow process,” she told Cyprus Antenna TV. “Identification is
very difficult because of the state of the bodies.”
At the crash site near the village of Grammatiko, north of Athens,
a firefighter described a scene of devastation.
“It was pretty grim down there,” said the firefighter, who would not
give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
“There were lots of body parts and I saw a severed head by itself.”
Some angry relatives blamed the airline for the crash.
“Those who put profit above the lives of people must be punished,”
said Takis Mavris, whose brother, Andreas Christodoulou Mavris _
a soccer player well-known in Cyprus in the late 1970s and early
1980s _ was killed along with his wife.
“If these people from Helios come here and see what we have seen …”
he said outside the morgue, his sentence trailing off. He said he
had been unable to identify his brother among the bodies he saw.
In Cyprus, the mayors of Nicosia and several towns gathered in the
capital’s central square for a remembrance ceremony. Hundreds of
people joined them in a spontaneous show of solidarity, lighting
candles that flickered in the night on sidewalks and the city’s 16th
century Venetian walls.
A 40-day mourning period was declared in Paralymni, a Cypriot town
of about 10,000 that lost at least 12 of its residents in the crash.
The Helios Airways flight had been heading from Larnaca to Athens
and was to have continued on to Prague, Czech Republic.
The passengers and crew included at least 12 Greeks and the German
pilot, and a four-member family of Armenian origin. The rest were
Cypriot.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SWISS SENATE CANCELS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DEBATE
IPR Strategic Business Information Database
August 9, 2005
According to Aksam, the Swiss Senate decided over the weekend not
to debate the so-called Armenian genocide issue. The Senate Foreign
Relations Committee voted against considering the issue in the full
Senate, saying that the issue should instead be discussed between
Turkey and Armenia. Peter Briner, head of the committee, said that
the third countries should not point the finger at Turkey 90 years
after the events. Briner also said that Turkey has to look into
the Armenian issue if it wants to join the European Union, though
Switzerland itself is not a member of the bloc.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA AND FIRST LADY VISIT US EMBASSY IN RA AND
CONGRATULATE EMBASSY OFFICIALS ON OCCASION OF US NATIONAL HOLIDAY
YEREVAN, JULY 1, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. On the occasion of the
National Holiday of the United States of America, the Independence
Day, RA President Robert Kocharian and Mrs Bella Kocharian visited the
US Embassy in Armenia on July 1. As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA
President’s Press Office, Robert Kocharian congratulated the Embassy
officials and expressed a confidence that, from now on as well, the
strong ties formed between the two countries will develop with
success.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZG Armenian Daily #122, 02/07/2005
Cinema
ATOM EGOYAN AND ARSINE KHANJIAN TO VISIT KARLOVI VARI
The 40th international film festival will open today at Termal Hotel Complex
in Czech health resort of Karlovi Vari. World famous movie star Sharon
Stone, actor Robert Redford, Danish director Thomas Vinterberg and
Canadian-Armenian director Atom Egoyan together with his wife Arsine
Khanjian will take part in the festival. Egoyan’s new film will be shown on
the sidelines of Horizons program. The Czech and Canadian films of recent
years will be featured separately.
By Hakob Asatrian in Karlovi Vari
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian defence minister unruffled by increase in Azeri military spending
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
1 Jul 05
[Presenter] In two years the Armenian armed forces will be fully
equipped with professional officers. In 2015, the Armenian armed
forces will no longer be behind the best armies of the world, Armenian
Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan has said in his address to graduates
of the Vazgen Sarkisyan Military Academy.
[Passage omitted: reported details]
[Correspondent] The Armenian defence minister described as senseless
and hopeless the recent statement of the Azerbaijani president about
an increase in [Azerbaijan’s] military spending. We also have the
opportunity to increase funding for our armed forces and not to lag
behind Azerbaijan’s military spending.
[Sarkisyan] A military solution to the problem cannot yield positive
results. I am confident that it is impossible to solve the problem in
a military way today. Let’s assume that Azerbaijan’s military spending
is not 300m, but 400m dollars. This cannot change anything
considerably.
This is not the arms race of the Cold War period between the USA and
the Soviet Union which were trying to achieve supremacy by spending
billions of dollars. The situation is different today. As the saying
goes, everyone is working as they can.
[Passage omitted: reported details]
[Video showed the ceremony at the Military Academy]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MAGIC SOUNDS OF STRING SECTION OF STRADIVARIUS IN YEREVAN
YEREVAN, JUNE 27. ARMINFO. Magic sounds of Stradivarius strings
can be enjoyed in Yerevan for the first time. The only concert
performed by Japanse quartet “Tokio” within the framework of the 6th
International Music Festival “Prospects of the 21st” will be held at
Aram Khachaturyan Concert Hall on July 1.
Director of Armenian Music and Information Center, Composer Stepan
Rostomyan said at a press conference today that the world acknowledged
quartet will play on the famous strings of Stradivarius: violins
of 1680 and 1927, alt of 1071, violoncello of 1736. After the great
Nicolo Paganini played on this strings in the 19th century, they have
been called “Quarter of Paganini.”
It is a great honor for us to receive such talented musicians,
Rostomyan says. Meanwhile, he says, the quarter will receive a small
envelope of gratitude for it concert and not its usual honorarium.
The quartets of Johanes Brams and others will sound. The tickets will
cost 3-20,000 AMD. The quarter Tokio created on the initiative of
Japanese students in New York 35 years ago. It has held concerts at the
most respectable halls in the world. Festival “Prospects of the 21st”
is supported by the Armenian Foreign Ministry and Culture Ministry.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

KOCHARIAN DISCUSSES INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY WITH SYNOPSIS PRESIDENT
Armenpress
YEREVAN, JUNE 27, ARMENPRESS: President Robert Kocharian received
today Aart de Geus, president and the chief executive officer of
the famous US-based Synopsis company. Kocharian’s press office said
the president welcomed Synopsis’ activity in Armenia expressing also
hopes that it would expand here.
“Armenia has chosen high technology as one of its major priorities
and keeps it under its constant attention,” he was quoted as
saying. Kocharian also noted that more information technology services
are becoming available in Armenia day after day, saying it has become
a serious business. He also said information technologies are being
introduced into various government agencies, which he described as
“an important move to ensure transparent governance.” Synopsis’
president was reported to speak about the company’s activity in
Armenia and its future plans.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Georgia positive on Abkhaz railway, says PM
By Keti Sikharulidze
The Messenger, Georgia
June 16 2005
Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli said on Tuesday that Georgia is
“now positive” regarding the reopening of the Sochi-Tbilisi railway
via Abkhazia.
Speaking with journalists before addressing 41st CIS Railway Council
taking place in Tbilisi, PM Noghaideli noted that Georgia had
previously been against reopening the line, but said that “the new
authorities have recently taken a more positive stance on this issue.”
Nevertheless, he said there were a number of problems connected with
the rail link’s reopening, including first and foremost “the safety
of IDPs in the Gali region, so we have to do a lot of work before
realizing the project.”
One important issue that will need to be discussed before an agreement
can be reached is who is to pay for reconstructing the Abkhaz-Georgian
section of the railway, which the Head of the Russian Railway Company
Genadi Fadeev said would cost at least USD 100 million.
Speaking in Tbilisi on Wednesday, Fadeev added that “this cost will
further increase if we include rehabilitation of [the portion of the
railway] over the Enguri river,” as quoted by civil.ge.
Assuming the sides agree to reopen the connection, “I think all
participating countries – Russia, Georgia, also Armenia and to a
certain extent Azerbaijan as well – should fund the implementation
of this project,” he stated, adding that Russia was prepared to do
all it could to speed up the process.
Chair of the Armenian Railway Department Ararat Khrimyan expressed
Armenia’s willingness to join the project to restore railway
communications, providing Russia and Georgia were able to reach
an agreement.
“If the project is real, we shall certainly consider it. The route
is necessary for everybody,” he stated.
Chair of Georgian Railways Davit Onoprishvili suggested that an
agreement would indeed be reached, and that “sooner or later” the
railway would be reopened.
“We are ready [to launch the rehabilitation process]. Today, groups
are meeting in Moscow to negotiate the technical issues. The fact is
that this railway should be reopened sooner or later and Georgia will
benefit,” he said, as quoted by civil.ge.
Indeed, as PM Noghaideli noted, a task force is currently meeting in
Moscow to discuss the issue within the framework of the June 15-16
talks on reopening the railway and the return of Georgian refugees
to Gali.
State Minister for Conflict Resolution Giorgi Khaindrava, who is
leading the Georgian delegation at the talks, said that the task
force has been set up to calculate the full costs of the project.
Back in Tbilisi at the 41st CIS Railway Council, representatives from
all twelve CIS countries as well as associate members Bulgaria, Latvia,
Lithuania, Estonia, and Finland discussed a number of railway issues
including the safety of carriages and a number of technical issues.
The most important issue for Georgia was the discussion of the
Poti-Kavkaz railway-ferry link between Georgia and Russia, which
operated only twice and then was terminated by the Russian party.
According to the agreement signed in January the Russian side undertook
obligations to operate the ferry regularly, but as Onoprishvili noted,
the service took place once in March and once in April before being
stopped.
“We think that this is unacceptable and the issue should be solved,”
he told journalists.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A Convenient Myth Through the Filter of Reality
by George de Poor Handlery
Intellectual Conservative, AZ
June 15 2005
America’s myth of convenience is that the “new Europe” is on her
side, while America is being deserted by “old Europe” that the US
alienated by saving it repeatedly.
Let this begin with an admission. The subject pains the writer and
therefore, he would prefer not to have to write the essay. Generally
a topic one elaborates elicits pleasure as it takes shape. In this
case the sensation is vinegary. Thus only the intellectual commitment
to causes that by definition transcend personal preferences, furnish
the energy to proceed.
The recent experience that triggered this piece had its venue in
Hungary. In many ways the locale is not decisive in determining the
content and the conclusions that issue from it. What happened could
have occurred anywhere in the “West’s” new “East.” Here the term
“Europe” has been consciously avoided. In what most Americans still
mean under the word, namely Western Europe, the barbs connected to
the arguments reconstructed would have been more poisonous and the
arrows carrying them laden with supplementary energy.
Let us begin with what the title refers to as the “myth.” America’s
myth of convenience is that the “new Europe” is on her side while the
country is being deserted by “old Europe” that the US alienated by
saving it repeatedly. While it would be comforting if it would be so,
the sad fact is that on the whole, the “new Europe” is not so
inclined when the going gets tough with the US. This gap between the
desired and the actual is no accident. The “filter of reality” is,
therefore, essential.
For the purpose of a discussion, a (science) Ph.D. friend, who lives
in the West, brought a group together in his vacation home. The truly
native participants need introduction. They consisted of another
science Ph.D. and of a Professor, who is a hospital director and
heart specialist of repute. Both share the honor of membership in the
National Academy. The latter’s wife, an MD, also participated. The
Ph.D. had extensive living experience abroad. It began when as an
eleven-year-old he was a POW in US custody. Then he spent years
outside the “Socialist Block,” for he was delegated to serve as an
expert, mainly in Geneva, in an UN-affiliated body. Describing the MD
it is to be noted that the man is strongly religious.
Triggered by the crisis of her Red-Green coalition, the foreseen
topic was Germany. Within seconds this subject got side-lined and the
focus fell on the USA. That was the point where I chose to become a
silent observer intent to suck up uncensored views for subsequent
use. It is to be assumed that only my host — who shares my
world-view and knows my vocation — understood the strategic concept
behind my tactical comportment as a grey mouse.
In some ways the surprising thing about the lively exchange of
perceptions was that there was no overriding local color to it.
Except for a few asides and referrals to past events, the very
cosmopolitan “locals” — interrupted by the skeptical questions of my
host — sounded much like the fashionable America-bashers of Western
Europe. This should be something of a surprise. What used to be the
Outer Empire of the USSR was, except for geography, in everything
that determines life, further from “Europe” than Tasmania is
geographically. Nothing is revenged more vociferously than good
deeds. However, Hungary’s region never got American help. One would,
therefore, assume it not to have developed the resentment that fuels
the desire to retaliate as in the case of the French after ’45 and
lately the Germans.
The prejudices voiced were “standard.” That suited them for
evaluation without needing reconstruction prior to an evaluation.
Only one outrageous point departed from the mold cast by local PC. It
came from the MD who revealed, with others seconding her that, she
would have voted for Kerry. For this the reason given was that he had
a European background which furnished a civilizing influence. His
ancestors’ recent immigration makes him “sympathetic” and could be
taken as a sign of culture lacked by Bush the bloke. This was the
point where I briefly fell out of my role. I proved to be unable to
withhold that by this standard Szalasi, Hungary’s Hitler, should also
find approval, having been of (Armenian) immigrant stock.
Such views my reader might take as pertaining to a marginal issue
that inadvertently degenerates into the ridiculous. Let me submit
that, while we are talking about marginal symptoms, these harken back
to roots that are significant.
The distorted image depicting the US has several sources. One issues
from the current weakness of Europe. Originally the feebleness was
only military to which, currently, an economic dimension is being
added. Europe is not only wanting in power-terms, the reaction to the
new economy of globalization is equally feeble. Overcoming these gaps
is currently unlikely, as the will to do so is lacking. Therefore
American successes are not an example to follow, but due to their
accomplishments, a humiliating provocation. A further component of
the hostility is that, instead of making the effort to cope with the
US by catching up to surpass her, hammering America into the ground
gains favor. In Hungary and her likes, the very fact of the US’
leading position is, regardless of all the evidence to the contrary,
a proof of an intent to dominate and to exploit. The fact-defying
assumption finds support in a very real but subjectively interpreted
past. The small countries of the zone in which Hungary is located
have during the past been under the domination of major powers. All
have used their muscle to squeeze the peoples that fell in their
sphere of influence. This activates a Pavlovian reflex. The US, being
“top nation,” is in a position to do whatever the Germans and the
Russians have done. In the light of local experience, if the
Americans can oppress they must be bullies, because all others powers
in a comparable position have been oppressors.
Thus, ignoring experience, it is no surprise that in both Europes the
view that the US (and Israel) is the major threat to world peace
prevails. No change in American foreign policy will make this
impression fade. Europe happens to find the thesis of America’s
threat to global security a convenient dogma. Accepting the notion
enables her to see threats, such as North Korea and a nuclear Iran,
through the filter of equivalency. These regimes might be up to no
good. But so is America in case it undertakes to mobilize against
them, while it rates as unreliable if it desists from acting.
Naturally, should containment fail, the US’ ineffectiveness will be
the cause. The pleasant upshot: Europe needs to do nothing. Take the
case of the EU’s own mild sanctions in 2003 against Cuba for its hard
line towards its dissidents. Socialist Spain removed Europe from even
appearing to be close to the US in the firefight between Castro and
Washington by suspending the implementation of her sanctions in the
interest of a “constructive dialogue.” Since then — what a shock! —
persecution continues. So does the suspension. No surprise. All
considered, not a bad situation: nothing is done and the independence
from cowboy America is maintained.
Listening to Europeans it quickly dawns on you that much of the
problem is compounded by ignorance of the US’ modus operandi and by a
tendency to misinterpret much that is connected to her. A case in
point came about when the group voiced the idea that America’s
barefootedness is natural as it is a young country. Whether a long
history and wise, proper and decent comportment on the world scene
correlate, is open to debate. As a secret observer the writer
refrained from provoking it. The same is true regarding the
consideration that if you take measures by comparing unbroken
political traditions, the US wins easily. She happens to have, since
the acceptance of her constitution, by far the oldest system of them
all.
Misunderstanding — being a category separate from “not knowing” —
reinforces pre-conceived images. When the discussion shifted to
America’s desire to grab the world’s resources, the former pre-teen
POW found confirmation in the American soldiers’ who took his cap.
You and I might surmise that the motive was not pecuniary gain but
the collection of memorabilia. Within that category, parts of a
child’s adult uniform are likely to score high. Also from this Gent
came the observation that at the UN, by innuendo due to Washington’s
efforts, there are too many Americans. Here obviously a Soviet block
effort, to infiltrate with politically screened personnel, who de
facto represented the Kremlin’s interests, is applied, assuming
equivalence, to the US. What a field-day it would be for the media
from the NYT to PBS, if Washington’s efforts to inject its agents in
the world organization’s civil service could be unmasked! A society
contributing 22% of the UN’s budget and generating about a quarter of
global GNP, and one that also produces excellent post-graduates, is
naturally likely to fill a lot of slots without its government’s
octopus arms heaving its citizens into openings. Actually, America’s
threat to the UN is not kidnapping it to be used as an instrument,
but in abandoning it.
As disappointing as opinions such as those regurgitated here might
be, their main impact on American and Atlantic security does not end
with the current shaky state of the alliance. Assuredly, the matter
is serious, it acts as a brake on the conduct of foreign affairs, and
it demands that those relationships that by now have only tradition
to recommend them, be reassessed. However, the thought that emerged
in the course of the discussion took a turn in an entirely different
direction. My insight had been that the main problem is not the tone
and the content of talks such as the one I was involved in.
Ultimately, the efficacy of US policy serving the national interest
and protecting the freer part of the world is decided on her home
front. That is why I imagined the presence of a largely apolitical
American at the table. How would he react? The US must be doing
something perennially and knowingly wrong to provoke hostile
reactions. This is also the wide-spread logic behind the idea that
the outrage of 9/11 must have its roots in an even greater inequity.
“Cleaning up America’s act,” stroking those who snap at her hand
might just be the solution. Precisely this “Europeanizing” of US
policy constitutes the major danger. America can easily overbid
Europe with concessions aimed at buying cooperation. If, however, the
reaction is contempt — as in Pyongyang’s armament program — the
threatening question is this: who will defend the US the way America
is ultimately likely to cover her allies, once conciliation leads to
confrontation?
George Handlery is an historian. He has lived and taught in Europe
since 1976.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress