Author: Jidarian Alex

"WE SHOULD REGAIN NOT ONLY ABKHAZIA AND SOUTH OSSETIA BUT ALSO ABKHAZ AND OSSETIAN PEOPLE"

by Ivan Sukhov

DEFENSE and SECURITY
May 26, 2008 Monday
Russia

SITUATION IN THE CONFLICT ZONES IN ABKHAZIA AND SOUTH OSSETIA FROM
THE STANDPOINT OF STATE MINISTER OF GEORGIA FOR REINTEGRATION TEMURI
YAKOBASHVILI; Interview of State Minister of Georgia for Reintegration
Temuri Yakobashvili

State Minister of Georgia for Reintegration, Temuri Yakobashvili,
told the observer of Vremya Novostey about his vision of the situation
in the conflict zones in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Question: The Georgian party proposed a number of initiatives for
resolving the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict. A fantastic version already
appeared in Russia due to the reservations of official comments. This
version said that there were separate negotiations between Georgia
and Abkhazia first and afterwards President of Abkhazia Sergei
Bagapsh flew to Moscow to approve the results in the Russian Foreign
Minister. Bagapsh confirmed the fact of negotiations but said that the
agreement was not achieved. Can you unveil the fog around this topic?

Yakobashvili: The Abkhaz party does not do anything which the Russians
are unaware of. Second, regretfully, agreements with the Abkhaz
party have not been achieved yet. Third, I am not longer surprised
by what the Russian press writes. I can use my own example: when I
flew from here they invented the idea that I planned to organize an
international conference on Abkhazia in Moscow.

Question: What are the results of your visit to Moscow?

Yakobashvili: Well, I did not expect any results from this visit except
for getting acquainted with the people who worked on Abkhazian issues
and to tell them about our vision of the situation and our solution
for the problem.

Question: Do you place some hopes on the new Russian President?

Yakobashvili: So far, we do not know if we can lay any hopes. We hope
that the Russian authorities in general – the new President or new
Prime Minister – will change their approaches to Georgia.

Question: What do you think Russia tries to bargain from Georgia by
its current pressure in the Abkhaz aspect?

Yakobashvili: Russia wants to tear off Abkhazia.

Question: Is this possible?

Yakobashvili: People in Moscow think that it is. People in Moscow
believe that if America "takes" Georgia and Ukraine they need to take
Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Crimea.

Question: Is this the standpoint of officials of the Russian Foreign
Ministry?

Yakobashvili: I do not think that the Foreign Ministry thinks in this
way but they have to formulate and justify all this. I pity officials
of the Russian Foreign Ministry who have to speak about the white
saying that it is black.

Question: Do you think that Russian authorities have received a
conviction that the annexation of Abkhazia from Georgia is possible at
all? The official standpoint has repeated the correct formulation of
the Foreign Ministry that Russia recognizes the territorial integrity
of Georgia for a long time.

Yakobashvili: You see, there is a trait of slyness in these
conversations because people in Moscow have assured me and I am more
than assured myself that Russia will never recognize the independence
of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russia does not need this and it will
never do this. In my opinion, nothing will come of this. But when
all this is in the hands of the people here, who wish to earn money
there and to dismiss everyone, this is not a state policy.

Question: What is your vision of the ideal way out for the Abkhaz
and South Ossetian situations? What is the goal of the regulation?

Yakobashvili: The goal should look as follows: the Abkhaz and Ossetian
people should have three most important components of any regulation
plan. First, this is physical security. Second, these are guarantees
that their ethnos will be preserved and will develop. Third, these
are guarantees of economic development. These are three main things:
physical, ethnical cultural and economic security.

Question: People in Abkhazia and South Ossetia offer a simple
counter-argument: they have all these three things already. Which of
the things that they do not have does Georgia offer them?

Yakobashvili: First, they do not have this. They do not feel
secure. Otherwise they would not speak about a need to sign an
agreement on non-restarting of hostilities. Second, it seems to me that
the 45,000 population of ethnic Abkhaz people in Abkhazia actually
does not have enough resources to preserve their ethnos. This is an
ethnos that is becoming extinct and has serious healthcare problems
from drug addiction to serious infectious diseases. Only 30% of Abkhaz
people speak the Abkhaz language. Look at Abkhaz newspapers and you
will see that this is rather a stage of survival of the ethnos and
not its development.

I do not think that the Olympics in Sochi will become the decisive
breakthrough moment for the development of the economy of Abkhazia
about which people are talking all the time. These are fairytales. We
see only one thing now: crushed stone, sand and other materials that
are exported or will be exported from Abkhazia for Olympic construction
projects incur irreparable damage on the environment. The Soviet Union
was reinforcing the coast in Sochi and in Abkhazia because everything
was washed away. There is the same problem in Sochi too. It is not
quite clear how they are going to build anything there at all. For
Abkhazia the projects connected with Sochi result in an environmental
disaster of the entire coast.

Question: Which institutional base is Georgia prepared to offer for
implementation of the principles of regulation that you have outlined?

Yakobashvili: We speak about the creation of a post of vice president,
about the right of Abkhaz veto for any issues dealing with this
territory and about a free economic zone. For a part of South Ossetia
we also have plans that we are prepared to discuss with the South
Ossetians including those living in the part that is not controlled
by Tbilisi, this is about 45% of the territory of the unrecognized
republic. Incidentally, there are 45,000 ethnic Abkhaz people in
Abkhazia and there are 55,000 Georgians (he probably means the Megrel
population of the Galsky District) and 65,000 Armenians. We cannot and
will not settle all details for the Abkhaz people, this is dishonest
and incorrect.

Question: Georgia left the mixed controlling commission (SKK) for
resolving the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict. What is offered
in exchange?

Yakobashvili: 2+2+2. Our formula is simple: two communities live
in South Ossetia. One is governed by Eduard Kokoity and the other
one is governed by Dmitry Sanakoev. All Georgian villages, several
Ossetian ones and mixed are under rule of Sanakoev. We do not say who
is more and who is less numerous. However, we cannot speak about the
future of this region without taking into account of opinion of all
parties. Kokoity and Sanakoev – these are two. Georgia and Russia are
the parties concerned – these are two. The OSCE is already present
there in the form of observers and other projects. The European Union
is the biggest donor of post-conflict restoration. These are two. We
propose working in this format and not in the format of SKK where
there are three against one: Russia by itself, Russia in the form of
South Ossetia and Russia in the form of North Ossetia.

Question: Aide to the Deputy US Secretary of State, Mathew Braiza,
visited Sukhumi after a long pause in negotiations on Abkhazia. After
that advisor to the Georgian President, Irakly Alasania, went
there. Afterwards you visited Moscow. There is an impression that
the negotiations are resumed.

Yakobashvili: There are attempts. I think that this is
inevitable. There are rational people in Moscow, Tbilisi and Sukhumi
who understand how it is necessary to negotiate very well. We wish
to have an open dialogue.

POST OF MILITARY PSYCHOLOGIST MAY APPEAR IN THE ARMED FORCES OF ARMENIA

DEFENSE and SECURITY
May 26, 2008 Monday
Russia

Defense Minister of Armenia, Seiran Oganyan, visited the Yerevan
state pedagogical university where he met with the directorate
of the university and students of the department of military
psychology. Having emphasized the importance of the role of pedagogical
education for commanders of the Armenian army, the minister said that
new specialists from the university would find their decent place in
the armed forces of the country too.

The Defense Minister also says that graduates of the department
will receive a military rank corresponding to the rank of medium
commanders and many of them will be invited to work in the structures
of the ministry.

The minister remarks that in some military units of Armenia, there is
already a need for military psychologists and the opening of relevant
military vacancies will be considered soon.

Oganyan points out that in its program, the government is going to
increase the quantity of civil posts in the national armed forces. He
adds that contract servicemen have been serving in the armed forces
of the country for a few years already. Oganyan explains, "Now we
have contract servicemen – professional officers and sergeants –
and separate military units of professionals."

Today.Az, Azerbaijan
May 24 2008

Turkish expert: "Armenia could have withdrawn its troops from seven
regions of Azerbaijan for Turkey to open the borders immediately"

24 May 2008 [10:35] – Today.Az

Ankara is well aware that much is left until the resolution of Nagorno
Karabakh conflict but Armenia could have withdrawn its troops from
seven regions of Azerbaijan.

The due announcement was made by professor Mustafa Aydin, chief of
department for international relations of the University of Economy
and Technologies in Ankara.

"The Presidential elections in Armenia on February 19 give hope for
normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations. At least, thus is
considered in Turkey and proven by intentions of the new President of
Armenia Serzh Sarkissyan.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry considers that Armenian diplomacy is too
"Soviet", old-fashioned and clumsy. Our diplomacy is more of a western
pattern, which stipulates for joint steps. Restoration of the St.Cross
church in Akhtamar on the Van lake is a serious step of the Turkish
government and we expect Armenia to make response steps", noted the
Turkish professor.

He considers that one of such steps may become softening of Armenia’s
position in the resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. "Ankara is
well aware that too much is left to the resolution of the conflict,
but Armenia could have withdrawn its troops from seven regions of
Azerbaijan. In this case Turkey would have opened the border, closed
in 1993. Nevertheless, I am sure that relations between Armenia and
Turkey would normalize soon", said Mustafa Aydin.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/

URL:

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2008 – FINAL: PARTICIPANTS LIST

Top40-Charts.com
May 23 2008
NY

LONDON, UK (Top40 Charts) – After the two Semi-Finals on Tuesday
and Thursday, all songs in the Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song
Contest are known. The Final will be broadcast tomorrow at 21:00 CET
in the evening.

Just like both Semi-Finals, the Final, of course, starts with the
Eurovision hymn. Shortly afterwards, Marija Serifovic’, the winner
of the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest, enters the stage to perform
together with a group of female dancers.

After that the hosts, Jovana Jankovic’ and Z(eljko Joksimovic’,
go on stage.While in the First Semi-Final, the theme was "City" and
in the Second Semi-Final, the theme was "Water", the theme of the
Final will be the combination of both – "City and Water". This is,
of course, a symbol of the capital of Serbia, Belgrade, which sits
at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers.

The first song in the Final is Pe-o Margine De Lume by Nico &
Vlad from Romania. They perform their operatic song brilliantly and
without any vocal problems. The colour theme on the stage and on the
LED projections are dark and resembles a romantic night sky. Second
on stage is Andy Abraham from the United Kingdom, who was directly
qualified for the Final. His vocal and dance performance sounds and
looks confident, and Andy manages well to give good vibes to the
public. He performs in a dark blue suit, and the LED projections are
very colourful. Third to perform is Olta Boka from Albania. Even though
she is the youngest singer participating in the 2008 Eurovision Song
Contest, she convinces everyone with her charms and her flawless vocal
performance. The LED screen in the background reflects the zooming-in
on a warm-coloured heart. The next song represents another one of the
countries directly qualified for the Final – Germany. The four girls
of the band No Angels are dressed in two colours, blue and purple. The
chorus is emphasized by pyrotechnical effects, and the background
scenery shows feathers gliding through the air. Their performance is
vocally solid and without visible problems. Fifth on stage is Sirusho,
singing Qele, Qele for Armenia. Sirusho looks fantastic on stage with
her short white, grey and black dress, and the dance performance is
professional, too. Pyrotechnical effects are used to boost the visual
appearance, too. Vocally, there is still some room for improvements
until the Final.

The next artist entering the stage is Laka from Bosnia and
Herzegovina. The whole setup of this performing brings a smile to
everyone’s face as the two main figures, Laka and his sister Mirela,
are running on stage in weird clothes and hairdresses. Four elderly
looking women perform as backing vocals, wearing white dresses and
knitting while singing. In the end of the performance, the word "LOVE"
is displayed on drying laundry. The audience was very enthusiastic of
this truly special and entertaining performance. Next up is Israel’s
Boaz Mauda who enters the stage, which, at that moment, is completely
dark. But this changes as soon as he sings the first chorus. Later
on, five backing vocals join and support him. Vocally, Boaz showed
all his talents and he left a powerful impression with his quiet
ballad. Eighth on stage are Terasbetoni from Finland, who certainly
wake up everyone who has switched on the TV set! They show Finnish
rock music at its best, powered by pyrotechnical effects, smoke and
loud shouting. The lights on stage are intensely blinking. The colour
theme of the stage and the LED screen in the background is in white
and red colours. The next country in the line-up is Croatia. After
the youngest performer in this Final, who performed third, it’s now
time for the oldest, who calls himself ’75 Cents’ corresponding with
his age. He performs together with Kraljevi Ulice – "The Kings Of The
Street". They sing a nostalgic song in Croatian language, reminding
of street art. Towards the end of the song, 75 Cents is scratching
a record on a grammophone like a young hip-hop DJ. On the big LED
screen in the background, white doves appear. Tenth to perform is
Isis Gee from Poland. She improved her vocal performance amazingly
since her first rehearsal! In a light blue dress, she performs her
love song confidently, while she is accompanied by her husband playing
the piano and four female violinists.

The stage is in white and light blue colours.

The eleventh country, Iceland, is represented by Euroband, consisting
of the two singers Friorik and Regina. They showed an energetic
performance of their song. Both were dressed in black and pink
outfits. They looked really relaxed and confident on stage, and
they were very warmly received by the public in the hall. Turkey
is next, with a rock song in Turkish language, performed by Mor
ve Otesi. The stage shows dark colours, with papier mache dolls
shown on the background screen and pyrotechnical effects in the
foreground. Both visually and vocally, the performance was confident
and powerful. Afterwards, there is the first commercial break,
and it’s time for a report from the Green Room by Kristina and Bane
again. Then, it’s the turn of the country drawn 13th: Portugal. Vania
Fernandes wears a black dress, while her five backing vocals wear
white clothes. The background scenery is entirely in blue and reminds
of water, fitting the song title Senhora Do Mar. Towards the end,
the wind machine emphasizes the increasing dramatic appearance of the
song and the singers. Both visually and vocally, the Portuguese entry
was brilliant! Next is another song which talks about the wide oceans:
Pirates Of The Sea, representing Latvia. The singers and dancers are
dressed up like pirates, reminding of carnival. Smoke effects are used,
and all in all, the public gets to see an energetic and funny stage
act. The 15th singer on stage is fan favourite Charlotte Perrelli,
representing Sweden. She is shown on screen in black and white in the
beginning, but after the first verse, everything is in colour again
– so don’t worry, your TV set is not broken, and you do not need to
readjust the colour settings either. Charlotte and her five backing
dancers showed a solid performance for their typical schlager song.

After a long night of celebrating, Simon Mathew enters the stage. He
and his band represent Denmark. They deliver a great and energetic
performance of All Night Long. At the end of the song, the LED
screen in the background shows fireworks in blue, white and purple
colours creating a feeling of being at a New Year party, which lasts
all night long. The 17th country in the Final is Georgia, which is
being represented by the blind singer Diana Gurtskaya. She starts
her performance in black leather clothes. Later on, a white blanket
is pulled over her from the front to the back of the stage, and as
soon as she reappears, the public gets to see her and her dancers in
different dresses! The performance and stage act were all good and the
public was very enthusiastic about her performance. Next up is another
favourite of the fans and bookmakers: Ukraine. Ani Lorak sings Shady
Lady in a stylish short shining dress, while she is supported by one
backing singer and four male dancers. The main element on stage is
a special box with mirrors on the outside, which turns transparent
when the lights inside are turned on. Ani even climbs on top of the
box during the performance! The singing was powerful and convincing,
and the stage act was elaborate. At the 19th draw position, it’s the
turn of France, another country which is directly qualified for the
Final. Sebastien Tellier shows his long hair and beard to the camera in
a self-confident way. The background scenery showed warm colours, and
it was reminiscent of a solar eclipse. Sebastien sung professionally
and without problems. The next country is Azerbaijan, showing one of
the most spectacular stage acts of the Final: Elnur performs as an
angel, while Samir is dressed like the devil. The performance features
not only traditional Azeri Mugham singing, but also pyrotechnical
effects. Altogether, the act looked and sounded convincing.

Greece was drawn 21st yesterday, so it’s Kalomira’s turn to perform
now. Again, the public gets to see an elaborate performance,
this time with a prop that turns into a shiny purple heart. Both
visually and vocally, Kalomira convinced everyone with a powerful
performance. Next is another directly qualified country: Spain. The
Western European country is being represented by Rodolfo Chikilicuatre
and his funny dance song Baila El Chiki Chiki. The performance includes
moves out of four distinct dances, and the stage scenery includes
bright colours, with the main one being red. On the background,
the names of the four dances are shown. The host country, Serbia,
is being represented by Jelena Tomasevic’, singing a nostalgic
ballad with ethnic influences. She wears a grey dress, and the wind
machine is used to make the performance look even more dramatic. She
looked and sounded confident, and the whole act was professional
and flawless. The postcard for Russia shows the recipe for a fish
soup, but obviously this doesn’t have anything to do with the song
or performance. Dima Bilan, one of the bookmakers’ favourites,
performs together with the figure skater Evgenii Plushenko and the
violinist Edvin Marton. Dima starts the stage act lying on the floor,
and later on, all three performers move onto artificial ice together,
with Evgenii performing skating figures and Edvin playing a 300 year
old Stradivari violin. Everything looked professional, elaborate,
and convincing for Russia. The last artist to perform on stage is
Maria from Norway. She performs in a dark blue dress in front of a
stage scenery in similar colours, with small lights on it, reminding
of stars. Her pop song sounded great, and there was nothing to be
criticized or improved in this performance.

After the performance of the Norwegian entry, it is time for the hosts
to start the voting. They do this by calling a special guest on stage,
which is one of the biggest basketball legends in Serbia. Thereafter
there is a re-run of the 25 songs, which is followed up by video
clips with the Eurovision atmosphere in Belgrade, such as the
Sava Centar/Press Centre, the Belgrade Arena, arriving fans in the
airport, the life in the Belgrade streets and the participants on
sightseeing. The video clips are followed up by another re-run of the
finalists. Then the voting period finishes, and the hosts introduce
the interval act. The interval act is traditional Serbian music,
and the female backing singers and male wear traditional Serbian
outfits. After a brief visit in the Green Room, the test voting begins.

Citizens of each country vote by telephone or SMS. The country’s
10 favourites are awarded 12, 10, then 8 through 1 points based on
votes. All 45 countries present their awarded points, totalling to
determine the winner.

Eurovision Song Contest 2008 – Final: Participants List: 1. Romania –
Nico & Vlad – Pe-o Margine De Lume 2. United Kingdom – Andy Abraham
– Even If 3. Albania – Olta Boka – Zemren E Lame Peng 4. Germany –
No Angels – Disappear 5. Armenia – Sirusho – Qele, Qele 6. Bosnia &
Herzegovina – Laka – Pokus(aj 7. Israel – Boaz – The Fire In Your
Eyes 8. Finland – Terasbetoni – Missa Miehet Ratsastaa 9. Croatia –
Kraljevi Ulice & 75 Cents – Romanca 10. Poland – Isis Gee – For Life
11. Iceland – Euroband – This Is My Life 12. Turkey – Mor ve O"tesi –
Deli 13. Portugal – Va^nia Fernandes – Senhora Do Mar (Negras A’guas)
14. Latvia – Pirates Of The Sea – Wolves Of The Sea 15. Sweden –
Charlotte Perrelli – Hero 16. Denmark – Simon Mathew – All Night
Long 17. Georgia – Diana Gurtskaya – Peace Will Come 18. Ukraine
– Ani Lorak – Shady Lady 19. France – Sebastien Tellier – Divine
20. Azerbaijan – Elnur & Samir – Day After Day 21. Greece – Kalomira –
Secret Combination 22. Spain – Rodolfo Chikilicuatre – Baila El Chiki
Chiki 23. Serbia – Jelena Tomasevic feat. Bora Dugic – Oro 24. Russia –
Dima Bilan – Believe 25. Norway – Maria – Hold On Be Strong

VAHAN HOVANNISYAN NOT TO BE APPOINTED CHAIRMAN OF PUBLIC COUNCIL UNDER THE PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA

arminfo
2008-05-23 15:49:00

ArmInfo. At today’s briefing in the parliament member of ARF
Dashnaktiutyun parliamentary faction, Ara Nranyan, disproved the
rumours that head of the same faction Vahan Hovannisyan will be
appointed chairman of Public Council under the president of Armenia.

Touching on the 1 March events in Yerevan, he said that ‘despite
the results of the election, the main purpose of ex-president Levon
Ter-Petrosyan was to destabilize the situation in the country’.

WHY NAREK SARGSYAN BOUGHT CHARLES AZNAVOUR’S GRANDMA CLOTHES

Panorama.am
20:06 21/05/2008

In the left side of Cascade in Yerevan world wide famous Charles
Aznavour’s museum is being built said Narek Sargsyan, the architect
of the museum, the executive architect of North square, in e press
conference today. He said that the reconstruction of the museum
building has started last year but it will be ready in 2009 only.

According to the architect the idea of founding Charles Aznavour museum
in Armenia was created in 2006 when Armenian year was celebrating in
France. "Then the president of Armenia was Robert Kocharyan and he
ordered me to work on the place and project of it," he said.

Note: that Charles Aznavour visited the place where the museum us
being built and he found it quite a nice place. "The museum is to be
multifunctional cultural center. There will be a closed hall for 150
people, reception halls, a museum part and open cafe. Mount Ararat
is seen from the museum," said the architect.

He said that the first present to the museum will be made by himself
as once he bought the clothes of famous singer’s grandmother. "One day
the director of Parajanov museum called me and said that the clothes
are in Vernisaj for sale. I thought to let the state bodies know and
buy it but they I thought they it will take long time and bought them
myself," told the architect.

POLITICAL SHOWS CONTINUE
Vrezh Aharonyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on May 21, 2008
Armenia

Judging by all, the radical opposition has found itself in such
a situation that it is ready to turn everything into a political
show just in order to make L. Ter-Petrosyan’s image unforgettable
and be able to submit something new to the officials of the Council
of Europe. And the only objective they have is the following: to
politicize everything.

In such conditions, the deterioration of the health conditions of
Aram Karapetyan, leader of "New Times" party, and the subsequent
protest actions were a proper occasion for speculations. And it is
still questionable whether those who made speculations are really
concerned about A. Krapetyan’s health and whether they really want
the leader of "New Times" to recover.

There’s such an impression that the pro-Levon activists are not, as
a matter of fact, concerned about A, Karapetyan’s health. What they
need is to raise a new wave of dissatisfaction around this particular
candidate so as they will be able to announce before the PACE summer
session that "political detainees" in Armenia are not only subjected
to torture but also reduced to sharply deteriorated health conditions.

But what has really happened?

A. Karapetyan who used to represent himself as an activist ready for
all kinds of hardships (and even spending all his life in prison
for the sake of ideas) was unable to endure this situation for a
couple of months and found himself in a state of psychological and
nervous depression. This really resulted in certain health problems
such as labile blood pressure and some complications related to the
cardiovascular system.

That A. Karapetyan had to be under the supervision of doctors,
and everything possible had to be done for improving his health
condition nobody had any doubt about it. However, there are a number
of noteworthy circumstances in this story.

To begin with, A. Karapetyan and his lawyers anticipated that the law
enforces examining the case would be forced to change the precautionary
measure and release him under the influence of certain foreign circles.

However, the calculations did not come true. Let’s note that the first
signs of the deterioration of the health conditions of the leader of
"New Times" were observed 10 days ago; he was immediately provided
with medical assistance and relevant doctors were invited.

However, A. Karapetyan’s "almighty" mother-in-law and father-in-law
who reside in Moscow decided not to satisfy themselves with the
conclusion of the doctors and invited cardiologist Armen Gasparyan,
their relative, for consultations. The latter is an Associate Professor
in the Yerevan State Medical University (Chair of Ã’herapeutics)
and at he same time, conducts consultations in "Erebuni" Medical
Center. In addition, let’s note that A. Gasparyan is the cousin of
A. Karapetyan’s mother-in-law and is in a close relationship with
A. Karapetyan’s family.

Three days later, A. Gasparyan and two other invited doctors examined
A. Karapetyan in the NSS isolation cell and drew a relevant conclusion.

Furthermore, the other two doctors found that A. Karapetyan could
receive his treatment in a hospital for detainees, while A. Gasparyan
insisted that it was necessary to conduct the treatment in "Erebuni"
Medical Center.

With the purpose of avoiding speculations, the law enforcement
agencies allowed to move A. Karapetyan to "Erebuni" Medical Center
where, according to available information, he now feels quite
satisfactory. His health condition has improved. This is the reality.

As regards the protest actions, there are interesting circumstances at
this point too. For instance, they announced that they had been on a
hunger strike for two days continuously and, as a sign of protest, were
sitting in front of the building of the Prosecutor’s Office. However,
on the night of May 16, around 2 a.m., Hrachya Sargsyan, one of the
strikers, organized a small banquet with 7 other people in the park
situated the opposite side of the Prosecutor’s Office; they also
drank two bottles of vodka.

As mentioned by the eyewitnesses, the food-sack was brought by the
driver of a black "Mercedes Brabus" (registration No. 05UU135) who had
stopped the vehicle at a long distance from the strikers. Comments,
as they say, are needless.

So, the political shows continue.

–Boundary_(ID_B0c4MYyBopFgm/krBGLVtg)- –

TURMEPA TAKES MEASURES TO SAVE LAKE VAN

Noyan Tapan

Ma y 19, 2008

ANKARA, MAY 19, ARMENINS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. Lake Van, the fifth
largest lake in Europe, is dying, Internet sites report, saying that
unless urgent measures are taken, the lake will dry up within the next
10-15 years. The Turkish Marine Environment Protection Association
(TURMEPA) has included Lake Van in its project "Limitless Blue" that
has been carried out for two years to save coastlines. As it works
to protect a coastline of 8,333 kilometer from Hopa to Iskenderun,
TURMEPA plans to save Lake Van as well.

The association has organized an event to clean the shores of the lake.

PRESS CONFERENCES – ARMENIA

oikotimes.com
/index.php?file=articles&id=3378
May 16 2008
Greece

Today’s Armenian press conference began with Sirusho’s explanation that
she will not be able to perform the final part of her performance
which is supposed to impress the public the most. At the end of
Sirusho’s performance her microphone is supposed to explode but the
EBU and RTS have requested for the ending not to be altered due to
security reasons. With this being an exception her performance today
went well. During the press conference Sirusho performed part of
"Qele qele".

Film Farm to produce new works from Egoyan and De Palma

Screendaily
by Denis Seguin in Cannes
May 16, 2008

Toronto-based production outfit The Film Farm is set to produce Atom
Egoyan’s untitled next picture, an original screenplay, and two films from
Brian de Palma.

Headed by producing partners Simone Urdl and Jennifer Weiss, Film Farm
produced Egoyan’s Cannes competition entry Adoration as well as de Palma’s
2007 Venice title Redacted and Sarah Polley’s Oscar-nominated Away From Her.
As with Adoration, Egoyan will also produce through his Ego Arts Films
shingle.

First up from de Palma will be Print The Legend, a film that continues in
the verite vein of Redacted, exploring the process of "selling" the Iraq war
to the US home-front. It follows a story similar to that of US female
soldier Jessica Lynch, whose heroic battlefield exploits were later revealed
to be concocted by the US military. The budget will be between $5m and $10m.
The second project, also untitled, is a political thriller in the $15m-$20m
range.

Urdle and Weiss also revealed they have landed a privately-financed
development fund, a luxury rarely seen in Canada. While the duo declined to
name their benefactors, Urdl said it is a Canadian company with a long
history in the film and entertainment business.

Said Urdl, "This will allow us to jump on projects and pay for them without
going through the [public sector investment] application phase."

Added Weiss, "It gives us a lot of leeway we never had. And it’s a
tremendous endorsement from people who are interested in making their money
back."