Author: Kalantarian Kevo

TWO YEREVAN TIPS: LAGONID BISTRO-CAFE & SERGEI PARADJANOV MUSEUM
by Alex Robertson

Gadling.com

Nov 4 2011

Here are two Yerevan tips. Though both make it into some guidebooks,
neither would probably be an obvious choice for a Yerevan sojourn: the
Syrian-Armenian Lagonid Bistro-Cafe and the Sergei Paradjanov Museum.

I never meant to wander into Lagonid Bistro-Cafe (37 Nalbandyan
Poghots), a Syrian-Armenian restaurant in Yerevan. I wanted to eat
something distinctly Armenian, or at least something within the
ex-Soviet sphere. But the best sounding restaurants along these
lines in my rag-tag Lonely Planet to the Caucasus were closed, some
apparently for several years, restaurants with enticing names like
Color of Pomegranates (Armenian and Georgian cuisine, reportedly)
and Bukhara (Uzbek cuisine).

I kept walking in search of a decent lunch, and Lagonid Bistro-Cafe
looked like it might have potential. I ordered labne, hummus, mutabel,
and pomegranate juice. The hummus was creamy with lots of olive oil,
better than any hummus I’d had since an eye-opening feast at Fakhr
El-Din in Amman several years ago. (After Fakhr El-Din I couldn’t eat
hummus for months and months. Their version was so far superior to
any hummus I’d ever had previously that I wasn’t willing to pollute
my palate with bad hummus.) The labne was tart and the mutabel (a
puree of roasted eggplant and garlic) was spicy and satisfying. That
feast ran me 3300 dram ($8.70), and frankly the only thing on my mind
as I walked away was if I should return later that day or the next.

Another Yerevan tip: The Sergei Paradjanov Museum (15-16 Dzoragyugh
Poghots). Paradjanov, born to an ethnic Armenian family in Georgia in
1924, was a bad boy of avant-garde cinema at a time when dissident
behavior had frightening consequences. Uncomfortable working within
the social realist confines of Soviet cinema, Paradjanov was imprisoned
several times on various charges, including immorality and bribery. He
had many international champions in the arts, and many famous writers
and artists campaigned for his release during a long imprisonment
in the 1970s. Even when Paradjanov was no longer in prison, Soviet
authorities monitored him and limited his ability to work creatively.

The museum presents a psychedelic hodgepodge of Paradjanov’s artistic
activities and aesthetic influences. Especially interesting items
include the shrine (above) and Paradjanov’s dolls and collages.

Photographs, various objects, and the artist’s collages, some very
intricate, cover the walls. Paradjanov developed the collage form
while he was imprisoned.

Be sure to check out other Far Europe and Beyond series installments.

ARMENIAN AMBASSADOR TO ITALY TOUCHED UPON KARABAKH ISSUE IN INTERVIEW TO EURASIA

news.am
Nov 4 2011
Armenia

ROME. – Italian Eurasia periodical on geopolitical studies published
an interview with Armenian Ambassador to Italy Ruben Karapetyan. The
interview touched upon Armenian-Italian historic relations, bilateral
cooperation and perspectives, as well as recent events taking place
in the Arabic world.

The interview dwelt on the recent developments of the settlement and
clarifications of Nagorno-Karabakh issue, Armenian MFA’s press service
informs Armenian News-NEWS.am. The Ambassador stated that Armenia’s
approach corresponds to the approach by OSCE mediator states. Whereas
Azerbaijan has adopted arms race policy. It destabilizes the region
and hundreds of cases of ceasefire regime violations threaten to
resume new war.

The Ambassador touched also upon the geopolitical situation in the
Middle East and Armenia’s relations with the Arabic world.

EMERSON ARMENIAN HOME HEARING POSTPONED UNTIL DECEMBER
BY CHRIS HARRIS

NorthJersey.com

Nov 4 2011
NJ

The Emerson Land Use Board Thursday adjourned a hearing on an
application by the Emerson Armenian Home for the Aged, which calls
for the construction of a new facility after razing the home~Rs
current building.

The hearing has been tabled until the board~Rs next meeting on Dec. 1
at 8 p.m. in council chambers.

The $15 million proposal, which would increase the number of beds at
home from 86 to 117, will take an estimated 18 months to complete. The
plans call for a new 2½ -story building on the side of the property
where it meets Clinton Street.

Emerson residents living around the home have organized to fight the
proposal, saying more beds will bring more deliveries and more traffic,
as well as increase flooding to the area.

A portion of the proposal, which calls for the relocation of a
dumpster, has other residents concerned the new home may attract
more rodents.

SOME IN CONGRESS BALK AT ARMS SALE TO TURKEY
By Craig Whitlock

Associated Press
Posted at 02:28 PM ET, 11/04/2011

The AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter at an air base in the Gulf region.

Time may not be on their side, but some members of Congress are
still trying to make the Pentagon sweat over a proposed weapons sale
to Turkey.

Reps. Shelley Berkely (D-Nev.) and Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) have introduced
a bill that seeks to block the Defense Department from selling three
AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters to Turkey. The lawmakers said they
want to scuttle the deal because they’re unhappy with Turkey for not
getting along better with three neighbors: Israel, Armenia and Cyprus.

“We are deeply concerned by Turkey’s increased saber rattling,
its threats against Israel, its outlook toward the European Union,
its occupation of Cyprus and its unrelenting blockade of Armenia,”
Berkley and Engel said in a joint statement Friday. “The U.S. should
be busy raising these very serious concerns with Turkey, rather than
selling arms to them.”

The Democrats have three Republican co-sponors on the bill: Reps.

Michael Grimm (N.Y.), Gus Bilirakis (Fla.) and Ed Royce (Calif.).

The Pentagon formally notified Congress Oct. 28 that it intended to
sell the choppers to Turkey as part of a package – including parts,
maintenance and training – valued at $111 million.

Under the law, Congress has 15 days to pass legislation that would
either block or modify the sale; otherwise the deal automatically
goes through. That leaves only eight days for Congress to get moving,
a fast-closing deadline that the bill’s sponsors might have a tough
time making.

Even if they fail this time, however, the sale of the choppers is
probably only round one in a much bigger fight with the Pentagon and
Obama administration over selling Predator or Reaper drones to Turkey.

The Turks have been keen for years to acquire some drones to help
them crack down against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq. The
Pentagon wants to oblige, but acknowledged this week that Congress
isn’t as eager.

By Craig Whitlock  |  02:28 PM ET, 11/04/2011

CONDI RICE BRAGS ABOUT KILLING GENOCIDE RESOLUTION
By: Khatchig Mouradian

Condoleezza Rice

In the newly released No higher Honor: A Memoir of My years in
Washington, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice brags about
her efforts to kill the Armenian Genocide Resolution in Congress in
1991 and 2007, dismissing 1915 as “something that had happened almost
a hundred years before” and about which “there are many historical
interpretations.”

Rice reveals how in 1991, as the acting special assistant for
European affairs for the Bush Administration, she was tasked with the
responsibility “to mobilize an effort to defeat the [Armenian genocide]
resolution in the House of Representatives.”

“The Turks, who had been essential in the first Gulf War effort,”
Rice remembers, “were outraged at the prospect of being branded for an
event that had taken place almost a century before-under the Ottomans!”

“Back then I had succeeded in my assigned task,” Rice congratulates
herself, noting that in the years that followed presidents and
secretaries of state continued “to fight off the dreaded Armenian
genocide resolutions,” pushed forward, of course, by non-other than
“the powerful Armenian American lobby.”

Pulling a page from the Turkish state’s official narrative on
1915, Rice notes that the massacres of Armenians are better left
to scholars.  “Tragic” as these deaths were, “it was a matter for
historians-not politicians-to decide how best to label what had
occurred,” she observes.

Rice then proceeds to discuss her second encounter with the “dreaded”
resolution in 2007, “in the midst of tension on the Turkish-Iraqi
border and with Ankara’s forces on high alert.” Rice recounts how she
begged House Speaker Pelosi to block the vote and the latter said that
“there was little she could do.”

She continues: “Defense Secretary Bob gates and I delivered a press
statement outside the White House, reiterating our opposition and
saying that our own commanders in Iraq had raised the prospect of
losing critical bases in Turkey. Eight former secretaries of state
signed a letter opposing congressional action on the issue.”

At this point, as if not satisfied with having already argued once
a few paragraphs before that 1915 was old and passe, Rice repeats
herself: “All this occurred over a resolution condemning something
that had happened almost a hundred years before.”

The former Secretary of State then notes that the Bush Administration
persuaded Ankara that everything possible was being done to prevent
a vote. The Administration eventually succeeds in its efforts.

Rice proceeds to chastise Congress’ tendency “to grandstand on
hot-button issues.” “This was all the more galling,” she adds,
“because the democratically elected Armenian government had little
interest in the resolution. In fact, it was engaged in an effort to
improve relations with Turkey, and it didn’t need it either.”

In two pages, Rice manages to repeatedly trivialize and deny the
Armenian genocide; mention, twice, that it’s a disputed, century-old
issue; rehash the Turkish official narrative; and brag about killing
its recognition efforts twice!

No higher honor indeed!

WHEN A GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL BECOMES A “NATURAL DISASTER”
Edik Baghdasaryan

hetq
15:47, November 4, 2011

Is it possible to find just one government official that can explain
why the Hrazdan Sports Complex must be the property of MP Ashot
Aghababyan, a member of the ruling Republican Party?

Can any of our government officials explain why this individual must
be lord and master of the structures and buildings planned for this
14 hectare parcel of land?

If this is a matter of national security, let one of them provide an
explanation, so that the rest of us understand.

If it is a measure taken to strengthen the foundation of the state,
let them say as much.

Perhaps Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan can explain what pivotal
significance it will serve the shaping of the Armenian nation to have
one of his party colleagues build a huge commercial center on the site.

The authorities have familiarized themselves with all possible ways
to squeeze the state and now they are writing an encyclopaedia on
the subject.

The bowels of the country will soon be opened for exploitation;
all the exploratory licenses have been doled out.

It’s as if the end of the world has been declared and our officials
have decided to make the country’s riches their own. But the country’s
natural wealth doesn’t belong to this generation alone. Doesn’t anyone
in the corridors of power bring this inconvenient truth to the table?

Aram Haroutyunyan, the Minister of Nature Protection, couldn’t care
less about the fate of the Trchkan Waterfall. His business interests
continue to flourish. The construction and planning interests he owns
are winning the tender bids launched by the very ministry he runs.

This minister, who has become a natural disaster for Armenia’s
environment, rubber stamps any document placed on his desk. That’s
how the green light for the construction of a hydro-electric plant
at Trchkan was given. If he doesn’t sign off on the permit papers
some other state agency will.

The forests of Armenia are being massacred under the government’s
nose. Furthermore, it is the state agency HayAntar (Armenian Forest)
that is wielding the axe.

If there are still non-believers in the government, we can escort
them to the forests of Tavoush and Lori at any time so that they can
see for themselves the results of the organized rape of the land.

Political duplicity, the doling out of plum government posts, searching
out new avenues to embezzle state funds – this is what really interests
our “elected officials”.

The rest of us are just cogs in a bigger wheel.

True to form, we and the nation as a whole are dutifully going along
for the ride.

FRENCH SATIRICAL WEEKLY PLANS BIG REPRINT OF ISLAM EDITION

PanARMENIAN.Net
November 4, 2011 – 20:15 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo has said it
plans a big reprint of its edition mocking Islamists, days after its
offices in Paris were fire-bombed.

Its editor, Stephane Charbonnier, told Reuters news agency it planned
to print 175,000 extra copies, after its first print run of 75,000
sold out fast.

The paper has been housed by French daily Liberation since fire
bombs gutted its own offices. French Muslim leaders have spoken out
in defence of press freedom.

Charlie Hebdo, long known for its scathing attacks on the French
establishment including religious institutions, caused controversy
when it announced its latest edition would target Islamists, after
their recent electoral gains in Tunisia.

It named the Prophet Muhammad as “guest editor” for Wednesday’s edition
and put a cartoon of him on the cover. Depiction of the Prophet is
strictly prohibited in Islam.

On Tuesday night, two fire bombs were hurled at the offices. Nobody was
hurt but the paper’s office equipment was destroyed, according to BBC.

CHINA OPPOSES USE OF FORCE AGAINST IRAN OVER NUCLEAR PROGRAM

PanARMENIAN.Net
November 4, 2011 – 20:24 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – China urged Iran on Friday, Nov 4 to show flexibility
over its controversial nuclear program and warned that the use of
force to resolve the issue was the last thing the Middle East needed
at the moment.

The United States, Britain and France have turned up the pressure on
Tehran ahead of next week’s release of a keenly awaited U.N. report
that may offer new details about the military side of Iran’s nuclear
program.

Washington and its European allies suspect Iran is developing the
capability to produce atomic weapons under cover of a civilian nuclear
energy program. Iran denies wanting atom bombs and insists its program
is for generating electricity.

Russia and China have urged the U.N. nuclear watchdog chief to
give Iran time to study and respond to allegations of possible
military-linked atomic activities before he publishes the report.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily news briefing
that China did not condone any Middle Eastern country developing
nuclear weapons.

“The International Atomic Energy Agency should adopt an impartial and
objective stance and seek positive cooperation with Iran to clarify
certain questions,” Hong said. “Iran should also show flexibility
and sincerity and have earnest cooperation with the IAEA.”

The IAEA’s report is expected to unveil detailed intelligence pointing
to military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear program, while stopping
short of saying explicitly that Tehran is trying to build such weapons.

The United States and Israel have repeatedly hinted at the possible
use of force against Iranian nuclear sites, eliciting threats of
fierce retaliation from the Islamic Republic. Hong said that would
be a very bad idea.

“China opposes the use of force or the threat of the use of force in
international affairs. At present, avoiding any new upheaval in the
Middle East is extremely important.” China would play a “constructive
role” in pushing for the peaceful resolution of the Iran nuclear
issue by diplomatic means, Hong added.

Russia and China have backed four rounds of U.N. sanctions on Iran
since 2006 over its refusal to halt sensitive nuclear work that could
have both civilian and military uses.

But they criticized the United States and the European Union last
year for taking extra unilateral steps against Iran and Moscow has
signaled its opposition to any new U.N. Security Council sanctions,
Reuters reported.

CHARLES AMIRKHANIAN’S WORK TO BE PERFORMED AT FRESNO NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL

PanARMENIAN.Net
November 4, 2011 – 11:41 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The Fresno New Music Festival this year turned to a
familiar name for its featured guest composer: Fresno native Charles
Amirkhanian, who founded the Other Minds Festival of avant-garde music
in San Francisco. His work will be featured in a Saturday, November
5 concert at the Fresno State Concert Hall, Fresno Bee reports.

“I’m looking forward to doing a master class with composition students
to discuss how I put together my pieces,” he said.

Commenting on the concert, he said: “I’m giving the first concert
performance of a piece based on sounds I recorded in Armenia with my
father Ben in 1994. It’s called “Miatsoom,” which in Armenian means
“reunion.” Neither of us had been to our homeland before, and we
landed there just after the country had gained its independence.”

ARMENIAN INTELLIGENCE OFFICERS CELEBRATE THEIR HOLIDAY TODAY

Tert.am
05.11.11

November 5 is special day for Armenian intelligence officers who have
been celebrating their professional holiday every year since 1995s.

In the early years of the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) war, the volunteer
detachments and the self-defense troops fighting for the liberation of
Karabakh created intelligence groups which were tasked with collecting
information about the enemy, simultaneously launching subversive acts
in its rear. Those groups later served basis for setting up separate
intelligence subdivisions and units under the Defense Ministry.