Author: Kalantarian Kevo

JULIAN COPE REVIEW – FROM RIPPING YARNS TO RAGGED POP

4/5stars

Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

Drug-fuelled epiphanies and enduring melodies abound in the psychedelic
raconteur’s career retrospective

Acid-fried biker … Julian Cope on stage. Photograph: Andrew
Benge/Redferns via Getty Images

Dave Simpson

Monday 9 February 2015 12.17 GMT

Julian Cope has been a pop star, an antiquary and a novelist, but this
two-hour set finds him in the favoured role of psychedelic raconteur.

With his wild hair, wilder beard, military cap and leather jacket
making him look like a acid-fried biker, highlights from his long
music career intersperse with entertaining gags and yarns. He explains
that he can happily strum his old Teardrop Explodes songs, such
as The Culture Bunker “now that Kate Bush has reformed”. He recalls
psychedelic epiphany arriving in Liverpool city centre in 1980, when a
£2 LSD tab got him “out of my mind for 16 hours”. After subsequently
quitting drinking for 21 years, he has returned to the sauce after a
strange encounter in an Armenian cave: “Seven mulberry vodkas later,
I was back!”

He’d make a decent stand-up, but behind the shades and self-styled
“Arch Drude” persona lurks a great British pop tunesmith. Delivered
with just a guitar and his (surprisingly unravaged) voice, new songs
and old classics such as Sunspots, Treason and The Greatness and
Perfection of Love demonstrate his enduring gift for melody. Perhaps
had Cope not taken so much acid, or posed naked except for a turtle
shell on the cover of the Fried album, he wouldn’t have alienated
so many record companies or bade a seemingly permanent farewell to
the charts.

Still, he seems happy enough in his unique niche, bashing out tunes
that marry personal concerns (the environmental cost of motoring;
substance use among ancient civilisations) with eyebrow-raising titles
(Autogeddon Blues; They Were All on Hard Drugs; Out of My Mind on Dope
and Speed). He is particularly proud of his latest state-of-the-world
address, which has a melody “so sweet Brotherhood of Man would reject
it” and a “Christmas ending”. It’s called Cunts Can Fuck Off.

AZERBAIJAN’S DESTRUCTIVE POSITION HINDERS NEGOTIATION PROCESS PROGRESS

12:50, 9 February, 2015

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 9, ARMENPRESS: The Minister of Foreign Affairs of
the Republic of Armenia Edward Nalbandian hosted on February 9 the
EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in
Georgia Herbert Salber. The press service of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of Armenia told Armenpress that Edward Nalbandian drew the
attention of the EU Special Representative to the drastic increase of
the provocative actions, carried out by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces
on the line of contact with Karabakh and on the Armenian border.

“In the end of the last week, at the Munich Security Council, the
refuse of the Azerbaijani president to commit to the well-known three
principles of the international rights, proposed by the mediators, as a
conflict settlement basis, his stated positions prove the continuation
of the disregard and maximalistic line towards the international
community’s calls,” – said Edward Nalbandian, Armenpress reports.

“Turkey creates an impression that the hand stretched out to Armenia was
left in the air”

February 7 2015

Turkologist about the Armenian-Turkish relations

Senior researcher of the Institute of Oriental studies of the NAS of
Armenia, also turkologist Vahram Ter-Matevosyan, in the interview with
“Aravot”, expressed the following opinion that after the April 23 message,
last year, new manifestations of form and content are available in the
Turkey’s official policy. “They are continuous in nature, and each new
statement or initiative is built on the former one. Thus, at present, a
quite large package is created, which includes the country’s top
leadership’s vision about normalization of relations with Armenia and the
Armenian people. When getting acquainted with the content of various
documents included in this package, one gets the impression, and I am sure,
that it is the true objective pursued by Turkey, Ankara is moving “by the
way of self-cleansing and self-lashing”, while Armenia is not duly
signifying these “courageous moves” by Turkey” says Mr. Ter-Matevosyan. He
believes that Turkey creates an impression that the hand stretched out to
Armenia is left in the air, and the reason are the nationalistic sentiments
of the leadership in Armenia. “If we give a formulation to Turkey’s policy
over the last 10 months, then it just looks like this,” says the
turkologist.

To the question of whom the Turkish propaganda machine is aimed at, he
answers, “I am sure that firstly not at Armenians, because it is very
difficult to mislead Armenians with such nonsenses. Armenians are not the
first time and I’m sure not the last time to hear it. The international
community is an extremely elastic notion, indeed, there will be some, for
whom the Turkish approach would be more perceivable, and for the majority
of them, the Armenian approach would be more perceivable. The same logic
works for the Turkish society. The attempts of the Turkish government to
set up a “new start” at this point is failed, both the time and the methods
are wrongly chosen,” says Mr. Ter-Matevosyan.

Turning to Pan Armenian Declaration, our interlocutor considered this
document essential. “The Declaration of January 29 is an attempt to
establish a connection between the past and the present, on the one hand,
and the future, on the other hand. Its name is selected worthily, a
“Declaration”. This declaration is an important milestone. It is also the
equivalent indicator of collective will, maturity and political thought of
Armenians on Genocide issue. It is generally accepted positively by the
Armenians, although there were diversity of interpretations, which is
positive. It is quite extensive and comprehensive document, and it is not
possible to analyze it completely with one question,” says Mr.
Ter-Matevosyan, adding, – Anyway, the first problem that arose with all the
people concerned, probably refers to the fact of what actions should be
carried out in the direction of making the Armenian demands more accessible
and mature. Indeed, the paper envelop of legal requirements was also
mentioned, also the three-level demand was also presented. I hope that the
new document will be clearly and accessibly present the road map, by which
the Armenians’ rights and legitimate interests restoration process will
proceed. The first steps in the direction of declaring the years of 2015 as
a year of a change in our mindset and self-assessment are already made.”

The turkologist also opines that after January 29, Armenia’s diplomacy
tasks are also changing. “It was not a coincidence that the ambassadors of
the Republic of Armenia to abroad were also present at the Genocide
Memorial place that day. A task was put before them that day. Now, it is
necessary to elaborate an action plan for the implementation of separate
episodes of the Declaration, set a task for the diplomatic representations,
define a clear criteria for the assessment of the results and move ahead,”
says Vahram Ter-Matevosyan.

HRIPSIME HOVHANNISYAN

Read more at:

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Minsk Group Co-Chairs issued a
statement on latest developments in Nagorno-Karabakh peace process

20:00, 7 February, 2015

MUNICH, 7 FEBRUARY, ARMENPRESS. OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and
Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group issued a statement on latest
developments in Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. As reports
“Armenpress” the statement runs as follows:

“The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic
met the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Igor Popov of
the Russian Federation, James Warlick of the United States of America,
and Pierre Andrieu of France) today to discuss developments in the
Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. The OSCE Secretary General Lamberto
Zannier and the Personal Representative of the CiO Ambassador Andrzej
Kasprzyk also joined the meeting.

We all agree that the military situation along the Line of Contact and
Armenia-Azerbaijan border is deteriorating, posing a threat to
regional stability and endangering the lives of civilians. The 12
casualties and 18 wounded cited by Ambassador Kasprzyk’s monitoring
reports in January represent the highest confirmed number of victims
in the first month of a year since the 1994 ceasefire agreement. After
2014, in which approximately 60 people lost their lives, we are
alarmed that this disturbing violent trend has continued. There is no
military solution to the conflict, and the sides must cease using
force. We call on the sides to end incursions, cease targeting
villages and civilians, stop the threat of reprisals and the use of
asymmetric force, and take additional steps to reduce tensions and
strengthen the ceasefire. We find it unacceptable that the security
guarantees are not fully observed during OSCE monitoring exercises.

Additionally, we reaffirm the December 4, 2014 joint statement of the
Heads of Delegation of the Co-Chair countries at the Basel Ministerial
Council, calling on the sides to settle humanitarian issues, including
the return of bodies and prisoners, in the spirit of the Astrakhan
statement of October 2010.

The Minsk Group Co-Chairs, with the full support of the
Chairperson-in-Office, are prepared to host an intensified negotiation
process that can bring to a peaceful end a conflict that has scarred
the region for too long. We strongly urge the sides to find the
political will to begin this process immediately without excuses.”

Prince Charles says radicalisation of young people ‘alarming’

8 February 2015 Last updated at 11:34

Out of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.

Prince Charles said he was frightened by the way people can be
radicalised online

The Prince of Wales has described the extent to which young people are
becoming radicalised as “alarming” and one of the “greatest worries”.

In an interview with Radio 2’s The Sunday Hour, Prince Charles spoke
of his hopes to “build bridges” between different faiths.

He also spoke of his “deep concern” for the suffering of Christian
churches in the Middle East.

He is currently in Jordan on a six-day tour of the region.

The prince arrived in the capital Amman on Saturday night and is due
to hold talks with King Abdullah II later.

On the radicalisation of young people, Prince Charles says: “Well, of
course, this is one of the greatest worries, I think, and the extent
to which this is happening is the alarming part.

“And particularly in a country like ours where you know the values we hold dear.

The prince is in Jordan at the start of his Middle East tour

“You think that the people who have come here, [are] born here, go to
school here, would imbibe those values and outlooks.”

“The frightening part is that people can be so radicalised either
through contact with somebody else or through the internet, and the
extraordinary amount of crazy stuff which is on the internet.”

He told the BBC programme he believed part of the reason some young
people are radicalised is a “search for adventure and excitement at a
particular age”.

‘Constructive paths’

The prince also discussed the work of his charity The Prince’s Trust
in combating radicalisation.

He said: “What I have been trying to do all these years with the
Prince’s Trust is to find alternatives for adolescents and people at a
young age, for constructive paths for them to channel their
enthusiasm, their energy, that sense of wanting to take risks and
adventure and aggression and all these things.

“But you have to channel them into constructive paths.”

The Radio 2 programme covers visits by the prince to Armenian, Roman
Catholic Chaldean and Syrian Orthodox churches in the UK, and contains
accounts from members of these denominations who have had to flee
persecution in Syria and Iraq.

He said: “I particularly wanted to show solidarity really, deep
concern for what so many of the Eastern Christian churches are going
through in the Middle East.

‘Protector of faiths’

“Christianity was founded in the Middle East which we often forget.
>From a morale point I hope it showed they were not forgotten. I wish I
could do more. Many of us do wish we could do more.

“I think what doesn’t bear thinking about is people of one faith, a
believer, could kill another believer. That’s the totally bewildering
aspect in our day and age.”

The prince has an “extraordinary relationship in the Gulf”, his biographer said

He suggested that when he becomes king, he may still be sworn in as
Defender of the (Christian) Faith. There had been speculation that the
title could be changed to encompass all faiths.

However, he said he believed an important part of the role was to be a
“protector of faiths”, defending every religion in multicultural
Britain.

During the interview, the prince also considered how different
communities could live alongside each other.

He told the programme: “I think the secret is that we have to work
harder to build bridges and we have to remember that our Lord taught
us to love our neighbour, to do to others as you would do to you and
just to go on despite the setbacks and despite the discouragement to
try and build bridges and to show justice and kindness to people.”

‘Activist prince’

The broadcast comes after a new book claiming the prince wants to
redefine the monarchy was published.

The book’s author, Catherine Mayer, said he has an “extraordinary
relationship in the Gulf.”

She added: “It’s partly just because he’s a prince. Also he gave a
speech on Islam in 1993 in which he talked about Islam not having a
monopoly on extremism and he talked about the Christian crusades, and
he talked about the good things in Islam.”

But anti-monarchy group Republic said the prince’s views must be
subject to scrutiny.

Graham Smith, Republic’s CEO, said: “MPs in particular need to face up
to the new reality of an activist prince and must be free to openly
challenge what Charles says.”

* The Sunday Hour was broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on 8 February.

Expert: Anti-Armenian statements of U.S. diplomat result of Armenia’s
alignment with EEU

by Nana Martirosyan
Saturday, February 7, 19:37

When aligning with the Eurasian Economic Union, the authorities of
Armenia should have thought not just of the 170 million market, but
also of the negative consequences, such as escalation of tension on
the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and unfavorable statements of the OSCE
MG co-chairs, Ara Papyan, Director of the Modus Vivendi Centrer, told
ArmInfo.

To recall, OSCE MG, James Warlick, the OSCE MG Co-Chair of U.S. told
APA that extradition of the Azeri diversionists convicted in Nagorny
Karabakh would be a kind step that would help reduce tensions and
build confidence between the parties.

“Armenia has occurred in the heat of the West-Russia confrontation and
as a EEU country it will be feeling permanent pressure in terms of
statements on Karabakh and anti-Armenian resolution,” Papyan said.
According to him, it is not for the first time when representatives of
a mediating country raise the issue of the diversionists in a way not
favorable for Armenia.

The expert believes that the meetings as part of the peace talks have
become an end in itself. “In his annual reports the Foreign Minister
of Armenia does not speak of the goals achieved. He just speaks of the
meetings and visits, which, as a rule, bring no result,” Papyan said.
He pointed out that the Foreign Ministry of Armenia has a Soviet-time
work-style – for the sake of appearance, not for a result.

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MOSCOW CONCERNED OVER TENSION ON ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN CONTACT LINE

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Feb 6 2015

6 February 2015, 13:37 (GMT+04:00)
By Mushvig Mehdiyev

Russia has called on the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to
avoid actions leading to escalation on the contact line.

Armenia and Azerbaijan should take effective measures aimed at reducing
tension, said Alexander Lukashevich, Spokesperson for Russian Foreign
Ministry, reported Tass, a Russian media outlet.

“Russia is concerned over the escalation on the contact line of the
Armenian and Azerbaijani armies,” Lukashevich added.

He said the very difficult situation on the frontline has resulted
in an intensification of a large number of ceasefire violations,
clashes and actions of sabotage groups.

The data provided by the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe’s monitoring commission revealed that 12 people were
killed and 18 others wounded in wake of the skirmishes in January,
noted Lukashevich.

“It goes without saying that the numbers can be higher,” he added.

Lukashevich said the statement issued by the OSCE Minsk Group middlemen
based on the outcomes of the meeting with Azerbaijani foreign minister
in Krakow on January 27 this year includes a call to the conflicting
sides to follow the ceasefire agreement.

“We strongly call on Armenia and Azerbaijan to take effective
measures to reduce the tension and to avoid steps that could lead to
escalation,” he noted.

Armenia is keeping Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent territories,
historical and internationally recognized lands of Azerbaijan, under
occupation for over two decades.

Following a lengthy war that sparked in early 1990s based on a
falsified territorial claim against Azerbaijan, Armenian armed forces
invaded in 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory, killing hundreds and
displacing over a million of ethnic Azerbaijanis.

Peace negotiations mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group have not brought
a happy end to the conflict so far. The Armenian side ignores its
obligations under the ceasefire agreement signed in 1994, keeping on
armistice infringements, sabotage incursions to flare up the tension
on the contact line.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions
on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.

Meanwhile, the Armenian armed forces have broken the ceasefire with
Azerbaijan for 85 times in numerous positions in the last 24 hours,
according to Defense Ministry.

SWEDEN READY TO SUPPORT PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT OF ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN, NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT

The Azerbaijan State Telegraph Agency
Feb 6 2015

06.02.2015 [15:14]

Baku, February 6, AzerTAc Chairman of the Azerbaijan Council of State
Support for NGOs Azay Guliyev has met official of the Swedish Ministry
of Foreign Affairs Therese Hyden, the head of Swedish International
Development Cooperation Agency Mirja Peterson and Charge de Affairs
of Embassy of Sweden to Azerbaijan Tomas Danestad. The Chairman
highlighted the activity of the Council. They exchanged views on
Azerbaijani and EU relations within the Eastern Partnership Program,
as well as the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Therese
Hyden noted Sweden recognized Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity,
adding the country was ready to support peaceful settlement of the
Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

‘I’M THROWING THIS WAY THE F*** BACK!’: KIM KARDASHIAN CROWNS HERSELF MISS TEEN ARMENIAN WHILE SHARING OLD BIKINI PICTURE

Daily Mail, UK
Feb 6 2015

By Kayla Caldwell for MailOnline

Amid frenzy over her latest full frontal magazine shoot, Kim Kardashian
took to Instagram to share a slightly more modest flashback photo.

In the picture the now 34-year-old sports a gold sequined bikini as
she poses confidently with her hands on her hips.

She captioned the photo: ‘I’m throwing this way the f*** back
Thursday,’ joking about how long ago the snap had been taken.

In the throwback photo, a young Kim stands in the center of a kitchen
modeling a gold, sequined string bikini.

Her long, layered brunette locks are styled straight, and she has
accessorized with a silver body chain, connected through a belly
button piercing.

She stands posing confidently with her hands on her hips, in the
photograph she captioned: ‘ #TWTFBT I’m throwing this way the f***
back Thursday #MissTeenArmenian’

The picture – which shows a young Kim modeling an enviably thin
figure – comes after the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star had
shared with Entertainment Tonight that she hired a nutritionist to
help her lose 15 pounds.

The mother of one continued: ‘I just started seeing a nutritionist
because… I eat really bad. I just started to eat really healthy
and work out more and just try to change my lifestyle.’

‘Especially when you have a baby, I want to know what to cook and
how to cook healthier,’ she explained of the decision.

REPORTS: GYUMRI MURDER SUSPECT HAS PSYCHIATRIC RECORD

EurasiaNet.org
Feb 6 2015

February 6, 2015 – 4:56am

Russian media-reports that the Russian conscript accused of
killing an entire family in the Armenian town of Gyumri suffers from
“oligophrenia” (mental retardation) are raising fresh questions about
Moscow’s response to the deaths.

Citing anonymous sources, several mainstream Russian news sites
claimed on February 5 that 18-year-old Valery Permyakov, charged with
the deaths of seven members of the Avetisian family, spent more than
a month in a psychiatric hospital before being stationed late last
year at Russia’s 102nd army base in Gyumri.

LifeNews, referencing military investigators, reported that doctors at
a psychiatric hospital in the Siberian town of Chita where Permyakov
was stationed supposedly detected “serious behavioral disorders.”

An unnamed source told Gazeta.ru that Permyakov earlier had received
a diagnosis of mental retardation. “They didn’t have the right at
all to induct him [into the army], much less to place him on guard
with a weapon,” the source said.

Mental retardation is not a synonym for psychiatric problems, but,
in Russia, notes one advocacy group for the mentally disabled,
“Mental health care . . .is provided almost exclusively in large
psychiatric institutions.”

Those involved with Permyakov’s enlistment, however, claimed to
Russian media that they had no knowledge or record of previous
mental-health problems.

The Armenian investigative committee looking into the murders
told RFE/RL’s Armenian service that Russian officials have not yet
responded to a request for information about Permyakov’s previous
state of mental health.

Military prosecutors have requested that the individuals who approved
Permyakov for military service, as well as the 102nd base-officers
who gave him a weapon be “held accountable,” Russian media report,
but how far that scrutiny will go is open to doubt.

As Simon Saradzhyan, a Russian-military expert at Harvard University’s
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, wrote in The
Moscow Times, though, the Russian military has long been dogged by
the problem of bloodshed committed by mentally disturbed soldiers
who were cleared for service.

It is not known whether or not Permyakov has been examined by
psychiatrists at the 102nd army base, where he is being held and will
be tried.

That absence of information has fueled suspicions about the reasons
for releasing now the details about Permyakov’s alleged condition.

Some Armenians fear that it boils down to Moscow’s desire to hush
up the scandal, which is badly damaging its image within Armenia,
Russia’s main strategic partner in the South Caucasus.

Protests for Russia to hand the soldier over to Armenian
law-enforcement have been held in Gyumri and the capital, Yerevan. One
man has been arrested in connection with the January 15 Gyumri protest,
which targeted the town’s Russian consulate.

The Armenian prosecutor’s office has filed a formal request for
Permyakov to be transferred to Armenian custody, but Moscow has not
yet responded publicly.