Author: Kalantarian Kevo

Journey along Silk Road proves to be captivating
By T.J. Medrek
Boston Herald
Friday, April 8, 2005
Poor Yo-Yo Ma – and lucky us. The classical superstar can try his best
to just blend into an ensemble, such as his own Silk Road Project. But
the eloquent sound he draws from his cello just naturally commands
attention, admiration and love. Of course, when Ma and his Silk
Roadies played a Bank of America Celebrity Series gig at Symphony
Hall on Wednesday, there was lots more to love than just the skill
of one of Cambridge’s most celebrated residents.
To my ears, last year’s Silk Road appearance underwhelmed. But
this year’s was taut and engaging from the start – and the audience
responded ecstatically. Certainly this year’s addition of several
musicians from such places as Armenia and Azerbaijan to the concert
was not only more in line with the Silk Road’s CD releases but also
more in line with its purpose.
Ma organized the Silk Road Project and its band to explore musical
traditions of countries along the ancient Silk Road, once the major
Europe-to-Asia trading route, and the impact of those traditions
on modern composers in the region. Add some Western instruments and
sensibility to the mix, and East meets West in still-new ways.
Ma got his time front and center, playing Franghiz Ali-Zadeh’s haunting
“Habil-Sayagy (In Habil’s Style)” accompanied only by the mostly
gentle sounds of Joel Fan’s prepared piano (think a mandolin crossed
with bedsprings). But for the rest he ceded the spotlight – if not
his persistent hold on our ears – to the likes of Gevorg Dabaghyan,
whose playing of the clarinet-like duduk was as expressive as a human
voice in settings of three Armenian folk songs. Composer and virtuoso
tabla player Sandeep Das’ improvisatory “Tarang” for percussion was
another standout. And sensational singer Alim Qasimov filled songs
from Azerbaijan with vocal prowess and astonishing authority.
The evening concluded with Ma and company playing rousing,
foot-stomping music of the Roma, including an arrangement of
“Turceasca” by Newton composer Osvaldo Golijov. To say that this Silk
Road Project sent everyone home happy would be understating it wildly.
Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, at Symphony Hall, Boston,
Wednesday.

ARMENIAN SERVICEMAN CAPTURED BY AZERIS APR 1
YEREVAN, APRIL 6. ARMINFO. An Armenian serviceman, 20, was captured
by the Azeri side in Noyemberyan district (Armenia) Apr 1, says
the international task group for missings, hostages and POWs in the
Karabakh conflict zone.
The group hopes that the Azeri side will be constructive in the
matter and will return the serviceman immediately after inspection in
compliance with the agreements signed in Tbilisi Mar 18. The group
says that it has warned the Nagorno Karabakh Republic authorities
that groundless delays in returning POWs might provoke counter-action
from the opposite side. “We regret to have proved to be right and
are urging again the NKR authorities to give back Hayal Abdulaev,
Hiqmet Tagiev and Ruslan Bakirov to ICRC,” says the group noting that
it sees no grounds for holding the Azeri soldiers for so long and
that this situation is preventing contacts by those responsible for
liberating POWs and finding missing people in the conflict zone. As
a public structure the group has no right to demand reporting from
the Armenian and Azeri sides but the latter have trusted the group
so far. The co-chair of the group Bernhard Klasen has repeatedly
inquired Arkady Ghoukassyan and other NKR top officials
about the Azeri POWs and received assurances of early release.
“The Mar 18 Tbilisi meeting of the Armenian and Azeri state committees
for POWs and MIAs has determined ways of further cooperation at a new
level. We hoped that NKR experts will shortly join in and get into
touch with their Azeri counterparts,” says the group noting that the
more time passes before the Azeri POWs are released the smaller the
mutual confidence is. Counter-actions will not only complicate the
general situation but will also harm those who are captured and may
be captured in the future. The group is ready to mediate the return
of the POWs to facilitate further contacts between the sides.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ACRA TO PASS TO CORPORATE GOVERNANCE PRINCIPLE
   YEREVAN, APRIL 6, ARMENPRESS: ACRA Credit Bureau, established to
provide risk assessment solutions to financial institutions and
commercial entities, said it will pass soon to corporate governance
system after being reorganized in May 2004 into a closed joint stock
company in an effort to attract the stakeholders of Armenian
financial community.
   Lusine Vardanian, head of marketing and public relations
department, said ACRA will have an advisory board with participation
of the EBRD, USAID, German KfW bank. She said negotiations are
underway with World Bank to attract its representative in the
advisory board, which she said would be a weighty factor in terms of
attracting new investments in Armenia’s economy. She also said
presence of these institutions in the advisory board is evidence of
ACRA’s transparency.
   She said also Dun&Bradster and German Schufa credit bureaus, which
according to Vardanian, also provide a broad range of related
information to their clients, are expected to invest in ACRA. ACRA is
expected to join the European Credit Bureaus Association.
   Among main services of ACRA are development and maintenance of
complete, reliable, and up-to-date database, market-driven decision
making processes, innovative spirit, application of progressive
technologies, etc.
   The principle of corporate governance was developed in
collaboration with Grant Thornton International (France) as a
component of its development plan, which reflects its overall
attitude towards developing sound management and business
environment, corresponding to internationally accepted standards
among successful corporations, including credit bureaus.
–Boundary_(ID_59W1/WLlX5rSpTlVXRyEMQ)–

SMALL EVENT DEDICATED TO GREAT WRITER
YEREVAN, APRIL 5, NOYAN TAPAN. On April 4, an event dedicated to Hrant
Matevosian’s 70th anniversary was held in the Republican Children’s
Library after Khnko-aper. The week of book and music started with
this event. According to Ruzan Tonoyan, Director of the library,
“this is a small event dedicated to a great writer.”

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN GENOCIDE COMMEMORATION
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, APRIL 5, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian Studies Program
and the Armenian Students’ Cultural Association at the University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor will jointly commemorate the 90th anniversary
of the Armenian Genocide. Professors Kevork B. Bardakjian, Gerard
J. Libaridian and Ronald G. Suny will discuss various aspects of the
Genocide and, in a session following their talks, will respond to
questions from the audience. The evening will take place on Sunday,
April 10, 2005. A reception will follow the session. The public is
invited to attend.

Pope showing first signs of losing consciousness, Vatican says
AP Worldstream;
Apr 02, 2005
VICTOR L. SIMPSON

Pope John Paul II’s condition remains unchanged and “very grave,” and
he began showing the first signs of losing consciousness at dawn
Saturday, the Vatican said.
The 84-year-old pope’s health has rapidly deteriorated, with his heart
and kidneys failing after he suffered a urinary tract infection.
But John Paul is not in a coma and opens his eyes when spoken to,
papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls told reporters. He said the pope
was still speaking as of Friday night.
“Mass was celebrated at 7:30 this morning in the presence of the
pope,” although the pontiff did not concelebrate the rite, the
spokesman said. “Sometimes it seems as if he were resting with his
eyes closed, but when you speak to him, he opens his eyes,” he said.
When Navarro-Valls went to the papal apartment around 9:30 a.m. (0730
GMT) Saturday morning, the pope’s two secretaries, three nuns from the
papal household and his personal physician were with John Paul.
The Vatican said it would issue another update around 5:30-6
p.m. (1530-1600 GMT). It said its press office would remain open all
night for a second night.
Navarro-Valls said aides had told the pope that thousands of young
people were in St. Peter’s Square on Friday evening.
“In fact, he seemed to be referring to them when, in his words, and
repeated several times, he seemed to have said the following sentence:
‘I have looked for you. Now you have come to me. And I thank you,'”
the spokesman said.
Italy canceled all weekend soccer games Saturday out of respect for
the pope’s plight.
A Vatican cardinal, Achille Silvestrini, said John Paul was able to
recognize him and another cardinal Saturday morning, the Italian news
agency ANSA reported.
John Paul “gave some sign of recognizing people,” Silvestrini was
quoted as saying after paying a call on the pope with Cardinal
Jean-Louis Tauran.
“His slow death throes proceed … but he is showing strong cardiac
resistance,” the Italian news agency Apcom quoted Silvestrini as
saying after visiting the pontiff Saturday morning.
“I found him relaxed, placid, serene. He was in his bed. He was
breathing without labor. He looked like he lost weight,” Silvestrini
said.
“When I and Cardinal Tauran were brought into his room by Monsignor
Stanislaw (Dziwisz), who announced us in both Italian and Polish, the
pope showed with a vibration of his face that he understood,
indicating with a movement of his eyes. He showed he was reacting,” he
added.
For a second day, the Vatican announced a series of papal appointments
including a Spanish bishop, an official of the Armenian Catholic
Church and ambassadors to El Salvador and Panama.
John Paul’s overall condition, which has rapidly deteriorated since
Thursday, remained unchanged and very serious, the Vatican said.
“The general cardio-respiratory and metabolic conditions are
substantially unvaried and therefore very grave. Since dawn this
morning there have been first signs that consciousness is being
affected,” Navarro-Valls said.
One of the pope’s closest aides, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was quoted
Saturday as saying that when he saw the pontiff on Friday morning,
John Paul was “aware that he is passing to the Lord.”
The pope “gave me the final farewell,” the news agency of the Italian
bishops conference quoted the German cardinal as saying Friday night.
Tourists and pilgrims streamed anew into St. Peter’s Square on
Saturday, and around the world, priests readied Roman Catholics for
the pope’s passing. Many expressed hope that his final hours would be
peaceful.
“Now he prepares to meet the Lord,” Cardinal Francis George said at a
Mass in Chicago on Friday. “As the portals of death open for him, as
they will for each of us … we must accompany him with our own
prayers.”
A workman in the square, declining to give his name, told The
Associated Press that crews were taking down the canopy on the steps
of St. Peter’s Basilica, which had covered an altar during Easter
Sunday Mass, because they had orders to clear the space for when the
pope’s coffin eventually is carried into the square.
In a sign of the pope’s decline, several cardinals from the United
States and Latin America said they were heading to Rome. After the
official mourning period following the death of a pope, cardinals hold
a secret vote in the Sistine Chapel to choose a successor.
The Il Secolo XIX newspaper of Genoa reported that the pope, with the
help of his private secretary Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, wrote a
note to his aides urging them not to weep for him.
“I am happy, and you should be as well,” the note reportedly
said. “Let us pray together with joy.”
However, Navarro-Valls said he couldn’t confirm the report, even after
speaking to the pope’s secretary.
Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, head of the Vatican’s health care
office, told Mexico’s Televisa dal Vaticano that the pope “is about to
die.”
“I talked to the doctors and they told me there is no more hope,” the
Mexican cardinal told the television channel.
As word of his deteriorating condition spread across the globe,
special Masses celebrated the pope for transforming the Roman Catholic
Church during his 26-year papacy and for his example in fearlessly
confronting death.
Hospitalized twice last month after breathing crises, and fitted with
a breathing tube and a feeding tube, John Paul has become a picture of
suffering.
His papacy has been marked by its call to value the aged and to
respect the sick, subjects the pope has turned to as he battles
Parkinson’s disease and crippling knee and hip ailments. The pope also
survived a 1981 assassination attempt, when a Turkish gunman shot him
in the abdomen.
In Washington, the White House said U.S. President George W. Bush and
his wife were praying for the pope and that the world’s concern was “a
testimony to his greatness.”
Cardinal Marcio Francesco Pompedda, a high-ranking Vatican
administrator, visited the pope Friday morning and said he opened his
eyes and smiled.
“I understood he recognized me. It was a wonderful smile _ I’ll
remember it forever. It was a benevolent smile _ a father-like smile,”
Pompedda told RAI television. He told the Milan daily Il Giornale the
pope was lying in bed propped up by pillows, and twice tried but
failed to say something.
“There were various tubes, and an intravenous drip, but I confess that
I didn’t dwell on these details,” said Pompedda, adding that the pope
appeared to be “suffering but serene.”
John Paul’s health declined sharply Thursday when he developed a high
fever brought on by the infection. The pope suffered septic shock and
heart problems during treatment for the infection, the Vatican said.
Septic shock involves both bacteria in the blood and a consequent
over-relaxing of the blood vessels. The vessels, which are normally
narrow and taut, get floppy in reaction to the bacteria and can’t
sustain any pressure. That loss of blood pressure is catastrophic,
making the heart work hard to compensate for the collapse.
Dr. Gianni Angelini, a professor of cardiac surgery at Bristol
University in England, said the chances of an elderly person in John
Paul’s condition surviving septic shock more than 48 hours was no more
than 20 percent, “but that would be in an intensive care unit with
very aggressive treatment.”

PAINTINGS OF 13 ARMENIAN ARTISTS REPRESENTED IN “ARAME PICTURE-GALLERY
2005” CATALOGUE
YEREVAN, APRIL 1, NOYAN TAPAN. Paintings of 13 Armenian modern artists
were represented in the “Arame Picture-Gallery 2005” catalogue, the
presentation of which took place on April 1 in the picture-gallery of
the same name. Many of the works represented in the book were
displayed at the picture-gallery. Aram Sargsian, Director of the
picture-gallery, mentioned that the names of artists represented in
the catalogue – Ruben Abovian, Emil Gazaz, Shota Voskanian, Marat
Margarian and others, are well-known not only to Armenian but also
foreign art lovers. Their works were displayed in the famous
picture-galleries of US, Germany, France, Switzerland and other
European countries. “They achieved serious success owing to their
original mentality, rich imagination and high skill,” A.Sargsian
said. According to the director, the “Arame” picture-gallery considers
its main task to raise interest in painting in the republic, as well
as contribute to the international recognition of Armenian
painters. A.Sargsian said that numerous subject and personal
exhibitions will be organized at the picture-gallery during the year
and it’s planned to represent American Armenian painter and sculptor
Emil Gazaz’s personal exhibition to art lovers in autumn.

RosBusinessConsulting, Russia
Russian investments in Armenia voiced
RBC, 01.04.2005, Yerevan 14:21:58.
Russia invested some $67.204m in Armenia’s economy in 2004, which accounted
for 21.99 percent of foreign investments in this country, the ARKA news
agency has reported. According to the Armenian statistics service, direct
Russian investments totaled some $48.69m. Russia invested approximately
$91.832m in Armenia in 2003, including some $68.429 in direct investments.
The total amount of foreign investments in Armenia was some $305.551m
in 2004, including $226.72m in direct investments in the industrial sector
of the economy.

MILLENNIUM CHALLENGES TO GRANT ARMENIA $175 MILLION
Azg/arm
01 April 05
Press service of the Ministry of Finances and Economy informed that
Armenia has already prepared its package of offers that will be
presented to the Millennium Challenges Fund.
The Armenian government is looking forward to receive $175 financial
aid to invest in the spheres of irrigation and road construction.
Government is hopeful that the money will spur economic activity in
rural regions.
The press release of the Ministry informs that on March 25 the board
of trustees headed by PM Andranik Margarian approved the Millennium
Challenges’ Armenian program, which was presented to the Millennium
Challenges Fund in US. The Armenian government and the US Millennium
Challenges Fund will continue negotiations in coming months to draw up
an agreement.
During 14 years of its independence the Armenian Republic has never
received a permanent loan of this size. Therefore it’s a great chance
to totally improve the irrigation system and the road network that are
a guarantee for the further development of agriculture and for
bettering villagers’ life.
By Ara Martirosian
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Polish leader backs Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity
Trend news agency
30 Mar 05
BAKU
Poland supports Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, Polish President
Aleksander Kwasniewski told a joint news conference with Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev in Warsaw on 30 March.
Kwasniewski said that Nagornyy Karabakh is an integral part of
Azerbaijan and that the conflict should be settled on the basis of
norms of international law.
He went on to say that the sides to the conflict should reach an
agreement themselves, but Poland, for its part, is ready to render the
necessary assistance. Kwasniewski offered to organize a meeting
between the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents in Poland.
The Polish president also said that in line with the mandate of the
OSCE chairman’s personal envoy, Andrzej Kasprzyk has been given
special instructions on the observance of stability on the contact
line between the Armenian and Azerbaijani troops and on the conduct of
relevant monitoring missions.
Kwasniewski said Poland was interested in the preservation of
stability in the South Caucasus.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress