Author: Kalantarian Kevo

Armenian’s house demolished in Turkey

14:55, 11 January, 2014

YEREVAN, JANUARY 11, ARMENPRESS: With the decision of the Istanbul
Municipality, the house of Hambardzum and Janet Solarbash was
destroyed, in the result of which their family consisting of seven
people was left homeless. Armenpress reports about it, citing the
Turkish information website gercekgundem.com.

It is noted that the house was purchased from the state by the father
of Hambardzum in 1915. The Armenian family, who have paid all the
taxes connected with the property for about 99 years, for some reasons
had not had any property certificate by 1983. Then after paying 2,000
liras to the Istanbul Municipality, Hambardzum Solarbash got the
certificate.

The Istanbul Municipality adopted a decision in 2013 to demolish five
houses in that area, four of which have already been destroyed.
Hambardzum told the journalists that he demands that one of the
apartments, being built in that territory, should be provided to their
family, though the Municipality offers them to move to an apartment,
which costs 74,000 liras.

Solarbash stated that the state did not compensate him for the
demolished house and the territory, where he lived, is considered to
be one of the most expensive districts of Istanbul

KARABAGH
Deux personnes accusées d’une tentative d’assassinat ratée contre la
vie de l’ex-candidat à la présidentielle

Le Bureau du Procureur de la République du Haut-Karabagh (RHK) a
révélé les identités de deux citoyens soupçonnés d’avoir commis un
attentat à la vie de l’ex-candidat à l’élection présidentielle et
membre de l’Assemblée nationale de la RHK Vitaly Balasanyan.

Le 29 Décembre, Balasanyan, qui était le principal rival du président
Bako Sahakian à l’élection présidentielle de 2012, a rapporté à la
police qu’il avait trouvé un objet ressemblant à un engin explosif qui
était tombé de sa voiture. La police a ensuite désamorcé le dispositif
contenant 600 grammes d’explosif qui avait été installé sur la voiture
Nissan de Balasanyan.

Selon un communiqué de presse du Bureau du Procureur de la RHK, les
deux suspects, Ara Avetyan et Sergey Harutyunyan ont été accusés
d’avoir commis une tentative d’assassinat. Les deux hommes restent en
garde à vue.

Avetyan et Harutyunyan, qui sont tous deux résidents de Stepanakert,
ont été en mauvais termes et constamment brouillé avec Balasanyan sur
la promesse non tenue de celui-ci d’obtenir pour le frère de Avetyan
une libération de prison.

samedi 11 janvier 2014,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

RUSSIA/ARMENIA LINK SOLIDIFIED

Asset Servicing Times
Jan 10 2014

Moscow | 10 January 2014

A partnership between Russia and Armenia has been confirmed,
after the National Settlement Depository (NSD), Russia’s central
securities depository, and the Central Depository of Armenia (CDA)
signed a memorandum of co-operation aimed at further development and
strengthening of mutually beneficial relations.

The parties agreed to expand bilateral cooperation for the creation
of an efficient and reliable system of record keeping for trans-border
securities settlements.

According to the memorandum, the depositories intend to establish
close business relations and to organise the exchange of information
regarding securities received for servicing and changes in the
documents regulating the record keeping systems’ operations.

The parties also plan to exchange information regarding the
technologies, standards and development plans they use and their
participation in projects, working groups and other events of interest
for both depositories. Eddie Astanin, chairman of the executive board,
NSD, commenting on the development, said: “Development of strategic
partnerships with central securities depositories of the CIS countries
is one of NSD’s priorities as Russia’s central securities depository.”

“Our joint work in the Association of Eurasian Central Securities
Depositories contributes to it. We are sure that cooperation between
Russia’s and Armenia’s central securities depositories will have
a positive impact on the development of our countries’ financial
markets. The signed memorandum will allow us to facilitate access to
information about securities serviced by the Russian and Armenian
CSDs. This will improve our markets’ transparency for investors in
both our countries.”

In October 2011, the depositories signed an agreement on opening
and maintaining the NSD’s nominee account with CDA. This allowed NSD
clients to use safekeeping and record keeping services, as well as
settlement services, on Armenian issuers’ securities.

Author: Georgina Lavers

RUSSIAN KNIGHTS CANCEL AIR SHOW IN YEREVAN DUE TO BAD WEATHER

January 10, 2014 | 18:41

YEREVAN. – The Russian Knights pilot team canceled their show in
Yerevan due to bad weather conditions (photos).

As reported earlier, the team stopped in Yerevan on their way to
Bahrain air show.

Talking to Armenian reporters, Commander Andrey Alekseyev stated with
regret that weather conditions did not meet requirements to perform
a training flight.

The group will spend the night in Yerevan before heading to Bahrain
where the Russian Knights will display the new program prepared last
fall. The air show will be held from 16 to 18 January

“We failed to see Yerevan because of the weather. I hope it will be
possible in the future,” said Alekseyev.

The group will go back via Yerevan again on January 20.

In response to reporters’ attempts to find out whether the air show
will be held on the way back, chief of the Russian base at Erebuni
Alexander Petrov said that the most important show is the fact of
the arrival of aerial display team.

“You can see Su -27, one of the world’s best aircrafts in terms of its
technical capabilities. The world’s aerial display team is in Yerevan.

This is important,” he said.

Popov noted that it would be even better to invite the Russian Knights
for a show to Yerevan in the future.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

NEW BOOK PROVIDES SHOCKING EVIDENCE OF GERMAN CO-RESPONSIBILITY IN ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

By MassisPost
Updated: January 8, 2014

“Keep Turkey on our side … whether as a result Armenians do perish
or not.”

The German ambassador in Constantinople, Count Paul Wolff-Metternich,
wrote to the Imperial Chancellor, Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg, in
Berlin on December 7, 1915: … Our displeasure over the persecution of
the Armenians should be clearly expressed in our press and an end be
put to our gushing over the Turks. Whatever they are accomplishing is
due to our doing; those are our officers, our cannons, our money… In
order to achieve any success in the Armenian question, we will have to
inspire fear in the Turkish government regarding the consequences. If,
for military considerations, we do not dare to confront it with a
firmer stance, then we will have no choice but… to stand back and
watch how our ally continues to massacre.

The Chancellor’s response: The proposed public reprimand of an ally
in the course of a war would be an act which is unprecedented in
history. Our only aim is to keep Turkey on our side until the end of
the war, no matter whether as a result Armenians do perish or not.

TORONTO -The Zoryan Institute is pleased to announce that the
long-awaited English edition of The Armenian Genocide: Evidence from
the German Foreign Office Archives, 1915-1916, compiled and edited
by Wolfgang Gust, has just been released by Berghahn Books. It
contains hundreds of telegrams, letters and reports from German
consular officials in the Ottoman Empire to the Foreign Office in
Berlin which describe in graphic and shocking detail the unfolding
genocide of the Armenians. The documents provide unequivocal evidence
of the genocidal intent of the Young Turks and the German government’s
official acquiescence and complicity.

Upon the earlier release of the German and Turkish editions of the
book, the media reacted emphatically:

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung [Germany]-“The documents collected here
illustrate clearly the shared responsibility of the Kaiserreich, the
most important ally of the Ottoman Empire during the First World War…

They are therefore largely undisguised and so vivid that the reader
often shudders when reading them.”

Forum Wissenschaft [Germany]-“Wolfgang Gust documents, in this
excellent political-historical edition from contemporary German
sources and the Foreign Office of the Reich government, the murderous
events themselves…as well as the political co-responsibility of
the German state.

Hurriyet Daily News [Turkey]-“If you read the book and look at the
documents, if you are a person who is introduced to the subject
through this book, then there is no way that you would not believe
in the genocide and justify the Armenians.”

The exceptional importance of these documents is underscored by the
fact that only German diplomats and military officials were able to
send uncensored reports out of Turkey during World War I. Apart from
the Americans, who remained neutral in the war until April 6, 1917,
German diplomats and their informants from the missions or employees of
the Baghdad Railway were the most important non-Armenian eyewitnesses
of the Genocide. These documents, meant strictly for internal use
and never intended for publication, are remarkable for their candid
revelations. Even as allies of the Ottoman Empire, German officials
still felt compelled for moral and political reasons to report and
complain about the atrocities being committed against the Armenians
by their Ottoman ally.

In describing how he came to undertake this massive project, Gust
writes, …~E.I was shocked to see the Germans again playing an
important role in mass murder at the edge of Europe. This genocide was
neither initiated nor committed by Germans, but was widely accepted
by them.

Imperial Germany was the closest ally of the Young Turks and had a
formal military alliance with them. Was there a link between these two
most important genocides in Europe? Did the Nazis copy the methods of
the Young Turks, who had committed the Armenian Genocide? Were the two
World Wars in reality one historical event, as some historians believe?

Questions upon questions. Was Imperial Germany a driving force in the
genocide of the Armenians, or possibly even the source of the idea,
as some non-German historians have suspected…. Did Imperial Germany
view the Armenian Genocide with indifference or with sympathy? Did
some Germans or part of the leading class resist the deportations
and mass killings? And finally, did Germany have the power to stop
the Armenian Genocide, and if they were able to so, why did they not
make use of this power?

The answers to these questions are found in this prodigious 800-page
collection. For more information about the book, please contact the
Zoryan Institute [email protected] or telephone 416-250-9807.

The Armenian Genocide: Evidence from the German Foreign Office
Archives, 1915-1916, compiled and edited by Wolfgang Gust. New York
and Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2014. $89.95US, $95.50CDN.

The Zoryan Institute is a non-profit, international center devoted
to the research and documentation of contemporary issues with a focus
on Genocide, Diaspora and Homeland. The Zoryan Institute through its
division, the International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights
Studies, runs an annual course in comparative genocide studies in
partnership with the University of Toronto and is co-publisher of
Genocide Studies International in partnership with the University of
Toronto Press. For more information please contact the Institute by
email [email protected] or telephone 416-250-9807.

Related topic on this subject: The German-Turkish Conspiracy Against
the Diaspora by Toros Sarian

ROSY-ANOUSH SVAZLIAN: EMBODIMENT OF THE SPIRIT OF ARMENIA

Thursday, January 9th, 2014

Rosy-Anoush Svazlian

BY H. BALIAN

Decades ago, in the Alexander Spendiaryan Opera and Ballet Theater, a
tradition was established. World-recognized Diaspora Armenian singers,
such as Lusin Amara, Lili Chukasyan, Ara Beberyan, Anayis Bozabalyan,
and Garbis Zobyan, were invited as guest performers. Today we are
happy to hear the Armenian opera on stage once again with young
Diaspora Armenian singers whose dreams have been to be revived by
Armenian music lovers.

Recently we have become listeners to American Armenian singer Rosy
Svazlian’s role of ‘Anoush’ from Armen Tigranian’s famous opera,
who attained her initial education in music in violin with her father
Gerard Svazlian who for a long time has been and continues to be the
violinist of the San Francisco Opera orchestra. Later on she continued
her music education in piano for nearly over 10 years. After she
decided to pursue her carrier in vocal, therefore she moved to Milan
where she studied in vocal at ‘Verdi’s’ Conservatory and completed
her master’s degree with Maestros Mastino and Tonini.

Rosy faced serious challenges singing an Armenian Opera. She had
to overcome the language difficulties, since English was her first
language; however thanks to her parents’ relentless efforts of teaching
her Armenian, she finally mastered her mother tongue.

“Anoush” was a lover, who through her performance had to overcome
her parent’s, brother’s, the public’s and other villagers’ objections.

The Armenian spectator had already become acquainted with various
versions of ‘Anoush.’ Some had impression of an ‘Anoush’ in love,
while the others thought of her as a villager. And since art must
mirror beauty, everything must be done artistically. Thanks to her
beautiful voice and her artistic talent, she constructed the artistic
image of her ‘Anoush.’

Rosy-Anoush was in total control of her breathing tempo and voice flow
because of which her musical notations were sounding highly cultivated,
expressed with effortless flight of beautiful sounds. Her talent as
a singer helped her provide a more expressive version of ‘Anoush.’ It
was understood that her excessively short time-frame of preparing for
her role demanded strong willpower under intense pressure. It is also
worthy to note that the opera was directed by Garen Durgarian and
“conducted by Atanes Arakelian, who helped bring the opera to life.

When we requested the opinions of Vilen Charchoglian, the former
concertmaster of the symphony orchestra of the Opera Theater who is
currently one of the conductors, he said: “I listened to Rosy with
great pleasure. I also heard her sing with Placido Domingo. When she
comes out on stage, you would think that the stage is filled with her
aura. She is very artistic and musical. The impressions of ‘Anoush’
are very authentic and beautiful. By listening to her, you receive
a lot of pleasure.”

Having heard the impressive Anoush Opera, the audience members gave
a warm and standing ovation to Rosy once she left the stage.

Let’s wish Rosy-Anoush Svazlian new achievements in her difficult and
diligent profession while keeping the hopes of listening to her once
again in the motherland alive.

REVIEW: KEV ORKIAN IS ONE-MAN TALENT SHOW AT MILTON KEYNES THEATRE

MK Web, UK
Jan 9 2014

Written bySCOTT KIRK

Kev Orkain

A ONE-MAN talent show is probably the best way to describe Kev Orkian’s
one night extravaganza at Milton Keynes Theatre.

His Armenian immigrant act had me in absolute stitches, and the show
gave him an opportunity to display his multitude of talents in one
fantastic night.

There were so many highlights that it is difficult to pick one
moment out.

His comparison of Armenian to British music was brilliant, and his
ability on the piano was absolutely sublime.

His relationship with the audience was fantastic as well, with him
taking the mickey out of people to just the right level to avoid it
becoming cringeworthy.

I can’t remember seeing a show and giving so many belly laughs out –
in particular the part of the show when he ‘forgot’ his accent.

The act who played his mother was also very funny with the nonsense
Armenian dialect given, and the classical singer who appeared was a
real good sport as well.

Orkian was fully deserving of his standing ovation at the end and a
DVD was being made of the show so I can’t wait for that to come out –
it will be an immediate buy in our household!

CRITIC’S PICK: DILIJAN CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES’ ‘CELEBRATING MANSURIAN’

Los Angeles Times
Jan 9 2014

By Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times Music Critic

January 9, 2014, 9:00 a.m.

Tigran Mansurian, Armenia’s most celebrated composer, will turn
75 this month and the Dilijan Chamber Music series will celebrate
Sunday afternoon at the Zipper Concert Hall of the Colburn School
with a survey of the Mansurian’s chamber music over the past half
century. It will be, no doubt, a joyous occasion, what with the
composer present and Dilijan, which is devoted to Armenian music,
being among Mansurian’s most important of champions in America.

That is joyous, not joyful, and of the deep-down variety. Joy can
certainly be found in Mansurian’s intensely spiritual music, but
the surface is not where to look. There, in a haunting eloquence,
is where the suffering, never overstated or exaggerated but always
throbbing like a chronic pain, lies. It is a beautiful pain, the
exquisite anguish of a grave wound not healed but rather transcended.

CRITICS’ PICKS: What to watch, where to go, what to eat

That transcendence is the nature of Mansurian’s most mature music. And
through stunning recordings on ECM it has made him a cult figure
like such other spiritually inclined Eastern European composers as
the Estonian Arvo Part. Also in common with composers who came out
of the former Soviet bloc, Mansurian’s hard-won spirituality is all
the more illuminating for having grown out of an aggressive musical
rebellion against Soviet musical populism.

Through it all, Mansurian’s inspiration has been the plight of the
Armenian people in the 20th century and their sustaining culture. He
is a formal composer who never wastes a note. His sound world is
mystical. He knows wherein lies an instrument’s most hauntingly
beautiful sounds, particularly when it comes to strings, the voice
and percussion. Once heard, a Mansurian piece is not forgotten.

,0,7810814.story#axzz2pvtiUuwS

AZERBAIJAN’S NON-PERMANENT MEMBERSHIP AT UNSC ENDS

Legal Monitor Worldwide
January 8, 2014 Wednesday

Azerbaijan vacated its seat on the UN Security Council, the world
body’s power centre, as its two-year term expired on December 31,
2013, AzerTag state news agency reported.

For the first time in its history since regaining independence,
the Republic of Azerbaijan was directly involved in discussions and
decision-making process at various levels on the international agenda.

Azerbaijan revealed its principled position on a number of topics,
thus, taking advantage of the opportunities provided by the Security
Council membership.

The issues Azerbaijan paid more attention were rule of law,
prevention and resolution of conflicts, protection of civilians in
an armed conflict, fight against terrorism, cooperation between the
UN and regional organizations as well as Middle East peace process,
situation in Syria, Afghanistan and some states in Africa.

Azerbaijan assumed UN Security Council rotating presidency two times
in May 2012 and October 2013. The country organized a number of
discussions and events on the important issues.

The central theme of Azerbaijan’s first presidency in May 2012 was
“Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist
acts: strengthening international cooperation in the implementation
of counterterrorism obligations”. This topic was discussed at the
high-level thematic meeting of the Security Council, held on 4 May 2012
under the chairmanship of President Ilham Aliyev and with attendance
of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The statement of the President
of the Security Council was adopted as the final document.

The statement underlines the importance of fight against all forms
and manifestations of terrorism. In addition, it highlighted the
importance of the principle of territorial integrity of states,
prevention of terrorism, promotion of respect and dialogue among
religions and cultures as a means to fight it.

During its second presidency in the Security Council, Azerbaijan
convened on 28 October a high-level meeting of the Security Council on
the theme of “Strengthening partnership synergy between the United
Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)” – the
first ever meeting of the Council on this subject. The purpose of the
meeting was to review the current state of cooperation between the
United Nations and the OIC, as the second largest intergovernmental
organization, in the maintenance of international peace and security,
and to explore ideas, measures and joint actions for strengthening
the partnership synergy between the two organizations.

Chaired by Mr. Elmar Mammadyarov, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, the
meeting was attended by Secretaries-General of the two organizations,
Mr. Ban Ki-Moon and Dr. Ekmelleddin Ihsanoglu, as well as by the
high-level representatives of States members of the Security Council.

The discussions focused on the critical issues in the agenda of the
Security Council and on the ways of strengthening close cooperation
and partnership between the United Nations and other international
organizations, including in particular the OIC, in addressing those
issues more effectively.

During its presidency, Azerbaijan made every effort to press ahead
with national interests at a global level. In regard to the ongoing
conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, concerns were voiced over
the continued occupation of the Azerbaijani territories by Armenia
and calls were made for the resolution of the conflict on the basis
of the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and the
inviolability of internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan
and in line with Security Council resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884
adopted in 1993. In addition, the country raised the issue of bringing
perpetrators of outrages on humanity to trial.

During the Azerbaijani Presidency of the Security Council in May
2012, it had organized an Arria Formula meeting to encourage a
frank exchange of views, within a flexible procedural framework, on
the role of mediation, judicial settlement and justice in promoting
durable and international law-based peace and reconciliation. It was
attended by 120 representatives of UN member states, UN Secretariat,
international intergovernmental organizations, civil society and
scientific community. The event was addressed by Deputy Foreign
Minister of Azerbaijan Araz Azimov and Professor Malcolm N. Shaw QC,
Senior Fellow at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law at the
University of Cambridge.

Azerbaijan, which pays attention to the development of bilateral
relations with the African nations, tried to contribute to resolution
of problems the African continent faced. The important undertaking
during Azerbaijan presidency was the official mission of the Security
Council to Africa from 3 to 9 October. During this four-leg mission,
the members of the Council visited the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Rwanda, Uganda and Ethiopia with the aim of taking stock of and
discussing the current political, security and humanitarian situation
in Africa’s Great Lakes region, as well as showcasing their support
to the UN-led and regional peace efforts.

The 7th annual joint consultative meeting between the African Union
Peace and Security Council and the United Nations Security Council
presided over by permanent representative of Azerbaijan to the UN
Agshin Mehdiyev was held in Addis-Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia.

The meeting, co-chaired by Equatorial Guinea and Azerbaijan in their
respective capacities as presidents of both bodies, had discussions
and exchange of views on the situation in the Great Lakes region,
Somalia, the Central African Republic and the Sahel region, the
relations between the Sudan and South Sudan, and on the enhancement
of partnership between the African Union and the United Nations. The
meeting was concluded with the adoption of a Joint Communique, which
was issued as a document of the Security Council.

Azerbaijan`s both presidencies saw 59 open and closed meetings,
7 resolutions, 3 statements of the Council`s President and 13 press
statements.

During the past two years, the cooperation between the UN member
countries, UN Secretariat, non-governmental organizations, think
tanks has been strengthened.©

NON-COALITION MEMBERS OF ARMENIAN NA COUNTING BOARD TO APPLY TO CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OVER GAS AGREEMENTS

20:31 ~U 08.01.14

The Armenian Parliament’s Counting Board intends to apply to the
Constitutional Court before the first four-day parliamentary session
of 2014, to start on February 3.

The Counting Board members intend to appeal the ratification of the
Armenian-Russian gas agreements, Armenian National Congress (ANC)
parliamentary group member Lyudmila Sargsyan told Tert.am.

At the Counting Board’s meeting on December 26, 2013, she was elected
Board chairwoman by four of the Boards members.

“This document is of paramount importance. So it needs most serious
grounds,” she said.

The Counting Board have no problems with the terms for their
application to the Constitutional Court, Ms Sargsyan added.