Author: Kalashian Nyrie

LIGHTS, CAMERA, AUCTION: ARMENIA PRIVATIZES A HISTORIC FILM STUDIO. WILL IT HELP REVIVE THE RICH CINEMA TRADITION OF THE CAUCASUS?
By Tom Birchenough
Moscow Times
Aug 26 2005
As Russia waits for any real development in transferring parts of
its film industry into private hands — the partial privatization of
Moscow’s Gorky Film Studio, announced this spring and heralded as
the first step in that process, has been indefinitely postponed —
other countries in the region are pressing ahead, in an effort to
reinvigorate local film industries as well as to attract international
productions.
In 2004, private investors took ownership of the Vilnius-based
Lithuanian Film Studio, and last month, Armenia headed in a similar
direction. Yerevan’s historic Armenfilm, founded in 1923 and long part
of the rich film tradition of the Caucasus, passed into the hands of
the well-connected local media group CS Media City, or CSMC, and its
subsidiary Armenia Film Studios, for the sum of 350 million drams
(just over $750,000).
Cinema in the Caucasus has always straddled the present-day national
borders, and though Armenia has a considerable reputation in film,
it’s often been dwarfed by neighboring Georgia, where directors,
especially those from the generation of the 1950s and 1960s, earned
particular fame.
For instance, Armenfilm is named in honor of Amo Bek-Nazarov, a
Soviet actor and director whose career began before the Bolshevik
Revolution. Although of Armenian descent, Bek-Nazarov played a
major role in Georgian silent film, and one of his best known works,
“Pepo” from 1935, unfolds in 19th-century Tiflis, though it features
an almost exclusively Armenian cast. Boundaries are further blurred
by the fact that Georgia’s state film production body, Goskinprom,
actually started in Baku, now the capital of Azerbaijan.
National loyalties are relative, indeed: One of Yerevan’s most
prominent museums may honor Sergei Paradzhanov, the censored and
once-imprisoned creator of Soviet-era classics such as “Color of
Pomegranates,” who died in the city in 1990, but the director rarely
worked in the country and is more often linked to Georgia and Ukraine.
Over the last decade, as Armenia went through war and dire poverty, the
situation took a distinct turn for the worse. Armenfilm’s peak output
of up to 10 feature films a year during the 1970s and 1980s dropped to
almost nothing. In 2004, its state budget funding was a mere $600,000.
Now, despite its august history and continuing difficulties,
priorities for the newly privatized studio look more than up-to-date,
especially in promoting lower-budget production using digital filming
equipment, which could give greater flexibility to the studio’s new
management by removing the need for difficult laboratory processing.
“Digital cinematography … [offers the] possibility to reduce the
gap between countries with extremely developed film industries and
countries where annually only a couple of movies are being shot,”
wrote Edgar Baghdasaryan, the director of Armenia Film Studios,
in an online statement.
Progress should certainly be helped by the fact that the venture is
supported by two highly influential figures in Armenia, with friendly
links to the country’s president, Robert Kocharyan. Local businessman
Bagrat Sargisyan is working alongside philanthropist Gerard Cafesjian,
a U.S. citizen of Armenian descent who opened a brand-new arts center
in Yerevan last year. The two also control three local television
stations.
Though the price of the deal may look on the low side, CSMC has
pledged to invest as much as $66 million in the studio over the next
10 years. In addition, it has promised to support four new local
feature films a year, as well as associated short-film and animation
work. The first fruits of the media company’s work, in the form of
two local productions, “Arshile” and “Mariam,” are already under way.

A SPECIAL SESSION OF THE RA NA TO TAKE PLACE ON AUGUST 29
YEREVAN, August 22. /ARKA/. Taking into account the initiative of 46
deputies of the RA NA and guiding by Article 70 of the RA
Constitution, RA President Robert Kocharyan signed a decree on
convocation of a special parliamentary session on August 29.
According to the RA NA Public Relations Department, the agenda will
include the project of amendments to the Constitution made in the
second reading.
The project of constitutional reforms offered by the ruling coalition
was adopted in the first reading on May 11, 2005. The referendum on
amendments to the Constitution should be held in Armenia in November
2005. A.H. -0-
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Moscow Times, Russia
Aug 22 2005
FSB Says Terrorists Are Trying to Secure WMD
By Simon Saradzhyan
Staff Writer
CIS security forces storming an oil tanker in Aktau, Kazakhstan,
during a counterterrorism exercise on Thursday.

Terrorist groups are making attempts to acquire weapons of mass
destruction, including nuclear and biological weapons, Federal
Security Service director Nikolai Patrushev told colleagues from
other former Soviet republics on Friday.
“The terrorists are striving to obtain access to biological, nuclear
and chemical weapons. We record this, and we have such information,”
Patrushev said at a meeting with his counterparts from other
countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States.
“Our mission is to deny them such access,” Patrushev said at the
meeting in Aktau, Kazakhstan, which followed a counterterrorism
exercise in which CIS forces simulated the seizure of an oil tanker
by a terrorist group in the Caspian Sea.
Patrushev did not give any details about who had tried to acquire WMD
or when and where the attempts had taken place. Russia and the other
11 countries of the CIS were supposed to have destroyed their
biological weapons long ago in accordance with international
conventions.
The United States and several other countries have expressed worries
that terrorists could acquire nuclear, biological or chemical weapons
materials in Russia and other former Soviet republics.
Patrushev said the Federal Security Service, or FSB, was evaluating
security and accountability in the defense industry and other
enterprises that are or have been involved in the development and
production of WMD to ensure that they are impenetrable to terrorist
groups.

“We are really checking these enterprises and, as of today, we are
taking measures to eliminate those flaws that exist,” he said,
Interfax reported.
He said the FSB was focusing on preventive measures.
“At the moment, we evaluate the situation this way: Terrorists will
not get the weapons they’re striving for,” he said. “Nonetheless, in
light of the aim of terrorists to get access to weapons of mass
destruction, we must perfect this work.”
Earlier this summer, the chief of the Defense Ministry’s nuclear
safety and security department said there was a constant stream of
intelligence from the FSB indicating that terrorist groups were
developing plans to target the military’s nuclear arsenals. “We have
special information continuously coming from the Federal Security
Service on terrorist groups’ plans against our facilities,” Igor
Valynkin, head of the ministry’s 12th Main Directorate, said in June.
Patrushev’s comments came after Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev
threatened to stage new terrorist attacks and hinted that he might go
beyond conventional attacks. In an interview broadcast by the U.S.
television network ABC on July 28, Basayev vowed to “do everything
possible” to end the second Chechen war. Basayev had ordered
radioactive materials planted in Moscow and threatened to detonate
them to end the first Chechen war.
“I am trying not to cross the line. And so far, I have not crossed
it,” Basayev said in the interview, which was taped in late June.
Basayev has claimed responsibility for the Beslan school
hostage-taking, which killed more than 330 people, and scores of
other terrorist attacks.
During the first and second wars, Chechen rebels sought to acquire
radioactive and biological materials, plotted to hijack a nuclear
submarine and cased military nuclear installations.
While initially skeptical of the threat of WMD terrorism, Russian
authorities are increasingly acknowledging the imminence of the
menace and are working to safeguard nuclear, chemical and biological
substances at military and civil installations with financial and
technical assistance from the West.
One sign of this change in attitude is that the military and the FSB
are holding regular exercises in repelling possible terrorist attacks
on nuclear installations. The next CIS counterterrorism exercise will
focus on repelling an attack on a nuclear power plant and will take
place in Armenia in 2006, Patrushev said.
Patrushev also said the FSB had helped investigate violence in the
eastern Uzbek city of Andijan earlier this year.
He said the FSB had offered to assist in the London subway and bus
bombings but that the offer had been declined.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NKR GOVERNMENT DISCUSSES OPENING OF VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS IN NAGORNO KARABAKH
ARKA News Agency
Aug 19 2005
YEREVAN, August 19. /ARKA/. The NKR Government discussed opening
of vocational schools in Nagorno Karabakh, press-service of the NKR
Government reported ARKA News Agency. Speaking about the important
role of skilled professionals regarding the economic growth registered
in Nagorno Karabakh, NKR Prime Minister Anushavan Danielyan said
that opening of the vocational schools has been topical for a long
time. “Many of our professionals are elders and the young men should
come to take their place”, Danielyan pointed out. Moreover, almost each
large construction firm has foreign specialists as there are no such
professionals available in NKR. “We are opening jobs but not for local
population. In this regard the opening of vocational schools implies
resolution of many problems”, he pointed out. Danielyan also reported
that local construction companies are ready to support this program,
and the NKR Government has reached preliminary agreement with them.
Danielyan instructed relevant departments to prepare the list of
required and exiting specialties to realize the program of opening
the vocational schools as soon as possible. A.A. -0–

US AMBASSADOR TO AZERBAIJAN HOPES FOR SUCCESS OF FORTHCOMING MEETING
OF ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS IN KAZAN
YEREVAN, AUGUST 19. ARMINFO. U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Rino
Harnish Hopes for success of the forthcoming meeting of Armenian and
Azerbaijani leaders in Kazan. According to Day.az, the Ambassadoe
made this statement at his meetings with representatives of Gubin
and Khachmaz regions.
Pointing out the painfulness of the Karabakh problem, the Ambassador
expressed desire that the refugees from Fizouli and Aghdam regions
return to their lands. He expressed hope that some progress will be
reached in Kazan.

Zaman, Turkey
Aug 19 2005
Tourists in Ani Ruins Taken out of Military Zone
By Murat Kaban
Published: Friday, August 19, 2005
zaman.com
The Turkish council of Ministers and General Staff abolished the
military forbidden zone around the Ani Ruins on the Turkish-Armenian
border in 2004.
About 15,000 tourists visited Ani antique city within a year. Since
the ruin was under the context of a first level military zone,
local and foreign ministers were not allowed to visit the region
without permission and identity information.The History of the
Ani Antique City extends to great cultural monuments like the Abul
Menucehr Mosque,the first mosque built in 1072 by (Turks) Seljuks,
and Fethiye Mosque (Big Cathedral). The antique city, encompassing
five kilometers of land, includes 10 churches, a palace, two mosques,
a bridge and a caravansaray.
The Culture and Turism Director in Kars, Kenan Bekis, said they
expected about 20,000 to 30,000 tourists to visit the Ani Ruins.
Ýndicating that the Turkish Tourism and Culture Ministry are
continuing environmental plans for the ruins, Bekis said excavations
that began in the beginning of July would continue until September
15. “Tourists rarely visited Ani Ruins while it was protected as
a military prohibited zone because visits required many procedural
documents from military authorities and the museum directorate.
However, now everyone can buy tickets and visit the area. A Six-person
cadre under the Turkish Finance Ministry will provide security in the
Ani Ruins. Moreover, the Tourism Gendarme will determine the tourism
zones to be protected. We also held a meeting with the Governor of
Kars, Nevzat Turhan, at his presidency. We applied for the Gendarme’s
General Commandership for Ani’s security.
We will also achieve security through this way.
Located in Ocakli village, 42 kilometers away from Kars, is the antique
city of Ani. The city was established in 5000 B.C within the Turkish
boundaries on the western side of Arapcay River, which separates the
Turkish-Armenian border. It was the first accommodation center along
the Silk Road, and as a result today it a famous trade center. The
inner fortress, which encircles the city was built by the Karsaklilar,
who renamed the city as Kars in 400 (A.D.). The city of Ani hosted
many societies such as the Karsaklilar, Ýlhanlilar, Seddatogullari,
Karakoyunlular, Georgians, Harzemsahlar, and the Seljuk Empire.
Some of the remains found in Ani Ruins are as follows:
Menucehr Mosque: The mosque is located in the antique city, Ani. It
was built by Abu Suca Manucher from the Seddatogullari in 1072 and
it is known as the first mosque built by the Seljuks in Anatolia.
Abul Muammeral Mosque (Boz Minaret): It is in the center of the
antique city. It was built by the last Seddatli Sultan, Sahan Sah.
The minaret of the destroyed mosque remains collapsed on the site.
Virgin Mary Cathedral (Fethiye Mosque): The construction work of
the cathedral began in 1010 in Ani city center during Sambat II.’s
period. It was completed during Gagik I’s period. The cathedral
was used as a mosque for some time after Alparslan’s conquest. This
building is among the most well-preserved buildings in Ani.
Kecel Church: It was built in 1034-1036 by the son of Abugremrizents
Dakkavi, who is the grandson of Gregor. The church was repaired by
pope Tridot in 1173. A bell tower was added to the main structure
in 1291 and the dome was repaired in 1342. Half of the structure is
still partially damaged due lightning strikes.
–Boundary_(ID_asFA1TsQBWSQw4Wh69H5Vw)–

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x118
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: [email protected]
Website:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, August 19, 2005
Harry Koundakjian Gives Picture-Perfect Lecture to AGBU YPGNY
On Wednesday, July 20, 2005, renowned Associated Press (AP) photojournalist and photo editor, Harry Koundakjian spoke at AGBU Central Office in New York about his life’s work in pictures. Organized by AGBU Young Professionals of Greater New York (YPGNY), Koundakjian presented a selection of his most captivating images from the thousands of photos he has taken during his fifty years as a photographer.
>>From terrorist hijackings to royal weddings, his stories made the images come alive for the 60 guests, which included the participants of the 2005 AGBU New York Summer Intern Program. A longtime advocate for Armenian issues, Koundakjian recounted many colorful anecdotes from the years he covered the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1991), various natural disasters in Asia, as well as, a slew of Armenian events and commemorations around the world.
“There is no doubt in my mind that press photography is one of the most important in modern times. You cover events from beginning to end. From the happiest to the most harrowing days in someone’s life-you see all. Nothing can escape your eyes. You click the shutter and you make history,” Koundakjian says.
Currently planning his retirement, a zealous Koundakjian hopes to tour his exhibit to demonstrate the power an image has to communicate more than words.
Under the auspices of AGBU, AGBU YPGNY is part of a global YP network which preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage by adding dimensions to the lives of young professional Armenians through educational, cultural, social and humanitarian programs. For more information on AGBU YPGNY please email, [email protected], or visit,

AZG Armenian Daily #146, 19/08/2005
Telethon
MONEY FROM ‘TELETHON-2006’ TO BE SPEND ON RECONSTRUCTION OF SHUSHI
At a government sitting on August 17 the prime minister of Nagorno
Karabakh stated that all collected money from “Telethon-2006” will
be spend to reconstruct Shushi. Anushavan Danielian noted that the
government will carry out special economic policy. As an economic
privilege organizations securing workplaces will be free from
taxes. Danielian said also that the NKR government will transfer
authority over customs service to Armenia.

AUTOMATIC SYSTEM OF MANAGEMENT TO BE INTRODUCED AT COURTS IN ARMENIA
YEREVAN, AUGUST 16. ARMINFO. An automatic system of management will be
introduced at the courts in Armenia. One of the American firms engaged
in programming and recognized the winner office on implementation of
a credit program of judicial and legal reforms of thew WB will assume
the process of automation.
Press Secretary of the Cassation Court of Armenia Anna Lazarian
informed ARMINFO that the proposal on introduction of the system
in Armenia was made buy the DPK Consulting company. The company is
engaged in consultative support to the program of modernization of
courts. The system supposes management of the cases, budgetary funds,
cadre resources. It will be introduced at all the courts in Armenia,
and a centralized data base will ve created to coordinate the work.

NAGORNO-KARABAKH: PEACE ON THE HORIZON?
Haroutiun Khachatrian 8/17/05
EurasiaNet, NY
Aug 17 2005
Armenian leaders are hopeful, but cautious as they approach what could
prove to be pivotal talks concerning the future of the Nagorno-Karabakh
territory.
Armenian President Robert Kocharian will try to break the existing
deadlock in the Karabakh talks when he meets Azerbaijani leader Ilham
Aliyev August 26, amid a summit of Commonwealth of Independent States
member states. As a prelude to those discussions, Armenian Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov are expected to hold talks in Moscow on August 23.
Hopes for a Karabakh deal have risen markedly since the July 10-16
visit to Armenia, Azerbaijan and Karabakh by the co-chairmen of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Minsk Group,
the tri-partite body charged with mediating peace talks. “We have never
been closer to an agreement,” Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz
Azimov was quoted as saying by various Armenian media outlets after
Minsk Group co-chairmen Steven Mann (USA), Bernard Fassier (France)
and Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia) left Baku on July 13.
The substance of recent discussions remains a tightly guarded secret.
While cautiously optimistic, Armenian officials and experts believe
the talks can still stumble over several significant obstacles. Most in
Yerevan also are putting the onus on Azerbaijan for the fulfillment of
settlement expectations. In an August 11 editorial, the Golos Armenii
newspaper stated that “Azerbaijan has to demonstrate with real deeds
its commitment to a compromise-based, civilized … solution of the
Karabakh problem.”
Armenian and Karabakh leaders refuse to entertain the possibility of
the breakaway territory remaining under Azerbaijan’s jurisdiction. In
June, Armenian President Robert Kocharian, who served as president of
the breakaway territory from 1994-1997, reaffirmed this point while
speaking with a group of Armenian students in Moscow. “Karabakh’s
independence isn’t liable to bargaining,” he said in a speech aired
by the Armenian public television on June 23.
In recent weeks, some high-profile politicians have hinted that
mediators may be probing for a compromise that could potentially
leave Karabakh outside of Azerbaijan. “Progress has been made in the
. . conflict settlement process. It is most evident in Azerbaijan’s.
position, which is relatively constructive. The status of
Nagorno-Karabakh is the key issue, and Azerbaijan is now discussing it
with the co-chairs,” Arkady Ghukasian, president of the self-declared
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, said in July after Minsk Group officials
visited Stepanakert.
A report distributed by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFERL)
suggested that one compromise under consideration would have Armenia
withdraw from at least five of the seven occupied regions (excluding
the Lachin, and, most likely, Kelbajar regions connecting Karabakh
with Armenia). Armenia would also permit the return of Azerbaijani
residents to the occupied territories and to Nagorno-Karabakh proper.
According to a high-ranking sources cited in the RFERL report,
Azerbaijan would, in turn, agree to recognize Karabakh’s status based
on the results of a referendum to be held among the inhabitants of
the enclave within 10 to 15 years. To build bilateral confidence,
the sides would open a motorway connecting Azerbaijan, Karabakh,
Armenia and the Nakhichivan exclave of Azerbaijan. In addition,
according to the same source, Turkey would open its border with
Armenia as soon as a Karabakh settlement is signed.
Serious distractions could come in the form of Azerbaijan’s November
parliamentary elections and Armenia’s constitutional referendum,
expected to take place at roughly the same time. In addition, the
notion of a Karabakh referendum is already generating considerable
opposition in Azerbaijan.
Some opposition politicians in Armenia and Karabakh are also critical
of the referendum proposal. They point out that the territory already
held a plebiscite in 1991 in which residents voted overwhelmingly
for independence. In a July 13 interview with the daily newspaper
Aravot, Aram G. Sargsian, leader of the Democratic Party of Armenia,
argued that the outcome of a future referendum in the territory could
turn out to be unfavorable for Armenians, as Azerbaijanis, who have
a much higher birth rate, might become a majority in the territory
within 10 years.
Editor’s Note: Haroutiun Khachatrian is a Yerevan-based writer
specializing in economic and political affairs.