President Serzh Sargsyan bids farewell to famous composer Alexander Harutyunyan
15:12 31/03/2012 » Society
Today President Serzh Sargsyan together with members of the burial
committee, family, relatives and fans of Alexander Harutyunyan bade
farewell to the famous composer at Al. Spendiaryan National Academic
Theater of Opera and Ballet, the presidential press office reported.
Source: Panorama.am
Ideology of the Armenian Cause is invulnerable
14:16 – 30.03.2012
`Ideology of the Armenian Cause is invulnerable’, said representative
of ARF Supreme body Armen Rustamyan and called to not be afraid to
defend the raised problems either it is the Artsakh problem or
Armenian-Turkish relations.
Talking about challenges of foreign policy he noted that not only the
recognition of the Armenian Genocide should be a part of agenda but
also the compensation issue.
`Ideology of the Armenian Cause provides both initiation and
impregnability. Initiation is the demand which is in bases of the
ideology of the Armenian Cause and demand is the result of our
violated rights. This should be in our agenda and we shouldn’t be
afraid of that as the battle of the Armenian Cause showed that our
ideology is invulnerable as our demands are fair and completely suit
international norms, we do not demand more that we have the right
for’, said Armen Rustamyan.
Books by Hrant Dink on sale
13:52 31/03/2012 » Society
`Sari Gelin’ and `That woman’ books on Armenian Cause authored by
Hrant Dink, the founder and editor-in-chief of Istanbul-based
bilingual paper `Agos’, went on sale, Turkish news website
ihlassondakika reported.
The books will be on public open sale since April 13.
Source: Panorama.am
Turkey’s biggest documentary film on Armenian-Turkish relations will
be auctioned
news.am
March 31, 2012 | 13:46
ISTANBUL. – The Istanbul Compulsory Enforcement Service has auctioned
`Sari Gelin’ (`The Bride of Mountain’ in Armenian; `Blonde Bride’ in
Turkish), Turkey’s biggest-ever documentary film devoted to
Armenian-Turkish relations.
The aforesaid Service informed that the film is being put up for sale
because the company that created it cannot repay its debts, Haberler
news agency of Turkey informs.
`Sari Gelin’ will be auctioned off with a starting price of 50,000
Turkish liras (approx. US$ 30,000), which will include the
authorization for the release of the film’s episodes in DVD and VCD
format.
The documentary was filmed in thirteen countries. The six-part film
consists of interviews conducted with 160 people, and with respect to
Armenian-Turkish relations.
`Sari Gelin’ will be auctioned on April 12. But if it is not sold on
that day, a second auction will be held on April 18.
AZERBAIJAN’S ARMS PURCHASES FROM ISRAEL NO ‘DIRECT THREAT TO IRAN’
News.Az
Thu 29 March 2012 06:25 GMT | 7:25 Local Time
News.Az interviews Pieter Wezeman, senior researcher on the Arms
Transfers Programme at the Stockholm International Peace Research
Institute (SIPRI).
SIPRI reports that the $1.6-billion arms deal, signed between
Azerbaijan and Israel in 2011, envisages the purchase by Baku of the
Barak-8 missile system, 75 Barak-8 missiles, the EL/M-2080 Green Pine
radar, Gabriel-5 anti-ship missile, five Heron unmanned aerial vehicles
(UAV) and five Searcher UAVs. How accurate is this information?
Almost all the information we have regarding Israeli arms sales to
Azerbaijan is uncertain. It has been widely reported that the Israeli
company IAI signed a deal worth USD1.6 billion with Azerbaijan in late
2011/early 2012, but the exact content of the deal is still not known.
Reports generally agree that at least one Green Pine radar is
included. However, whereas it has been widely reported that the
deal includes SAM systems, anti-ship missiles and UAVs we still
lack sufficient independent reports to confirm which exact types are
involved and how many. Therefore the information about the Barak-8,
the Gabriel-5, the Herons and the Searchers are all estimates, both
regarding type and numbers involved. It is entirely possible that
the deal includes other weapons too.
It’s important to point out that Azerbaijan has acquired a whole range
of other weapons from several suppliers, not just the recent deal with
Israel. I attach a register of major arms procured by Azerbaijan in
the period 2007-2011. The register only shows transfers of major arms
as defined by SIPRI. There are other significant projects ongoing,
e.g. the modernization of T-72 tanks by Israeli companies.
Also all indications are that Azerbaijan plans substantial further
arms procurement in the coming years.
What can you say about those types of weapons, are they offensive ones?
There are no inherently defensive weapons. An offensive is usually
backed up with a proper defence in order to counter a counter
offensive, i.e. you don’t attack with tanks without defending them
with SAM systems against counter air attacks. Therefore weapons
procurement should always be considered in the context of existing
and planned arsenals and military capabilities, security policies,
known or suspected intentions of arms procuring states and military
doctrines. The USD1.6 billion deal with IAI includes air defence
systems, which can defend Azeri forces against air attacks.
The systems could theoretically be used to defend Azeri forces
defending Azerbaijan or to defend Azeri forces using other weapons,
such as the variety of other combat aircraft, tanks and artillery
mentioned in the attached register, to attack a neighbour.
Tehran is still warning that Azerbaijan could use that weapon against
Iran. As a military expert, do you think that this kind of weapon
could pose a danger to Iran?
The Azeri arms procurement from Israel is not a direct threat to Iran,
in the sense that it seems very unlikely that Azerbaijan would attack
Iran. I am also not aware of Iran having complained about all the arms
deals Azerbaijan has signed with other countries. However the Israeli
arms deals are a strong signal that Azerbaijan and Israel have good
relations. This is of strategic importance to Israel and it is not
surprising that the deal probably strengthen Iran’s existing threat
perception of being surrounded by US- or Israeli-friendly countries
equipped with advanced military capabilities.
Pakistan is another country offering similar weapons to Azerbaijan.
What can you say about the quality of the Israeli weapons?
The Israeli arms industry produces a wide diversity of arms and
other military equipment, which is widely regarded as well designed
and of high quality. In particular in the field of command, control,
communication, reconnaissance, intelligence and surveillance systems
and in the field of air-defence systems Israeli companies have achieved
major export successes. But also regarding armour, artillery and small
arms Israeli companies are highly competitive on the international
market.
Still, there is no reason to single out Israeli arms supply to
Azerbaijan, other than that it upsets Iran. Many other arms producing
companies based elsewhere are aggressively marketing their products
in Azerbaijan.
>From the attached list you can see that companies in a variety
of countries supplied arms to Azerbaijan in recent years: Russia,
Ukraine, Turkey, South Africa, Belarus, Bosnia and Israel. In addition
China and Pakistan have been mentioned as countries marketing arms
to Azerbaijan. Standard open market principles can be applied.They
may offer weapons Israel does not offer (e.g. Pakistan offers in
cooperation with China complete new combat aircraft, Russia supplies
new combat helicopters), they may offer less advanced weapons
cheaper, they may offer weapons similar to those offered by Israel
but at better prices or other conditions (e.g. presumably the Russian
supplied S-300 SAM system).
Armenia accuses Azerbaijan of violating the Conventional Forces in
Europe (CFE) Treaty. Azerbaijan is indeed actively arming itself and
does not conceal that it is doing so in case of a military scenario to
resolve the Karabakh conflict. But is there evidence of CFE violations?
The accusations of violating the CFE Treaty go both ways. I cannot
judge myself right now if these accusations are correct. One problem is
that it will be difficult to determine how much operational equipment,
limited by the CFE Treaty, both countries have.
LAVROV TO VISIT YEREVAN, BAKU TO DISCUSS KARABAKH IN EARLY APRIL
Interfax
March 27 2012
Russia
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is to discuss the Karabakh
issue during his visits to Yerevan and Baku in early April.
“The meetings will focus on the Karabakh issue,” Russian Foreign
Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said at a briefing in Moscow
on Tuesday.
Lavrov’s visit to Armenia, where he is due to meet with President
Serzh Sargsian and Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian, is scheduled for
April 2-3. He will be in Azerbaijan, where he is to meet with President
Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on April 3-4.
“Talks both in Yerevan and Baku will be an intense discussion of the
Nagorno-Karabakh problem,” Lukashevich said.
On April 4-5, Lavrov will pay a visit to Kyrgyzstan and then to
Kazakhstan, the spokesman said.
MERDINIAN SCHOOL CELEBRATES 30TH ANNIVERSARY
asbarez
Friday, March 23rd, 2012
Dr. Nalbandian & Mr. Loussararian during the banquet MISSION HILLS-C &
E Merdinian Armenian Evangelical School recently celebrated the 30th
anniversary of the school’s founding at a gala banquet held at the
Deukmejian Ballroom of the Ararat Home in Mission Hills, California,
on Sunday March 4.
The Banquet was a huge success. More than 350 guests and dignitaries
attended, including members of the school’s Board of Directors,
faculty, administration, students, parents, alumni, founding members,
members of the PTO, the Women’s Auxiliary, past and present AMAA Board
members and officers, Armenian Evangelical ministers, representatives
of the Western Prelacy and Western Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic
Church, representatives of the Armenian Catholic Church, the Consul
General of the Republic of Armenia, the first President of the American
University of Armenia, and members of the Armenian press.
Hreir Sagherian was the Master of Ceremonies for the evening. He is an
industrial engineer and a sales executive with IBM Corporation. He has
led the AEUNA youth committee for many years, and he currently serves
on the Board of Directors of Camp AREV. Mr. Sagherian introduced Dr.
Vahe Nalbandian, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Merdinian
School.
Dr. Nalbandian thanked the attendees, the sponsors of the event
as well as members of the Banquet Committee, the PTO and the
Women’s Auxiliary. He introduced Mrs. Lina Arslanian, the newly
appointed Principal of the school. Prior to her being elevated to
the principal’s position, Arslanian served the school capably for
thirteen years in various capacities, as teacher, department chair,
and curriculum coordinator.
Recent accomplishments of the school were mentioned, including renewal
of the school’s accreditation for a full six-year term, the highest
SAT scores achieved by its students in the school’s history, and the
major renovations made to the campus facilities.
During the past twelve months, the school has been the beneficiary of
three major grants: a very large gift from the Armenian Evangelical
Social Service Center for the repair and renovation of the school’s
buildings and grounds, a major gift from Anahis Derian-Boolghoorjian
for the renovation of the school’s assembly hall, and a substantial
gift from the Ahmanson Foundation for the upgrading of the school’s
computer lab.
On behalf of the Merdinian School Board of Directors, Dr. Nalbandian
expressed his sincere gratitude to these generous donors. He presented
a plaque on behalf of the Board of Directors to the Armenian
Evangelical Social Service Center and to its Executive Director,
Hagop Loussararian, as a token of their appreciation.
For twenty-five years, the Armenian Evangelical Social Service
Center has provided valuable services to the community of refugees
and immigrants who have arrived here from Armenia and the Middle
East by helping them resettle in the Glendale area, find employment,
and become productive members of society.
Mr. Loussararian is one of the visionaries who planned and founded
Merdinian School. He served as a Board member and Chair of the
Personnel Committee during the early years of the school’s existence.
His love for the school has remained very much alive.
Dinner followed the invocation by Rev. Ara Chakerian. After dinner,
Dr. Nalbandian recognized Mrs. Anahis Derian-Boolghoorjian, a
registered nurse and a philanthropist, for her generous donation
to Merdinian School and various other organizations, including the
AMAA, Haigazian University, Camp AREV, Sahag-Mesrob school and the
Cilicia Armenian Evangelical Church in Pasadena. Upon completion of
its renovation, Merdinian School’s assembly hall shall be named the
Aram and Anahis Boolghoorjian Hall.
A musical interlude ensued. After that, Peter Kougasian, Esq., an
AMAA Vice President, Assistant District Attorney for the County of
New York, and a gifted speaker, delivered the captivating keynote
speech entitled “Why Merdinian? What is the purpose of a Christian,
Armenian education in this increasingly secular world?”
Kougasian made a compelling case for Merdinian School, where children
are taught the Bible, along with the Armenian language, history, and
culture. He regards the assumption that religion and education must
be kept antiseptically separate as being a fallacy. He explained the
fallacy by quoting the epigram of the medieval philosopher St. Anselm:
“I do not understand, that I may then believe. I believe, that I may
then understand.” Kougasian stated that when religion and education are
separated, teaching becomes sterile. As the book of Proverbs tells us,
the very beginning of wisdom is the fear of God.
The keynote speaker was followed by brief messages by Mr. Grigor
Hovhannissian, Consul General of the Republic of Armenia in Los
Angeles, and Helen Haig, daughter of Alice Haig, who played a key
role in the establishment of the school and who served as the first
Chair of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Personnel Committee.
The Principal delivered her message both in English and in Armenian.
After that, ten alumni ascended to the podium, introduced themselves,
and mentioned the years they graduated from Merdinian, the colleges
they attended, the career paths they now follow, and what key
principles the school taught them. One of the alumni read a passage
that included remarks made by each of the ten.
Rev. Joe Matossian, Minister to the Union, concluded this highly
successful celebration of the school’s 30th anniversary with his
benediction.
THEATER GROUPS FROM THE CAPITAL, PROVINCES AND NAGORNO KARABAKH TO PARTICIPATE IN “THEATER- X”
ARMENPRESS
MARCH 29, 2012
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS: This year “Theater-X” festival will
be conducted April 2-May 3. Thirty theater groups and theaters from
the capital, provinces and Nagorno Karabakh the will participate in
the festival, press service of the organizational committee of the
festival told Armenpress.
Besides professional discussions following the plays, master classes
and round tables with participation of local creative people and
students are intended.
The motto of the festival is “Cultural Unity: Festival of Debate”.
Ara Khzmalyan is the president of the festival, and Ruben Babayan is
the art director.
TURKEY INC.: RETHINKING THE MODEL’S REGIONAL ROLE
-regional-role/a5k9
March 29, 2012 Nora Fisher Onar
Turkey is often touted as an inspiration for the rest of the Middle
East–a characterization it accepts and pursues. In recent years,
Turkish policy makers have worked hard to establish “Turkey Inc.”:
a model of a relatively free, stable, and increasingly prosperous
Muslim-majority country with great economic and foreign policy
leverage. But what does the Turkish experience actually represent
for the Arab Middle East? How convincing is Turkey, Inc.–and can it
really be emulated?
Perhaps the most attention has been paid to the free and fair rise
to power of its Justice and Development Party (AKP), which Islamist
movements in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, and Syria have heralded as a
symbol of Muslim majoritarian democracy–even explicitly referencing
it in the names and platforms of their own parties, movements, and
factions. To both domestic and international observers, this might
signal that, like the AKP in Turkey, Islamist parties elsewhere do
not seek to dismantle their states’ secular framework–at least for
the time being.
But in spite of its appeal to both traditional Islamists and
“post-Islamists”–that is, those who fully reconcile their particular
politico-religious commitments with globalization–the Turkish
formula may not be replicable. Civil-military relations in Turkey
have undergone a double-sided transformation over recent decades. As
a consequence of the army’s intermittent censure, political Islamists
had to moderate their demands and practices; simultaneously, the
army–accustomed to the barracks and aware that interference in
government hurt Turkey’s international standing–increasingly relied
on civilian allies to pursue its agenda vis-a-vis the AKP. Eventually,
the military relinquished control of crucial institutions (like the
National Security Council), and the final showdown over control of
the presidency in 2007 was fought not with bullets and tanks, but
with web declarations, public rallies, and court cases. A similar
tipping point regarding civilian control of the state is hardly a
foregone conclusion in countries still under transition where national
militaries continue to exert a dominant presence in political life.
Other countries in the region also lack the trajectory of Turkey’s
economic development–particularly, the export-driven rise of
the middle class experienced by religious constituencies across
the Anatolian periphery–something that has underpinned the AKP’s
moderation, political success, and interregional presence.
Indeed, Turkey’s recent economic trajectory is a central component
to its appeal in the Arab world.
Over the past decade, Turkey has tripled its GDP and–excluding a
dip to -4% real growth in 2009–has ridden out the global economic
crisis with relative equanimity. Commentators have argued that Turkey
may be part of a second tier of rising economic powers (alongside
South Korea, Mexico, and Indonesia) hot on the heels of the Big Four
(Brazil, Russia, India, and China). This holds two implications:
on a symbolic level, the Turkish experience (along with that of
Indonesia and Malaysia) has dramatically undermined theories of
Islam’s incompatibility with modernization, especially in the arena
of economic governance. More tangibly, over the past decade Turkey
has actively sought partners for sustainable trade-driven growth in
a region long addled by the heady cocktail of oil wealth and chronic
underdevelopment. Although economic partnerships were in no way guided
by concerns for democratic governance–attested to by Turkey’s once
cozy ties with authoritarian leaders–they also have had unintended
consequences with positive implications for political reform. For
example, the influx of cheaper, better quality Turkish goods in
Syrian markets may have undermined a backbone of the Assad regime:
its business cronies.
To understand the parameters of Turkey’s role in the region, we
should also acknowledge the sensitivities that arise from the Ottoman
legacy. Some believe that Ankara seeks to reclaim its historical
leadership of the Middle East, the Caucasus, and the Balkans,
something that can rub interlocutors the wrong way. Hence, Turkish
foreign policy makers’ reluctance to employ Ottomanist frames of
reference. But at the domestic social level, there remains a growing
receptiveness to self-depiction as the benign heir to the Ottoman
Empire. This is evident in the proliferation of cultural commodities
that employ Ottoman referents, such as the recent record-grossing
film Conquest 1453 about what western historiography calls the “fall”
of Constantinople. In the film, Mehmet the Conqueror–played by an
actor who bears a remarkable resemblance to a young Recep Tayyip
Erdogan–is shown to be a forceful and compassionate protector of
Muslims and Christians alike (though there is no mention of Jews). The
image of Turkey as a “big brother” to downtrodden Muslims in places
like Palestine, Nagorno-Karabagh, Kosovo, and Bosnia–characterizes an
emerging “neo-Ottomanist” national image that seems to drive Turkish
aspirations of regional leadership within the country and amplify
Erdogan’s profile abroad. Whether this is a matter of hubris or of
capacity remains to be seen.
A final component that is crucial for evaluating Turkey’s example
is that the country has yet to develop a framework for meaningful
multi-ethnic, multi-sectarian co-habitation. Mounting violence on the
part of militant Kurds and the state’s heavy-handed response fuels
hostility between ordinary citizens. Recent court rulings suggest
that vigilante terror towards prominent members of the Armenian and
Alevi communities is permissible and will go unpunished.
Disturbing numbers of journalists, scholars, and students who
express critical views on these fronts are jailed. There is also
deep concern in constituencies which embrace secular lifestyles
that recent reforms in fields like education will yield an ever more
restricted society. Given the need to put its own house in order and
the fact that inter-communal tensions across the region are likely
to become worse before becoming better, Turkey’s AKP must take very
seriously its mandate to write a new and inclusive constitution. In
the longer tem, Turkey must confront the standing challenge of the
region–learning to live together despite differences–a challenge
which is also Turkey’s own.
At the end of the day, the export of Turkey Inc. needs stable and
predictable conditions in which trade and investment can thrive;
hence, the commitment to the “zero problems” policy that Turkey
employed with neighbors in its economic and foreign agendas over the
past decade. Due to last year’s upheavals, however, this policy is
unsustainable. Once well-placed to broker a dialogue between Iran and
Israel, Turkey is now alienated from both as the two nemeses lock
horns in what Graham Allison has called the “Cuban missile crisis
in slow motion.” Should this spill into war, the delicate balance in
Iraq may unravel into protracted sectarian and ethnic conflict, just
as Syria’s brewing civil war may spill over into Lebanon. But even
without an Israeli-Iranian showdown and an intensified conflagration
in Iraq and Syria, the country’s Kurdish question is, quite literally,
kindling awaiting a flame, as attested to by recent clashes during
Nevruz/Newroz celebrations. All of this suggests that Turkey’s
aspirations to regional leadership are tactically dependent on
forestalling an Iranian-Israeli showdown–an end to which it should
leverage all its diminished diplomatic capital in the two countries
and in partnership with the United States.
Before the AKP and Arab Awakening, the received wisdom was that when
it came to Islam, democracy, and secularism, one could have any two
but never all three. Similarly, doubts have long been expressed as to
whether political and economic liberalism can thrive simultaneously
in a Muslim-majority setting. Taken together, it seems that if
the purveyors of Turkey Inc. can show that liberal economics goes
hand-in-hand with liberal democracy in a country governed by pious
Muslims, the Turkish model-in-progress may achieve fruition and offer
a timely example for the region.
Nora Fisher Onar is an assistant professor of International Relations
at BahceÅ~_ehir University in Istanbul. She is a Ronald D. Asmus
Policy Entrepreneur Fellow with the German Marshall Fund and is a
Visiting Fellow at the Centre for International Studies (CIS) at the
University of Oxford.
ANIMATION CO-PRODUCTION FORUM TO HOST YOUNG SPECIALISTS FROM CAUCASUS
PanARMENIAN.Net
March 30, 2012 – 14:29 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – The Stuttgart International Festival of Animated
Film, the Georgian National Film Center and ReAnimania Yerevan
International Animation Film Festival are organizing an Animation
Co-Production Forum to connect young directors, animators and producers
from Germany and the Caucasus region.
The aim of the Animation Co-Production Forum is to identify interesting
projects and to connect optional co-production partners with regard
to an application for the Co-Production Prize of the Robert Bosch
Stiftung.
The forum is directed at both animation filmmakers who are looking
for a producer or coproducer and producers who are interested in
producing or coproducing an animated film project. Several meetings,
workshops, trainings, and pitching sessions will be held.
The Animation Co-Production Forum takes place from May 10-11 in the
context of the 19th Stuttgart International Festival of Animated
Film (ITFS). With over 2,000 international professionals and about
to 75,000 spectators the ITFS, the FMX and the Animation Production
Day form one of the world’s largest animation events and a unique
platform for animation business and culture.
The selected directors, animators, and producers will be invited
for three nights to take part in the Animation Coproduction Forum in
Stuttgart. Travel and accommodation costs are covered by the Animation
Co-Production Forum.
Robert Bosch Stiftung, one of the largest German foundations enabling
people to implement projects and initiative in Germany and elsewhere,
issues three Co-Production Prizes for joint film productions by
young filmmakers.
The prize, worth up to ~@70,000 for each selected project, is
awarded for short films in the categories animation, documentary,
and live action.