Author: Kanayan Tamar

5,900-YEAR-OLD WOMEN’S SKIRT DISCOVERED IN ARMENIAN CAVE

news.am
Sept 13 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – Excavations at Areni 1 Cave in Armenia’s Vayots Dzor
region unearthed a more-than-5,900-year-old women’s straw-woven skirt,
Armenian Archaeology and Ethnography Institute Director Pavel Avetisyan
told Armenian News-News.am.

Avetisyan informed that this artifact was discovered in 2010 and,
even though they had informed about this precious item at the time,
interest toward it grew further only recently.

“The women’s clothing dates back to 39th century BC. So far we have
discovered the skirt’s parts, which were superbly preserved. It is an
amazing material with rhythmic color hues, and other remnants of the
straw-woven material were also discovered. Such thing is recorded in
Armenia for the first time,” Avetisyan noted.

According to Archaeology and Ethnography Institute’s director, the
artifact is currently under their care, but it will soon be sent to the
restorer who, until the arrival of French specialists, will work on its
restoration. Pavel Avetisyan added that, after the final conservation
process, the skirt will be exhibited at the History Museum of Armenia.

Areni 1 is the same cave where the world’s oldest leather shoe (more
than 5,500 years old), wine-press, as well as flaggy items and part
of a mummified goat’s body were discovered.

TATTOOS OF GRANDMA – FILM ABOUT ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Panorama
Sept 13 2011
Armenia

The film shooting part of “Tattoos of grandma” documentary by publicist
and director Suzan Khartalyan from Sweden are now completed.

The film is about the “embossed” fates of thousands of Armenian women
in the times of Armenian Genocide.

Suzan Khartalyan was the first person to shoot in 1988 a documentary
titled “Return to Ararat” covering the story of Armenian Genocide.

Today shooting another film the director puts important questions
and facts which have never been touched.

“The topic of Genocide is like a red line existing in my life and in
my work,” Suzan said in an interview with “Ermenihaber.am”.

Read the first part of the interview below:

– How did you have the idea to tell about the fates of Armenian women
who survived genocide?

-After the Ruanda Genocide and Darfur, media outlets have begun
widely covering stories of raped women. Studies have been held, which
revealed that raping women were a part of military strategies during
genocide. Hence, they weren’t only annihilating the rivals physically
but they were destroying their genetics.

-And did that strategy being applied during the Armenian Genocide?

– Yes, I found out that this same strategy was being used during
the Armenian Genocide. During the genocide Armenian women who were
just targets have been raped, raptured and used. If men were killed,
hundred thousands of women knew they were living but living dead.

– How did you unveil this mystery?

– During my studies, I’ve found some strange photos of Armenian women
and girls in the archives of National League. They were photos of
young women who had tattoos. Every case has an attached document
about the story of a girl – name, family, when they were raptured,
how long they lived in slavery, etc.

– How old were those girls and women?

– I was really shocked when I saw those documents, because some were
aged 8-12. But I was deeply shocked when I saw my grandma’s photo
there, who had tattoos all over her hands and face.

– So was your grandma also “embossed”?

– Yes, I didn’t love my grandma. She wasn’t like other grannies, she
didn’t like physical contact, she didn’t like hugs and kisses. We were
afraid of her, and her tattoos. I didn’t understand what signs they
were. But then I’ve found out it when I saw the photos of those girls.

-Why were those tattoos?

– Many Armenian women were kidnapped by Kurds and Arabs. Many were
robbed by Turks. In those days Armenian women and children were all
abandoned in streets, and anybody could take them. How many do you
want, who do you want? They could take them. Then they were sold, I
hear some stories that depending on woman’s age and how much she was
“used” the price differed. This was like a business. Tattoos were
made to show that the woman belonged to this or that tribe.

– Thus each tribe had its tattoo?

-Yes, each tribe had its own tattoo. Tattoos were signs of property.

My studies brought me to Frezno. There I found a group of women who
were called “Blue lips”.

Source: Panorama.am

Author: Interview by Astghik Igityan

OPPOSITION ARMENIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS CALLS FOR EARLY PRESIDENTIAL, PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

Interfax
Sept 12 2011
Russia

The opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) has called for holding
early presidential and parliamentary elections.

“Our goal is to destroy the illegal ruling regime, for which we have
started a process aimed at forcing the authorities to call early
elections,” ANC coordinator Levon Zurabian said at an opposition
rally on Friday.

Zurabian announced the ANC’s plans to conduct a series of protest
rallies. “We will bring our rallies to a level at which the ruling
regime will have to retreat and concede the people’s victory,” he said.

Nikol Pashinian, an ANC activist and the editor-in-chief of the
opposition newspaper Aikakan Zhamanak, said the next rally should
gather “an unprecedented number of people.”

Observers estimated the number of participants in the Friday rally
at some 5,000. An opposition activist said the ANC leadership was
disappointed by this number.

“The problem is financial support. The [opposition] leaders are no
longer able to pay potential participants in rallies the usual fees,”
he said.

ARMENIA PARTICIPATES IN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP OF BODYGUARDS

news.am
Sept 12 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – Armenia will participate in bodyguards’ world championship,
which will take place in Yalta on September 23-27.

During the Championship, VIP-person’s tactic competition accompanied by
technology and pedestrian, handgrip, shooting from different positions,
and neutralizing the “terrorists” will be hold.

There are participants from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Great Britain,
Italy, Norway, Bulgaria, Moldova, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan,
Latvia, Latvia, Estonia, USA, Romania, India, Macedonia, Australia,
Belgium and France.

AND THIS IS ISRAEL’S ‘PLAN B’

Hurriyet
Sept 9 2011
Turkey

The Israeli press is reporting that the Israeli government is preparing
to take tough measures in reprisal for the sanctions Turkey has
announced. The reports suggest that Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor
Lieberman, an extreme right-winger, is planning radical steps such
as collaboration with the Armenian lobby in the United States and
contacts with the PKK.

According to a report published in Yedioth Ahronot, senior officials
of the Israeli Foreign Ministry met yesterday to prepare for the
meeting to be held with Lieberman on Saturday.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent comments about shipping
in the eastern Mediterranean and the course Israel should take will
reportedly be discussed at the meeting [on Saturday].

The daily reported that, at yesterday’s meeting, Foreign Ministry
officials concluded that, at this point, Turkey is not waiting for an
apology from Israel and that Ankara wants to improve its stature in the
Muslim world by taking advantage of the tension that has been created.

The report adds that, for this reason, rather than seeking new formulas
for apologizing to Turkey, Lieberman has chosen to focus on steps to
punish Ankara.

The daily reports that the Israeli Foreign Ministry has decided to
take a series of steps in the spheres of diplomacy and security in
this regard.

The first step to be taken is reportedly a travel warning to all
Israeli war veterans to avoid visiting Turkey.

‘Genocide,’ ‘Terrorism’ Cards

Another planned step is reportedly collaboration with “Turkey’s
historic rivals, the Armenians.”

The report says that Lieberman is expected to meet with leaders of
the Armenian lobby during his visit to the United States this month
and propose cooperation against Turkey in Congress.

The report also claims that Lieberman is planning to hold meetings
with PKK leaders in Europe with an eye to “cooperating” with the
terrorist organization “in every possible area. “It adds that, at
these meetings, PKK members may ask Israel for military aid in the
form of arms supplies and training.

The daily quotes Lieberman as saying: We will make Erdogan pay a price
that will prove to him that messing with Israel does not pay off.”

According to the report, Lieberman also said. “It would be beneficial
for Turkey to treat us with respect.”

‘Grave, Serious Threat’

Another comment about Prime Minister Erdogan’s remarks on shipping
in the eastern Mediterranean came from Deputy Israeli Prime Minister
Dan Meridor today.

Meridor described Ankara’s statement that “aid ships travelling
to the Gaza Strip will be accompanied by warships” as a “grave and
serious threat.”

In a statement to the Israeli Army Radio, Meridor said: “The remarks
of the Turkish prime minister are harsh and grave. However, it would
not be right to engage in a war of words with him via threats of war.”

He added that the best response is silence and expressed the hope
that this incident will blow over.

The Israeli deputy minister also said that the UN’s Mavi Marmara
report has refuted Turkey’s claims that the Israeli blockade [of Gaza]
is a violation of international law.

ISRAEL WANTS NO CONFLICT WITH TURKEY — ISRAELI MINISTER

Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)
September 11, 2011 Sunday

Israel does not want any quarrel with Turkey, but is working on
regaining ties with Ankara, according to Israeli radio on Sunday.

Israeli radio quoted Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman as saying
he hopes to recover ties with Ankara, although “will not wave a
white flag”. In addition, he refuses to apologize for the attack on
Gaza-bound flotilla that occurred last year, which led to the death
of nine Turkish civilians.

This comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said
yesterday that Israel has no desire to see strained relations with
Turkey continue.

Lieberman claimed in his press releases that Israel’s actions have
been and will continue to be in line with international law, adding
that the Palmer Commission report on the boarding of the Mavi Marmara
considered Israel’s actions as legal.

Meanwhile, Lieberman evaded questions about “punishing” Turkey,
assisting Kurds, and Armenian rebels.

MIDI LIBRE, France
10 septembre 2011 samedi

Musique Arménienne à N.-Dame-de-la Rominguère

Après des chants et des musiques russes, l’église
Notre-Dame-de-la-Rominguère accueillera ce samedi à partir de 18 h 30
(entrée libre) le trio Oshakan.Ce trio, à la manière des
miniaturistes, vous invite à un voyage musical dans les Jardins de
Paradis d’Arménie aux travers de la poésie mystique et lyrique du
moine Grégoire de Narek, Xe siècle, et de l’auteur Grigoris
Akhtamartsi au XV Ie siècle. Poésie décrivant avec tristesse l’instant
où son me, comparée à un jardin, quittera ce monde. Dans ce concert
le chant tient une place prépondérante, puisque c’est lui qui est
l’instrument soliste. Avec les deux instruments, on obtient ainsi un
chatoiement de timbres et une palette de couleurs instrumentales
riches et variées, qui évoquent d’une façon imagée, les miniaturistes
arméniens. Tous les amateurs de cette musique et ceux qui veulent la
découvrir sont invités à venir assister à ce concert original.

Turkish-Egyptian alliance: Israel faces regional isolation
Netanyahu can either prepare for another war or accept that Israel can
no longer impose its will on its neighbours

Editorial
guardian.co.uk,
Sunday 11 September 2011 22.47 BST

Monday’s visit to Egypt by Turkey’s prime minister, Reccep Tayyip
Erdogan, will be watched like no other. It comes just three days after
thousands of Egyptians stormed the Israeli embassy in Cairo.
Eighty-six Israelis inside fled, and six security guards trapped
inside a strong room had to be freed by Egyptian commandos, but only
after intervention from the White House. What those diplomats felt was
the wrath of an Egyptian people humiliated by the killing of five
soldiers at the Israeli border three weeks ago. A sixth soldier died
at the weekend. Mr Erdogan will bring with him the support of a
regional power and Nato member whose citizens were also killed by
Israeli soldiers on the Gaza flotilla last year, and who is now
threatening to send warships to protect the next one. If
post-revolutionary Egypt and an economically resurgent Turkey make
common cause against their former common ally – and there is every
indication that they will – Israel’s isolation in the region will be
profound.

The pace of events has surprised everyone. The pro-Palestinian
sentiment of the thousands who thronged Tahrir Square was latent
rather than explicit. Analysts then expected that major foreign policy
changes would have to await domestic ones like elections and a new
civilian government. Israel on the other hand found itself looking the
wrong way, gearing up for protest on the West Bank and on its Syrian
and Lebanese borders after the declaration of statehood at the UN
later this month. No one expected the forces unleashed by the Arab
spring to turn this suddenly on an Israeli flagpole in Cairo.

The popular wrath is a result of two factors. First, seven and a half
months after the downfall of Hosni Mubarak’s regime, the Egyptian
street is still the cutting edge of change in the country. Its ruling
military council, with elements of the former regime, are playing a
double game. Assuring continuity of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty
to some, and using the gradual breakdown of that treaty to reassert
lost Egyptian pride and sovereignty in the Sinai to others. It may not
have been accidental that during the weekend’s drama in Cairo no one
in the White House could get the head of Egypt’s ruling military
council, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, on the end of a
telephone in an effort to rescue the trapped security guards. Second,
Israel’s old alliances were with regimes, usually despotic ones, not
their people. Now that popular opinion is once again making itself
felt in the region, Egypt will never again stand quiet – as it did
when Israel launched its military campaign against Gaza in 2008 – if
another war breaks out.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu now faces a real choice. He must
realise that humiliating Turkey by refusing to apologise for the
deaths on the Mavi Marmara was a colossal error. The strategic
consequences for Israel of a hostile Turkish-Egyptian alliance could
last years. They far outweigh the advantages of a tactical victory in
the UN Palmer report, which lasted exactly days. Israel needs to
repair relations with Turkey and do it quickly. The price of such a
rapprochement will have gone up in the last week, but it is still
worth paying. The Israeli premier’s reaction on Saturday to events in
Cairo was, by his standards, measured and moderate, so maybe even he
now realises this.

The choice he faces is clear. He can either prepare for another war
(Avigdor Lieberman’s response to Turkey was to suggest that Israel arm
the PKK) or he can accept that Israel can no longer impose its will on
hostile and weaker neighbours. For one thing, the neighbours are
growing stronger. The Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz put it more bluntly.
In an editorial about the harassment of Israeli passengers on a
Turkish Airlines flight in retaliation for similar treatment Israeli
authorities meted out to Turkish passengers, it suggested that Israel
needs humiliation in order to respect others. No one needs further
humiliation, but respect of its neighbours is in short supply.

Minsk Group Co-Chairs met in Vienna to coordinate their program of activities

armradio.am
09.09.2011 12:17

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassadors Bernard Fassier of
France, Robert Bradtke of the United States, and Igor Popov of the
Russian Federation, released the following statement:

“The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Bernard Fassier of
France, Robert Bradtke of the United States, and Igor Popov of the
Russian Federation) and Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk (Personal
Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office) met on September 7
in Vienna to discuss and coordinate their program of activities,
leading up to the Vilnius Ministerial Council of the OSCE in December.

The Co-Chairs also briefed the OSCE Minsk Group on the continued
high-level engagement with the sides by all three Co-Chair
governments, as well as on concrete efforts to strengthen the
ceasefire and to reach endorsement of the Basic Principles as a
framework for a comprehensive peace agreement. On September 8, the
Co-Chairs met with OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier to further
discuss these and other aspects of the peace process.”

news.am, Armenia
Sept 10 2011

Yerevan kindergarten children play solely with good-quality toys –
Armenian experts

September 10, 2011 | 02:19

YEREVAN. – Armenian Consumers’ Association Chairman Armen Poghosyan’s
information that, during their monitoring at the kindergartens of
Yerevan’s Central and Davitashen administrative regions they had come
across out-of-date toys, is not true, Davitashen’s prefect Arthur
Gevorgyan and Central region prefect’s staff member Gayane Ohanyan
told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Arthur Gevorgyan informed that no monitoring was conducted at the
kindergartens of their administrative regions. He also assured that,
at the beginning of the year, they announce a tender for the supply of
new toys during which it is specified that the winning company must
supply good-quality toys to the kindergartens.

In her turn, Gayane Ohanyan noted that directors of all 20
kindergartens of the Central administrative region had assured that no
one, including Armen Poghosyan and is staff, had recently conducted
monitoring of toys.

Poghosyan likewise told Armenian News-NEWS.am that no monitoring was
held at kindergartens of the two aforesaid administrative regions, and
thus contradicted his statements made during a press conference on
Thursday.