Author: Kanayan Tamar

JOURNAL OF THE WORLD
We must do away with the Aliyev regime in Azerbaijan

The Monde.fr

09/02/2014 at 10:20

Arlette Grosskost (MP UMP), François Pupponi (MP PS) and François
Rochebloine (MP UDI)

Beheading by the Islamic State of American journalist James Foley
rightly triggered international criticism. Most major media and major
social networks immediately said they censureraient images of the
execution on behalf of the dignity of the murdered journalist and in
order not to “publicity” to the criminal organization that is the
Islamic state. A few days earlier, a similar performance when all
went. She was also duly filmed by the thugs of the regime on whose
behalf it has been perpetrated. It is visible on social networks. The
victim was also a civilian and his executioners did not even have the
excuse that it can be considered an enemy propagandist. It is true
that – before putting to death – they took care to dress up their
prisoner – captured in jeans and sneakers – military fatigues to
present him as an agent of the enemy special forces.

Another victim of this barbarity was named Karen Petrosyan, It was an
Armenian peasant and he was murdered live without formality by
soldiers of the Azerbaijani army. The circumstances of her abduction
are unclear and it is quite possible that he was abducted by Armenian
territory. This episode was the culmination of many skirmishes between
the Azerbaijani armed forces of Armenia and karabaghiotes on the front
line between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan. These
deliberately caused by the Baku regime maneuvers were clear objective
to pressurize the other party on the eve of yet another round of talks
between Presidents Aliyev and Sargsyan in Sochi about the
self-determined Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. They were about thirty
casualties on both sides of the front line.

Reacting to the murder of James Foley, President Barack Obama said
that the Islamic state was a “cancer” that “has no place in the
twenty-first century.”There would he seems to anyone to ask the Iraqis
or Syrians – whether Muslims, Christians or Yazidis – to accept the
yoke of bloody Islamic state.Conversely, some impassive diplomats seem
to consider that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Armenian-populated,
should go back under the yoke of Azerbaijan, a yoke which it was
released 20 years ago under a war decolonization. This can in no way
be the subject of ongoing negotiations. It is clear to all: you can
not ask the citizens of a democratic state as Karabakh to return to
the bosom of a dictatorship like Azerbaijan, especially when the
president declares it the Armenians – where that they reside in the
world – are the enemies of his country.

The Aliyev regime is indeed one of the most repressive in the
world.Consistently ranked ostracized by the international community
through organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights
Watch and Reporters Without Borders, the Azerbaijani regime is a
threat to its own citizens, even ethnically Azeri, as further
evidenced by the recent arbitrary arrests Leyla Yunus and Arif or
Rasuf Jafarov. Under these conditions, one can easily imagine the fate
that await the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh fate they have already
experienced in the 1990s when the pogroms organized by the Azerbaijani
regime led them to establish their own independent state.

What is also clear – and we deplore it – is that the current
negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan are probably doomed to
failure. Firstly because these negotiations are conducted in the
absence of those affected first and foremost citizens of
Nagorno-Karabakh and their democratically elected representatives. On
the other hand, due to the inflexible attitude of Ilham Aliyev regime
intends to return to colonial borders established by Stalin’s power,
despite the war started and lost his country and his unacceptable
attitude which still shows the murder of Karen Petrosyan; A murder,
which is a war crime and that alone would justify the continuation of
Ilham Aliyev before an international court.

Arlette Grosskost (UMP MP)

François Pupponi (MP PS)

François Rochebloine (MP UDI)

Creating a Circle of Friendship France-Karabakh

The three signatories to this forum members are members of the Circle
of Friendship France-Karabakh, created March 19, 2013 in Paris. It now
includes thirty politicians (MPs, senators, mayors and other elected
officials) representing major French political parties. Support the
work of the Minsk Group of the OSCE, to secure the people of the
region to break the international isolation of the people of
Nagorno-Karabakh and to promote a space for dialogue Circle aims and
exchanges among the peoples of the South Caucasus.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014,
Stéphane © armenews.com

AZERBAIDJAN
L’Azerbaïdjan annonce un nouveau prisonnier arménien

Les autorités azerbaïdjanaises ont confirmé les rapports des médias
locaux au sujet d’un citoyen arménien qui a franchi la frontière près
du village azéri de Kamerli le 26 Août et a été fait prisonnier.

L’homme identifié comme étant Sargis Ananyan 53 ans est considérée
comme un résident de la ville de Noyemberyan dans la province du
Tavush en Arménie. Il aurait disparu il y a environ une semaine.

Il n’y a pas encore de confirmation officielle par les autorités
arméniennes qu’un citoyen ait traversé la frontière en direction de
l’Azerbaïdjan.

mercredi 3 septembre 2014,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Chris Zakian
Tel: (212) 686-0710 or (973) 943-8697
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

** TOP STORY September 4, 2014
————————————————————
The First Council of Nicea
Detail of a wall painting depicting the First Council of Nicaea, found
at the Church of Stavropoleos in Bucharest, Romania.

** Getting to “We Believe”
————————————————————
It was the great religious `confab’ of the 4th century: a gathering of
Christian bishops from throughout the world, convened by no less an
authority than the Roman Emperor Constantine I. In A.D. 325, a town in
the Black-Sea province of Bithynia played host to 318 scholars of the
church who met to deliberate on the burning theological questions of
the day.

We remember it today as the Council of Nicaea: the first attempt to
forge a truly `ecumenical’ Christianity-that is, a Christianity that
encompassed all the world’s human habitations=80’by coming to a
consensus on church doctrine.

The most significant result of the council was the Nicene Creed: the
first uniform expression of Christian doctrine. The Creed would be
elaborated upon in subsequent councils, but its essential form,
conceived during that historic gathering in Nicaea, remains the
fundamental statement of orthodox faith, embraced by churches
throughout the world-and repeated during every Armenian badarak as the
Havadamk (`We believe’).

The Armenian Church participated in the council, with St. Aristakes,
the younger son of St. Gregory the Illuminator, representing his
then-ailing father. This Saturday, our church will remember the 318
Fathers of the Holy Council of Nicaea, and the project they began
1,689 years ago.

St. Mary
Detail of an 18th-century painting of the Holy Mother-of-God by an
unknown artist (collection of the National Gallery of Armenia).

** Feast of the Nativity of the Holy Mother-of-God
————————————————————
On Monday, September 8, the worldwide Armenian Church will celebrate
the Feast of the Nativity of the Holy Mother-of-God.

St. Mary was born to Joachim and Anna, a devout couple whose earnest
prayers for a child were answered with the birth of a daughter. Mary’s
birth is not recorded in the Gospel, but in all likelihood it occurred
in Bethlehem or Nazareth, some 20 years before Christ’s nativity.

Her life of holiness and purity, and her graceful acceptance of the
role to which God called her, as the mother of Jesus Christ, all make
Mary one of the pre-eminent exemplars of the Christian faith, whose
birth and very conception are occasions for celebration in the church.

The Armenian Church has celebrated the Feast of the Nativity of the
Holy Mother-of-God since the 13th century. St. Mary is known in the
Armenian Church as Asdvadzamayr-Asdvadzadzin, the “Mother of God” and
the “Bearer of God’-a position doctrinally established at the
Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in the 5th century. Click here
()
to view a short video about St. Mary in the Armenian Church.

At St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral in New York City, the Divine Liturgy
will be celebrated at 11 a.m. on Monday, September 8.

** Scripture of the Week
————————————————————

Is 13:1-11
2 Cor 7:4-16
Mk 7:31-37

** Prayer of the Week
————————————————————

Let us hold the holy Mother-of-God and all the saints as intercessors
with the Father in Heaven, that He may be pleased to have mercy and
compassion on us, His creatures, and save us. Almighty Lord, our God,
save us and have mercy on us. Amen.

** Upcoming Saints & Feasts
————————————————————

4 September: St. John the Forerunner and Job the Righteous

6 September: 318 Fathers of the Holy Council of Nicaea (AD 325)

7 September: Barekendan of the Fast of Exaltation

8 September: Feast of the Nativity of the Holy Mother-of-God

** CHURCH NEWS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE
————————————————————
Catholicos Vasken I
His Holiness Vasken I.

** Remembering His Holiness Vasken I (1908-1994)
————————————————————
His Holiness Vasken I presided over a period of historic importance in
the Armenian Church. Indeed, he
made history through the heroic way he faced the great challenges and
opportunities of his time. But he was also able to make deep, personal
connections in the individual hearts of his people. After serving 38
years on the pontifical throne, he was regarded simply as the
Catholicos of All Armenians: as the embodiment of the Armenian
Church. Most people had never known another catholicos, and could
hardly imagine anyone else as their vehapar.

His service to those people had begun long before he took the vows of
a clergyman. He was already a mature and highly-regarded intellectual
in Romania when he decided to devote his life to the church. But God
had chosen the man born Levon Baljian for a special role, and he
embraced his destiny as Catholicos Vasken I.

At his ascension to the Throne of St. Gregory in 1955, he assumed the
full burden of our entire church. He went on to become the vital
bridge between homeland and diaspora. He was a shrewd, daring force
behind the Karabagh movement. He brought balance to our nation at a
dark time, and his voice inspired calm in moments of crisis.

Catholicos Vasken I passed away on August 18, 1994, at the age of
86-20 years ago this summer. At the news of his death, the line of
mourners flowing through the grounds of Holy Etchmiadzin did not abate
for three whole days, and included people from around the world, and
from all walks and stations of life.

Inscribed upon his tombstone in the courtyard of the Holy See are the
words Ser Voch Yerpek Angani: `Love Never Falters.’ It is the epitaph
chosen by the blessed Catholicos Vasken himself-the words he wished to
inscribe in stone, to express the totality of his life and work. They
are the words he wanted future generations to remember, whenever they
thought of him.

We invoke those words on the 20th year of his passing. In life,
Catholicos Vasken I opened the door to many new realities for our
people. His enduring memory should likewise inspire us to open our
hearts, and follow in his footsteps along the path of love. For Love
never falters.

** DIOCESAN NEWS
————————————————————
Holy Cross Church, Akhtamar, Van
Holy Cross Church on the island of Aghtamar, where pilgrims will take
part in the Divine Liturgy this week.

** Pilgrims Arrive in Historic Armenia
————————————————————
Diocesan Primate Archbishop Khajag Barsamian is leading a group of
some 20 people on a two-week pilgrimage to historic Armenia, from
September 3 to 15.

The pilgrimage begins in Van, where participants will have the
opportunity to take part in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy at
Holy Cross Church on the island of Aghtamar. Other highlights include
prayer services at the recently consecrated St. Giragos Armenian
Church of Dikranagert and the St. Gregory Church in Kayseri.

The group also will tour other parts of historic Armenia-Arapkir,
Mush, Antep, Sivas, Kharpert, and Malatya, among other cities and
villages. The journey will include a stop in Istanbul, where pilgrims
will visit the Armenian Patriarchate.

Assisting the Primate is the Very Rev. Fr. Vazken Karayan, pastor of
Holy Cross Church of Union City, NJ.

Armenian Teachers Symposium

** Armenian Teachers’ Symposium to be Held Saturday
————————————————————
The Diocese’s Armenian Studies program will sponsor the Armenian
Teachers’ Symposium on Saturday, September 6, at the Diocesan complex
in New York.

This year’s program, themed `Engaging Approaches to Learning,’ will
focus on language core standards, and how to improve learning in the
classroom. The guest speakers include writer and educator Vehanoush
Tekian; Gilda Buchakjian Kupelian from the Diocese’s Armenian Studies
department, who will introduce resources and instructional concepts;
and Maestro Khoren Mekanejian, the Diocese’s director of Music
Ministry, who will present a brief music instruction session.

Teachers will have an opportunity to learn about new educational and
cultural resources and `best practices’ of other schools, and will
also participate in a thought-provoking workshop. Educators who have
served their local Armenian Schools for over 25 years will be honored
during the symposium.

For information, contact Gilda Buchakjian at
[email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .

The Fragrance of God

** Join the Enlighteners Book Club
————————————————————
Reading a book tends to be a solitary endeavor; but what happens when
we read a book as a group? The Diocese’s Department of Christian
Education is excited to offer an opportunity for people to learn and
grow together through `The Enlighteners Book Club’-an online group
that will read a designated book together and meet online to discuss
it through guided questions.

The club’s inaugural title is Vigen Guroian’s The Fragrance of God,
which chronicles the passage of seasons in a garden as symbolic of
one’s spiritual journey. The author’s personal experience, as well as
his theological insight, provides a deep spiritual dimension to his
reflections as a gardener. Dr. Guroian will join one of the online
discussions on the book.

Eric Vozzy of the Christian Education department will facilitate the
online group. To register, click here
()
to open a Goodreads account and join the `The Enlighteners Book Club.’
Once you join the group, you will have access to a schedule of
readings and meeting times, and a link to purchase The Fragrance of
God.

For more information, contact Eric Vozzy at (212) 686-0710, ext. 165,
or via e-mail at [email protected]
(mailto:[email protected]) .

Diocesan Director Search

** Search for Diocesan Director of Administration
————————————————————
The Eastern Diocese is searching for candidates for the position of
Director of Administration.

Based in New York City, the Director of Administration will be
responsible for the management and operations of the Diocesan Center;
management of the administrative, operations, and business staff; and
coordination of Diocesan programs, in accordance with the directives
and policies established by the Primate and Diocesan Council.

Click here
()
to view a complete job description and list of
qualifications. Qualified applicants should send resume and cover
letter to the Primate’s office at the e-mail address
[email protected]
(mailto:[email protected]?subject=Diocesan%20Director%20Applicant)
.

** PARISH NEWS
————————————————————
Upcoming events

** Upcoming Parish Events
————————————————————

Holy Martyrs Church | Bayside, NY
Holy Martyrs Church of Bayside, NY, will host its annual Oceania
Street Festival on Saturday, September 6 (from 12 to 8 p.m.), and
Sunday, September 7 (from 12 to 6 p.m.).

The festival features Armenian food, street vendors, dance
performances, games for kids, a raffle, and other activities. The
Vosbikian Band will entertain guests on Saturday, and the Onnik
Dinkjian band will perform on Sunday. Click here
()
to view a flyer for information.

St. Mary Church | Livingston, NJ
The Sunday and Armenian schools of St. Mary Church of Livingston, NJ,
will begin the new academic year this month. A welcome back program is
planned for Sunday, September 7. Parents can register new students at
that time. Click here
()
to view a flyer for information.

Holy Resurrection Church | New Britain, CT
Holy Resurrection Church of New Britain, CT, will host a screening of
the film `Orphans of the Genocide’ on Thursday, September 11,
beginning at 7 p.m. The screening will be followed by a discussion
with filmmaker Bared Maronian. The event is co-sponsored by Holy
Resurrection Church, St. George Church, and St. Stephen Church. Click
here
()
to view a flyer for information.

Sts. Sahag and Mesrob Church | Providence, RI
Sts. Sahag and Mesrob Church of Providence, RI, will host its annual
picnic on September 13 and 14.

Enjoy live Armenian music and dancing under large tents on church
grounds. Dinner on Saturday night will feature kheyma; on Sunday
guests will be served chicken. Armenian shish and losh kebab will also
be available.

Click here
()
to view a flyer. For more information, visit ,
or call the church at (401) 272-7712.

Holy Cross Church | New York, NY
Holy Cross Church in New York City’s Washington Heights neighborhood
will host its name-day dinner on the Feast of the Exaltation of the
Holy Cross, Sunday, September 14.

Following the Divine Liturgy, a complimentary madagh dinner will be
served. The day’s program will include the awarding of the parish’s
Mabel Fenner Scholarships. Click here
()
to visit the parish website for information.

Church of the Holy Ascension | Trumbull, CT
The Church of the Holy Ascension of Trumbull, CT, will host its annual
Armenian Picnic on Sunday, September 14, from 12 to 4 p.m. on church
grounds. Enjoy Armenian music, shish and looleh kebab, baklava, and
other Armenian favorites. Activities for kids will include a balloon
artist and games. Click here
()
to view a flyer for information.

Holy Trinity Church | Cambridge, MA
Holy Trinity Church of Cambridge, MA, will host the Trinity Family
Festival on Sunday, September 14, from 12 to 5 p.m. on church grounds.

Join the parish for an afternoon of food and fellowship. The day will
feature traditional Armenian food, music by the Greg Krikorian
Ensemble, face-painting and other activities for children, and a
`tavloo challenge.’ The blessing of madagh will take place at 4 p.m.

Click here
()
to view a flyer for information, or contact the church office at (617)
354-0632, or via e-mail at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
.

St. Vartan Cathedral | New York, NY
Registration and the first day of St. Vartan Armenian School will take
place Saturday, September 20, at 10 a.m. Classes are geared towards
children ages 2 to 14, with bi-lingual sessions available. For
information, contact the school principal Shakeh Kadehjian at (718)
729-7265, or e-mail [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .

St. Thomas Church | Tenafly, NJ
The Kirikian Armenian Saturday School of St. Thomas Church of Tenafly,
NJ, will resume classes on Saturday, September 20. The school offers
Armenian language and culture instruction. Registration for new
students will be held on the first day of class. Click here
()
to view a flyer for information.

Church of Our Saviour | Worcester, MA
The Church of Our Saviour of Worcester, MA, will sponsor its 21st
annual Charity Golf Outing on Monday September 22, at the Sterling
Country Club in Sterling, MA. Registration opens at 8:30 a.m. An
awards banquet will follow the day’s tournament. Sponsorship
opportunities are available. Click here
()
to learn more and to download registration materials.

** YOUTH NEWS
————————————————————
ACYOA Fall Retreats

** ACYOA Announces Fall Programs
————————————————————

The ACYOA Central Council is putting the finishing touches on its
lineup of fall programming.

The season will open with the ACYOA Seniors New England Retreat on
October 25. Local chapter representatives will gather at the Holy
Resurrection Church in New Britain, CT, for workshops and discussions
centered on the day’s theme, `God is the Greatest Architect.’ Click on
the following links to view a flyer
()
and to register online
()
.

In November, the ACYOA Central Council will sponsor its annual
Leadership Conference at the Don Bosco Retreat Center in Stony Point,
NY. The weekend-long event, from November 14 to 16, will give young
people the opportunity to strengthen their leadership skills while
exploring the topic `Know Thyself: Responding to Life’s Challenges.’
Click on the following links to view a flyer
()
and to register online
()
.

For more information, visit , or contact Jennifer Morris,
director of Youth and Young Adults Ministries, at
[email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) ,
or Lorie Odabashian, the department’s coordinator, at
[email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .

** EVENTS
————————————————————
Bible Study

** Explore the Bible: A New Series at St. Vartan Cathedral
————————————————————

Beginning this fall, St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral will host a monthly
series of interactive discussions on the Armenian Church’s approach to
the Gospel of Matthew. Readings from Matthew will be followed by a
dialogue about how Armenians have traditionally read and studied these
passages. The discussion will be supplemented by images, hymns, and
the writings of Armenian Church fathers.

Sessions will be held on Tuesday evenings, from 7 to 8:30, on the
following dates: September 16, October 21, November 18, and December
16. They will be led by Eric Vozzy, who recently joined the Eastern
Diocese’s Christian Education department.

Click here
()
to view a flyer for more information, or contact Eric Vozzy at (212)
686-0710 ext. 165, or via e-mail at [email protected]
(mailto:[email protected]) . Learn more by following
#ExploreTheBible on social media.

Bike for Independence Day

** Ride for Armenian Independence
————————————————————

St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral and the Permanent Mission of the
Republic of Armenia to the United Nations will host a bike ride in New
York in observance of Armenia’s Independence Day later this month.

The event is scheduled for Saturday, September 20, beginning at 9:30
a.m. Riders will proceed from 34th Street to West 12th Street and
return to the cathedral for lunch.

Vasken Melikian, Lebanon cycling champion and Guinness World Record
holder for towing a car by bicycle the farthest distance, will be the
day’s featured participant.

The event is free, but prospective participants are asked to RSVP by
Wednesday, September 17, by contacting Maria Barsoumian at the
Diocesan Center at (212) 686-0710, ext. 136, or at
[email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .

Click here
()
to view a flyer for more information.

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Sept 2 2014

Armenia, Georgia keep polluting Kur and Araz rivers

2 September 2014, 15:02 (GMT+05:00)

The National Monitoring Department on Environment of the Environment
and Natural Resources Ministry of Azerbaijan has conducted monitoring
on the rivers Kur and Araz in the third decade of August.

The monitoring was aimed to study the level of pollution of the rivers
and their branches, AzerTag state news agency reported.

The monitoring results revealed that the water flow due to the impact
of untreated waste water and sewage industry dropped on the territory
of Georgia and Armenia to the water, the amount of biogenic substances
in the Kur River and its tributaries is much higher than normal, the
ministry said.

The level of phenol and copper in the water has exceeded the norm in
Agstafachay River either.
A similar situation was observed in the Agstafachay reservoir, as well
as Araz River – Horadiz, Shahsevan, Bahramtapa points.

The oxygen regime of water at all points ranges within health standards.

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Sept 2 2014

Dissatisfied Armenian citizen illegally crosses Azerbaijan’s state border

By Aynur Jafarova

Armenian citizen Sarkis Ananyan (born 1961), unhappy with the hard
social situation in his country, crossed illegally the state border
between Armenia and Azerbaijan on August 26.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry reported on September 1 that Ananyan
crossed the border near the Kemerli village in Gazakh region. He was
detained by the soldiers of a military unit of Azerbaijani armed
forces, stationed on the front line.

Due to his health problems, Ananyan has been out of school since he
was ten years old. Meanwhile he was unable to serve in the military as
well. Because of the difficult situation, he was forced to engage in
wage labor.

The detainee said the social situation in Armenia has come to such a
point that the majority of his fellow villagers intend to go to
Azerbaijan to seek asylum here.

The detained Armenian citizen is currently under medical supervision.
He is being treated in accordance with international laws.

In late August, Baku transferred Armenian serviceman Akop Injigulyan
to a third country.

The 23-year old Armenian soldier crossed the Azerbaijani territory in
Agdam region, controlled by the Azerbaijani army, on the night of
August 7 to 8.

Before Injigulyan was handed over to the third country, the
representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
met with him.

ICRC is also holding negotiations with Armenian and Azerbaijani sides
on returning the bodies of the members of the Armenian sabotage group
who attempted to cross Armenian-Azerbaijani contact line in early
August, and an Azerbaijani citizen killed by Armenian forces in
mid-July.

Also, Azerbaijan has appealed to IRCR to return two Azerbaijanis taken
hostage by Armenian armed forces in occupied Kalbajar region.

Three Azerbaijani civilians (Russian citizen Dilgam Asgarov,
Azerbaijani citizens Shahbaz Guliyev and Hasan Hasanov) were detained
by Armenian forces in early July while they were visiting the graves
of their late relatives. ICRC Baku office earlier reported that Hasan
Hasanov was buried in Nagorno-Karabakh after being killed by Armenian
forces.

Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally
recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent
regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus
neighbor that had caused a lengthy war in the early 1990s.

Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE
Minsk Group, are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by
the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. The
negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.

Times of Malta, Malta
Sept 2 2014

Venice festival tackles hard-hitting subjects

Films look at slaughter of Armenians and Indonesians

The Venice Film Festival has earned a reputation over the decades for
tackling controversial political and social issues head on, and this
year has been no exception.

German-born Turkish director Fatih Akin’s The Cut, shown on Sunday, is
a harrowing fictionalised look at the destruction of the Armenian
community in Ottoman Turkey during World War I which historians and
Armenians say was genocide.

Turkey denies this and says the widely cited death toll of 1.5 million
people is inflated.

Akin acknowledged at a news conference that he had received hate mail
about the film and even a death threat on Twitter, but said “please
don’t make too much out of that”.

“The film that Fatih made is the film that the Armenians have been
waiting for. Everybody always says, ‘When are we making a film, a film
about the Armenian genocide?’,” Simon Abkarian, one of the actors in
the film, said at a press conference.

“It took time. The first generation had to survive, the second
generation had to live and the third generation had to react and claim
what we had to claim, which is the recognition of the genocide, most
of it. And I think that one film is never enough to tell such a story,
we have to make more.”

Other festival films include a documentary, The Look of Silence, about
massacres in Indonesia in the mid-1960s where death squads killed as
many as 1.5 million people in purges following a failed communist
coup.

Loin des Hommes (Far from Men) is set at the beginning of the Algerian
war against French colonial rule in the 1950s and stars Viggo
Mortensen as a former major in the French army who is teaching in a
school in a remote part of the Atlas Mountains.

He is forced into a life-or-death desert trek with an Arab villager,
played by Reda Kateb, that makes them overcome cultural distrust and
learn to rely on one another.

Mortensen said he thought it was the most powerful, and even
subversive, film about the Algerian conflict since Gillo Pontecorvo’s
famous The Battle of Algiers of 1966.

“There’s nothing nowadays more subversive than loving and showing
compassion and meeting in the middle,” Mortensen said. “It seems so
difficult for people to do, more and more, so I think it’s very
subversive in that sense.”

The Cut is the last in what the director calls his Love, Death and the
Devil trilogy and focuses on the plight of Armenians who are uprooted
from their villages and sent on death marches into the desert,
conscripted into forced labour gangs or killed outright.

The main figure is Nazaret Manoogian, played by Tahar Rahim, an
Armenian blacksmith who is separated from his wife and young twin
daughters in the middle of the night by Turkish soldiers, who take him
to a work camp, after which his town is cleared of Armenians.

He survives the forced labour in the desert and avoids having his
throat slit when his would-be executioner takes pity and only pretends
to kill him.

After Turkey’s defeat in the war, he begins a quest that takes him to
Cuba and the US in search of his missing daughters who have fled
there, after their mother and the rest of their family were killed.

Nazaret ends up in North Dakota working on a railroad construction
crew and is brutally beaten with a shovel when he intervenes to stop
one of the workers raping a native American woman. Her plight recalls
the rape of an Armenian woman by Turks that Nazaret saw in Turkey but
could do nothing to stop.

“I had to create an empathy, an empathy for the hero, an empathy for
the story,” Akin said.

“One trick I used was I took the genocide on the native Americans and
used it just as a snap of an idea, you know, so that even people who
deny the fact of the genocide to the Armenians can identify themselves
with the hero in that moment, to reflect about it later.”

Le Monde compares Aliyev regime with ISIL

20:03, 2 September, 2014

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 2, ARMENPRESS: Le Monde periodical compared the
regime of Ilham Aliyev with ISIL(Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant). Armenpress reports about it, citing the article, published in
the French newspaper Le Monde titled “Ilham Aliyev’s regime should be
stopped in Azerbaijan”.

The authors of the article compared the case of the Armenian Karen
Petrosyan killed by Azerbaijanis, the beheading of the American
journalist James Foley by the ILIS and another murder committed
several days before that, the victim of which was dressed in a
soldier’s uniform (when taken captive, he was wearing jeans and
sneakers) to represent him as a rival’s special service agent.

“The regime of Ilham Aliyev is one of the most repressive regimes of
our planet. It is periodically mentioned by international
organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and
Reporters sans Frontières. It is of a great threat to its own
citizens, even for ethnic Azeris, the evidence of which is the illegal
arrests of Leila and Arif Yunus and Rasuf Jafarov. In these conditions
it is not difficult to imagine what destiny would have the Armenians
of the Nagorno Karabakh, who have already tasted the germs of that
destiny back in 1990, when the pogroms, organized by the Azerbaijani
regime, gave birth to the establishment of an independent state of
Armenians”, – says the

periodical. (THE FULL VERSION OF THE ARTICLE IS AVAILABLE IN ARMENIAN)

Eurasian Union to open new prospects for Armenian market – MP

12:53 * 02.09.14

A lawmaker of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia on Tuesday
elaborated on the economic advantages of Armenia’s Eurasian
integration.

Gagik Minasyan, who heads the National Assembly’s Standing Committee
on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs, said he expects the
exemption of customs duties to be Armenia’s major gain after joining
the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). He noted further that new sanitary
norms and the market opening to the country (promising delays in VAT
payments) are likely to raise the economic advantages in future.

The parliamentarian said he believes that the Western sanctions
against Russia have changed the Armenian society’s understanding of
the Russian market over the past period. “New opportunities emerge for
us in terms of exporting and realizing goods. As to what extent we
will manage to us those opportunities, it depends on the flexibility
of our entrepreneurs,” he added.

Commenting on Kazakh President Norsultan Nazarbaev’s statement that
his country may decide against continuing the EEU membership process,
Minasyan said he thinks that the move is extremely important in terms
of realizing that the union is really an economic one. “Those states
pursue approaches conflicting with one another,” he said, addressing
the economic interests of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, the founding
member states of the economic bloc.

Minasyan noted that despite several Western powers’ earlier calls on
Armenia to decide between the Eurasian or European integration
processes, the Foreign Ministry stated later that it would continue
the partnership with the European Union.

Armenian News – Tert.am

La Jornada (Bolivia)
1 sep 2014

El genocidio armenio y la guerra argelina: la sangre brota en la Mostra

Venecia (Italia), (EFE)
lunes 1, septiembre 2014

Una ambiciosa producción para una enorme historia. Si hasta ahora
Fatih Akin había conquistado a crítica y jurado de los grandes
festivales con sus pequeños retratos de la inmigración turca, en “The
Cut” el director tira la casa por la ventana para denunciar el
olvidado genocidio armenio (1915-1923).

La épica de “The Cut” contrasta con la delicadeza de “Loin des
hommes”, la otra cinta en competición del día en la Mostra. Y eso que
también habla de guerras, en este caso la argelina (1954-1962), bajo
la dirección de David Oelhoffen, el protagonismo de Viggo Mortensen y
la inspiración de Albert Camus.

Ganador del Oso de Oro en Berlín en 2004 por “Head on”, Akin ha
contado esta vez con un coguionista de lujo, el veterano Mardik Martin
(“Raging Bull”, “Mean Streets”) que ayer en Venecia recordaba aquella
fatídica frase de Adolf Hitler: “¿Quién, después de todo, se acuerda
hoy del genocidio armenio?”.

El cine no ha sido ajeno a ese olvido pese a contadas excepciones como
“Ararat”, de Atom Egoyan.

“The Cut”, rodada en inglés, centra el foco en un personaje, un padre
superviviente de las matanzas cometidas por los soldados turcos
durante la Primera Guerra Mundial, que se embarca en una auténtica
odisea transatlántica -Turquía, Siria, Líbano, Cuba, EEUU- para volver
a reunirse con sus hijas.

Tahar Ramin, conocido por su papel en “Un prophète”, pasa con nota el
reto de poner rostro y emoción a un hombre que a consecuencia de las
hostilidades se ha quedado sin voz.

Pese a la polémica que ha suscitado la película en los sectores
ultranacionalistas turcos, Akin ha asegurado que su objetivo es
llegar, sobre todo, al público en Turquía. “Quería que incluso la
gente que sigue negando el genocidio pudiera identificarse con el
héroe”.

Quizá eso explique cierta simplificación y pérdida de sutileza con
respecto a su trabajo previo. Aun así, la historia emociona y contiene
también una crítica al dogmatismo religioso.

“Al principio el protagonista es un creyente estricto, pero debido a
la tragedia que le sacude, va perdiendo su fe, para finalmente
redescubrir la esperanza”, ha explicado el director. “La idea es que
hay que liberarse dogmas para llegar a la esencia de la
espiritualidad”.

Premiado en 2004 en Cannes por el guión de “Al otro lado” y en 2009 en
Venecia por la comedia “Soul Kitchen”, Akin se ha tomado siete años
para concluir esta cinta que cierra su trilogía de “amor, muerte y
maldad”.

Un tiempo que le ha servido para investigar, para escribir y
reescribir, y para viajar personalmente a todos los países por los que
pasa el personaje.

En el caso de “Loin des hommes”, la historia se centra en Argelia
durante la rebelión independentista. Un maestro de escuela (Mortensen)
se ve obligado a trasladar a un prisionero (Reda Kateb) de un pueblo a
otro en pleno invierno en las montañas del Atlas.

“Hemos querido respetar la idea básica del relato de Camus (“El
invitado”), sobre lo difícil que es mantener un posicionamiento
político e ideológico en un contexto de guerra”, ha explicado
Oelhoffen.

“No hay ningún deseo de crear polémica”, ha añadido. “No se trata de
juzgar el colonialismo ni la guerra de Argelia”.

Viggo Mortensen, también coproductor, ha citado una frase de los
diarios de Camus que le sirvió de inspiración para su personaje: “No
estoy hecho para la política porque soy incapaz de desear o aceptar la
muerte de mi adversario”.

El actor se preparó a conciencia previamente al rodaje. No sólo
leyendo “casi todo” de Camus, sino viajando por los pueblos de
Argelia. “Me gusta observar a la gente, sin juzgar, cualquier cosa
puede ser útil para el personaje”, dijo.

Con una pequeña aparición de Angela Molina, “Loin des hommes” cuenta
con una banda sonora de textura electrónica y ambiental compuesta por
Nick Cave y Warren Ellis.

Assyrian International News Agency AINA
Sept 1 2014

World ‘Cannot Keep Silent About the Existence of the So-called ISIS,’
Patriarchs Declare

Posted 2014-09-01 22:37 GMT

Meeting at the Maronite Catholic patriarchate at Bkerke, north of
Beirut, Catholic and Orthodox patriarchs convened for a special summit
to address the crisis in Iraq and Syria. Later joined by the United
Nations’ special coordinator in Lebanon and the ambassadors of the
five permanent member-countries of the U.N. Security Council, the
patriarchs called for worldwide efforts to eradicate terrorist groups.

All denounced attacks on Christians and called for greater
international involvement.

“The very existence of Christians is at stake in several Arab
countries – notably in Iraq, Syria and Egypt – where they have been
exposed to heinous crimes, forcing them to flee,” the patriarchs said
in a statement.

They highlighted the indifference of both Islamic authorities and the
international community over attacks against Christians, who have been
in the region for 2,000 years.

“What is painful is the absence of a stance by Islamic authorities,
and the international community has not adopted a strict stance
either,” the patriarchs said.

“We call for issuing a fatwa that forbids attacks against others,” they said.

“The international community cannot keep silent about the existence of
the so-called ISIS,” the patriarchs said, referring to the Islamic
State. “They should put an end to all extremist terrorist groups and
criminalize aggression against Christians and their properties.”

The meeting was a follow-up to their first summit earlier this month,
in addition to a trip by several of them to Irbil, the capital of
Iraq’s Kurdish region.

The prelates stressed the need for cutting off the sources of
terrorism. They called upon the nations of the world to deprive
extremist groups of resources by compelling countries financing them
to stop their support.

Solutions, they say must include “dealing with the reasons that
produced the miseries in the Middle East.” Harmony must be restored
between the components of these countries, they said.

“The international community must act and eradicate” the Islamic
State, the patriarchs said. “This is required from the United Nations
and the U.N. Security Council.

“We must stop using extremists, terrorists and mercenaries and (stop)
supporting, financing and arming them,” they said.

The summit, presided by Cardinal Bechara Rai, Maronite patriarch, and
was attended by: Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II;
Armenian Catholic Patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni; Melkite
Catholic Patriarch Gregoire III Laham; Syriac Catholic Patriarch
Ignace Joseph III Younan; Catholicos Aram of Cilicia, patriarch of the
Armenian Apostolic Church; Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Sako; a
representative of the Greek Orthodox Church; and the head of the
Evangelical Council, Rev. Salim Sahyouni.