Author: Kanayan Tamar

MARTEN YORGANTZ DONNERA DES CONCERTS EN ARMENIE ET AU HAUT KARABAGH
Krikor Amirzayan

armenews.com
samedi 28 juillet 2012

Dans le cadre du Festival ” Im Hayastan ” (Mon Armenie), le chanteur
franco-armenien Marten Yorgantz se rendra en Armenie. Selon Samvel
Haroyan le responsable de la manifestation, c’est Marten Yorgantz
lui-meme qui s’est propose d’apporter sa participation a ce festival
pan-armenien. ” Apprenant le deroulement en Armenie de ce Festival ”
Im Hayastan ” Marten Yorgantz nous a contacte pour nous signifier son
desir d’y participer ” dit Samvel Haroyan. Du 30 juillet au 5 août,
dans le cadre de ” Im Hayastan “, Marten Yorgantz donnera plusieurs
concerts en Armenie et au Haut Karabagh. Le 31 juillet Marten Yorgantz
chantera au theâtre Hovhannes Toumanian d’Erevan. A noter que durant
ce FestivaL ” Im Hayastan ” une trentaine d’artistes -dont certains
très connus- se produiront en concert. L’an dernier Marten Yorgantz,
a l’invitation du Ministère de la Diaspora, avait donne trois
concerts en Armenie, dans le cadre de l’operation ” Ari Doune ”
(Viens a la Maison).

DEPUTY PM ALI HASANOV: “AZERBAIJAN PREPARES TO LIBERATE THE OCCUPIED AREAS”

APA
July 27 2012
Azerbaijan

“IF ARMENIA CONTINUES ITS NON-CONSTRUCTIVE POSITION, WE WILL
LIBERATE our lands in near future by the order of the Supreme
Commander-in-Chief”

Baku – APA. “Azerbaijan prepares to liberate the occupied areas. We
will not make any concessions to Armenia in liberation of the lands,”
Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the State Committee for Work with
Refugees and IDPs Ali Hasanov told journalists, APA reports.

“If Armenia wakes and settles down to right course today, may be any
agreement will be achieved in the negotiations. The state has respect
for president’s promise. If Armenia continues its non-constructive
position, we will liberate our lands in near future by the order of
the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. At present, the government started
preparations for the next processes. It is return program, calculation
of damage and another issue. We must ready for it.”

PRESIDENT GUL MEETS WITH MINORITY GROUPS
by Vercihan Ziflioglu

Hurriyet Daily News

July 28 2012
Turkey

President Gul hosts leaders of Turkey’s minority foundations in
Istanbul. The visit bears significance since the leaders have been
invited together for the first time

An Alevi federation criticizes a fast-breaking dinner that brings
together President Gul and another Alevi group for misrepresenting
the nation’s Alevi community. AA photo

The leaders of Turkey’s eight minority foundations have been hosted
for the first time at the presidential summer compound in the history
of the Turkish Republic. The visit was significant, as it represented
the first time the leaders of minority communities together have
been hosted at the presidential summer compound in the history of
the Turkish Republic.

The strongest cases at the meeting would belong to three Syriac
foundations, according to information Hurriyet Daily News gathered from
Syriac Catholic Foundation head Zeki BaÅ~_demir and Midyat Syriac Mor
Gabriel Monastery Foundation head Kuryakos Ergun before the meeting.

The Catholic Syriac group planned to put forward its readiness to
relocate the Church’s Patriarchate in Beirut to Turkey, and demand the
return of their historical Patriarchate building in Mardin, which has
been turned into a museum. In previous months, Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu held a series of negotiations with Syriacs on the topic,
and proposed bringing the Beirut and Damascus Patriarchates to Turkey.

Reactions

Ergun said his foundation would express its reaction to a Court of
Appeals decision describing the monastery as an “invader” and demand
support from Gul.

In addition to Ergun and BaÅ~_demir, Armenian Surp Pırgic Foundation
Hospital head Bedros Å~^irinoglu, Armenian Catholic Foundation
leader Bernard Sarıbay, Syriac Orthodox Foundations representative
Sait Susin, Greek Foundation representative Andon Parisyanos,
Jewish community representative Sami Herman and Bulgarian community
representative Vasil Liyaze attended the meeting, which was organized
through the efforts of Vingas.

While the Syriacs planned to discuss their problems at the meeting,
the Armenian and Greek communities (except the Catholic Armenian
Foundation) said they would thank President Gul for his support of the
Foundations Law, which went into force last year. The Bulgarian and
Jewish communities avoided making any statement. There was a crisis
just before the meeting when it was revealed that a request from the
GedikpaÅ~_a Armenian Protestant Bible Church to attend the meeting and
discuss the problems of Protestants living in Turkey had been refused.

Chaldean Catholics, on the other hand, did not want to attend the
meeting, although they were invited. GedikpaÅ~_a Armenian Protestant
Bible Church representative Cem Ercin expressed the church’s reaction
to the refusal. “They call us ‘missionaries’; they won’t give us a
church building when we request it, they shut us in apartments and
then insult our churches because they are in apartment buildings;
this is a great contradiction,” Ercin said.

Speaking to the Daily News, Vingas said he had paid a visit to the
president early in the summer to facilitate this meeting. “We want
to express the results we have experienced from the Foundations
Law. Also we will express our expectations regarding the perception
of citizenship one more time before the preparation of the new
constitution,” Vingas said.

‘SANDCASTLE GIRLS’ JOURNIES THROUGH TIME

Amarillo.com

July 27 2012

By KIM CURTIS, The Associated Press

It takes a talented novelist to combine fully ripened characters, an
engrossing storyline, exquisite prose and set it against a horrific
historical backdrop – in this case, the Armenian genocide – and
completely enchant readers.

The prolific and captivating Chris Bohjalian has done it all – again –
with his 15th book, “The Sandcastle Girls.”

Readers will recognize the author from his best-selling “Midwives,”
which caught Oprah Winfrey’s attention in 1998.

This time, it’s 1915 and, again, his protagonist is a feisty woman,
Elizabeth Endicott, a 21-year-old graduate of Mount Holyoke who
shatters stereotypes by traveling to Syria to deliver food and aid
to refugees of the genocide.

And, again, Bohjalian shifts his novel back and forth in time to
simultaneously tell the story of Laura Petrosian, an Armenian-American
writer living in New York.

It never feels clunky or tough to follow. Instead, it’s seamless and
keeps the reader flowing evenly through the story.

It’s worth noting that even though Bohjalian is a man, his ability
to successfully inhabit the female mind and accurately depict his
characters’ inner lives is amazing.

“The Sandcastle Girls,” while perhaps not the “beachy” read its title
implies, is a fascinating journey through time and history.

It also educates readers about a little-known, but significant period
in history – “How do a million and a half people die with nobody
knowing,” his author-character writes.

“You kill them in the middle of nowhere.”

AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTRY: “THE INFORMATION IN THE DOCUMENT REFERRED BY ARMENIAN MEDIA REFLECTS POSITION NOT OF THE UN, BUT ARMENIA”

APA
July 26 2012
Azerbaijan

Elman Abdullayev: “The attempt of Armenian media to hoodwink the
international society will fail”

Baku. Victoria Dementieva – APA. “The information in the document
referred by Armenian media outlets has no relation to the position
of the UN. This document is reply of several countries, including
Armenia to request of the UN Secretary General. Consequently, this
information reflects position not of the UN, but Armenia”, Spokesman
for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Elman Abdullayev told APA.

“Armenian media outlets shouldn’t try to release disinformation and
hoodwink the international society. These attempts will fail. The UN
member states, especially UN Security Council have already expressed
position on Armenia, recognized this country as occupier and demanded
to withdraw its troops immediately and unconditionally from occupied
Azerbaijani lands”.

Armenian media outlets released information that in his report,
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon accused Azerbaijan of unleashing a
dangerous race of armaments in the South Caucasus.

Note that, the document named “Conventional arms control at the
regional and subregional levels”, which contained the replies of 8
countries to this issue, was released on July 9.

In its resolution 66/37 of 2 December 2011 on conventional arms control
at the regional and subregional levels, the General Assembly decided
to give urgent consideration to the issues involved in conventional
arms control at the regional and subregional levels, and requested the
Secretary-General to seek the views of Member States on the subject
and to submit a report to the Assembly at its 67th session. Pursuant
to that request, on 9 March 2012, the Secretariat sent a note verbale
to Member States requesting their views on the subject. As of the
writing of the present report, eight replies have been received
from the following States: Armenia, Burkina Faso, Colombia, Germany,
Panama, Spain, Turkey and Turkmenistan. The replies of this countries
were included in the report prepared by the UN Secretary General.

CONGRESSIONAL PRAISE CONTINUES FOR KARABAGH ELECTIONS

July 26, 2012

WASHINGTON-Members of Congress, among them Representatives Howard
Berman (D-Calif.), the Ranking Democrat on the House Foreign
Affairs Committee, Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), a senior member of this
influential panel, and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), a leading figure on the
subcommittee that writes the foreign aid bill, continue to congratulate
the citizens and leaders of the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic (Artsakh)
on the democratic conduct of their most recent presidential elections,
reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

The legislators joined Reps. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) and Frank Pallone
(D-N.J.), the co-chairmen of the Armenian Caucus, in welcoming
Karabagh’s July 19 presidential balloting, which resulted in the
reelection of incumbent Bako Sahakian over two challengers. Some 110
international observers, including those from the U.S., Canada, EU,
former Soviet republics, and Armenia, gave high marks to the elections.

In a statement issued immediately after the election, Berman said:
“I commend the people of Nagorno-Karabagh for continuing to organize
their governance on a democratic basis. I also congratulate President
Sahakian on his success in the July 19 election. I wish him good
luck in leading Nagorno-Karabagh toward a final settlement of
the Nagorno-Karabagh issue, one that fully respects the right of
Nagorno-Karabagh to self-determination.”

Sherman, who led the initial charge back in the mid-1990’s for direct
U.S. aid to Karabagh, said: “I congratulate President Bako Sahakyan of
the Republic of Nagorno Karabagh on his reelection. Since independence,
Artsakh has developed a democracy and a vibrant civil society despite
remarkably difficult challenges. I also congratulate the people of
Artsakh on their record of democratization. I will continue to work in
the House Foreign Affairs Committee to make sure our foreign policy is
supportive of the independence and prosperity of the Nagorno-Karabagh
Republic.”

Schiff issued a statement congratulating the citizens of
Nagorno-Karabagh on the conduct of free and fair elections: “Last
Thursday, the people of Artsakh went to their polls to elect a
new president in what has been widely reported as a free and fair
election. I offer my congratulations to President Bako Sahakian, and
wish him well as Nagorno Karabagh Republic continues its hard-won
progress.” He added, “By their continuing devotion to freedom and
democracy, despite two decades of violence and threats from its larger,
richer, and undemocratic neighbor, the people of Artsakh have reminded
the world of their commitment to representative government.

Their cause is our cause, and they will continue to have my strongest
support.”

“I couldn’t be prouder of the highly successful free and fair
presidential election in Nagorno-Karabagh,” said Rep. Anna Eshoo
(D-Calif.), who, along with Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA), are the two
Members of Congress of Armenian heritage. “Despite decades of violence
and threats from overpowering, undemocratic neighbors, the people
of Artsakh have maintained an unwavering commitment to freedom and
democracy, and they will always have my support.”

Speier concurred, noting, “Democracy lives in Nagorno-Karabagh! The
fifth free and fair presidential election in the Republic is a
true testament to the commitment and independence of its people and
proof that Democracy can bloom in an area of the world where there
is little.”

Congressman David Cicilline (D), whose home state of Rhode Island
has officially recognized the Republic of Nagorno Karabagh, stated:
“I congratulate the Nagorno Karabagh Republic on holding another free
and fair presidential election, showcasing democracy in action for
the rest of the world. In addition, I would like to recognize the
invaluable contributions of former Rhode Island Attorney General
Patrick Lynch, who assisted as an international observer.”

Jim Costa, who represents much of California’s Central Valley,
said: “The United States stands with the people of Nagorno-Karabagh
because our citizens share so many of the same foundational ideals,
including a commitment to the values of freedom, human rights,
self-determination and democracy. With these most recent elections,
the people of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic have truly lived up to
the promise of democracy,”

As reported earlier, Pallone welcomed Artsakh’s elections by noting,
“It is heartening to see [Nagorno-Karabagh’s] continued dedication
to peaceful democracy,” adding, “I am pleased the Republic continues
to hold regular parliamentary and presidential elections that have
previously been viewed as free and fair by international observers.”

Royce stressed that “These elections represent the strength of
the democratic process in the Nagorno Karabagh Republic and are a
testament to the commitment of the people in Artsakh to the Republic’s
sovereignty.”

For the full text of the Pallone and Royce statements, visit
anca.org/press_releases/press_releases.php?prid=2156.

ARTSAKH IS THE BEST RESTING PLACE FOR THE MARSEILLE DEPUTY MAYOR’S FAMILY

ARMENPRESS
26 July, 2012
YEREVAN

Yerevan, July 26, ARMENPRESS: Faithful to his promise, every year
the Marseille Deputy Mayor organizes his family’s summer vacation
in Armenia. As “Armenpress” was informed by the Armenian Ministry
of Diaspora, the Marseille Deputy Mayor Didier Parakyan mentioned in
the meeting with the Armenian Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan,
that this year they are going to expand the scope of visits including
also Artsakh. Didier Parakyan assured that he will not violate this
tradition.

EX-POLICEMAN, WHO TRIED TO MAKE AN ACT OF SELF-IMMOLATION IN FRONT OF ARMENIAN PRESIDENT’S RESIDENCE, GOES ON A HUNGER STRIKE NEAR POLICE BUILDING

arminfo
Thursday, July 26, 17:19

Alumyan confesses that 1.9 mln AMD (nearly 5 thsd USD) has already
been paid to him, but the issue of the rest 2.5 mln AMD still hangs
in the air. During his protest action, the employees of the Armenian
Police press service approached him and advised him to stop the hunger
strike and to present his demands to the Police leadership in the
written form. Alumyan refused to do that.

To note, Alumyan is a father of 5 minor children. Having lost his job,
Alumyan made an attempt of self- immolation in front of the president’s
residence on June 7, demanding compensation for his overtime work
in the law-enforcing bodies, as well as medical assistance for his
disabled daughter. The problem of the medical assistance has already
been solved. Alumyan’s daughter will be operated on in the near future.

ARMENIAN AMBASSADOR TO GEORGIA: ARMENIAN CHURCHES IN GEORGIA ARE MOLDERING HAVING NO REAL OWNER

arminfo
Thursday, July 26, 17:22

Problem with Armenian churches in Georgia is closely connected with
invented threats to the national culture of that country and regular
media reports on out-of-left field demands of the Armenian party.

Armenian Ambassador to Georgia Hovhanness Manukyan made such statement
in an interview with News.ge.

In the meanwhile, the Armenian party has officially requested return
of six churches (five in Tbilisi and one in Akhaltsikha).

“However, media disseminate some three-digit figures, apparently
intentionally, in order to sensitize the public against the fact of
possible return of the churches,” the Ambassador said. Manukyan said
that the major problem now is that the churches are moldering having
no real owner amid pseudo-scientific discussions on their belonging.

“Meanwhile, due to their distinguishing architectural features those
churches could become a real decoration for the capital of Georgia
adding some ancient coloring to it,” the diplomat said.

TVARMRU CORRESPONDENT STATION TO OPEN IN KARABAKH

arminfo
Thursday, July 26, 17:24

A Correspondent Station of the TVARMRU, the first Russian Armenian
cultural TV channel, is opening in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic,
ArmInfo’s correspondent to Stepanakert reports.

Director of the Armenian Office of TVARMRU Vahan Ghazaryan, who is
currently in NKR, says that Vesti Armenia (News Armenia) program will
cover also Nagorno Karabakh. At the first stage journalists of the
Armenian Office of the TV Company will prepare reports on Karabakh. In
a year, TVARMRU will have a special news block on Karabakh.

The company tries to fill the gap of information on NKR, in particular,
the TV channel will cover charitable programs, provide information
on management of the funds donated from Diaspora to encourage the
Armenian compatriots in Armenia to make more investments.

The staff of the Karabakh office will undergo re-training. For that
purpose, specialists will be invited from Yerevan. The Staff of
TVARMRU Karabakh Correspondent Station will also undergo training
till August 15 in Yerevan.

Narine Aghabalyan, NKR Minister for Culture and Youth, says
regular news from Nagorno Karabakh will lead the country out of the
informational isolation Karabakh and provide impartial information
on NKR to the world.