Author: Karabekian Emil

HULIQ (press release), NC
May 24 2008

Turkey’s Claims on ARF Archives False

GLENDALE–Turkey’s recent claims that the Armenian Revolutionary
archives are closed are false, said the ARF archivist Tatul
Sonentz-Papazian Friday, who managed the archives until 2000.

`Actually the archives are open up to 1925,’ Sonentz-Papazian said in
response to recent claims by head of Turkey’s state-funded Turkish
Historical Society Yusuf Halacoglu who told the Hurriyet Monday that
Turkey has offered to give $20 million for the classification and the
opening of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Archives housed in
Boston.

Halacoglu claimed that the archives allegedly contained what he called
"very important" documents about the "incidents" of 1915.

`Anyone can apply to the administration and provide a reason for their
request. The archives are open to academicians and students,’ added
Sonentz-Papazian, who said that they have already been used by several
scholars and students, including Richard Hovannisian, Hagop Manjikian,
who compiled and edited the ARF Album-Atlas, and most recently Dikran
Khaligian. He added that Turkish scholars were welcome to study the
archives as well.

Halacoglu said the Armenians do not want to have the archives opened
because such efforts will "start a real debate over the genocide
claims." Halacoglu said that the ARF archives in Boston allegedly
contain very important documents regarding both the 500,000 Armenians
who currently live in Turkey, and the 1915 incidents.

`I have no idea what Halacoglu is talking about,’ said
Sonentz-Papazian, adding, `There is nothing there that could remotely
be proof of case of the denial. Everything points to the fact that the
Genocide did happen. There is no doubt that it was a state process to
get rid of the Armenian.’

Halacoglu, who is notorious for making bizarre statements regarding
the Armenian Genocide, is also wanted in Switzerland and would face
trial based on that country’s law on Genocide deniers.

"The [Armenians] had said ‘We don’t have money to categorize the
archives, and therefore we cannot open them.’ I frankly told them we
can give you the money needed and open the archives’. But they did not
respond to my offer," Hurriyet was quoted Haracoglu as saying on
Tuesday.

Halacoglu said he also presented his proposal to two Armenian
historians, Ara Sarfian and Hilmar Kaiser, adding he heard no word
back, and noted that the opening of the archives in Boston would
launch a real debate on the issue. "This would directly open a debate
over the genocide claims. Armenians are aware of this and therefore
they are doing their best not to sit at the table," he claimed.

`I saw Hilmar a few months ago. We talked for quite a long time and he
never mentioned anything of the sort,’ said Sonentz-Papazian, who also
reported that the archives, which are stored in a
temperature-controlled vault, were currently being digitized and work
was being done to restart the cataloging.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Recognition of Kosovo by some states will hardly lead
to universal recognition
23.05.2008 18:15 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Independence of Kosovo preceded
determination of status. This is the blunder of Martti
Ahtisaari’s plan, a Russian expert said.

-Proclaimed independence will not bring international
rule in Kosovo. Democratic institutes will not
function there, free elections will not be held,- RIA
Novosti Director for CIS and Baltic States Alan
Kasayev told Caucasus 2007 international conference.
-Kosovo will not be a UN member; it will not be
controlled by the European security system basing in
the OSCE; it will not fall under jurisdiction of the
Council of Europe and its legal structures; it will be
beyond control of the much talked-about OSCE/ODIHR.-

-The Kosovo conflict is as unique as the conflicts in
Abkhazia, South Ossetia or Transnistria. The Nagorno
Karabakh conflict is not ordinary either. So,
recognition of Kosovo by a number of states will
hardly lead to its universal recognition,- Kasayev
said.

RECOMMENDATIONS BY OSCE CANNOT BE IMPLEMENTED IN AZERBAIJANI OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

Trend News Agency
May 23 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, 23 May / Trend News corr. J.Babayeva / Arif
Iskandarov, Senior Advisor in the Ecology Policy and Nature Protection
Department of the Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry, stated to
journalists that the recommendations proposed by the OSCE, related
to the fire committed in the Azerbaijani occupied Nagorno-Karabakh
and surrounding regions, cannot be implemented due to the continues
conflict.

In 2006, the OSCE mission including the World Election Monitoring
Centre, UN program on environment and experts from European Commission,
European Union and Council of Europe held a monitoring to reveal
the ecological damage done to the regions as a result of fire. The
recommendations were developed as a result of the monitoring.

Recently, the Azerbaijani MPs demanded to hold discussions in
the Parliament with participation of international organizations
and ambassadors of foreign states regarding the fire committed by
Armenians in the Azerbaijani occupied territories.

According to Iskandarov, about AZN159mln in 2006 and AZN 15mln in
2007 worth damages have been done to Azerbaijan as a result of the
fire in the occupied territories.

WHERE EGOYAN’S TRUTH LIES TODAY
[email protected]

Montreal Gazette
Canwest News Service
May 23 2008
Canada

CANNES, France – Atom Egoyan was watching his movie Adoration the
other day and wondering why one of the film’s closing images – of a
cell phone being thrown into a fire – seemed so powerful.

"And when I was watching I went, ‘Well, duh,’" the Toronto-based Egoyan
said: the cell phone has a key role in the movie. It’s an instrument
that is used as a weapon to kill some of the film’s characters: it
has an association as a weapon of destruction. "I never thought of
that when I was shooting it," he added. "You look at it and it seems
so intentional, but that’s the beauty of making a film in a smaller
way, is that you do have the freedom to just let yourself go with
certain impulses."

Egoyan expected he would have more such epiphanies when Adoration had
its gala screening at the Cannes Film Festival this week, where it is
in competition for the Palme d’Or. He wrote, produced and directed
the movie, but the fact that it still has the ability to surprise
him is one of the signature characteristics of his cinema.

I just respond to these things in an intuitive way and at a certain
point it feels right, but I don’t analyze it too much while I’m making
it," he said in an interview.

Adoration tells the story of a teenager (newcomer Devon Bostick) who
is given an assignment by his teacher (Arsinee Khanjian, Egoyan’s
wife and frequent collaborator) to translate a news story about a
terrorist attack. The boy re-imagines the story as something that
actually happened to him and takes it to the Internet, where he
assumes the persona of a boy orphaned by an airplane bomb.

The movie allows Egoyan to examine such issues as reality versus
truth, one of his frequent themes, and in a low-budget way that is
more comfortable for him. It’s his first movie since his 2005 Cannes
release Where The Truth Lies, a more conventional mystery story –
and a larger-budget project, with Hollywood stars Kevin Bacon and
Colin Firth.

"When you’re writing, at a certain point the stew feels it’s ready
to cook. And then you just have to start cooking. And that cooking
starts with the shooting and the casting and through the editing and
when you’re adding music, and just trying to find a shape. I love
that. I love that about filmmaking."

Beyond a certain budget, though, the script becomes "a very clear
industrial blueprint for this prototype you have to create. And all
the people who are invested in it expect you produce that thing you
read." Where The Truth Lies couldn’t change because it was locked in:
at a press conference later in the day, Egoyan said he now thinks
the music was much too loud in that film, perhaps because he was
directing a production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle at the same time.

A movie like Adoration is more fluid, and Egoyan said he hoped people
were still awake enough – Adoration was showing on the ninth night of
Cannes – to read its various connections and themes. Told that some
of the festival audience had been up past midnight the night before
watching the four-and-a-half hour epic Che, Egoyan groaned.

Adoration had its genesis when Egoyan went to a Toronto high
school with a film program and became interested in the adolescent
immersion in the Internet and how easily users can assume identities
online. "They have to assume other personalities to hold attention,
and it’s very fluid and natural," he said. "You can find yourself
emotionally connected to something that in the real world might not
have much purchase."

It creates something that, while it doesn’t have the artistry of
movie-making, finds immediate distribution and creates the phenomenon
of YouTube celebrities. Egoyan himself made his breakthrough in 1984
with Next of Kin, a debut feature that found theatrical distribution
around the world. That’s not such a big deal today.

"People have millions of hits . . . that to me is what’s shocking. At
one point the idea of international distribution was something that
was so inconceivable for independently produced programs, and now
it’s banal. Everyone gets that."

"I AM NOT AS PATIENT AND PATRIOTIC AS RAFFI IS"

A1+
[05:44 pm] 23 May, 2008

Professor of California, historian Richard Hovannissian is concerned
over Armenia’s political scene. He expressed his concern to A1+
saying that "he is first of all concerned as an ordinary human being."

"March 1 was a great tragedy. I cannot name those guilty or innocent. I
think we are all guilty as we couldn’t avert the occurrences. The
Armenian Diaspora is shocked as blood was shed in the capital,"
he says.

As a solution to mutual antagonism Richard Hovannissian offers to
forgive each other. "We must forgive each other. We must treat each
other with endurance. Both policemen and people died. Sorrow and
hatred will deepen even more if they don’t free the jailed people."

Mr. Hovannissian is also concerned over ongoing migration from
Armenia. Asked whether he might take his son’s model and settle in
Armenia, he said, "I am not so patriotic and patient as my Raffi is."

While summing up Armenia’s background over the past 90 years Richard
Hovannissian said, "The creation of this small country was unexpected
as the whole revolution and the Armenian Cause were concentrated
in Western Armenia. No matter where the representatives of our
intelligentsia were they never thought of Western Armenia. They never
thought that they might come together and Yerevan might become the
country’s capital. Sometimes history plays tricks on us.

The country once occupying 10 000 square kilometers expanded to the
slopes of Ararat covering 50 000 square kilometers. We hoped to unite
Western and Eastern Armenians but our dream didn’t come true.

Mr. Hovannissian is surprised at the fact that Yerevan shops are open
on April 24, the day of the Great Armenian Genocide. He thinks that
people are absorbed in everyday problems and thoughts even on that day.

"People are not given equal footing in Armenia. While walking
in the streets one has the impression that nobody cares for the
vulnerable. The authorities should constantly take care of them. Though
I am in Armenia for a short period I am seriously concerned about
the country’s state."

Hovannissian says he had more respect towards the authorities of the
first Republic than the acting ones. "The authorities of 1918 came to
suffer with their people. No official or prime minister abused his
powers or pursued personal interests. Neither did they enrich their
relatives and acquaintances. They suffered with their people. For
instance, Aram Manukian died of typhus."

"20TH ANNIVERSARY OF KARABAKH MOVEMENT: REALITIES AND PERSPECTIVES" CONFERENCE KICKS OFF IN STEPANAKERT

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.05.2008 14:54 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "20th Anniversary of Karabakh Movement: Realities
and Perspectives" 2-day international conference kicked off in the
capital of Nagorno Karabakh, Stepanakert on May 23.

The conference brought together political scientists and experts from
Nagorno Karabakh, Armenia, Russia, U.S., Iran, Abkhazia, South Ossetia,
Transnistria and a number of European states, IA Regnum reports.

NALBANDIAN: ANTI-ARMENIAN PROPAGANDA SHOULD BE STOPPED IN AZERBAIJAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
22.05.2008 18:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ To create a favorable atmosphere for Karabakh talks,
the anti-Armenian should be stopped in Azerbaijan, Armenia’s Foreign
Minister said.

"No conflict can be resolved with ongoing propaganda of one state
against another," Edward Nalbandian said in an interview with H2
TV Channel

"According a social survey, 82 per cent of the Azerbaijani population
is displeased with the OSCE Minsk Group activities. At that 29 per
cent stand for resolution of the conflict by use of force. This is
a dangerous index. I do not know any other country where so many
people could stand for resumption of hostilities," he said, Novosti
Armenia reports.

PRIME MINISTER TIGRAN SARKISIAN TO ATTEND CIS SUMMIT OF GOVERNMENT HEADS

ARMENPRESS
May 21, 2008

YEREVAN, MAY 21, ARMENPRESS: Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian
will head a delegation that will fly May 22 to Minsk, Belarus, to
participate in the recurrent meeting of heads of governments of CIS.

The government press office said to Armenpress that the delegation
comprises David Sarkisian, chief of the government staff, deputy
foreign minister Gegham Gharibjanian, Oleg Yesayan, Armenia’s permanent
representative to CIS charter and other bodies, Artak Vardanian,
Armenia’s representative to CIS economic issues council, also heads of
appropriate departments of the government and Foreign Affairs Ministry.

The government press office told Armenpress that the meeting will
discuss a wide scope of issues related to cooperation among CIS
member countries.

Particularly, government heads will discuss transport, food safety,
meteorology, railway transport and many other issues.

OPENING CEREMONY OF DENO GOLD MINING COMPANY’S GEGHANUSH TAILING PIT TAKES PLACE

Noyan Tapan

Ma y 20, 2008

YEREVAN, MAY 20, NOYAN TAPAN. Despite the fact that the Geghanush
tailing pit of Deno Gold Mining Company (DGMC) – the former Kapan
ore mining and processing enterprise – was put into operation on
April 25, its opening ceremony took place on May 20, after solution
of some technical problems.

The director general of the enterprise Robert Faleta said that
the design solutions of the Geghanush tailing pit were developed,
taking into account the best international experience, which allows to
reduce the tailing pit’s impact on the environment to a minimum. The
construction cost about 6 million dollars and lasted two years. The
circulation system of cleaned water enables the enterprise to use
this water in the plant’s technological processes. The waste waters
will flow not into a river but back to the enterprise and will be
used again for technological purposes. So, in the words of R. Faleta,
natural resources will be saved.

The enterprise is doing large-scale geological survey in Kapan region,
and R. Faleta took the opportunity to offer the representatives of
the local authorities to get acquainted with the work done at the
north site of Shahumian mine. In all likelihood, this area will
become an open mine, and drilling work is being done there. Modern
drilling equipment has been brought from abroad, about 100 jobs have
been created. The regional governor of Syunik marz Surik Khachatrian
and the mayor of Kapan Armen Karpetian showed interest in the land
allocation agreements and land categories.

R. Faleta assured them that everything is done in accordance with
the Armenian legislation.

NOVRUZ MAMMADOV: "MEETING OF AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS WILL HAVE A CHARACTER OF ACQUAINTANCE"

Azeri Press Agency
May 20 2008
Azerbaijan

Baku. Lachin Sultanova – APA. The meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian
presidents in St-Petersburg early in June will have a character of
acquaintance first of all and will be a process of study the positions
in some specified sense, Novruz Mammadov, Head of International
Relations Department of the President’s Office told APA.

He said if the presidents express their intensions to meet for the
first time to negotiate on this issue and if they meet, they would
only intend to create basis for the future negotiations. "I know the
character of Armenian leadership and Kocharyan’s activity over the past
10 years makes me think that Armenian leadership will show its position
on the conflict settlement in very first meeting. We will know after
the first meeting weather the Armenian leadership has intentions to
solve the conflict through the constructive negotiations or not, either
they will show willingness to reach constructive solution or Armenia
makes this step only to win time and to continue the negotiations…"