Author: Karagyozian Lena

Arshile Gorky Exhibit at London’s Tate Museum Next Month

Tert.am
14:33 – 30.01.10

>From February 10 to May 3, 2010, there will be a retrospective exhibit
on the life and work of well-known and revered Armenian-American
artist Arshile Gorky (c.1904-1948) at London’s Tate Museum, organized
with the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art
in Los Angeles.

According to an official press release from the museum: `Along with
Rothko, Pollock and de Kooning, Gorky was one of the most powerful
American painters of the twentieth century, and a seminal figure in
the formation of Abstract Expressionism. The exhibition includes
paintings and drawings from across his career, and a handful of rarely
seen sculptures.’

Gorky was born Vostanig Manuk Adoian in an Armenian village in eastern
Turkey. As reported by Times Online, on arriving in New York in the
early 1920s, Gorky let it be understood that he was Russian, a cousin
of the writer Maxim Gorky, and that he had studied under Kandinsky in
Paris.

He never discussed the fact that he was present during the siege of
Van in the early stages of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. After Gorky
and his sister Vartush made their way to America, Gorky set about
turning himself into an artist, educating himself piecemeal at various
institutions in New York and Boston while taking menial jobs. He used
the pseudonym Arshile Gorky for the first time in 1924.

Arthur Petrosyan appointed Minister of Sport

armradio.am
30.01.2010 12:25

On January 29 President Serzh Sargsyan signed a decree on releasing
Armen Grigoryan from the position of the Minister of Sport and Youth
Affairs of the Republic of Armenia.

According to another presidential decree, Arthur Petrosyan was
appointed Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs of the Republic of
Armenia, President’s Press Office reported.

COALITIONAL PARTIES OF ARMENIA REQUIRE EXPLANATIONS FROM PACE CHAIRMAN

ArmInfo
2010-01-29 11:36:00

ArmInfo. Some comments of the newly appointed PACE Chairman Movlud
Cavusoglu on the Nagorno Karabakh problem prejudice his impartiality
to the conflict perception, the statement of three parliamentary
factions of Armenia’s National Assembly – the Republican party of
Armenia, Prosperous Armenia and Orinats Yerkir parties says.

To recall, RPA, PPA and OY make up the ruling coalition in the
country. On January 26, a newly appointed PACE Chairman, representative
of Turkey M. Cavusoglu said in an interview with APA Azerbaijani Agency
that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is one of the primary problems
in the region which hinder normalization of relations between Turkey
and Armenia.

"PACE chairman does not understand the nature and elements of the
conflict, as well as the negotiation process on its settlement
well enough. He apparently prefers to ignore the fact that peaceful
settlement is based on several principles, including a principle of
self-determination", the statement says. According to the documents
authors, Cavusoglu indifferently treats the problems related to
security of the NKR people which are permanently threatened by the
Azerbaijani authorities via propaganda of hatred to Armenians and
chauvinism. According to the statement, the interview of PACE chairman
confirms once again that holding of negotiations is in the sphere
of the only authorized body – OSCE and MG cochairmen in this case,
and that any irresponsible step, falling outside the scope of this
format, complicates and harms the negotiation process on the Karabakh
conflict settlement.

"Taking into account the foregoing, the coalitional factions –
Republican party of Armenia, Prosperous Armenia and Orinats Yerkir
recommend the chairman of the Armenian parliament to specify the
authenticity of the disseminated interview from Mr. Cavusoglu and
demand to explain whether his words may be considered as an official
stance of PACE, as well as seriously discuss, if necessary, the issue
of freezing of Armenia’s participation in PACE work during chairmanship
of M. Cavusoglu", the statement says.

TURKEY-ARMENIA PACT HITS SNAGS

Lragir.am
28/01/10

Marc Champion, Marcus Walker and Stephen Fidler

A deal between Turkey and Armenia to open their border and establish
diplomatic relations after generations of dispute over genocide
allegations and territory is under growing threat of collapse.

Armenia is pushing for rapid ratification of the deal, signed
in October, while Turkey has a longer time frame. On Wednesday,
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev added to concerns for the deal when
he said he was confident Turkey wouldn’t ratify the agreement until
Armenia has returned Azeri territory that it occupies, including the
mainly ethnic Armenian region of Nagorno Karabakh.

‘There is a common understanding in the region that there should
be a first step by Armenia to start the liberation of the occupied
territories,’ Mr. Aliyev said in an interview with The Wall Street
Journal in the margins of the World Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland. He said he was ‘fully satisfied’ with Turkey’s
understanding of the issue, despite harshly criticizing Turkey’s
handling of it in the past.

A History of Dangerous Relations

‘If the two issues are disconnected, then probably Armenia will freeze
negotiations with Azerbaijan (over Nagorno Karabakh),’ said Mr.

Aliyev, adding that he believed economic pressure was one of the main
incentives for Armenia to come to the table. Mr. Aliyev has warned
previously that such an outcome could lead to renewed war.

Turkey’s leaders, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
have said repeatedly that the border opening and settlement of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict are linked.

There is no sign of progress in the 15-year-old peace talks. But some
ambiguity remains in Turkey’s position. The territorial dispute isn’t
mentioned in October’s protocols.

‘Now we are approaching the moment when things get more and more
difficult,’ said Vigen Sargsyan, deputy chief of staff to the Armenian
president. Pressure on the Armenian president to abandon the effort
is building strongly as the next annual April 24 U.S. presidential
commemoration of the 1915 genocide approaches, creating a tight
Armenian schedule to see the protocols ratified.

Turkish officials, by contrast, talk about an open-ended process that
could last a year or more if necessary. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu also recently expressed anger at a decision by Armenia’s
constitutional court that he said in effect puts conditions on the
deal-a claim Mr. Sargsyan dismissed.

Mr. Sargsyan said that while Armenia’s government is sending
ratification papers for the deal to parliament, it is also preparing
legislation to enable the president to withdraw his signature from
treaties. ‘If this opportunity is lost it will push the whole region
back, not to where we started when talks began but beyond that,’ said
Mr. Sargsyan. He said trust between the two sides would be destroyed.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in protest at the
occupation by Armenia-backed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and seven
districts around it that were seized as buffer zones. But in the
wake of the war between Georgia and Russia in August 2008, Turkey’s
government said it was ready to negotiate an end to Armenia’s
isolation, as Ankara sought a bigger role in the Caucasus region.

By last Spring, the two sides had drafted protocols outlining a deal
that would open the borders, establish diplomatic and trade relations
and set up a joint commission to examine historical issues, including
the 1915 Ottoman massacre of up to 1.5 million ethnic Armenians,
in what is now Eastern Turkey, which Armenia and many historians
consider genocide. But Turkey’s leaders refused at the last minute to
sign, in the face of fierce opposition from Mr. Aliyev and opponents
within Turkey.

The U.S., Russia and the European Union have strongly backed the
Turkish-Armenian initiative, saying it could help to stabilize a
region that is strategically important for energy supplies.

Mr. Aliyev has expressed his anger over the Turkey-Armenia talks
by threatening to reroute Azeri natural gas and oil exports away
from Turkey. ‘Azerbaijan can export gas in four directions: Turkey,
Georgia, Iran and Russia,’ Mr. Aliyev said Wednesday. ‘We can expand
volumes of gas in each of these directions.’

The Azeri president also expressed frustration over the delays in
construction of the EU’s planned Nabucco pipeline, which would carry
natural gas from the Caspian Sea to EU markets via Turkey. ‘Gazprom
has said it will buy whatever we supply. If Nabucco is delayed, we
will sell more to Gazprom, it is clear,’ said Mr. Aliyev, referring
to the Russian state gas giant OAO Gazprom.

ARMENIA’S FM TO PARTICIPATE IN THE LONDON CONFERENCE ON AFGHANISTAN

armradio.am
28.01.2010 12:42

The Foreign Minister of Armenia, Edward Nalbandian, has left for
Great Britain today to participate in the International Conference
on Afghanistan.

The conference will take place in London on 28 January 2010. The
international community are coming together to fully align military
and civilian resources behind an Afghan-led political strategy.

Foreign ministers from International Security Assistance Force
partners, Afghanistan’s immediate neighbours and key regional player,
as well as representatives from NATO, the United Nations, the EU and
other international organisations such as the World Bank are expected
to attend the conference.

38 MILLION DRAM TO HAYASTAN FUND

Lragir.am
27/01/10

The All-Armenian Hayastan Fund informs that the benefactor organization
Family of Vardanyan today benefited 38 million drams to the Hayastan
fund.

Last year, a double-floor school was constructed in the Gishi village
of NKR Martuni region by means of the Family.

8TH SITTING OF ARMENIAN-GEORGIAN INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMISSION ON ECONOMIC COOPERATION HELD IN YEREVAN

Noyan Tapan
Jan 26, 2010

YEREVAN, JANUARY 26, NOYAN TAPAN. The 8th sitting of the
Armenian-Georgian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation
was held in Yerevan on January 26. The participants discussed the
implementation of the decisions made at the previous sitting held
in Tbilisi on 9 December 2008, the current state and the development
prospects of the legal and contractual field between the sides, the
state and prospects of developing trade and economic cooperation,
as well as issues related to bilateral cooperation in transport,
agriculture, energy, healthcare, social security, education, culture,
environmental protection, and tourism. The demarcation process of
the state border between Armenia and Georgia was also discussed.

The heads of the governments of two countries signed a protocol adopted
based on the results of the Intergovernmental Commission’s sitting.

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said at a briefing following
the sitting that the 8th sitting of the commission will stimulate
cooperation of the two countries. In his words, they had agreed on
all the issues put on the agenda of the commission.

"The agenda includes a lot of issues from economic, social and cultural
spheres. We have instructed the representatives of the working
groups to include all the agreements reached in today’s protocol,"
T. Sargsyan said.

Georgian Prime Minister Nika Gilauri considered the sitting quite
interesting because numerous issues related to almost all the spheres
were examined. "This visit will strengthen the traditional relations
of our countries," he stated.

He announced that an agreement on construction of a 400 kilovolt
power transmission line between Georgia and Armenia was reached at the
sitting. T. Sargsyan said the power line’s construction is included
in the 2010 programs of the Armenian government.

Speaking about the possible opening of the Armenian-Turkish border, N.

Gilauri noted that they welcome the resolution of any conflict in the
region. "We welcome the Armenia-Turkey normalization process. It is
of importance to the regional countries," he declared. He also spoke
about the process of opening the Upper Lars check point, saying this
would be to Armenia’s benefit as well, and Russia should remove all
kinds of restrictions.

It was decided to hold the next – 9th sitting of the Intergovernmental
Commission in Georgia.

ARMENIAN ARMY STRONGER TODAY THAN DURING KARABAKH WAR

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.01.2010 15:46 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Considering the current armistice regime, the
Armenian army should be always ready for war, says Hrayr Karapetyan,
Head of Parliament’s Standing Committee on Defense, National Security
and Internal Affairs.

"Over the recent years, Armenia’s Parliament has passed several
legal acts on enhancing army conscription procedures etc. But certain
problems still remain unresolved," he told today a news conference
in Yerevan.

At that, he stressed the importance of contract service, considering
the sharp decrease in Armenia’s population in the early 1990s. "The
age qualification requirements have now changed. Healthy men below
the age 50 are eligible for contract service," he said.

According to him, the committee collaborates with Defense Ministry to
prepare a package of changes aimed at prevention of illegal conduct
in army.

"We certainly have much to do. It is necessary to create legal bases in
the sphere, enhancing the legislation, healing the moral-psychological
atmosphere in army, improving the competences of soldiers and creating
a professional army," Committee Chairman said, adding that Armenia
army is stronger today than during Karabakh war.

The Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia represents the Army,
Air Force, Air Defense, and Border Guard.

The Commander-in-Chief of the military is the President of Armenia,
currently Serzh Sargsyan. The Ministry of Defense is in charge of
political leadership, currently headed by Seyran Ohanian, while
military command remains in the hands of the General Staff, headed
by the Chief of Staff, who is currently Lieutenant-General Yuri
Khatchaturov. Armenia established a Ministry of Defense on January
28, 1992.

Since 1992, Armenia has been a member of the Collective Security
Treaty Organization, which acts as another deterrent to Azeri military
intervention over Nagorno-Karabakh. The Treaty on Conventional Armed
Forces in Europe was ratified by the Armenian parliament in July 1992.

It establishes comprehensive limits on key categories of military
equipment, such as tanks, artillery, armored combat vehicles, combat
aircraft, and combat helicopters, and provides for the destruction
of weaponry in excess of those limits.

The State Committee on Defense (under the Council of Ministers)
was created by a Government Decision in 1991.

MIKHEIL SAAKASHVILI INVITES ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TO GEORGIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.01.2010 18:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan received Tuesday
Georgian Prime Minister Nika Gilauri who is carrying out a working
visit to Yerevan to take part in the 8th session of Armenian-Georgian
intergovernmental commisson on economic cooperation.

Stressing the importance of conducting more frequent meetings between
two countries’ officials, Armenian President said, "The level our
cooperation simply obliges us to address the existing problems
every day."

For his part, Mr. Gilauri conveyed to Armenian leader Georgian
President Mikheil Saakashvili’s invitation for visiting Georgia.

Touching upon the commission’s session, he estimated it as positive,
adding that the next discussion is due in Georgia.

PREAMBLE REACHED ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH
By Nikolaus von Twickel

The Moscow Times
26 January 2010

Medvedev giving Sargsyan, left, and Aliyev, center, a tour of the
Krasnaya Polyana ski resort near Sochi on Monday.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed on a preamble to an agreement on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday.

"There is a general understanding on the preamble of the document,"
Lavrov said in Sochi after talks between the two country’s leaders
and President Dmitry Medvedev, Interfax reported.

Neither Medvedev nor Presidents Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia and Ilham
Aliyev of Azerbaijan made any public statements after the closed-door
talks in Medvedev’s residence in the Krasnaya Polyana resort above
Sochi.

Lavrov said the sides had agreed to forward their own suggestions for
alterations to the so-called Madrid principles, a set of proposals
for a political solution in the 20-year conflict in the South Caucasus.

"The main result today is that both sides will prepare their tangible
ideas of how to formulate the text where there is no agreement,"
Lavrov said.

The principles, adopted in late 2007, envisage returning territories
occupied by Armenian troops that lie outside Karabakh proper to
Azerbaijan but leaving a corridor linking Armenia with the disputed
province on Azeri soil.

The plan, worked out by Russia, France and the United States, which
have led the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s
mediation efforts, stipulate that the status for Nagorno-Karabakh
would be determined in a referendum that refugees should be allowed
to return and that an international peacekeeping force be deployed.

Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave inside Azerbaijan,
broke away after a bloody conflict in the early 1990s that killed
more than 30,000 people and displaced more than 1 million.

The Madrid principles, which were made public only last summer,
were met with fierce criticism by the Armenian opposition.

Moscow has in recent years stepped up its own mediation efforts in
the seemingly intractable conflict, and Sargsyan and Aliyev pledged
that their countries would step up efforts to find a peaceful solution
over Nagorno-Karabakh in a five-point declaration reached at a meeting
with Medvedev in November 2008.

Last year, the two presidents met for talks six times, including two
rounds with Medvedev.

Analysts have said the efforts show Moscow’s assertion of influence
in the South Caucasus, were Western influence has subsided after
the Georgia war in August 2008, the global financial crisis and the
leadership change in the United States.

Armenia has been irked by increasing rapprochement between its Turkic
neighbors and Moscow, which recently signed energy agreements with
both Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Earlier this month, state energy giant Gazprom announced plans to
quadruple the amount of gas that it buys from Azerbaijan in 2011,
and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed with Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin to spur efforts to build the $2.5 billion
Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline in Turkey.