Author: Khondkarian Raffi

‘ARMENIAN SUITE’ TO PREMIERE … WHERE ELSE BUT ARMENIA

Lexington Minuteman
/x549584987/-Armenian-Suite-to-premiere-where-else -but-Armenia
April 1 2009

Lexington – Lexington composer Hayg Boyadjian’s symphonic composition
"Armenian Suite" will receive its first public performance in Yerevan,
the capital of Armenia, on April 13 at the famous Aram Khatchaturian
Concert Hall.

The concert will also include works by three American composers:
"Fireheart" for chamber ensemble by Matthew Fields; "Huatzu Hill"
for soprano and chamber orchestra by Marilyn Bliss; "Andromeda"
concerto for piano and orchestra by Elizabeth Bell; and also a work
by Armenian composer Edward Sadoyan, "Threes Words About Armenia"
for chamber orchestra.

Featured will be the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by
Ruben Asatryan, the soloists will include soprano Gayane Gegamyan
and pianist Haik Melikyan.

Soprano Gegamyan has premiered many works by Yerevan-Armenian
composers, and also works by Boyadjian (among others three German
text songs for soprano and piano written especially for her), and
she has also sung songs by Bliss.

Pianist-composer Melikyan is a musician of renown in Armenia and
Europe for his performances of contemporary music. He has performed
in Yerevan works by Marilyn Bliss, and in June 2008 he premiered
Boyadjian’s first movement of his large fourth piano sonata at a solo
concert at the Komidas Hall in Yerevan.

Bliss will travel to Yerevan for this April concert, she traveled for
the first time to Yerevan a few years ago where she had a solo concert
of her compositions from which she returned very much impressed,
about the music, and about the city.

Boyadjian’s "Armenian Suite" was originally written as a commission
piece for trombone and piano in 2005. A version for two oboes and piano
followed, and later on came the present version for symphony orchestra.

"Armenian Suite" has been recorded by the Polish Radio Symphony
Orchestra under the direction of David Oberg and is due to come out
soon on Opus One CD Recordings, and will be available on Amazon.com,
as are Boyadjian’s other recordings.

CAUCUS CO-CHAIR SAYS HE WAS MISREPRESENTED BY TURKISH PRESS
By Ara Khachatourian

;ASBSC =Closed
Thursday April 2, 2009

A headline in the Turkish Hurriyet daily screamed: "Pro-Armenian
Lawmaker says US Congress Will Not Recognize Bill" for a news item
attributing comments allegedly made by Rep. Mark Kirk, the Illinois
Republican who co-chairs the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues
and a co-author of H.Res. 252–the Armenian Genocide resolution.

"Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi will not dare
pass the bill. She will not place Obama in a difficult position. The
bill will not pass, don’t worry," Rep. Kirk was quoted as telling
the Turkish language Aksam Daily.

"When I was translated from Turkish to English my comments had little
relation," explained Rep. Kirk, in a phone conversation with Asbarez.

"I made the mistake of predicting what Speaker Pelosi may or may
not do in the future," explained Rep. Kirk given President Obama’s
upcoming trip to Turkey.

Kirk explained that his intention was to shed light on the
importance of the Genocide Resolution, adding that his comments were
misrepresented by the Turkish press

Kirk explained that he had supported Genocide resolutions in the past
and is the co-author of the current one introduced last month.

"I think if we put it [the resolution] on the floor, a number of
members would back us. I’m just worried that the State Department
will pressure the Congress, as they have done in the past," Kirk told
Asbarez, urging Speaker Pelosi to resists the pressure.

"Speaker Pelosi should bring up the resolution and pass it," added
Kirk, saying that everyone should stick to their campaign promises
and vote on what they told their constituents.

Kirk said he believes if the Genocide bill were brought to a vote,
it would be "Tremendous victory."

Notorious for its long history of muckraking, the Turkish press
has a reputation for altering the truth and changing words to suit
their needs. Rep. Kirk was the latest victim of this brand of yellow
journalism.

EXPERT: PUBLIC TRANSPORT FARE TO GO UP IN ARMENIA

ARKA
Apr 2, 2009

YEREVAN, April 2. /ARKA/. Due to rise in prices for energy resources
the public transport fare is to go up in Armenia soon, said the
Chairman of Association of Consumers of Armenia Armen Poghosyan.

He said that the Association had once prevented fare increase in
the past.

In 2007, some companies raised the public transport fare from 100Drams
to 130Drams due to rise in gas prices. The fare remained unchanged
due to public discontent this raised and owing to the support of the
public organizations involved in protection of consumers’ rights. The
current cost is 100Drams for buses and route taxies and 50Drams for
trolleybuses.

"We are not all-powerful, yet we cannot accept this and we will
continue fighting against these price increases. Our front should
be broad and powerful, and the entire society should join us in this
struggle," Poghosyan said.

On February 27, Armenia’s Public Services Regulatory Commission
approved the gas price increase from the current 84,000Drams per
1,000 cubic meters to 96,000Drams per 1,000 cubic meters as from
April 1. The price for electricity supplied by "Electric Networks of
Armenia" to consumers rose by 5Drams up to 30Drams per kilowatt-hour
in daytime and 20Drams per kilowatt-hour in nighttime.

OSCE: ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN FRONTLINE INCREASINGLY VOLATILE

Eurasianet

Posted April 1, 2009

Monitors for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) are expressing concern about an increase in ceasefire violations
along the Azerbaijan-Armenia frontline.

Andrzej Kasprzyk, the personal representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office, told an April 1 news conference that area residents
are suffering from the growing violence. He did not elaborate on
reasons why firefights and artillery duels have been on the rise
lately. But he noted that the security situation has slightly worsened
since 2008.

Kasprzyk said that he would work to arrange meetings of Azerbaijani
and Armenian commanders on the ground to help reduce tension. Over
the past few months, there has been a flurry of media reports from
both sides about ceasefire accord violations.

GENERAL DIRECTOR OF ARMENTEL LEAVES POSITION FOR DOMESTIC REASONS

Panorama.am
15:56 01/04/2009

The General Manager of "Armentel" CJSC Neicho Volochkov announced that
he was leaving his position. The head of public relations department of
the company Anush Beghloyan told Panorama.am reporter that the General
Director had some personal reasons to make such decision. According
to the source the acting manager of the company is appointed Karen
Shahnazaryan, the deputy financial director. Neicho Velichkov took
the position of the General Director in May 2008.

IMAGES TRIO HONORED WITH GOLD MEDAL AND CERTIFICATES OF RA MINISTRY OF CULTURE

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.03.2009 17:20 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Images Brazilian trio was awarded with gold medals
and RA Ministry of Culture diplomas.

"This is the highest and most honorable award we ever granted to
artists," RA Minister of Culture Hasmik Pogyosyan emphasized.

"San Paulo Symphonic Orchestra opened classical music season in Brazil
by Aram Chatchaturyan’s musical composition. Armenian Music is known
and loved in Brazil. Same is true for Brazilian music in Armenia,"
RA Brazilian Ambassador Renate Stille noted.

Brazilian Art Week, initiated by RA and Brazilian Ministries of Culture
and RA Brazilian Embassy will launch on Apr. 1 in Armenia. Within
Brazilian Art Week framework , Images Trio music band will hold
performances in Gyumri and Yerevan. Images Trio had it’s first
performance in Yerevan 10 years ago.

Images trio, composed of famous Brazilian musicians, was created in
1999. The band was awarded "Best ensemble of 2006" national title
and Karlosh Gomesh Prize for significant contribution to Brazilian
culture in 2007.

CONSOLIDATION OF ARMENIAN-GERMAN RELATIONS UNDERSCORED

ARMENPRESS
March 30, 2009

YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS: Armenian Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandyan received today State Secretary of German Foreign Ministry
Gernot Erler who is in Armenia accompanied with the chairman of the
German-South Caucasian parliamentary group of the German Bundestag
Steffan Reiche.

Armenian Foreign Ministry press service told Armenpress that greeting
the guests E. Nalbandian noted that high-level political dialogue has
been established between the two countries, bilateral partnership is
developing effectively, cultural and business ties are being expanded.

Armenian foreign minister said that Armenia underscores the further
boosting and consolidation of Armenian-German relations.

During the meeting the interlocutors discussed in details a wide range
of issues on EU Eastern Partnership initiative. E. Nalbandian noted
that in Armenia the declaration of the European Summit on Eastern
partnership has been examined with attention and it may serve as a
basis for further cooperation. He pointed out that Armenia is ready
to actively cooperate with EU establishments and member countries in
the further development and implementation of the initiative.

German state secretary assessed the political, economic, educational
and cultural relations between the two countries as excellent
underscoring the Armenian-German inter-governmental consultations,
and efficiency of the Armenian-German parliamentary friendship group.

The sides also referred to the Karabakh conflict regulation issue,
discussed opportunities of regulation of Armenian-Turkish relations.

After the meeting Armenian deputy foreign minister Karine Ghazinian
and Gernot Erler gave a joint press conference.

"WE SHALL STILL CATCH THE AUTHORITIES BY SURPRISE"

A1+
05:12 pm | March 30, 2009

Politics

"Our report and footage on the last March unrest shocked the public
and the parliamentary committee looking into the events of March
1-2. But neither the authorities nor the committee came up with a legal
assessment. We achieved no result. The committee did nothing special
but inviting a few people to an examination," says Suren Abrahamyan,
Chairman of the Public Committee looking into the events of March
1, 2008.

Mr. Abrahamyan says the Public Committee has changed its strategy. They
are waiting for the further steps of the fact-finding group and the
parliamentary committee. Only then they will catch the authorities
by surprise.

If they didn’t make conclusions from the report and documentary,
we shall wait for them to act and then have our say," added
Mr. Abrahamyan.

HAYASTAN FUND CONTINUES REBUILDING WATER-SUPPLY SYSTEM OF ARTSAKH’S BERDASHEN VILLAGE

armradio.am
30.03.2009 10:55

The Hayastan All Armenian Fund announced that reconstruction of the
water-supply system in Berdashen, a village in Nagorno Karabakh’s
Martuni Region, continues on schedule.

The project, worth 210 million drams (U.S. $555,000), is financed
jointly by the Hayastan All Armenian Fund’s Argentinean affiliate
and the government of Artsakh. Major support for the initiative,
which was launched in late 2008, was provided by Argentinean-Armenian
benefactors Alicia Vosgerichian de Magarian, Hovsep Magarian, and
Varujan Panossian, in honor of Takvor Magarian and Nvart Terzian
Magarian.

Berdashen’s water-supply system, which was built in the 1960s,
has long been in a state of disrepair. Through the Hayastan
All Armenian Fund project, the pump station has been renovated,
cancer-causing asbestos pipes have been replaced with plastic ones, and
a 3.6-kilometer pipeline has been built, already supplying Berdashen
with water. Currently the next phase of the initiative, the building
of the internal water-distribution network, is underway. When this
leg of the project is completed by autumn 2009, all 1,500 residents
of Berdashen will receive a regular supply of water.

"We are delighted for being able to address many of the urgent
issues affecting the Martuni Region and helping improve the lives
of the populat ion," said Ara Vardanyan, the Hayastan All-Armenian
Fund’s acting executive director. "I think the Berdashen project is a
wonderful way to keep Takvor Magarian’s and Nvart Terzian Magarian’s
memory alive."

To date, the Hayastan All Armenian Fund’s Argentinean affiliate
has sponsored some 20 vital projects in Artsakh, mainly in the
educational sphere. The affiliate’s most recent initiatives include
the construction, in 2008, of an eight-kilometer water pipeline for
Spitakashen, another village in the Martuni Region.

PanARMENIAN.Net

No amnesty plan for Kurdistan Workers’ Party rebels
28.03.2009 18:34 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Turkish prime minister says the country has no
plans to consider amnesty for Kurdish rebels in order to end a 24-year
insurgency.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan in an interview with NTV television on Friday
denied media reports that the government might consider an amnesty for
the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist
group by Ankara and much of the international community.

He said that an amnesty ‘is out of the question’. ”Only voluntary
disarmament is acceptable for Turkey.”

The PKK, which took up arms for self-rule in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority
southeast in 1984, has long taken refuge in the mountains of
autonomous Kurdish-run northern Iraq. They have used this area as a
launching pad for cross-border attacks on Turkish territory.

Iraq’s government and the Iraqi Kurds have pledged to help Turkey
against the PKK and urged the rebels to disarm or leave Iraq.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, himself a Kurd, earlier this month
said Kurdish groups from regional countries would gather in northern
Iraq in late April or May and issue a joint appeal for the PKK to lay
down arms. It is not yet clear if PKK representatives would be invited
to the meeting.