Author: Khondkarian Raffi

EXHIBITION REVIEW – TEXTILES AND TRIBAL ART

The Muslim News, UK
Sept 27 2006

Current events in London illustrate the immense interest in the art
and designs of the Islamic World: the popular 2006 exhibition "World
in the Art" at the British Museum, the refurbished Islamic Galleries
at the V&A.

One such exhibition was the grand and annual show, ‘Textiles and Tribal
Art – The HALI Fair 2006’, which was established almost 10 years ago.

The context and content of the show were absolutely vast: textiles,
rugs and ethnographic works of art, were shown by 75 dealers from
across five different continents.

Those who know me will agree, as a hand woven textile artist, that I
am being biased to focus and highlight the Textiles of the Islamic
World. It is also due to an overall interest and concern regarding
the contemporary issues of textiles in the art and design of the
Islamic World.

Traditional weaving techniques are widely practised in all Muslim
countries. Colour, technique, weight of cloth, design and equipment
vary according to the different continents and the countries
themselves. They are woven by specialist master weavers, who are
usually from established and talented families with a long weaving
tradition. The HALI Fair highlights these extraordinary hand-woven
pieces which deserve to be appreciated as works of Art.

The exhibition was a pleasant surprise, a cultural melting pot,
like the Silk Road. It consisted of a wealth of Ikat weaving from
Uzbekistan, rare fabrics from Algeria, carpets from Turkey and fine
woven fabrics from Mughal India and Africa.

The Nemati Collections of Rugs truly caught my attention – Tousanian
Prayer Rug, Turkey, C.1920 Silk and metal. 132×198.

Tousanian was an Armenian who lived in England and set up a workshop
in Kumpaki, a district inhabited by Armenians. In 1915, Tousanian
began to recreate some of the finest silk woven carpets, modelled
after traditional pieces. This particular piece is rare in design.

The central area illustrates a kingdom of exotic birds and animals,
while the upper mihrab depicts verses of the Qur’an. Tousanian used
traditional Kumpaki carpet techniques of weaving with metallic
threads. The texture of the Prayer Rug is incredibly smooth and
uniquely thin.

I then came across a rare collection of hand-woven fabrics from Lybia
and Tunisia. These amazing pieces of cloth are hand-dyed with natural
dye and spontaneously woven. They are very old and the collector
‘Menzel Galerie NordAfrika’ could not tell me much about the time
they were produced. I found them very contemporary and although they
were traditionally used as a bridal head cover and veil, they all
have the potential to be contemporary interior pieces.

Hand-woven textiles are a central and integral part of Islamic Art and
Design. However, the question that begs to be asked is if the art of
textiles is just part of the historical heritage of the Islamic Art
and Design or if we can revive it within the contemporary Islamic
Art and Design?

DINK AGAIN ACCUSED IN INSULTING TURKISHNESS

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.09.2006 18:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Public Prosecutor of Shishli in Istanbul has indicted
editor-in-chief of the Agos Hrant Dink and two his co-workers, one
of them being Dink’s son, for "insulting Turkishness" and demanded
imprisonment for 3 years. According to the prosecution, on July 21
Dink’s statement over the issue was published in a foreign media. "I
determine it as a Genocide, as the results makes name it that
way. Today we can see that the nation, which lived in its lands for
4 thousand years, was expatriated after those events," Dink said in
his article. Shishli court has already sentenced Dink to 6 months of
conditional imprisonment due to a similar indictment, reports RFE/RL.

EU: PARLIAMENT DISCUSSES CONTROVERSIAL TURKEY REPORT

AKI, Italy
Sept 26 2006

Strasbourg, 26 Sept. (AKI) – A full session of the 732 member European
Parliament is on Tuesday due to discuss a controversial report on
Turkey – an EU candidate country – prepared by Conservative Dutch MEP
Camiel Eurlings. A controversial provision, making recognition of the
killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during and after World War I
a precondition for Turkey’s EU membership, is expected to be removed
from the draft, Turkey’s Cihan news agency reported. The parliament
is due to vote on the report on Wednesday.

Tuesday’s session – to be attended by EU enlargement commissioner Olli
Rehn – is also expected to make other amendments easing recommendations
on the issue of Turkey’s recognition of EU member state Cyprus, Cihan
said. The report warns the Turkish government that its continuing
refusal to allow Greek Cypriot ships and planes to enter its ports and
airspace and implement reforms could stall its membership negotiations
with the European Union.

The report – adopted by the European parliament’s influential foreign
affairs committee on 5 September – harshly criticises Turkey for
its slow pace of reform on rights, freedom of expression, and the
role of the security forces. It urged the country to "reinvigorate"
implementation of reforms, especially in the areas of freedom of
expression, women’s rights, religious freedom, trade union rights,
torture and ill-treatment of prisoners.

Turkey’s foreign ministry criticised the report as "lacking commonsense
and objectivity," and said it would not improve the country’s ties
with the EU. After protracted negotiations, Turkey began accession
talks with the EU last October. The talks do not lead automatically
to membership, which in any event is not expected before 2015.

NATO REFLECTS APPROACHES TOWARDS PRINCIPLES OF AZERBAIJAN – AZERI MP
Author: J.Shahverdiyev

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Sept 25 2006

The attitude NATO Parliamentary Assembly towards the fireplaces
requires to discuss Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the member of the
Azerbaijani delegation in NATO Parliamentary Assembly, MP Zahid Oruj
told Trend.

The Deputy noted that the Azerbaijani delegation may establish its
activities on the level of associative membership. "The associative
membership doesn’t take any steps, but is involved in raising questions
and presenting problems, and cannot influence the made decisions,"
Oruj said. In addition, he emphasized that the attitude of NATO
Parliamentary Assembly towards this issue is very important.

The attitude NATO Parliamentary Assembly towards the fireplaces
requires to discuss Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. "It is impossible to
await that NATO may apply any sanctions in relation with this issue,
and send its armed forces to the territory of South Caucasus," Oruj
spelled out.

He added that earlier, NATO Parliamentary Assembly considered
this problem from the point of view of Armenia, but now views have
changed. "At present, NATO reflects approaches towards the principles
of Azerbaijan," Orujov concluded.

Kommersant, Russia
Sep. 21, 2006

Commonwealth of Oil-Dependent States

Even non-primary-producing CIS countries depend on oil
and natural gas prices

Analytic centers believe that mid-term economic growth
in CIS countries will remain, but the long-term growth
strongly depends on oil prices and reforms in certain
countries. Apparently, economic growth in such
countries as Russia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan is
dependent on exported raw material prices. However,
the changes in raw material prices influences other
CIS states as well, because their economies are
closely intertwined. For instance, work migrants earn
money in rapidly richening Russia and send it to their
homes. Money transfers are economically important for
such countries as Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan,
Moldavia, and Tajikistan, according to IMF’s review of
world economy.
Ukraine’s, Georgia’s, and Belarus’ economies strongly
depend on Russia’s oil and gas. Moscow now ties up
political agreements on prices with the level of world
prices on oil and gas. Thus, Belarus might lose from 2
or 3 percent to 9 or 10 percent of its GDP, depending
on prices of energy resources from Russia.

Georgia, who became the growth leader last year (9.3
percent of GDP growth), will keep it up this year as
well. This is partially the result of liberal economic
reforms and anti-corruption campaign. Yet, high growth
rate in Georgia is also the consequence of fast
economic recovery after decline. Georgia also has
another important source for growth – foreign
financial aid. Yet, the continuing debates between
Moscow and Tbilisi might slow Georgia’s economic
growth down to 5 or 6 percent in 2007.

IMF thinks Ukraine might slow down as well, due to
political instability. According to the estimations of
ING bank, if Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan —
economic leaders of the CIS – join the WTO, their GDP
growth rates will slow down by 0.2-0.5 percentage
points in 2008, but will be accelerating by extra
0.5-1.0 percentage points beginning from 2009.

OSKANIAN: THE CO-CHAIRS ARE ASPIRING TO REVIVE THE KARABAKH SETTLEMENT PROCESS

Public Radio of Armenia
Sept 17 2006

During today’s meeting Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian and
heads of Armenian diplomatic corps discussed issues of countering the
new challenges our country faces, as well as questions of economy,
politics and transport. Reference was made to the GUAM initiative to
transfer the issue of frozen conflicts to UN General Assembly agenda.

In Vardan Oskanian’s words, inclusion of the question in the UN agenda
demands active diplomatic work from us.

"Azerbaijan’s efforts to transfer the Karabakh issue to the UN
agenda pursue the aim of diverting the attention from the Minsk Group
process," the Foreign Minister said. In his opinion, there are positive
prospects of achieving progress the OSCE framework.

"The Co-Chairs are aspiring to revive the document put on the table,
the principles of which are acceptable to us, RA Foreign Minister
stated.

Vardan Oskanian confirmed once again that in case Azerbaijan transfers
the Karabakh settlement process to the UN, Armenia will stay evolved
in the process but only together with Nagorno Karabakh.

Nevertheless, the Minister noted that the UN is not entitled to take
any decision.

The Associated Press
September 15, 2006 Friday 7:55 PM GMT

Deadly fight raises fears of ethnic violence in Russia

By STEVE GUTTERMAN, Associated Press Writer

Fighting involving ethnic Armenians and others in a Volga River town
left one person dead and at least three injured this week, officials
and news reports said Friday, fueling fears of a rise of ethnic
violence across Russia.

The violence came about a week after clashes and rioting targeting
Chechens in the northern town of Kondopoga left two people dead and
underlined the potentially explosive tension between ethnic Russians
and often darker-skinned people from the Caucasus and Central Asia,
in some cases migrants.

One ethnic Russian man was killed and three were injured in a brawl
with ethnic Armenians at a cafe in the town of Volsk early Sunday,
said Alexei Yegorov, police spokesman in the Saratov region, where
the town is located.

Yegorov said the fight was not motivated by ethnic bias, but Ekho
Moskvy radio reported that it was followed Monday by an attack on
ethnic Armenian students at a technical college in the town that left
one student with a knife wound.

Yegorov denied the attack took place and also denied what Ekho Moskvy
reported was further ethnic tension early Friday in the town some 700
kilometers (450 miles) southeast of Moscow. He said two ethnic
Armenians had fled the town following Sunday’s fight and were being
sought by police.

Ekho Moskvy said that in addition to the three Russians injured in
the cafe fight, one ethnic Armenian was also injured. It said the man
who was killed was a 25-year-old former paratrooper who had served in
the conflict in Chechnya.

While authorities sought to downplay the ethnic element in the
violence, it has raised fears that similar rampages could spread to
other Russian cities where increasingly aggressive nationalist groups
bristle at people from Russia’s Caucasus provinces and neighboring
ex-Soviet nations.

Russia has seen a marked rise in xenophobia and racist attacks in
recent years and rights groups say authorities do little or nothing
to combat xenophobia, often treating hate crimes as hooliganism.

Asked about the violence in Volsk, Deputy Prosecutor General
Alexander Buksman said his office is gathering information about such
incidents around the country to try to determine whether there is a
common cause, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported.

Dozens of nationalists demonstrated Thursday in Moscow, demanding
tighter controls over migrants from the Caucasus living in university
dormitories and the cancellation of provisions encouraging students
from other ex-Soviet nations to study in Russia.

About 150 were detained and some were fined for minor infractions,
the Interfax news agency quoted Moscow police spokesman Yevgeny
Gildyev as saying, but several dozen were allowed to hold a rally a
soft approach by the Russian authorities who usually move quickly to
disperse unsanctioned demonstrations.

The pro-tolerance group SOVA said 11 young people were sentenced in
the western city of Belgorod this week to prison terms ranging from 1
1/2 to 5 years for attacking a Roma family with knives and metal
rods, seriously injuring two people.

SOVA said it was just the fourth time that a Russian court has ruled
that defendants organized and participated in an extremist
organization. Court officials in Belgorod could not immediately be
reached for comment.

A1+

SERGE SARGSYAN EQUIPPED SCHOOLS
[07:52 pm] 15 September, 2006

Today RA Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan equipped 40 schools of Gyumri
region with laboratory and didactic materials.

>From now on the pupils will study chemistry, physics and biology not
only with the help of chalk and blackboard, but also with the help of
laboratory equipment and experiments. The donation was made in
connection with the Day of Gyumri, September 19.

Armenouhi Minasyan

COURIC SLIPS TO THIRD PLACE
By Jacques Steinberg

The New York Times
Published: September 13, 2006

On the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks,
more evening news viewers chose to watch "NBC Nightly News With
Brian Williams" than the broadcasts of his two main competitors,
Charles Gibson on ABC and Katie Couric on CBS, according to
preliminary figures from Nielsen Media Research released yesterday
by the networks. Mr. Williams’s program drew an estimated 8.3 million
viewers, more than the estimated 7.9 million who watched "World News"
with Mr. Gibson, and the estimated 7.5 million who saw Ms. Couric,
on her fifth night. All three programs were pre-empted in some parts
of the West Coast on Monday by President Bush’s address, and yet
Mr. Williams’s audience was still bigger than the average number
he drew last week (about 7.1 million a night), as was Mr. Gibson’s
(6.9 million a night). Ms. Couric, who easily won the ratings race
last week with an average of 10.2 million viewers a night, was down
substantially on Monday.

JACQUES STEINBERG

Stolen Munch Paintings to Be Displayed Soon

Stolen and recovered, the Edvard Munch paintings "The Scream" and
"Madonna" will go on view once more at the Munch Museum in Oslo in
the fall even before they are restored, Agence France-Presse reported
yesterday.

Because of enormous interest in the paintings, "the museum will
display them, in their current state, to the public and the media,
for a short period," a statement said. Both paintings were damaged
but "are in better shape than expected," said Jorun Christoffersen, a
museum spokeswoman, who added, "They will need some major restoration
work." A photograph, above, released by the museum on its Web site,
, showed that the lower left corner of "The
Scream" was crumpled, and that "Madonna" had a scratch and a tear
in the canvas. The paintings, stolen in 2004 in broad daylight,
were recovered two weeks ago. The police have not said how they
retrieved them. Before they were recovered, three men were convicted
of complicity in the theft.

Ratings Ride Coattails

President Bush’s 17-minute address on Monday night fell smack in
the middle of the second part of ABC’s contentious "Path to 9/11"
mini-series, with Harvey Keitel. But the thematic synchronicity, which
also extended to a 9/11 "Primetime" afterward, may have helped lift
ABC to No. 1 for the night, averaging about 12 million viewers over
all, according to Nielsen’s estimates. CBS inserted the president’s
9 p.m. speech into a lineup of repeats: "How I Met Your Mother" (5.9
million) at 8, "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (5.5 million)
at 8:30, and "Two and a Half Men" (7.6 million) after the speech. A
repeat of "CSI: Miami" (8.3 million) followed, propelling CBS to No. 2
for the night. On Fox, the interruption may account for some of the
drop-off for "Vanished" (5.9 million), which paled in comparison
with the solid audience at 8 for the serial drama "Prison Break"
(8.8 million).

That episode, which included the bloody death of the escapee Abruzzi
(Peter Stormare), led over all for the hour among adults 18 to
49. NBC’s "Dateline" (6.1 million) from 8 to 10, which paused for
Mr. Bush’s speech, could not compensate for a "Medium" repeat at 10
(4.8 million), which drove the network to a subdued last place for
the night. BENJAMIN TOFF

Turkish Novelist Faces Trial

A prominent Turkish novelist who faces trial next week for "insulting
Turkishness" says the case is the first to pivot on words uttered by
fictional characters, Reuters reported. The novelist, Elif Shafak,
above, a feminist who writes in English and Turkish, has been charged
in connection with her new novel, "The Bastard of Istanbul." The case
is being followed closely by the European Union, which says Turkey
must foster more freedom of expression as a condition of membership.

Ms. Shafak, 34, is scheduled to give birth during the week the trial,
set for Sept. 21, is to begin. She has been charged under a provision
of Turkey’s penal code that has been used against several journalists
and authors. Ms. Shafak said that to date the article "has never been
used against fictional characters." "In that sense this is a new step,"
she said, "and it’s quite surprising and upsetting, because if they
keep doing this, no one can write novels in this country anymore;
no one can make movies, even." In her novel, Armenian characters
make disparaging comments about Turks and refer to the genocide of
Armenians during the Ottoman Empire, a massacre denied by Turkey.

Bush ‘Assassination’ Film Acquired for Wide Release

Newmarket Films, the company that handled Mel Gibson’s "Passion of
the Christ," has acquired the distribution rights to "Death of a
President," the provocative Gabriel Range pseudodocumentary that
depicts the assassination of President Bush, Reuters reported.

Newmarket is expected to give the film a wide release in the next
few months. It was seen recently at the Toronto International Film
Festival and is to be shown next month on Channel 4 in Britain. "We
portrayed the horror of assassination," said Mr. Range, who said he
had received five or six death threats as a result of his movie,
which has evoked protests from some conservatives. "I don’t think
anyone would get the idea of assassinating Bush from this film."

Accolades

Britain will pay tribute to the Beatles in January when it issues a set
of six stamps featuring album covers from their most famous recordings,
above, the BBC reported. The collection includes "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely
Hearts Club Band," "Abbey Road," "Help!," "Revolver," "Let It Be"
and "With the Beatles." …

The European Film Academy will honor Roman Polanski, 73, with
its lifetime achievement award at ceremonies in December in
Warsaw. Mr. Polanski’s films include "Chinatown" and "The Pianist,"
winner of the 2002 Academy Award for best director. Mr. Polanski fled
the United States in 1977 after pleading guilty to having sex with
a 13-year-old girl. … Shi-Yeon Sung, a 31-year-old South Korean,
has become the first woman to win the Sir Georg Solti International
Conductors’ Competition, held every two years in Frankfurt,
Agence France-Presse reported. In the finale of the competition,
which attracted 500 applications from 72 countries, Ms. Sung led the
Frankfurt Opera’s Museumsorchester in Tchaikovsky’s "Romeo and Juliet"
fantasy overture; after being named the winner of the $19,000 first
prize, she conducted Beethoven’s "Egmont" Overture.

Footnotes

The opening concert of the New York Philharmonic’s 165th season will
be telecast live tonight to a large screen suspended in Josie Robertson
Plaza at Lincoln Center, where the performances of Beethoven’s "Egmont"
Overture, Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos in E flat and Beethoven’s
"Eroica" Symphony may be seen and heard free of charge. The concert,
led by Lorin Maazel and featuring the pianists Emanuel Ax and
Yefim Bronfman, will be broadcast nationally on "Live From Lincoln
Center." … A Yiddish-language version of the Neil Simon comedy
"The Sunshine Boys," in a staged reading starring Theodore Bikel and
Fyvush Finkel, will be presented by the National Yiddish Theater –
Folksbiene for a single performance at 4 p.m. Jan. 7 at Symphony
Space. Directed by Isaiah Sheffer, the translation by Miriam Hoffman,
which had its premiere in Tel Aviv in 2001, will be presented with
English and Russian supertitles. … The London-based organization
Lost Musicals will present what is billed as the first New York
revival of the original, full 1929 Broadway book and score of the
Cole Porter musical "Fifty Million Frenchmen" for four performances
at Florence Gould Hall beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. It will also
be performed on Sept. 24, Sept. 29 and Oct. 8.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version:

FIRST MEETING OF WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES
NEW CENTRAL COMMITTEE

The first meeting of the World Council of Churches new Central Committee
started on Wednesday, August 30, 2006, in Geneva.

The Armenian Church is participating in this meeting with two delegations:
Bishop Vicken Aikazian and Mrs. Paula Devedjian on behalf of the
Catholicosate of All Armenians, and Bishop Nareg Alemezian and Dr. Nora
Bairakdarian-Kabakian representing the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia.

The new Central Committee was elected last February by the 9th Assembly of
the WCC in Porto Alegre, Brazil. His Holiness Aram I has been the moderator
of the WCC Central and Executive committees for an unprecedented two terms
from 1991 through 2006.

30 August-September 6 meeting mainly concentrated on outlining the Council
‘s projects for the coming seven years.

Besides participating in the plenary and group deliberations, Bishop Nareg
and Dr. Nora held meetings and interviews regarding their views on
ecumenical issues and especially on the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and its
repercussions.

In the Public Issues Committee, Dr. Nora greatly assisted in the
composition of the statement on Lebanon and presented it to the plenary.

Bishop Nareg met with the representatives of the Christian world
communions and on behalf of His Holiness Aram I expressed thanks for their
solidarity during the latest crisis in Lebanon and their collaboration with
the Holy See of Cilicia.

The Armenian Church will have the following representatives in the WCC
Consultative Bodies for the next seven years:
a.. Faith and Order Standing Commission
Bishop Nathan Hovhannissian (Catholicosate of All Armenians, Armenia)
a.. Faith and Order Plenary Commission
Bishop Vicken Aikazian (Catholicosate of All Armenians, Armenia)
Bishop Anoushavan Tanielian (Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia, Lebanon)
a.. Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Ms. Nayiri Baldjian (Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia, Lebanon)
a.. Commission of the Churches on International Affairs
Ms. Tsovinar Ghazaryan (Catholicosate of All Armenians, Armenia)
Ms. Vanna Kitsinian (Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia, Lebanon)
a.. Joint Working Group between the Roman Catholic Church and the World
Council of Churches
Bishop Vicken Aikazian (Catholicosate of All Armenians, Armenia)
a.. Joint Commission between Christian World Communions and the World
Council of Churches
Bishop Nareg Alemezian, Moderator (Armenian Catholicosate of
Cilicia, Lebanon)
a.. Youth Body
Ms. Nayiri Baldjian (Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia, Lebanon)

Before returning to Antelias, Bishop Nareg had meetings with the senior
staff of the WCC and underlined the commitment of the Armenian Catholicosate
of Cilicia to the ecumenical movement on global, regional and local levels.

##
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the Ecumenical
activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.