Author: Khondkarian Raffi

UK NEWSBRITONS FLEE RED ARMY’S BATTLE ZONE
By Mark Reynolds and Will Stewart

UK Express
Wednesday August 13,2008
UK

A terrified group of British tourists found themselves directly in
the path of the advancing Russian army, it emerged yesterday.

As Russian president Dmitry Medvedev called a halt to military action,
it was revealed how the Britons, on a walking holiday in Georgia,
had to flee for their lives from the Red Army.

The 11 men and women, aged between 31 and 59, were finishing a 10-day
mountain trip on Saturday and were completely oblivious to the outbreak
of a war that has cost more than 2,000 lives.

As they descended from a mountain, the party suddenly came into mobile
phone contact from people in the city of Kutaisi – and were stunned
to learn the entire Red Army was fast heading their way.

Jonny Bealby, of travel company Wild Frontiers, said: "Sometimes we
have to get people out of tricky situations – but I’ve never had to
deal with a full advancing army before."

One of the group, engineer Ross Bishop, 31, from Preston, Lancs,
told how their phones started ringing as they reached a remote village.

He said: "When we drove towards the border we saw military transport
carrying troops. It’s a new one for me, being on holiday in a war
zone."

They were driven through the mountains in 4x4s and a minibus then
took them to safety in Armenia. Most flew home yesterday.

Mr Bealby said: "The party would not have known much about the war
until they got to Kutaisi. At that stage the fighting wasn’t as
serious as it became. But we knew from our experience of that region
that the city of Gori was a possible target.

"As it turned out the party was literally 48 hours in front of the
Russian army – and directly in its path."

Gori later came under heavy Russian bombardment, causing hundreds of
Georgian families to flee.

Two Britons – David McDowell, a teacher at Fettes College, in
Edinburgh, and his friend Gavin Adams – refused to break their holiday
in Georgia.

They had travelled to Gori to see the birthplace of Joseph Stalin. Mr
McDowell said: "We’ve paid for this holiday and we’re going to
enjoy it."

Last night the Foreign Office said about 350 Britons were still trying
to escape the war-torn country and it was providing coaches from the
capital Tbilisi to help the evacuation.

A group of the most vulnerable, mostly the elderly and children,
was last night due to be flown to Paris.

FINDING OUT WHO’S TO BLAME FOR THIS WAR
Alexei Pankin

The Moscow Times
12 August 2008

Since Friday, I have been trying to figure out who is at fault for
what is happening in South Ossetia. State television claims that
the blame lies with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and his
supporters in the West. However, I have long ago stopped believing
state television reports, even when their statements seem to be true.

>From morning until evening, Ekho Moskvy radio has been airing
political commentaries describing the consequences of this outbreak
of hostilities in Georgia. But they have not provided an answer to
the one question that most interests me, "Who started this war?"

The television antenna at my dacha, where I spent the weekend, has
been picking up Euronews much better lately, and there I heard the
following "objective" information: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and
President Dmitry Medvedev accuse Georgia of carrying out genocide in
South Ossetia, while Saakashvili blames Russian aggression.

Heart-rending images of the violence filled the screen, with "no
comment" as the only explanation.

On Sunday, I received a long-awaited guest at my dacha, Dmitry
Furman, a leading expert on former Soviet republics, including the
Caucasus. But he had barely stepped through the gate when he said:
"Don’t ask me what’s going on. I don’t understand a thing."

Soon after, the news editor for one of Russia’s comparatively
independent television channels came to visit. She was speaking on
her cell phone as she entered the dacha, emotionally explaining that,
"Our Olympic Games correspondent, for whom we paid big money for
accreditation, transportation and housing, is complaining that he
has nothing to do in Beijing and that we should send him to South
Ossetia." The whole time we were barbecuing and eating shashlik,
she was on the phone trying to work out how her journalists could
report on the conflict without interrupting Olympic coverage.

That left me with little choice but to become philosophical regarding
my question of who was the first to attack Tskhinvali? It occurred to
me that we buried one of Josef Stalin’s greatest opponents, Alexander
Solzhenitsyn, last week, but the tensions that Stalin stirred up were
continuing to exert their influence. It was Stalin who laid down the
illogical borders between the Soviet republics. He did so based on
the belief that they were so unnatural that nobody would ever dream of
trying to tamper with them, understanding what terrible consequences
would result.

History has shown that Stalin was overly optimistic. Having lost
their fear of Mikhail Gorbachev’s democratic Kremlin, nationalist
democrats in Soviet republics like Russia, Armenia, Moldova and
Georgia began behaving as if the borders that Stalin drew between
peoples were actually "historical borders" between states, leading
to much bloodshed. After those conflicts and the terrible slaughter
in the former Yugoslavia, we hoped that nothing similar would happen
in the 21st century. However, the bloodshed has been repeated, and
the conflict began on 08-08-08, the day the Chinese considered lucky
enough to open the Olympic Games.

I am not a Russian patriot, although I try to force myself to love
the country of which I am a citizen. I was, and still am, a citizen
of the Soviet Union, a country without internal borders and where
friends of different ethnicities and I were united in our hatred of
totalitarianism and in the belief that political freedom would give
us the opportunity to live in harmony. I have never contested the
right of the various Soviet peoples to establish their own states.

But I strongly dislike all those little Napoleons — whether they
are named Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin, former Georgian President
Zviad Gamsakhurdia or Saakashvili — who instead of freeing their
citizens from the Stalinist Soviet Union have created mini-empires
within illogically imposed borders and played out their delusions of
grandeur using the blood of their own people.

MEMBER OF NKR PARLIAMENT: ‘AN ATTEMPT OF FORCEFUL RESOLVING OF ANY CONFLICT IS DOOMED TO FAILURE’

arminfo
2008-08-11 16:37:00

ArmInfo. ‘Hard situation appeared in the south Caucasus region
because of an attempt of the Georgian authorities to settle the
south Osetia conflict by means of force. Today one can say the
attempt failed. After such events one san say that Georgia itself
and its negotiating positions have not become stronger than before
this adventure. One should conclude that an attempt of forceful
settlement of any conflict is doomed to fail’, – chairman of the
permanent parliamentary commission on foreign relations of the NKR
parliament Vahram Atanesyan said at today’s press-conference, as
ArmInfo correspondent reported from Stepanakert.

He also added that "Georgia’s such adventure was supported by
Azerbaijan".

"Several Azerbaijani politicians said that if Georgia gains success
in South Osetia, in that case the arguments of the intermediaries to
settle the Karabakh conflict peacefully will be led to minimum and
Azerbaijan will get an opportunity to repeat Georgia’s experience. But
Georgia fails, this will prove once again that conflicts should be
settled only by means of talks ensuring equality of the parties and
taking their interests into account.

There is no other way for the conflicts settlement in the world’,
– Atanesyan said. He welcomed ‘harsh but adequate position of the
Russian political leadership’. He also said that by such its actions
Georgia reduced an opportunity of its joining NATO. ‘I don’t think
that NATO is interested in worsening of relations with Russia and
South Caucasus states>, – member of the NKR parliament said.

"HERITAGE" READY TO COOPERATE WITH ARMENIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS

Noyan Tapan

Au g 11, 2008

YEREVAN, AUGUST 11, NOYAN TAPAN. In its August 11 statement, "Heritage"
party welcomed the creation of the Armenian National Congress (ANC)
and expressed a willingness to cooperate with the ANC for advancement
of the goals stated by the ANC – within the framework of principles
and goals adopted by "Heritage".

It is stated that prior to or after adoption of ANC documents on its
program and regulations, "Heritage" is ready to discuss all possile
ways of cooperation with the ANC.

San Jose Mercury News, USA

It takes four to make a Dream Poetry Team

By Sue Gilmore
Contra Costa Times
Article Launched: 08/10/2008 12:02:11 AM PDT

A powerhouse quartet of poets steps into the spotlight at La Pena
Cultural Center in Berkeley tonight for a series of readings they’re
calling "Arte Poetica ‘ The Dream Poetry Team." The participants
include Jack Hirschman, the activist and writer Gavin Newsom appointed
to the post of San Francisco poet laureate in 2006. Hirschman, 74, has
an amazing 60 volumes of poetry to his credit, including his latest,
"All That’s Left," a collection of poems about social justice that
came out in April. He earned early renown when a letter he wrote at
age 19 seeking Ernest Hemingway’s advice netted this somewhat surly
but admiring reply: "I can’t help you, kid. You write better than I
did when I was 19. But the hell of it is, you write like me. That is
no sin. But you won’t get anywhere with it." When Hemingway killed
himself in 1961, the Associated Press, where Hirschman had worked as a
copy boy, reprinted it as the "Letter to a Young Writer," and it got
worldwide distribution.

Joining Hirschman on stage will be the celebrated Chicano poet
Francisco X. Alarcon, author of bilingual poetry books for children
and 10 adult volumes, including "Sonnets to Madness and Other
Misfortunes" and "From the Other Side of Night." Painter, poet and
activist Jose Montoya, poet laureate of Sacramento, will also be
reading. In addition to authoring the famous "El Louie" poem about the
Korean vet whose life was destroyed by drugs, Montoya is the founder
of the Royal Chicano Air Force art collective responsible for so many
political murals in public places. The fourth Dream Teamer is
Oakland-based poet and media producer Nina Serrano, former director of
the San Francisco Poetry in the Schools program, co-founder of the
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts and a longtime program
producer for KPFA-FM in Berkeley.

Admission to hear the Dream Team is $5; the program begins at 7
p.m. at La Pena, 3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. Contact 510-849-2568 or

ALL HAIL SAROYAN: Author, playwright and Fresno favorite son William
Saroyan (1908-1981) is the focus of a daylong Salute to Saroyan in
this, his centennial year, at the Mechanics’ Institute in San
Francisco on Aug. 19. Things kick off at 12:30 p.m. with a panel
discussion on the late Pulitzer Prize-winner’s life and work with
Heyday Books publisher Malcolm Margolin, noted San Francisco novelist
Herbert Gold, California writer Aris Janigian (a fellow Fresno native)
and William E. Justice, editor of the just-published "He Flies Through
the Air with the Greatest of Ease: A William Saroyan Reader" (Heyday
Books, $24.95).

At 2:30 p.m., writer-director Paul Kalinian presents his award-winning
1991 documentary "William Saroyan: The Man, the Writer," followed by a
discussion with the audience. Dramatic readings of some of the
author’s finest short stories by local actors begin at 4 p.m. The
closing event is a 5:30 p.m. showing of a 1976 TV movie of a Broadway
revival of "The Time of Your Life," starring Kevin Kline and Patti
LuPone. That 1939 play, featuring a motley assortment of characters
interacting in a San Francisco saloon, won Saroyan both the Pulitzer
and a New York Drama Critics Circle Award.

Admission for the entire day is free to members, $10 for the general
public. Food will be available at the Cafe, where the cuisine goes
Armenian for the day. The Institute is at 57 Post St., S.F. Contact
415-393-0100 or www. milibrary.org.

ROCKIN’ THE LIBRARY: Original soul, reggae, R&B and hip-hop mix with
the vociferously spoken word Aug. 20 as the Oakland Public Library
plays host to a Teen Slam Jam. Young poets and musicians sponsored by
the national Youth Speaks program and BUMP Records hold sway from 5 to
7:30 p.m. in the Main Library West Auditorium, 125 14th St. Contact
510-238-7233 or

Bookends appears every other Sunday. Sue Gilmore is the Times book
editor. Reach her at sgilmore@bayareanews group.com.

ARMENIAN COMMUNITY TO WORK CLOSELY WITH CONGRESSMEN TO ENSURE THAT GENOCIDE DENIAL HAS NO PLACE IN U.S.

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.08.2008 15:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Members of the Armenian National Committee of America
– Western Region (ANCA-WR) met with long time friend and supporter
Congressman Howard Berman (D-CA-28) on August 5, 2008 to discuss
current issues relating to the Armenian American community. Congressman
Berman serves as Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs
(HCFA), ANCA told PanARMENIAN.Net.

"The Armenian American community deeply appreciates Chairman Berman’s
keen awareness of and respect for human rights," stated ANCA-WR
Executive Director Andrew Kzirian. "We shall work closely with the
Chairman in the future to ensure that genocide denial has no place
in the United States," he added.

During the meeting the ANCA-WR expressed their appreciation to Berman
regarding the two hour hearing that he led on June 18, 2008, which
included over a dozen members of Congress questioning Assistant
Secretary Dan Fried on the U.S. policy of complicity in Armenian
Genocide denial, Turkey’s blockade, and Azerbaijan’s escalating threats
of war. The meeting set the tone for intense questioning of Fried by
Congresswoman Diane Watson (D-CA-33) over the Armenian Genocide.

The hearing also served as prelude to a recent letter from the
U.S. State Department stating that the Ottoman government was
responsible for the acts of 1915. Additionally, the letter stated
that a joint project of archivists would be initiated from Armenia
and Turkey to study the history and preserve documents describing
the Armenian Genocide as it occurred by eyewitnesses and not to
study whether genocide occurred. This correspondence from the State
department was sent in response to requests from US Senators Boxer
and Biden over the nomination of Ambassador Yovanovitch to be the
next U.S. Ambassador to Armenia.

Attendees also shared their thoughts regarding the Turkish government’s
recent infiltration of American institutions of higher education. The
meeting participants discussed the Southern Poverty Law Center’s
recent feature on this phenomenon. Furthermore, the Institute of
Turkish Studies in Washington also was discussed as the institute’s
director resigned after the Turkish Ambassador reportedly threatened
to cut off funding for the program because the director acknowledged
the Armenian Genocide in a book review.

Among those present at the meeting were ANCA-WR Chairman Vicken
Sonentz-Papazian, ANCA-WR Board Member Avo Ovayan, ANCA-WR Executive
Director Andrew Kzirian, as well as ANCA-WR Interns Amy Kaladzhyan,
Shant Karnikian and Mikael Kourinian. Berman represents northern
areas of Hollywood, the eastern half of the San Fernando Valley
and the city of San Fernando. In 2007, Berman served as a strong
supporter of H. Res. 106, authoring a powerful dear colleague letter
espousing the Armenian Genocide resolution. The letter discussed the
classification of the Armenian Genocide as historically accurate by
the International Association of Genocide Scholars and called for
Turkey to recognize this crime against humanity. On October 10, 2007,
the HCFA passed H. Res. 106 by a vote of 27-21, including supportive
remarks by then-second ranking Democrat Berman.

Berman has served in the House of Representatives since 1983
representing the 28th Congressional district of California. Born in
Los Angeles and educated at the University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA), Berman was a lawyer and a member of the California State
Assembly from 1972-1983.

DEVELOPED FIGURE IN TOURISM

Panorama.am
13:54 05/08/2008

According to the experts and their studies 207479 tourists arrived
in Armenia in the first quarter of this year, reported the National
Statistical Center of Armenia when preparing final concluding reports
for January-June of 2008. According to the source the same figures
fixed in the previous year were lower: 183110. Hence a development
in this aspect forms 13.3%.

During the same time period 211182 people left the country.

NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION CALLS ON ARMENIANS TO AVOID BUYING STREET-SOLD MELONS

ARMENPRESS
Aug 5, 2008

YEREVAN, AUGUST 5, ARMENPRESS: A non-governmental organization dealing
with defense of consumers rights, called today on Armenians to avoid
buying melons and water melons sold on Yerevan streets, saying placed
on hot asphalt and exposed to broiling sun they may pose a serious
danger to public health.

Speaking to Armenpress the organization’s chairman Abgar Yeghoyan
said these melons may cause food poisoning. He said they should be
placed on special support and be covered.

Abgar Yeghoyan said the most effective way to eliminate illegal
street trade is to raise the awareness of people who should avoid
buying food from street vendors.

He said the organization published special booklets on how to avoid
buying hazardous products and is distributing them to consumers.

TETE OU DEDE?
Sylvie Kerviel

Le Monde
3 aout 2008 dimanche
France

L’ambiance est decontractee, le ton volontiers blagueur, le rythme
nonchalant… En voiture pour un " road music ", selon la formule du
musicien Andre Manoukian (Dede pour ses fans), qui presente, avec le
chanteur compositeur et musicien Tete, ce nouveau rendez-vous estival
de France 5. Du 7 au 28 août, ils sillonneront les Etats-Unis pour
une decouverte de la diversite musicale du pays.

Un duo inattendu entre le musicien de jazz, connu du grand public
pour son rôle de juge aux reparties philosophico-hilarantes dans la "
Nouvelle star " de M6, et le chanteur francais ne au Senegal, devenu
une vedette depuis le succès de son album A la faveur de l’automne
en 2004.

" Quand Marie-Claire Margossian, auteure et realisatrice de la serie,
que j’ai connue a l’occasion d’un film qu’elle faisait sur la diaspora
armenienne, m’a contacte pour ce projet, j’ai suggere d’etre accompagne
par Tete, que j’avais rencontre dans un studio de France Inter lors
d’un numero du "Pont des artistes", raconte Andre Manoukian. Je trouve
qu’il parle très bien de la musique, ce qui n’est pas evident quand
on fait ce metier. "

Leur periple a travers la " terre promise de la musique " (l’expression
est de Manoukian) s’organise autour de quatre destinations, chacune
marquee par une couleur musicale particulière : electro-pop, jazz,
bossa-nova, rock, salsa, reggae, soul, etc. A New York, où debute
leur balade, les deux compères, le grand Noir degingande coiffe d’un
mini feutre et le brun quinquagenaire au blouson de cuir ajuste,
partent a la rencontre de Moby, " le pape de l’electro-pop ", qui vit
dans Nolita, quartier a la mode du sud de Manhattan. La promenade se
poursuit a Harlem, sur les traces de Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald
ou James Brown, avant un entretien feutre avec Keren Ann, que Manoukian
accompagne de quelques notes au piano.

Entre deux rencontres, la camera filme les deambulations du tandem
a travers Manhattan, l’ecran etant divise facon carte postale, et
des images d’archives font revivre des moments mythiques de la scène
musicale new-yorkaise. De temps a autre, les deux guides animateurs
livrent quelques informations ou anecdotes. A chacun son domaine : jazz
ou piano pour Manoukian, soul rock et guitare pour Tete. Manoukian
agace parfois avec son parler ado, mais la bonne humeur du duo et
la passion pour la musique qui les anime, ainsi que la qualite de la
bande-son donnent envie de les accompagner tout au long de l’ete.

–Boundary_(ID_O+EShUxYLbvTGYYCTPwleg)–

WORKING GROUP HANDLING IRAN-ARMENIA RAIL ROAD CONSTRUCTION

Panorama.am
20:44 01/08/2008

In the nearest future a working group will be formed to handle
the construction of Iran-Armenia rail road, said the Minister of
Communication and Transport Gurgen Sargsyan.

According to the Minister the working group should cover various sides
of the current project. He said that 3 projects are being discussed and
the best one will be selected. In short, the first variant intends to
start the construction point from Eraskh, the second – from Vardenis
and the third one from Gagarin.

The Minister said that for Armenian side Gagarin-Gavar-Martuni-Jermuk
direction is the most preferable.