RIA Novosti, Russia
May 27, 2008
Russian, Armenian ministers to address Caucasus security
MOSCOW, May 27 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian and Armenian foreign
ministers will discuss security and stability in the Caucasus at
meetings in Moscow between May 29 and June 1, the Russian Foreign
Ministry said on Tuesday.
A ministry spokesman said Armenia’s Edvard Nalbandyan will meet with
Sergei Lavrov and other Russian officials.
Organization of exams discussed at the President’s Office
armradio.am
31.05.2008 13:13
The process of preparation of the exams to start on June 2nd was
discussed during RA President Serzh Sargsyan’s working consultations
featuring RA Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Territorial
Administration Armen Gevorgyan, Head of Staff of the President’s Office
Hovik Abrahamyan, Minister of Education and Science Levon Lazarian,
the Deputy Mayor of Yerevan and Marzpets.
The President said that last year due to joint efforts it became
possible to register certain improvement in the organization of exams.
Serzh Sargsyan assessed today’s opportunities as more favorable, since
some organizational works have already been conducted up to now. `We
are simply required to be principled, objective and consistent. Of
course, it’s very easy to express this in words, practical
implementation is harder. Without giving best solution to this issue we
cannot continue the reforms in higher educational establishments and
schools,’ the President underlined.
RA Minister of Education and Science Levon Lazarian presented the
whole process of preparation of the exams, noting that some corrections
have been implemented based on last year’s experience. He assured that
the implementation of the united exam system is ready in the capital
and the marzes. According to the Minister, the whole process of the
exams will be public, it will be recorded, and everyone will have the
opportunity to follow the exams. Levon Lazarian said all the
procedures have been clarified, and in case of compliance to these
procedures, the objectiveness of the exams will be ensured, since the
mechanism to be applied leaves no other opportunity.
Panorama.am
17:30 31/05/2008
NUMBER OF TOURISTS IN TSAGHKAZOR INCREASED
The reservoir of Marmarik will provide 20mln cube
water to Sevan-Hrazdan irrigation system, hence
reducing the amount of water which is got from Sevan.
Today the Minister of Territorial Administration Armen
Gevorgyan visited to reservoir in Kotayk region to get
acquainted with the reconstruction activities.
In the Municipality of Tsaghkazor the officials have
discussed tourism development projects. The Vice
Premier Minister was introduced to the work done
before. Due to the reconstruction and development of
the rest region every year the number of tourists
visiting Tsaghkazor increases by 30%.
Source: Panorama.am
ARMENIAN-RUSSIAN FINANCIAL-ECONOMIC COOPERATION DISCUSSED
Panorama.am
22:01 27/05/2008
On 20-22 June "Russian-Armenian business club.
Financial-economic cooperation" conference will be held in Yerevan. The
mission of the conference is to improve and develop the economic
cooperation between Armenia and Russia.
The participants of the conference will discuss questions as for
example the perspectives of Armenia to become financial center in
Armenia, the development of small and average business in Armenia and
Russia, investment strategy of the enterprises, Russian experience
and Armenian perspectives.
Leaders and representatives of ministries, banks, companies,
enterprises insurance and financial companies from Armenia and Russian
are invited to take part in the conference.
MOSAIC INSTITUTE HOSTS TURKISH ARMENIAN BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL IN TORONTO
armradio.am
29.05.2008 15:50
The Mosaic Institute invited to Toronto, Kaan Soyak, the Co-Chair
of The Turkish Armenian Business Development Council (TABDC) to
address a group of Canadians of Turkish and Armenian origin at
a dinner reception, independent French correspondent Jean Eckian
informed Radiolur.
Kaan Soyak, the Turkish Co-Chair and Arsen Ghazarian, the Armenian
Co-Chair, established the TABDC in 1997, as a think tank NGO dedicated
to improving relations between Armenia and Turkey.
The mission of the TABDC is to seek normalization between Turkey and
Armenia by opening the border between the two countries, which has
been closed for more than a decade. In addition, the TABDC advocates
establishing diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia.
The Embassies of both Turkey and Armenia in Ottawa sent senior
representatives to the Toronto meeting convened by the Mosaic
Institute. In addition, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
sent a senior diplomat to be present at the Mosaic Institute event.
"There was a wonderful atmosphere of respect and willingness to listen"
said Vahan Kololian, Chairman of the Mosaic Institute. "Clearly
the TABDC is doing important work in the Caucuses region, and it
is important for them to know that many in the Turkish and Armenian
Diaspora support their efforts," he said.
Mr. Soyak said: "While we recognize these two issues are divisive,
it is the position of the TABDC that diplomatic relations and open
borders can be achieved, while the genocide issue and the Nagorno
Karabakh issue continue to be studied and discussed.
Armenia: ‘few tangible results’ on PACE demands so far, says Monitoring
Committee
Strasbourg, 28.05.2008 – The Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), meeting in Kyiv on 26 and 27
May 2008, welcomed the initiatives taken by the Armenian authorities to
address the issues contained in Resolution 1609 (2008) on the
functioning of democratic institutions in Armenia. However, it is
concerned that, to date, these initiatives have led to only a few
tangible results regarding compliance with the demands of the Assembly
as set out in this Resolution.
In Resolution 1609 (2008), the Assembly resolved to consider the
possibility of suspending the voting rights of the Armenian delegation
at the start of its June 2008 part-session unless considerable progress
is made on the following requirements:
* to revoke, in line with Venice Commission recommendations, the
recently adopted amendments to the Law on Conducting Meetings,
Assemblies, Rallies and Demonstrations;
* to start an independent, transparent and credible inquiry into the
events on 1 March 2008, as well as the circumstances that led to them;
* to release the persons detained on seemingly artificial and
politically motivated charges;
* to initiate an open and serious dialogue between the political forces
on the reforms demanded by the Assembly.
The committee noted that the required changes to the Law on Conducting
Meetings, Assemblies, Rallies and Demonstrations have been passed at
first reading by the National Assembly of Armenia and expects them to be
adopted and promulgated before the start of the June part-session of
PACE. It welcomes the steps taken to initiate a dialogue on the reforms
requested by the Assembly, most notably with respect to the electoral
system and the status and rights of the opposition. It expresses the
hope that those opposition leaders who to date have been reluctant to
participate in this dialogue will now consider joining.
That said, the committee is seriously concerned about the lack of any
noticeable progress on the opening of an independent and credible
enquiry. The format envisaged of a parliamentary ad hoc committee to
carry out the inquiry into the events on, and leading to, 1 March will
lack the requisite independence and credibility demanded by the
Assembly, unless the participation of extra-parliamentary opposition,
civil society and international experts is guaranteed. The committee
also regrets that no progress has been made regarding the release of
persons detained on seemingly artificial and politically motivated
charges.
The committee is convinced that, although time is limited, it is still
possible for the Armenian authorities to address the requirements of the
Assembly in time for the visit of the co-rapporteurs of the committee in
the week before the June part-session.
Therefore, the committee instructed its Chair to ask on its behalf for a
debate under urgent procedure during the June 2008 part-session of the
Assembly if the co-rapporteurs, following their visit to Armenia on 16
and 17 June, conclude that insufficient progress has been achieved by
then.
Resolution
< ments/AdoptedText/ta08/ERES1609.htm> 1609 (2008)
Press Release
Parliamentary Assembly Communication Unit
Ref: 382a08
Tel: +33 3 88 41 31 93
Fax :+33 3 90 21 41 34
[email protected]
internet:
The Parliamentary Assembly brings together 318 members from the national
parliaments of the 47 member states.
President: Lluís Maria de Puig (Spain, SOC) ; Secretary General of the
Assembly: Mateo Sorinas.
Political Groups: EPP/CD (Group of the European People’s Party); SOC
(Socialist Group); EDG (European Democratic Group);
ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe); UEL (Group of the
Unified European Left).
Hürriyet, Turkey
May 27 2008
Turk PM forsees fall in FDI inflows due to closure case
Turkish PM Tayyip Erdogan said foreign direct inflows (FDI) to Turkey
is expected to decrease to $13 billion, lower than earlier estimates
of $25 billion, due to the rising uncertainty after the closure case
filed against the AKP, Referans business daily reported.
Economists and analysts had already estimated a fall in the FDI
inflows because of the fallout of a credit crunch in the global
markets.
"We want the ruling in the closure case to come as soon as
possible. So that it does not harm Turkey; we see no economic
disturbance and no impact on our fight against terrorism. Moreover
there will be elections on March (2009)," Erdogan told a group of
reporters from a number of newspapers, including Hurriyet and Milliyet
dailies, in his plane en route to Turkey from Lebanon.
Turkey needs FDI inflows to finance its huge current account deficit,
which is expected to hit $50 billion in 2008. Turkey has attracted $22
billion in FDI in 2007.
Erdogan added the government is trying to convince foreigners to
invest in Turkey, saying `continuity is crucial in state
administration," Referans reported on Tuesday.
Turkey’s Constitutional Court is expected to deliver its ruling in the
closure case by year-end. The top prosecutor demanded the
Islamist-rooted AKP’s closure claiming the party became `the focal
point of anti-secular activities,’ and the banning of 71 party
officials including Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul.
"A French automotive company will invest $800 million to Turkey."
Erdogan said the government reassured the company’s concerns by ruling
out political repercussions between Turkey and France would effect
such investment decisions.
Turkey and France relations had soured after the French parliament
approved a bill that defines denial of the `Armenian genocide’ claims
as a crime. France’s constant opposition to Turkey’s EU membership is
another problematic issue in the relations.
Panorama.am
14:37 28/05/2008
TIGRAN PETROSYAN LEADER
After the 5th round of -Chicago Open- international
tournament Armenian GM Tigran Petrosyan occupies 1-6
horizontals. Together with five other chess players he
has 4 scores from 5 ones.
Another Armenian GM Vladimir Hakobyan, who presents
USA in the tournament, occupies 7-13 horizontals.
Hakobyan follows the leaders of the tournament only by
0.5 scores.
Note that 53 chess players take part in the
tournament. It is organized by Swiss system and 7
rounds. The tournament is conducted in Illinois, USA.
Source: Panorama.am
IS LEBANON A REAL NATION, OR JUST A COLLECTION OF INTEREST GROUPS?
Harry Sterling
The Gazette (Montreal)
May 26 2008
Canada
There is a political entity called Lebanon but some days it’s hard
to call it a nation
Does Lebanon really exist as a nation?
Admittedly, there is a political entity called Lebanon recognized by
the world community.
But does Lebanon exist in the hearts and minds of its own citizens,
a nation whose people have a shared vision of their own country?
Many would dismiss such questions as ludicrous. However, the recent
violence in Lebanon and a deal announced May 21 to end inter-communal
fighting there has focussed attention on whether Lebanon is truly
a unified nation or simply a conglomeration of competing religious
and ethnic groups, rival political factions, warring clans and
self-perpetuating power-brokers, some with private militias, all
individually intent on pursuing their own interests regardless of
the bloody consequences for Lebanese society.
For some, this month’s fighting has sadly demonstrated that there
is not one Lebanon but rather several, each pursuing its own narrow
objectives regardless of the devastation inflicted upon Lebanon’s 13
million people.
Although the formal state of Lebanon obviously exists – and has all
the normal trappings of an independent state, including a parliament
– Lebanon remains a highly divided and fractured society, a society
lacking in a sense of shared nationhood and shared values
In fairness, Lebanon’s never-ending divisions are, to a certain extent,
a result of the Middle East’s own turbulent history and the creation
of artificial states by colonial powers, notably Britain and France.
What is now called Lebanon was a magnet for other cultures, resulting
in the arrival of once persecuted Maronite Christians, Muslim Druze,
Kurds, Armenians, Greeks, Arabs, culminating in the domination by
the Turkish Ottomans from the 16th century until the end of the First
World War when France was given Lebanon as a colonial mandate.
Although a Lebanese republic was established in 1926, Free French
forces occupied Lebanon from 1941-45. Full independence was achieved
in 1945.
Paradoxically, independence only exacerbated long-simmering tensions
and rivalries between Christians and Muslims over who should control
Lebanon. Those tensions were aggravated by the presence of Palestinian
refugees who fled there after Israel’s 1948 independence.
The fighting between Christian and Muslim communities eventually
unleashed full-scale civil war between 1975-90, resulting in
intervention by Syria, which always considered Lebanon part of a
greater Syria.
If Lebanon’s internal divisions weren’t already serious enough,
the arrival of the Palestine Liberation Organization led to Israeli
military attacks, including Israel invading Lebanon’s southern region
in 1978 and again in 1982 when it occupied the southern border area
until forced to withdraw by the fundamentalist Hezbollah.
While the intrusion of outside countries into Lebanon’s domestic
affairs, especially that of Syria, Israel and Iran undermined the
country’s precarious stability, the various rival Lebanese factions
deserve much of the blame for the endless violence and devastation
inflicted upon the country.
While their competition for power originally pitted Christian groups
against Muslim groups, it was never quite so black and white. The
rise of the Shiite Hezbollah movement made it a major opponent of
the traditional Sunni establishment.
Muslim and Christian groups have even joined alliances with traditional
adversaries to achieve political gains. (The Phalangist Christian
militia even aligned itself with Israel.)
During this month’s fighting Hezbollah was joined by Maronite Christian
and Sunni elements in their showdown with the Sunni-Christian dominated
government bloc.
Much of Lebanon’s domestic instability arises from a power-sharing
arrangement from 1943 that attempted to balance the competing groups
by dividing power between a Maronite Christian president, a Sunni
prime minister and a Shiite speaker of parliament.
However, determined to increase its power after its unprecedented
military successes against Israel in 2006, Hezbollah quite Lebanon’s
shaky unity coalition last autumn because its demand for more cabinet
seats was denied.
For reasons that remain unclear, Prime Minister Siniora chose this
month to challenge Hezbollah by ordering the dismantling of its
unauthorized telephone network and firing the pro-Hezbollah security
chief at Beirut airport.
Siniora’s action resulted in Hezbollah militia erecting barricades
in Beirut and seizing control of Sunni facilities, wuth 65 people
killed in subsequent fighting.
Although the two sides have now agreed on a new cabinet- sharing deal
that enables Hezbollah to block unwanted legislation and Hezbollah and
other militias have agreed not to use weapons against one another,
such deals are only short-term measures, incapable of resolving
Lebanon’s longstanding problems.
The deals only prolong the influence of traditional power brokers at
the expense of society at large. This situation won’t change until
ordinary Lebanese people jettison their allegiance to narrow sectarian
groups, and demand leaders who govern in the best interests of the
entire population. This should involve greater central control of
the country’s infrastructure, ending the interference of factions.
At that point, Lebanon might finally evolve into being a unified
nation with a common vision of itself, not merely a geographical
entity beholden to special interest groups.
Harry Sterling, a former diplomat, is an Ottawa-based commentator.
BEAUTIES AND BEASTS: FOR ELIZABETH ROMHILD, LIFE IS AN ARTISTIC JOURNEY, AND THE JOURNEY GOES ON AND ON
Story By Usnisa Sukhsvasti
Bangkok Post
out01.php
May 26 2008
Thailand
‘The orange is gone!"
This observation by artist Elizabeth Romhild on her own work was made
partly in satisfaction and partly in surprise tinged with a slight
wistfulness. In the past decade her work has been dominated by the
"blue bowl with oranges", a motif that has been translated into her
series on women with the trademark round breasts in vibrant colours.
Her latest collection is no longer dominated by breasts; while they
still appear now and again, they are not the focus of the total
image. Romhild is exuberant about this collection, which is being
premie’red in her native Denmark in June under the title "Dawn". The
name is a reference to a new stage in her artistic career, the dawn
of a new beginning, so to speak. Rather appropriate, in fact, when
you consider her artistic development, which seems to have entered
a new phase of growth and maturity.
Gone are the bouncy, saucy, confident women with their bouncy round
breasts like oranges, which adorned her previous canvases. Gone is
the frivolity, gaiety and light-heartedness of those vibrant paintings.
The new collection draws inspiration from her trip to Africa. The
vibrant colours still remain, an integral part of the Romhild persona,
but the outlines are softer, less defined. Women are still featured,
but these are strong, mature, powerful Masai women in a pure, raw
environment, adorned by their colourful ethnic beads and fabrics
that put you in touch with a more basic, more intrinsic side of man
and beast.
The mysterious masked women that often appeared in her earlier
paintings is now reflected in the painted tribal faces and magnificent
wild beasts of the Savannah which, to Romhild, resemble masks that
entice you to imagine what kind of thoughts are going on behind those
haunting eyes.
Two enormous 2x2m canvases, one of a lion and the other of a tiger ("A
tiger’s not an African animal, but I couldn’t resist the urge to paint
this beautiful big cat.") both seem to embody the new Romhild. The eyes
are the main focus of the canvases, much like Romhild’s own enormous
Danish-Armenian eyes that draw you in and capture you as she speaks
animatedly of her work, exuding a deep excitement and passion for
her new collection, for her boundless inspiration, for life.
Eyes, or the lack thereof, to be more precise, are also the focal
point of a painting of a dark tribal face that has none of Romhild’s
trademark colours. This one has been executed in ominous greys,
the black soulless eyes creating a mysterious and foreboding force
that is further enhanced by the paint drizzles that have become one
of Romhild’s favourite techniques for the current collection.
The brushstrokes have also taken on a new expressiveness. She reverted
to pointillism for the tiger image, but used freer, coarser and
more fluid strokes for the lion painting. Upon closer inspection,
there is clear evidence of scratch marks on the canvas; signs of the
wild cat in Romhild letting herself loose in her form of expression,
adding an evocative texture to the overall image.
Romhild has not restricted herself to canvas, either. Images of nomadic
tribesmen and beasts adorn old tabletops, kitchen cabinet doors with
handles still intact. This is the more playful Romhild, just letting
her imagination run free. The wood texture gives way to the rough hide
of the African elephant, while the cabinet handle has become part of
a necklace for a Masai woman. Buttons and even safety pins have been
added to the oil paint for added dimension and, one might say, humour.
For Romhild, this has been a journey of discovery. Like her entire
artistic career, it seems to have come in its own time, of its own
accord. A self-taught artist, Romhild personal journeys into the world
– to Iran as a young girl, then in Saudi Arabia, the US, Indonesia
and then Thailand, have helped to forge her innate talents that were
already apparent as a young girl. Scrap books from her childhood art
class show the same "oranges in a blue bowl" that were to become such
a tour de force for her artistic explosion in Thailand.
It was in Indonesia at the age of 26 that Romhild first indulged
in her passion for art seriously, drawing realistic sketches in
watercolour of the slum communities, and portraits of local people
from the eyes of a keen observer. Already her love of textures was
apparent, with meticulous attention being paid to the rust on the
dilapidated corrugated iron roofs, mildew on walls.
Seascapes were next, with local art critics in Indonesia predicting
a bright future for this young expat artist upon the launch of her
Jakarta exhibition.
Her creative juices were put on the back burner as motherhood took over
her entire being during her early days in Thailand. Two children came
in close succession, and while she indulged in the joys of motherhood,
it also played havoc with her own sense of identity.
"I lost track of who I was. Breastfeeding my children made me feel
like a milk cow, like that was my sole purpose in life," she remarked
with a laugh.
She stopped painting for four years as she raised her children in
their early years, though she managed to channel her frustrations
into a series of surreal drawings.
One shows a woman, breasts exposed, with a cloth covering her
head, hands and feet interchanged. "I no longer knew who I was,"
she explained.
Another shows a woman running, with an open mouth instead of a
head. The mouth is screaming, venting the pent-up anxiety and
frustration that most new mothers feel at one time or another.
Yet another, Birth of an Egg, shows a woman with a child coming
out of a vagina-like opening in her tummy. Others are more erotic
in content. She looks back on this series with a sense of fondness
and even curiosity now, a fulfilled mother of two wonderful teenage
children.
At this point the "oranges in a blue bowl" returned with a
vengeance. She began to play around with the idea, coming up with
various interpretations of the theme; the bowl of oranges sitting
on a table, the bowl tipping over sending the oranges flying in
all directions, the oranges turning into orange juice, two oranges
morphing into female breasts.
"The round orange breast and the blue colour from the bowl was the
main colour combination in my work for many years, with the circle
being eternal love," she noted. She considers red and turquoise to
be the colours that more represent the essential Elizabeth Romhild,
and credits the strong Asian sunlight for her use of the vibrant colour
palette. The strong outlines, the contrasting use of light and shadow,
the reds and blues, cold and hot, are very much a reaction to the
Asian environment where she has been living for the past 25 years,
as opposed to the grey and undefinable impressions of Europe.
This sense of balance is very much an integral part of her work, being
the Libra that she is. And each work is only considered complete when
she is able to achieve that delicate balance.
Romhild is an extremely disciplined artist. Mornings are usually
spent doing her daily chores and exercising (painting large canvases
is very physically demanding), but as afternoon comes, she heads for
her upstairs studio with windows running down one entire wall to let
in natural daylight.
The room is stacked with completed canvases, while a commissioned work
in progress is against one wall. Her paints are on a trolley that can
be moved around as needed. Painting such huge canvases requires an
immense amount of energy, applying the oils with sweeping strokes,
moving back and forth to get different perspectives of the image,
not to mention all the dancing that is involved!
"The moment I walk into my studio I turn on some music – classical
or contemporary, depending on my mood. Three months ago it was
Sting’s Sacred Love, endlessly. Or I might put on Queen full blast
and dance around. At other times it’s Amadeus, Requiem, Carmen
Fantasia by Anne-Sophie Mutter, or Buddha Bar. These are some of
my favourites. It’s the energy in the rhythm that moves my hands,
not the actual tune."
Romhild works with her heart, not her head, and she is not afraid to
take risks. She lets her imagination run free when she’s starting on
a new canvas, working from a rough outline in acrylic but then letting
the image take on a life of its own, which often means changing things
that are already down on the canvas. She admits that she never really
knows the result of her work, since ideas often pop up during the
process. Her painting of two giraffes with their necks intertwined
underwent several transformations before she was satisfied with
the results.
For this new collection, Romhild has also moved into the sphere of
three-dimensional art with a series of sculptures in bronze that are
based on some of her paintings. They comprise a Masai bust, a horn,
and a buffalo skull, as well as "Ecstasy Ladies", a series of lively,
robust ladies in mid-pirouette.
"My hands are so strong now," she laughed when describing her foray
into a new artistic medium. "I enjoy having both hands on the material,
to be able to create three dimensions."
It started with a Christmas tree design project for the Four Seasons
Hotel Bangkok when she came up with the idea of a bronze tree with
Thai motifs. The acquisition of the techniques and suppliers inspired
her to explore the medium further, and she is currently enjoying the
process – another exciting journey of discovery.
"Like my canvases, I have played with a lot of texture in my clay
sculptures," she explained, referring to the indents and marks made
by her fingers and nails into the surface of the Masai bust. "I want
it to look a little raw, not refined," she added, the wild, earthy
side of her apparent.
Romhild is currently travelling back and forth between Bangkok and
Ayutthaya where her bronze sculptures are being cast from her clay
designs. Soon they will be packed away and delivered to Galerie Knud
Grothe Charlottenlund in Copenhagen for a June 14 opening, where she
is celebrating the 10th anniversary of her first exhibition there.
Although Romhild may have her head in the clouds when it comes to
artistic creativity, her feet are firmly on the ground as a result of
her supportive and loving family, husband Peter, and her two children,
whom she considers to be her greatest works of art.