Author: Maghakian Mike

MICHAEL JACKSON BRIDGED CULTURAL GAPS
By Nora Mossessian

Glendale News Press
July 1, 2009 12:08 AM PDT

When my family and I emigrated from Iran, arriving in Glendale in the
late 1980s, I didn’t know any English, didn’t have a single friend,
and found out rather quickly that there was a gaping rift between
my parents’ conservative Armenian upbringing and the bold sense of
freedom and individuality taught and valued in America.

This rift would continue to be the core of our conflicts for much of my
teenage years, but for a majority of the late ’80s to early ’90s, one
powerful, supernatural force would effortlessly bridge this cultural
gap: Michael Jackson. His incredible songs, cinematic music videos,
flawless live performances and optimistic philanthropic messages
grabbed all of us equally through our living room television set.

Jackson’s music was one of the few things I genuinely enjoyed on my
own and also shared with my parents without receiving an ounce of
disapproval – the height of his career was one of the few times during
my adolescent years when this was the case. He was both a safety
net and a powerful cultural teacher for me and my parents. For me,
he was the American definition of "cool" I sought out the first day
I arrived, clinging on to his music and image as a way to assure
myself and others that I was an Armenian American – not just some
"Armenian immigrant" thrown randomly into an American school.

And, while I’m not claiming Jackson single-handedly taught my parents
about racial equality, I know he had a very positive influence in
that respect as well. How could he not? He was an African American
who reintroduced Motown and R&B to the entire world, breaking all
racial divides and crystallizing the idea that good music and dance is
universal. Proof of this lay in the fact that my traditional parents
had no problem with their 10-year-old Armenian girl, who was supposed
to be prim and proper, dancing feverishly in her denim jacket all
over their living room and shouting, "You know I’m bad, I’m bad,
you know it, you know!"

Nearly everything Jackson did seemed fun, appropriate and
family-friendly; even his crotch-grabbing came across more like
cool, brief dance moves rather than vulgar gestures. Sure he had
sexual vibes, and even a handful of suggestive love songs, but they
all flowed seamlessly into his overall persona and didn’t raise any
highly questionable issues. The same could not be said for Madonna,
Prince, George Michael or any of the existing alternative grunge bands.

Obviously, all of this changed almost overnight in 1993, making the
exact opposite true. You can bet your life my parents weren’t about
to discuss issues such as pedophilia, sexual abuse, search warrants
and strip searches with their 12-year-old daughter. Lucky for them,
they didn’t need to worry about it for too long, as O.J. Simpson
saved them the trouble the following year.

For some reason, it was easier to talk about suspected murder than
suspected molestation. Jackson was quietly swept under our rug. His
investigation was never openly discussed in our living room, and
his music, though not banned, had simply lost its magical quality,
and was no longer shared as universally between us.

This week, as I reflect on the sudden passing of a true childhood
icon, I can’t help but want to deeply thank my parents for not only
coming to this country and protecting me from war and persecution,
but allowing me to have my years of genuine fun, admiration and
lighthearted obsession with Michael Jackson.

While my parents frantically searched for meaning and stability amid
the chaotic task of properly raising two children in a completely
foreign country, they were somehow able to loosen their grip just
enough to allow me to fully enjoy an important piece of American pop
culture, which made it that much easier for me to transition into
the person I wanted to be at the time. That made all the difference
in the world for me then, and I couldn’t be more grateful for it now.

I choose not to think too much about Jackson’s public scrutiny from
1993 onward, because despite all his scandals, none of it changed
the fact that he was an extremely positive figure during my most
impressionable years. He will be sorely missed by several generations,
but will live on forever not just through his timeless music, but
through the hearts and minds of millions of people around the globe
whose identities he directly helped shape in one way or another.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION CENTER PROSECUTES ANC, ALSP AND ORINATS YERKIR

Noyan Tapan
July 1, 2009

YEREVAN, JULY 1, NOYAN TAPAN. The Freedom of Information Center applied
to the Administrative Court of Armenia on June 29, with a demand of
making the Armenian National Congress, Armenian Labor Socialist Party
and Orinats Yerkir (Coutry of Law) party provide information. Anahit
Kocharian, the Center’s Public Relations Executive informed the Noyan
Tapan correspondent about it.

The Freedom of Information Center applied to all the participant
political parties on the threshold of the Yerevan Council of Elders
elections, making a request for giving copies of the 2008 financial
statement and information on sources of donation of the value of more
than hundredfold of the minimum wage. In A. Kocharian’s words, the
Center’s questions were properly answered by the Republican Party,
People’s Party and Armenian Revolutionary Federation. Answers got
from Orinats Yerkir were incomplete, and unsigned.

EXHIBITION SHOWS KARSH BUILT IMMORTALITY ON MORE THAN TECHNIQUE

Brandon Sun
Monday, June 29th, 2009

OTTAWA – The photographs of Yousef Karsh are technical marvels –
exquisitely lit, sublimely detailed, masterfully printed.

But it was the man himself who transformed an Armenian immigrant
into ‘Karsh of Ottawa’, a raconteur and photographic virtuoso through
whose lenses generations of world leaders, celebrities and cognoscenti
sought immortality.

Personable, engaging and curious, Karsh knew how to draw out his
subjects and reveal through his predominantly black-and-white images
something of their souls.

"He was very sensitive to his sitters and a very insightful artist
who was able to draw out expressions, poses, moods in the portrait
session which were really quite extraordinary," says Brian Dewalt,
curator of communications at the Canada Science and Technology Museum.

Ottawa’s science-and-tech museum may seem a strange place to celebrate
a portrait master’s 100th birthday, but this is an exhibition with
a difference.

Part of the citywide Festival Karsh (), "Karsh:
Image Maker" follows the process surrounding what the master described
as the elusive "moment of truth."

As pointed out in the exhibition’s promotional material, his signature
style was "the result of many meticulous artistic and technical
decisions."

It also came from charm, personality and understanding.

The exhibition draws on the extensive resources of Library and Archives
Canada and the Portrait Gallery of Canada. It showcases some of his
most famous photographs while exploring his work behind the scenes
and exhibiting some of the equipment he used.

There are his impressive 8×10 cameras, the huge enlarger he and
his master printer used, as well as displays showing their printing
processes and techniques.

There is, of course, a collection of his exquisite prints reflecting
the hope of Nelson Mandela, the beauty of Audrey Hepburn, the vision
of Fidel Castro, the promise of Martin Luther King, the depth of
Albert Schweitzer, the intensity of Glenn Gould and, most famously,
the bulldog defiance of Winston Churchill.

But perhaps the most revealing element of the exhibition is a series of
small prints of Karsh himself, at work and at play. There are pictures
with his mother, at work in the studio, on location and with a series
of personalities from politicians and actors to wildlife photographer
Ansel Adams and puppeteer Jim Henson.

They show a dapper man humble and joyful in his work – loved, trusted,
respected, totally at ease with his tools and his subjects.

Karsh usually worked away from his large-format camera, a "remote"
in his hand as he conversed with his subjects, asking questions,
exchanging views, engaging them as he almost passively triggered
the shutter.

An assistant would manipulate the lights at his direction. The 8×10
and 5×7 cameras he most used held only one negative at a time. Each
image was a carefully chosen moment with profound undertones.

Churchill’s scowl, it is well known, was elicited when Karsh snapped
the cherished cigar from the British prime minister’s lips during a
two-minute session on Parliament Hill on Dec. 30, 1941.

"The Churchillian scowl deepened, the head was thrust forward
belligerently, and the hand placed on the hip in an attitude of anger,"
Karsh wrote in Faces of Our Time, his 10th of 15 books.

The image captured Churchill and the England of the time perfectly –
defiant and unconquerable.

It became one of the most reproduced photographs ever taken, used on
Churchill commemorative stamps in many countries, including Canada,
Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

There were many other memorable encounters over the years.

Karsh loved people, and could hold his own with the best of them.

His sessions were events in themselves and became renowned for their
repartee. An engaging, intelligent personality, he had a gift for
disarming his subjects, for dismantling the walls that people erect
between themselves and the camera – exposing, it seemed at his best
times, their very souls.

"He had a great ability to get right to the heart of the matter and
be able to put it into a photograph," his late brother, Malak Karsh,
a renowned architectural and landscape photographer, once said of him.

Karsh was polite and curious. He asked questions, elicited answers,
reflections, profound moods. His sessions became known as "visits"
and his subjects gave of themselves "with love and respect," said
his brother.

"People knew they had a master with them and they appreciated that
opportunity. They gave him the opportunity to find out what he needed
to know about them so he could render them in the best way possible."

Combined with his mastery of light and composition, it made a
formidable portraitist – a modern-day master, working most often in
shades of grey.

Karsh once said the fascination of greatness lies not in
accomplishments or physical features, but in the essential element
that created it.

"I call it the ‘inward power,"’ he wrote in Karsh Portfolio. "Within
every man and woman a secret is hidden, and as a photographer it is
my task to reveal it if I can."

"The revelation, if it comes at all, will come in a small fraction
of a second with an unconscious gesture, a gleam of the eye, a brief
lifting of the mask that all humans wear to conceal their innermost
selves from the world. In that fleeting interval of opportunity the
photographer must act or lose his prize."

Karsh was born in Turkey on Dec. 23, 1908. He died in Boston in 2002
at age 93.

The recipient of 17 honorary degrees and the only Canadian named
one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century by the
International Who’s Who (he had photographed more than half of them),
Karsh left behind a legacy for all the world.

His work is in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of
Canada, New York’s Museum of Modern Art and Metropolitan Museum of
Art, George Eastman House, La Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, the
National Portrait Gallery in London, the National Portrait Gallery
of Australia and many others.

Canada’s national library and archive holds his complete collection,
including negatives, prints and documents. His photographic equipment
was donated to the Canada Science and Technology Museum.

"Karsh: Image Maker" continues at the science-and-tech museum through
Sept. 13 and is expected to go on national tour after that.

ULLI WEGNER: I WAS REALLY IMPRESSED ABOUT MAHIR’S ABILITY TO TAKE A PUNCH

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
29.06.2009 12:08 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Unbeaten middleweight world champion Arthur Abraham
(30-0, 24 KOs) retained his IBF title with a thrilling tenth-round
technical knockout over German-based Turk Mahir Oral (25-2-2, 7 KOs) on
Saturday night at the Max Schmeling Halle in Berlin, Germany. Abraham
scored five knockdowns in all, including three in round ten before
Oral’s corner stopped the fight.

"I was really impressed about Mahir’s ability to take a punch," Ulli
Wegner, Abraham’s coach said. "It also fascinated the fans. But our
strategy worked. We let him attack in the early stages and then made
the most of our chances," fightnews.com cited him as saying.

G-8 DECLARATION: WE APPRECIATE TURKEY’S AND ARMENIA’S EFFORTS TO NORMALIZE RELATIONS

Anadolu Agency
June 26 2009
Turkey

TRIESTE (A.A) – 26.06.2009 – A declaration published by the G-8 foreign
ministers in Italy’s Trieste city made a referral to Turkish-Armenian
relations on Friday.

The declaration included evaluations made by the G-8 ministers.

In their declaration, the G-8 ministers touched on the "Caucasus"
and said that they appreciated Turkey’s and Armenia’s efforts to
normalize relations.

EX-SOLICITOR GENERAL OF ARMENIA GAGIK JHANGIRYAN SET FREE

ArmInfo
2009-06-23 19:15:00

ArmInfo. In compliance with the decision of the Armenian National
Assembly ‘On Amnesty Announcement’, the ex-Solicitor General of
Armenia Gagik Jhangiryan has been set free.

‘I promise my friends in custody that we will immediately set them
free’, Jhangiryan said when leaving ‘Kentron’ penitentiary. As regards
the amnesty announcement, he is sure it was made under pressure of the
national movement and European structures. He called himself a soldier
of the Armenian National Congress who is going to further follow ANC.

G. Jhangiryan was arrested after the presidential elections in 2008
in the period of active opposition rallies. On March 23 2009 Kentron
and Nork-Marash communities First Instance Court sentenced Jhangiryan
to 3 years of imprisonment. He was charged with Article 316 part 1.

U.S. AMBASSADOR VISITS KAPAN ON MAY 19

US State News
June 22, 2009 Monday 5:14 PM EST

YEREVAN, Armenia, May 19 — The U.S. Embassy issued the following
press release:

U.S. Ambassador Marie L. Yovanovitch visited Kapan on May 19,
2009. She met with Mayor Arthur Atayan to learn about the current
social and economic situation and discuss U.S. Government assistance
programs in the region. The Ambassador toured the Kapan American
Corner, located in the City Library, where she participated in a
roundtable with local women entrepreneurs. She also met with Peace
Corps volunteers and representatives of the Syunik Civil Society
Development Center funded by the U.S. Agency for International
Development.For more information please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar,
Email:- [email protected]

ARMENIA RECORDS SIGNS OF FATIGUE WITH THE FUTILE POLICY HELD BY ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES: POLITICAL SCIENTIST

Today.Az
ics/53276.html
June 22 2009
Azerbaijan

Interview Day.Az with political scientist Rasim Aghayev

– Armenian mass media have published information that in frames
of the negotiation process Azerbaijan and Armenia are discussing a
definite document. In this connection the Armenian president tries
to persuade Karabakh separatists that "there is no alternative to
serious concessions to Azerbaijan". What could such news mean and
could they be reliable?

– This implies the phased implementation of famous "Madrid principles"
that will allow to settle the main issue on the status of Nagorno
Karabakh. Practice shows that any publication on the return of six
regions to Azerbaijan by Armenia has recently faced resistance of the
significant layers of the political powers of Armenia that continue
policy of blackmail, saying we will exert pressure on Azerbaijan by
the help of the six regions around Nagorno Karabakh to attain the
status desirable for Armenia.

– What is really meant by this?

– This implies the obvious implementation of occupational plans of the
territorial expansion of Armenia. If earlier someone abroad pretended
not to be understanding and closed eyes on evident things, now the
discussions around Nagorno Karabakh between the leading political
powers of the world stressed the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan
in this issue, which makes Armenia’s position too weak and defenseless.

Moreover, the very situation with the world crisis puts Armenia
into a grave condition because the main ally of Armenia – Russia-
is also not at ease and the United States are also impatient and do
not understand Armenia’s obstinacy.

It has become clear that Armenia is not ready to make compromises
in frames of the basic principles and the information leakage
proves the incomplete readiness of the Armenian leadership to assume
implementation of these agreements. Anyway, Armenia is likely to review
its capacities. It might review its tactical steps when Armenia will
try to exchange the soonest solution of the issue on Nagorno Karabakh
status to the readiness to return the occupied lands.

Azerbaijan’s position in this issue is obvious. It states the need to
settle this disputable issues with the protracted status of Karabakh,
if, certainly, Armenia agrees on this approach. I have many evidences
that it could be in Armenia’s interests. Azerbaijan will have to voice
its attitude towards the new situation in any form, if it appears.

– Is this leakage connected with the internal political struggle
in Armenia?

– Well, if this leakage is connected with the internal political
struggle or the intention to show its readiness for compromises,
they will talk about this for some time and then everything will
be back again. I think it is necessary to watch the reaction of
official Yerevan to this and especially see the reaction of Sargsyan’s
opponents, for this issue is a cornerstone around which the policy
of the opponents of Armenian ruling group is based. I do not exclude
that this might imply serious intentions of the Armenian President.

Though, by some information that I have Armenia records signs of
fatigue with the futile policy conducted by Armenian powers in the
recent years. I think the country should renew and review its values,
but in all cases this implies not the Karabakh settlement, but the
phased solution which is of serious importance for both parties.

US ENVOY HOPES FOR NAGORNO-KARABAKH DEAL ON PRINCIPLES MID-JULY

Hurriyet
ish/world/11918503.asp?scr=1
June 22 2009
Turkey

ISTANBUL – International mediators hope to reach a deal between
Azerbaijan and Armenia on the principles of a peace deal on the
disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region at talks tentatively planned for
mid-July in Russia, the U.S. negotiator told Reuters in an interview
published Monday.

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza said he and
his fellow mediators from France and Russia were "shooting for"
a full framework agreement by the end of 2009.

But Bryza conceded the risk of a last-minute breakdown of the kind
that derailed earlier efforts to broker agreement between Azerbaijan
and Armenia.

"I don’t have any reason necessarily to believe that getting as far
as we have here — which is similar to how far the mediators and the
parties got both at Key West and before — that we’re going to get
further than they did," he told Reuters by phone from Washington at
the weekend.

"I do know that we’ve gotten very far now. What gives me some hope
that we will keep moving is logic," he added.

The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia began in 1988 on Armenian
territorial claims over Azerbaijan. Since 1992, Armenian Armed Forces
have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan including the Nagorno-Karabakh
region and its seven surrounding districts — a frozen conflict legacy
of the Soviet Union.

The OSCE Minsk Group, set up in 1992 and co-chaired by the United
States, Russia, and France, is engaged in efforts to resolve the
conflict peacefully.

Armed clashes still occur regularly along the lines separating Azeri
and Armenian troops, although major hostilities ended.

Bryza said the Minsk Group mediators hoped to bring together Armenian
President Serge Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan in mid-July,
the latest in a string of encounters fuelling speculation of a
breakthrough.

Vote on final status

"We hope that if they meet in the middle of July, they will have
agreed conceptually on all the elements of these basic principles,"
he said. The parties would then go line-by-line through the
three-and-a-half pages of text to agree the details.

"Once that happens, which we the co-chairs are shooting for by the
end of the year, then we could say, it would be true, that a framework
agreement has been reached," he said.

Bryza said the mediators were bridging the gap between the two
countries for an agreement, but that the final deal would likely
provide for a vote "that reflects the genuine will of the populations".

"What we are trying to do is incorporate self-determination through
a voting process on Nagorno-Karabakh’s final legal status, but in
a way that for the foreseeable future has no impact on Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity."

Turkey-Armenia thaw

Turkey and Armenia agreed in April on a "road map" deal for U.S.-backed
talks that could lead to the normalization of ties and the opening
of their border, which Ankara closed in a show of support to Baku in
1993 after Armenian occupation of Azeri territories in the disputed
Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Turkish officials, however, have said Turkey will not open its border
with Armenia before the neighboring country ends its occupation of
Nagorno-Karabakh, reassuring Azeri leaders that Ankara’s efforts to
reconcile with Yerevan would not undermine the country’s interests.

Bryza, also closely involved in the Turkey-Armenia roadmap, said the
processes were separate, but running in parallel. Asked if Turkey
would only reopen the border once Armenia makes concessions on
Nagorno-Karabakh, he replied:

"I do not know if that’s right," he said.

But added: "Where there is unanimity, is that we all say we need to
see a breakthrough on Nagorno-Karabakh and significant progress as
soon as possible, and that’s the way to make sure all these processes
move forward smoothly."

MYASNIK MALKHASYAN REFUSES FROM HIS DEPUTY’S MANDATE
Siranush Muradyan

"Radiolur"
22.06.2009 18:18

How will the released Deputies continue their activity? Will
Hakob Hakobyan and Myasnik Malkhasyan continue their legislative
activity? What does the law say?

According to the by-law of the National Assembly, both MPs keep their
mandates until the Parliament takes a decision on their parliamentary
status, taking into consideration the number of the sittings they
have missed.

"They remain Deputies of the National Assembly until the Standing
Committee on State-Legal Issues takes a decision connected with there
absence in sittings during more than one session.," Rafik Petrosyan
from the Republican faction said.

"Proceeding from the fact that there is a verdict of "guilty," the
reasons of their absence will be considered inadequate. However,
the National Aseembly may decide not to deprive them of the Deputy’s
mandate even if the Committee on State-Legal Issues suggests so,"
Rafik Petrosyan noted.

Co-author of the by-law of the National Assembly Viktor Dallakyan
considers, however, that the reasons of their absence will not be
viewed as inadequate.

According to the Constitution, the Deputy keeps his mandate during
the judicial proceedings until the verdict is returned. The MP keeps
his mandate even in case an appeal is filed at the Courts of second
and third instance s.

After the amnesty it is for the National Assembly to decide the
question of the future activity of the Deputies. However, the decision
may apply only to Hakob Hakobyan, since Myasnik Malkhasayan has
declared about his refusal from his Deputy’s mandate.

Hakob Hakobyan does not refuse from the mandate, declaring that he
has been elected by people and is responsible for the 20 thousand
votes cast for him.