Author: Maghakian Mike

AMERICAN PARLIAMENTARIAN LEAVES SAAKASHVILI OUT IN THE COLD

Tert.am
13:17 ~U 02.02.10

American parliamentarian Daniel Kunin, who in recent years was
working with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in his role as
Senior Advisor to the Government of the Republic of Georgia, has now
deserted him, reports Russian-language news source View.

According to Georgian publication Rezonansi, "lately, the
parliamentarian has prefered not to interfere in the Georgian
president’s activities." Saakashvili’s administration, however,
declined to comment on the issue.

EMIR KUSTURICA AND THE NO SMOKING ORCHESTRA: EXCLUSIVE CONCERT IN YEREVAN

Tert.am
09:58 â~@¢ 01.02.10

On March 5, Emir Kusturica and the No Smoking Orchestra will be
giving an exclusive performance in Yerevan’s National Opera and Ballet
Academic Theatre named after Alexander Spendiaryan.

The Serbian filmmaker, actor and musician of Bosnian origin won the
Palme d’Or twice and has also received the French Ordre des Arts et
des Lettres.

In the mid to late 80s, Kusturica played bass guitar in a rock band
from Zenica (SR Bosnia and Herzegovina) called Zabranjeno Pušenje
(which means "no smoking" in Bosnian). The band eventually split, with
one offshoot continuing to work in Belgrade initially as Zabranjeno
Pušenje, later under the name No Smoking Orchestra, and the other
in Zagreb, using the original name.

This is Emir Kusturica and the No Smoking Orchestra’s first concert
in Armenia.

TURKEY DISAPPOINTED IN RUSSIA’S POSITION ON ARMENIA-TURKEY RAPPROCHEMENT

Tert.am
17:46 ~U 01.02.10

There are differences of opinion on the Cyprus issue, as well as the
issue of establishing Armenia-Turkey relations, between Turkey and
Russia, said Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party’s deputy
chair for external affairs, Suat Kiniklioglu, report Turkish media.

"It would be good if Moscow displayed a more constructive approach
in settling current issues in the South Caucasus," said Kiniklioglu,
while adding that there exists a cooperation based on mutual interests
between Turkey and Russia in the trade and energy sectors.

VIVACEL-MTS NEXT GIFT

Lragir.am
30/01/10

Advanced equipment to the radio lovers of Armenia

VivaCell-MTS supports the development of one of the most original
sports in Armenia

VivaCell-MTS, a subsidiary of `Mobile TeleSystems’ OJSC, announces
that the Radio Sport Federation of Armenia received new professional
equipment. Particularly, the federation got 4 shortwave and 9 super
shortwave radio stations, measurement device for antennae, amplifiers,
and additional accessories.

Radio sport is a unique hobby, with a huge number of people around the
world involved in it.

Amateur radio direction finding (ARDF, also known as radio
orienteering and radiosport) is an amateur racing sport that combines
radio direction finding with the map and compass skills of
orienteering. It has been most popular in Eastern Europe, Russia, and
China, where it was often used in the physical education programs in
schools. This sporting activity does not only help promote
intercultural exchange but also has an important role in the
mobilization and coordination of rescue activities in the emergency
situations.

After 1988 Spitak Earthquake, the radio sport found very important
application in Gyumri which suffered the most after the disaster: the
town could establish connection from the ruined town, which was in
complete isolation from the outer world.

`One shouldn’t overlook amateur initiatives, grounded on the desire to
be useful to others. This sport is one such kind of activity:
intercultural exchange, desire to communicate with the society, and
most importantly, an alternative means to inform the society and
prevent panic in emergency situations. It is necessary to encourage
the sporting activities supported by dedicated people with a hope that
the Armenian team of radiosport will have new victories in the
future’, said VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian.

Paying particular importance to this sport, VivaCell-MTS stretched
hand to the radio lovers of Armenia also in 2008 by supporting with
AMD 4 million for the acquisition of necessary equipment. The result
was that the Radio Sport Federation of Armenia won prestigious places
in 5 international competitions.

We hope the continuous support to the Radio Sport Federation of
Armenia will help enhance its capabilities even further.

ARMENIAN POLITICIAN: TURKEY WILL RATIFY PROTOCOLS AT LEAST ON APRIL 23

ArmInfo
2010-01-29 15:17:00

ArmInfo. Turkey will ratify the Protocols signed in Zurich at least on
April 23, Khosrov Haroutiunyan, Chairman of the Christian Democratic
Party of Armenia, said in a press conference on Friday.

"I am sure the process of normalization of the Armenian-Turkish
relations will have logical end though this path is very thorny,"
he said. He is sure that the statement by Turkish foreign minister
regarding the decision of the Constitutional Court of Armenia on
conformity of the Protocols to the Constitution of Armenia is just
an attempt to "avoid" ratification of the documents.

The politician believes that Turkey will hardly be able to achieve
that goal by linking opening of the border with the Karabakh process,
for both the parties are interested in the success of the normalization
process.

NKR WILL HOST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE "AZERI TERROR AND POLICY OF ETHNIC CLEANSING"

PanARMENIAN.Net
29.01.2010 14:49 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Republic of Artsakh will host an international
conference "Azeri terror and policy of ethnic cleansing in Karabakh".

Conference marks 90th anniversary of March 23, 1920 Shushi tragedy
and 20th anniversary of Baku massacres of Armenians.

The conference aims to reveal and provide scientific grounds for
mistakes of the past, come up with offers to prevent terror and ethnic
cleansings in future, give political estimate of 20th century Azeri
policy of pogroms in Gandzak, Nagorno Karabakh and other Transcaucasian
regions.

The conference is organized by NKR Ministries of Education and
Science, Culture and Youth Affairs, Artsakh State University, "Kachar"
scientific center and Shoushi museum of regional studies.

Participation applications should be submitted before February 15.

Conference participants’ works will be translated into Russian and
English, and published based on final decision of conference board.

The town of Shushi is situated on a high plateau in the center
of Nagorno Karabakh, ten kilometers from the NKR capital city
Stepanakert. Due to its natural geographic location the plateau has
always had a strategic significance.

The first record about Shushi, the former administrative center of
Nagorno Karabakh, dates back to the XVIII century. The town preserved
its significance as a strategic outpost also in the beginning of the
XIX century, when Transcaucasus were under the rule of the Russian
Empire, and Nagorno Karabakh constituted part of the Elizavetpol
Goubernya (province) of Russia. It is by accident that one Russian
military figure wrote that "the one, who will take Shushi, will rule
over Karabakh."

Shushi grew and by the XIX century it became one of the spiritual
centers of the Caucasus. Political thinkers and the cultural elite
of the Armenians of the Caucasus were shaped here.

After the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1918, the Karabakh
Armenians endured one of the most difficult periods of their history.

Azerbaijan made huge unfounded claims to Karabakh and Zangezur, the
historic territories of Armenia. Such actions of Azerbaijan were
supported by the tragic circumstances during World War I, as well
as by the patronage of the criminal authorities of Turkey. In 1915,
the Ottoman Empire carried out genocide of one and a half million
Armenian people in Western Armenia. The young Republic of Armenia was
already so exhausted that it could not defend the Armenian population
and assert its rights on Karabakh and Zangezur.

However, the population of Nagorno Karabakh and Zangezur refused to
recognize the jurisdiction of the newly created Azerbaijani Republic.

Azerbaijan, without having any legitimate rights to control this
region, tried to subjugate Nagorno Karabakh with the help of Turkish
troops. On September 15, 1918 Turkish troops entered Baku, and as a
result of the massacres, thirty thousand Armenians were murdered.

March 23, 1920 was the most tragic – the Turkish-Azerbaijani troops
burnt and plundered Shushi, the fifth largest town in the Caucasus.

Within three days, the population of the town decreased by 65%. The
Turkish Musavatist armed groups eliminated 25 thousand Armenians in
Shushi. Seven thousand well-furnished two-story houses and beautiful
cultural and administrative buildings were ravaged and turned to
ashes. The Armenian part of the town was burnt and was not rebuilt
until the beginning of the 1960s.

The Liberation of Shushi marked the first significant military
victory by Armenian forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave during
the Nagorno-Karabakh War. The battle was part of a larger territorial
land dispute by the local Armenian population in Karabakh, aided by
the neighboring Republic of Armenia, to gain independence from the
Republic of Azerbaijan.

The battle took place in the strategically important Azeri mountain
town of Shusha (known as Shushi to Armenians) on the evening of 8 May
1992, and fighting swiftly concluded the following day after Armenian
forces captured and drove out the defending Azeris. Armenian military
commanders based in Nagorno-Karabakh’s capital of Stepanakert had been
contemplating the capture of the town after a hail of Azeri military
bombardment had begun shelling that city.

The seizure of the town proved decisive. Shusha was the most important
military stronghold that Azerbaijan held in Nagorno-Karabakh –
its loss marked a turning point in the war, and led to a series of
military victories by Armenian forces in the course of the conflict.

However some of the shelling was, according to the accounts of former
residents, either indiscriminate or intentionally aimed at civilian
targets.

In January 1990, Azerbaijani authorities instigated the Armenian
pogroms in Baku. Some 400 Armenians were killed and 200 thousand
were exiled in the period of January 13-19. The exact number of those
killed was never determined, as no investigation was carried out into
the crimes.

On January 13, a crowd numbering 50 thousand people divided into
groups and started "cleaning" the city of Armenians. On January 17,
the European Parliament called on EU Council of Foreign Ministers
and European Council to protect Armenians and render assistance to
Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. On January 18, a group of U.S. Senators
sent a letter to Mikhail Gorbachev to express concerns over the
violence against the Armenian population in Azerbaijan and called
for unification of Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia.

SARGIS HACPANYAN’S FATHER DIED

A1Plus.am
January 28, 2010

The father of French Armenian freedom fighter, current prisoner Sargis
Hacpanyan died today.

Gevorg Hacpanyan was on the verge of death for a couple of weeks now,
but his son didn’t get a chance to see his father one last time.

Gevorg Hacpanyan was in France.

Hundreds of friends, including Mikayel Hayrapetyan, Petros Makeyan,
Zhirair Sefilyan and David Matevosyan, expressed their condolences
to freedom fighter, current political prisoner Sargis Hacpanyan.

ALIYEV SAYS ARMENIA SHOULD ‘LIBERATE’ FIRST

Asbarez
Jan 27th, 2010

DAVOS, Switzerland-Azeri President Ilham Aliyev told the Wall Street
Journal on Wednesday that he was confident that Turkey would not ratify
the Armenia-Turkey protocols until Armenia "returned" the liberated
territories around Karabakh and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic itself
to Azerbaijan’s control.

"There is a common understanding in the region that there should
be a first step by Armenia to start the liberation of the occupied
territories," Aliyev told the Wall Street Journal in an interview
conducted in the margins of the World Economic Forum. He also told
the Journal that he was "fully satisfied" with Turkey’s understanding
of the issue, despite his past harsh criticism.

"If the two issues are disconnected, then probably Armenia will freeze
negotiations with Azerbaijan (over Nagorno Karabakh)," Aliyev told the
Journal, which reported that Aliyev, in the past, has threatened war.

"Now we are approaching the moment when things get more and more
difficult," President Serzh Sarkisian’s deputy chief of staff Vigen
Sargsyan told the Wall Street Journal.

Sargsyan told the WSJ that while Armenia’s government is sending
the protocols to parliament for ratification, it is also preparing
legislation to enable the president to withdraw his signature from
treaties.

"If this opportunity is lost it will push the whole region back,
not to where we started when talks began but beyond that," Sargsyan
told the WSJ.

The WSJ reported that Aliyev has expressed anger over the
Turkey-Armenia talks by threatening to reroute Azeri natural gas
and oil exports away from Turkey. "Azerbaijan can export gas in four
directions: Turkey, Georgia, Iran and Russia," Aliyev told the WSJ.

The Azeri president also expressed his frustration over delays
in the construction of the Nabucco pipeline. In an interview with
Bloomberg TV Wednesday, Aliyev complained of a lack of leadership in
the pipeline project. He told the Wall Street Journal that he would
entertain selling as much gas to Russia’s Gazprom if the pipeline
were delayed. The concept of the Western-backed Nabucco pipeline is
to side-step and diversify supplies away from Russia in an effort to
diminish its energy influence in the region.

"So far we do not know who is that leader who will move this process
forward," Aliyev said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. "Who
will engage itself in negotiations with gas producers, transiters? Who
will do the marketing for this gas? What will be the pricing?

"So a lot of questions that are not answered for quite a lot of time,"
Aliyev told Bloomberg TV.

PRESS RELEASE
Haigazian University
From: Mira Yardemian
Public Relations Director
Email: [email protected]

The Derian Armenological Library Friends Present:
The Armenian Book – 2009 Publications

Beirut, January 22, 2010- On the occasion of UNESCO’s declaration,
"Beirut World Book Capital for 2009", the friends of Haigazian
University’s Derian Armenological Library organized a celebratory
evening entitled "The Armenian Book – 2009 Publications".

The event, which took place on Friday, January 22, 2010, in the
University Auditorium, opened with the welcoming word of the University
Librarian, Ms. Sonia Sislian, who acknowledged that, many prominent
Lebanese Armenian intellectuals, as well as recent young Armenian
authors, brought their part in the 2009 publications.

Keynote speaker, Director of the Khatcher Kaloustian Educational Center,
Mr. Garo Hovannessian, pointed out clearly that Armenia or the Armenian
spirit exists, wherever there are Armenians, Armenian writers and poets,
and Armenian books. "In this respect, the Derian Library is considered
an Armenia in itself", Hovannessian said.

He noted that in today’s difficult circumstances, publishing Armenian
books is considered as a heroic act, which requires an equivalent
attention and appreciation. "The Armenian culture should have a global
vision that embodies other cultures’ positive values without succumbing
to it", Hovannessian added.

He concluded his speech by wishing this celebratory event to turn into
an annual tradition especially that the Armenian culture and heritage
are on the edge of celebrating the 500 years of the printed Armenian
book.

After a short musical interlude, a piano piece, "Spring" of Gomidas,
skillfully performed by student Palig Ladoyan, and a poem "The Armenian
Book" of Jack S. Hagopian, gracefully recited by student Shoghig
Hovsepian, University President, Rev. Dr. Haidostian expressed his words
of thanks and gratitude to all the authors, appreciating their
unwavering efforts to publish Armenian books.

The event concluded with the presentation of special recognition
certificates to the authors and the representatives of editorial
committees. The recipients were, Kevork Apelian, Barouyr Aghbashian,
Father Hovsep Topalian, Sona Khedechian-Dzarouguian, Levon Djermaguian,
Mesrob Hayouni, Aline Hagopian, Shahantoukhd, Zani Shahinian-Mesrobian,
Father Krikor Chifchian, Aram Sepedjian, Bebo Simonian, Boghos Snabian,
Loussig Somounjian- Afarian, Anahid Doniguian, Yervant Pamboukian,
Yervant Kassouny, Salpi Kurkjian-Tashjian, Father Varant Kortmossian,
Aghavni Festekjian, Antranig Dakessian from the Haigazian Armenological
Review team , and Garo Hovannessian from the HASG Armenological Yearbook
team.

The ceremony ended with cutting a celebratory cake.

TURKISH PRIME MINISTER FUELS ANTI-SEMITISM, SAYS ISRAELI REPORT

Asbarez
Jan 26th, 2010

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan walked off the stage
after an angry exchange with the Israeli president, Shimon Peres,
during a panel discussion on Gaza at the World Economic Forum in 2009.

JERUSALEM (Hurriyet)-The already tense ties between Turkey and Israel
appear to have hit a new low as a new Israeli Foreign Ministry report
accused Turkey’s prime minister of fueling anti-Semitism with his
criticism of Israel.

A government official said Tuesday the seven-page report accuses
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of inflaming Turkish public
opinion against Israel with his repeated allegations that Israel
committed war crimes during its Gaza offensive last winter, reported
the Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity
because the report is confidential.

He said the report also acknowledged Deputy Foreign Minister Danny
Ayalon seriously offended Turkey’s ambassador when he summoned
the diplomat to protest a Turkish TV show that portrayed Israeli
intelligence agents as cruel. Still, it said that the incident
made clear that Turkey "reached the outer limits of the Israeli
government’s patience."

The report came as Turkey stated Tuesday that it would pursue
its determination against anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia and
discrimination with its belief in mutual understanding, tolerance,
freedom, security and democracy.

On the eve of the 65th anniversary of the Auschwitz death camp’s
liberation, the Foreign Ministry noted that it was a duty of both
humanity and every U.N.-member state to condemn the Holocaust and
to encourage efforts to educate new generations. The ministry also
commemorated Turkish diplomats who risked their lives to save people
from the Holocaust in Europe during World War II.

In Israel, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Ayalon, both of
Yisrael Beiteinu, are the leaders of the government’s aggressive
anti-Turkey faction, while Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Industry
Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, both of Labor, head the conciliatory,
pro-Turkey faction.

The report was written by the Center for Political Research, which
performs the ministry’s in-house intelligence analysis, and has
already been distributed to Israeli embassies and consulates abroad.

It was submitted to the key seven cabinet ministers a few days ago,
Israel’s Haaretz reported.

Regarding Ayalon’s humiliation of Ambassador Oguz Celikkol, the report
said that while this seriously offended the Turks for many years to
come, "at the same time, the manner in which senior Turkish officials,
including Erdogan, ended the crisis may indicate that Turkey recognizes
that it entered the red-line zone and [reached] the outer limits of the
Israeli government’s patience, and that this was liable to lead to it
losing Israel, which would damage Turkey’s international legitimacy."

But most of the report focuses on the Turkish prime minister, who it
considers the main source of the current friction. "In our estimate,
ever since his party took power, Erdogan has conducted an ongoing
process of … fashioning a negative view of Israel in Turkish public
opinion," via endless talk of Palestinian suffering, repeatedly
accusing Israel of war crimes and even "anti-Semitic expressions and
incitement," it said.

Though in international forums Erdogan always stresses that
anti-Semitism is "a crime against humanity," the report continued,
in reality, he "indirectly incites and encourages" anti-Semitism
in Turkey. "For Erdogan and some of those around him," it explained,
"there is no distinction between ‘Israeli’ and ‘Jewish,’ and therefore,
[their] anti-Israel fervor and criticism became anti-Jewish."

One result, according to the report, is articles in the Turkish
press questioning whether Turkish Jews are loyal to their country –
something that could endanger Turkey’s Jewish community.

In some cases, it added, Erdogan simply does not understand the
anti-Semitic nature of his remarks – such as "Jews are good with
money," which "he sees as a compliment."

Erdogan also "grants legitimacy" or "turns a blind eye" to anti-Israeli
television programs "of an inflammatory, anti-Semitic nature," such
as "Valley of the Wolves" – the series that prompted Ayalon’s rebuke
of the ambassador, according to report. The claim that this is just
freedom of the press at work, the report said, is belied not only
by the fact that such programs are approved by the Turkish censor,
but by reports from Turkish journalists who say this freedom has been
sharply curtailed in recent months: They say that "editorial policy
is dictated by government bodies, journalists’ phones and offices that
have been wiretapped, pressure has been applied to owners of mainstream
media outlets, and there is tight supervision of Internet sites."

"For Erdogan, Israel-bashing is a way of bolstering his status with
Islamic and Middle Eastern states, which Turkey would like to lead,
and against the Turkish opposition, as well as with his own party’s
target audience and nationalist elements of the Turkish public,"
the report read.

It also rejected the Turkish position that Erdogan is merely responding
to Turkish public opinion, saying that in reality, Turkey’s government
is leading public opinion, not following it. "Turkey today, under the
leadership of the AKP [the ruling Justice and Development Party],
is different from the Turkey with which Israel forged a strategic
relationship in the early 1990s," it concluded.