Armenian government allocates one million dollars for construction of
Charles Aznavour’s house-museum in Yerevan
2
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 6, NOYAN TAPAN. At the February 5 sitting, the
Armenian government decided to allocate 300 million drams (about one
million USD) from its reserve fund to Yerevan mayor’s office for
construction of Charles Aznavour’s House-Museum, Noyan Tapan was
informed by the RA Government Information and PR Department.
Hürriyet, Turkey
Feb 7 2009
Weighing ‘non’ on French NATO bid
ANKARA – With France seen to be pouring cold water on Turkey’s EU bid,
NATO members are anxiously looking to see to what degree Turkey uses
its veto trump as leverage.
As many in NATO look to see Turkey’s reaction to France’s
announcement that France wanted to rejoin the organization’s military
arm, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Friday that Turkey was
evaluating the decision.
More than four decades after quitting NATO’s military wing, France
wants back in the fold. But as all decisions are made unanimously in
NATO, all eyes have turned on Turkey, which holds a right to
veto. Critics have said how Ankara reacts will be important,
considering the French blow to the country’s accession negotiations
with the European Union. Paris objects to the opening of five policy
chapters in Turkish-EU talks.
"What’s important is when and how the decision will be implemented by
NATO," Babacan told reporters at Ankara’s EsenboÄ?a airport
before departing for Munich, where he was to attend a security
conference.
Babacan said France was already an active member of the transatlantic
alliance and involved in some NATO operations, such as the operation
in Afghanistan. He said the issue had both legal and political
elements but that the political aspect was dominant.
"We are making an assessment of this. What’s important is the NATO
alliance remains strong as an international organization, but I
believe the decision process over the French application will be
discussed in the coming days," he said. Meanwhile French Prime
Minister François Fillon appealed to Ankara in search of an
appropriate time for a visit, learned the Hürriyet Daily News &
Economic Review. Although the timing of the request coincides with
the debate on the French return to NATO’s military wing, the sources
recalled that such a visit was long-planned and cannot be ultimately
linked to the NATO Summit that will take place April 3 and 4.
Irked by what it saw as a dominant role of the United States in NATO,
France pulled out of the NATO military wing in 1966. France’s Le Monde
newspaper covered the issue and said Ankara was holding an important
card, referring to Turkey’s veto power.
Babacan said NATO was considering the French decision. "But a large
portion of NATO member states are looking on this
positively. Processes are important here. I am sure the French will
submit the modalities on their return as soon as possible."Turkey has
resisted efforts by the European Union and NATO to cooperate more
closely, complaining that EU-member Greek Cyprus Ä? with whom it
has a longstanding dispute over the divided island Ä? is
blocking its bid for closer EU ties leading to membership.
Babacan, who will be in Munich between Feb. 6 and 8, will participate
in the Security Policies Conference and hold bilateral meetings on the
sidelines of the conference with Armenian Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian."The timing of the meeting with the Armenian foreign
minister has been confirmed," he said. The two also met at the World
Economic Forum in Davos last week.
Babacan will visit Azerbaijan on Monday for talks with his
counterpart, Elmar Memmedyarov, and President Ilham Aliyev, according
to the ministry.
FIGHTING AGAINST STREET TRADE IN GYUMRI
ARMENPRESS
Feb 5, 2009
GYUMRI, FEBRUARY 5, ARMENPRESS: Gyumri authorities fight against the
street trade. With the decision of the municipality the retail trade of
agricultural food in the area near the food market on Victory avenue
has already been forbidden. The municipality suggests the merchants
to move to the territory of the market and organize the trade in a
more civilized order.
Though the merchants refuse from moving to the market, the municipality
already cleans the mentioned territories.
Responsible for the public relations of the municipality Lilit Aghekian
told Armenpress that yet in December last year the municipality
informed the merchants of the territory about forbidding of the trade.
In 2008 the municipality succeeded in forbidding the street trade in
another territory of the town on Mayakovski street by moving it to
the market.
ARMENIA HAS OPPORTUNITY TO BECOME REGIONAL CENTER OF NUCLEAR MEDICINE, MINISTER OF ECONOMY SAYS
Noyan Tapan
Feb 5, 2009
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, NOYAN TAPAN. When presenting the annual report
of the RA ministry of economy to the prime minister Tigran Sargsyan
on February 4, the minister Nerses Yeritsian said that the Program
of Sustainable Development of the RA has already been approved and
the plan of measures envisaged by the program is at the final stage
of development.
According to the minister, the programs to be implemented in the next
3-4 years within the frame of cooperation with the World Bank have
been specified, and a package of priority programs has been formed,
for the implementation of which credit bids of over a billion dollars
were submitted to the WB. With the aim of improving the business
environment, in 2008 the concept of the national project "Excellency
Center" on Armenia’s business and investment environment was developed
and then adopted by the government.
The project envisages measures in ten main directions, and their
implementation has already started.
Besides, the ministry has submitted to the government a program of
assistance for the installation of a Cyclone-30 isotope producing unit
at Yerevan Physics Institute after Alikhanian and for the creation
of a Nuclear Medicine Center in Armenia. The use of accelerators in
medicine and allied spheres will provide Armenia with an opportunity
to become a regional center of nuclear medicine.
N. Yeritsian underlined the necessity "to attract good experts" for
the implementation of the ministry’s programs. In this connection
the prime minister said that the other ministries and departments
also have a need for qualified experts. In his words, the technical
assiastance provided by the World Bank should be used for the
formation and improvement of professional skills of the personnel,
and the programs being worked out in this direction should be in
keeping with the system of civil servants.
PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Center for National and International Studies
75 Yerznkian Street
Yerevan 0033, Armenia
Tel: (+374 – 10) 52.87.80 or 27.48.18
Fax: (+374 – 10) 52.48.46
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Website:
February 5, 2009
Richard Giragosian Appointed Director of ACNIS
Yerevan–In his new position as the director of the Armenian Center
for National and International Studies (ACNIS), Richard Giragosian
brings a wealth of experience and a reputation for independent
analysis and has been living in Armenia for the past several years.
For nine years, Giragosian served as a Professional Staff Member of
the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress. He is a regular
contributor to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) publications
and is a contributing analyst for the London-based Jane’s Information
Group, covering political, economic and security issues in the South
Caucasus, Central Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. In addition,
Giragosian was appointed twice as a State Commissioner on the Virginia
Governor’s Commission on Armenian Affairs and has also served as an
honorary member of the National Steering Committees of both the
Clinton and Gore presidential campaigns.
Giragosian has contributed to publications of the Center for Strategic
and International Studies (CSIS), the Bertelsmann Foundation, the
International Security Network (ISN), the Swiss Peace Foundation, and
has written for Jane’s Defence Weekly, the China and Eurasia Forum
Quarterly, Jane’s Intelligence Digest, the Hong Kong-based Asia Times
Online, Demokratizatsiya, Jane’s Foreign Report, the Journal of Slavic
Military Studies, Jane’s Islamic Affairs Analyst, the Turkish Daily
News, the Turkish Policy Quarterly, and the Harvard International
Review, among others. He is also a guest columnist for the
Turkish-language international edition of Newsweek and is an Editorial
Consultant for the Turkish Policy Quarterly, an English-language
journal based in Istanbul, Turkey.
ACNIS founder Raffi K. Hovannisian welcomed the new appointment and
stressed that Giragosian will only strengthen the Center’s dynamic
15-year record of public policy research and analysis. Hovannisian
added that "Richard Giragosian represents the very ideals of objective
scholarship that ACNIS has long held dear and his personal
contribution to the development of Armenia only matches the Center’s
goals for a more democratic Armenia."
As one of the leading "think tanks" in Armenia, the Center conducts a
wide range of strategic research and analysis covering the most
significant public policy issues in Armenia. ACNIS strategic research
and analysis covers five main program areas: public policy, economics,
international and regional studies, national security studies, and
global and regional trends.
Reflecting its unique position as a leading research institution in
Armenia, the Center actively contributes toward the strengthening of
the Armenian nation and its state institutions and offers balanced
policy recommendations to all segments of Armenian society and the
Armenian Diaspora.
One of the core longer-term goals of the Center is to enhance its role
as a catalyst for creative, strategic and innovative analysis, based
on strict standards of intellectual integrity and professional
objectivity.
In addition, ACNIS also produces a number of publications and reports
and regularly holds conferences, seminars and roundtable meetings
aimed at raising public awareness of pressing policy issues. In this
way, the center strives to raise the level of debate and broaden the
scope of political discourse in Armenia by providing comprehensive
critical analysis.
For further information on the Center call (37410) 52-87-80 or
27-48-18; fax (37410) 52-48-46; email [email protected] or [email protected];
or visit
RUSSIA HOSTS EX-SOVIET SECURITY SUMMIT
The Associated Press
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
MOSCOW: Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev is hosting a summit of
leaders of six other ex-Soviet nations for talks on strengthening
their security alliance.
Medvedev is meeting with the leaders of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – members of the Moscow-dominated
Collective Security Treaty Organization.
The security pact helps the Kremlin maintain its clout in the former
Soviet backyard.
Wednesday’s meeting follows Kyrgyzstan President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s
statement Tuesday that his country decided to end the U.S. lease of
a key air base that supports military operations in Afghanistan.
Bakiyev made the statement after Russia agreed to provide Kyrgyzstan
with $2 billion in loans plus $150 million in financial aid.
INDIAN "KGK" COMPANY TO EXPAND ITS JEWELRY RAW PROCESSING ACTIVITY IN ARMENIA
ARMENPRESS
Feb 2, 2009
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, ARMENPRESS: Indian "KGK" company is planning to
expand its raw jewelry processing activity in Armenia. Such intention
the company expressed during the discussion at the Armenian Development
Agency.
The executive director of the company Robert Harutyunian told
Armenpress that last year the company carried out a quite successful
program in Armenia: the raw imported to the county was processed and
the final result-product transported to Russia for sale. The company
intends to establish a factory in Armenia or a joint venture with
the local companies.
"KGK" worked with "DCA" company and Yerevan jewelry factory. The
agency expressed readiness to support this year’s activity of "KGK".
AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTRY COMPLAINS OF ARMENIA AND RUSSIA TO OIC
ArmInfo
2009-02-03 12:27:00
ArmInfo. Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan forwarded a statement to
the countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC)
concerning ‘transfer of arms to Armenia’.
As the Azerbaijani FM told 1news.az, the statement was initially
forwarded to Saudi Arabia for further distribution among other
OIC states. ‘The statement expresses a categorical protest with
respect to arming of one of the Karabakh conflict parties by OSCE
MG cochair-country’, the source reports. Thus, the Azerbaijani party
has clearly shown the purpose of the fuss kicked up by Baku about the
alleged transfer of a big batch of arms by Russia to Armenia: if not
try to change the format of OSCE MG then make an attempt to discredit
Moscow as a mediator on Karabakh conflict settlement. To recall, last
year, Baku tried to exaggerate the issue of changing OSCE MG format.
CHARLES AZNAVOUR: THE FRENCH SINATRA
Alan Franks
The Times
January 31, 2009
He has written a thousand songs and has as many memories, but often
it’s just better to move on, he says
It’s not quite right to call Charles Aznavour the French Sinatra,
but he’s certainly the nearest thing that they have. Never mind
his tiny stature, he’s huge all over the world after selling 100
million albums and acting in 60 films in as many years. Mention the
comparison and he shrugs it away with Gallic insouciance; Sinatra,
he says, was a singer who acted; he is an actor who sings.
His new album finds him begging the comparison again, even
if unintentionally, as the late American is one of his three
posthumous singing partners, the other two being Dean Martin and
Edith Piaf. The 84-year-old more than holds his own in this company,
his voice ranging fluently from deep valleys of tendresse to peaks
of shameless melodrama.
>From his expression when he talks about adding his voice to the
recordings, it must have been a strange and moving experience. Although
he never met Martin, Sinatra and Piaf were good friends and big
influences. He has a face that goes beetling and ruminative, then pulls
itself together as if it has been caught malingering. "Strange? Yes,
but not difficult," he says.
"Of course, it brought up strong memories. But [with Piaf] this was
not the first time I had done this, but the third. And naturally,
when she was alive, we sang many times together."
On this side of the Channel Aznavour has been taken as the essence
of Frenchness, much as was Maurice Chevalier before him. Musically,
he remains best known for his two UK chart hits of the 1970s, She
(reprised by Elvis Costello in the 1999 film Notting Hill) and The
OldFashioned Way. As an actor, his profile was never higher than in
the 1960 film Shoot the Pianist (Tirez sur le Pianiste), directed
by Francois Truffaut. He has had several successful tours here and,
moving briskly away from stereotype, says that he loves the food. "I
had a piano player from Leeds, and he took me about.
You know, the proper food, not like in restaurants, but like the
family eats at home."
His musical Lautrec, about the artist’s final years, came to the West
End in London in 2000 but lasted only ten weeks. "Very bad reviews
in London.
But in Plymouth, fantastic. In London the press doesn’t like the
French. In England, yes. In Paris, it’s on the contrary. We receive
the foreigner better than we receive the French."
This is ironic, since without that hospitality in his case he would
not have become as French as he has. Though he was born in Paris,
his birth name was Shahnour Varenagh Aznavourian. His parents were
Armenian migrants fleeing Turkish oppression. Originally French was
his second langua ge. When he talks of the family struggles to raise
him and his sister, who is now 86, his eyes come close to brimming,
but then he thinks better of it.
"They abandoned their dreams in order to raise us. They came to
France not knowing the language, and with no money. I can still see
my father with a, you know" – he lowers his arms as if to pick up
something heavy – "a charrette, a little cart. He was a good singer,
a baritone, and he got records of jazz, tango, everything. He even
took us to the movies twice a week."
You could say that this background has politicised Aznavour, but he
rejects the word. "Not political, no. I hate politics. But social." Yet
on the evidence of what he says about (parts of) Turkey’s denial
of the so-called Armenian holocaust in 1915, in which more than a
million are thought to have died, he is thoroughly engagé. "They
don’t want to recognise it," he says. "But they will need to do so
one day, not only for us, but for themselves." Two years ago he was
hailed as "a hero of the Armenian people" by President Sargsyan for
his charitable work and was granted citizenship of the republic. In
2002 he starred in Ararat, a film about the genocide directed by the
Armenian-Canadian Atom Egoyan.
Last year Aznavour found himself travelling to Brazil, where he
is officially the best-known Frenchman , on the same aircraft as
President Sarkozy and his singing wife Carla Bruni. Sarkozy was going
to a trade conference; Aznavour was going to perform. "I don’t know
Bruni’s music," he says, "but I thought she was very nice with him
[Sarkozy]. He needs that. She calms him."
If the songs on Aznavour’s Duos double album concern themselves with
politics, it is of the emotional kind. Here is an international gallery
of singers helping him to dissect the joys and despairs of romantic
coalitions: the Greek veteran Nana Mouskouri joining in on To Die of
Love; Liza Minnelli, another "very dear friend", doing Quiet Love;
Johnny Hallyday, France’s old answer to Elvis Presley, on You’ve got
to Learn. Then there’s our very own Bryan Ferry, louche as ever on
She, and Elton John belting it out on Hier Encore. "I said he could
do it in English if he wanted," Aznavour says, "but he insisted on
doing it in French, and I thought he did it very well."
Many of these 28 recordings have been assembled over several
years. Aznavour gave a wish-list of partners to his manager, who then
contacted them, and received no refusals. "I am too shy," Aznavour
says, "it is difficult for me to ask something like that." Even though
he is so admired and old enough to be the grandfather of two of his
singing partners (the rising American Josh Groban and the powerful
Italian diva Laura Pausini). "Shy is shy," he says.
"Even if I know them well, like Elton, Sting, Iglesias, Nana."
But however strong these presences, none threatens to engulf him,
not even Plácido Domingo on El Barco Ya Se Fue. Instead, he manages
to co-opt them all into his own idiom, which is in the tradition of
such great French chansonniers as Gilbert Bécaud and Aznavour’s
own favourite, Charles (La Mer) Trenet. And Piaf. How significant
was she for him? "Well, it’s not that she helped me, but I helped
myself by learning things from her. Many things. Watching people,
you know, that’s much more instructive than asking something. That
way you know what is better for you and what is not. I used to do
everything with her – driving her car, taking care of the [stage]
lighting, writing songs.
"So yes, she was one part of the influence. It was Chevalier for the
career, how to be professional, Trenet for the writing, just because
he was so good at it, and Piaf for the pathos. Her personality, the
singing and the dancing. The living, the drinking, the having fun,
you know. She was a very funny woman. It doesn’t show that in the
movie [Olivier Dahan’s La Vie en Rose in 2007], but she had a great
sense of humour and we were laughing always."
And yet her image is so tragic, so blighted. "Yes, but I don’t like it.
She was funny and joyful and we had a great time and we never went
to sleep before three or four in the morning."
And Sinatra; was he the influence that the comparison implies? Aznavour
gives a sudden yap of a laugh and says, "Good friend, good
relationship", while making a drinking motion with his right hand.
Ask him about his wives, or rather one of them, and the gallanterie
deserts him. He has been happily married to his third, Swedish-born
wife Ulla Thorsell for 40 years. They have three children and live
outside Marseilles.
Before that, however … he flings his arms in the air and declares:
"The moment you make a woman your wife who wants to be Missus Madame"
– his face makes a contemptuous swagger – "it’s over, finished."
He denies that he has retired from performing. "A newspaperman said
that, but it’s wrong. I said I was stopping the tours. I used to do 220
or 230 galas a year, but not any more. Now I do one day here, one day
there." He also reveals that he has written a play, his first. It is
a one-woman show, about an actress, with all the dialogue and songs
by him. He thinks he’s got the performer he wants, even though he
hasn’t heard her sing, and it is meant to open in Paris in autumn.
That is the season in which many of his songs seem to dwell. He
has written nearly 1,000, and themes of melancholy refle ction keep
surfacing. "Je n’ai pas vu le temps passer," he sings with Paul Anka,
author of Sinatra’s theme tune, My Way. Aznavour himself writes enough
retrospective numbers, but minus the triumph and self-aggrandisement,
to make you suspect that he is full of regrets.
"Non, non," he piafs. "No regrets. No remorse." Ah, but he says
that almost as if he is issuing an instruction to himself. "Yes,
you are right. But it has to be like that. You can’t always regret
something. You have to forget." Il faut oublier; it could be a song.
As for his duetting with Sinatra, bear in mind that he is singing in
English, which is only his third or fourth language, so you could say
that he’s playing an away fixture. But it’s a draw at least. Remember
Michael Caine’s remark to the very senior, very competitive Laurence
Olivier before they started filming Sleuth in 1972: "You may win,
but you’ll get hurt."
Duos is released by EMI on February 16
–Boundary_(ID_sGMvG3c8TYkAf+jUvb6wiw)–
COUNCIL OF EUROPE APPLIES DOUBLE STANDARDS: TURKISH DELEGATION TO PACE
Trend News Agency
Jan 29 2009
Azerbaijan
The Council of Europe applies double standards toward member nations,
head of Turkey’s delegation to PACE Movlud Chavushoglu told Trend News.
Chavushoglu’s statement concerned the discussions about Armenia at
PACE’s winter session.
The Council of Europe applies double standards not only toward the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, but also Russian-Georgian relations
and Turkey.
"During today’s discussions about Armenia, we saw PACE’s double
standards," Chavushoglu said. "Although the human rights and political
freedoms situation is worse in Armenia than Azerbaijan, PACE takes
a tough stance on Azerbaijan and a soft position on Armenia. This is
a double standard."
Existing challenges must be resolved to reach stability and cooperation
in the region. The main issue is Armenia’s occupation of 20 percent
of Azerbaijani territory, he said.
Chavushoglu does not believe that the UN and Council of Europe
resolution to end Armenia’s aggressive policies will contribute to
resolving the conflict.
"We do not believe that this challenge can be resolved by OSCE Minsk
Group resolutions. Turkey and regional countries must display their
own initiatives in this respect," Chavushoglu said.
Russia has also started to be proactive in resolving the conflict.
Chavushoglu said although some political forces seem alarmed by the
supposedly improving Turkish-Armenian relations, their actions should
be taken with a grain of salt.
"Certain political forces in Turkey and Azerbaijan use this issue for
political purposes within the country," Chavushoglu said. "During his
visit to Yerevan, President Abdullah Gul did not discuss the issues of
the so-called ‘genocide’ and opening borders with Turkey. The sides
discussed withdrawing Armenian troops from the occupied territories
in Azerbaijan and resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict." He added
that Ankara’s policy on the issue serves the interests of Azerbaijan
and Turkey.
The recent improvement in Turkish-Russian relations also does not
contradict the Turkish-EU partnership, he said. Turkey must carry
out multilateral policies.
Ankara’s policy on the Caucasus to develop trade relations with Russia
and other countries does not contradict its partnership with the EU,
Chavushoglu added.
" Turkey is already the leading country in the region and cooperates
with Azerbaijan in this respect," he said.