Author: Nahapetian Boris

NO SUMMARY
Aram Abrahamian

Aravot, Armenia
Nov 16 2006

Writer and statesman Vano Siradeghian’s sixtieth anniversary will
be celebrated on Monday. As a media, we don’t want to be engaged in
anyone’s apology, even in his birthday. We simply fix the reality.

And the reality is that Vano, as well as the rest of members of
"Karabakh committee" are a politician of revolutionary period with all
his inherent mistakes. He is one of those politicians who intended and
achieved the revolution but not of those ones who take advantage of
its results. Negative is much more than positive in every revolution,
willfulness, injustice, despotism are unavoidable there. But let’s
compare how the ’90’s of the previous century passed in Georgia and
Azerbaijan, and we’ll be sure that the team where Vano Siradeghian
played a core role was much more responsible and wiser.

Why do the current authorities hate Vano and why did launch a
propagandizing hysteria against him after coming to power? I think,
besides the aspiration to black the past, psychological complexes
also play a great role here. In post revolutionary period, dull, more
common people come to replace politicians of large scale, and they
express their dullness in rage towards the formers. A medium pupil
may keep silence for 10 years and wait when his excellent classmate
will miss and give him and opportunity to demonstrate his envy. Just
in the same nowadays intellectuals /for example Levon Ananian/ for
pleasing the authority complain how ANM has pursued them by "they
were bad but you are good" transparent pretext.

As every bright person, Vano also mustn’t be identified with his
party. And more, when the opposition was holding demonstrations in 1994
against Vano, the ANM ruling cliques exulted at the curses addressed
to him. And the opposite, when the first scenes of rat race became
visible he began ruling the ANM, and if there is a party by that name,
it is Vano’s merit.

I’m sure, his political biography isn’t over yet, and so it isn’t
the time to summarize. Let’s simply congratulate his birth anniversary.

STRENGTHENING THE "EASTERN VECTOR": ANKARA HOSTS TURKIC SUMMIT
By Igor Torbakov

Friday, November 17, 2006

Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
Nov 17 2006

Leaders of Turkic nations are meeting today, November 17, in
Turkey’s Mediterranean resort city of Antalya. This first summit of
Turkish-speaking peoples in five years appears to reflect Ankara’s
ongoing rethinking about its international identity. Increasingly
frustrated with the mounting hurdles on the path of its European
integration, Turkey seems to be turning its strategic gaze to the
east – the Caspian Basin and Central Asia – which is home to the
energy-rich Turkic republics of the former Soviet Union.

The presidents of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and
high-level representatives from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will be
attending the Antalya gathering. It was unclear whether the Russian
republics of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan will be represented.

The November 17-18 event is the eighth meeting of Turkic leaders since
the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. The last such summit, however,
took place in Istanbul in 2001. The gatherings of the leaders of Turkic
countries are the brainchild of the late Turkish President Turgut Ozal,
who organized the first such meeting in 1992 in Ankara. The current
summit convened after intense lobbying by the Turkish government
following the September convention of the Turkish-speaking peoples
(see EDM, September 22).

A statement posted on Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s website says
the summit participants will sign a joint document called the Antalya
Declaration. There was no official word ahead of the gathering on
the nature of the document. Some analysts predict that the Turkish
government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will continue
its efforts to forge a Turkic Commonwealth that could significantly
enhance the Turkey-led Eurasian bloc on the world stage.

It is hard not to notice that Ankara’s Turkic initiative coincides
with Turkish opinion polls showing diminishing popular support for
European Union membership. According to a recent poll by the Pew
Research Center, Turkish support for the EU has fallen to 35%, down
from almost 80% three years ago.

Two important developments further underscore the Turks’
disillusionment with the West and their growing irritation at the
perceived snub by the Europeans.

First, five former Turkish foreign ministers, including several
staunchly pro-EU ones, have recently aired a common view on the
country’s NTV news channel, arguing that it could be best if Ankara
unilaterally suspends membership talks with the bloc to allow for
a cooling-off period in what is becoming an increasingly tense and
acrimonious relationship. "There can be no better indication of the
growing frustration with the EU and no better explanation for the
dramatic decline in support for [Turkey’s] membership in the Union,"
one Turkish commentator noted.

Second, Turkey has just suspended military relations with France in a
dispute over the controversial issue of the mass killings of Armenians
during the twilight of the Ottoman era. The move was the latest
backlash against French legislation that, if approved by the French
Senate and president, would criminalize any denial that the World War
I-era killings of Armenians in Turkey qualified as genocide. France
and Turkey, both NATO members, have had close military ties, and
Turkey has been an eager buyer of French-made military hardware. But
on November 15, Turkey’s land forces commander, General Ilker Basbug,
told reporters in Ankara that "relations with France in the military
field have been suspended."

As Ankara’s relations with the EU become ever more problematic, a
growing number of Turkish pundits argue that Turkey needs to expand
its strategic thinking and get rid of the "unhealthy fixation"
on Europe. The contemporary world is not unipolar or centralized,
they say, adding that a group of Eurasian countries including Turkey,
China, India, as well as some Central Asian states has a "much more
viable future in the developmental terms used by economists than do
many countries in the EU today."

The urgent task, then, according to some Turkish strategists, is to
explore the possibilities for regional integration and cooperation
among the Eurasian countries. "The need for cooperation among us and
other regional powers is obvious," asserts Ali Kulebi, the head of
Turkey’s National Security Strategies Research Center, in a recent
policy paper.

But other analysts remain skeptical about Ankara’s eventual success
with Eurasian integration, including its efforts at building a bloc
based on a kinship with Central Asia’s Turkic peoples. There are two
main reasons for such skepticism. First, the Central Asian states
will likely be wary of Ankara’s intention to play the role of "big
brother" in the prospective commonwealth. Second, these countries
have not been terribly successful so far in resolving some crucial
regional problems – such as the delimitation of the Caspian Sea or
competition over water resources.

(Anadolu, Akipress, November 16; AP, November 15; Turkish Daily News,
November 16, 14, October 22)

Fresnan had farming in his blood
By Jim Steinberg / The Fresno Bee11/17/06 04:43:29

Fresno Bee, CA
Nov 17 2006

More informationKeith Harry Avedisian
Born: June 18, 1949
Died: Nov. 13
Occupation: raisin grower
Survivors: wife Linda; daughters Stacy and Laurie Avedisian; son
Michael Avedisian; mother Eleanor Avedisian

Keith Harry Avedisian of Fresno carried on the raisin-growing tradition
that his family planted in the rich soil near Fowler after escaping
Ottoman massacres of Armenians early in the last century.

Mr. Avedisian died Monday of cancer after what his family called an
inspiring effort to survive. He was 57.

He was diagnosed in September 2005, when he was told to expect only a
few months of life. More than 100 people – family and friends – joined
recently to help celebrate his full year of life after his diagnosis.

Mr. Avedisian was born in Fresno to Harry and Eleanor Avedisian.

Harry Avedisian’s father, George, had fled Armenia for the San
Joaquin Valley. He began farming, as his ancestors had done in the
old country. Mr. Avedisian carried the family name and farmed the
family land.

"It is very important to old-time Armenians," daughter Stacy Avedisian
said. "The one with the name gets the farm. He had a brother who wasn’t
interested at all. My father loved everything about farming. He took
high school agriculture classes, pruning classes. I think it was just
something in his blood."

Mr. Avedisian had worked earlier for a bridge construction company
but knew his heart remained in working the soil, Stacy Avedisian
said. He married his wife, Linda, in 1977 and quit his construction
job the next year.

The Avedisians lived in the first home built in their area of Selma,
but the construction of more homes left Mr. Avedisian feeling too
urban.

"He felt cramped," his daughter said. "He didn’t like city life"
in Selma.

"He needed to be on the farm. He loved that. He was not one to lie
out on the beach. He could lie out in his field."

Mr. Avedisian’s aunt Ruby Abajian said the family came first to
Lonestar, then to Fowler, where they farmed from 1910 on.

Mr. Avedisian had a great-uncle who farmed near Lonestar.

"They had done farming in Armenia," Abajian said. "It was familiar,
and they picked it up in the United States.

"When our family started out, we had no tractors. We used horses. It
was primitive. Years went by, and we put in wells. They used to dig
wells by hand, just one fellow with a shovel and a pipe of some kind.

It was hard, but they made it."

Mr. Avedisian’s brother Darrell, an Ivanhoe pharmacist, died in July
2005. Their father died on July 30.

"I’ve had my share of crying," Abajian said. "I’m just trying to
be strong."

A service will begin at 10 a.m. Friday in Immanuel Lutheran Church
in Easton.

The family requests that any remembrance be sent to the church,
5955 S. Elm Ave., Fresno, CA 93706, or to a favorite charity.

SYSTEM OF A DOWN LEND MUSIC AND VOICES TO SCREAMERS
-Jason MacNeil

Chart Attack, Canada
Nov 15 2006

System Of A Down

System Of A Down have lent "their voice, music, and support" to a
documentary entitled Screamers.

The film, directed by activist Carla Garapedian, had its world premiere
earlier this month at the AFI Film Festival in Los Angeles.

It was shot while the band toured Europe and the U.S. behind their
Mezmerize and Hypnotize releases.

The film’s website explains that it revolves around the personal
story of SOAD singer Serj Tankian’s 96-year-old grandfather, Stepan
Haytayan, a survivor of the 1915 Armenian genocide. The film shows
the band visiting different locations and hearing stories of genocide
while on tour.

"System Of A Down have always worked to spread the message about
official Armenian Genocide Recognition within the U.S. and other world
powers that have yet to formally acknowledge that it took place," the
group write on their website. "The band felt compelled to work with
this unique project that hauntingly illustrates how the denial of those
crimes lead to more genocides of the 20th Century – from the Holocaust
to Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda… and all the way to present-day Darfur."

The film includes interviews with the band members, all of whom
are grandchildren of genocide survivors. Seven live System Of A
Down performances are also featured, including "Holy Mountains,"
"P.L.U.C.K." and "B.Y.O.B."

Screamers will arrive in theatres in select American cities on Jan.

12 following an exclusive limited engagement starting in Los Angeles
on Dec. 8. There’s no word yet on a Canadian release date.

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KOCHARIAN: NUMBER OF TOURISTS VISITING ARMENIA INCREASING

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.11.2006 15:45 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In 2007 the number of tourists visiting Armenia
will exceed 500 thousand, Armenian President Robert Kocharian told
reporters yesterday during the opening ceremony of Multy Rest House
hotel complex in Tsaghkadzor. President Kocharian remarked that the
"development of tourism is impossible if proper attention is not paid
to the ecology issues."

"No tourist will come to have a rest in unattractive conveniences,"
the President said adding that the ecological state of Tsaghkadzor
has considerably improved.

According to the Armenian Statistical Service in January-September of
2006 over 270 thousand tourists visited Armenia. As compared to 2005
the number of tourists increased with 18.3%, reports newsarmenia.ru.

AZG Armenian Daily #216, 11/11/2006

Diaspora

POLICE `CLEAN’ YOUTH CENTER IN AKHALKALAK OF SCOUTS

At around 7 pm on November 8, 10-13 policemen of
Akhalkalak’s regional police armed with firearms and
bludgeons burst into "Kechi" building and forced out
the teenage members of Javakhk’s scout movement
demanding the keys and documents of the building.
Javakhk-Info reports that the scouts went out of the
building and locked the doors but did not hand the
keys to the police.

The building that formerly belonged to the 62d Russian
military base was handed to Georgian military police
despite the population’s protest. But soon after the
military police was ousted, and it was transformed
into a youth center. The scout movement of Javakhk is
officially registered in the republic and has been
functioning for 5 years now but their requests for an
office were not replied to and they held their
trainings at the youth center.

It must be noted that the scout movement of Javakhk is
an organization affiliated to the "United Javakhk"
sports and culture youth union.

Will the only school of Samtskhe-Javakhk’s Adigeni
region close?

The only Armenian school functioning in Abastuman
settlement of Adigeni region of Samtskhe-Javakhk,
Georgia, to close down. Due to financial shortage the
school is unable to keep afloat all grades from 1 to
4. The Armenian school of the region has more than 40
pupils, but the headmaster of the school, Teymuraz
Minadze, has forbidden all pupils from 1 to 4 grades
to attend the school, A-Info agency reports. According
to the agency, there are schools in Samtskhe-Javakhk
regions with even fewer pupils but no issue of closing
them down was raised.

By Aghavni Harutyunian

KARABAKH TO SPEND 91,000 DOLLARS ON CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM

Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
Nov 9 2006

Yerevan, 9 November: The government of the Nagornyy-Karabakh republic
[NKR] has allocated 40m drams [91,000 dollars] for the preparations
for and holding of a constitutional referendum on 10 December.

About 280 polling stations will open in the republic, the chairman
of the NKR Central Electoral Commission, Sergey Nasibyan, has
told Mediamax. One polling station will be set up at the permanent
representative office of the NKR in Yerevan.

At present lists of voters are being drawn up. The final lists will be
made available at the polling stations two days before the referendum.

GEORGIA NOT TO YIELD GAS PIPELINES TO RUSSIA

Kommersant, Russia
Nov 9 2006

Gazprom proposed to Georgia to purchase some of its gas pipelines and
cut by half gas prices for Georgia in return for it. It also warned
to terminate gas supplies January 1, 2007 if no contract is made.

Georgia responded by calling the proposals political blackmail and
its prosecutors set to arresting local gas traders.

Yesterday, a raft of high-ranked bureaucrats of Georgia, including
State Minister Kakha Bendukidze and Parliament’s Speaker Nino
Burdjanadze, emphatically denied the proposals of Alexander Medvedev,
deputy chairman of Gazprom’s management committee. Medvedev suggested
cutting by half future gas prices for Georgia, from $230/ths cu meters
to today’s $110/ths cu meters, if Georgia agrees to sell some portion
of gas pipeline infrastructure to Gazprom.

We were ready for surprises, but it is the political blackmail and
we won’t yield to it, vowed Georgian Premier Zurab Nogaideli.

Of all CIS countries that faced such proposal of Gazprom, only Armenia
has agreed to it. According to news service of Armenia’s government,
by late this year, they will elaborate procedures for transferring
Iran-Armenia’s gas pipeline under control of Armrosgazprom. Gazprom
will own 58 percent in this company once it buys out new stocks for
a total worth of $118.8 million.

The asset will allow Gazprom to control gas supplies to Georgia from
Iran. When the gas monopoly of Russia fixes a single basic rate of
$230/ths cu meters for Transcaucasia, it will be able to present it
as an economically reasonable price.

Further aggravating the energy clashes, Georgian prosecutors set to
detaining traders of Russia’s gas. Revaz Urushadze, general director of
Georgian National Gas Transport Co., and Alexander Dolidze, an employee
of this company, were arrested Wednesday on charges of corrupt deals,
which led to material damage to Georgia’s budget.

CALOUSTE GULBENKIAN MUSEUM

Gridskipper, NY
Nov 9 2006

As far as zany named museums the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian in Lisboa is
on par with The Casea Museu Dr. Anastacio Goncalves also in Lisboa. The
two share more than their names: both are small art museums that have
grown from the collections of eccentric collections. Calouste Sarkis
Gulbenkian, the originator of the eclectic collection of Renaissance
paintings, Far East carvings, Armenian mosaics and more, was born
in Scatter, Turkey in 1869 to American merchants but took British
citizenship in 1902. He made a fortune negotiating petroleum rights
in the Middle East and took up art collecting. He lived his last days
in Lisboa at the still-standing Hotel Aviz. Upon his death in 1955,
a foundation was formed to showcase his sizeable collection. Right now,
an exhibit on loan from the Smithsonian of Museu Calouste Gulbenkian

on/museu-calouste-gulbenkian-213661.php

TURKISH GOVERNMENT TALKS TOUGH TO AVOID ELECTION DEFEAT

Deutsche Welle, Germany
Nov 9 2006

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Turkish politicians
worried EU could cost them the election

The Turkish government wants to avoid election defeat at all cost, even
if it means snubbing EU demands. Despite tough talk from both sides,
negotiations over Turkey’s EU accession are unlikely to be scrapped.

The EU and Turkey seem at an impasse. On Wednesday, the European
Commission released a report demanding Turkey open its ports and
airports to Cyprus by mid-December if they want to keep accession
talks going. Turkey hit back, saying its ports will stay off-limits
to Cyprus until the EU keeps its promise to recognize the breakaway
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

This hard-line stance shouldn’t be viewed as Turkey rejecting the EU,
Suat Kiniklioglu, director of the German Marshall Fund’s Ankara office,
told AFP. Rather, it’s a sign of the political reality in Ankara. With
presidential elections next spring and the legislative elections the
following fall, the ruling Justice and Development Party doesn’t want
to look like pushovers, Kiniklioglu said.

"In the current tense political atmosphere in Turkey, it is impossible
for Ankara to make any concession on Cyprus in an election year,
unless the EU makes one first," he said. "Otherwise, it would be
political suicide."

Cyprus continues to rankle

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
Cyprus remains a tricky issue for Turkey’s EU membership bid Turkey’s
stance towards Cyprus is fundamental to its foreign policy.

Voters would likely view anything appearing to be reconciliation as
"selling off" the Turkish Cypriots, analysts believe. In Turkey,
public support for the EU is also dwindling, making it a hard sell
politically.

On one of Istanbul’s main shopping streets, there appeared to be
universal anger against Brussels as news of the critical EU report
spread.

"Really, we don’t need Europe. They are making politics about Cyprus,
about genocide of Armenians, about Kurdish men," teacher Mustafa
Bagci told DW-RADIO.

A recent survey conducted by International strategic Studies Institute
(USAK) found that 81 percent of the Turkish public feels the EU’s
treatment of Turkey is "insincere and unjust."

A full 70 percent felt Turkey should suspend membership talks if the
EU doesn’t change its stance on Cyprus, AFP reported.

EU talks unlikely to end

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
EU’s Olli Rehn had tough words for Turkey this week "This is likely to
be the last opportunity to make real serious progress for some years
to come on the issue of Cyprus," EU enlargement commissioner Olli
Rehn told DW-RADIO. "The Commission will make relevant recommendations
ahead of the European Council in December, if Turkey has not fulfilled
its obligations."

Yet despite the tough talk on both sides, most analysts see no risk
of Turkey’s EU membership talks being suspended, even if deadlock
remains on the Cyprus issue.

Yet there could be a quiet period where, while talks aren’t officially
suspended, there is also no progress made, Kiniklioglu told AFP.

"There will be a lull in which the two sides will try to gain time,"
Kinklioglu predicted. "After the elections, the new government will
take up the issue with new blood."

There’s concern that Germany, which takes over the EU presidency
after Finland, will put Turkish membership in a deep freeze, making
talks even more difficult to revive and keep on track.

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