Author: Nanijanian Alex

RUSSIA AND ARGENTINA MAKE LARGEST INVESTMENTS IN REAL SECTOR OF ARMENIAN ECONOMY IN JANUARY-MARCH 2008

Noyan Tapan

Ju ne 10, 2008

YEREVAN, JUNE 10, NOYAN TAPAN. Russia was the leader by the amount
of foreign invetsments in the real sector of Armenian economy in
January-March 2008 – 109 mln 187.7 thousand USD, which exceeded
3.3fold the index of the same period of 2007.

According to the RA National Statistical Service, investments of
Argentina amounted to 15 mln 345.2 thousand USD in the first three
months of 2008, growing by 90.2% as compared with January-March 2007.

Among other big investors in the real sector of the Armenian economy
were Cyprus – 1 mln 762.8 thousand USD (70.1% decline), France – 4 mln
957.7 thousand USD (5.9% decline), the U.S. – 10 mln 139.9 thousand USD
(2.1fold growth), Germany – 6 mln 816.3 thousand USD (90.6% growth),
Luxemburg – 4 mln 276 thousand USD (7.5fold growth), Liechtenstein –
9 mln USD (no investments were made in the first three month of 2007),
and Australia – 2 mln 799.9 thousand USD (no investments in the first
three months of 2007).

Russia’s investments in communication sector made 70 mln 853.2 thousand
USD, in metallurgy – 7 mln 391.9 USD, in production and distribution
of power, gas, hot water and steam – 25 mln 89.3 USD, in provision
of services of other types to consumers – 2 mln 645 thousand USD,
in recreational sector – 1 mln 396 thousand USD, and in provision of
personal services – 1 mln 60.5 thousand USD.

Argentina’s investments in air transport made 13 mln 996.4 thousand
USD, in auxiliary transport activity – 1 mln 357.8 thousand USD. Cyprus
made investments of 1 mln 679.1 thousand USD in mining industry. France
invested 4 mln 957 thousand USD in food industry, including drink
production.

The U.S. made investments of 4 mln 620.2 thousand USD in computer
engineering, 1 mln 640 thousand USD – in research and developments,
3 mln 126.3 thousand USD – in hotel and restaurant services.

The whole amount of Germany’s investments – 6 mln 816.3 thousand USD
was made in mining industry of Armenia. Australia made investments
of 2 mln 799.9 thousand USD in metal ore mining, Luxemburg invested
4 mln 276 thousand USD in food industry, including drink production,
and Liechtenstein made investments of 9 mln USD in metallurgy.

VERY WORRYING WORDS FROM ST PETERSBURG
by Anna V. Hakobyan

Haykakan Zhamanak
June 7 2008
Armenia

Yesterday [6 June] the Nagornyy Karabakh negotiations renewed within
the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group with the meeting held between
[Armenian President] Serzh Sargsyan and [Azerbaijani President]
Ilham Aliyev.

"Worrying" statements

The mere fact of the renewal of the negotiations is as positive as
what happened in St Petersburg yesterday is worrying, in particular
some statements made there. This is all about the statements by US
co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza which are more than
worrying for the Republic of Armenia. Matthew Bryza, in particular,
spoke about the return of occupied territories and said the following:
"After these territories are returned and will be part of Azerbaijan,
they will be demilitarized, international peacekeeping forces will be
deployed there, Armenia’s armed forces will withdraw and will not be
in the current tense situation when Armenia’s and Azerbaijan’s troops
look at each other across mined areas, at the distance of hundred of
metres in some cases".

One should only hope that he just mixed things up by using the words
"Armenia’s armed forces", "Armenia’s troops" rather than the phrases
"the Armenian troops" and "the Armenian armed forces". Bryza however
did not stop at that point. "So, I hope that our friends in Armenia
will feel themselves safer after these territories are returned. I
hope that this will have a positive impact on Armenia’s political
system as well," Bryza said.

He added that certain risks may occur for the Armenian president,
if he gives his consent to the return of the occupied territories
to Azerbaijan. However, as there are quite attractive provisions
for Armenia in the option for the conflict’s settlement currently
available at the negotiations table, there is a possibility that those
ones will attract the Armenian side. Matthew Bryza identified the
establishment of a corridor connecting Nagornyy Karabakh and Armenia
and the mechanism for determining Armenia’s [as published, actually
Nagornyy Karabakh’s] status as some of the attractive provisions.

"I would like to mention once again that the agreement should
be acceptable for Armenia as well," Bryza said. In other words,
Bryza implied that an agreement can be also concluded if it is not
acceptable for Armenia, but that will not be done for the time being
only because the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs will be generous to not
let this happen. Incidentally, before making his above statements
Bryza said that, in his opinion, the Russian government, at least
Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Yuriy Merzlyakov did not
share his opinion.

Reason for concern

The statements of this kind can be made every day, but only if there
is a political need. Thus, Armenia’s incumbent authorities should
of course think about and analyse these statements of the co-chairs
for a long time. As for the Sargsyan-Aliyev meeting, judging by
the fact that [Armenian ex-President] Robert Kocharyan was not at
the negotiations table, one should suppose that he has dropped this
absurd idea [return of territories] eventually. The Sargsyan-Aliyev
meeting resembled the Kocharyan-Aliyev meetings of the last years,
at least at a glance of an outsider. In comparison, Serzh Sargsyan
did not leave the meeting in the middle, as Robert Kocharyan did a
few times, but it is possible that he could do this.

[Passage omitted: Details of the Sargsyan-Aliyev meeting]

As it has been expected, the major result of the negotiations with
the new Armenian president in attendance, which have been interrupted
due to the presidential election in Armenia [on 19 February], was a
decision to continue the talks on the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict’s
settlement within the format of the OSCE Minsk Group. At a joint
news conference after yesterday’s negotiations, the Armenian and
Azerbaijani foreign ministers, Edvard Nalbandyan and Elmar Mammadyarov
respectively, described the meeting between Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham
Aliyev as constructive and positive.

Mattew Bryza said about the yesterday’s meeting: "The expectations
came true, I mean we expected that the meeting would be of a
familiarization nature, it turned out to be such. Mood was positive,
constructive." These, however, are standard statements which are made
after any meeting. Let’s not forget, it has been also reported that
the co-chairs are expected to visit the region, and the two foreign
ministers will meet, and the issue of the [next] meeting between the
two presidents will depend on these results.

ARMENIAN MP CANDIDATE WINS IN THE EUROPEAN COURT

A1+
[03:22 pm] 10 June, 2008

At the end of May the European Court of Human Rights held unanimously
that there had been a violation of Article 3 of Protocol No.1 (right
to free elections) against 46-year-old Gagik Sarukhanyan, who was
disqualified from standing in the 2003 general parliamentary elections
in Armenia on the grounds that he had falsified his declaration of
property when registering as a candidate.

The European Court of Human Rights considered that requiring candidates
to submit truthful information on their property status had pursued
the legitimate aim of enabling the electorate to make an informed
choice when voting. However, the Court found that the applicant had
not intentionally concealed the fact that he had joint ownership of
the flat declared in his application. Indeed, the omission in that
declaration had been the result of misleading privatization rules
and practices in Armenia at that time. The Court further noted
that the information which the applicant had been found to have
intentionally concealed, namely a small share in a flat measuring 64.7
sq. m., could not seriously be considered of major importance or as
misleading voters. The Court therefore concluded that the applicant~Rs
disqualification as a candidate in the general elections had been
disproportionate to the legitimate aim pursued and held unanimously
that there had been a violation of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 (right
to free elections) to the Convention.

Mr. Sarukhanyan was awarded 3,000 euros (EUR) in respect of
non-pecuniary damage and EUR 1,850 for costs and expenses.

DEPUTY ANAHIT BAKHSHIAN DEMANDS NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SPEAKER ENSURE "ONE DEPUTY – ONE VOTE" PRINCIPLE

Noyan tapan

Ju ne 10, 2008

YEREVAN, JUNE 10, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian president Serge Sargsian,
who is also the leader of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA)
– the political force having a majority at the parliament, bears
responsibility for enhancing the prestige of the National Assembly,
member of the NA "Heritage" faction Anahit Bakhshian stated at the
June 10 sitting of the RA NA, noting that some people, who only
compromise the parliament by their shadowy past and current conduct,
have appeared by the RPA proportional list in the parliament for
various selfish purposes.

"The matter in particular concerns deputy Arakel Movsisian whose
presence is felt only when he has something to say and who uses bad
language to express his thoughts," the opposition deputy said. She
reminded that recently A. Movsisian "had an opportunity to use his
favorite vocabulary when "Heritage" faction deputy Zaruhi Postanjian
noticed him press once again the button of the deputy next to him
during a vote".

According to A. Bakhshian, by tolerating such indecorous conduct of
its deputies and not calling them to account, the NA majority becomes
an accomplice. She demanded that the NA speaker ensure "one deputy –
one vote" principle.

MEDIATORS HOLD THEIR SUCCESSIVE VICTORY
Vardan Grigoryan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on June10, 2008
Armenia

New Obstacles in the Negotiation Process

As was expected, during their first high-level meeting held in
St. Petersburg on June 6, Presidents Serge Sargsyan and Ilham
reiterated their willingness to continue the Karabakh peace talks in
the frameworks of the OSCE Minsk Group.

This means that the recent months’ propaganda uproar raised by the
Azerbaijani leadership for discontinuing the talks and finding a
military solution to the Karabakh conflict is devoid of serious
grounds, at least for the time being. The talks will continue even
during the presidential campaign expected in Azerbaijan. In this
connection, the Presidents of both countries have given relevant
recommendations to their Foreign Ministers.

So, the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group will pay their regular visit
to the region in the course of the current month. What remains on the
table is the Madrid Principles submitted to the parties in November
2007; however, they are subject to certain changes.

The upcoming talks will be conducted by the two countries’ Foreign
Ministers, whereas the Presidents will take a certain "break" which
will enable Mr. Aliev to bring the presidential campaign to an end. The
newly elected President of Armenia will, in turn, have the opportunity
to tackle the country’s internal problems.

Thus, the two Presidents’ meeting-acquaintance was a success. Although,
it couldn’t have been otherwise for two main reasons:

First: Serge Sargsyan is a new person in the Karabakh settlement talks
only in a formal sense, because having been the Defense Minister and
the Prime Minister of Armenia, he has been thoroughly aware of the
process and the results of the talks.

Second: The task of resuming the Karabakh settlement talks and
maintaining or changing the Minsk Group format is actually beyond
the powers of Armenia or Azerbaijan.

With its "internationalized" nature, the Karabakh conflict is on the
top of all the problems existing in the region, therefore the issue
of introducing fundamental changes in its format cannot be solved
on the level of the two countries only. Despite their recent months’
attempts of blackmailing the Armenian party and even the international
community, Azerbaijan and its leader cannot but take into consideration
that comprehensible fact.

A question arises as to whether this means that the Karabakh peace
process will reach a new deadlock again and, unable to coordinate
the contrary attitudes of the parties, the mediators will have to
force them to negotiate and search for new possibilities for mutual
concessions.

Obviously, this is what is going to happen by the end of the year since
Azerbaijan and the United States are to hold presidential elections
in that period. However, the serious probability of reviewing the
superpowers’ attitudes towards such issues of international and
regional importance as the deployment of a new American antimissile
system in Europe, the fate of the "Nabukko" program and the US
policy in relation to Iran becomes an agenda issue. And finally, the
exacerbated confrontation between Russia and the West in relation to
the Abkhazian issue may play a certain role as a precedent.

The probability that the superpowers may change their attitude towards
those issues first of all depends on the US presidential elections
and hence – the prospect of the Russian-American relations.

Thus, having initiated its recent campaign against Armenia, the
Azerbaijani leadership managed, as a matter of fact, to solve only
one problem, i.e. to prevent the attempts of applying the Kosovo
precedent to our region.

The only obstacle our country may face in the near future in terms
of receiving a "freedom of hands" in the solution of the Karabakh
conflict is the possible destabilization of Armenia’s internal
political situation. Here is Armenia’s "Achilles tendon" which, if
cut to the quick, may deprive the country of the precious time to
recover internally and strengthen the foreign policy activeness in
the Karabakh settlement process in such an important period of time
as the second half of 2008.

Therefore, in view of the extremely complex and contradictory
international-political processes following the St. Petersburg meeting,
the pro-Armenian solution of the Karabakh issue will become dependant
upon the freedom of Armenia and the Armenian diplomacy of responding
to those processes in time and in a proper manner.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version: nian.htm

Watch the video summary here:
c/Videos/Blessing%20of%20Holy%20Muron%20by%20His%2 0Holiness%20Aram%20I,%20Catholicos%20of%20Cilicia% 20-%20Saturday%207%20June%202008,%20Antelias.avi

BLESSING OF THE HOLY MURON IN ANTELIAS

The Blessing of Holy Muron is an occasion of unique importance for the
Armenian Church. June 7, 2008 thus became a historic day for the
Catholicosate of Cilicia, which was filled with waves of joyful and excited
believers who had come to witness this ceremonious event.

The Blessing of the Holy Muron was performed by His Holiness Aram I on the
platform built for this purpose at the entrance of the Saint Gregory the
Illuminator Cathedral. Representatives from all the dioceses of the
Catholicosate were present at the ceremony: Archbishop Norvan Zakarian
(Primate of the Diocese of France), Bishop Yezras Nersisian (Primate of the
Diocese of Russia) represented the Catholicosate of All Armenians in
Etchmiyadzine. The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem was represented by the
Grand Sacristan of the Saint Hagop Cathedral, Archbishop Nourhan Manougian.
Patriarchal Vicar Arch. Shahan Sevadjian attended on behalf of the
Patriarchate of Constantinople. He headed a delegation formed of Rev. Fr.
Tatoul Anoushian and Father Vagharshag Serovpian. Alongside him on the
platform, the Pontiff had also the Diocesan Primates of the Cilician See,
who participated in the Holy service.

Thousands of pilgrims, who had flocked to Antelias from all over the world,
filled up the Catholicosate’s headquarters to attend this ceremony, which
occurs only once every seven years. This phenomenon is itself a testament to
the love and commitment of our people towards the Armenian Church.

Also sharing this majestic occasion with the Armenian Church and nation were
the representatives of various Christian communities in Lebanon: Maronite,
Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Syrian Orthodox, Syrian Catholic, Coptic
Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox, Armenian Catholic, Chaldonean Protestant and
Armenian Protestant. The Nuncio Apostolic in Lebanon and government
officials were also present. His Holiness received on this occasion letters
from heads of churches and ecumenical organizations expressing their
spiritual love and fellowship.

The service started when the Pontifical Procession, led by Bishops followed
and the Armenian Pontiff, proceeded from the Veharan towards the altar built
on the platform outside the Cathedral especially for this occasion. The
Godfather of the service was Mr. Vrej Armoyian, a community leader of the
Prelacy of Canada.

The Catholicosate’s "Shenorhali" Choir performed the hymns. Members of the
Cilician Brotherhood brought out the historic Cauldron of the Holy Muron rom
the Cathedral carrying it on their shoulders and placed on the platform
outside, in front of the Pontiff.

While the lid of the Cauldron was being lifted, it seemed as though the
doors to the souls of believers were also laid open. Reciting prayers, the
Catholicos added to the Cauldron the main ingredient of the Muron, the
Balsam, and the old Muron, which according to tradition contains samples of
the oil that the Apostles used to cure patients. The Apostle who evangelized
Armenia, Saint Tateos, is said to have brought a part of this oil to
Armenia. Amid the excitement of the faithful, Catholicos also mixed in the
Cauldron a sample of Holy Muron blessed in St. Etchmiyadzine as a symbol of
the unity of the Armenian Church. During the service, the representative of
the Catholicos of All Armenians read out His Holiness Karekin II’s address
on this occasion, in which he welcomed the blessing of Muron in Antelias and
expressed his brotherly affection for His Holiness Aram I.

At the most sacred moment of the service, Catholicos Aram I stirred the new
Muron with the Holy Right Hand of Saint Gregory the Illuminator sanctifying
the new Muron with the blessings of the Patron Saint of the Armenian Church.

In his address to the thousands of pilgrims, His Holiness conveyed the
meaning and symbolism of the Holy Muron.

His Holiness summarized his thoughts in the following four points:

A) The Muron as a guarantor of the Armenian Church’s continuity

During the blessing of the Holy Muron, the old Muron was mixed with the new
Muron. This is not a mere tradition or a coincidence. It symbolizes the
eternal path of the Armenian Church. In its true being the Church is a
mission. In the life and mission of the Church, the past, present and the
future are consistently present in a harmonious way. Neither time, nor
historic circumstances or geographical distances can cause disruption in the
Church’s continuity. Beyond this theological concept, in our Church the Holy
Muron is the spiritual force through which our church refuses any thought
and attempt of becoming part of the past and continues to exist with its
path always headed to the future. Through the old Muron, our catholicoi, our
saints and martyrs come to unite with the new Muron with their faith and
their vision. Therefore, this Muron is a living history. To be blessed with
the Muron means to come in live contact with our nation’s and church’s
history. Receiving the Muron of the Armenian Church means being stamped with
the faith and sanctity of our fathers who had embraced Jesus Christ in their
lives.

B) The Muron as a holy bind for the indivisible unity of the Armenian
Church.

During the ceremony, the Muron of the Catholicosate of All Armenians was
mixed to the Muron of the Catholicosate of Cilicia. The same will be
repeated in Saint Etchmiyadzine in September, when the Muron of the
Catholicosate of Cilicia will be mixed with the Muron of the Catholicosate
of All Armenians. This symbolic gesture concretely expresses the indivisible
unity of the Armenian Church. The Holy Sees that have come to exist in the
Armenian Church due to historic circumstances and necessity can in no way
shake the internal unity of the Armenian Church. More than ever, our nation
needs the strengthening of its unity in order to overcome the threats facing
our spiritual, cultural and national identity both in Armenia and the
Diaspora. In this Holy moment of Muron Blessing we greet our spiritual
brothers Catholicos of All Armenians His Holiness Karekin II, the Armenian
Patriarch of Jerusalem Archbishop Torkom Manougian and the Armenian
Patriarch of Constantinople Archbishop Mesrob Moutafian, wishing them a rich
and long term of service. We also greet in the spirit of Christian love and
fellowship all the representatives of churches who are with us at this
ceremony, as well as all church leaders who through their prayers share this
spiritual event in the life of our church.

C) The Holy Muron as an invitation to participate in the life of the
Armenian Church

The Armenian Church is not a structure, a set of rituals or dogma. It is the
wholeness of our nation, constructed as a community on the faith of Jesus
Christ. Through the Holy Muron we become part of the Church’s wholeness, its
collective life. Our children are blessed with the Holy Muron. The items
used in Church life are ordained with the Holy Muron. Those called upon to
serve the Church are ordained with the Holy Muron. The Holy Muron is a path
that leads to participation in our Church’s common life. The Holy Muron is
the heavenly power taking the Church’s God-given mission, evangelism and
service to the people. We should approach the Holy Muron with this
awareness. Let us not forget that on our foreheads is stamped the
centuries-old Muron of the Armenian Church. With our life and work we should
remain loyal to the Holy Muron, its symbolism and its message.

D) The Holy Muron as a source for spiritual renewal

As a mission the church has an essential need for internal renewal. The
Muron is the renewing and revitalizing presence of the Holy Spirit in the
life of the Church. It is through it that the Church remains active in its
life and mission, resisting the rust and dust of time. It is through the
presence of the Holy Muron that the Church renews its spiritual life and
keeps itself strong against all types of distorting influences. In front of
the challenges of the current world, our Church has such an imperative and
immediate need for spiritual renewal, so that it can make its mission in the
life of the nation more effective. We consider the infiltration of our
church’s spiritual values in our nation’s life, its spiritual invigoration,
the adoption of evangelical truths in our individual, family and collective
lives as priorities for our church. Therefore, the Blessing of the Holy
Muron should become an opportunity and an invitation for spiritual renewal
and the strengthening of the mission of faith in our Church.

His Holiness then dedicated the new Holy Muron to the new generation: We
express gratitude and satisfaction to God that this is the third blessing of
the Muron that we perform. We dedicate the blessing of this Holy Muron to
our new generation, the generation that is called upon to build the future
of the church. He continued: In the globalised world, faced with new
lifestyles, new viewpoints questioning our Christian faith, out spiritual
truths and moral values, it is not easy to be true Christians. It is also
not easy to stay Armenian in a context of a culture of globalisation, which
destroys nation and culture, identity and tradition. Therefore, stay alert.
Let the winds blowing around you not push you away from your roots. Be proud
of your spiritual and national values, for the preservation of which your
ancestors shed blood. You have the Armenian Muron on your forehead. Keep
your faith strong, the Armenian Muron pure and in front of the current world’s
storms transform your life into one stamped with spiritual and national
values.

The faithful remained in Antelias until late at night, approaching the Muron
pot with great awe and kissing it. A committee formed by the Catholicosate
especially for this event had prepared several souvenirs, which were
distributed to the faithful at the entrance of the Catholicosate.
Particularly impressive was the presence of students, who were wearing
special shirts with the theme of the blessing of the Muron.

##
View the photos here:
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http://www.armenianorthodox church.org/v04/doc/Photos/Photos272.htm
http://www .armenianorthodoxchurch.org/v04/doc/Photos/Photos2 73.htm
oc/Photos/Photos274.htm
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http://ww w.armenianorthodoxchurch.org/v04/doc/Photos/Photos 276.htm
*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.

Detroit Free Press, MI
June 8 2008

Valedictorian pleads for help to stay in the U.S.

BY VANESSA COLON ¢ MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS ¢ June 8, 2008

FRESNO, Calif. — Arthur Mkoyan is to graduate Tuesday from Bullard
High School with a 4.0 average. He’s the class valedictorian, and he
has been accepted at the University of California at Davis.

The only problem: He may be deported to Armenia this month.

So on Friday, his last day of high school classes, Arthur, 17, wasn’t
much worried about yearbook photos.

Instead, he was pleading with classmates, friends and teachers to
write letters to Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, encouraging her to
introduce legislation that would enable him and his parents to stay in
the United States.

"Hopefully, they will introduce the bill by the end of next week so
all of us can stay," he said.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ordered Arthur and his mother
to leave by late June and return to Armenia, a country Arthur hasn’t
seen since he was 2. His 12-year-old brother, a U.S. citizen, has no
choice but to leave with Arthur and his mother if they’re deported,
the family said.

Seeking asylum since 1992
Arthur’s family fled the former Soviet Union and has been seeking
asylum since 1992.

His father, Ruben Mkoian, ran a general store and worked as a police
officer in the then-Soviet Republic of Armenia, where he was
threatened by former Soviet government workers as the Soviet Union was
breaking up, Arthur’s mother has said.

Mkoian, who spells his name differently than does his son, applied for
asylum but was rejected. He lost an appeal to the U.S. 9th Circuit
Court of Appeals and is being held at a detention center in Arizona.

Feinstein, who has introduced such so-called private bills in the
past, is gathering Arthur’s information to introduce a bill on his
behalf, her Washington office said.

Long shot
If introduced, the bill would halt the deportation. If it passes, he
would receive a green card. But private bills rarely pass, Feinstein’s
office said.

On Thursday, Arthur visited the office of U.S. Rep. George Radanovich,
R-Calif. The congressman sent a letter to Feinstein supporting her
legislation on behalf of Arthur, Radanovich spokesman Spencer Pederson
said Friday.

The letter notes that such a bill was unlikely to pass in the House,
but that previous legislation of this nature has been successful in
the Senate.

On Monday, Radanovich plans to meet with the Armenian ambassador to
the United States to ask that, if deportation can’t be prevented,
Arthur be allowed to apply for a student visa to return to the United
States, Pederson said.

Ara Jabagchourian, an attorney who specializes in civil litigation and
antitrust, offered his services to the family for free.

"My goal is to keep the entire family here," Jabagchourian said.

Arthur, meanwhile, said he’s surprised by the response he’s received.

"The help is much appreciated," he said.

MUBARIZ AHMEDOGHLU: "THE MOST RELIABLE GUARANTEE OF SECURITY OF KARABAKH ARMENIANS WOULD BE THE RETURN OF AZERBAIJANIS TO THEIR NATIVE LANDS"

Today.Az
itics/45472.html
June 5 2008
Azerbaijan

The return of Azerbaijanis to Nagorno Karabakh would be the most
reliable guarantee of Armenians’ security, said chief of the center
for political innovations and technologies Mubariz Ahmedoghlu at a
press conference today.

The political scientist noted that Azerbaijani armed forces had never
fired at the settlements, where Azerbaijanis lived and if Azerbaijanis
return to Nagorno Karabakh, it would be a guarantee that Azerbaijani
armed forces will not fire at this territory.

"If you remember, in 1992, when Azerbaijanis lived in Khankendi,
Azerbaijani armed forces have never fired at this city. On the whole,
the Azerbaijani side fired at the settlements, from where Azerbaijanis
were driven away", said Ahmedoghlu.

45 ACCUSED

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on June 04, 2008
Armenia

On the occasion of March 1 massive disorder, as of June 3, 2008,
45 accused are under arrest, and precautionary measures, having no
connection with arrest have been used against 34.

As of June 3, 61 criminal cases against 67 persons have been
sent to the court, from which 26, is over, the accusations are
substantiated. 10, from the before mentioned 26 persons were sentences
to 1-3 years, 6 month imprisonment and 16 are on probation.

Four are still under investigation.

06/04/2008 11:50 AM

SPIEGEL INTERVIEW WITH ORHAN PAMUK

‘Football is Faster than Words’

In the run-up to the Euro 2008 football tournament, Nobel
Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk discusses his life as a soccer fan,
the expression of Turkish nationalism in the sport and how the sport
has made Turkey part of Europe over the past 50 years.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Pamuk, will you be watching the Euro 2008 matches?

Pamuk: Of course. And I will have trouble coping if the Turkish team
loses. It would be too demoralizing. When Fenerbahçe Istanbul played
against FC Chelsea in the quarterfinal of the Champions League, I
turned off the TV at the second halftime because they were behind. It
was sad to watch as our players were forced to give up the ball, as if
they were children.

SPIEGEL: Are you a fan?

Pamuk: I was in my childhood. What took place in our house would
certainly be described as fanaticism today. One uncle supported
Galatasaray Istanbul and another was a fan of Besiktas, while my
father and our side of the family rooted for Fenerbahçe.

SPIEGEL: Did your father take you to the stadium?

Pamuk: Yes, quite often, in fact. But the big moments that I remember
are not the goals. The image that I remember most of all is of the
Fenerbahçe players storming into the stadium before kickoff. They were
called the canaries because of their yellow jerseys. It was as if
they, like canaries, were fluttering into the stadium out of a hole. I
loved it. It was poetry.

SPIEGEL: Why Fenerbahçe?

Pamuk: It’s like religion. There is no "why." I can still recite the
entire lineup of the 1959 Fenerbahçe team like a poem. Of course, it
has something to do with identifying with my father. We always sat in
the main stands next to the VIPs, who looked like capitalists from a
Bertolt Brecht play. Throughout the match they smoked cigars, a sign
of great wealth at the time, and because a breeze from the Bosporus
was constantly blowing into the stadium, the smoke made my eyes tear
up. During the match, they would insult the players the way a business
owner insults his dim-witted workers. I thought it was terrible.

SPIEGEL: Why? That’s what happens in a football stadium.

Pamuk: They weren’t insulting them the way a disappointed fan does
because they were no hero worshippers, as I was. Sometimes they even
talked about business during the match, and I had the feeling that it
offended my heroes.

SPIEGEL: What did your hero worship look like?

Pamuk: I collected bubblegum trading cards that I am now trying to
sell on eBay. Every Monday, I would cut articles about Fenerbahçe out
of the paper. In fact, my entire childhood consisted of looking at
photographs in which the viewer sees the ball behind the line, looking
through the goal net, and the poor goalkeeper in front of the net.

SPIEGEL: Did you play football yourself?

Pamuk: Never in a club, but I did play on the streets of Istanbul,
before and after school.

SPIEGEL: Were you any good?

Pamuk: I don’t want to be too modest. I had talent, but I was never a
particularly muscular person. Fantasizing about playing was more
important to me than actually playing. These childhood fantasies shape
our patterns in life, and I was a football hero in those fantasies. In
my daydreams, I kept imagining a scenario in which Fenerbahçe was
playing a European Cup match and I, a child, was brought in at the
89th minute. Of course, I would shoot the winning goal.

SPIEGEL: The German cultural critic Klaus Theweleit once wrote that
football opened the "gate to the world" for him.

Pamuk: I understand that, but in my case football opened me up to
community. First with my brother, who is only 18 months older than I
am. Using marbles on the carpet, we reenacted entire Turkish
championships or European Cup matches. One of us would pretend to be a
radio reporter, describing what was happening on the carpet to an
imaginary audience. Each marble represented a famous player, and when
my brother was the reporter and used an incorrect name, I would make
him aware of his mistake — gesturing silently, anxious not to disturb
the millions listening on their radios.

SPIEGEL: What was so important about the radio?

Pamuk: It was the medium that brought us this game. Radio reporters
taught me to listen to something and imagine something at the same
time. In the late 18th century, Goethe traveled to Italy, where he saw
Leonardo da Vinci’s "Last Supper." At the time, people in Germany had
heard of the painting but had no visual concept of it. He returned to
Germany and wrote about it. There is a Greek term for this called
"ekphrasis," or expressing an image in words. Football reporting on
the radio works the same way. Of course, it’s also clear that the
reporter always lags behind the event itself and therefore constantly
has to edit his words. Football is faster than words.

SPIEGEL: Have you ever thought about writing about football in a
literary context?

Novelist Orhan Pamuk: "I will have trouble coping if the Turkish team loses."
DPA

Novelist Orhan Pamuk: "I will have trouble coping if the Turkish team loses."
Pamuk: The stadium, of course, is a stage on which a drama is
unfolding — entirely the way the ancient Greeks envisioned it — and
on which a single scene represents an entire world championship. But
football is a visual affair, while literature is verbal. This
complicates things. Besides, I don’t like this journalistic approach
— that is, stories about Mafia involvement in football or the like —
because I believe in my fairy tale and prefer not to know how corrupt
football really is. But it was supposed to play an important role in
my novel "The Black Book," which came out in 1990. One of the book’s
characters is a man who is combing through the Istanbul of the early
1980s, searching for his wife. In the original version, he hears on
the radio how Turkey is losing against England in a home game, as the
English keep shooting more and more goals. In the 1980s, Turkey lost
two important qualifying matches 0:8 against England. The English
players taunted our players on the field, and the English papers poked
fun at the fact that we didn’t even have a real green lawn for the
first match in Istanbul. For me, these defeats were a metaphor for the
condition of the country and the feeling of humiliation. I eventually
cut these passages because the book kept getting thicker. But I regret
it today.

SPIEGEL: What does Turkish football say about the condition of the
country today?

Pamuk: The former Portuguese dictator (Antonio) Salazar also used
football as a tool to control his country. He treated the game as
opium for the masses, as a way of preserving the peace. It would be
nice if it were that way in our country. Here football is no opium,
but rather a machine to produce nationalism, xenophobia and
authoritarian thinking. I also believe that it isn’t victories but
defeats that promote nationalism.

SPIEGEL: How so?

Pamuk: Nationalism stems from catastrophes, whether they are caused by
earthquakes or lost wars. In his novels, Tolstoy writes about how the
war against Napoleon helped shape the Russian identity. A 0:8 loss
against England is a similar catastrophe.

SPIEGEL: The Turkish team came in third place in the World Cup six years ago.

Pamuk: That’s true, but then the players on the national team, after
failing to qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, attacked the
Swiss players. It was unethical and unacceptable, especially the way
the Turkish papers wrote about it afterwards. They blamed the Turkish
team’s failure to qualify on the referees and all sorts of
conspiracies. Horrible. Nowadays, Turkish football serves the cause of
nationalism, but not of the nation.

SPIEGEL: Turkey will play a World Cup qualifying match in Armenia this
fall. The debate over the Armenian genocide will likely weigh heavily
on the match. What do you expect will happen?

Pamuk: Turkey will win because the team is far superior from an
athletic standpoint. I hope that’s what happens. Of course, if the
Turks lose they’ll be able to say: It’s not so bad. The Armenians are
people, just like we are! Is that sort of an attitude possible? No,
I’m not that naïve.

SPIEGEL: What can one learn from football?

Pamuk: A lot. For example, that there are other countries and people
of different skin colors, people who are our equals and whom we should
respect. Football can teach us that although a team’s individual
players may be weak, it can still be successful if it uses common
sense. Or that we should not attack anyone physically when we suffer a
depressing defeat. And one more thing: If French President (Nicolas)
Sarkozy says that Turkey is not part of Europe, we can say that
Fenerbahçe, as an international club, has been part of Europe for 50
years.

SPIEGEL: But the Turkish national anthem is still played before
Fenerbahçe’s league matches.

Pamuk: My childhood proved to me that there could be no enjoyment of
football without community. But it becomes difficult when this
community is having problems with its identity. That’s when we
experience all possible forms of nationalist exaggeration. And there
are many of those in Turkey today. Our relationship with the European
Union has not been resolved, nor has our relationship with the Kurds.

SPIEGEL: Has football alienated you?

Pamuk: I still support my club, but it must be through some sort of
Pavlovian response I have when I see the colors of Fenerbahçe. Even
though national trainer Fatih Terim is an ultra-nationalist, I will of
course support the Turkish team during the European Championship, just
as you will support the German team. But am I a fan? No.

SPIEGEL: What happened?

Pamuk: I became more and more of a writer in the 1980s, and I also
lived in the United States. Suddenly I was no longer aware of who had
won the Turkish Cup. Besides, Turkish football was very bad. It was no
longer a matter of worshipping heroes, but losers. For example, the
goalkeepers played a special role for us until well into the 1990s
because, given the superiority of the opposing teams at international
matches, it was always up to them to save the nation. Finally,
enjoyment of football is part of the social context, and I have lost
my faith in this social context.

SPIEGEL: Albert Camus once said this about his days as a goalkeeper: "
All I know most surely about morality and obligations, I owe to
football."

Pamuk: Oh, come on. That may have been true in Algeria in the 1930s,
but today it’s naïve. Morality is probably the last thing one can
learn from football today.

Interview conducted by Christoph Biermann and Lothar Gorris

Source: ,1518, 557614,00.html