Author: Navasardian Karapet

CELEBRATING STREET ART
by Selina Denman

Construction Week Online
Oct 12, 2009

Sushi Samba will present a selection of work by the world’s top street
artists during Art Basel Miami Beach.

Taking place between December 4 and 6, the Graffiti Gone Global
exhibition will be curated by James and Karla Murray, authors of
best-selling titles such as Store Front – The Disappearing Face of
New York, Miami Graffiti, Broken Windows and Burning New York.

The groundbreaking exhibition is set to take place within a 4,000ft²
venue in the Midtown Arts District, and will be the largest of its
kind in Miami. The opening VIP preview will take place on December 3.

Extending beyond the typical white walls of an art fair, Sushi Samba
has commissioned Miami-based architect HOX to design a sprawling,
Brazilian-inspired favela structure for Graffiti Gone Global.

HOX’s exhibition design consists of interlocking components of
wood and steel that can be detached and sold as separate units,
some of which will bear a signature graffiti piece. In addition,
custom furniture designed by several of the participating artists
will be available for purchase.

Shimon Bokovza, concept developer of Sushi Samba restaurants, Sugarcane
Lounge and Graffiti Gone Global, along with partners Danielle Billera
and Matt Johnson, has consistently demonstrated his support for
street artists.

In addition to producing previous exhibitions such as Ginzatropicalia,
he has commissioned site-specific street art in Sushi Samba restaurants
throughout the country. The recently opened Sugarcane Lounge in
Las Vegas, for example, features work from Brazilian artist ‘Flip’
Felipe Yung.

"Bringing art to Sushi Samba is something that is a natural evolution
in our whole concept and experience," said Bokovza. "We would only
call upon the best talent to execute a dream that was sparked with
the inception of Art Basel."

Exhibiting artists include 131 projects from Argentina, Aiko Nakagawa,
Suiko and Shiro from Japan, Armogedon 2057 from Armenia, Billi ome
from Miami.

"THIS UNIQUE AND WONDERFUL PROJECT IS AT THE VERGE OF COLLAPSE"
Marine Martirosyan

Octobe r 10, 2009

In May 2002 an agreement was executed between the Armenian
government and the Cafesjian Family Foundation, according to
which Gerard Cafesjian would sponsor and build the Cafesjian
Museum [in Yerevan]. The deadline of finishing the construction
was 2007. According to the agreement, during these five years the
foundation would be exempted from all taxes. The government also gave
11 hectares of land surrounding the Cascade to the foundation. The
[Tamanyan Park across the] Cascade was given to the museum for using
purposes only. The Cascade and the 11 hectares of land surrounding
the Cascade was government’s investment in the Cafesjian Museum
project. The museum project was controlled by the Cafesjian Family
Foundation, represented by the Vice President of the foundation John
Waters. The foundation includes non-profit foundations as well as
business entities (for instance, CS Media, Cascade Bank, etc.). Seven
years have passed since the execution of this agreement but the museum
is not built yet. Even more, now there are problems in this foundation
and some people have been fired, including John Waters. According
to our information, John Waters’ Deputy, Edward Balassanian, the
head of the Center for Contemporary Experimental Art (CCEA) was also
fired. However the latter told us that he had not been fired but has
resigned by his own request and since March 2009. He has worked at
the Cafesjian Museum Foundation from June 2002 until March 1, 2009.

– However you worked for the foundation until March 1, 2009,
year 2009 is coming to an end but the museum has not been built as
yet. Furthermore, there are persistent rumors and even exposes in
the press accusing you, the President of Armenia TV Bagrat Sargsyan
and the head of the foundation from the US John Waters.

Even recently there were rumors that John Waters and Bagrat Sargsyan
are simply bankrupting Gerard Cafesjian. Why did the implementation
of the project fail if so much money was spent?

– I don’t want to discuss the innuendoes and rumors on people and I
don’t want to waste time on it. This is all I have to say about John
Waters and Bagrat Sargsyan activities. As for the suspension of the
museum construction, there were two main reasons for it. The first
reason was connected with the management of the foundation, as a result
of which development of the project was let out of control. The second
reason is that they made a project for Mr. Cafesjian which exceeded
the intended cost by 3-4 times. According to Gerard Cafesjian’s plans,
the budget of the museum would amount to 30 million dollars, but they
presented a project amounting to 150 million.

– You can build more than five museums in Yerevan with 150 million
dollars.

– Yes. It is really possible to build a museum with 20-30 million
dollars as Mr. Cafesjian had planned initially. In 2002 he planned
to spend 25 million for the museum, and another 5 million for
reconstructing of the Cascade, which was given to him in a dilapidated
and very poor condition. So the total budget was set at 30 million
dollars.

– Didn’t they show the second version of the project to Mr. Cafesjian?

– The project was managed by John Waters. He was in charge of
managing the architect and it was his fault. I was only in charge of
construction works, i.e. they had to give me the project and I had
to implement it.

– What were your official duties?

– I was not in charge of the design of the museum project. I was in
charge of managing utilization of the entire complex and the routines
of the foundation. I was in charge of reconstructing the Cascade
(project design and construction) as well as construction of the new
museum based on the project of the architect. As you know I completely
renovated the Cascade. The museum is another story…

– Were you in charge of making the main budget of construction works?

– During seven years every month we presented financial accounting
on how much money we received and spent on different parts of
the project (more than 20 separate line-items), we also submitted
the budget and calculations for the following month with the same
details. However in the initial budget of 30 million they did not
take into consideration the salaries and the operational expenses
of the Cascade complex. According to my calculations, annually about
700 thousand dollar was spent on salaries. Every month we paid about
3-4 thousand dollars for electricity. I even cut down the expenses
for electricity by installing laser lights on the escalators (which
had to work continuously) in order to operate them whenever a person
approaches.

Otherwise we would have to pay 7-8 thousand dollars per month for
electricity alone. I really received rundown and broken equipments. We
repaired everything. The structure was leaking water all over. We
had to remove the stone coverings and install waterproofing. We
had to spend a lot of money on these works. I have all necessary
documentation for these expenses.

You said that some people think I am guilty. Now I will present the
list of the expenses, all of which are documented. In the period
of June 2002 – March 2009 the expenses and investments of the
Cafesjian museum foundation in Yerevan are as follows: salaries
(annual salaries amounted to 700 thoousand dollars) – 4.900.000,
current expenses, such as utility payments, public relations, etc. –
1.400.000 dollars, reconstruction, renovation and landscaping of the
Cascade and Tamanyan Park – 11.800.000 dollars, museum construction –
4.800.000 dollars, advance purchase of metal and cement – 4.000.000
dollars, removal of real estate encumbrances – 3.000.000 dollars,
other expenses – 2.900.000 dollars. It should be noted that the
expenses of the Cafesjian Museum Foundation made in the United States
are not included in this list.

Above mentioned expenses include construction of state of the art
depositaries in the territory of "Hayfilm" [studios] to store the
collection of Mr. Cafesjian in safe and proper climatic conditions. We
have also built a big modern greenhouse in the territory of "Hayfilm"
to cultivate the flowers to decorate the Tamanyan Park and surrounding
areas of the Cascade. We used to spend about 20 thousand dollars
every year to buy seeds for these flowers, which we would save since
the greenhouse would produce several folds of what we would need
ourselves. The excess would be sold in free market. By the way,
Mr. Cafesjian appreciated and highly encouraged this initiative.

I should add that during the last two years senseless additional
unnecessary works have been done at already renovated parts of
the Cascade. In 2007 a new architect named David Hutson was hired,
who destructed renovations I had made at the Tamanyan Park and the
Cascade. He did redecoration of the exhibition halls.

For example, changed the slanted ceilings to horizontal ones, installed
frosted glass windows, etc. while renovation of all of the halls had
been completed and they were ready for exhibitions. When I got this
job, the exhibition halls did not even have windows. I installed
new windows. However, the new architect replaced these windows and
specified frosted glasses which were very expensive. Furthermore,
the new architect decided to dig a big hole in the place of the
museum because he wanted the basement of the museum to consist of two
floors. According to the initial project, the building’s basement was
supposed to be one floor. We spent so much money for digging this
hole which was very disproportional in comparison with the initial
budget of the building. We spent 4,629,000 dollars on the earthworks
which included digging this hole.

During digging the initial hole we met a thick layer of solid basalt
stone. We had to spend a lot of money to dig this thick layer of
stone. Any experienced architect knows that digging stone layers
is more expensive than constructing a new building. As an architect
I realized that in such a situation the work has to be stopped and
the project needed to be revised accordingly, but we were forced to
obey and agree with their decision without argument. Now this hole
is fully built from the inside. What Hutson did was senseless. He
presented a project which Mr. Cafesjian naturally could not agree with.

– What is the status of this process now?

– Mr. Cafesjian did not plan to spend 150 million dollars on the
museum and he is right. I have heard that he will come to Yerevan in
November. His visit has been delayed about 4-5 times. In one occasion
he had even rented a plane and wanted to visit Armenia with several
senators and high ranking officials to take part in the opening
ceremony of the museum. But his visit was delayed several time as
the architect was not able to provide drawings in time, as a result
of which we were not able to finish the construction works. Now it
seems that they are working on the Tamanyan Park, they have brought
the statue of the Roman Gladiator to the park and have installed
benches. They are trying to finish the works. I have also heard that
they are planning to organize exhibitions in some of the halls of
the Cascade.

– Will they be able to?

– I think they can finish the works fast if the quality of work is
made secondary.

– Have you ever met Mr. Gerard Cafesjian?

– Once I met him in New York. We talked for about 2-3 hours. This
conversation was not connected with the museum. I saw him in Yerevan
several times too, but I did not have the opportunity to meet with
him. My contact with him was only through J. Waters. There have been
cases when I wrote letters about the situation and my expressed my
concerns to Mr. Cafesjian, but I did not receive any answers from
him. I sent the copies of these letters both to John Waters and Michael
De Marsche (the executive director of the foundation since 2007).

I was especially concerned of the Center for Contemporary Experimental
Art (CCEA). This was my second problem. When I was hired 7 years
ago, my salary was three times less than the salary of a person
of my qualifications in New York. I worked for seven years without
salary increase. Three years ago I agreed with John Waters that if
Mr. Cafesjian sponsored the CCEA, I would work until the end of my life
without asking for salary increase. I made this agreement with J. John
verbally without any document. But the situation and relations inside
the foundation started worsening. I immediately informed Mr. Waters
that I could not work with the architect any more. I also told him
that if they thought I was an obstacle I could resign. He disagreed
and said that they will take care of the problem. I continued to
work. But 8 months before my final departure on March 1, 2009, they
violated the agreement concerning the CCEA and stopped the financial
support. Mr. Waters informed me with a mail that the reason of stopping
the sponsorship was connected with the financial crisis and they would
reinstate the support soon. Based on this promise I decided to use my
family savings to pay for CCEA expenses as I believed they would return
these funds, as promised. They have not paid 75.000 dollars for those
eight months yet. I have no documents, thus I cannot sue them. But,
even if I had a document I would not do that because Gerard Cafesjian
is a great philanthropist and I would not insult him by doing so,
even if they were not fair to me.

– Which documents did John Waters sign and which ones did Bagrat
Sargsyan?

– Some areas surrounding the Cascade were encumbered upon by private
parties. The transaction documents on purchasing these lands, houses
and garages to remove the encumbrances were signed by Mr. Sargsyan
and Mr. Waters.

– Why did not your letters reach Mr. Cafesjian?

– In December 2008 when I saw that the project of the museum was rather
big and the situation was not good, I sent an action plan in a letter
to Mr. Cafesjian and described what we had to do to get out of the
situation. I wrote a timeline and informed that I would finish the
museum and the Cascade works within three years at a budget determined
by him, with the condition that I had to be in charge of managing the
project. I addressed the letter to Mr. Cafesjian and sent the copies to
Waters and De Marsche. I have never gone over people’s heads. We were
told that the health condition of Mr. Cafesjian was not good and we
were told not to write letters to him and inform that the situation
was drastic in order not to put emotional pressure on him. Thus,
apparently John did not pass this letter. Mr. De Marsche after this
letter totally changed his attitude towards me. The person who used
to tell me that they needed me, changed his attitude and even did not
greet me or invite me to meetings. In February I told John about this
situation and presented my resignation.

Eventually my letter reached Mr. Cafesjian. I suspected that John had
not sent it to Mr. Cafesjian. I sent the same letter to Mr. Cafesjian’s
adviser in April and mentioned in it that I it had been sent to him
in December. They replied that they had not received any letter from
me. Later the adviser informed me that Mr. Cafesjian had read the
letter and appreciated my proposal. He asked me to stay in Yerevan in
May in order to meet with Mr. Cafesjian’s new representative. When
that person came, his mind was already poisoned. We talked for two
hours and he eventually realized that there had been a conspiracy,
and apologized to me several times.

They cannot accuse me of anything. I stand behind all of my signatures,
except in two cases: One relates to the sale of reinforcement metal
and the other is removal of land encumbrances, i.e. the transactions
of buying the lands around the territory. Persons responsible for
these transactions were Bagrat Sargsyan and John Waters. I did
not have any participation in it. The other relates to the sale
of the metal. The metal was sold by direct order of John Waters (I
have the letter). When the project was ready, I asked the director
of Haypetnakhagits (ArmStateProject) to provide the list of the
metals necessary for the implementation of the project. We bought
this metal from Ukraine by the approval of John Waters and paid 770
dollars per ton for it. We bought 4.800 tons of metal. It was not
a risky decision because if we did not use a part of that metal we
could sell it anyway. The fact is that when Mr. Cafesjian decided
to make the project smaller, we had 3000 tones of additional metal,
which we did not need anymore. Mr. Waters and Mr. De Marsche initially
ordered us to sell the metal for not less than 1200 dollars per ton
with the condition that the money had to be paid in cash. At that
time we owed 2-3 million dollars to our contractors who asked us
to give this metal at a little cheaper price which would also clear
our debts. Some of them were prepared to pay up to 1000-1100 dollars
per ton for this metal. In one week, however, we received a written
instruction from Waters to sell the metal at 770 dollars per ton
to the same intermediary company, through which we had imported the
metal to Armenia from Ukraine. What could I do? I had no choice but
to obey my superior’s order.

– Is the crisis the reason why Mr. Cafesjian controls his money
now? According to our information, about two months ago he fired
180 people.

– It is really a very sad story. These people have worked for the
foundation for many years with great care and diligence, and now
they are faced with losing their only source of livelihood because of
the crisis. This, probably is the most cruel, but inevitable outcome
of capitalism…

I remember about three years ago Ross Vartian, the director
of Cafesjian’s lobbying organization in Washington, said to me
during a casual conversation that "When they show Mr. Cafesjian the
spread-sheet of the funds spent on his projects, he will have a heart
attack". Mr. Cafesjian has invested a lot of money on "Hayfilm", the
museum, alternative energy research organization and other projects,
which either do not function as they should, or are not completed
as yet. I think such report has been sent to Mr. Cafesjian, and it
is the reason why he made the above mentioned changes. I think it
is not the end. There will be more serious developments. I am really
sorry for these turn of the events. This unique and wonderful project
is at the verge of collapse. It does not matter whether Balassanian
will finish the project or someone else. The important thing is that
huge investments have been made in the cultural sector in Armenia,
which has to be supported and helped to bring them to a desirable
conclusion. I say this with utmost sincerity and best wishes.

TURKEY RESPECTS FORCE NOT WEAKNESS

ArmInfo
2009-10-12 15:22:00

ArmInfo. "Dragging out of the signing of the Protocols in Zurich
was the first step by Turkey. Armenia will yet face much testing in
this context.

Turkey respects force and not weakness. Therefore, we should be strong
in this fight where Turkey has already revealed its true face by its
actions in Zurich", Richard Giragosian, Director at Armenian Center
for National and International Studies (ACNIS), told media on Monday.

"Dragging-out of the signing was a peculiar test for Armenia and
the super powers. Turkey wanted to see the response of the opposite
party. Ankara’s attempt failed since Armenia responded to that
challenge and refused to sign any agreement. By such maneuver Turkey
just aroused dissatisfaction of super powers and found itself in the
position of the defeated party", he said.

R. Giragosian believes that the Turkish parliament may protract
ratification of the signed Protocols at least till the beginning of
the next year.

"The reason is that the Armenian-Turkish border is to be opened within
60 days after the protocols are ratified. Turkey will probably wait
for the next year to increase its political force in the context of
the 95th anniversary of Genocide. Turkey is very glad to see discord
between Armenia and Diaspora and inside the country. It is especially
important that these undesirable processes have made Armenia weaker
in the eyes of Turkey," Giragosian said.

Armenia and Turkey signed the "Protocol on the establishment
of diplomatic relations" and the "Protocol on the development of
bilateral relations" in Zurich on October 10. To come into effect
the protocols must be submitted to the respective Parliaments for
the ratification on each side. Armenia and Turkey have no diplomatic
relations and their border was closed in 1993 by Ankara.

UNCERTAINTY AT ITS FINEST: THE ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOL
Stacy Maruskin

Hurriyet Daily News
Wednesday, October 7, 2009

For those of us living in Turkey, it is an unquestionable fact that
the Turkish-Armenian Protocol is a pressing topic on many people’s
minds. For weeks, both the academic community and citizens of both
countries have been waiting patiently for Oct. 10, the possible day
of reckoning between the Turkish and Armenian communities. The event
has been a long time in coming, but it is on a hope and a prayer that
both Turkey and Armenia’s parliaments will pass the protocol.

The long history of what happened between these two historical
opponents requires no further scrutiny. The underlying and principle
disputes among the Turks and Armenians rest upon three major issues:
1. the events of 1915, 2. the recognition of existing borders and
3. Nagorno-Karabakh.

It is amazing how much weight these topics carry. While some of us were
privileged enough not to grow up in a time or place where conflict has
ensued and lives were lost, this region of the world has not been so
fortunate. Deep-rooted resentment, which has occasionally manifested
itself in hostility, has existed for years between both countries
over these unresolved issues. The ongoing territorial dispute over
Azeri lands between Armenia and Azerbaijan, a close ally of Turkey,
has not done anything other than breed more mistrust.

Only recently has a thaw in relations begun to occur. Soon after
Armenia’s independence in 1991, the country occupied Azerbaijan’s
Nagorno-Karabakh district and seven surrounding regions, thereby
contributing to their international isolation. It was not until last
year’s football diplomacy when Turkish President Abdullah Gul visited
Armenia for a World Cup qualifying match that optimism began to emerge
from skepticism. Since then, an Armenian-Turkish protocol has been
put on the table; if signed, it will mean that Armenia will finally
recognize the Turkish borders as specified by the Kars Treaty of 1923,
whil xamine the heavily disputed events of 1915.

As for the matter of who gains the most from this slow evaporation
of animosity in the Turkish-Armenian relationship, there can be no
doubt that it is Armenia. Most political analysts are anticipating a
failure to ratify the protocol by the latter’s parliament; this would
clearly not be a wise move for the country due to Armenia’s economic
position at present. Å~^ukru Elekdag, the former Turkish Ambassador to
the United States and a CHP MP, summed it up best when he declared that
the "Economy of Armenia is on the verge of collapse, so the people are
leaving the country." He restated claims that Armenia loses 80 percent
of its exports and imports due to Turkey and Azerbaijan’s economic
blockade against the country. It can be no wonder that Serge Sarkisian,
despite being a radical like his predecessor Robert Kocharyan, chose
diplomacy over a lack of statesmanship. He realized that the survival
of Armenia was much more important than waging a smear campaign against
Turkey. If the territorial border eventually opens, Armenia will find
itself out of Russia’s suffocating grasp and can begin to expand its
relations and economy into other spheres. Their overdependence and
isolation, once relaxed, can bring renewed prosperity to the region.

Turkey, meanwhile, will reap major gains in the political realm;
it will appease EU member states who have criticized Turkey over its
continued closure of the Armenian border – even though the closure
was warranted due to Armenia’s occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Unfortunately, we are all getting ahead of ourselves when we talk
of a future opening. The fact remains that nothing has been signed
or ratified yet. On the former issue, the signing of the protocols
by Turkey’s foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Armenia’s foreign
minister Edward Nalbandian has been scheduled for Oct. 10. In regards
to the actual ratifications, Armenia is not the only country facing
a potential rejection by its parliament. The ruling Justice and
Development Party, or AKP, might hold the majority in Parliament,
yet political speculation suggests there will be no ratification
unless MPs see visible signs of progress on Armenia’s attitude to
Nagorno-Karabakh and other occupied Azerbaijani territories. Armenia
has declared its readiness to withdraw forces from five of the seven
occupied regions in Azerbaijan, but until such measures are taken,
it can be certain that Turkey will not ratify the protocols either.

In the end, this is an uphill battle that both sides are confronting
and it is impossible to believe that either would be fully satisfied
by these agreements. Turkey’s major opposition parties object to the
present deal, saying they want further progress on Nagorno-Karabakh
and the original Kars Treaty to be included in the protocols. Radical
Dashnaktsutyun – Armenian Revolutionary Federation, or ARF, members
are not pleased either and some have even staged a hunger strike to
protest the protocols. They feel the Armenian committee to review
the 1915 events comes to fruition, it negates their claims of
"genocide." What people need to stop and realize is that the real
losers in all of this are those that have no voice because they are no
longer here. The countless people on both sides who lost their lives
long ago in the last days of the Ottoman Empire and those who have
lost their homes lives in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories. This
normalization and the restoration of relations should continue for
them and for the future. As many wise men have said before, how are
we to move forward if we continually live in our past?

Regrettably, it would be wise to say that none of us should hold our
breaths for a resolution. It is a pessimistic view, though perhaps
it is realistic too. Let’s see what the week brings us.

* Stacy Maruskin is a researcher at the Ankara-based International
Strategic Research Organization, or USAK.

FLOWERS HAVE BEEN PUT ON THE MONUMENTS OF VICTIMS OF WAR IN AFGHANISTAN AND WORLD WAR II

ARMENPRESS
Oct 7, 2009

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 7, ARMENPRESS: On the occasion of the 20th anniversary
of withdrawal of the Soviet Union troops from Afghanistan Armenian
Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian, members of the Council coordinating
the veterans of Afghanistan war put today flowers to the monuments
to the victims of war in Afghanistan and the World War II.

S. Ohanian told journalists that on the occasion of the jubilee
numerous events are organized in the CIS states which are supervised
by the council coordinating the union.

"There is a necessity of organization of such events. We once more
commemorate our friends having taken part in the war in Afghanistan. We
must pick up all the political and military lessons from the war in
Afghanistan," S. Ohanian said.

Today the session of the council of coordination of the veterans of
war in Afghanistan of CIS member states was held in Yerevan which,
according to S. Ohanian "encourages and brings the veterans of war
in Afghanistan closer to each other".

Before the session head of the coordinating council Ruslan Aushev
noted that the agenda includes the issue of support to the veterans
of Afghanistan.

"We must discuss projects and clarify all those steps with which we
can assist the veterans. We must assist them in health care and social
issues. There is a necessity to combine the efforts towards searching
the lost in the war. All the CIS states have wish to support but not
all of them have the opportunity," R. Aushev said.

According to Head of "Union of Afghanistan Veterans" in Armenia Armen
Mkhitarian the council greatly supports the veterans by providing
them wheelchairs, means to solve the health issues. There are 3700
veterans of war in Afghanistan as well as 400 officers.

During the session on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of
withdrawal of the Soviet troops from Afghanistan Armenian Defense
Minister Seyran Ohanian awarded 18 veterans with Marshal Baghramian
and Admiral Isak today evening the participants of the council will
visit Armenian historical-cultural places.

A. VARDANYAN SAYS LET IT BE THE COST OF RECOGNIZING GENOCIDE

Panorama.am
14:47 07/10/2009

Arpi Vardanyan the director of Armenian Assembly of America Armenia
and Karabakh offices says she is aware of the opinions that related to
the normalization of Armenian-Turkish ties some Armenians of Diaspora
have some concerns that "Genocide fact is used to get money of that."

"I’ve also heard such opinions. But I don’t think it’s right. If
some people do have such mission, then let it be so," A. Vardanyan
said. Regarding the organizations carrying out lobbyist activities,
including Armenian Assembly of America, they have several objectives
and it would be good if we didn’t need them anymore.

"If Genocide is recognized, the national identity of some of them will
be destroyed. But still let it be so, let Genocide be recognized. My
mission is not only Genocide, if defining myself, I could do it. I
would be happy to see that problem solved, that Turkey finally
recognizes it and the world also," she said.

Answering to the reporter’s request that some will be left jobless
in the aftermath of normalization of Armenian-Turkish ties, she said:
"Let it be the cost of it."

PRESIDENT MET WITH LEBANON ARMENIANS

Panorama.am
11:19 07/10/2009

President Serzh Sargsyan’s meeting with the representatives of Armenian
community in Beirut ended. It is reported that the representatives
of ARF Lebanon Central committee Hovik Mkhitaryan, Avo Kitanyan and
other ARF members, as well as Near East Armenian Cause office members
were also present at the meeting with the President. At the beginning
of the meeting President Sargsyan spoke about the recent developments
over the Armenian-Turkish protocols.

Parallel to the President’s meeting with Armenian community, three
Lebanon-Armenian parties held an act of protest in from of "Habtur"
hotel, were president rested, "Azdak" paper reports.

According to the source, after President’s and Aram I
Patriarch’s meeting, the patriarch addressed his speech to the
protestors. "Armenian people should be faithful to the commandment
of our ancestors not abandoning its claim," Aram I said. It has been
also said that the genocide should not be left unpunished.

MENESHIAN: DAWN
By Knarik Meneshian

06/poem-meneshian-dawn/
October 6, 2009

I opened the window to dawn, And in rushed cold, Crisp Lori mountain
air.

A wolf

Prancing on newly fallen snow, Paused and stared my way.

Our eyes locked. I did not blink.

He turned his head and Scampered away into the trees Higher up the
mountainside.

A shepherd In the distance,

Waving his stick like a baton, then Tapping it on the ground,

Called out, "Ho, ho!" to his flock, As they made their way Higher
yet up the mountainside.

Soon, in the valley below, The village will awaken to another day,

Another "drop of honey."

DID NOT DEMAND PUNISHMENT

/arshaluys-hakobyan
06:02 pm | October 06, 2009 | Politics

Prosecutor Hunan Babayan asked for two working days to prepare an
indictment on the case of Helsinki Association observer Arshaluys
Hakobyan. According to Babayan, there was a need for adequacy and the
indictment had to be prepared in a duly manner. Judge Gagik Avetisyan
scheduled the next trial for October 16 at 12 p.m.

According to the case materials, on June 5 policemen paid a visit to
Hakobyan’s house to hand him a notice from the Special Investigative
Service. Hakobyan was drunk, cursed them, signed in the wrong spot,
didn’t follow the policemen’s instructions and started beating them. As
a result, he was taken to the police station by two police officers
from the Kentron police division who arrived to the scene. Arshaluys
Hakobyan was charged based on the testimonies of four policemen, by
Part 1 of Article 316 of the Criminal Code, that is, "violence against
a state representative". Today Gagik Avetisyan released the response to
the question connected to the time of arrest. "The correction of the
time of arrest is clearly stated," said the judge to the prosecutor
and advised the latter to treat the matter seriously later on.

Let us mention that in the notice it is stated that Arshaluys Hakobyan
was taken to the police station at 2:30 p.m., and 1 p.m. in the case
materials. Based on the materials, the police checked how drunk he was
at 2:30 p.m. Gayane Khachatryan also presented the conclusion of the
medical examination where it is stated that he had received blows on
different parts of his body. Arshaluys Hakobyan also presented the
photos where it is seen that he had been hit on the head.

The judge suspected that that could have been Arshaluys’s head. Today
advocate Arshaluys Hakobyan also answered the judge’s questions and
said: "They didn’t come to give me a notice, but to arrest me. However,
they needed a reason for arresting me." Arshaluys Hakobyan said
that he doesn’t smoke at home at all because he has children and
the police thought that I was smoking after seeing a cigarette box
on the table. The advocate added that Arshaluys Hakobyan’s arrest is
connected to the elections for Yerevan’s Council of Elders. Arshaluys
Hakobyan had observed the May 31 elections and had spoken out against
the violations.

WHERE IS MARCH 1 DRAFT?

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16:40:30 – 05/10/2009

The draft of the NA decision based on the report of the NA temporary
commission to study March 1 will be included in the next four-day
agenda of the National Assembly. During today’s session, the head of
the ARF faction Vahan Hovhannisyan asked the Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan
where the draft is and why it is not included in the agenda. Abrahamyan
promised it would be included in the next four-day agenda.

According to certain information, there are a series of shortages
and mistakes in the draft which is why it was not included in the
agenda. Probably, they did not manage to agree the draft with the
Baghramyan 26 representatives, especially, considering the rumors
that the NA report was worked out and approved there.

Besides, the NA ARF members appealed to the NA Speaker to set up
a monitoring commission to study if the proposals present in the
report have been fulfilled. "I hope our proposal will be approved",
said the member of the NA temporary commission Artsvik Minasyan in
a conversation with us.