Author: Tatoyan Vazgen

FILM ON KARABAKH AWARDED WITH NEW YORK BASED TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL PRIZE

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.05.2007 14:46 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian director Vartan Hovhannissyan’s "A story
of people war and peace" won New York based "Tribeca Film Festival"
prize in "New Names" nomination. The film shot in 2006 by "Bars media"
studio of documentary films tells about the war in Karabakh. The
director of the film also received $25 000 premium, RFE RL reports.

Tribeca Film Festival has been founded in 2002 by the initiative of
Robert De Niro, Jane Rozenthal and Graig Hatkoff aiming at assisting
activation of Manhattan after the tragic events of September 11, 2002.

This year 275 films from 40 countries, including Levon Grigoryan’s
"Memories about Sayat-Nova" documentary film participated in the
film festival.

RUSSIA-U.S. AND FORMER SOVIET REPUBLICS: FROM ILLUSIONS TO REALITY

RIA Novosti, Russia
May 3 2007

MOSCOW. (Alexander Karavayev for RIA Novosti) – To err is human,
but there are different kinds of mistakes. It was wrong of Moscow
to assume that it would play the first fiddle in what emerged on the
ruins of the U.S.S.R.

The Kremlin seemed to have forgotten that defense of U.S. national
security interests is the driving force of American policy. The United
States has only made tactical changes to this position, tailoring it
to the situation. If alarming trends prevailed, the U.S.

took action – channeled IMF credits into the Russian economy and
earmarked funds to keep Russia’s nuclear arsenal safe and help it
get rid of weapons of mass destruction.

We should not think that America is Russia’s cynical foe forever. Its
foreign policy rests on a gain-and-risk combination, and this is
the line it has been pursuing in its relations with Russia on the
territory of former Soviet states.

A dozen new states that emerged after the Soviet Union’s disintegration
turned their eyes to the West. The United States adopted a
wait-and-see attitude while money-seeking CIS countries offered it
one big investment project after another. For Moscow, the territory
around Russia was an economically split conglomerate of politically
centrifugal states, whereas Washington saw it as a monolith. As a
passive onlooker, the United States was slowly projecting its vision
of the future CIS configuration.

Washington was reluctant to take part in settlement of separatist
conflicts. Credit for ceasefire in Transdnestr, the South Caucasus
and Tajikistan primarily goes to the Kremlin. For the first time,
the United States got involved in a post-Soviet settlement in March
1992, when it took part in the Minsk conference on Nagorny Karabakh,
and later on became a participant in the Minsk OSCE (Organization
on Security and Cooperation in Europe) group on the region’s status
and only because Azerbaijan and Armenia both insisted on this. As in
other cases, in 1994 Russian diplomats persuaded the sides to conclude
a tacit truce that has been preserved to this day.

The only joint Russian-American project is the Dartmouth conference’s
working group on regional conflicts. The group has certain achievements
to its credit, for example, the talks that produced an inter-Tajik
peace agreement on June 27, 1997 in Moscow. But the Dartmouth Group
is not a government project. It is a private initiative of individuals
who were working to alleviate U.S.-Russian tensions in the 1980s.

By the late 1990s, the CIS situation became more complicated.

Washington offered Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and
Moldova to unite in the GUUAM Group, a forum without Russia’s
participation. But until it came to the velvet revolutions, it was
not clear how this group could be used to promote American interests
in the CIS. Now GUAM appears to be an advertising economic project of
Orange revolutionaries trying to use it for organizing the domestic
market and facilitating the comeback of breakaway territories to the
unitary states.

A very special situation developed around the Gore-Chernomyrdin
commission. It was probably the only achievement in
Russian-U.S. relations that was recognized by both sides. The
commission’s idea was to let second-in-command statesmen implement
presidential agreements that often remain hanging in the air. These
people know how to push specific issues to be tackled by the second
and third levels of the bureaucratic machine. The commission was also
involved in tackling a number of classified issues.

Thus, by the late 1990s the pattern of US-CIS relations became obvious
– Washington built contacts with each country individually.

The distance between the United States and Eurasia, and certain
pro-American idealism of CIS capitals allowed Washington to reach its
objectives regardless of contradictions and conflicts within the CIS.

Moscow could not achieve Washington’s level of trust in relations
with the CIS. It was limited by involvement in common processes and
numerous economic and political commitments to each country that was
clearly reflected in interstate and separatist conflicts. The United
States was not so much involved in separatist problems as Russia.

Without this deadweight, Washington had more freedom of action.

Moreover, the U.S. could afford to take part in several games both
with the opposition and different elite groups. The Kremlin’s hands
were tied by obligations to those who held the reins of power in
CIS countries.

Finally, the United States channeled considerable financial allocations
into a number of socio-economic programs, allocated interest-free
credits, and helped CIS countries get big IMF loans.

Russia depended on the United States as much as other countries and
could not take part in any serious independent games on the former
Soviet territory. Finally, the U.S. image enhanced in the CIS the
general trend of globalism emanating from the West – market relations,
dollarization of the economies, advent of foreign companies to local
markets, a sharp increase in the range of consumer goods and a broad
choice of industrial technologies. All these factors promoted the
advance of the United States in post-Soviet territory.

Importance of partnership with Russia dropped from the first place
to the tenth on the U.S. list of priorities even before the Islamic
threat became obvious. During this time, the Kremlin lost its grip on
many purely Russian subjects in the CIS, and left much to chance. On
the bright side of this experience was the realization of the need
for symmetrical balance in relations with the U.S. – the time of
limitless trust was gone never to return.

The current defense missile crisis has clearly shown the split that
will continue to deepen. By the end of 2008, the presence of the
old team in the Kremlin (Putin will leave, but his team will remain)
and the emergence of Democrats in power in Washington will generate
multiple conflicts of interest. Fewer attempts will be made to cover
up the split and growing contradictions by a diplomatic veil.

Aggravation of bilateral relations is bound to affect CIS countries.

Efforts against international terrorism (by itself a vague notion),
trade interests, space exploration and nuclear non-proliferation cannot
prevail over confrontation. Further cooperation will be eclipsed by
political discord.

Alexander Karavayev is an expert at the Center for Post-Soviet Studies.

The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s and do not
necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.

PRE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN DRAWING TO ITS END
By A. Muradian

AZG Armenian Daily
03/05/2007

Thus, the pre-election campaign in Armenia is drawing to its end. A
little more than a week is left before the elections and most probably
no change will occur in the already established balance of political
forces. Therefore a preliminary summary of the campaign can be set
up and its peculiarities outlined.

Eventually the election campaign of 2007 considerably differs from
the previous ones due to its relative calmness and fairness. If in
2003 the main arguments of the opposition were random accusations
and defamatory statements to the authorities’ address (as a certain
part of the society still put some trust in the opposition), this
year from the very beginning of the pre-election campaign it became
oblivious that those old methods shall not work any longer.

This year the majority was won by those parties, which realized
that the public needs distinct programs and actions plans on the
improvement of social, economic and political life in Armenia, and
avoided populism.

This change should be considered a serious step towards civic society
in our country. Social surveys on March 16-25 affirmed that most
of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia are disappointed and
skeptic about those politicians who continued yelling of revolution,
impeachment and other radical measures.

"Bargavaj Hayastan" (Thriving Armenia) party was the one to have
the most realistic and distinctively elaborated program, which won
the sympathies of a large number of electors. Most of the opposition
parties, according to their capabilities, followed this example, and
therefore were called traitors by the representatives of marginal
conservative opposition, which still adheres to the methods of
groundless threats, unreasonable offences and populism.

However, only on May 12, on the day of the parliamentary elections
it would be possible to say for sure, which methods have proven
most effective.

TRIBECA MOVIE REVIEW: A STORY OF PEOPLE IN WAR & PEACE
by: Francisco Saco

FILM, MA
April 30 2007

The following movie was reviewed at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.

A Story of People in War & Peace
World Documentary Competition
2006, Armenia
Dir: Vardan Hovhannisyan

In 1994 a truce was arrived at between Armenia and neighboring
Azerbaijan, ending a bloody confrontation that had swept both nations
after the fall of the Soviet Union. These two former satellites
of the Soviet empire were newly independent and both desperate to
claim land they both believed pertained to them. During the war,
photojournalist Vardan Hovhannisyan followed a small platoon of men,
and one female nurse, through their harrowing ordeal. Twelve years
later and Vardan realizes that the memory of the incidents is slowly
being forgotten by the younger generations. The reasons why the war
was fought are being disregarded and overlooked.

So Vardan retraces his links to his fellow soldiers and decides to
search for them so as to gain a better comprehension of what they as
a people lost and won as a consequence of the war. He wants to see
how his fellow men live in peace, opposed to how they lived in war.

What he encounters is beyond him. He finds one of the men had an ugly
divorce from his wife and is now on bad terms with his children.

Another one of the men is in jail, and still another is locked up in
a mental institution, haunted by nightmares of the battlefield.

He is able to converse with every member of his unit, and comes to the
startling realization that not only were these people victims of war,
but they were also victims of peace. The stories of unquantified loss
are tear-filled and confoundedly real, as each person struggles with
the recollection and retelling of the events during the war.

Yet, with such a horrible moment of time burned into their minds,
all the soldiers continue to foster a great love for their country
and retain ultimate pride in having fought for their nation. For them,
it was an honor to serve their homeland, and no matter how many hard
times they face, they will never forget that.

The film is short and concise. It knows what its aims are and
accomplishes them thoroughly. But perhaps it is a bit too short. As
soon as you start caring for the men and women interviewed and
establishing some emotion for their agony, they are gone. The film
leaves one with the up-close knowledge of a horrible event, yet leaves
the person as detached as it did before it had been shown. But then
again, Vardan maybe realized that this subject was too hard to dig up
and that making his fellow Armenians remember those days of combat
and upheaval was something quite difficult, but at the same time
utterly necessary.

/Film Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Photos:
ibeca-movie-review-a-story-of-people-in-war-peace/

nplombardi_04-24-07_KT5C038.367fae9.html#

Lombard i starts early in new role as mayor

01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, April 24, 2007

By Richard C. Dujardin

[Providence] Journal Staff Writer

NORTH PROVIDENCE – Charles A. Lombardi hit the ground running yesterday,
going to work after a brief swearing-in ceremony as the town’s new
mayor.

Arriving at Town Hall at 7:30 a.m., he was one of the first to arrive,
preceded only by his chief of staff, former Mayor G. Richard Fossa, and
his newly named personnel chief, Rocco Gesualdi, both of whom were let
in by the janitor a half-hour earlier.

He came with just a few accouterments: the clock his children bought for
him after he won the Democratic primary Feb. 27, etched with the words
"Your Time Has Come," a name plate for his desk and a silver Cross pen.

And there was one other new item as well: a shoe-shine kit with polish,
which he said will be a reminder that his administration will be "about
keeping your shoes shined and attitudes polished."

Though Lombardi is planning a more festive swearing in at 5 p.m.
Saturday at the high school, an old friend, Supreme Court Justice Frank
Flaherty, came by at 8:30 a.m. to administer the oath to Lombardi in a
small ceremony in the mayor’s office. Lombardi’s wife, Carol, son Chuck,
daughter Tarra, his 87-year-old father, Alfred Lombardi and a small
group of friends attended. The new mayor then went to each office and
invited employees to come by the hall outside his office for a spread of
rolls, pastries, coffee and fruit put together by senior center director
Karen Testa, the third member of his top-level transition team.

Lombardi said when he came back to his office, he found a note left by
his daughter Tarra, "Dad, Have a wonderful first day as mayor. I love
you."

Among the many people who came by yesterday was Joseph Leylegian, a
member of the town’s Armenian Genocide Committee. Leylegian said he came
with some remarks he thought Lombardi might want to deliver at an
Armenian flag-raising service scheduled for 10 this morning in front of
Town Hall. The event will mark the 92nd anniversary of the killing of
1.5 million Armenians at the hands of their Turkish neighbors.

Lombardi acknowledged yesterday that the office still lacks some of the
usual decor, such as family pictures, but he will bring them in when he
has more time. He was also missing a couch. Acting Mayor John Sisto Jr.
had one, but removed it last week, saying it was his.

Lombardi said he is not going to do what some politicians do and clear
everyone out who worked for the prior administration.

"As I told the fellows at Public Works when we stopped in the other day,
we’re going to make all our decisions based on need and what is best for
the taxpayers of the town, not politics. I did tell them, ‘If I’m paying
you for 8 hours, I want at least 7½ hours, not 2.’ The only people who
will be disfavorable to this administration will be those who clearly do
not want to work."

Lombardi has transition teams in place to examine and make
recommendations on the running of the Police and Fire Departments.
Yesterday he disclosed the names of the three people who will be on his
education transition team: former North Providence School Supt. Marie
Hanley, who left the post in 1999 to become the director of the Northern
Rhode Island Collaborative; former Cumberland Assistant School Supt.
Rosemarie Kavanagh; and Joseph Andreozzi, a retired Providence school
administrator.

He said he has asked Robert Giudici, a certified public accountant, to
conduct a forensic audit, and has begun a search for a professional
engineer to replace Robert Bradford as director of Public Works.
Bradford retired two months ago.

"The DPW director needs to enjoy some engineering qualities. We want to
professionalize the department by appointing a director with the
background and expertise so we don’t have to be calling on outside
engineers."

"Are we going to accomplish everything we want to? Hopefully. Rome
wasn’t built in a day, but I think we are going to be in great shape."

Lombardi said he visited Fire Station 1 on Mineral Spring Avenue and was
disappointed to find that there was a Cranston ladder truck inside
because of the department’s own equipment problems.

Last week, there was a Smithfield rescue truck in the station for a
similar reason, and if one were to visit the station on a rainy day, he
said, one would find water pouring down on the town vehicles through the
roof.

"We obviously need an equipment replacement fund. Too many things were
neglected for so long because of politics. It’s one of the things we
need to change."

Lombardi said he also expects to spend the coming days going over the
budget recently submitted by Sisto.

He said he has heard the complaints that the building inspector’s office
is short-staffed. "I’m not going to say I disagree with that. The
building inspector’s office generates a considerable amount of revenue
for the town. If we are losing revenue because we are short-staffed, I
can guarantee you there will be another person added to that office.

"We also have the problem with the use of town cars, which in my opinion
has become an abuse."

Lombardi said he understands his official car is at the police station.

"I’m not concerned about the use of the car. We will use it sparingly or
whatever, but it’s not a top priority for me. Will I use the car? Maybe
not every day, but I’m sure I am going to use it. Someone asked me who
my driver will be. I’ll drive my own car. We need to set an example."

Later in the day, former Mayor Fossa and Gesualdi, who runs the senior
day care center Generations and who will be the town’s personnel
director, were going through schedules to try to develop a master list
of events the mayor will need to attend.

Beverly Sepe, who had been the executive secretary when Fossa was mayor
until 1997, was back at Town Hall yesterday as executive secretary to
Lombardi after being "borrowed" from the School Department.

Lombardi said he plans to run an open administration and one where
employees are courteous and professional toward the taxpayers and
public.

"I’m sure that if we do that, we’ll be successful."

[email protected]

MEETING WITH VARDANANK CLUB MEMBERS

National Assembly of RA, Armenia
April 27 2007

During the meeting of April 26 with the university student members of
the Vardanank club, the Chairwoman of the NA Standing Committee on
Science, Education, Culture and Youth Mrs. Hranush Hakobyan highly
appreciated the military-patriotic activity of the club members
and their mission of keeping bright the memory of freedom fighters,
making the national values accessible for the students and passing
them to the future generations.

According to Mrs. Hakobyan, the most important preconditions of strong
Armenian statehood and longevity of the nation are the patriotism,
education, preservation of the mother tongue, the consolidation,
the belief and the strong family. She urged the students to be the
bearers of the precepts ‘for the Motherland.’ Everything has to be
subordinated to the Motherland. Only through developing the national
values we can integrate to the world developments, only continuing
the good work of martyrs we can provide a bright future. With concrete
examples Mrs. Hakobyan presented glorious and heroic episodes from the
Armenian history and the deeds of patriotic sons of Armenia. She also
spoke about the necessity of preserving and passing on the spiritual
values, keeping the Armenian language pure and genuine and having a
belief that will ensure us a process without obstacles.

The students presented the works done by the club, introduced the
"The university students conduct the lesson" program, spoke about
new military-patriotic ideas and about the events dedicated to the
10th anniversary of the club.

KELBEJER AND LACHIN SHOULD BE LIBERATED UNEQUIVOCALLY : AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTER

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan –
April 26 2007

Azerbaijan, Baku / corr Trend S.Agayeva / Elmar Mammadyarov, the
Azerbaijani foreign minister, stated during talks with journalists
on 26 April that, although there are still serious problems pending,
talks on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh have reached a stage where
major principles have been settled.

Azerbaijan remains loyal to the liberation of the occupied territory.

"We understand that this is impossible to achieve in one day and we
working step-by-step," the minister stressed.

"The peacekeeping forces should be placed in the liberated areas
and communication should be restored. Kelbejer and Lachin should be
liberated unequivocally, because they are, like the other occupied
districts Agdam, Jabrayil etc., under occupation," the minister stated.

Mammadyarov noted that the Azerbaijani population should
return to liberated regions. "Next we can discuss the status of
Nagorno-Karabakh," the minister stressed.

SOME SQUARE OR STREET TO BE NAMED AFTER HRANT DINK IN PARIS

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 26 2007

PARIS, APRIL 26, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. One of the squares or
streets of Paris will be named after editor-in-chief of Agos newspaper
Hrant Dink.

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe informed Armenians about this initiative
of Paris Mayor’s Office at the reception organized for Armenians at
Mayor’s Office on the occasion of the 92th anniversary of Armenian
Genocide. This was reported by the Zaman daily.

AZERBAIJAN DELEGATION SNUBS U.S. OVER RIGHTS REPORT

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 23 2007

Azerbaijan on Sunday cancelled a high-level government delegation’s
trip to Washington to protest against a perceived snub by the
U.S. State Department in a human rights report.

The 2006 report initially included a reference to the disputed province
of Nagorno-Karabakh as Azerbaijani territory occupied the country’s
Caucasus neighbor and bitter enemy Armenia. This reference was later
deleted after diplomatic pressure from Yerevan.

The report’s Armenia section now says: "Armenian forces occupy large
portions of Azerbaijani territory adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenian officials maintain that they do not ‘occupy’ Nagorno-Karabakh
itself."

"In relation to the introduction of changes in the initial 2006
text of a U.S. State Department human rights report relating to the
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the government of
Azerbaijan has taken the decision to cancel the visit," Azerbaijan’s
foreign ministry said in a statement.

"The introduction of corrections, distorting the essence of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict causes bewilderment
and doubts about the position of the U.S. as an honest broker in the
resolution of the conflict," it said.

A delegation of high-level government officials had been due to arrive
in Washington on Monday for two days of bilateral talks.

The United States said its policy had not changed. "Any interpretation
that our policy regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has changed is
not correct," State Department spokeswoman Nancy Beck said Sunday. She
said the U.S. was aware of Azerbaijan’s statement announcing the
postponement and was in contact with its government.

"These talks are important and we look forward to them taking place
at the earliest date," Beck said.

On Friday, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack also said
there had been no change, adding: "The United States reaffirms its
support for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and holds that
the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh is a matter of negotiations
between the parties."

The United States, Russia and France, under the auspices of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, have been
encouraging Azerbaijan and Armenia to resolve the conflict for more
than a decade.

FIVE ARMENIAN CHESS-PLAYERS GAIN VICTORIES AT START OF DUBAI OPEN INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT

Noyan Tapan
Apr 23 2007

DIBAI, APRIL 23, NOYAN TAPAN. Dubai Open international chess tournament
started on April 22 in Dubai. Five out of 126 participants represent
Armenia.

Artashes Minasian, Tigran L. Petrosian, Ashot Anastasian, Hrant
Melkumian and Tigran Kotanjian gained victories in the first tour.