Author: Toneyan Mark

RAFIK ORDYAN’S ENDURING ODYSSEY
Minas Kojayan

AZG Armenian Daily
27/05/2009

Science

The GT-77 Race Car

Every time I reminisce about blooming Hollywood stars of the past, such
as James Dean, I come face to face with the highly talented artist and
clown who passed away before his prime, circus star of Armenia and the
former Soviet Union, the late Leonid Yengibarian. I also remember an
extraordinary and uniquely gifted young man from my university years
in Armenia, automotive pioneer, inventor and designer Rafik Ordyan.

Rafik would have turned 61 years old this year had the medical
world taken his heart condition more seriously. Having departed from
this world at the tender age of 30, Rafik’s love, determination and
creative talents in the field of automotive design could have earned
him a well-deserved place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

In the 18th century, Rafik’s forefathers emigrated from the city of
Ordubad in the Nakhijevan region to Armenia’s northeastern province
of Tavush and the village of Aygedzor. Young Rafik’s keen interest
in the sciences and creative arts became a driving force in his
persistent efforts to gain knowledge of mechanical engineering in
both the Armenian and Russian languages. In the eighth grade, with
the use of objects found at home, Rafik had already created an FM
radio transmitter in the compact size of a cigarette box.

At the age of 14, upon reading about a hand-crafted model truck in
the Russian-language monthly journal Young Designer, Rafik vows to
create his own model vehicle. Upon graduation from high school, Rafik
is accepted by the cybernetics department of Yerevan’s Polytechnic
University. Prior to his enrollment exams, however, Rafik had already
designed and built his first automobile, and Armenia’s first ever
convertible car.

Rafik was a special student. During his university years, Rafik’s
interest in the field of physics propelled him to dream of defending
his Master of Science thesis in the physics "capital" of the Soviet
Union, the city of Dubna. During his graduating year at the university,
he devotes himself to the initial preparation of a blueprint for his
dream car. Rafik’s hard work and tenacity in building his dream car
comes to fruition six years later.

Rafik the inventor had to start everything from scratch. During the
process of building his famous GT-77 race car, Rafik’s hands as well as
personal connections were put to good use in his quest to find accurate
automotive parts. Despite working for the Transportation Ministry of
the USSR, Rafik spent his non-working hours at the ministry by going
through great lengths to find, inspect, modify, and incorporate correct
and dependable automotive parts for his GT-77. When interviewed,
Rafik stated that he had "one purpose… to create a contemporary and
unique automobile, which would be distinctly different than any other
automobile." Specifically, Rafik incorporated a Skoda 1202 47HP engine
manufactured in Czechoslovakia, and a Moskvich 412 gearbox. In June
1977, all of Yerevan was raving about Rafik Ordyan’s orange GT-77
race car.

August 6, 1977 was a special day in the life of Rafik Ordyan. The
USSR’s Grand Prix was set to begin in Moscow. Over 2000 automobiles
and their drivers, including Rafik and his GT-77, participated in this
event. A number of scholarly journals and publications throughout
the Soviet Union, in addition to prominent scientific institutions,
the Zaporozhets factory in Ukraine and the YERAZ factory (Yerevan
Automotive Factory) in the Kanaker district of Yerevan all expressed
serious interest in Rafik’s creative prowess. The Grand Prix commenced
in Moscow’s Gorky Park, en route 2500 miles to the Black Sea port
of Sevastopol in the Crimea. Among 2000 participants, Rafik Ordyan
became the champion of the Grand Prix, earning several accolades and
worthy attention throughout the Soviet Union, and bringing pride to
his native Armenia. Thanks to Soviet newspapers and television, over
250 million people familiarized themselves with the young Armenian
inventor and his "baby", the GT-77.

Rafik was a rising star with a promising future ahead of him, who would
have brought pride to any nation. Sadly, his life was cut short at
the age of 30, due to a heart condition which could have been properly
treated had he undergone the correct medical procedures. Rafik Ordyan
passed away on May 31, 1979 in Moscow.

The Armenian nation never forgot her native son. Due to the efforts of
Rafik’s friends and admirers, the annual Ordyan Prize was established
in recognition of an inventor who has built the best automobile by
hand. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Rafik’s passing, a
decision was made by the Ordyan family to restore the GT-77 race car,
in addition to publicly exhibiting a collection of Rafik’s photographs,
trophies and medals, letters, and the designs of his automobiles.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
May 24 2009

Overreaching judges blamed for politicization of justice system

Although not much of a surprise for those with a political diary in
Ankara, the national agenda in the fast-paced capital picked up on
another familiar issue — the politicization of the legal system —
when an Ankara court came down with a very controversial ruling
stipulating that President Abdullah Gül should stand trial in a
decade-old fraud case, a decision most jurists consider to be a clear
violation of the Constitution.

Against the prosecutor’s recommendation made earlier that the case
should be dismissed, the Sincan 1st High Criminal Court decided last
week that President Gül should stand trial for allegedly
committing fraud while a member of the now defunct Welfare Party
(RP). The ruling has certainly resurrected legal controversies of the
past in which the Constitutional Court, the nation’s highest court,
denied Parliament the right to exercise its authority to elect the new
president by issuing a notorious 367 quorum decision which many
scholars declared as lacking legitimacy. The top court was also
accused of judicial activism by stepping on the toes of legislators
when it annulled a popular constitutional amendment allowing women to
wear the headscarf in public places. Despite a clear constitutional
ban of judicial review for constitutional amendments on anything but
procedural grounds according to Article 148, the court went ahead and
asserted its
jurisdiction, evaluating and then invalidating the contested
amendments on the basis of substance rather than procedure.

Many in Turkey now warn that, when added altogether, these cases may
risk eroding the legitimacy of the justice system in Turkey and might
polarize public institutions in the ensuing highly divisive
environment. Never-ending confrontations stirring public controversies
between liberals and conservatives on the one hand and hard-line
secularists and nationalists on the other continue to hurt the country
and divert its energy away from much-needed attention to
economics. The only solution left for the Turkish judicial system is a
complete overhaul — especially of the top court — and greater
involvement of Parliament as a collective representative body of the
various segments of Turkish society, many pundits advocate.

`The Constitutional Court must reflect the values of the people to
some extent. It should not follow the inevitable changes in the
popular mood, but its decisions must take into account the fundamental
values of the community,’ said Herman Schwartz, a professor at the
American University Washington College of Law. Speaking to Sunday’s
Zaman, Schwartz emphasized the importance of Parliament having a say
in the top court’s proceedings in one way or another.

`I believe that the legislature should be involved in some way,’ he
said. `There must be a way in which the most popular branch of the
government has its views reflected to some extent in the workings of
the Constitutional Court.’ Schwartz dismissed the argument that
Parliament’s involvement in top court nominations will lead to a
stalemate in the political system.

`The experience in other countries with parliamentary systems is that
a variety of methods, most of which involve the legislature in one
form or another, are quite workable. Those can involve a combination
of representatives from the judiciary, the president’s office and the
legislature, perhaps with the legislature represented by the prime
minister and the leader of the opposition,’ Schwartz noted.

Sincan court’s poor record and a controversial judge

As expected, last week’s ruling by the Sincan court triggered a heated
debate over whether courts in the country are increasingly politicized
and if judges are increasingly leaning toward political affiliations
when it comes to decision making on the benches. Some even questioned
the timing of the ruling as it coincided with the president’s
announcement on new and bold initiatives to solve Turkey’s Kurdish
problem. `I don’t think the real issue is whether Gül should
stand trial or not here. I believe the decision of the court may be
linked to Gül’s efforts to heal the Kurdish issue,’ Mehmet
Altan, a columnist and author, told Sunday’s Zaman.

The poor track record of the Sincan 1st High Criminal Court is another
indication that the court is highly politicized. According to one
account published by a daily last week, in the last four years, only
24 of 185 rulings of this court were upheld in an appellate court. In
84 cases, the Supreme Court of Appeals rendered the decisions handed
down by the Sincan court null and void. In 18 cases, it upheld some
portions of the ruling while canceling the rest. The appeals court
sent 11 cases back to Sincan for problems of technicality and ruled
that the Sincan court did in fact have jurisdiction in 39 cases that
were dismissed earlier based on no jurisdiction rulings by the court
itself. The appeals court rejected nine cases, citing that they were
not properly filed by the lower court.

The ruling has problems on procedural grounds as well. It was found
that the court had accepted an appeal petition a month after the
period for filing had expired. Stressing that the Turkish Penal Code
(TCK) specifically prohibits filing motions after the statute of
limitations expires, Servet ArmaÄ?an, a professor of law, said
the ruling will certainly be overruled in an appellate court.

Another issue raising eyebrows in the case focuses on the chief judge
himself. It appears this ruling is not the first controversial
decision handed down by Osman Kaçmaz, the head of the Sincan
1st High Criminal Court. He previously overruled the dismissal of a
case over a campaign by Turkish intellectuals to apologize for the
killings of Anatolian Armenians in 1915. He also overruled a decision
by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on the wiretapping of
criminal suspects. This decision was made after a petition was filed
by Ã-mer Faruk EminaÄ?aoÄ?lu, the head of the Judges
and Prosecutors Association (YARSAV), known for his staunch opposition
to the ongoing investigation into Ergenekon, a criminal network
charged with plotting to topple the government.

The same court also overruled the dismissal of a case against Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an over his alleged use of the term
`esteemed’ to refer to Abdullah Ã-calan, the jailed leader of the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist organization.

President rejects ruling

In his defense, President Gül rejected the Ankara court’s
ruling, stressing that the Constitution stipulates that the president
can only be put on trial for treason. The government offered its
backing to the president and criticized the ruling as well. `Whose
benefit would it serve to open a debate on the political immunity of
the president? Such a debate will harm Turkey and its image,’
government spokesperson and Deputy Prime Minister Cemil
Ã?içek told Sunday’s Zaman.

`A president is the highest representative of the nation and the
state. While other state officials have political immunity, would it
be logical to deem that the president does not?’ asked
�içek. He also said that insofar as he knows the
president, Gül would not have the slightest concern about
appearing before the judge over the claims.

Burhan Kuzu, a professor of constitutional law, said it is not
possible to try the president as he is immune from
prosecution. Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan backed Kuzu’s
statement and reiterated that Gül cannot be tried on such a
charge according to the Constitution.

The Turkish judiciary, dominated by secularist judges and prosecutors,
has for long been criticized for engaging in judicial
activism. Controversial rulings have created tensions and heightened
emotions in the country. The European Union, which Turkey has aspired
to join for some time now, has repeatedly called for judicial reform
to bring the country’s legal code and justice system in line with EU
norms.

According to Nazlı Ilıcak, a leading commentator on
Turkish politics and a longtime observer of the judicial system, says
the Sincan 1st High Criminal Court is not acting in good faith
regarding its ruling on Gül because it ignored the fact that
the Constitution does not allow presidents to be put on trial except
in cases of treason. `Most of the suspects in the `lost trillion’ case
were acquitted of all charges. A statement released by the
Ã?ankaya presidential palace press office said that the Sincan
court was far from acting in good faith. It is clear that some circles
have laid an ambush and are manufacturing new sources of tension to
increase polarization in the country,’ Ilıcak write in the
Sabah daily last week.

24 May 2009, Sunday
ABDULLAH BOZKURT ANKARA

NOT NUMEROUS PIQUET WAS HELD AT RA MFA

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
22.05.2009 19:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ New Armenia NGO headed by its leader
Eleonora Manandyan, organized a piquet at RA Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. Eleonora Manandyan and her colleague Gayane Yesayan explained
scarce number of participants by their reluctance to endanger other
members of their organization.

Eleonora Manandyan and Gayane Yesayan tried to present RA MFA with
air balloons carrying the following mottos, "No preconditions",
"Football diplomacy", "Road map", "Economic development", as well
as, according to piqueteers, "phrases unknown to RA MF": "National
security", "National interest", "MFA and Dignity".

According to Eleonora Manandyan, they addressed a letter to RA Foreign
Minister Edward Nalbandian demanding his resignation. RA MFA did not
react to piqueteers.

PRIME MINISTER ACKNOWLEDGED HOW HE IS GOING TO SUPERVISE THE 500 MILLION DOLLARS FROM RUSSIA

armradio.am
21.05.2009 14:38

The financial World Crisis still disturbs the minds of the Armenian
officials. In the last period much is spoken about this crisis. Even
the governmental session of today was no exception. The Prime minister
acknowledged how he is going to supervise the 500 Million Dollars
from Russia.

For this state-credit, 500 Million Dollars from Russia, Armenia was
waiting already a long time.

The predictions were different. Today we already know that the finance
ministers of Russia and Armenia Alexey Kudrin and Tigran Davtyan have
signed together the contract ‘about the issuance of credits to the
Republic of Armenia from the Russian Federation’ in Moscow, thanks
to which the Russian sight will hand over 500 Million Dollars as a
credit to Armenia for a term of 15 years, 4 of which are privileged,
to straighten the situation of the financial world crisis.

Like also the other credits, the major part of the Russian credit
will be also handed over for the development of the small and middle
Businesses and the rest to the Bank-credit services.

DOME IS INSTALLED ON THE NEW WESTERN DIOCESE CATHEDRAL

05-15-dome-is-installed-on-the-new-western-diocese -cathedral
Friday May 15, 2009

Burbank, Calif. – The Cathedral of the Western Diocese of the Armenian
Church, which is being built in Burbank, on May 13 got its dome. With
the installation of the dome, the construction project entered a
new phase.

On hand to witness the installation were Archbishop Hovnan Derderian,
Primate; Archbishop Vatche Hovsepian; Joseph Kanimian, Esq., chair of
the Diocesan Council; Armen Hampar, chair of the Cathedral Building
Committee; dome benefactor Eleanor Dickranian and her daughters Cindy
Norian and Laurel Karabian; Diocesan clergy; and a number of faithful.

After posing for a group picture, the faithful were invited to the
Primate’s office, where they celebrated this milestone in the process
of the construction of the cathedral.

At the request of the Primate, all guests joined him in praying for
the repose of the soul of Arshag Dickranian – the late husband of
the cathedral dome benefactor.

The Diocesan Complex has been named after Arshag and Eleanor
Dickranian.

S. BOYADJIAN: MR. FEIN’S TURKISH ADVENTURE
Seto Boyadjian

19/s-boyadjian-mr-fein%e2%80%99s-turkish-adventure /
May 19, 2009

On May 8, Bruce Fein posted an article titled "Recommendations for
the Armenian Diaspora" on the Huffington Post. Fein is concerned
that unless the Armenian Diaspora heeds his "recommendations," it
will torpedo the ongoing talks between Turkey and Armenia.

To set the record straight, it should be noted that according to his
biographic information, Fein, a lawyer, is the resident scholar for
the Turkish Coalition of America. Prior to this position, he was also
resident scholar at the Assembly of Turkish American Associations and
a columnist for the Turkish Times. He has served as a consultant to
the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and has appeared regularly on
Voice of America and Turkish television to discuss current political
events and their implications for Turkish-American relations.

Therefore, it is irrefutable that he his acting as the spokesperson
of the Turkish side. It would indeed be most appropriate to call this
endeavor "Fein’s Turkish adventure."

His so-called "recommendations" simply constitute unsubstantiated
accusations and defamatory remarks against the Armenian Diaspora. As
such, he deserves a response, which I posted on Huffington Post along
the following lines:

Bruce Fein, the mouthpiece of the Republic of Turkey, has spoken
again. This time, he has the audacity of making "recommendations"
to Armenia and U.S. citizens of Armenian extraction without making
any reference to his continued gainful employment by the government
of Turkey and by a garden variety of Turkish "associations."

Fein is out to "get" the Armenian Diaspora in general, and the
U.S. Armenian Americans in particular. The reason for his attempt is
obvious: Silence the diaspora and especially the Armenian American
community, and the Turkish genocide of the Armenian people and
usurpation of the Armenian homeland shall wither away. This seems to
not be an easy task for Fein. Yet, he seems to be an adamant fellow. He
desperately needs to tame the diaspora and the Armenian Americans.

To this end, he resorts to tactics of baseless accusations, falsehood,
misrepresentation, and even bombastic threats.

First, Fein threatens that the "boisterous" diaspora will cause
the eventual failure of Turkey’s efforts to normalize relations
with Armenia. According to Fein, Turkey, at the cost of damaging its
strategic interests, is doing Armenia a favor by opening its borders,
which would save Armenia economically. Should the diaspora resume its
untamed conduct, the borders will remain sealed and Armenia will be
the loser.

Fein, of course, unabashedly overlooks the geopolitical fact that
Turkey is the one that is in dire need of Armenia in order to have
access to the southern Caucasus and beyond. This is the old Pan-Turanic
strategic thinking once employed by the Ottoman Young Turks that led
to the extermination of the Armenians. Now, this strategic thinking is
being employed by the current government of Turkey under the guidance
of Ahmet Davutoglu, the former foreign policy adviser and current
foreign minister of Turkey.

Next, Fein lodges false accusations against the Armenian Diaspora,
claiming that it has turned the genocide recognition into a campaign of
hate against Turkey and Turks. This gentleman in the service of Turkish
"associations" should familiarize himself with Armenian traditions
and culture that inspire and teach the Armenian individual-whether in
Armenia or the diaspora-love, friendship, brotherhood, and peace. Not
a single Armenian person sees an enemy in a Turkish person. As for
genocide recognition, it is only anchored on one principle, objective,
and feeling: Justice. When in 1944, jurist Raphael Lemkin, in an effort
to bring justice for the Jewish Holocaust by the Nazis, coined the word
"genocide" based on the precedent of the Armenian massacres, he was
not motivated by hate against the Germans. Lemkin sought justice and
defined the annihilation of Armenians at the hands of the Ottomans
and of European Jews at the hands of Nazis as genocide.

Third, Fein develops an artistic penchant to spread falsehood. He
blatantly claims that the Armenian Diaspora intimidates and harasses
the academia, and vilifies those scholars who do not agree with the
fact of genocide. What’s worse, he claims that the Armenian Diaspora
engages in the "buy-out" of scholars to corroborate the fact of the
genocide. These claims against the Armenian Diaspora are immersed in
utter falsehood.

Interestingly, the same claims verily apply to the Republic of Turkey
and the Turkish "associations" operating in the U.S., who have become
experts in the business and have notoriously earned the reputation of
regularly harassing academia, vilifying scholars, and "buying out"
professors and department chairs to distort history and deny the
Armenian Genocide.

Fourth, Fein comes forth with the misrepresentation that Armenian
Diaspora groups are engaged in foul play in violation of U.S. laws
and regulations. His lone substantiation in this respect is his
claim that the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is
under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. Now, Fein
is a lawyer. As a lawyer, he should be able to differentiate an
investigation from indictment. The deliberate lack of knowledge is
the source of his misrepresentation. He is well advised to check the
status of this investigation.

Fein’s so-called "recommendations" boil down to a single directive
to the Armenian Diaspora. He is effectively telling the Armenians
to stop exercising their rights as citizens of their respective
countries. This directive is more alarming in the case of Armenian
Americans. He is telling American citizens of Armenian descent to
halt exercising their rights under the U.S. Constitution.

Fein should learn to accept that Armenian Americans are doing
what Indian Americans, Jewish Americans, and other Americans are
doing-nothing more, nothing less.

TURKISH STATE MINISTER: IF EUROPE WANTS TO OPEN THE BORDER WITH ARMENIA, THEY SHOULD PUT PRESSURE ON IT TO WITHDRAW ITS TROOPSFROM THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES OF AZERBAIJAN

Today.Az
tics/52396.html
May 19 2009
Azerbaijan

"Turkey’s patience is not unlimited, and Turkey is not going to make
more concessions, if it does not see the counter-steps from the EU",
said Turkish state minister Bagysh Egemen.

"We have done everything that the EU demanded from us. We even made
such concessions, which are, frankly speaking, not entirely consistent
with our national interests. We were at a point of quarreling with
our Azerbaijani brothers, and in a response we have seen statements
by Sarkozy and Merkel that they do not want to see Turkey in the EU",
he said.

As for the Armenian-Turkish dialogue, the state minister stated that
"the border with Armenia will be opened only after the liberation of
the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. "Only in this way can we open
the borders", he stressed.

But, he said, however, Turkey will do its utmost to attract
the attention of Europe and the international community to this
problem. "If Europe wants to open the border with Armenia, they
could put pressure on it to withdraw from the occupied territories
of Azerbaijan", said Boris Egemen.

ICON SIGNS UP MORE THAN 500 WIMAX CUSTOMERS

TeleGeography
http://www.telegeography. com/cu/article.php?article_id=28493&email=html
May 18 2009

Broadband WiMAX start-up iCON Communications (iCON) has announced that
it has signed up more than 500 individual and corporate subscribers
in the last six weeks. TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database writes
that in October 2008 French-US equipment vendor Alcatel-Lucent was
selected by iCON to deploy and maintain a commercial WiMAX 802.16e-2005
(Rev-e) network in Armenia. The new network was designed to allow
iCON to offer advanced wireless broadband services in Yerevan and
other leading cities in the country. The first city targeted with
WiMAX was the capital. iCON is looking to provide a range of services
including high speed internet access, VoIP and VPNs to business users,
government organisations and residential customers.

In a separate development, Armenian fixed line operator ArmenTel
(Beeline) has cut its ADSL access rates in the country, prompted by
similar moves by rivals. Beeline’s unlimited usage packages range
in cost from AMD8,000 (USD22) to AMD30,000 (USD80), depending on
the connection speed taken. Meanwhile, Armenian Datacom Company
(ADC), a privately owned communications data provider which competes
with the incumbent ArmenTel in Yerevan, announced on 13 May that
it was cutting its internet access charges by between 20% and 25%
on its various packages. In October last year ADC said that its
internet prices would go down as a result of its initiative to provide
guaranteed bandwidth internet services as part of its ‘Autumn Surprise’
project. The company has reduced prices for its new Internet Enterprise
(CIR) services by up to 70%. Elsewhere, another provider, Xter.net,
has announced its own price cuts.

NKR FOREIGN MINISTER, "THE STATUS OF NAGORNO KARABAKH IS THE KEYSTONE TO THE SETTLEMENT"

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2009-05-18 15:10
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic

"To briefly characterize the 15-year cease-fire, it is extension of
the Karabakh statehood’s formation and alignment of a dynamic system,
which has proved its vitality so far", stated NKR Foreign Minister
Georgy Petrossian in his interview to the NKR Public Television Vestnik
(Reporter) program.

"Surely, there are things, which are not going in the way we’d ideally
like to, but I believe that we have succeeded in solving the most
fundamental issues, such as creation of an army – one of the most
important security guarantees, and alignment of a domestic system of
state administration. All this, actually, took place in the conditions
of war and post-war armistice", noted the NKR Foreign Minister.

At the same time, Georgy Petrossian emphasized that for the Karabakh
party, the future status of Nagorno Karabakh was the keystone to
the settlement.

ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 16 2009

Russia’s direct investments in Armenia economy ` about USD 2 bln.

16.05.2009, 12.17

YEREVAN, May 16 (Itar-Tass) – The aggregate volume of direct Russian
investments in Armenia’s economy amounts to over 1.8 billion dollars,
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov told journalists on
Saturday.

According to Ivanov, Russia is the main investor in the economy of
Armenia. `Some 1,000 Armenian companies work with the participation of
Russian capitals,’ he said. `All major Russian companies are engaged
in business in Armenia, and the aggregate volume of direct investments
amounts to 1.8 billion dollars.’

The deputy prime minister recalled that in 2008, Russian Railways
(RZD) became a concessive manager of the Armenian railway, and the RZD
daughter company – – South-Caucasian Railway (SCR) began working since
that year. `According to plan, investments in the SCR in 2009 will
amount to 2.7 billion roubles,’ Ivanov said. `These funds are included
in the budget and despite hard times, will be invested in the Armenian
railway.’

According to Ivanov, `it is necessary to put in order the railway of
Armenia.’ As he said, moneys will be used to upgrade the railway track
economy, increase trains’ speed and repair rolling-stock.

During his visit to the SCR office, Ivanov gave instructions to
especially study the issue of deliveries of building materials to the
Olympic building sites in Sochi.