Author: Tvankchian Parkev

PanARMENIAN.Net

EU Foreign Minister discuss situation in Caucasus
05.09.2008 16:39 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A two-day meeting of EU Foreign Ministers in Avignon
will focus on the situation in the Caucasus and hammer out details of
a planned civilian mission to Georgia.

The mission would send about 200 EU personnel to monitor compliance
with a French-brokered peace deal. It could leave as early as next
week, after French President Nicolas Sarkozy is due in Moscow for a
meeting with Russian President Medvedev on Sept. 8.

EU leaders have already warned Russia that talks slated for September
15 and 16 on a new partnership between Moscow and Brussels would be
"indefinitely postponed" if Russia failed to fully comply with the
Georgian peace agreement and left its troops in Georgia. But the EU
has stopped short of imposing threatened diplomatic sanctions on
Russia, BBC Russian reports

PRESS TV, Iran
Sept 5 2008

‘Yerevan needs to stop genocide cry’
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:55:06 GMT

Turkish opposition leader says Yerevan must stop pushing for
recognition of the Armenian genocide ahead of a visit by President
Abdullah Gul.

"What has Armenia done to change its policy of hostility towards
Turkey over the issue¦ what has it done to withdraw from
Azerbaijani territory? Nothing," Deniz Baykal, the leader of the
Republican People’s Party (CHP), told the Turkish news channel NTV.

"Perhaps he [Gul] could go and pray at the site of the Armenian
genocide and lay a wreath while he is there," added Baykal, repeating
his staunch opposition to the president’s visit to the Armenian
capital.

Gul has been invited by his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan to
attend a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Yerevan on Saturday
afternoon to become the first Turkish president to go to Armenia.

The diplomatic ties between the two countries have long been severed
over the issue of the killing of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire.

Turkey rejects the ‘genocide’ label and enjoys close relations with
Azerbaijan.

In 1993, Turkey shut its border with Armenia in a show of unity with
Baku, which was then at odds with Yerevan over its
independence-seeking Armenian-majority region of Nagorny Karabakh.

Ankara hopes Gul’s weekend visit, though sharply criticized by Turkish
opposition parties and nationalists, would favor Ankara’s Caucasus
Stability Pact – a proposal that would intensify political and
economic cooperation in the region.

State Minister Mehmet Aydin has noted "The facts that we have do not
support the theory that the visit will resolve all the problems, but
it is not right to assume that nothing will come of it either."

A RESIGNATION IS GETTING MATURED

A1+
[09:27 pm] 02 September, 2008

Today RA First President Levon Ter-Petrosian called a conference to
declare three documents, which ground that RA authorities "won" in
elections on February 19 by complete delinquency. Levon Ter-Petrosian
proclaimed the decision of Chairman of Court General Jurisdiction
of Kentron and Nork-Marash districts Mr. Zhora Vardanian’s made on
mid February against Aleksandr Arzumanian. It’s said in the decision
that General-Major of RA National Security Service (NSS) Z. Nanian’s
petition was satisfied and he got permission to examine Aleksandr
Arzumanian on the phone and hear all his phone talks. It’s a solid
ground for Levon Ter-Petrosian to say, "It means the authorities
entirely controlled all the events of our staff, the alarm calls
received from districts, all the information provided to the empowered
staff members, observers and journalists. As well as this, state
embodies supervised all the instructions related to the appealing
process.

Therefore it’s a case of gross violation of Constitution and Election
Code, which could cause national riots and governmental crisis in any
normal country just like "Watergate" scandal which led to Nickson’s
resignation."

Mr. Ter-Petrosian detailed, "The only assumption as a basis of applied
measures against Arzumanian is that he may have been implementing
activities which may cause RA internal political instability, civil
uprising which could be a basis for realizing power takeover in RA
in an anticonstitutional way."

Mr. Ter-Petrosian mentioned that this basis completely contradicts
another official document, which is Mr. Marukian’s decision. He is a
senior investigator of NSS Investigation department. On February 24 he
took criminal proceedings against the Pan-National Movement. According
to that decision content the Opposition "made an attempt of state
power takeover of RA in an anticonstitutional and violent way" only
after it was informed that Levon Ter-Petrosian had lost the elections
according to the preliminary data and got 21.5% of votes.

On February 19 it was not clear who would win. Therefore we are
puzzled why Mr. Arzumanian should have attempted to realize "power
takeover in an anticonstitutional way" on that day. It’s harder to
imagine more miserable logic or awareness of Law.

Mr. Ter-Petrosian has serious basis to insist that the Judge Zhora
Vardanian made such a decision on February 19 not only against
Arzumanian, but also against many members of the Pan-National
Movement. "That is to speak about the total illegal supervision of
the Opposition pre-election campaign," said Mr. Ter-Petrosyan.

PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung), Austria
Aug 31 2008

Turkey tries to promote peace in Caucasus region

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) – Turkey has proposed forming a regional
cooperation group in a bid to stabilize the Caucasus region in the
aftermath of the war between Russia and Georgia.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan says the proposed group would
include Turkey and four nearby Caucasia nations: Russia, Georgia,
Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Babacan gave details about the proposal during an official visit to
Turkey on Sunday by Georgian Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili. She
responded by saying that Georgia would only consider joining such a
group after Russian forces leave his country.

Babacan’s proposal was Turkey’s latest effort to promote peace between
Georgia and Russia since they fought a war this month over Georgia’s
separatist republic of South Ossetia.

ARMENIA-TURKEY
ARMEN TSATOURYAN

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
30 Aug 2008
Armenia

Towards New Solutions

The discussions that have started in Turkey after President Serge
Sargsyan’s interview to the Turkish `Radical’ newspaper testify to the
fact that Turkey has recently started to demonstrate an increased
interest in Armenia.

The Turkish Mass Media conduct thorough discussions over President
Abdullah Gyul’s visit to Armenia for watching the Armenia-Turkey
football match to be organized on September the 6th, but the official
circles of the country continue announcing that they haven’t made a
final decision yet.

The reason is that the new situation in the Armenian-Turkish relations
has some complex processes underlying behind. It is actually the
`mirror’ of the new geopolitical realities developing in the South
Caucasus.

The first and perhaps the most important reality is Russia’s active and
biased participation in the regulation of the century-old
Armenian-Turkish conflict.

And the second reality which makes the task of accelerating the
Armenian-Turkish dialogue an urgent issue is the international crisis
`in and around Georgia’.

The ruling elite of Turkey have started to realize that it is no longer
possible to implement their programs in the South Caucasus while
continuing to pursue their traditional policy of isolating Armenia.

Therefore, wh
en is seems on the one hand that the political-military
situation in the region is favorable for our county and on the other
hand Armenia faces the threat of being subjected to a total blockade,
it becomes obvious that we may find a breakthrough in the communication
blockade by way of opening the Kars-Gyumri railroad.

But because the process of unknotting the Armenian-Turkish entangled
string is related to a lot of difficulties, we can’t, for the time
being, speak about bringing the parties’ viewpoints with regard to
strategic issues closer. All we can do at present is to discuss the
possibilities of opening the Armenian-Turkish `railway corridor’ and
initiating a sincere dialogue with the help of Russia, the interested
party.

Serge Sargsyan’s invitation addressed to his Turkish counterpart and
the subsequent discussions initiated by that country, as well as the
recent rumors on the probability of constructing the Armenian
`branching’ of the Baku-Jeyhan oil pipeline can be accounted for by
this. In such conditions, the presence of the Turkish President at the
September 6 football match may become the `prelude’ of the whole
process.

In his recent interview, S. Sargsyan expressed belief that `all the
measures will be taken to receive President Gyul in Yerevan in an
appropriate manner.’

However, right after receiving relevant clarification on the `urgent
=0
Atopic’, the correspondent of `Radical’ immediately passed on to the
traditional and strictly painful agenda of the Armenian-Turkish
relations. Through the questions asked to the RA President, he tried to
clarify Armenia’s official attitudes towards the recognition of the
Armenian Genocide, the probability of presenting territorial claims to
Turkey and other issues.

The answers Serge Sargsyan gave to the Turkish correspondent left no
room for speculating the `package of preconditions’ of the Turkish
side.

In particular, the President gave the following answer to the question
concerning the mutual recognition of the borders, `Armenia is for the
UN Charter and a number of other international treaties, and it
respects its international commitments.’ And in response to the
question concerning the territorial claims, the President said, `I
don’t remember any Armenian official expressing an opinion about
territorial claims.’

By saying that, Serge Sargsyan made it clear that our state creates no
occasion or pretext that may be viewed as an obstacle or put an end to
the Armenian-Turkish dialogue.

The same concerns the correspondent’s lame attempt of viewing the
recognition of the Armenian Genocide as a `precondition of the Armenian
party’. The RA President immediately interrupted the correspondent by
giving the following clear-cut answer, `All over the world,
there’s no
Armenian not believing the fact of the Genocide. However, the
recognition of the Genocide is not a precondition for regulating the
relations with Turkey.’

That’s to say, the President of Armenia managed to find such
formulations for presenting the painful points in the Armenian-Turkish
relations that do not allow the Turkish side to make all that a
favorable pretext for postponing the solution of the issue of resuming
the bilateral relations and opening the borders.

This new `portion’ of political messages the Armenian President sent to
Turkey through `Radical’ newspaper actually `shift the ball to the
Turkish half of the field.’ Turkish President Abdullah Gyul has now no
pretext for rejecting the invitation of visiting Yerevan and excluding
our country from regional programs.

It now rests with Russia, our strategic ally, to make its unhesitant
intervention in the process of lifting the blockade of Armenia.

VTB ARMENIA BANK HELPS NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL DETAIN CRIMINALS

ARKA
Aug 29, 2008

YEREVAN, August 29. /ARKA/. The VTB (Armenia) Bank helped Wednesday
Armenia’s National Security Council detain a criminal ring involving
three Romanians and a Latvian who had used counterfeit plastic cards,
the bank’s press service reports.

The criminals, who had cashed over 80mln drams though local ATMs,
were arrested on Nalbandyan 46 Street on August 27.

The VTB (Armenia) Bank helped the Security Council get the track of
the criminals.

SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR OF OSCE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY TO VISIT SOUTH CAUCASUS COUNTRIES

Today.Az
ics/47267.html
Aug 29 2008
Azerbaijan

Goran Lennmarker, special rapporteur on Georgia and South Ossetia of
the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, plans to visit the South Caucasus
countries-Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.

According to a source from the parliamentary assembly, it will be
his first visit after being appointed to the said position.

The visit to the region will start with the visit to Azerbaijan on
September 1. It is also noted that the situation in the South Caucasus
will be considered at the session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
in Toronto on September 18-21, at which Goran Lennmarker will present
a report on the situation in Georgia.

It should be noted that on August 15, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
has appointed Lennmarker as a special rapporteur on the situation in
Georgia and South Ossetia. Before that he had been the president of
the assembly for two years. It should be noted that Goran Lennmarker
is also the special representative of the president of the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly on Nagorno Karabakh.

A STRINGER IN CHINA: LEVON ICHKHANIAN PACKS HIS GUITAR FOR A MUSICAL TREK THROUGH THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC
By Errol Nazareth

The Toronto Sun
August 29, 2008 Friday

When guitar ace Levon Ichkhanian says he’s always "believed that
music is the tool to connect people," you get the sense he isn’t just
mouthing a platitude.

Over the years, the Armenian axman has collaborated with a wild mix
of prominent musicians from various genres — in fact, making it a
point to seek them out and sell them on his intentions and passion.

So, when the International Performing Arts for All (IPAFA) organization
came to him with an invitation to tour Wuhan, Shenzhen and Guaungzhou
in China Enhanced Coverage LinkingChina -Search using: News, Most
Recent 60 Days Company Profile beginning today until Sept. 6,
Ichkhanian jumped at the opportunity.

RESONATES LOUDLY

On its website, IPAFA describes itself as "an international group
of artists, Olympians, Paralympians and producers, dedicated to
actualizing the potential of the arts to affect positive change in
the global village."

Joining Ichkhanian on the Marriage of Excellence Tour — yeah, I know,
dreadful name — will be piano virtuoso Oliver Jones, Justin Hines
and Sheila E.

While IPAFA’s lofty mandate might invite cynicism, Ichkhanian takes
it at face value. He says it resonates loudly with him.

"My musical travels have connected me with a diverse group of talented
people from all cultures and styles of music around the world,"
he said in an email interview from Beijing.

"People like (iconic Indian film composer) A.R. Rahman, (Indian singer)
Hariharan, (ex-Bauhaus frontman) Peter Murphy, (opera singer) Isabel
Bayrakdarian, Janne Lappalainen from (Finnish folk group) Vaartina.

"These unions inspire me to incorporate many different sounds like
Armenian, Middle Eastern, Brazilian in my performances and recordings,
so when I was asked to be a part of an international event that
brings together such talents from around the globe as (jazz singer)
Dee Dee Bridgewater and Oliver Jones, I did not hesitate one bit."

Ichkhanian says he’ll perform a traditional Armenian piece titled
Siroun and will also play an original composition titled The Gift
with the Beijing Symphony Orchestra.

The Gift was commissioned by the Nashville Chamber Orchestra and
Ichkhanian says it will be great to play it orchestrally since he
hasn’t done that since its premiere in Nashville seven years back.

Growing up in a well-known musical family in Lebabnon helped shaped
Ichkhanian’s musical philosophy.

"I was fortunate to attend many concerts, art exhibits and dance
performances featuring local and international artists," he says.

"The days and nights were blurred; no one looked at their
watch. Everyone was living in the moment, enjoying everything that
life had to offer. In a sense, this time allowed me to look through
the window of this cosmopolitan life and as I got older to experience
it first-hand.

LIVING IN THE MOMENT

"I continue to live my life every day that way — with a focus on my
family, good friends, good food and music, and to fully experience
the moment," Ichkhanian says.

"Whether I am in Toronto or Bangalore, India, my Armenian-Lebanese
way of living and thinking is always with me."

Being in Beijing, he adds, has inspired him spiritually and
emotionally.

"Everywhere you go you hear people speaking foreign languages and
you run into athletes everywhere," Ichkhanian says of his overlap
with the Olympic maelstrom. "Some of the Canadian wrestling team
members stayed in my hotel. Hanging out with them, hearing their
stories, seeing their commitment to excellence and their patience
and perseverance to get to the Olympic stage is very powerful.

"It all made sense when I witnessed them in action at a wrestling
competition — the match represented their lifetime of practice which
was all focused into this ultimate competition," he adds.

"The athletes here are the best in the world. When seeing this all
around you, you are naturally inspired to be and do your best."

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x118
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: [email protected]
Website:

PRESS RELEASE

Friday, August 29, 2008

AGBU Hye Geen’s Third Annual Conference Examines Status of Armenian
Communities in the United States

AGBU Hye Geen’s Forum for Armenian Social and Cultural Studies (FACSS)
held a one-day conference on April 12, 2008 at California State
University of Los Angeles, in conjunction with the college’s School of
Social Work, College of Health and Human Services. The subject of the
conference was "The Status of Armenian Communities Living in the United
States."

Opening remarks were delivered by Talin Yacoubian of AGBU Hye Geen’s
Young Circle. She first expressed her gratitude to Dr. Karin A. Elliot
Brown of the university’s School of Social Work for her continued
cooperation. She also thanked three youth organizations, namely the
Armenian Social Work Caucus, the Cal. State Los Angeles Chapter of Alpha
Epsilon Omega Fraternity, as well as AGBU Generation Next, for their
close cooperation.

The first speaker was Rev. Fr. Sarkis Petoyan of St. John Armenian
Church in San Francisco, who spoke about "The Faith, Church Membership
and Attendance Practices of the Armenian Baby Boom Generation."

Next on the program was a panel presentation dealing with issues of
class conflict, social justice and oppression of vulnerable populations.
The panelists were introduced by Houri Keshishian, a member of Hye
Geen’s FACSS group.

The panelists presented their research on various fields, including Paul
Naccashian, owner and principal consultant with Collaborative Solutions
in Azusa, California, who spoke about "Conflict Mode Analysis of
Armenians in the United States: Similarities and Differences, a
Comparative Study"; Shakeh Baghdasarian, a graduate of the School of
Social Work at California State University of Los Angeles, broached the
subject of "Experiences of Armenian Homosexuals Living in the United
States"; and Dr. Martin J. Adamian, professor at California State
University of Los Angeles, spoke about "The Use of Law and Genocide: The
Armenian Experience."

The panel presentations were followed by the introduction of the guest
speaker, Boghos Levon Zekiyan, by AGBU Hye Geen founder and chairman,
Sona Yacoubian. Zekiyan is an ordained "vartabed" of the Armenian
Catholic Mekhitarist Order and the founder of the Venice Ca’foscari
University’s summer intensive course in Armenian language and culture
under the aegis of his Padus Araxes Cultural Association. Yacoubian paid
tribute to the scholar theologian, a professor of Armenian Church
institutions at the Pontifical Oriental Institute of Rome, as well as a
member of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia. Zekiyan spoke
about "Women’s Role in the Armenian Society as a Factor of Mutual
Integration."

After the lunch break, Saro Ayvazian, of the Alpha Epsilon Omega
Fraternity at CSU-LA, spoke about his organization’s range of
activities. The presentation was followed by a second session dealing
with "The State of Armenian Youth in Los Angeles." Ara Arzoumanian,
director of the prevention-based AGBU Generation Next Mentorship
Program, spoke expertly about his program in the Glendale-Pasadena
region; and Osheen Keshishian, publisher/editor of the English-language
The Armenian Observer weekly, faculty member of Glendale Community
College and guest lecturer at California State University, Northridge,
spoke about "The Reflection of the Genocide in the Works of Armenians
Who Write in English."

The final feature of the conference program was a roundtable discussion
focusing on issues facing the Armenian-American youth of Southern
California. Moderated by Tamar Kevorkian, columnist for The Armenian
Reporter, the participants were Fr. Vazken Movsesian, a priest serving
various Californian churches for the past 25 years and Executive
Director of In His Shoes Ministries, a faith-based organization to rally
support and assistance for people in areas hit by genocide; Melina
Sardar, educational director of Ark Center in Glendale and case manager
at the AGBU Generation Next Mentorship Program; and Arlette
DerHovanessian, a behavioral psychologist, program director in the
Department of Early Education and Extended Learning Programs in the
Glendale Unified School District.

This thought-provoking conference concluded with the closing remarks of
Nayiri Nahabedian, chairperson of FACCS.

AGBU Hye Geen’s mission is to preserve and honor the achievements of
Armenian women and to provide a forum for Armenian women throughout the
world. AGBU is the largest Armenian non-profit organization in the
world. It is dedicated to preserving and promoting the Armenian heritage
through humanitarian, educational, cultural and social programs that
serve some 400,000 Armenians annually. For more information on AGBU and
its worldwide chapters, please visit

This article is an abridged version of the one entitled "AGBU Hye Geen’s
Third Annual Conference on the Status of Armenian Communities Living in
the United States" by Sona Zeitlian, published in the May 14, 2008 issue
of "The Armenian Observer" and the May 23-29 issue of "USA Armenian Life
Magazine."

Part of the AGBU Southern California District, AGBU Hye Geen preserves
and honors the achievements of Armenian women around the world, promotes
the role of women in family and society through research, education and
advocacy and provides overall support for the empowerment of women as
guardians of the Armenian heritage. For more information on AGBU Hye
Geen, please call the AGBU Pasadena Center at (626) 794-7942.

For more information on AGBU and its worldwide chapters, please visit

CENTRAL BANK OF ARMENIA IMPOSED RESTRICTIONS ON PARTICIPATION OF LOCAL BANKS IN THE INTERNATIONAL PAYMENT SETTLEMENT SYSTEM WESTERN UNION

Banking and Stock Exchange, Finance, Economics (Russia)
August 27, 2008 Wednesday

Reference: Yulia Lokshina "Untransferable", Gazeta, No 160, August 26,
2008, p.13

"A decision was made to decrease risks for banks, since Western Union
violated terms of agreements with commercials banks conducting business
in Armenia without any grounds or reasons," the Central Bank of the
republic reports.

The public relations department of the Central Bank of Armenia said
that they didn’t know if this prohibition would be temporarily or
permanent. However, if customers are not served in some branches
of banks, it could ruin the usual procedures of banks and their
financial standing and even cause unforeseeable developments in
the money transfer sector. The Russian office of Western Union said
that the company hadn’t received any grievances from Armenian banks
concerning issues, to which the Central Bank referred. Nevertheless,
Western Union will hold negotiations with Armenian banks concerning
the further conditions of provision of services in the country and
ways to settle the dispute.

"The cash flow between Russia and Armenia is rather high and if banks
are prohibited to deal with Western Union, other payment transfer
systems will turn it to advantage," Igor Duda, first deputy chairman
of the board of Sobinbank, maintains.