Author: Varosian Antranik

NO MARCH ON MAY 1!

A1+
April 20, 2009

Yerevan’s City Hall has sanctioned March 1 rallies of the Communist
Party of Armenia (HKK) and the Social-Democratic Henchakyan Party
(SDHK) and denied their marches.

"Who has ever heard municipal officials banning law-executing
power?" the HKK Secretary General Ruben Tovmasyan said to A1+

Municipal officials say "the HKK’s march will disturb the capital’s
ordinary routine, cause traffic jams making the central streets,
squares, crossings impassable and hindering citizens’ free movement."

The Communist Party intended to march through Mashtots avenue,
Amiryan and Sargsyan streets and Shahumyan square.

When denying the march the City Hall took into consideration the fact
that May 1 is a public holiday, hence a nonworking day. "A number of
public events will take place in Yerevan on May 1," says the City Hall.

Mr. Tovmasyan says the march will be held anyway.

"They (the authorities) have nothing to do on May 1, on Labour
Day. Let them fix a day for oligarchs and mark the holiday," added
Mr. Tovmasyan.

Interfax, Russia
April 17 2009

Nagorno-Karabakh issue can be resolved based on mutual interests –
Medvedev

BARVIKHA April 17

Azerbaijan and Armenia can work out a consolidated stance on the
Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said.

"There are prospects [for a conflict settlement] and we should follow
the norms of international law and resolutions adopted by the UN and
the OSCE. For this reason, I believe that there is progress and the
main thing is that all these processes should not be affected by some
insignificant, but very complex factors, and it is important that the
parties remain reserved and see the broader picture," Medvedev told a
press conference following a meeting with his Azeri counterpart Ilham
Aliyev on Friday.

"In my view, it is very important that the presidents of Azerbaijan
and Armenia should meet regularly. Russia is ready to fulfill its own
mandate. We have always tried encouraging this process, and if such
contacts continue – and there is no alternative to that – I am
convinced that this issue can be settled taking into account the
interests of the two peoples and prepared proposals," said Medvedev.

"Maybe some new ideas will arise. Of course, we have to abide the law,
but we should not close the doors to any new approaches, which in some
situations could promote the consolidation of positions. It seems to
me that it is possible," he said.

Medvedev said Russia "could achieve the most progress in the
negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement."

"In any case, Russia will do its best to achieve this difficult, but
at the same time solvable problem," he said.

av rp

DINNER WITH THE PRESIDENT, BACK TO THE WALL’: A CONVERSATION WITH ORAL CALISLAR
By Andy Turpin

98dinner-with-the-president-back-to-the-wall%e2%80 %99-a-conversation-with-oral-calislar/
April 16, 2009

ISTANBUL, Turkey (A.W.)-On March 16, Radikal columnist and Turkish
journalist Oral Calislar spoke to the Weekly about the current state
of Armenian Genocide politics in Turkey just prior to President Barack
Obama’s recent visit to Turkey and Iraq.

Speaking about Turkey’s current ruling government under Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Calislar stated, "Turkey is now in a changing
position with the AKP in power but there are many Kemalists still in
the army. They wanted to prevent the AKP from taking power but they
couldn’t. Now the AKP has brought Turkey closer to Western standards."

Of his own record as a voice of Turkish dissent, incarcerated by the
state in the 1970’s alongside historian Taner Akcam for his views in
support of Armenians and Kurds, Calislar said, "For many years I was
a Maoist. I spent 10 years underground and 7 years in jail. At this
point, though, I’m closer to the Islamic party on many issues. It
is a pity, but it is true. On the Armenian issue this government is
closer to my views."

He expanded, "This government is not in favor of the apology campaign
[initiated in December 2008], but they do want to do something on
the Armenian issue. But if recognition [of the genocide] comes from
the U.S. this year, it will affect Turkish policies negatively. The
problem now is relations."

Asked whether Turkey and Armenia should open their common border for
commerce and passage, Calislar stated, "I am very supportive of Turkey
and Armenia opening up the borders. I went to Armenia several times in
favor of this. I was also one of the first signers of the apology. I
think 90 percent of the world believes it was genocide, but in Turkey
there was a total blackout period. Now books are being written here
on the subject but we need time. The Turkish people need time."

Commenting on the role Hrant Dink’s assassination has played since
2007, he said, "Millions of people cried for him. He was a very
effective and important figure and we used to travel around Anatolia
speaking in many panels together."

Asked whether he feels safer today from ultra-nationalists in Turkey
who seek to silence dissenters through violence, he noted, "Well
tonight, for example, I will eat dinner at a function with President
Abdullah Gul and I will bring my bodyguard. But in general I do feel
safer than I have before."

Much of this feeling of increasing safety is from the ongoing Ergenekon
trials, in which Turkish security forces have made sweeping dragnet
arrests of political figures and intellectuals they have alleged
are members of the "Deep State," seeking a coup of Turkey’s present
government.

He added, "Many of these people are killers and the majority of the
bad killers have been put in jail. My name was on their list of people
to kill, too."

Asked whether he was currently under any indictments or in any court
proceedings involving the infamous Article 301 statute that had made
it a crime to "insult Turkishness," Calislar said, "I was before,
because of my articles and declarations [regarding the Armenian
Genocide] but not today. Although now the state wants to open up
cases against the signers of the apology. But 30,000 people signed
the apology. What can they do?"

The number of those in Turkey that recognize the genocide is
increasing, he said, and "step by step things are changing. Now at
least 10 percent of Turkish people think it was genocide. That’s a
huge improvement."

Of his own projects, Calislar has written a new book called Alevi Lands
that will come out this year in Turkish. "The Alevis [ethnic Kurdish
minority] are about 10 million in Turkey and have hidden their identity
for so many years but are now looking to secure minority rights,"
he explained. "My wife, Ipek Calislar, also has a new book coming
out called, Mrs. Ataturk, about Ataturk’s wife Latife Hanim or Latife
Hanimefendi, that will be published in English, German, and French."

"They tried to open a case against her, too," he said of the Article
301 prosecutors, "because she recounts a story of how Ataturk once
disguised himself as a woman during the war to escape capture by the
Allies. But what can you do, this is reality."

VIVACELL-MTS REGISTERS MORE SUBSCRIBERS

Panorama.am
12:11 17/04/2009

The rate of the subscribers of VivaCell-MTS increased by 44.8% compared
with the same period of the previous year and formed 2.049 million,
the press service of the company told Panorama.am. According to the
source in March the rate of the subscribers increased by 0.1% than
in February. The source reports that the number of MTS subscribers
has been increased by 8.5% and formed 92.19 million.

FRANCIS VEBER SAYS MEMOIR WILL BE FRENCH THRILLER
Neala Johnson

Melbourne Herald Sun
April 16 2009
Australia

MEMO to everyone in the French film industry: now is the time to be
afraid. After 40 years in the business, director Francis Veber is
writing his memoir.

Veber, 71, has worked with stars such as Daniel Auteuil, Kristin
Scott Thomas, Jean Reno, Jean Rochefort and Gerard Depardieu, and
he’s planning to tell all.

"It’s not to be a sheriff, I don’t want to punish anybody, but the
more sincere you are, the more interesting the book," Veber says.

In holding a mirror up to himself, Veber has been exploring his
relationship with his most famous character, Francois Pignon.

CLICK HERE TO READ LEIGH PAATSCH’S REVIEW OF A PAIN IN THE ASS,
AND THIS WEEK’S OTHER CINEMA RELEASES

Pignon appears in many of Veber’s films — The Dinner Game, The Closet,
The Valet, Les Comperes and Les Fugitifs among them — mostly played
by different actors, but always providing a fall guy, a sad sack, or,
as the title of his new film not-so-subtly alludes to, A Pain in the
Ass (L’ Emmerdeur).

"It’s amazing to see how much we look alike," Veber says of Pignon.

"It’s a bit sad, because Pignon is a clown. But I see there are a lot
of scenes in my own life that look like what Pignon could have done.

"You don’t know it when you’re writing, but when you see, after a
few films, that the hero remains almost the same, you start asking
yourself why you are so attached to this kind of character. Then you
understand you are just talking about yourself.

"I would have preferred to be the other guy — the tough one, scary
and strong — but you don’t choose."

In A Pain in the Ass, Pignon (Patrick Timsit) checks into a hotel
with a plan to kill himself.

In the room next door is an ice-cool hitman (Richard Berry) waiting
for his mark to arrive. With the bumbling Pignon around, the hitman’s
job just got a lot harder.

As are most of Veber’s films, it was a sure-fire hit in France. But
why do people love Pignon so much when he truly is a pain in the ass?

"I think it’s because he’s so lonely," says his creator. "This is
the story of two people who are very lonely. The killer — because
it’s his job to be lonely, he has only his gun as his friend.

"The other one is suicidal — Pignon is alone because his wife
left him.

"Pignon is so obnoxious, you can feel his desperation is big, and
he’s trying to have a friend. And this killer is supposed to be like
a Swiss watch, he’s so precise, but little by little he’s destroyed
by this pain in the ass."

It’s a surprise to learn Veber, a filmmaker so quintessentially French,
has lived in Los Angeles for the past 20 years.

When he first arrived he thought he would be churning out Hollywood
films — "I had the American dream at that time," he says.

But he’s done only two.

"The problem is I’m very French," he says with a laugh. "I didn’t know
I was so French before coming to America. When you are living in Paris,
the fact that you have the same blue jeans, the same music in your
radios and the same movies on your screen as Americans, you think
you look like them. It’s not true — they are two different planets."

Veber eats and breathes comedy. He says the funny stuff is his
birthright.

"The two first lines of my memoir, I’ll try to translate — ‘I was
born from a Jewish father and an Armenian mother. Two genocides,
two wars . . . everything to become a comic’.

"I’ve had mild depression since I was born, and the only way for me
to survive this is to make people laugh."

TURKISH PUBLIC IS NOT INFORMED ENOUGH ABOUT REAL CAUSES OF NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT: TURKEY’S MP

Today.Az
55.html
April 15 2009
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani and Turkish people were always together in hard historical
periods, supporting each others, said Atilla Kaya, member of the
oppositional party of the Turkish National Movement and deputy of
the Great National Assembly, during the round table on "Turkey and
Azerbaijan: common interests and problems" held in Milli Medjlis.

"The oppositional parties of Turkey and the overall public of
Azerbaijan have attained success in the result of which the ruling
party of justice and development disavowed its intentions to open
borders with Armenia", said he voicing regret that discussions between
Azerbaijani and Turkish parliamentarians do not include representatives
of the Justice and Independence Party that are for opening of borders.

He said unless Armenia rejects its aggressor policy against Azerbaijan,
Turkey should not restore diplomatic relations with it.

"Unfortunately, Azerbaijani and Turkish people are badly informed about
the problems facing Turkey and Azerbaijan. People in Turkey do not
know well about the real causes of the Karabakh conflict. Journalists
of both of our states should pay more attention to covering these
issues", noted Kaya.

WHY HAS IRAN’S ISLAMIC REVOLUTION SURVIVED?
By James North

Mondoweiss
weiss/2009/04/why-has-irans-islamic-revolution-sur vived.html
April 15 2009

"Orientalism" is much more than just prejudice against Arabs and
Muslims. Edward Said, who did more than anyone to explore the ideology,
explained that Orientalism can include a genuine interest in the
languages and (ancient) history of the Arab and Muslim Other. But
Orientalists assume that Arabs and Muslims have a largely unchanging
Essence, which has persisted for many centuries. You can discover
this Essence by reading their ancient texts, the Quran, the Hadiths
and others. Said pointed out that it is no mistake that the leading
Orientalists – Bernard Lewis is a major surviving example – specialized
in philology, the study of words and languages.

Ervand Abrahamian, a professor at Baruch College and the Graduate
Center at CUNY, is the opposite of an Orientalist. He was born in Iran,
of Armenian extraction, and he has spent decades analyzing his homeland
not by burying himself in Sunni/Shi’ite theology, but by looking
at Iranian political parties, class formations, the distribution of
income, and government budget allocations. The indispensable Middle
East Report has just published his latest findings as part of its
valuable Spring 2009 issue on "Iran: The Islamic Revolution at 30."

His article is titled "Why the Islamic Republic Has Survived." An
Orientalist would answer that question with a few words: Islamic zeal
and fanaticism. Abrahamian includes militant Shi’ism among his list
of the four frequently-used explanations for the Islamic Republic’s
longevity – the others are "a reign of terror," the intense nationalism
promoted during the Iran-Iraq war, and rising oil revenues. He looks
closely at all four explanations, and finds all either wrong or far
from sufficient.

"If these stock explanations do not suffice, then what does?" he
asks. "The real answer lies not in religion, but in economic and
social populism." He reports that the Islamic Republic has over 30
years given "priority to social rather than military expenditures,"
"dramatically expanding the Ministries of Health, Agriculture, Labor,
Housing, Welfare and Social Security." He adds: "The military consumed
as much as 18 per cent of the gross domestic product in the last
years of the shah. Now it takes up as little as 4 per cent."

If Iran were, say, Paraguay, a detailed account of its internal life
would unfortunately not matter much to the rest of the world. But
the Bush administration and the Likud Lobby have turned Iran into a
potential flashpoint. In an earlier book that Abrahamian co-authored
(Inventing the Axis of Evil, The New Press, 2004), he showed how
Bush’s harsh rhetoric undercut reformers within Iran and destroyed
the growing movement toward detente with the United States.

Abrahamian’s work is no apologia for the Islamic Republic; he
recognizes it is not a genuine democracy, and it continues to violate
human rights. But by coolly analyzing the sources of its strength
and longevity today – instead of invoking the dusty texts of Shi’ite
theology – he helps us see how the outside world can reduce the
risk of war, which, some day, could even include a Mideast nuclear
confrontation.

Armenian Assembly of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:

PRESS RELEASE

April 15, 2009
Contact: Michael A Zachariades
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (202) 393-3434

ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY ASKS PRESIDENT OBAMA TO AFFIRM THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
ON APRIL 24

Washington, DC – President Barack Obama publicly confirmed, while in
Turkey, that his views on the Armenian Genocide have not changed. With
less than 10 days to April 24, the President has a well-timed
opportunity to deliver on the change he promised, to honor the pledges
he made and to affirm the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide.

"Given the clear and consistent record of President Obama,
Vice-President Joseph Biden, Jr. and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,
U.S. credibility and affirmation of the Armenian Genocide occupy center
stage this April, which is also Genocide Prevention Month. On April 24,
when the President issues his first statement on the Armenian Genocide,
we fully expect him to honor his pledge and affirm the historical truth
of the Armenian Genocide. We encourage all people of goodwill to help us
end the cycle of genocide denial by becoming an Ambassador of
Affirmation and send a letter to President Obama," stated Armenian
Assembly of America Executive Director Bryan Ardouny.

For more information, please visit ArmenianGenocideAffirmation.com.

Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest
Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding
and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt
membership organization.

###
NR#2009-033

PRESIDENT RECEIVED REGIONAL DIRECTOR OF INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

Panorama.am
12:12 13/04/2009

The President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan received today the new
appointed regional director of Middle East and Central Asia of the
International Monetary Fund Massoud Ahmed, the press service of
the President’s Administration reports. The President says he is
content of the cooperation with the IMF and the financial support
and consultation provided by the fund. The parties have discussed
certain efforts to ease the impact of the world financial crisis.

IN TALKING TURKEY, OBAMA MAKES SENSE OF FOREIGN POLICY

The Age
April 13, 2009 Monday
Melbourne, Australia

The President puts America back on the right track.

IMAGINE if, only a year ago, the President of the United States
had visited Turkey, addressed its parliament, then kissed the Prime
Minister on both cheeks. That might have been considered far-fetched,
but so, too, would have been the President’s affirmation that his
country was "not at war with Islam" and that being Muslim in the US
is part of the fabric of life: "Many other Americans have Muslims
in their family, or have lived in a Muslim-majority country. I know,
because I am one of them."

It is indeed unimaginable that George Bush would have embraced such
thoughts, words and deeds. His arm’s-length policy, bred out of a
certain conservative caution and suspicion, certainly applied to
being seen to be in too close a contact with Islamic nations, let
alone within kissing distance of their leaders. Mr Bush’s successor,
however, is a different president, from a different political and
personal heritage and whose more conciliatory views on foreign
relations are already beginning to take effect.

Barack Obama, in his first lengthy trip abroad since his
inauguration in January, visited six countries in eight days. He
attended three international summits, including the G20 in London,
met 25 world leaders, and dropped into Iraq on the way home, to
visit the troops. All these assignments were important for various
economic, diplomatic and political reasons, especially concerning the
repositioning of the US as a more understanding and less bellicose
leader of Western nations. But it was Mr Obama’s two-day trip to
Turkey (far from a whistle-stop, he visited Ankara and Istanbul) that
said the most about the new President’s intention to bridge divides
instead of avoiding them, and, in doing so, increasing the potential
to use mutual strengths to mutual advantage. The presidential visit
has done much to thaw the long chill between America and Turkey,
caused mainly by differences over Iraq.

The unambiguous message contained in Mr Obama’s 25-minute address
to the Turkish parliament last week was his confirmation that the
country is a critical ally and essential to a strong and united
Europe – and that America "strongly supports" Turkey’s application
for membership of the European Union. "Centuries of shared history,
culture, and commerce bring you together," the President told the
parliament. "Europe gains by the diversity of ethnicity, tradition
and faith – it is not diminished by it. And Turkish membership would
broaden and strengthen Europe’s foundation once more."

Although such advocacy might not be well received by some EU nations,
particularly France, whose president, Nicolas Sarkozy, says he will do
his best to keep Turkey out, such powerful support will be difficult
to resist or ignore. Part of the overall opposition has been on the
grounds of Turkey’s blemished human-rights record and the still extant
influence of various civilian nationalists and generals – generals
who, not so long ago, enjoyed US support – and who have stymied some
of the reforms that must occur if Turkey is to join the EU. But, as
Mr Obama made clear, such reforms are not only good for EU membership,
"but because it’s right for Turkey". He was right in pointing out some
successful reforms, including the abolition of state security courts,
expanding the rights to counsel, and positive changes to laws affecting
the penal code and press freedom. At the same time, Mr Obama should
stick to the pledge made during his election campaign to call the mass
killings of the Ottoman Armenians in 1915 "genocide": whatever signs of
improvement in contemporary Turkish-Armenian relations (for example,
the proposed reopening of borders and re-establishment of diplomatic
ties), the massacre is still a stain on human history that can never
be effaced.

President Obama’s visit to Turkey was not only to acknowledge its
credentials as a key European player, but to begin ways to use Turkey’s
unique and influential position in geographical, political and ethnic
terms. In other words, an ulterior motive. Turkey is a conduit of
increasing importance between the West and the Arab world. As the US
prepares its withdrawal from Iraq to concentrate on Afghanistan, Mr
Obama is keen for more Turkish troops to be committed to Afghanistan,
and also for Turkey to act as a transit hub for supplies to US troops
there and in Iraq. Turkey will also be important as a go-between in
America-Iran relations following the Obama Administration’s invitation
to President Ahmadinejad to join international talks about Iran’s
nuclear program.

The public reaction to Mr Obama’s European tour has been
encouraging. It is worth recalling that in July, during his campaign,
his "world that stands as one" speech in Berlin drew a crowd of
200,000. While this said much about his personal popularity, it also
provided overwhelming indication of interest in the desire for a new
direction in foreign policy that, as Democractic candidate, he was
only able to indicate. Now, as President, Mr Obama is beginning to
take that path, with pragmatism and candour. It will not always be
the smoothest of journeys, but it is at least taking the right path.