Author: Virabian Jhanna

LIVING WITHOUT CUSTOMS

WPS Agency
What the Papers Say Weekly Review (Russia)
December 28, 2009 Monday
Russia

A special treaty presupposing the setup of a unified economic space
between the Republic of Belarus, Republic of Kazakhstan and Russian
Federation has been signed in Alma-Ata; At the CIS informal summit
held in Alma-Ata, presidents of the Republic of Belarus, Republic
of Kazakhstan and Russian Federation signed documents presupposing
setup of a unified economic space, one of the steps to further promote
political, economic and cultural cooperation within the CIS space

On January 1st, 2010, a mechanism for the integration of Russia,
Belarus and Kazakhstan will be launched. It became possible after
the presidents of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan signed in Alma-Ata
a special treaty presupposing the setup of a unified economic space
(UES) between the countries. Firstly, a customs control procedure
will be cancelled at the Russia-Belarus border. A year after similar
regulations will be introduced at the Russia-Kazakhstan border. Within
the UES framework a common energy market, transportation space, and
other principal solutions will be introduced. It is expected that
within the upcoming five years the new venture will provide for a 15%
GDP growth of each member state. Reportedly, by 2015 a consolidated
integration effect of the Customs Alliance will amount to some USD
400 billion, as calculated based on the member states’ GDP additional
production. As the jointly adopted document reads, "We all are devoted
to a further development of integration processes within the EurAsEC
space. As our next objective, we confirm our intention for forming
a unified economic space of the Republic of Belarus, Republic of
Kazakhstan, and Russian Federation any time before January 1st, 2012".

The already concluded Customs Alliance to come into force on January
1st, 2010 will promote formation of the unified economic space. It
is designed to encourage common trade, increased competitiveness
of products, and new investment prospects for all member states of
the Alliance. Presidents Dmitry Medvedev, Alexander Lukashenko, and
Nursultan Nazarbayev cited both cultural and economic prerequisites
for that new joint venture: "We developed the joint agreement
through balancing our mutual interests and finding solutions of most
controversial issues. We agreed to take all necessary measures for
completing the formation of a unified customs space by July 1st, 2010.

Mutual understanding based on historical links and fraternity relations
between our peoples was of great support for us".

It was announced that the economic and political formation set up
within the CIS space was open for accepting new members: "Setting up
this Customs Alliance, we stand for its further expansion and hail
our other partners joining it as the Alliance develops".

Igor Shuvalov, Russian Government First Vice Premier, reported
that the three presidents instructed their negotiators to elaborate
all necessary documents for completing the formation of a unified
economic space by January 1st, 2012. For that it will be needed to
conclude some 20 new agreements. The basic package of agreements,
the most controversial one, will be developed within the upcoming
year. It will focus on unified principles for macroeconomic politics,
on joint approaches to subsidizing manufactured products, including
agriculture products.

The second bloc of agreements will unite six documents regulating
joint principles for foreign currency policies, and conditions for
access to services of natural monopolies that regulate positions in
power energy, railway transportation, oil and gas transportation,
including the development of joint fundamentals for tariff and
pricing policies. That is a united state consisting of three political
subjects, and one economic subject will actually be set up. It will
not be an exaggeration if we say that for the first time in the
post-Soviet period genuine steps for reunification have been taken.

In that connection President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko noted
that when creating a unified economic space it was vital to keep
integration rates: "It is vital for any process. As soon as the
pace has slackened, development processes in all directions will
slow down". He emphasized that Belarus insisted on completing all
efforts for setting up a unified economic space within a year: "We
have elaborated some documents already, and other documents still
need our attention. Experts are waiting for our solutions. President
Likashenko congratulated the president and people of Kazakhstan with
Independence Day: "The people of Kazakhstan deserve that holiday. I
saw with my own eyes how you celebrate it. People are happy, and I
congratulate them with that holiday".

It is time for settling further problems. Last June Premier Vladimir
Putin made a sensational declaration of the three countries’ intention
to join the WTO not as single member-states, but as an alliance.

In November President Dmitry Medvedev confirmed first economic success
of the new Alliance. In his words, the West was displaying increased
interest in Russia’s potential joining the WTO. Additionally,
Kyrgyzstan, a WTO member state, announced its intention to join
the UES.

Armenia does not want to remain outside the integration process
either. President of Armenia Serge Sargsyan who also participated in
the CIS informal summit supported the idea of strengthening cooperation
and integration within the post-Soviet space. For reasons that everyone
can understand, the President of Armenia emphasized the necessity
of political and military cooperation and further strengthening of
secure environment. He congratulated the President of Kazakhstan
with Kazakhstan’s OSCE chairmanship in 2010, and emphasized that it
was for the first time in the OSCE history that it was chaired by a
CSTO member state. Armenia supported the initiative for Kazakhstan
promotion to chair the OSCE, as that move could provide access to
CSTO member states’ approaches to both regional and global cooperation
and security problems.

Taking into account the fact that Tajikistan and Turkmenistan leaders
also attended the Alma-Ata summit, we could suppose that the CIS
informal summit ahs good prospects for the future. Not only the
formation of Russia’s new international image and its more precise
foreign politics are important in that respect, but the fact that
Russia’s integration processes have serious economic grounds. It
becomes more profitable to live in an alliance for any country. That
is not a USSR restoration, but the creation of a new formation
much resembling the European Union within the post-Soviet space. If
implemented, that project would ultimately put an end to the USSR
epoch and give rise to the appearance of a new quality geopolitical
formation in Eurasia.

Source: Rossiiskie Vesti, N49, 21.12.2009, EV

hetq.am
12/28/2009

ik-harutyunyan/#more-23744

`The bearers of traditional culture are not needed in this country.
There’s no crack to squeeze into, all roads are closed’

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Shoghaken Ensemble soloist Hasmik Harutyunyan was born in Yerevan into
a family of emigrants from Moush in Western Armenia.

It was a family in which folk song and dance were both desirable and
mandatory, and at the same time a kind of nourishment, or sustenance.
Everyone in the family had his own song.

The ashoughagan (troubadour) genre was reserved for the parents; the
children sang folk songs especially for children. `It didn’t even cross my
mind that there were homes where there was no singing or dancing, where
family members didn’t gather and sing and dance for hours. Later, when I
grew up and went to my friend’s houses and saw that no one was singing or
dancing, I was astonished,’ Hasmik told.

Harutyunyan never thought about becoming a singer, especially, that she
would be paid for singing. As the `pride’ of her school, she came to believe
that she could accomplish anything she wanted. And one day, while walking
with friends past the Arno Babajanyan Music College, as a `matter of pride,’
stated that she would be a student at the college. `Of course, everybody
laughed, because they knew I was studying at a mathematics school, and they
knew that besides solving problems, I couldn’t do anything else. But later I
decided I would become a student at the music college.

My family went into shock, as our family members were all expected to study
at Yerevan State University. I was accepted into the college, and I studied
there. But, I didn’t really feel it was my place, as the methods they were
using to teach singing seemed strange to me. There, they were artificially
changing the way they opened their mouths, and were imitating people in
strange ways, causing me to laugh out loud at what they were doing. I was
also lucky that my Mshetsi ancestors ended up in Aparan, as I picked up the
Aparantsi `stubbornness,’ which didn’t allow me to stray, to ruin my
voice.
I always sang how I wanted to sing.’

Rebirth of the Armenian lullaby

[image: 28_12-h_harutyunyan-1]Even after graduating from the music college,
Hasmik wasn’t thinking about becoming a singer. At home, she was taking care
of her brother’s children. She sang lullabies for them.

`There came a time when they starting demanding new songs, and I was ashamed
that I didn’t know any more songs to sing for them. I began looking for
songs, checking different sources. I sang the songs I had found, and by
singing them near the cradle, I understood how they should be sung. But I
didn’t have the opportunity to sing these songs on stage. Also, there was no
place where I could go to learn these songs. We have a huge, fantastic
inheritance in all genres of folk music, especially lullabies. The thing is
that they’re not all gathered in one place, where one can go, pick up a
book, and learn our lullabies. And there was nowhere I could go and have
someone teach me these songs. You have to search for them, to dig, to
excavate. This has become my life’s work. And I’ve searched a lot, collected
old recordings, and wherever I go, I ask people what was sung for them.’

Hasmik says that people often don’t understand that what was being sung for
them were lullabies, because in Armenian lullabies the mothers sang about
their lives, their homeland, when all of a sudden a line would appear saying
`rock, rock=85′ This was because the purpose of the lullaby was to pass on
this knowledge, and to build a bridge from generation to generation. `The
lullaby creates a bridge between the generations, between the mother and
child. In lullabies, the people speak, and who can be more knowledgeable,
wise, than the people? And from what can that bridge be created now, with
television becoming nothing more than a trash bin?’ the singer indignantly
asked.

So began the singer’s journey into the world of lullabies. Hasmik considers
the lullaby the purest, cleanest folk genre. In her words, people are so
culturally stained, or corrupted, that they can’t understand or accept the
pure, clean music of the lullaby.

`This generation is separated from its roots and the connection between the
earth and the universe. In the lullaby, they say `what the mother has
brought you,’ not `whose girl are you, how many rings to you have, what kind
of car you drive?’ On the other hand, the meaning of the lullaby is asking
what kind of inner world the mother has given to the child. Now that is
purity.’ In Hasmik’s performance of lullabies, one finds the mother’s entire
love and tenderness, even though she couldn’t sing the songs for her own
children. `Due to marrying late, I didn’t have children, but I have a
wonderful husband, and consider myself quite happy. He is a foreign-born
Armenian, and when they ask him what keeps him in Armenia, he answers,
`tolma, tuti oghi (mulberry vodka), and Hasmik’s voice,” the singer
laughingly noted.

>From `Akunk’ to `Shoghaken’

[image: 28_12-h_harutyunyan-2]In the 1980s, Hasmik sang for the Akunk
Ensemble, founded by the well known singer and historian Hayrik Mouradian.
Although gaining good experience, Hasmik again found it difficult to find
her place in a group or choir setting. And she couldn’t establish herself as
a solo performer. After the death of the group’s leader, Maro Mouradian,
Akunk never again regained its footing.

The singer and several musicians got together and formed the Shoghaken
Ensemble, which was the beginning of her road to success. Starting in 2000,
Shoghaken has appeared in some of the most famous concert halls and
festivals. In 2001, Shoghaken recorded an album of traditional Armenian folk
dances. Then, from the New York-based `Traditional Crossroads’ label, which
records pure ethnic music from around the world, Shoghaken received a
commission to record the now well known `Armenia Anthology’ CD. The CD
helped open the door for Shoghaken, which was then invited to perform at Yo
Yo Ma’s Silk Road Festival in Washington, DC, in 2002.

The same year, Shoghaken recorded the folk music for Atom Egoyan’s film
`Ararat.’ The ensemble has had many concerts in Europe and the USA,
including their 45-day tour of the USA, in 2004, which covered 11 states,
and their tour in 2008, in the USA and Canada. Hasmik says that there was
huge interest for authentic folk music across the country, yet little in
Armenian communities. Also, in 2006, Shoghaken performed a solo concert at
the renowned `Theater De La Ville’ in Paris, France, the first ensemble from
Armenia to appear at the hall.

All commissions for Shoghaken’s recordings have come from outside Armenia,
as in Armenia, financial means have until now been unavailable. `In general,
we never refuse an offer, even if finances are little, as there is no other
way to have our music reach the world. Each musician of Shoghaken feels the
responsibility to preserve and pass this music on to others.’

Folk music `undresses’ the individual

`Today the world is slowly waking up. But that places us directly in front
of a troubling question. The entire world is drawn to you, wants to listen
to your music, but your own countryman doesn’t want to listen to you. No
matter how much you give your countryman, he can’t swallow that clean, pure
nourishment. His tastes are already deformed, distorted; his ability to feel
the musical hues and colors is ruined. The folk song demands honesty,
openness, and who today wants to be open? If they open up, how can they
stand in front of us, with their ignorance, their nakedness? The Armenian
folk song sends the listener to such depths that your political party isn’t
important, who your parents are, what you’ve done, instead you have to stand
naked facing your sins. It’s just that that makes people furious, and for
that reason they don’t want to open up, be honest in front of others,’
Hasmik states.

Turkish ensembles presenting Armenian culture of Anatolia

`How are we going to amaze the world? With our symphony? If I want to listen
to symphonic music, I’ll go to Vienna and enjoy their symphony. Every year,
the Turks send 30-40 folk ensembles around the world to give concerts. They
present the Armenian culture of Anatolia, and for that people like them. And
if one happens to tell somebody what a Turk is, they answer, `oh, they play
such nice music, how can they be bad people?’ So, go ahead and tell the
world what the Turk did, and why they’re presenting our culture as their
own. The Turks have seized the stages of the world where ethnic music is
presented. And we have completely lost our cultural values,’ Hasmik argues.

`If we stand in front of the world and open our mouths and say we have one
thing, and that is the grace and talent of Komitas, and then allow the
half-educated to go on television and say `I am doing arrangements of
Komitas=85′ Who are you, to say you are doing arrangements of Komitas? Our
folk song differentiates in the way the musical sentence is formed, which is
from our speech. In that, the entire life and history of our nation appears,
our features, our appearance. If a nation has no history, his speech cannot
be advanced, and it would be impossible to quickly form a musical sentence.
It is impossible that the Armenian woman, when creating a lullaby, is doing
this from emptiness, because in every note, every word, there is deep
meaning. Our musical mentality is quite advanced, and logical, because we
have logically given narrative to each happening, event, and phenomenon of
nature. And this appears in the folk song. All of our layers as a people,
pre-Christian, pre-historical, and Christian=85how can we say `this is old, it
isn’t modern,’ and leave all this, gift it to others, throw it right in
their laps, so we can be more `modern?’ The cradle of world music should be
right here. We have our part in world civilization. Culture of merit isn’t
created in a year, in ten years, or in a hundred years, but in centuries, in
millennia. And the deeper the historical layers, the deeper and richer the
national music. For something extra to wear, or something more to eat, we
are lowering our standards, our cultural values. We, the bearers of
traditional culture, are not needed in this country; there’s no crack to
squeeze into, all roads are closed,’ the Shoghaken soloist laments.

ARCHITECT NIKOLAY SUKOYAN DIES IN MOSCOW

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.12.2009 17:56 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Architect Nikolay Sukoyan, the co-author of the
project of Central House of Artists on Krymsky Val, died at 95
in Moscow.

Nikolay Sukoyan, an honored architect of Russia, honorable member
of the Russian Academy of Architecture and International Academy of
Architecture, was born in Armenian family in Batumi in 1915. He worked
project coordinator in Mosproject-2 and was engaged in reconstruction
of a number of Moscow buildings.

PRESIDENT OF THE NKR SIGNED A DECREE CONFERRING…

Azat Artsakh Newspaper
December 25, 2009
NKR

On 24 December President of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic Bako Sahakyan
signed a decree conferring the Honorary Title of Honored Worker of
Economy of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic to lecturer of Stepanakert
branch of Armenian State Agrarian University Grigory Grigoryan for
a long practical activity and substantial input in preparing and
bringing up cadres in the sphere of agriculture.

RELATIONS BETWEEN TURKEY AND AZERBAIJAN ARE AT HIGH LEVEL: AZERBAIJANI FM

Trend
Dec 25 2009
Azerbaijan

The Turkish-Azerbaijani relations are at high level, said Azerbaijani
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov during a joint press conference
in Ankara with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkish TRT
2 television channel reported.

According to him, Turkey consistently informs Azerbaijan of the
events in the region, and relations between Baku and Ankara are always
discussed openly. According to the Foreign Minister, the meeting with
Davutoglu focused on regional issues, the occupation of Azerbaijani
territories by Armenia, trade and economic relations between the
two countries.

According to the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, continued occupation
of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia prevents the development of
the region.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. –
are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. General Assembly’s resolutions
on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the occupied
territories.

In his turn, the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu added that
Ankara supports prompt settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
and they will not allow differences in relations between Azerbaijan
and Turkey.

"We do not create conditions for the deterioration of relations
[of Azerbaijan and Turkey], we have close diplomatic relations with
Azerbaijan, and the cooling is unacceptable," said Davutoglu.

LEGISLATORS’ LETTER ON RELEASING SASUN MIKAELYAN IMPROPER

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
25.12.2009 14:25 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia’s Ombudsman Armen Harutyunyan estimates
parliamentarians’ recent letter requesting presidential pardon for
Sasun Mikaelyan as provocation.

"There are relevant procedures the MPs could resort to," he told a
news conference on Friday. "Armenian legislators should have been
aware of those procedures and mechanisms. In legal context, such
letter could not have resulted in pardon or release."

ARMENIAN OMBUDSMAN CONCERNED BY AMENDMENTS TO LAW ON MASS MEDIA

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
25.12.2009 20:17 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia’s Ombudsman Armen Harutyunyan is concerned
by amendments to the law on mass media which envisages administrative
liability for disseminating defamation or libel.

"Considering Armenia’s law enforcement practice, the law may
have a unilateral effect, becoming a tool of pressure against the
opposition-run media," he told a news conference in Yerevan.

The coalition proposed amendments to RA law "On Mass Media" envisage
fines in the amount of several million Drams for journalists or media
accused of defamation or libel.

TURKISH-ARMENIAN MOVIE PREMIERE HELD IN ANKARA

armradio.am
24.12.2009 11:35

Ankara’s Buyulu Fener Theater was the venue for an evening hosted
by the Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council (TABDC), the
Armenian Marketing Association and the United States Embassy in Turkey
on Tuesday.

The reason for the event was the premiere of a new film, "Aras
KıyılarÄ&#xB 1;nda," or "On the Banks of the Aras," a joint venture
involving all the institutions and organizations mentioned above as
well as the US Embassy in Armenia.

Co-directed by Gevorg Nazaryan and Serdar Dinler, and based on a
story written by Dinler and Aram Navasardyan, the movie’s two major
characters are Tamer (played by Sabina Muradyan) and Aras (played by
Bulut Onguner), with Tamer living in Armenia and Aras in Turkey.

Tamer’s work brings her into contact with Aras, and the two begin an
Internet-based exchange of viewpoints about their countries, their
history as well as the present.

The river Aras is used both as a symbol of today’s border separating
Armenia from Turkey and a manifestation of its people’s common heritage
and future.

The film leaves its end open, allowing for speculation about whether
one day Tamer will be able to meet Aras. Filmed on location and using
the magnificent countryside as its background, the movie does not
point fingers and does not try to put blame on any one side. It is
much more than a movie about a potential future romance – it is a film
that creates awareness about two countries living side by side with
a closed border separating them from each other, Today’s Zaman reports.

MEGHRI FORMER MAYOR ACCUSED OF OFFICIAL AUTHORITY ABUSE

Noyan Tapan
Dec 23, 2009

MEGRI, 23 DECEMBER, NOYAN TAPAN. The criminal case initiated on the
abuse of official authority by Meghri former mayor is heard in the
Court of First Instance of Syunik region.

During the investigation of the criminal case by the Investigation
Division of the RA Police, Syunik region, it was found out and
justified that the former mayor of Meghri Misha Hovhannisyan broke
the RA law on "Real Estate Appraisal Act" (Article 8, part 1 "The
appraisal of the real estate is compulsory when the state or community
property is alienated") and on December 20, 2005 sold to his brother
R. Khurshudyan the hall of 189,2 km2 with the market price of 5.675.000
drams registered in the balance of the municipality by an evidently
low price that is 567.000 drams.

Besides, he sold to S. Hambardzumyan, a member of Council of Elders,
5 hectare industrial lot of Meghri community property next to Meghri
factory of broken-stones with the market price of 16 million drams
by 13.860.000 drams and 15 hectare agricultural lot with the market
price of 7.5 million drams by 551.250 drams.

Based on the evaluation by the preliminary investigation body, M.

Hovhannisyan abused his official duties for personal interests as a
result of which caused the community 14.196.750 drams damage.

On the obtained proofs M. Hovhannisyan was charged according to the
RA Criminal Code, Article 308, part 1. The prosecutor in charge of
controlling the legality of the preliminary investigation confirmed
the accusatory conclusion.

PALMALI’S NEW TANKER LAUNCHED

Trend
Dec 22 2009
Azerbaijan

Turkish Shipyard Celik Tekne launched Khankendi Tanker, built at
the order of Palmali group of companies. This IMO-2 tanker was named
after the central city of Nagorno-Karabakh which is under Armenian
occupation, Palmali said.

Palmali continues the tradition of naming its ships after heroes,
scientists and territories of Azerbaijan in order to present it to
the world public, the report said. It is not accidental that the
Khankendi tanker was launched five days prior to the 18th anniversary
of the occupation of the territory. Another two tankers, which are
now under construction and will be launched in 2010, will be called
Shusha and Khojali.

The new tanker was designed to carry chemical products. Its deadweight
is 14,000 tons. Its length is 142.98 meters, width – 21.7 meters. The
vessel was built in accordance with international conventions and
environmental norms.

The launching ceremony was attended by the First Vice President of
Palmali, Marif Mansimov, company’s other representatives and a large
delegation, including members of the Celik Tekne factory, the press
service of Palmali’s Baku office said.

Palmali, a large shipping company, mainly specializes in the
transportation of oil products (petrol, gasoline, vacuum gasoline,
stove fuel, and kerosene), crude oil, food, and industrial lubricants.

Furthermore, the company has its own dry cargo fleet, which is used
in the transportation of all types of dry cargo.

Palmali is involved in cargo deliveries in the Mediterranean,
Caspian and Black Sea Basin. It is the largest company involved in
transportation in Russian internal waters with a fleet comprising
over 129 owned and leased vessels.