Author: Virabian Jhanna

"DASHNAKTSUTIUN" MAY TAKE UPON ITSELF THE ROLE OF A "CIVILIZED OPPOSITION", OR CONTINUE THE COOPERATION WITH THE RULING COALITION

Mediamax
February 26, 2008

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Representative of the Supreme Body of
"Dashnaktsutiun" party Armen Rustamian stated in Yerevan today that the
party does not plan to contest the results of presidential elections
in Armenia.

Mediamax reports that, speaking at a news conference in Yerevan today,
Armen Rustamian stated that the very electoral system is the root
for all the problems, which, in particular, limits the mechanisms of
parallel control over the process of elections by political forces
and representatives of the civil society.

Armen Rustamian stated that "Dashnaktsutiun" faction repeatedly
made proposals on making certain changes in the Electoral Code,
which would be able to secure the transparency of the voting process.

Armen Rustamian stated that "Dashnaktsutiun" "remains adherent to the
norms of political ethics" and is ready to renounce the positions in
the government, which it gained the right for within the framework
of the agreement on cooperation with the ruling coalition. At that,
he noted that "Dashnaktsutiun" is ready to enter negotiations with
the ruling coalition.

The presidential candidate from "Dashnaktsutiun" party Vahan
Hovhannissian, in his turn, considered incorrect the further
cooperation with the coalition, noting that in the process of the
pre-election campaign the representatives of the Republican Party of
Armenia and "Dashnaktsutiun" party were in fact rivals.

Vahan Hovhannissian stated that "there is a deficit of a civilized
opposition present in the country, and "Dashnaktsutiun" party may
take upon itself the given role".

Armen Rustamian stated that the party will present its approaches
both to the ruling coalition and the parliamentary opposition, and
is ready to involve in talks with the both sides.

People are dissatisfied with activities of some government agencies

23-02-2008 16:34:04 – KarabakhOpen

The NKR President Bako Sahakyan held a consultation on improvement of
public administration. The head of state said people are dissatisfied
with activities of some government agencies, the General Information
Department of president administration reports. The NKR president
emphasized that the current tendencies and bureaucracy, as well as
declarative actions are inadmissible. During the consultation the
necessity for close cooperation of all the branches of power for
upgrading public administration was brought up. Prime Minister Ara
Harutiunyan and other representatives of the executive and the
parliament of NKR were present, the Regnum news agency reports.

Thousands occupy Armenia square
By Matthew Collins
BBC News, Yerevan

Story from BBC NEWS:
europe/7259553.stm

Published: 2008/02/22 17:56:51 GMT

Some 30,000 people have been holding a third day of protests in Armenia
against the result of a presidential election they allege was rigged.
The demonstrators have been occupying a square in the capital, Yerevan,
around the clock, and have set up a tent camp.

Official results gave victory to PM Serzh Sarkisian, and the
authorities insist the polls were democratic.

The protesters say outspoken opposition candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian
was the real winner.

The huge crowd of protesters in Yerevan’s Freedom Square raised their
fists in the air to show their determination to keep up the pressure on
the authorities.

Thousands of people broke off from the main rally to march through the
city.

They jeered and whistled at the security forces in riot gear who were
guarding the main government building and the prosecutor’s office.

Warning to crowd

Mr Sarkisian has warned the protesters not to cause any disruption.

He says that if they do break the law, the security forces will restore
order.

But Alexander Arzoumanian, a former foreign minister who is an
opposition campaigner, told the BBC he did not believe the authorities
would use force against the protestors.

"They are cowards," he said.

"They don’t have the courage to do such a thing. They would never have
the courage to come and attack such a powerful crowd."

Mr Arzoumanian said the demonstrations would continue as long as it
took to get rid of Armenia’s "corrupt government".

But Mr Sarkisian has described the protests as blackmail, and says he
is certain they will end in failure.

NATO SEC. GEN. ENCOURAGED BY ARMENIAN ELECTION PROCESS

PanARMENIAN.Net
21.02.2008 18:49 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "I was encouraged by the initial findings of the
International Election Observation Mission, which noted some signs
of progress," NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said.

"However, concerns have also been raised and they have to be
addressed. NATO looks forward to continue working with Armenia in the
framework of the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) to lend
support, where we can, to the strengthening of Armenia’s democratic
institutions," he said.

ANAND BEATS LEKO TO JUMP IN SOLE LEAD

PTI
Thursday, February 21, 2008

Morelia (Mexico) (PTI): World Champion Viswanathan Anand coasted to
his third victory with black and jumped into sole lead by defeating
Peter Leko of Hungary in the fifth round of the Morelia-Linares Chess
tournament here.

It was a sheer display of immaculate technique that paced the way
for Anand to reach the top of the tables.

The Indian ace is yet to win a game with white pieces here but with the
inferior colour in the game standing behind him firmly, the defending
champion looks set to roll for another title victory here.

On a dramatic day in the category-21 double round-robin tournament,
Norwegian sensation Magnus Carlsen also coasted to a victory over
former world champion Veselin Toaplov of Bulgaria employing the
extremely rare Alekhine defense.

For Carlsen, this was the first victory in the event too and coming
with black, it served as a big booster to the wily teenager.

In other games of the day, Levon Aronian of Armenia played out an
uneventful draw with Alexei Shirov of Spain while Vassily Ivachuk of
Ukraine signed peace with Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan.

With nine rounds still remaining in the tournament, Anand is now in
sole lead on 3.5 points and following a half point behind is Aronian.

Topalov, Shirov and Carlsen are now in joint third spot on 2.5
points apiece while the remaining three contestants Ivanchuk, Leko
and Aronian share the fifth spot with 2 points each.

TURKEY EYES NORMAL TIES WITH ARMENIA AFTER ELECTION
Reporting by Gareth Jones

Reuters
Thursday, February 21, 2008; 6:06 AM

ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s president said on Thursday he hoped the
victory of Serzh Sarksyan in Armenia’s presidential election would
lead to a normalization of relations between their estranged countries.

Turkey has no diplomatic relations with Armenia and keeps their
land border closed in protest at Yerevan’s occupation of territory
belonging to ally Azerbaijan.

Turkey and Armenia are also at loggerheads over Ankara’s refusal
to acknowledge as genocide the mass killings of ethnic Armenians by
Ottoman Turks in 1915-16.

"I hope your new position … will permit the creation of the necessary
environment for normalizing relations between the Turkish and Armenian
peoples, who have proven over centuries they can live together in
peace and concord," President Abdullah Gul said in a message of
congratulations to Sarksyan.

"I sincerely wish that … an atmosphere based on reciprocal trust
and cooperation can be established that will contribute to regional
peace and prosperity," Gul said.

Sarksyan, 53, took 52.86 percent of the votes in Tuesday’s election but
thousands of supporters of his main challenger Levon Ter-Petrosyan,
Armenia’s first president, say the ballot was rigged and have staged
protests in the capital Yerevan.

Western observers say the poll was broadly fair.

The tiny ex-Soviet republic of Armenia is sandwiched between Turkey
and Azerbaijan in a region that is emerging as an important transit
route for oil exports from the Caspian Sea to world markets, though
Armenia has no pipelines of its own.

Turkey was among the first countries to recognize Armenia’s
independence after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union but has no
diplomatic ties due to Armenia’s occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh,
a slice of Azeri territory populated by ethnic Armenians.

Sarksyan, like his predecessor Robert Kocharyan, who is seen in Ankara
as a hardliner, is a native of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Turkey strongly denies Armenian claims, backed by many Western
historians, that the massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during
World War One amounted to a systematic genocide.

Ankara says large numbers of both Christian Armenians and Muslim
Turks were killed during the violent breakup of the Ottoman Empire. It
also notes that many Armenians in eastern Turkey sided with invading
Russian troops against the Ottomans.

BERLIN ’08 | "Tropa de Elite" Wins Golden Bear in Berlin; Silver Bears for Errol Morris (Grand Jury Prize) and P.T. Anderson (Best Director)

Indiewire
February 16, 2008
by Eugene Hernandez

Jose Padilha’s "Tropa de Elite" (The Elite Squad) won the the Golden
Bear at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival tonight in the
German capital city, while Errol Morris’ "Standard Operating
Procedure" won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize, in second place. Paul
Thomas Anderson won the Silver Bear award for best director for "There
Will Be Blood" and Wang Ziaoshuai won the Silver Bear for best
screenplay for "In Love We Trust."

Among other winners, Sally Hawkins won the award for best actress for
Mike Leigh’s "Happy-Go-Lucky" and Reja Nazi was honored as best actor
for Majid Majidi’s "Song of Sparrows". The Alfred Bauer Prize for an
innovative film went to "Lake Tahoe," directed by Fernando Eimbcke.

Jurors at the 2008 Berlinale included jury president Costa-Gavras,
along with production designer Uli Hanisch, actress Diane Kruger,
editor Walter Murch, producer Alexander Rodnyansky, and actress Shu
Qi.

"Its just such an honor," gushed Sally Hawkins, accepting her award on
stage. "My legs are gone…on the edge of tears." Thanking director
Mike Leigh, she added, "To be part of this extra beautiful and very
special film is such an honor…very happy, very lucky lady." More
from the Berlinale awards ceremony (left to right): best actress
winner Sally Hawkins, festival director Dieter Kosslick, and best
screenplay winner Wang Ziaoshuai. Framegrabs via Berlinale webcast

Meanwhile, accepting his award, Paul Thomas Anderson singled out
Berlinale festival director Dieter Kosslick, who he praised, "runs the
film festival as if he’s having a party in his living room.

In a statement of his own, capping the 2008 Berlinale, Kosslick said,
"It was a Berlinale of music, grand emotions, and great artists. The
groove was good, and Berlin this year was not cold but cool."

The complete list of jury prize winners follows, including a list of
other award winners:

Golden Bear: "Tropa de Elite," directed by Jose Padilha

Silver Bear – The Jury Grand Prix: "Standard Operating Procedure,"
directed by Errol Morris

Silver Bear – Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be
Blood"

Silver Bear – Best Actress:: Sally Hawkins in "Happy-Go-Lucky"

Silver Bear – Best Actor: Reja Nazi for "Song of Sparrows"

Silver Bear – Best Screenplay: Wang Ziaoshuai for "In Love We Trust"
(Zuo You)

Silver Bear – Artistic Contribution: Jonny Greenwood for the score
from "There Will Be Blood"

Best First Feature Award: "Asyl — Park and Love Hotel," directed by
Kumasaka Izuru

Alfred Bauer Prize: "Lake Tahoe," directed by Fernando Eimbcke

Other awards at the 2008 Berlinale:

FIPRESCI Prizes
Competition: "Lake Tahoe," directed by Fernando Eimbcke
Panorama: "Rusalka" (Mermaid), directed by Anna Melikian
Forum: "Shahida – Brides of Allah" (Brides of Allah), directed by
Natalie Assouline

Manfred Salzberger Prize: "Megane" (Glasses), directed by Naoko
Ogigami

Panorama Audience Award: "Lemon Tree," directed by Eran Riklis

Teddy Awards
Feature: "The Amazing Truth about Queen Raquela," by Olaf de Fleur
Documentary: "Football Under Cover," by David Assmann and Ayat Najafi
Jury mention: "Be Like Others," by Tanaz Eshaghian
Short film: "Ta," by Felipe Sholl
The Teddy Ballot Volkswagen Audience Award: "Football Under Cover,"
directed by David Assmann and Ayat Najafi
Siegessaule Reader’s Jury Award: "Be Like Others" by Tanaz Eshagian

Berliner Morgenpost Readers’ Prize: "I’ve Loved You So Long…" (Il y
a longtemps que je t’aime…)," directed by Philippe Claudel

The "Tagesspiegel" Readers’ Jury: "God Man Dog" by Singing Chen

ArtHop galleries honor Saroyan

One remarkable piece is crafted by using gunpowder.
By Felicia Cousart Matlosz and Donald Munro / The Fresno Bee
02/14/08 22:04:55

February ArtHop Night No. 1 — we’re all adjusting to this new format
of two nights per month — ventured into William Saroyan-inspired
motifs, metal impressions and religious imagery.

The first Thursday of the month for ArtHop now focuses solely on
downtown Fresno and the Tower District. At Gallery 25 and the Fig
Tree Gallery, it’s space time for writer Saroyan in this centennial
year of his birth in Fresno.

One chat-stoking piece, at Gallery 25’s full devotion to Saroyan,
is "Tracy’s Tiger" by Robert Weibel. He’s been striving to master
the use of gunpowder in his drawings. The result for this show is
a flowing convergence of blasts and lines curved into an energetic
mass of browns, black-browns and mustard yellows — an Asian-looking
tiger — on a ream of construction paper.

Weibel says he became intrigued with the possibilities through
the massive gunpowder pieces created by Chinese-born artist Cai
Guo-Qiang. Weibel says that in this method, an artist is "using
explosives for something creative instead of something destructive."

(The Saroyan reference, by the way, is from a play called "Tracy’s
Tiger" based on a Saroyan novella titled "The Barber Whose Uncle Had
His Head Bitten Off by a Circus Tiger.")

Just a few steps away is Karen LeCocq’s "I Used to Believe I Had
Forever, Now I’m Not So Sure." (The title refers to a 1968 collection
of Saroyan short stories.) The large multimedia piece features an
image of the great man himself, his head resting against his right
fist and his eyes downcast in a contemplative moment. LeCocq uses
gads of material — wood, bambo blind, an Asian broom, digital print
on fabric, rusted steel, acrylic and wax — to create an arresting
piece of a famous man in near-final repose.

At Fig Tree, the back portion of the venue is devoted to
Saroyan-spurred work. Bill Bruce, in an apparent ode to the writer’s
well-known penchant for riding a bicycle around Fresno, uses black
inner tubes for three pieces. In "Circle of Tubes," for example,
he tautly stretched and overlapped them over a square.

The Chris M. Sorensen Studio offers what you might call "The Two
Bobs" show. It’s a joint exhibition by Bob Gifford and Bob Levine,
who became friends years ago while working at the Sorenson studio,
and decided they wanted to show their stuff together.

A standout among Gifford’s metal pieces is his whimsical "Indian
Dancer." With its prickly spines jutting from various planes of metal
sticking out in different directions, it looks positively substantial
— until you touch it. (We’d like to make the point that Bee arts
reporter Donald Munro was given permission by Gifford to do so.) The
various arms on the abstract figure are balanced so they wobble
slightly. It’s an amazing work practically begging you to reach out
and feel the spines.

Levine’s show, which he titles "The Mandala Series," consists both
of paintings and sculptures. He’s enamored of meticulously crafted
circles, and he incorporates basic religious imagery (Jewish menorahs,
Buddhist depictions, Hindu allusions) in works that have a vaguely
Eastern and meditative feel. There’s a determined symmetrical energy
to much of his work.

Just one more reminder: The second February ArtHop night is the
third Thursday of each month. Next Thursday, venues in Fig Garden,
north Fresno and Clovis will be open to visitors. Information
about participating ArtHop locations and shows can be found at
fresnoarthop.org.

The reporters can be reached at [email protected],
[email protected] or (559) 441-6330.

Kosovo Should Serve as a Wake-Up Call

The Moscow Times, Russia
Feb 19 2008

Kosovo’s declaration of independence has cracked open the lid on
Pandora’s box. Recognition of the enclave’s independence by the
European Union and the United States would rip the lid right off.

No matter what EU and U.S. governments say, Sunday’s development
sets a very important precedent. A concentrated ethnic majority —
Kosovar Albanians — is establishing an independent state in Europe
without the consent of its parent state, Serbia.

Western policymakers might be hoping that the integration of all of
the Balkans into the EU and NATO would minimize the consequences of
the Kosovo precedent.

But these hopes are limited by how many nations and ethnic groups
the EU could absorb or anchor before such an the expansion started
threatening its economic, security and political viability.

The Kosovo example also risks starting a chain reaction elsewhere in
the world, including former Soviet republics.

International recognition of Kosovo’s independence would be fraught
with negative consequences for Russia, which has its own ethnically
distinct republics such as Chechnya.

In addition, such recognition would force Russia to take a stand after
years of ambiguity on so-called frozen conflicts within the former
Soviet Union. It is becoming increasingly difficult for Russia to
offer tacit support for separatist regimes while officially backing
the territorial integrity of former Soviet republics. Russian
policymakers have hinted that their rhetoric vis-a-vis Georgia’s
separatist republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as well as Moldova’s
Transdnestr might change in the wake of Kosovo’s independence, They
have, however, kept mum on Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian majority
enclave claimed by Azerbaijan.

Such an ambiguity — coupled with Russian efforts to court Azerbaijan
by offering to sell weapons at a discount, among other things —
could be interpreted as a double standard — the very thing that
President Vladimir Putin angrily accused the West of doing when he
commented on Kosovo’s independence last week.

The ambiguity in the Kremlin’s approach toward frozen conflicts in
its neighborhood demonstrates vividly that its real interest is to
anchor former parts of the Soviet Union to Moscow, not to support
the self-determination of self-declared republics or the territorial
integrity of its neighbors.

Self-proclaimed republics should realize that the Kremlin’s concern
about their cause would vanish instantly if their parent states agreed
to be anchored to Russia. The republics should consider beginning
negotiations in earnest with their parent states or at the very least
distancing themselves from Russia before that happens.

Xinhua, China
Feb 17 2008

Armenia geared up for upcoming presidential election

2008-02-18 00:38:36

YEREVAN, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) — Armenia has geared up for Tuesday’s
presidential election as the final large-scale pre-election
campaigning coming to an end in the capital of Armenia of the South
Caucasus nation on Sunday.

Large-scale rallies were organized on the Liberty Square in the
capital during the weekend attended by tens of thousands of
supporters of Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan and Levon Ter-Petrosian–
first President of Armenia, who are making last-minute effort for
canvassing as any campaign is forbidden on Monday.

Sargsyan, also Chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia which
won a majority of seats in parliamentary elections last May, leads
the race joined by eight other candidates in opinion polls.

"We can’t say the situations now are perfect because Armenia is
so young, but I believe in Armenia’s future with our new president,"
Airmen Yesayants, a graduate of Armenian State University who
participated in Sunday’s rally for Sargsyan, told Xinhua.

No "color revolution" will occur in Armenia, President Robert
Kocharian, who is barred from running for a third five-year term,
said in an interview with national television channels on Sunday.

"Naturally enough, foreign countries and various forces abroad
have their preferred candidates, but we do not see any crude
interference in the election process," he said.

Observers from countries of the Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS), one of the six international observers monitoring the
election, released a second interim report on Sunday.

"In the opinion of CIS observers, the main preparations for the
Armenian presidential election are proceeding in line with the
electoral code. The country’s legislative and executive authorities
have created proper conditions for a free and open election
campaign," the report said.

Armenia’s electoral code "guarantees a solid foundation for free
and democratic elections," the CIS observers said.

Observers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights issued an
interim report on Saturday which says that the Central Electoral
Committee (CEC) is well prepared for the forthcoming election.

The CEC said there are 2.32 million eligible voters of the
approximate 3 million people in the country, who will go to 1,923
polling stations in 41 electoral districts scattered around the
mountainous country. According to Armenian Election Code, citizens
living abroad do not have the right to take part in the election.

According to Socio service’s report last week, majority of
Armenian voters have decided on their candidate, but there were still
7 percent did not know whom to elect yet.

Editor: Mu Xuequan