Author: Vorskanian Yeghisabet

Old Jonah from New Julfa

Friday, February 16, 2007

It’s officially the Year of Armenia in France, and in a
celebrationthat is not without sadness, members of Paris’s large and
influential Armenian community have organised an exhibition at the
Maison des Arts in the town of Antony, near Orly Airport, to mark 400
years of the Armenian presence in New Julfa,the Armenian quarter of
the central Persian city of Esfahan, which was founded early in the
17th century by Shah Abbas the Great for the more than 150,000
Armenians moved there by force from Julfa in Nakhichevan.

Although primarily a nostalgic look at the history of New Julfa, and
resting very heavily on late 19th and early 2oth century photographs
of sites such as the Armenian School and Vank Cathedral, as well as of
the families of members of the community, there were also a number of
artefacts displayed, including items of costume and textiles, that
relate directly to Armenian culture in Iran. Included among the latter
was this 17th century northwest Persian/Caucasian embroidery,
depicting the Biblical story of Jonah and the Whale, which was loaned
for the exhibition by Artemis Achdjian. In addition to the Armenian
crosses formed by the reciprocal space between the sixteen-sided star
panels of the field, an Armenian Christian source is indicated by the
drawing of the whale, shown as a giant scaly fish, which which in the
embroidery appears beneath a stylised four-legged creature (with more
crosses on its flanks), but which can also be seen beneath Jonah’s
boat in an early 10th century bas relief in the Church of the Holy
Cross in Aghtamar.

Until 29 April 2007

Panorama.am

18:43 17/02/2007

ORHAN PAMUK LEAVES TURKEY BECAUSE OF FEAR FOR LIFE

Orhan Pamuk, Turkish writer and Nobel Prize winner,
left Turkey because he was afraid for his life. Pamuk
receive threats from the person suspected in the
murder of Hrant Dink, editor-in-chief of Akos
newspaper. Pamuk left for the United State to deliver
lectures in American universities.

Newru.com writes citing from `Sabah’ newspaper that
Pamuk took out $400,000 from his bank account and said
that he would never return Turkey. Moreover, he
refused to visit Germany upon the invitation. That
country is known for its large Turkish community.

Pamuk does not hide his civic disposition connected
with the Armenian genocide and discrimination against
Kurds in Turkey. A criminal prosecution was instituted
against him for insulting the dignity of Turks.
Istanbul court demanded from 6 to 36 months of
imprisonment. However, the court ruled in favor of
Pamuk last summer.

Source: Panorama.am

RESULTS OF SECOND RESEARCH ON ARMENIAN DEMOGRAPHY AND HEALTH ISSUES
SUMMARIZED

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA National Statistical Service
(NSS) jointly with the RA Ministry of Health conducted the 2005
research on Armenian demography and health issues. It was done with
USAID financing and technical assistance of the UNICEF and the UN
Population Fund. 6,566 women aged 15-49 and 1,447 men from all marzes
were surveyed.

At the presentation of the book summarizing the research results, the
NSS Chairman Stepan Mnatsakanian said that this research was second
one in Armenia, the first was conducted in 2000. In his words, the
purpose of the research is to inform the public about issues related
to the Armenian population and its health. The 2005 report contains
information about birth rate, contraceptives, health of mother and
child, AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

According to the research results, during 5 years before the survey,
93% of women, who gave birth to babies, received prenatal care from
medical personnel at least once. 97% of childbirths in Armenia occur
in medical institutions.

The research shows that almost all babies are breast fed in Armenia
but only one third of them are fed only with breast milk. 27% of
Armenian women were overweight and 16% – fat in 2006 against 27% and
14% respectively in 2000. Only 2% of women aged 15-19 are fat, while
among women aged 40-49 this index makes 33%.

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Feb 16 2007

Georgian Azerbaijanis detained in Armenia not released yet

[ 16 Feb 2007 14:00 ]

Azerbaijani residents of Tezekend village, Georgia, Mehman Asgerov,
Kamandar Mustafayev, who were detained on February 7 and Sadakhli
village resident Huseyn Mammedov detained on February 10 by Armenian
frontier guards, haven’t been released yet, officer of Azerbaijani
embassy in Georgia Elkhan Polukhov told APA’s bureau.

He stated that Tezekend village residents are being detained in
Yerevan. Yerevan Court will decide whether to release them or not.
The destiny of Huseyn Mammedov, who has detained in the disputed zone
in Georgian-Armenian border, hasn’t been cleared out yet. Because
Armenian frontier guards claim the territory belong to Armenia. As
for release of two Azerbaijanis, the officer said that they are
Sadakhli village residents.
`Armenian frontier guards tried to detain two Azerbaijanis gathering
brushwood in the disputed zone three-four days ago. They are husband
and wife. They were lucky to have mobile phone about them and they
contacted the village immediately. Marneuli region leadership and
police chief interfered with the case and didn’t let Armenians arrest
the couple’, he said.
Mehman Asgerov and Kamandar Mustafayev were detained in Armenian
region of Noyemberian while cutting tree. Huseyn Mammedov was
detained in the disputed zone between Armenia and Georgia in the
border of Noyemberyan and Marneuli six days ago. The commission
members for delimitation of Georgian-Armenian borders are
investigating the territory. Detained Azerbaijanis had contacted
their families and said they are well. /APA/

NEXT MONITORING OF OSCE MISSION HELD ACCORDING TO ENVISAGED SCHEDULE

Noyan Tapan
Feb 15 2007

STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 15, NOYAN TAPAN. According to the agreement
reached beforehand with the authorities of the Republic of Nagorno
Karabakh, the OSCE mission held the planned monitoring of the cotact
line of the NKR and Azerbaijani Armed Forces on February 14, in the
south-eatern part of the Kuropatkino settlement, the region of Martuni,
Nagorno Karabakh. OSCE Office Coordinator, Lieutenant-Colonel Imre
Palatinus (Hungary) and Field Assistant of the Personal Representative
of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Zhaslan Nurtazin (Kazakhstan)
implemented the monitoring from the NKR Defence Army’s positions. As
Noyan Tapan was informed by the NKR Foreign Ministry’s Press Service,
the monitoring was held according to the envisaged schedule, no
breaches of the cease-fire regime were fixed. Representatives of the
NKR Defence Ministry and Ministry of Foreign Affairs accompanied the
monitoring mission from the Karabakh side.

ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING GATHERING IN STRASBOURG

A1+
[06:01 pm] 14 February, 2007

>From 21 to 23 February the Council of Europe will be hosting the
first joint meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the
Council of Europe Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money
Laundering Measures (MONEYVAL).

With the aim of strengthening international co-operation in the fight
against money laundering and terrorist financing, the approximately
400 participants will study the FATF’s mutual evaluation report on
Turkey, MONEYVAL’s third-round mutual evaluation report on Georgia
and a progress report submitted by Cyprus. Reports from Armenia and
Azerbaijan will be considered also by MONEYVAL.

Other items on the agenda are abuse of Value Added Tax systems for
money laundering and money-laundering in South America.

Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, will open
the meeting at 9 a.m. on Wednesday 21 February (only this part of
the meeting is open to the press).

FATF President, Frank Swedlove, and MONEYVAL Chairman, Vasil Kirov,
as well as the acting Director General of Legal Affairs of the Council
of Europe, Philippe Boillat, will hold a media briefing at 1 p.m. on
Friday 23 February in Room 1 of the Palais de l’Europe (2nd floor).

Twenty-seven of the 46 member states of the Council of Europe are
currently members of the MONEYVAL Committee . The FATF has 33 members.

POPULATION OF ARMENIA 3.2 MILLION IN 2006

RIA Novosti, Russia
February 14, 2007

YEREVAN, February 14 (RIA Novosti) – Armenia’s population stood at
3.2 million people at the end of 2006, the former Soviet republic’s
statistics service said Wednesday.

"The population of Armenia grew by an estimated 4,000 in 2006,"
the head of the country’s statistics service said.

THREATS IMPOSED BY THE TURKISH INTERNET "SPECIAL BUREAU"
By H. Chaqrian

AZG Armenian Daily
14/02/2007

Turkey’s Campaign Against Armenian Genocide Recognition

Recently "Azg" received a message from the so-called "Special Bureau"
organization from Turkey. The message says that the internet
organization was established in order to discover and prevent
any intention to harm Turkey’s reputation, its state institutions,
Constitution, and territorial integrity. The message also said that the
group was formed from Kemalist nationalists. One of the organization’s
main goals is striving against all terrorist groups led by PKK, the
recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the Armenian lobbyist groups.

We also came to know that the "Bureau" is split up in certain groups:
projecting, dispatching and hacking.

Those groups ("Committees") consist of 6214 persons, who are at
present engaged in distributing worldwide messages against the
Armenian genocide in 6 languages – French, English, German, Spanish,
Italian and Yiddish. The hacking group is engaged in attacking and
getting information from PKK sub-organizations, and Armenian social
and political organizations.

KARABAKH CONFLICT IS A PART OF INTERESTS OF SUPERPOWERS IN REGION

PanARMENIAN.Net
13.02.2007 16:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Nagorno Karabakh, as many say, is a "frozen
conflict", which still does not have solution. For me the only
acceptable solution is OSCE Minsk Group format, stated German
Home Office State Secretary, deputy and member of Caucasus group
of Bundestag Christoph Bergner. In his words, there is no other
alternative. "But we must confess that despite the OSCE Minsk Group
long activity period over the conflict settlement, the structure
has not reached results. But I am in favor of continuing OSCE MG’s
activity, simultaneously holding negotiations between presidents and
other officials," Bergner underlined.

Alongside he noticed that in fact this conflict is a part of interests
of superpowers in the region. "Iran and Turkey also have interests in
the region. All this has big influence and complicates the settlement
process not only of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict but also of the
other problem in the South Caucasus – the conflict of Abkhazia. "I
suppose Russia and the U.S.A. do not want to see the "frozen conflicts"
re-launched.

But they fear to lose their stances in the process of settlement. This
is one of the main causes of difficulties in the solution of
conflicts. Any interference in any form, any support can result in
a situation when Russia and the U.S.A. can create not only problems
but also will become destructive for both sides. Currently Russia
backs Armenia. But I am sure that irrespective of Russia’s will,
if the sides are interested in settling the problem, they can come
to an agreement and solve the problem," underscored the deputy of
German Bundestag, APA reports.

GOURGEN DALIBALTAYAN DISMISSED FROM THE POST

A1+
[02:53 pm] 13 February, 2007

Under February 12 decree of President Robert Kocharian, general-colonel
Gurgen Dalibaltayan was dismissed from the post of President’s
councilor and chief military inspector.