Author: Vorskanian Yeghisabet

Armenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina Establish Relations
PanARMENIAN.Net
19.07.2006 13:48 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ During the visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina RA Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian met with the FM Mladen Ivanic to discuss
bilateral relations and some international problems. Remarking that
the relations between the two states are being formed the Ministers
pointed out to the importance of the development of economic ties and
formation of a legal field that would strengthen bilateral relations.
The parties also stressed the significance of agreements on investment
protection, trade and economic cooperation and non-visa entry regime
for diplomats, reported the RA MFA press office.

British warship to evacuate Aussies
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
July 18 2006
Some Australians will be able to escape Lebanon on a British warship
after the United Kingdom agreed to allow them to board its aircraft
carrier being dispatched to the Middle East.
The federal government is continuing round-the-clock efforts to
get thousands of Australians out of war-torn Lebanon, but is facing
increasing criticism from people stranded in Beirut and other parts
of the country.
Australia’s efforts have been unfavourably compared with those of
other nations like the United States, Britain, Italy and France.
Eighty-six Australians, including members of a Sydney dance troupe,
were evacuated to Syria on three buses last night.
The government is planning to repeat the operation today with four
buses that could carry about 90 people, and also is trying to charter
a ferry to evacuate up to 600 people to Cyprus.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer also confirmed the government was
seeking the help of the British to get some Australians out.
“(Britain) has agreed to take Australians on that ship, which is
very generous of them. We’ve negotiated that arrangement with them,”
he told Southern Cross Broadcasting.
Mr Downer suggested it was unfair to complain Australia was not
doing as much as a country like Britain, which had the world’s third
biggest navy.
“The ship isn’t there despite the fact they have the world’s third
biggest navy and they have ships in the Mediterranean but they still
do not have a ship in Lebanon,” he said.
“People can be critical (of Australian efforts) but the British
haven’t got their ship in and they, obviously, have many logistical
advantages over us.”
Prime Minister John Howard urged stranded Australians to be patient
while the government negotiated with Israel to secure a safe path out.
“I do ask people to understand that as we speak attempts are being
made in different ways to arrange for people to be extracted,” Mr
Howard told ABC radio.
“It’s better not to give too many details of those arrangements. I
hope people understand that.
“We fully appreciate the concern of Australians who have loved ones
in Lebanon and we are doing everything we humanly can.”
Meanwhile, the government was unable to confirm a report Australians
have been killed in Lebanon, Mr Downer said.
An Australian man who fled the bloodshed, who gave his name only as
Michael, told the ABC last night he believed Australians had died in
clashes near the southern Lebanese town of Aitaroun.
“I believe there are Australians as well who passed away. I don’t
know who they are but it’s a very tense situation, very dangerous,”
Michael said.
But Mr Downer said today the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
had been unable to substantiate those reports.
“I can’t confirm that at all, we have no information on that,” he
told the Nine Network.
Some Australians have managed to flee war-torn Lebanon but hundreds
more remain trapped as Israel steps up its military attack on Hizbollah
guerrillas.
More than 600 Australians could be evacuated by ferry to Cyprus
tomorrow, Mr Downer said.
“Security permitting, we’ll continue with the bus evacuations during
the course of today, and then we hope to have a ship tomorrow,”
Mr Downer said.
“Of course, we’ve got to persuade the ship charter company that it
would be safe for its ship to go into a Lebanese port and start to
evacuate people from that port, because … ports have been very much
targeted by the Israelis.”
Mr Downer said he did not know how many Australians wanted to leave
Lebanon, as up to 25,000 had dual citizenship and had been living
there permanently.
But he expected many of the 4,600 registered with the Australian
embassy would want to be brought home.
Mr Downer said he was “very sympathetic” to the plight of Australians
stranded in Lebanon, but urged them to be patient.
“This is a war zone and you cannot expect miracles in a war zone,”
he said. “The war will not just suddenly stop and allow Australians
to leave – you can’t do that.
“It will continue, I’m sure, for quite some time, unfortunately,
and people just have to be … calm.
“It’s a frightening experience for them but there isn’t any alternative
in getting excited and shouting and dishing out abuse to people.”
Parliamentary secretary for Foreign Affairs Teresa Gambaro said the
first group of evacuees, which included young members of a Armenian
dance troupe, had arrived in the Jordanian capital Amman.
“I can confirm that they have arrived safely in Jordan, that is the
latest advice that I have and we’re very relieved,” she told ABC radio.
“They make up an Armenian Dance Group of 69 members and nine aid
workers … but we are working to make further arrangements for
further evacuations at the moment.”
Ms Gambaro said currently 6,291 people had registered with the
Australian Embassy and that it was likely the majority of that number
would want to leave.
“Our priority is to make sure we get out the elderly, the sick,
families, children and then we will evacuate others after that,”
she said.

Beauty and harmony
In today’s climate of cultural conflict, the V&A’s spectacular new
gallery of artefacts from all across the Islamic world reveals less a
clash of civilisations than a refreshing union of east and west,
discovers Jason Elliot
Saturday July 15, 2006
The Guardian
A transformation has occurred at the V&A. This week, after three
years of renovation and redesign, the new Jameel gallery of Islamic
art will open its doors to the public with a spectacular collection
of artefacts from across the Islamic world, many of which have never
before been seen on display.
The new gallery, dedicated to the memory of its Saudi benefactor,
Abdul Latif Jameel, is both timely and long overdue. Visitors to the
V&A’s former Middle Eastern display of Islamic art may recall a
confusingly structured and poorly lit collection of disparate
artefacts, overlooked by the sombre and greenish presence of a giant
carpet. This – the famous Ardabil carpet – was said to be one of the
finest Persian carpets in the world. However, it looked more like
something dredged from a pond.
All this has changed. A spectacularly reconfigured display of over
400 objects from the museum’s 10,000-piece Islamic collections,
sensitively interpreted by senior curator Tim Stanley, now looks set
to rival comparable collections around the world. The centrepiece of
the gallery is none other than the Ardabil carpet, rescued from its
former gloom and ingeniously displayed at floor level, as was
originally intended by its 16th-century makers.
Rebuilding the entire gallery around the 50-square-metre marvel
imposed multiple challenges on designers. The greatest of these was
to allow the carpet to be viewed horizontally, but to protect it from
undue levels of light and dust. The innovative solution has been to
surround it with an enclosure of non-reflective glass (be careful –
it’s almost invisible), free of structural supports. This is made
possible by a giant protective canopy above the glass walls, fitted
with fibre-optic lighting and suspended by steel cables from the
ceiling joists overhead. At long last, the delicate colours and
intricacy of the carpet’s pattern – created from a staggering 30m
hand-tied knots – may now be appreciated at close quarters.
The Ardabil carpet is also a reminder of the days when the
appreciation of things Islamic was less eclipsed by political issues.
To William Morris, who in 1893 petitioned for its purchase from a
London dealer, the “singular perfection” of the Ardabil carpet was an
inspiration: “To us pattern-designers,” he wrote, “Persia has become
a holy land.” Other designers, such as Owen Jones and William De
Morgan – whose iridescent tiles imitated techniques pioneered by
Muslim artists a thousand years earlier – were at the forefront of a
European fascination with Islamic design. Their enthusiasm encouraged
the building of English country homes based on Mogul architecture,
pavilions in the oriental style, and many a Turkish smoking-room and
Moorish conservatory around the capital.
The European attraction to Islamic art did not, of course, begin in
the 19th century. Throughout the middle ages, highly prized specimens
of Islamic craftsmanship entered the treasuries of churches and
aristocratic homes, both through trade and as booty. European
monarchs were crowned in robes woven in Sicily, one of the great
creative workshops of the Muslim artist; Fatimid rock crystal ewers
from north Africa were used to display Christian relics; and Turkish
and Persian rugs were favoured as royal wedding presents.
Fine examples of all these luxury goods are to be found in the
gallery. Others, such as the lustre ceramics produced in 15th-century
Spain and Italian inlaid metalwork called Veneto-Saracenic, testify
to a fertile exchange of artistic techniques between Muslim and
Christian cultures of the Mediterranean. In the eastern Islamic
lands, too, styles and technologies from China were taken up and
developed by Iranian artisans, whose ingenuity underpinned the art of
the later Mogul and Ottoman empires.
In today’s climate of cultural divisiveness, this sense of
interconnectedness is refreshing. It suggests for Islamic art a
global significance, and tells not so much of a clash of
civilisations, but of a resounding chorus. Islamic art is, after all,
probably the world’s greatest artistic success story. Soon after the
earliest Islamic conquests of the Middle East in the late seventh
century, artists drawing on the existing traditions of the region
began to produce art and architecture with its own distinctive
personality. Easily differentiated from its Greco-Roman and
Hellenistic predecessors, it spread through the burgeoning empire
with extraordinary speed. The universal appeal and adaptability of
this new artistic mode allowed its themes and principles to be taken
up by artists from the Atlantic coast to the Gobi desert, enriching
thereby the vast and intervening blocs of culture.
The Arab, Turkish, Persian and central Asian contributions to Islamic
art are all represented in the new V&A gallery, and there are
outstanding examples from each. Visitors can admire giant Qur’an
pages commissioned for Mamluk sultans, swollen with monumental lines
of exquisite calligraphy, or marvel at Timurid-era miniature
paintings composed with microscopic precision. There is a series of
large-scale 19th-century oil paintings from Iran (unseen for
decades), and a dramatic wall-sized display of glazed tilework from
14th-century Uzbekistan. One of the tiles from a 14th-century tomb
near Bokhara, deeply incised with swirling shades of green and
turquoise, has been deliberately exposed to the visitor’s touch. The
towering minbar, or staired mosque-pulpit, dedicated to a
15th-century Egyptian sovereign, is a masterpiece of geometric design
in wood and ivory. And there is a dazzling display of vibrant
ceramics from the famous Turkish centre of Iznik, including a large
tilework chimney-piece dedicated to the myth of the Seven Sleepers.
All these treasures are reminders of the high level of patronage
afforded to the Muslim craftsman across enormous expanses of time and
territory.
Between all these stretches a broad spectrum of lesser but
fascinating treasures. These are dominated by fabrics and ceramics,
but include fine examples of astrolabes and compasses, inlaid
candlesticks, vases and ewers, ivory caskets, enamelled and gilt
mosque lamps, bookbindings, embroidered robes, stained glass, daggers
and begging bowls, as well as some rare and touching pieces such as
the silken vestment woven in Isfahan for an Armenian church, and a
child’s funerary kaftan from Turkey.
Despite the diverse styles of Islamic art, and the astonishing
variety of media in which the skill of the traditional Muslim artist
has been expressed, there are unifying factors that make it
immediately distinctive. All Islamic art aims for beauty based on
coherence and harmony. The saying of the Prophet Muhammad, “God is
beautiful and He loves beauty”, orients the artist’s aesthetic ideal;
and the Qur’anic emphasis on the fundamental goodness and
significance of life informs the goal of creating works of art that
will reflect the order, goodness and purpose of creation itself.
The expression of this vision relies on a distinct and threefold
visual structure, to which a series of panels in the gallery is very
usefully dedicated. The first of these is calligraphy: for the
faithful, the graceful ciphers of the Arabic script transmit the
voice of the Divine, and are the substance of revelation made
visible. In no other art form has the written word taken on such an
exalted role; sultans and peasants alike strove to learn its many
styles, which became disciplines in themselves, and around which an
entire science of numerological symbolism evolved. The second is
geometric design, brilliantly exploited in endless variations –
intellectually enticing and puzzling at the same time. The third
panel offers examples of idealised plant shapes drawn from the
natural world: tendrils, vines, buds and flowers, all alluding to the
fecundity and abundance of nature, and symbolically linked to the
Qur’anic evocation of paradise as a luxuriant garden.
At the simplest level, these elements comprise the fundamental
repertoire of the traditional artist; at a profounder level, they
celebrate the relationship between God, man and nature. They are to
some extent mutable – geometric patterns can form letters, and
letters can be used to create pictures – and are combined in almost
infinite and sophisticated variations of immense beauty. Great art,
according to Ruskin, “is that in which the hand, the head and the
heart of man go together”; it is precisely this insight that was so
well understood by the traditional Muslim artist, whose finest works
simultaneously appeal to the devotional, intellectual and aesthetic
sensibilities of the onlooker. The most refined expressions of this
exacting discipline – whether carved on to a paper-thin dried leaf or
stretched across a monumental facade – are thus transformed from
objects of mere visual delight into powerful focuses of spiritual
contemplation.
Recent scholarship has also begun to delve into the Muslim artist’s
use of geometric principles in designs as diverse as the layout of
pages of the Qur’an to the structure of entire mosques. Behind these
lie aesthetic as well as symbolic considerations, reflecting a
reverence throughout Islamic cultures for the philosophical dimension
of mathematics, for numbers and the shapes derived from them. In this
sense, Islamic art extends a fascinating bridge between the
intellectual heritages of east and west, and throws light on the
Islamic role as a transmitter of classical learning into Europe
through the medium of Arab culture. Despite the “exotic” attraction
of many of the motifs and styles used in Islamic art, deeper study
reveals a more rational foundation, coherent and rigorously
structured.
The enormous challenge of designing a gallery in which to order
meaningfully artefacts produced over a span of 1,000 years and three
continents has been diligently met. Roughly speaking, the Jameel
gallery is divided in half between artefacts with either a secular or
a religious function. This is a problematic but necessary dichotomy,
since the whole of Islam is underpinned by a theocentric vision,
wherein the worldly and spiritual are not so forcefully divided as in
other forms of belief. But the looseness of this separation
deliberately highlights a common misconception about Islamic art as a
whole. While it is true that art destined for an overtly religious
context rarely contains images of human forms, many of the items on
display prove that Islam’s doctrinal “ban” on graven imagery –
originally a Jewish tradition, absorbed into Islam in its earliest
years – was interpreted differently at different times, rather than
explicitly laid down in the Qur’an.
Along its length the gallery traces a historical line, with the
earliest exhibits nearest the entrance. Here, Roman capitals and
Sassanian vases from the pre-Islamic period suggest how Islamic
artisans took up existing artistic prototypes and shaped them to the
evolving vision of the Muslim world.
One important characteristic of the gallery is the interpretive
support available to the visitor. There are interactive maps showing
the territorial extent of Islamic cultures; several videos expand on
themes of religious and courtly patronage; and poetry from the
Shahnameh of Ferdowsi can be heard alongside a display of inscribed
tiles. Attention is also drawn to the limitations of the term
“Islamic art” to describe the artistic output of such diverse
cultures; and the care that has gone into the displays themselves is
immediately obvious. Colour and light abound.
A critic might draw attention to the predominance of ceramics, or to
the lack of musical or scientific instruments – both pioneering
achievements of the Islamic Middle East. But the gallery does not
claim to be exhaustive, and has attempted not to acquire new
material, but to re-explore its existing holdings. It has put one of
its most generous donations to excellent use. It also demonstrates
just how far the western understanding of this complex artistic
heritage has evolved since the days of the museum’s earliest
collectors. It will be the envy of the museum’s other galleries and
of collections internationally, and, 150 years on, will amply fulfil
the V&A’s original writ to bring the splendour and richness of
Islamic art to the greater world.
· The new Jameel gallery opens at the Victoria & Albert Museum,
London SW7, on July 20. Details: 020-7942 2000. Jason Elliot’s most
recent book is Mirrors of the Unseen: Journeys in Iran (Picador)
–Boundary_(ID_yP327xApAMzb2lko7YU7ww)- –

CBA Board of Trustees met with Heads of Commercial Banks
ArmRadio.am
15.07.2006 14:30
Members of the Board of Trustees of the Central Bank of Armenia met
with Heads of Commercial Banks of the republic, MEDIAMAX Agency
informs.
During the meeting held July 14th the economic indices of the first
term were summed up and program directions of the second term were
determined.

Baku Highlights Chirac’s Efforts for Karabakh Settlement
PanARMENIAN.Net
14.07.2006 13:40 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev sent an address
to his French counterpart Jacques Chirac over the Bastille Day. The
congratulatory address says, in part, “We appreciate highly France’s
activities as the OSCE Minsk Group and Your personal efforts targeted
at the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict… Today the
French-Azeri relations are developing dynamically. Our multisided
contacts and fruitful cooperation feature these relations. I
am convinced the my recent visit to your friendly country and the
exchange of views will convey an impulse to the expansion of ties at
all the levels, ” reported Day.az.

RA PRESIDENT IS NOT COMPETENT TO SIGN ANY DOCUMENT ON BEHALF OF NKR,
IN DEFENCE OF NKR STEERING COMMITTEE DECLARES
YEREVAN, JULY 13, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. RA President Robert
Kocharian is not competent to sign any agreement or contract on behalf
of the NKR not recognized by Armenia yet or not having joined it de
jure. The July 13 statement of the In Defence of NKR steering committee
read. The document authors also mention that by the 1992 decision
of RA Supreme Council no Armenian official has the right to sign a
document where Nagorno Karabakh is mentioned as part of Azerbaijan.
“Both the OSCE MG July 3 statement and the proposals reveal the
tendency to politicize the problem and open neglect of history,
international law and regional facts. The legality of Nagorno Karabakh
formation and Baku’s aggressive territorial claims are disregarded,”
the statement read.
In Defence of NKR steering committee expresses its disagreement with
the methods adopted by the OSCE Minsk Group in the issue of Nagorno
Karabakh settlement, condemns the Armenian diplomatic services’
activity, “because of the incapacity of which the essence of the
conflict was distorted” and demands that the Budapest summit format
be restored, according to which NKR will be a side of the negotiations
enjoying full rights.

Aliyev-Kocharian talks at G8 summit ‘not likely’
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
July 11 2006
Baku, July 10, AssA-Irada — Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents Ilham
Aliyev and Robert Kocharian are not expected to table settlement to
the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict during the upcoming G8 summit
in St. Petersburg, despites reports suggesting otherwise.
President Aliyev has not received such an invitation, the head of the
President’s Office international relations department, Novruz Mammadov,
told the press Monday.
Mammadov said he is surprised with the reports saying the two heads
of state are to meet during the meeting of the world’s industrialized
nations in Russia.
“An invitation to the summit would suit us, but there is no specific
information in this regard yet,” he said. Mammadov added that there
is little chance this will happen.*

VARTAN OSKANIAN EVALUATES FRAME AGREEMENT PROPOSED BY OSCE MG CO-CHAIRS
AS ALL-EMBRACING AND BALANCED
YEREVAN, JULY 11, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. “I do not perceive
the statement of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs as a statement aimed
at ceasing the Minsk process,” RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian
declared at the July 11 press conference. As he affirmed, in their
statement the Co-chairs “want to say that the document proposed by them
is a balanced synthesis of everything done over the past two years.”
In the Minister’s opinion, if the sides start to conduct the process on
the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict in this direction, it
is possible that new opportunities will be created in the negotiations
process.
Vartan Oskanian again confirmed the position of the Armenian
side on the frame agreement proposed by the Co-chairs. “This
is really an all-embracing, balanced document envisaging right
mutual concessions. Of course, it is not ideal for any side, but is
acceptable for all sides that want to solve the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict through a compromise. So, we really want Azerbaijan to
return to reconsideration of this document,” the Armenian Foreign
Minister declared.
According to him, there is no contact with Azerbaijan at present. He
informed that the American Co-chairman is to pay a visit to the region
soon, which will become a reason for establishing some contacts and
planning the next steps. At the same time, he found it difficult to
say, whether the American side will assume the initiative to organize
the next meeting of the Presidents.
As for the developments connected with the EU New Neighborhood program
and, in particular, discussion of the Actions Plan proposed by Armenia,
Vartan Oskanian informed that Finland currently presiding in the
EU expressed interest in the quick solution of issues connected
with the Actions Plan within two months. The Ambassador of Finland
accredited in Armenia will arrive in Yerevan on July 22 for clarifying
a number of issues connected with Armenia’s participation in the New
Neighborhood program.

Russia hurts Armenia after closing Georgia checkpoint – MP
13:29 | 10/ 07/ 2006
RIA Novosti, Russia
July 10 2006
YEREVAN, July 10 (RIA Novosti) – A deputy chairman of Armenia’s
parliament said Monday that Russia had hit Armenian interests after
it closed a checkpoint on the Russian-Georgian border for construction
work.
Russia closed the Kazbegi-Verkhny Lars border checkpoint early Saturday
morning for an indefinite period, which has created problems for
people traveling between Georgia and Armenia.
Vaan Ovannisyan said the border had been closed because of difficult
relations between Russia and Georgia.
“They [relations] have been worsening rather than improving recently,”
he said. “Our Russian colleagues must understand that each step against
Georgia also hurts Armenia’s interests. Therefore, they should be
more flexible and careful.”

Iranian Ambassador: “Region’s countries should be represented in OSCE Minsk Group”
Today, Azerbaijan
July 7 2006
07 July 2006 [20:32] – Today.Az
“Despite the ceasefire between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Armenians
violate ceasefire regularly, village population fired. People live
in fear on borderline territories.”
This statement was made by Ambassador Suleymani visiting Tovuz region
at the invitation of parliamentarian Ganira Pashayeva.
West bureau of APA reports that the ambassador visited borderline
territories of Tovus with Armenia – Aghdam, Munjuglu, and Alibeyli
villages, met with local population.
“OSCE Minsk Group works have not any results in the settlement of
the conflict. For investigating Minsk Group work there is necessity
of holding special conference in Baku. Politicians, experts should
be invited; they should announce the non results of OSCE Minsk
Group work.”
According to Ambassador, one of the reasons of OSCE Minsk Group works’
being of no result is related to France and the USA being represented
there as not region state.
“In Minsk Group, Russia is in some meaning the only country close
to the region. This country has close relations with Armenia, but it
has borders with Azerbaijan.”
The Ambassador in case if the war launches he did not give define
answer on his country’s support.
“The government of Iran does not want Nagorno Karabakh conflict to
be settled through war. If Azerbaijan wages on and applies to Iran
for support, then this apply might be looked into.”
It should be noted that, ambassador of Iran to Azerbaijan, Afshar
Suleymani will visit Ganja tomorrow. Within the visit program the
ambassador will meet with city leadership and visit historical places
of Ganja.
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