Category: News

Broadway 24, UK
Feb 4 2005
Mourners in tribute to a master of the organ
[email protected]

Jonathan Marciano
TRIBUTES have been paid to one of Muswell Hill’s best-loved music
enthusiasts.
Felix Aprahamian’s funeral took place last Friday at St Marylebone
Crematorium, East Finchley, with carefully chosen speeches and music.
Guests such as music expert John Amis, baritone Gordon Honey, and
classical singer Danny Gillingwater spoke of the organist’s
contribution to the world of music.
Mr Aprahamian, who lived in Methuen Park for 85 years, was a
self-taught musician.
Guests at his funeral spoke of his enormous influence in musical
circles and remembered his enthusiasm, talent and his campaign to
save the Alexandra Palace organ.
Mr Aprahamian was born in London on June 5, 1914, the son of an
Armenian carpet dealer. The family moved to the Methuen Park home on
January 1, 1919.
Mr Aprahamian’s organ, inherited from the organist André Marchal, was
regularly used by his protégé, the blind organist David Liddle, who
also performed at the funeral.
Mr Aprahamian also encouraged young artists to practise at his house
and is remembered for holding parties with musical accompaniment.
Most recently Mr Aprahamian led the campaign to save the Alexandra
Palace organ, which the then Greater London Council was proposing to
sell.
This became a much greater challenge when it was badly damaged by
fire in 1980.
Mr Liddle said: “Felix would take visitors on sixpenny tours of the
organ at Ally Pally in 1929. He then became committed to restoring
the organ.
“More than that, he was my music mentor. He took me to Paris and
introduced me to the greatest organists and teachers.
“He has done similar things for many young musicians. He changed my
life and changed the life of everyone who met him.”
Mr Aprahamian attended Tollington High school, and became interested
in the organ, taking lessons in Crouch End.
He became a master of the instrument, counting among his friends
organist William Lloyd Webber, father of Andrew and Julian.
The funeral, attended by more than 150 people, began with a slow
movement from Rachmaninov’s 2nd Symphony as mourners arrived.
The coffin was brought in to an extract from Delius’s Mass of Life.
The last voice heard was an extract of Mr Aprahamian’s discussion on
Desert Island Discs about music’s appeal to the heart and head.
Mr Aprahamian died on January 15. He was unmarried.
;category=Newsbroadway&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newsbroadway&itemid=WeED04%20Feb%202005%2016%3A26%3A08%3A187

Islam Online, UK
Feb 4 2005
Religious Education to Counter Proselytizing in Turkey

Shenar said he had been ordered as a proselytizer to intensify
missionary work targeting members of the sects of Alawiyyin, in
addition to Kurds.

By Sa’ad Abdul Majid, IOL Correspondent
ISTANBUL, February 4 (IslamOnline.net) – A Turkish academician urged
boosting religious education and launching an effective awareness
campaign to counter Christian mission work in the
predominantly-Muslim country.
The appeal followed revelations by a proselytizer who reverted back
to Islam that missionaries attempt to sow a sectarian strife in
Turkey by Christianizing a large number of its citizens.
Turks have to build on more proposals for combating Christianization
in the country, Hedayet Aydar, a professor of religious studies at
Istanbul University, told IslamOInline.net Friday, February 4.
Aydar proposed earmarking more teaching hours to religion lessons in
primary schools, and encouraging students to join imam and preacher
schools or universities of religious studies along with upgrading
their standards.
Awareness Campaign
Aydar also pressed the need for an awareness campaign to raise alarm
bells on the wide Christian missionary activities in the country and
ways they use to lure more converts in.
He underlined the media has to join the fray by dedicating programs
and articles to missionary activities and how best to combat them.
There is a need to give the true image of Islam and change
misconceptions on the religion, often touted by those calling
themselves secularists in Turkey, the prominent academician said.
`People under that category are most vulnerable to proselytizing
since they either have no religious culture or share mistaken
concepts on Islam.’
The Turkish army has said in a recent report that protestant missions
plan to proselytize some 10 per cent of Turkey’s 70 million
population by 2020.
The report, titled `Proselytizing Activities in Turkey and the
World’, said missionaries are trying to fill the `spiritual void’
left by the youths’ ignorance about the basic tenets and rituals of
Islam.
Political Targets
Meanwhile, a former 37-year-old proselytizer, who reverted back to
Islam two weeks ago after converting 20 years ago, warned against
politically-motivated plans by proselytizers.
Elgar Shenar said he had been ordered as a proselytizer to intensify
missionary work targeting members of the sects of Alawiyyin and
Kurds.
Alawiyyin are originally a sect of the Shi`ah called `Nusayriyyah’.
The Nusayriyyah is a movement that emerged in the third century after
Hijrah. They claim that Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) is
God-incarnated.
Shenar said he was dumfounded to find the Christianization in Turkey
is no more than a political work meant to sow unrest and divisions in
the community, citing that as the main reason for his return to
Islam.
The revelation echoed the Turkish army’s report that said the
proselytizers are seeking to pit the Sunnis against the Alawiyyin or
the opposite to preach about the Christian faith.
Commanding a wide media attention, the former proselytizer regretted
that thousands of Muslims, especially young men, had been
Christianized by missionaries in areas densely populated by Turks of
Arab or Kurdish descent.
He accused the US Defense Department of standing behind the
missionary work in Turkey. He further claimed that he `knew his
reverting back to Islam was reported to the Pentagon’.
Long-run Style
Shenar said International Protest Church, for which he was appointed
as a priest and proselytizer, exploit huge financial, social,
economic and psychological potentials to draw green youths to
Christianity.
Proselytizing mainly focuses on poor areas in central and eastern
Turkey, also exploiting the country’s keen interest to be a member of
the 25-member predominantly-Christian European Union.
A report presented to the Turkish government in 2004 said Christian
missionaries were sent to areas hit by the 1999 shuddering earthquake
that left hundreds dead and many others displaced.
Shenar is a member of a Turkish Muslim family before converting while
he was 17 years old at the hands of a teacher also working as
proselytizer.
He remembered how the teacher approached him for conversion. The
teacher helped Shenar in his studies before his Christianization in
1987.
After the conversion, Shenar was taken for studying theology for nine
years in the Bible Academy.
The Turkish army report said that 15,000 Turks have been converted to
Christianity, and other sects like Baha’iyyah over the past few
years.
No law explicitly prohibits proselytizing or religious conversions in
Turkey. But many officials regard proselytizing and religious
activism with suspicion, especially when such activities are deemed
to have political overtones.
Approximately 99 percent of Turkey’s population is Muslim, the
majority of whom is Sunni.
In addition to the country’s Sunni Muslim majority, there are an
estimated 5 to 12 million Alawiyyin, according to the US State
Department.
There are several other religious groups, mostly concentrated in
Istanbul and other large cities, including an estimated 65,000
Armenian Orthodox Christians, 25,000 Jews, and 3,000 to 5,000 Greek
Orthodox Christians.
The army report put at 69 the number of unofficial churches and
places of worship related to other communities, including 47 churches
for the Protestants, nine for the Baha’is and 13 for Jehovah’s
Witnesses sect.
Turkish fears are echoed by many in neighboring Iraq and
Turkoman-populated areas on the joint borders.
British reports revealed in December 2003 that US missionaries,
mainly evangelicals, were pouring into the predominantly Muslim Iraq
, shrouded in secrecy and under the cover of humanitarian aid.

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Feb 4 2005
AZERBAIJAN KEEN IN DEVELOPMENT OF LINKS WITH OSCE
[February 04, 2005, 20:35:58]
On February 4, Chairman of Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan Murtuz
Alaskarov has received Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Christian Strohal and persons
accompanying him.
Having welcomed the visitors, Murtuz Alaskarov has told: `After
signing in 1998 of the protocol on mutual understanding between
Azerbaijan and ODIHR, the existing links between Azerbaijan and OSCE
have required new phase. We pay special attention of integration into
Europe, to development of democracy, protection of human rights. The
law giving to citizens the right to address in the Constitutional
Court was adopted, founded the institute of Ombudsman and public TV.
For last 5 years, the parliament has ratified more than 40
conventions concerning human rights. Taking into account the role of
ODIHR in the given area, we pay special attention to cooperation with
you.
Unfortunately, the organizations, preparing reports connected to
human rights, do not take into account the consequences of the
Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Armenia has occupied
20 percent of the Azerbaijan lands, rights more than 1 million people
have been roughly violated. UN Security Council and other
international organizations considered the given problem. On January
25, this year the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has
adopted a resolution in which has once again called Armenia to put an
end to aggression. The OSCE Minsk Group directly engaged in
settlement of the conflict, also should make active efforts to
achieve quick, fair resolution of problems. We believe that you and
the organization supervised by you will take into account this fact
and will increase the efforts’.
Having thanked for warm reception and detailed information, Christian
Strohal has told: `The organization headed by me is interested in
expansion of links with Azerbaijan. We are glad to help you in
development of democracy, in the field of human rights, adoption of
civil laws. Certainly, the successes achieved in your country are
also pleasant. The basic purpose of our visit to Baku consists in
exchange of views on the condition of execution of the
recommendations given by us on improvement of some structures, about
preparation for forthcoming parliamentary elections and on other
questions, to make new recommendations.
At the meeting, also were exchanged opinions on other questions
representing mutual interest.

Blogcritics.org
Feb 4 2005
Petra Haden Sings: The Who Sell Out
Posted by Caryn Rose
Filed under: Music, Music: Classic Rock and Oldies, Music: Indie Rock
– Scroll down to read comments on this story and/or add one of your
own.

Who Sell Out
Petra Haden
Music from Bar None Records
Release date: 22 February, 2005
I became a die-hard Who fan at the age of 15. Did I say die-hard?
More like obsessed, obsessive, consumed, in love with a rock band the
way you can probably only be when you are discovering the world and
your place in it for the first time.
Now, Mike Watt and d.boon (of the late, great Minutemen) were also
die-hard Who fans from a young age, and had a friendship that was
cemented, solidified through their shared love of and for music.
d.boon died in an automobile accident in 1985, and Watt (he’s just
Watt) has continued fighting the good fight and continued making
great music.
Petra Haden: The Who Sell Out is the brainwave of Mike Watt, and was
inspired by his friendship with d.boon and their shared Who
obsession. Watt suggested the idea to Haden, who is a friend and
colleague, and she took on the challenge. The result is what will
definitely be one of the most remarkable albums of the year.
While obsessive fans of any band can sometimes be somewhat rigid and
defensive of the music they love, Who fans are probably some of the
worst offenders on that front. To many of them, there is no other
music worth listening to, and no one, repeat, no one, can touch the
Who’s music. (As an example, for a better part of the 90’s a large
majority of Who fans were up in arms over Eddie Vedder “daring” to
perform the Who’s music and sing Pete Townshend’s songs — of course,
somehow overlooking that he had been invited by Pete himself).
So Petra Haden is one brave woman, taking on the recreation of an
entire Who album, solo. She doesn’t even have brand recognition
working in her favor. If she got one thing, the tiniest, most
miniscule thing wrong with this record, she would be skewered alive.
But there is not one thing out of place on this record, and this is
notable because there is no instrumentation whatsoever on the album.
That’s right, the entire record is performed completely acapella.
Petra Haden Sings: The Who Sell Out is absolutely a cover album in
the classic sense; Haden tracked every single note, every thundering
Entwistle bass note, every rollicking Keith Moon drum roll, every
Townshendian crescendo, every classic Daltrey vocal warble. But the
difference here, and what makes this album so remarkable, is that
every vocal track, every sound effect, every instrument, is created
using Haden’s voice and only her voice, multi-tracked.
This record is nothing less than jaw-dropping brilliant. It’s
astounding. It’s a truly remarkable, joyful musical performance,
while also being the most original idea for a cover album, ever. That
said, part of the album’s brilliance is that the interpretation is
blindingly original, but at the same time, not so inaccessible that
it won’t speak to a larger audience.
As Watt relates in the liner notes, Haden wasn’t particularly
familiar with the album, or with early Who. This is important,
because it means that it wasn’t her all-time favorite record and
lifetime dream to cover it. She has no emotional attachment to the
songs – which you would think would make it lifeless and dull, or at
least lacking energy. But Petra Haden Sings The Who Sell Out is
anything but that. Instead, there is this pervasive pure ebullience
and joy that saturates the record. There is a freshness and a spirit
to the performance, because she hadn’t heard the record her entire
life, it was all new to her.
Now, if you’re familiar at all with The Who Sell Out, you know it’s a
pop art masterpiece, and one of its hallmarks are the radio jingles
that appear in between songs, connective tissue if you will, trying
to simulate what it was like listening to Radio Caroline or any of
the other legendary pirate radio stations stationed off-shore in the
60’s and vital to the British music scene. So it’s not enough already
that she’s singing “I Can See For Miles” and “Armenia City In The
Sky” and “Mary Anne With The Shakey Hands,” Hayden includes every
jingle – Rotosound strings, Heinz baked beans, Track Records – it’s
all here.
Every single song is fascinating, but the most overwhelming
performances have to be “I Can See For Miles” (that droning Townshend
chord-solo is there, too), “Armenia City In The Sky,” and “Sunrise” –
the latter perfectly suited to Haden’s voice – and the top of the
list is “Rael,” Townshend’s first attempt at rock opera – the
“mini-opera,” as it was referred to, with its intricate
instrumentation, captured down to the last note and inflection.
The experience of listening to this record is beyond unique,
especially if you are a fan and know the songs inside and out. (Watt
alludes to this in the liner notes: “We knew that record inside and
out and Petra caught that spirit, big time.”) You discover that you
know every single inflection and every tiny insignificant sonic
detail, and find yourself singing along in your head to the various
tracks – for example, “Our Love Was, Is” has an angelic counterpoint
I don’t think I ever consciously noticed before. Or the bass line in
“I Can See For Miles” takes on a new dimension when it is sung and
not strummed, not to mention the compositional components you never
really heard separately from the rest. It feels like you are
listening to the music upside-down, or in another language – you know
it, but you suddenly don’t. The rug of ‘familiar’ is pulled out from
underneath you, and if you are lucky, it is like hearing and
experiencing this album for the very first time all over again,
except with the benefit of years of musical experience behind you.
You have context and can appreciate it more than you did the first
time you bought Sell Out, most likely that dreadful double-album
reissue with the ugly American cover.
Oh, and the cover of the CD – of course, the cover – it’s an exact
tribute to the original UK pop art masterpiece, which featured each
member of the Who in an advertisement for the products “advertised”
on the album. Of course, Hayden duplicates them to exacting
perfection. I just hope the experience wasn’t so exact that Haden
caught pneumonia from sitting in the tub of baked beans – which is
what happened to Roger Daltrey during the original Sell Out album
cover shoot.
(Remember what I said earlier about obsessed and obsessive.)
Finally, if you need an imprimatur in order to validate the record
for you, here’s a quote from Chairman Townshend himself: “I love it.
It is exquisite.”
No argument here.

ArmenPress
Feb 4 2005
US CONSULAR ASSOCIATE IN ARMENIA INDICTED ON BRIBERY AND VISA FRAUD
CHARGES
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS: The U.S. Embassy in Armenia
forwarded to Armenpress a statement issued jointly by the Justice
Department and State Department of the United States of America in
Washington, DC, February 3, which says that the United States
Attorney Kenneth L. Wainstein and Ambassador Frank Taylor, Assistant
Secretary for the United States Department of State’s Bureau of
Diplomatic Security, announced that a federal Grand Jury in the
District of Columbia returned on February 2 a thirteen-count
indictment charging Piotr Zdzislaw Parlej, a 45-year-old United
States citizen formerly employed as a Consular Associate in the
United States Embassy in Yerevan, Armenia, with bribery and visa
fraud.
Parlej was arrested in the District of Columbia yesterday
afternoon and is scheduled to appear today before United States
Magistrate Judge Alan Kay. If convicted of the charges, Parlej faces
up to between 5 and 15 years in prison, and a fine of not more than
$250,000 on each of the counts.
The indictment charges that from in or before April 2004, through
on or about January 13, 2005, in Yerevan, Armenia, Parlej and various
co-conspirators engaged in a conspiracy to commit bribery and visa
fraud, and to obstruct and impede – “by craft, trickery, deceit, and
dishonest means” – the United States Department of State in “its
lawful function of reviewing and controlling the issuance to
qualified foreign nationals of visas authorizing their entry into the
United States.” The indictment Page -2- also alleges six specific
instances in which Parlej took cash bribes of up to $10,000 each, in
exchange for issuing visas irrespective of whether the applicants
were qualified to receive them.
“The people of the United States have a right to have immigration
rules applied fairly and properly,” noted United States Attorney
Wainstein. “A United States consular official who violates those
rules for personal financial gain undermines the integrity of our
visa application and review process, and erodes public trust in our
consular officials around the world.”
Speaking for the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security,
Ambassador Taylor added, “We are committed to investigating and
bringing to justice Department of State employees who use their
positions of trust to break the law.”
In announcing Parlej’s indictment and arrest, United States
Attorney Wainstein and Ambassador Taylor particularly commended the
work of Diplomatic Security Service Special Agents, U.S. Embassy
Yerevan staff, as well as Armenia law enforcement authorities who
assisted in the case. United States Attorney Wainstein and Ambassador
Taylor also commended Assistant United States Attorneys Laura A.
Ingersoll and Brenda J. Johnson, who are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has
committed a violation of criminal laws. Every defendant is presumed
innocent until and unless found guilty.
The statement said the U.S. Embassy in Armenia and the U.S. State
Department as a whole, are dedicated to insuring the integrity of
visa process, and maintain zero tolerance of fraud. It also thanked
the Armenian authorities for their cooperation in this investigation
and in particular commended the National Security Service of Armenia
for their invaluable assistance.

ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH CELEBRATES SHROVETIDE (“BUN BAREKENDAN”) ON
FEBRUARY 6
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4. ARMINFO. The Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates
Shrovetide holiday on February 6.
The press-service of AAC Ararat Diocese told ARMINFO that in
conformity with church traditions, Shrovetide is marked on the eve of
Lent. Shrovetide symbolizes the life in paradise. This holiday is
celebrated also in Russia and European states. During the evening
service on the eve of Shrovetide, the altar is closed by curtains up
to the end of Lent, which start on February 7.

LENT STARTS ON FEBRUARY 7 IN CONFORMITY WITH CALENDAR OF ARMENIAN
APOSTOLIC CHURCH
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4. ARMINFO. In conformity with the calendar of the
Armenian Apostolic Church, Lent starts on February 7. It will continue
to the Easter, which is fixed for March 27 this year, AAC Ararat
Diocese reports to ARMINFO.
Forty days of Lent symbolize the 40 days Jesus Christ spent in the
desert praying. On March 2, in the middle of Lent, traditional “gata”
(“cake”) is baked and coins are put in it. According to beliefs, who
finds the coin in “gata” he will be successful. Wedding and offering
ceremonies are banned in the period of Lent. However, Catholicos of
All Armenian Vazgen I allowed wedding at Armenian churches on
Saturdays and Sunday during Lent, excepting the days of Holy Week
(March 20-27).
From: Baghdasarian

Useless-Knowledge.com
Feb 4 2005
Knowledge Is The Key To Macedonia
By Alexander Antonarakis
Feb. 4, 2005
Dear Audience and Thomas Keyes, the Macedonian Question is one of
time, Geographical Positioning, and historical slander. I will make
this quite short.
The creation of the state of Skopia. This area of the Balkans was and
is always considered as the birthplace of the modern Bulgarian
nation, as Kosovo is to the Serbs. Ohrid was the capital of the
Bulgarian Tsardom in the 10th century. Throughout the Ottoman Empire
this area was called the Milliet of Rum, and had nothing to do with
Macedonia. I have spoken with a Bulgarian and an educated Skopian,
and they both agreed that they spoke the same language and were of
the same truko-slavic race as the Bulgarians are. The idea of these
Slavic brothers being called Macedonians came as a figment of Tito’s
imagination. In fact, Yugoslavia was the only country to need a visa
for Greece. Also, what hardship did they suffer from the Greeks that
we didn’t suffer from the Bulgarian fascists of the world war? We did
not allow Slavs into Greece because they were COMMUNISTS!!! NOT
BECAUSE OF ETHICITY! We had just suffered a civil war and defeated
communism when Tito named the republics.
The Geographic location of Macedonia. Well, this should be
surprising…! Throughout most of Byzantium, the Theme of Macedonia
was NOT centred on the modern area. The Capital was Adrianople, and
stretched from Serrai to the Walls of Constantinople. The Theme in
present day Macedonia was called that of Thessaloniki. Also the
Macedonian Dynasty of Byzantium came from near Adrianople, and were
half Armenian originally. No one can argue that ancient Macedonia was
largely on the Modern Greek Macedonia, and the north was periphery!
History. Here are a few questions. Why would Phillip try and educate
his son with Greek Philosophers? Why did Alexander create a Hellenic
empire that involved a Hellenic league. He could have easily made the
empire in his dialect. DIALECT is exactly what it is. It has been
written that during the campaign, the Macedonians would resort to
their dialect among friends. Nowadays if Cypriots don’t want to be
fully understood by Greeks, they can put on a pretty heavy accept,
but they are in effect Greek! Was Alexander Greek? He did indeed feel
like one. The Slavs? Indeed they did show in the 6th Century or so,
from the north. They had, and have nothing to do with Macedonia. By
the time they came, the ancient Macedonians had been eradicated by
the Romans centuries before, and they had become fully Greek.
As Thomas Keyes said, we should strive for unity, and the naming of
Skopia as Macedonia is a blatant assault on our and Bulgarian soil.
Also, let the ancients rest in peace. I would propose the name
Slavomacedons if they wish, or Ohridians, or Western Bulgaria. I
plead to all….please get educated the history. As Socrates
said…”knowledge is the only good, and ignorance the only evil”.
————
About the author Alexander Antonarakis: a PhD candidate in Cambridge
University, UK.

7 POINT QUAKE REGISTERED IN TURKEY
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4. ARMINFO. A 7-point earthquake was registered in
Turkey last night.
The National Seismic Protection Service of Armenia reports that the
quake took place 50 km southeast of the town of Van at 4:20 a.m. In
the epicenter the shock was 7 point strong. Information on
destructions and casualties is specified.

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Feb 4 2005
Erdogan Criticizes Cypriots and Armenians
While meeting French Parliament Speaker Jean Louis Debre, Prime
Minister Erdogan criticized Cyprus over the failure of the
UN-initiated referendum. Answering Jean Louis Debre’s questions about
Cyprus, Erdogan recalled that Turkish Cypriots had voted in favor of
the Kofi Annan settlement plan but also highlighted the fact that it
was the Greeks who rejected it.
The premier said “We are constantly asked about what will happen in
Cyprus next. Why should we pay the price of a mistake that wasn’t
actually caused by us?”
On the subject of Armenians, Erdogan told Debre that Turkey has
opened its archives about Armenians but that there will be no
improvements in the situation until Armenians decide to collaborate
on the issue, which they are presently refusing to do.
Source: Hurriyet, 4 February 2005