Category: News

TURKEY
EU/national security
The National Security Council issued a statement welcoming the fact that the
EU had given Turkey an accession talks start date but warning that Turkey must
be ready to deal with any problems arising during negotiations. The statement
said: “It was emphasized how important it was for certain negative points in
the [EU] summit decision to be eliminated so that the accession talks process,
which aims for full membership, can be conducted on sustainable grounds not
containing any conditions or discriminating against Turkey.” Among the issues
which the council envisaged might be problematic were security problems
connected with Cyprus and the Aegean, the alleged Armenian genocide problem and the
issue of minorities.
(Hurriyet web site, Istanbul, in Turkish 31 Dec 04)

NYU’s GREY ART GALLERY PRESENTS RARE GLIMPSE OF PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY
FROM THE ARAB WORLD
Mapping Sitting: On Portraiture and Photography
A Project by Walid Raad and Akram Zaatari – Arab Image Foundation
January 11-April 2, 2005
New York City, October 25, 2004. In Mapping Sitting, two contemporary
artists present installations that dynamically disclose how
photographic portraits operated in the Middle East over the last
century. On view at the Grey Art Gallery from January 11 through April
2, this timely and topical exhibition was conceived by Walid Raad-a
media artist based in New York and Beirut and best known for his
innovative project titled The Atlas Group-and Akram Zaatari, a
prominent video artist, filmmaker, and curator who lives and works in
Beirut. Raad and Zaatari have devised four sections based on the
Middle Eastern tradition of `surprise’ street photography, on
itinerant photography, on institutional group portraits, and on
passport images. The latter features over 4,500 postage stamp-sized
passport portraits, while a video projection presents group photos of
military soldiers taken in Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Egypt
in the first half of the 20th century.
Raad and Zaatari reveal how Arab portrait photography not only
pictured individuals and groups, but also functioned as commodity,
luxury item, and adornment. Their installations feature diverse
photographs from the Arab Image Foundation-an archive in Beirut
housing more than 70,000 images taken by professional and amateur
photographers from the late 19th century to the present.
Collectively, the photographs convey pluralistic and dynamic Middle
Eastern communities through the lenses of indigenous
photographers-images far different from photos of the region
circulating widely today in the popular press.
Mapping Sitting presents four distinct practices: studio passport
photography; institutional group portrait photography; the street
tradition of ` photo-surprise’; and portraits by itinerant
photographers. These four forms are examined through the works of
Tripoli-based Armenian photographer Antranik Anouchian (1908-1991);
Lebanese photographer Hashem el Madani (born 1930); various group
portrait photographers who were active in Lebanon, Palestine, Syria,
Egypt, and Iraq between 1880 and 1960; and early 1950s street
`photo-surprise’ images by Setrak Albarian and Sarkis Restikian of the
Photo Jack Studio in Tripoli, Lebanon. Addressing the proliferation of
photographic portrait industries in the Arab world, the exhibition not
only raises questions about portrait photography in the Middle East,
but also about portraiture, photography, and visual culture in
general.
The history of photography in the Arab world is not well documented.
Introduced in the Middle East by colonial occupiers in the mid-19th
century, photography was, at first, dominated by Western practitioners
who focused primarily on antiquities, regional landscape, and exotic
traditions. Local photographic production flourished after Yessai
Garabedian, the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, held the first
photography workshop in the region in the 1860s.In the years that
followed, photographic production continued to expand, especially as
Armenian exiles, many of whom had been trained as photographers, fled
Turkey for Islamic countries. With the arrival of Kodak box cameras in
the 1880s and 1890s, the appetite for photographic images increased.
As photography spread throughout Middle Eastern culture, modernization
was transforming the region. The social, political, and economic lives
of the emerging nation-states gave rise to nationalist liberation
movements alongwith evolving awareness of geography and
identity. Modern building methods and urban planning were implemented,
labor and women’s movements developed, and new literary and artistic
forms focused on identity as the central issue in developing
socio-political realities. Contrary to Western images of the Arab
world, which often depicted marginalized or dehumanized subjects,
photographs by indigenous Middle Eastern residents captured the
quotidian lives of these changing communities. Concentrating on
commercial photography, Mapping Sitting’s creators Walid Raad and
Akram Zaatari-artists who also function inthis instance as
curators-pose a number of questions: What historical, aesthetic,
philosophical, and cultural conceptions of photography are repeated
and/or questioned in these images? What can we learn about notions of
identity from these portraits? Keeping in mind the peculiar conditions
of production, distribution, and consumption of the images, Mapping
Sitting also investigates how these photographic practices reveal
characteristics of nascent national identities.
Walid Raad is Assistant Professor of Art at Cooper Union in New York
City.
His works include textual analysis, video, and photography
projects. He has recently performed at the Centre Georges Pompidou,
Paris; the House of World Cultures, Berlin; and the Institute of
Contemporary Arts, London. In 2002,his Atlas Group was included in the
Whitney Biennial, New York, and Documenta 11 in Kassel, Germany. Akram
Zaatari is the author of more than 30 videos, including This Day
(2003), How I Love You (2001), Her + Him Van Leo (2001). His writings
appear in critical and scholarly journals such as Parachute,
Framework, Bomb, Al-Adaab, and Al-Nahar. Zaatari is a co-founder of
the Arab Image Foundation in Beirut; Raad sits on the organization’s
board.
Mapping Sitting is complemented by a 250-page publication that
includes 840 photographs, designed by Mind The Gap Productions in
Lebanon, and co-edited by Karl Bassil, Zeina Maasri, and Akram Zaatari
in collaboration with Walid Raad.
In conjunction with the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and Cooper
Union,a series of public programs will explore the multiple issues
this timely exhibition brings to light. The Grey Art Gallery and the
Arab Image Foundation are organizing a national tour of Mapping
Sitting.
The exhibition is made possible in part by the Islamic World Arts
Initiative, a program of Arts International generously supported by
the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, and the New York State
Council on the Arts. The Grey Art Gallery presentation is made
possible in part by the Abby Weed Grey Trust. Educational programs are
supported in part by the Grey Art Gallery’s Inter/National Council.

Armenian priest assaulted by Yeshiva students
Jerusalem Post
Jan. 6, 2005 19:04
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS

An Armenian Priest was assaulted by four yeshiva students in the Old City of
Jerusalem Thursday afternoon, in the second such attack in the last three
months, police said.
The altercation began when the priest, Father Avedis, was spat on by one of
the yeshiva students in front of the Armenian Monastery where he lives in the
Armenian Quarter of the Old City, the priest said.
The Jewish assailant refused to go to police with the priest, and the two got
into a scuffle.
Meanwhile, a couple more yeshiva students came by, and got into a heated
argument with the priest over who attacked whom, the priest recounted.
A foreign ministry official, accompanied by an Israeli security guard, who
was passing by came to the aid of the priest, and summoned police.
The four haredi suspects subsequently scuffled with the Israeli security
guard who tried to detain them before police arrived, police said.
The four were subsequently placed under arrest, and will be remanded in a
Jerusalem court on Friday morning.
The priest was not hurt, and did not require medical treatment in the
incident.
The assault on the priest was immediately condemned by the New York-based
Anti Defamation League, and, later, by the Mayor of Jerusalem.
“This kind of behavior is outrageous, inappropriate and goes against all
Jewish teachings, said the Co- Director of the ADL’s Israel Office Laura Kam
Issacharoff.
She added that such attacks are not as incidental as they seem, and that
Jerusalem yeshiva students must be taught respect and tolerance of others.
Later Thursday evening, Jerusalem Mayor Uri
Lupolianski also condemned the attack which he called a “despicable act”
which is “likely to harm the delicate relations that exist in Jerusalem.”
In a statement, he added that the “Jewish people,
which was subject to centuries of persecution abroad, should be the first to
show tolerance and moderation to others.”
The attack on the Armenian priest was the second such incident in the Old
City of Jerusalem in the last three months.
In October, another yeshiva student spat at a Sunday morning procession of
Armenian clergymen in
Jerusalem’s Old City and then scuffled with a priest.
He later apologized.

Arutz Sheva, Israel
Jan 6 2005
Armenian Clergyman Assaulted in Jerusalem
19:36 Jan 06, ’05 / 25 Tevet 5765

(IsraelNN.com) Police have arrested four Jews for allegedly
assaulting a clergyman of the Armenian Church in eastern Jerusalem.
Police report that two of them accosted him and spat on him, and when
he tried to fight them off, two others came to their aid. A security
guard who came to the clergyman’s aid was also assaulted, according
to the report.

Associated Press
Jan 6 2005
Orthodox set to celebrate Christmas
MIKE ECKEL
MOSCOW – The head of Russia’s Orthodox Church offered blessings and
prayers on the eve of the Orthodox Christmas Thursday, noting in his
traditional holiday greetings that 2004 was a difficult year for
Russia
Patriarch Alexy II also addressed Christians worldwide and people of
other faiths, saying “Let us work together for the sake of peace and
the prosperity of our peoples.”
Christmas falls on Jan. 7 for Orthodox Christians in Russia and other
Eastern Orthodox churches that use the Julian calendar instead of the
16th-century Gregorian calendar adopted by Catholics and Protestants
and commonly used in secular life around the world.
The top U.N. official in Kosovo, Soren Jessen-Petersen, called upon
Serbs, who are largely Orthodox Christian, to use this period to
“make special efforts to reach out to all, regardless of their views
and backgrounds.”
Kosovo was placed under U.N. administration in 1999, following NATO’s
air war aimed at stopping the Serb forces crackdown on
independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.
In the former Soviet republic of Armenia, worshippers lit candles and
attended services to mark the holiday and President Robert Kocharian
and other top government officials attended services at the
Echmiadzin Cathedral outside the capital, Yerevan.
Pope John Paul II also offered his “cordial wish of peace and joy in
the Lord” to “the brothers and sisters of the Eastern Churches which
are celebrating in these days Holy Christmas.” Jan. 7 is celebrated
in the Catholic church as Epiphany.
The Russian patriarch referred in his greetings to the string of
terrorist attacks that struck Russia including the August crash of
two airliners, and the September hostage-taking at the school in
Beslan where some 340 people died, nearly half of them children.
“Flouting everything that is holy in their impious madness,
terrorists raised their hands against children. The deaths of
innocent victims has become our common grief and filled our hearts
with pain and sorrow,” he said.
“But at the same time, the horrible tragedy has shown that moral
ideals are alive in the people: facing death, many people manifested
high examples of sacrificial love for their neighbors, laying down
their lives for their friends, as the Holy Scripture says,” the
patriarch said.
The patriarch also met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the
Kremlin. Putin spoke at length about the humanitarian aid and the
rescue efforts Russia has provided to Asian countries devastated by
the Dec. 26 tsunami.
“I want to again wish you a Merry Christmas, happiness and health to
you and all the Orthodox Christians, to all the people who will be
observing this holy holiday,” Putin told the patriarch.

Fresno Bee, CA
Jan 6 2005
Armenian Town plan challenged
Two local preservation groups file a lawsuit.
By Russell Clemings / The Fresno Bee
Two groups of local historic preservation advocates have gone to
court hoping to overturn Fresno’s approval of a large part of the Old
Armenian Town redevelopment project.
Heritage Fresno and Friends of Armenian Town allege that the city’s
redevelopment agency did not “properly address impacts on historic
resources and feasible alternatives” when its board – which also is
the City Council – unanimously approved the project in November.
Their Fresno County Superior Court complaint says that the city and
developers Richard Gunner and George Andros made no mention of their
plans for the facade of Armenian Evangelical Church, in storage since
being torn down in November 2003.
It also says the agency did not get enough public comment before
deciding where to move five other historic buildings that would be
displaced by the project. The agency plans to put the structures on
vacant lots along L Street between San Benito and Monterey streets;
preservation advocates have proposed an alternative site at M and
Ventura streets, closer to their original locations.
“These people just don’t think a good enough job has been done in
protecting historic resources,” said their attorney, John C.
Gabrielli, of Davis. “They’re not interested in stopping the project
at all. They’re interested in sitting down and hashing things out.”
Neither Marlene Murphey, interim director of the redevelopment
agency, nor Lowell Carruth, attorney for Gunner and Andros, responded
to requests for comment on the lawsuit.
The Old Armenian Town project includes a new home for the state’s 5th
District Court of Appeal, plus three office buildings, a parking
garage, and some retail space. An Armenian Cultural Center also is
planned. The site is bounded by O, Ventura and M streets and Freeway
41.
George Bursik, a spokesman for the preservation groups, lives in one
of the few remaining homes in the project area and says he objects
mainly to the city’s plans for his and other houses.
“I don’t believe the city has a legal right to confiscate a person’s
home,” he said. “I mean, I understand that they have the legal right,
but … just because some developer comes along and wants to take it
doesn’t make it in the public interest.”

ArmenPress
Jan 6 2005
AZERI, ARMENIAN FMs TO MEET IN PRAGUE JANUARY 11
BAKU, JANUARY 6, ARMENPRESS: Azerbaijan’s deputy foreign minister
Araz Azimov told a local ATV channel that foreign ministers of
Armenia and Azerbaijan, Vartan Oskanian and Elmar Mamedyarov have
agreed to hold another meeting in Prague on January 11 in an effort
to continue exploring ways for ending the dispute over Nagorno
Karabagh.
Azimov said the OSCE Minsk group cochairmen from Russia, France
and USA will also participate in the meeting, which, according to
him, will discuss the so-called stage-by-stage conflict resolution
option.
Late last month Azeri foreign minister said Baku expects
considerable progress from the next meeting of Azerbaijani and
Armenian foreign ministers.
“If Armenia continues to approach the issue as seriously, as it
did during the two previous meetings in Sofia and Brussels of foreign
ministers, the conflict settlement process would mark remarkable
changes,” he said.

ArmenPress
Jan 6 2005
ARMENIAN CONTINGENT READY TO DEPLOY IN IRAQ
YEREVAN, JANUARY 6, ARMENPRESS: A spokesman for Armenian defense
ministry told Armenpress that a 46 non-combat platoon is ready to be
deployed in Iraq. The spokesman, Seyran Shahsuvarian, said the
platoon is composed of 30 truck drivers, 10 sappers, three doctors
and three officers.
Armenia’s parliament voted to send 46 non-combat troops to Iraq on
December 24, a move that drew sharp criticism from many Armenians and
opposition groups.
The troops could serve in Iraq for up to a year and would only
conduct humanitarian operations. “There is not, and will not be an
Armenian military presence in Iraq,’ Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian
had said earlier. “In the humanitarian aspect, it is preferable for
Armenia to contribute to the postwar reconstruction of Iraq, in
establishing democracy in this country which has important
significance for the region and which could have an impact on the
Caucasus.’
The troops would serve as part of the Polish-led multinational
force that operates in a belt of territory south of Baghdad.
The proposal had been widely criticized by opposition parties,
many Armenians and even the 30,000-strong Armenian community in Iraq,
which fears being targeted for attacks if the troops were sent.

ArmenPress
Jan 6 2005
DESPITE HEAVY SNOWFALL ROADS OPEN FOR TRAFFIC
YEREVAN, JANUARY 6, ARMENPRESS: The capital city Yerevan and much
of Armenia were socked by a Wednesday heavy snowfall, with no more
expected today in the capital. The snowfall began at about 7 p.m.
January 5 and went on through the night, but warmer air from the
south pushed its way today morning, resulting in snow melting in the
capital, while it is continuing to fall in some southern and east-
northern regions.
The only closed road is the one stretching along the Selim
mountain pass, all others are being cleaned up and are open for
traffic, Armenian weather service told Armenpress.

Syrian Arab News Agency
Jan 6 2005
President Assad Congratulates Armenians on Christmas
Damascus, Jan 6, (SANA)-
by S. Younes
President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday congratulated the Armenian
Orthodox Community on Christmas according to the Armenian Calendar.
Minister of the Republic Presidency Affaires Ghassan al-Laham visited
the Armenian Orthodox Archbishopric to wish the Armenian church
leaders and the Armenian community sons all the best on the feast
occasion.
Archbishop Naalbindian thanked the President representative praying
for his excellency’s long life and hoping for the fulfillment of the
Syrians wishes under his leadership.