ICG CONCERNED ABOUT THE FATE OF ARMENIAN AND AZERI MINORITIES IN GEORGIA
Public Radio, Armenia
Nov 22 2006
“The Georgian government must take significant steps to avoid conflict
in the country’s ethnic Armenian and Azeri areas,” says the last
report of the International Crisis Group titled “Georgia’s Armenian
and Azeri Minorities. The report examines the grievances of these two
communities. While there is no risk of the situation becoming Ossetian
or Abkhaz-like threats to Georgia’s territorial integrity, tensions
are evident in the regions of Samtskhe-Javakheti and Kvemo-Kartli,
where the two predominantly live. There have been demonstrations,
alleged police brutality and killings during the past two years.
Georgia has made little progress towards integrating these minorities,
who constitute over 12 per cent of the population.
Armenians and Azeris are underrepresented in all spheres of public
life, especially government, and a lack of dialogue between them and
Tbilisi adds to perceptions of discrimination and alienation. This
is aggravated by economic problems, including high unemployment l
and decaying infrastructure.
“Tbilisi needs to do much more to build confidence and to encourage
minorities to address their problems through state structures rather
then in the street”, says Sabine Freizer, Crisis Group’s Caucasus
Project Director.
While the government denies there is any inequality, many minorities
claim they are treated as second-class citizens. Feeling betrayed by
the Abkhaz and Ossetians, who declared independent states on Georgian
territory, Tbilisi has a deeply rooted, if unfounded, fear that others
may do the same. More sensitive and effective minority policies would
dampen such demands and might even help build trust with the Abkhaz
and Ossetians.
Some steps have been taken to improve the lives of minorities. With
donor support, Georgia has invested in road and infrastructure
rehabilitation in minority regions and created a ministry for civic
integration, established a public administration institute to train
minorities and ratified the Framework Convention for the Protection
of National Minorities.
None of this is likely to appease minorities’ political grievances
without policies that increase inclusion and participation.
Implementation of local government reform after the 2006 elections
provides a new platform for minorities to affect decision-making
through municipal bodies. More consultation by Tbilisi when drafting
legislation can also help.
The government needs to establish a comprehensive education system
to teach Georgian as a second language to minorities, but while a
new generation is educated, minorities should not be discriminated
against, especially in hiring for state jobs. The state should also
implement its international commitments, particularly allowing use
of minority languages for state affairs in municipalities with large
numbers of minority citizens, as is standard throughout Europe.
“Only by acting on both tracks will Georgia succeed in reducing
tensions and increasing minority integration”, says Nicholas Whyte,
Crisis Group’s Europe Program Director.

PEACE CORPS ARMENIA HOLDS 8TH ANNUAL DEVELOPMENT FAIR
Public Radio, Armenia
Nov 22 2006
The 8h Annual Peace Corps Armenia Development Fair was held on November
22, 2006 at the AUA Business Center. Peace Corps Volunteers and their
Armenian counterparts were invited to meet representatives of 80
Armenian and international development organizations. The goal of the
event was to promote cooperation and collaboration between Peace Corps
Volunteers and development organizations, particularly in the areas
of English language education, business and community development,
health education and environmental education. Anthony Godfrey, United
States Charge d’Affaires ad interim to the Republic of Armenia,
addressed the participants at the opening of the Development Fair.
Peace Corps Armenia was established in 1992 at the invitation of
the Government of Armenia. Currently, 77 Volunteers work in schools,
universities, NGOs, and health facilities throughout Armenia. During
the last fourteen years, 529 Peace Corps Volunteers have served
in Armenia.
The U S Peace Corps was founded in 1961 by United States President John
F. Kennedy and has three goals: to provide trained assistance to people
of other countries as requested, to promote a better understanding
of Americans by the people of the countries in which they serve,
and to promote a better understanding of other cultures by Americans.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RA DM CALMLY PERCEIVES CRITICS, PUBLISHED ABOUT HIM IN SOME HOME MEDIA
ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Nov 21 2006
The Secretary of the National Security Council under RA President,
RA DM, Serzh Sarkissyan, calmly perceives the critics, published
about him in some home Media.
In a interview to the Public Radio of Armenia he noted that there
are one or two newspapers in the country which consider it necessary
to excoriate him in each issue. “I have already said that I consider
them beggarly since they do it for different reasons, however, it is
striking where the order comes from”, the Minister said.
To note, the regular meeting of RA DM with the parents of soldiers,
who pass service for a fixed period, gave cause for the critics about
him. Some Mass Media have perceived this meeting as a beginning of the
Minister’s election campaign. “It is astonishing that these newspapers
publish an apparent lie, but look here, those who participated in
the meeting with me, also read them and they will notice at once that
the published is a nonsense”, S. Sarkissyan said.

SERZH SARKISSYAN: CONDITION OF ARMENIAN PEACEMAKER, WOUNDED IN IRAQ, IS SATISFACTORY
ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Nov 21 2006
The condition of the Armenian peacemaker, wounded in Iraq, is assessed
satisfactory, RA DM, Serzh Sarkissyan, said in an interview to the
Public Radio of Armenia.
To remind, a senior lieutenant, Georgy Nalbandyan, born in 1981, was
seriously wounded In Iraq, November 11, as a result of undermining
during execution of the regular task. His companions, peacemakers
from Poland and Slovakia, have died. The Armenian officer’s leg was
amputated and he will be further treated in Germany. This is the
first incident with participation of the Armenian servicemen within
the two years, during which the Armenian peacemakers carry out their
mission in Iraq. The Minister reminded that the wounded is in Germany
and undergoes rehabilitation after the leg amputation. After one or
two operations he will return to Armenia.

LECTURES, FILMS ON EARLY ARMENIAN HISTORY
Belmont Citizen-Herald, MA
Nov 22 2006
The Boston Chapter of the Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and
Cultural Society, the Armenian Library and Museum of America (ALMA),
the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)
and the Harvard Armenian Society will present a lecture and film
series on early Armenian history by Professor Artak Movsisyan.
Movsisyan is an associate professor of history at Yerevan State
University and a scholar at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the
National Academy of Sciences (Republic of Armenia). He has published
numerous monographs and articles on a wide range of topics in ancient
Armenian history, culture and spirituality.
The schedule of the lecture and film series is as follows:
Lecture: “The Pre-Christian Written Culture of Armenia,” Wednesday,
Nov. 29, 7:45 p.m. at Harvard University, Sever Hall, Room 113.
Lecture: “The Origins of the Armenian Nation: From Earliest References
to Now,” Thursday, Nov. 30, 7:30 p.m. at NAASR, 395 Concord Ave.,
Belmont.
Film Screening: “Tigran the Great – A Patriotic Sovereign,” Saturday,
Dec. 2, 1:30 p.m. at ACEC, 47 Nichols Ave., Watertown.
Lecture: “Pre-Christian Armenian Belief System and Transition
to Christianity,” Sunday, Dec. 3 at 3 p.m. at ALMA, 65 Main St.,
Watertown.
Admission to all events is free, and lectures will be delivered in
English. To find out more about the series please contact NAASR at
[email protected], or 617-489-1610.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BENNETT GIVES EYE CARE IN ARMENIA
Belmont Citizen-Herald, MA
Nov 22 2006
Thirteen years ago, Rev. Joanne Hartunian consulted with Dr. Linda
Bennett concerning a young girl in the Cambridge Yerevan Sister City
Association youth exchange program from Yerevan, Armenia who needed
eye glasses. Bennett said she’d do what she could.
Since then, she has examined exchange educators and students with
various stages of vision problems. As she treated the Belmont High
School exchange visitors in her Belmont office, Bennett would say,
“Don’t forget to get come and get your eyes checked again.” The
participants would try to explain that they were on a U.S. Department
of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs funded youth
exchange program and that it would be impossible to come to America
again. Bennett always told the students and teachers, “You never know
when I’ll see you again!”
Belmont High School is partnered with School 65 in the Shengavit
region of Yerevan. Year after year, as educators and students arrived
at Belmont High School, Bennett and her staff cleared their office to
accommodate the groups that Cambridge Yerevan Sister City brought to
the Boston area. Bennett’s office visit became a living legend where,
in addition to providing everyone with eye exams, and glasses or
surgery where necessary, she showed the students a children’s video,
treated them to lunch, and let them play games for an afternoon.
Year after year, Bennett would call Rev. Hartunian and inquire, “When
are the Armenian students and teachers coming to Belmont High School?”
Armenian students and educators are unable to come to the United
States with the Secondary School Partnership Program to Promote
Civil Society any longer, due to State Department budget cuts. So
she decided if the children couldn’t come to her, she would go to them.
In 2004, Bennett spoke at an annual Optometric Convention and told
them about the children in Armenia. Her efforts mobilized an 18-person
medical team with Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity, where
they conducted six all-day school clinics in Armenia.
Bennett is again organizing efforts to do another clinic in Armenia
in October 2007. Kimberly Balfour, nurse at Belmont Day School,
who was also on the 2004 team, has volunteered to again head the
blood pressure and diabetes screening clinic which will prioritize
patients according to need, as often these conditions are indicative
of eye care issues. Optometric student Rita Cherian, a Belmont High
School graduate, will do a clinic rotation and training in Armenia
under the supervision of Bennett. Dr. Leora Berns and Dr.
Viktoria Davis of Connecticut; and volunteers Elizabeth Gallaher of
Belmont and Roswita Fragomeni of New York have joined the team.
Rev. Hartunian is project manager for this vision clinic, assisted
by logistics coordinator Peggy Hovanessian of Lexington, and site
coordinator Anna Karakhanyan in Armenia. AMARAS Arts Alliance of
Watertown, and its President Arax Badalian, is the United States
sponsoring organization. On route to clinics and throughout their
visit in Armenia, the team will be shown historic and cultural sights
throughout the country. While in Armenia they will be hosted in a
government guest house and they will have dinner in the homes of the
many people Bennett has treated. Each optometrist or nurse will be
assisted by an American volunteer and a Yerevan translator.
In order to serve the greatest number of people, there are a limited
number of spaces available for additional ODs and volunteers on a
first inquiry basis.
For more information please contact Dr. Linda Bennett, 617-484-1414;
or Rev. Joanne Hartunian, [email protected].

PRIZEWINNER BRINGS JAZZ MOVES TO TRIBECA: TIGRAN HAMASYAN
New York Times, NY
Nov 22 2006
Two months ago, when Tigran Hamasyan won first place at the Thelonious
Monk International Jazz Piano Competition, he confirmed several things
about the current state of jazz. First off, it’s in great shape, in
terms of global influence and youthful vigor: Mr. Hamasyan, who is
not yet 20, enjoys a comfortably casual relationship with the folk
music of his native Armenia. Second, it’s in not-so-great shape, in
terms of infrastructure: there’s little chance that Mr. Hamasyan’s
distinction could lead to a major-label contract, as it has for
winners of the Monk competition in the (ever receding) past.
Finally and most important, the music itself maintains a healthy remove
from these and other speculative concerns. Mr. Hamasyan unfurls no
banners with his playing, though it can often convey the jubilant
power of an anthem. His main interests are exploratory, especially
when it comes to rhythm. He situates his piano not at the forefront
of an ensemble but deep within it, so that the momentum he generates
is centrifugal.
Mr. Hamasyan, a student at the University of Southern California,
applied his powers of concentration to two distinct settings on Monday
night. He began the evening as the featured artist at a concert
affiliated with the Monk Institute at the TriBeCa Performing Arts
Center, with Francois Moutin on bass and Ari Hoenig on drums. A few
hours later, he turned up at Smalls, as a sideman in a quintet led
by Mr. Hoenig.
Naturally the concert, with its mix of traditional and original
material, provided the broadest view of Mr. Hamasyan’s potential. He
approached nearly every tune as an arc, beginning in contemplation
and building to a crashing fury. This was an intuitive style for Mr.
Moutin and Mr. Hoenig, who dove headlong into action, responding
instantly to Mr. Hamasyan’s turns of phrase.
On “These Houses,” adapted from an Armenian folk song, and “World
Passion,” the title track of Mr. Hamasyan’s new debut album (issued
by Nocturne, a Paris-based label), the trio worked expressively with
fluttering polyrhythm. Their sound evoked the recent acoustic efforts
of Chick Corea, whose percussive pianism Mr. Hamasyan intermittently
deployed in his improvisations, along with emphatic chordal stabs
and two-handed octave filigree.
The concert was bookended by standards – “Just Friends” and “What
Is This Thing Called Love?” – that Mr. Hamasyan had revised with
shuddering syncopations. The arrangements were essentially cubist,
disconcertingly fragmentary but still representative of their
sources. Less clever but equally engaging was a version of Monk’s “In
Walked Bud,” set in a waltzlike 5/4 meter that elicited Mr. Hamasyan’s
most agile solo turn.
Perhaps by coincidence, Mr. Hoenig later applied the same floating
pulse to a ballad, “Tenderly,” during his first set at Smalls. There
too, Mr. Hamasyan was fluid and self- assured. He convincingly
sight-read a couple of Mr. Hoenig’s tunes and generally settled into
the pace of the ensemble, which was less insistent than his own.
Then Mr. Hoenig ended the set by calling up Mr. Moutin (to replace his
regular bassist, Matt Penman), and lending Mr. Hamasyan the reins. And
together they played “The Rain Is Coming,” another Armenian song,
with a bright and surging exuberance.
s/music/22tigr.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RELATIONS BETWEEN FRANCE AND ALGERIA REMAIN STRAINED DUE TO THE ALGERIAN GENOCIDE
Mukremin TASCI (JTW)
Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Nov 22 2006
Relations between France and Algeria remain strained due to the
Algerian Genocide committed by France during the colonial period.
French President Jacques Chirac has rebuffed Algerian President
Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s demand that France apologize for its “long,
brutal and genocidal” rule. Bouteflika officially named the French
period as “cultural and political genocide of the Algerian identity”.
During a visit to Algiers last week, French Interior Minister Nicolas
Sarkozy, the leading ruling party candidate in the 2007 presidential
vote, said he couldn’t “ask children to apologize for the faults
of their fathers.” Sarkozy and his party accuses Turkey for the
Ottoman past and Sarkozy strongly support a bill which makes crime
to reject the Armenian genocide crimes in Turkey. Algerians argue
that France should first face with its own crimes before judging the
other countries.
Algerian historians estimate that more than 1,5 million Algerians
were massacred by the French Army.
The Algerian war for independence began in 1954, and the French army
largely crushed the rebels by 1958. Civilian massacres and the use of
torture undercut support for the war in France, resulting in General
Charles de Gaulle’s decision to quit Algeria.

AIR ARABIA’S SERVICE TO ARMENIA IS FOURTH NEW ROUTE THIS MONTH
Gulf News, United Arab Emirates
Nov 22 2006
Dubai: Air Arabia, the first low-fare airline in the Middle East and
North Africa, launched its fourth new route this month to Armenia,
having made its inaugural flight to Yerevan last week.
Air Arabia’s chairman, Shaikh Abdullah bin Mohammad Al Thani, led a
delegation on the eve of the inaugural flight.
He said: “Air Arabia is delighted to fly to Yerevan. Known as the
pink city of Armenia, and being 2,788 years old it is recognised as
one of the most ancient eastern cities in the world.
“Our young airline has a history of creating new destinations and we
hope to do the same with our most recent destinations in India and
the GCC.
“We are committed to offering affordable travel to more people
across the region and are excited about extending our reach into this
extraordinary region.
“This is yet another budget-friendly destination that will appeal
to the many types of travellers with Air Arabia. Given the diversity
of activities the city has to offer, and convenient flight timings,
this destination is ideal for weekend breaks by giving our passengers
the opportunity to enjoy a taste of the Caucasus country just less
than three hours from the UAE,” said Shaikh Abdullah.
Air Arabia will fly two times a week to Yerevan, every Wednesday and
Saturday, departing from Sharjah at 9:15am, arriving in Yerevan at
12:20pm and departing Yerevan at 1:05pm to arrive back in Sharjah
at 3:55pm.
Starting with a single flight to Bahrain in October 2003, Air Arabia
today flies to over 30 destinations in 20 countries, including recent
additions like Chennai and Thiruvanthapuram in India, Latakia in
Syria and Kathmandu in Nepal, and now carries more than two million
passengers annually.

ARMENIAN DRAM TURNS 13
By Shake Avoyan
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Nov 22 2006
The 13th anniversary of the introduction of the Armenian national
currency will be marked in Armenia tomorrow, November 22.
The troika of specialists who led the process in 1993, including
current Central Bank Chairman Tigran Sarkisian, former Central Bank
chairman Isahak Isahakian and ex-finance minister Levon Barkhudarian,
gathered at the Friday club in Yerevan on Tuesday to congratulate
everyone on the anniversary and reflect on the history of the dram.
“The introduction of the Armenian dram 13 years ago was one of the most
important attributes of statehood after Armenia gained independence,”
Sarkisian said.
The speakers admitted that it was a difficult process, as Armenia was
totally unprepared to have its own currency at that stage. According
to Sarkisian, the introduction of the dram was a little belated,
which, according to him, resulted in hyperinflation.
Levon Barkhudarian shared this opinion and said: “I can say frankly
that it was not the best time for introducing national currency because
we had no currency reserves, there was no assistance from international
financial organizations, but as time showed that step was correct.”
Meanwhile, Hrant Bagratian, the prime minister back then, finds that
as long as there was hope to remain in the ruble zone, they should
have taken their time. He said that ‘we needed Russia at that time
more than we do now’.
“Of course, the troika committed essential errors,” Bagratian told
RFE/RL, adding that it was the wrong initial exchange rate of 14.5
drams per U.S. dollar that caused hyperinflation.
The dram introduction was entrusted to the parliament in 1993 and
the government at that time effectively did not participate in the
process, Bagratian added.
Within ten days after introduction the dram exchange rate was already
350 per dollar.
On the whole, Bagratian said that the troika did a good job in the end,
but said that the terrible inflation could be avoided.
He reminded that eventually the government stabilized the situation
taking over the powers from the troika.
Bagratian joined in the congratulations on the anniversary.
“I hope that the dram will not suffer the fate of large economic
complexes in Armenia and will remain governed by the state,” the
ex-premier concluded.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress