BOOKS: CAIRO PLAYS HOST TO SCHEMES AND SECRETS
By John Freeman For The Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
August 13, 2006 Sunday
Main Edition
FICTION
The Yacoubian Building. By Alaa Al Aswany, translated by Humphrey
Davies. HarperPerennial. $13.95 paperback. 253 pages.
Verdict: An Egyptian Dickens.
All novels contain imaginary places, even those set in actual cities.
“Ulysses” does not unfold in the Republic of Ireland but in James
Joyce’s mind. The same goes for the sprawling, heaving Cairo depicted
in Egyptian author Alaa Al Aswany’s tremendously likable new novel,
“The Yacoubian Building.”
At the heart of the novel is a once-glamorous apartment complex built
by an Armenian millionaire. Unlike most American cities, where higher
floors come at a premium, the opposite is true in this building. The
Yacoubian rooftop bows under the weight of makeshift shanties that
house the poor.
“The children run around all over the roof barefoot and half naked,”
Al Aswany writes, “and the women spend the day cooking, holding gossip
sessions in the sun, and, frequently, quarreling.”
The men return home from work “exhausted and in a hurry to partake of
their small pleasures — tasty hot food and a few pipes of tobacco
(or hashish if they have the money).”
The third pleasure, of course, is sex, and the vibrations from it
rattle through the rafters to the floorboards, from the poor down
to the rich. There is Zaki Bey, a 65-year-old cosmopolitan playboy,
and Taha el Shazli, an ambitious businessman who takes on a second
wife to slake his lust. The women get by, too, if only by using men’s
weakness for sex against them.
Everyone is scheming in “The Yacoubian Building,” giving this novel
the shape and feel of a soap opera set to an Arabic beat. Zaki’s
sister tries to get him declared incompetent so that she will have
their large apartment all to herself. Malak, a partially crippled
shirt tailor, uses his customers’ pity against them. Hatim Rasheed,
the desiccated aristocrat editor of a French Cairo weekly, goes to
the gay bar downstairs and lures men to his room with promises of
riches. When one of his lovers leaves him, he shouts: “You’re just a
barefoot, ignorant Sa’idi. I picked you up from the street, cleaned
you up, and I made you a human being.”
This struggle to be human is constant in “The Yacoubian Building.”
Ranging widely around his Cairo, Al Aswany describes the many ways
that his characters scrabble against one another in this fight. Some
renounce the living world, like a young man who is tortured for
participating in a political protest. The experience drives him into
the hands of radical Islamic sheiks, whose Wahhabi interpretation of
Islam is especially unkind to urges of the flesh.
If the book makes any political point, it is that the restrictions
such religious and cultural police put on residents are just one
more slight against their humanity. For all the compromises some of
them make, Al Aswany argues that — for poor women, especially —
sex gives them a chance to be alive.
“They do not love it simply as a way of quenching lust,” Al Aswany
writes, “but because sex, and their husbands’ greed for it, makes them
feel that despite all the misery they suffer they are still women,
beautiful and desired by their menfolk.”
Occasionally it feels like a very indiscreet superintendent, jangling
keys and all, is taking us around the Yacoubian Building, whispering
about secrets long hushed over. This vision of life connects high and
low, rich with poor, through shared vices and needs. The clandestine
bars of Cairo attract the powerful and the downtrodden alike, for
both desire the available women who serve the drinks.
Cairo — at least the one imagined by Al Aswany — has a choice:
to pay homage to its cosmopolitan roots and respect its diversity,
or close down, and become restrictive of its already suffering
populations.
Happily, this book does not attempt to fix these odds by closing
neatly. Some plotlines end abruptly, in tragedy, while others simply
vanish into the noise of the street. As in so many Jane Austen novels,
there is a wedding and a funeral, which bring with them an appropriate
mix of hope and despair. The difference here is, this book has shown
us everything that has led up to the wedding night.
John Freeman is president of the National Book Critics Circle.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

COMMENTARY: WE SHOULD CELEBRATE THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
by Judge Kaye Tertzag
St. Louis Daily Record/St. Louis Countian (St. Louis, MO)
August 12, 2006 Saturday
When doctors talk to patients, we should be able to understand them.
When college instructors give lectures to students, we should be able
to understand them.
When computer support-staff speak to computer-users, we should be
able to understand them.
Unfortunately, that is not always the case.
I have heard about far too many instances where patients, students and
computer-users cannot understand the very people who are attempting
to service them. More importantly, resentment is developing in our
country because more and more doctors, college instructors and computer
support-staff are unable to be understood when they talk.
If this was an isolated matter, I probably would not be alarmed.
However, I have heard the same complaint from all sorts of people
from every part of the country. I assure you, this is not an isolated
matter!
People are becoming frustrated, even angry, about the condition in
which they find themselves – where doctors, college instructors and
computer support-staff are unable to speak English sufficiently well
to be understood.
This is not good for our country.
Competency is not the issue. Being understood is. The doctor may very
well be an excellent physician or surgeon. The college instructor
may very well be highly knowledgeable with outstanding academic
credentials. The computer support-staff may very well be highly
trained with outstanding skills. But, if they have trouble speaking
English clearly and coherently, and we have trouble understanding them,
we have a problem.
Medical care is dangerously compromised because of a lack of
communication between patient and the doctor. Students are academically
shortchanged when they do not understand what their teacher is saying.
Computer support service becomes highly inefficient if we have
to keep asking the staff to repeat themselves because we do not
understand them.
I am satisfied that my observations and conclusions are accurate.
Check it out for yourself if you are doubtful. Ask your family members,
friends or neighbors whether they have had similar experiences. I am
confident you will hear the same thing from them.
We cannot afford to hold our heads in the sand and pretend that we
do not have a problem. A problem definitely exists. Not addressing
the problem will lead to the festering of an unhealthy, anti-foreign
attitude in our country – something we neither need nor want.
I write this because I want us to come together … as a people …
as a country.
My parents were immigrants to our country from Armenia. As a child,
I spoke Armenian at home even before learning English. People who
speak multiple languages should be proud of that fact. I certainly
am. It is wonderful that we have a diversity of backgrounds in the
United States. We can and should be proud of our respective heritages,
languages and cultures.
After all, people having foreign roots helped make America the great
country that it is today.
Much more, however, is at stake here.
We have so much pulling us apart in our country. We have different
religions. We have different races. We have different ethnic
backgrounds. We have different second-languages. We have different
political viewpoints. One of the few things – maybe the only thing –
we have in common in the United States is our language.
English is the single, common denominator in America. We should
not be apologetic about it. We should not be wary of it. Rather,
we should celebrate it. We should emphasize it. Above all else, we
should recognize that our common language should be a major unifying
force around which all Americans, including newcomers, can coalesce.
Unless we emphasize the importance of the English language as a
unifying force, I fear that we will drift further and further apart
as a society – where emphasis is placed on our differences rather
than on our similarities. As I indicated, we already have enough in
society which pulls us apart as a people. We should not add “language”
to the list. Look at our neighbors in Canada as an example of how
language can become a polarizing force in society.
I am able to raise this matter of the English language without any
concern about being politically correct. My background as a political
liberal has been long established. My years as a political activist
has been long recognized. My commitment to justice in the court system
has long been documented. Hence, I am not as interested in being
“politically correct” as I am in being “correct. ”
If progressive individuals do not voice these concerns about the
English language, a vacuum most assuredly will be created to be
filled by others who will want to demagogue the issue. That is why
it is important for liberals and progressives to take the lead in
doing something constructive about this subject. Better we do it.
Otherwise, the malcontent leeches who want to divide Americans along
ethnic, racial or religious lines will do it for their own negative
political motives.
This is an honest effort to have us start working together to deal
forthrightly with a problem that bothers most people. Recognizing
that a problem exists is the first step towards its solution.
We can and must improve.
Servicing the public is vital, meritorious work. So, we should laud
those who want to help their fellow human beings by becoming doctors,
teachers or computer technicians. Having said this, though, we should
also expect that they are able to speak English in a clear, coherent
manner so to be understood by the rest of us.
This may mean those individuals would have to take and pass some kind
of English proficiency course as part of their credentialing process.
Also, the Human Resources Departments of the hospitals, colleges and
computer companies would be well served if they would require speaking
English clearly and coherently as a prerequisite for those employees
who deal with the public on a daily basis.
This would certainly help patients. It would surely assist students.
And, it would definitely benefit computer users. As important, though,
it would help alleviate the antagonism which has been slowly developing
in our country towards immigrants. Hopefully, it will become a small
step towards making ours a better society.
Kaye Tertzag is a retired Wayne County Circuit Court judge from
Brownstown, Mich. Tertzag said these views “were formed, in part,
by my experience with jurors who had difficulty understanding certain
expert witnesses. ”
This article was originally published in Michigan Lawyers Weekly,
a sister publication.

A THIRD OF AZERIS SMOKE, WHO SAYS
AssA-Irada, Azerbaijan
August 7, 2006 Monday
Azerbaijan was rated 85th among world countries for the number
of smokers, with 32% of adults using tobacco, the World Health
Organization (WHO) said. Mongolia topped the list, with 67.8% of the
population, followed by China (66.9%), Kenya (66.8%), Cambodia (66%),
and Namibia (65%), according to the WHO report based on statistical
data for 2002-2003. Among former Soviet republics, Armenia ranked
sixth, followed by Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, with 60% of smokers,
while Belarus was rated 23rd, with 54.9%. The indicator was 51.1%
in Ukraine and Lithuania, while 49% in Latvia and Uzbekistan. Estonia
and Turkmenistan ranked 47th and 95th, with 44% and 27% respectively.
WHO said citizens of Greece smoke the most cigarettes a day – 8.6 on
average. Bulgaria, Japan, Bosnia and Slovenia were also in the list
of top five countries. Tobacco is the second major cause of death
in the world. It is currently responsible for the death of one in
ten adults worldwide (about 5 million deaths each year). If current
smoking patterns continue, it will cause some 10 million deaths each
year by 2020. Half the people that smoke today -that is about 650
million people- will eventually be killed by tobacco, according to WHO.

THE JOURNEY TO ARMENIA
by Lisa Nesselson
Variety
August 7, 2006 – August 13, 2006
(FRANCE)
A Diaphana release of an Agat Films & Cie. presentation of an Agat
Films & Cie., France 3 Cinema production with participation of
Paradise, Canal Plus, CineCinema, CNC. (International sales: Films
Distribution, Paris.) Produced by Robert Guediguian, Agat Films &
Cie. Co-producers, Martin Adoyan, Taguhi Karapetyan.
Directed by Robert Guediguian. Screenplay, Ariane Ascaride, Marie
Desplechin, Guediguian. Camera (color), Pierre Milon; editor,
Bernard Sasia; music, Arto Tuncboyacyyan; production designer, Karim
Hamzaoui; art director, Karim Hamzaoui; costume designer, Anne-Marie
Giacalone. Reviewed at MK2 Odeon, Paris, July 13, 2006. Original title:
Le Voyage en Armeinie. Running time: 117 MIN.
With: Ariane Ascaride, Gerard Meylan, Simon Abkarian, Serge Avedikian,
Chorik Grigorian, Roman Avinian, Kristina Hovakimian, Madeleine
Guediguian, Marcel Bluwal, Jalil Lespert, Jean-Pierre Darroussin.
Title expedition in “The Journey to Armenia” is a long haul, as a
no-nonsense French cardiologist from Marseilles searches for her
abruptly AWOL father in the shadow of his native Mount Ararat.
Watchable odyssey follows the familiar template of a successful,
secular urbanite reluctantly discovering her ethnic roots, with social
and historical relevance injected along the way. Guediguian completists
— a commodity in which Gaul abounds — and the Armenian diaspora
will bite, but leisurely venture has as many endings as the third
installment of “The Lord of the Rings.”
Ariane Ascaride originated the story, assigning herself the relatively
unsympathetic role of Anna, the only daughter of a deceased Italian
mother and an Armenian father, Barsam (Marcel Bluwal). When Barsam,
who needs heart surgery, hightails it to his homeland without warning,
peeved Anna leaves hubby and daughter for a week to track him down,
finding (surprise!) herself along the way.
Matters perk up when it turns out Anna knows how to wield a gun as
well as a stethoscope. Pleasing score and scenery help pass the time,
but result remains conventional and just a sliver short of contrived.

A TRIP TO KHARABAKH (GASEIRNEBA KHARABAKHSHI)
By Ken Eisner
Variety
July 17, 2006 – July 23, 2006
(GEORGIA)
A Studio Remka production. (International sales: Studio Remka, Tbilisi,
Georgia.) Produced by Levan Korinteli, Giorgy Kharabadze.
Directed by Levan Tutberidze. Screenplay, Aka Morchiladze, Irakli
Solomonashvili, based on a novel by Morchiladze. Camera (color),
Goran Pavicevic; editor, Niko Tarielashvili, Boris Machytka; music,
Nukri Abashidze; production designers, Gogi Tatishvili, Kote Japaridze;
sound (Dolby SRD), Michael Houdek. Reviewed at Seattle Film Festival
(Contemporary Cinema), June 18, 2006. Running time: 107 MIN.
With: Levan Doborjnidze, Misha Meskhi, Nutsa Kichianidze, Nino
Kasradze, Gogi Kharabdze, Dato Iashvili, Daria Drozdovskaya, Avetik
Sanosian, Gagik Melkumov, Artavazd Paloian, Levon Chidilian.
(Georgian, Russian, Armenian dialogue.)
“A Trip to Kharabakh” gets off to a fascinating start, commenting wryly
on the tumultuous state of affairs in Georgia and its strife-wracked
neighbors. But a shift toward mock heroics and an increasingly vague
p.o.v. cause a terminal fuel shortage as it approaches the finish
line. This “Trip” requires a good grasp of regional politics to sort
out the players and find the humor.
However, even those in the know will find the story gets unnecessarily
muddled, which will limit the journey to specialized fests and limited
DVD play.
Veteran helmer Levan Tutberidze sets his initially “Mean Streets”-like
tale during overlapping civil wars of the early 1990s, but there’s
little to distinguish what’s happening then with what’s happening
today.
Gio (Levan Doborjnidze) is a handsome, notably unmotivated lynchpin
among restless young men in their early 20s. When a relative asks him
to travel to a peasant region disputed by Azerbaijan and Armenia,
to complete a seemingly simple drug deal, he and goofy pal Gogliko
(Misha Meskhi, playing Richard Edson to the protag’s Heath Ledger)
agree to go.
They take a wrong turn, however, and end up behind Azeri lines.
Eventually Gio busts loose and ends up with friendlier Armenians.
(Both sides say how much they like Georgians — it’s just the other
group that’s no good.) Gio can’t tell if he’s a guest or prisoner, but
— as we learn in challengingly structured flashbacks — it actually
makes for a handy break from pressures at home, where his big-enchilada
dad (Gogi Kharabdze) has come down hard on him for hooking up with
a sad-eyed hooker (“The Good Thief’s” Nutsa Kichianidze).
And the old man doesn’t realize yet that Gio is also having it off
with dad’s pretty, if cynical, young wife (Nino Kasradze).
Once ensconced with the Armenians, Gio is offered yet another love
interest, a Russian photojournalist (Daria Drozdovskaya) who denies
being part of her country’s imperialist past since she’s Jewish.
Script and Doborjnidze’s opaque perf make it hard to grasp why he’s
so diffident toward the woman, or anyone else, and helmer moves into
macho posturing as grittily shot tale goes on, with Rambo-like antics
— albeit possibly satirical — obscuring the character development
and the subtext about relationships between various ethnic groups.
Electro jazzy score helps lift the mood and fits loosely with Gogliko’s
funny Miles Davis fixation, but it also adds extra cheese factor to
“Trip” that already smells a bit overripe toward the end.

ROCKIN’ THE UAE
by Aryeman Raj, Staff Writer
Gulf News, nited Arab Emirates
July 13, 2006 Thursday
Sisters Jackie Wartanian and Lara Teperdjian are the people who brought
Sting, Shaggy, Tom Jones and Whitney Houston to Dubai. The organisers
of the Desert Rock festival tell Aryeman Raj why their job rocks.
These two sisters certainly are “doing it for themselves” – as Annie
Lennox would have it.
Armenians Jackie Wartanian and Lara Teperdjian of Center Stage
Management have brought many big-name performers to Dubai, including
Shaggy, Tom Jones, Sting, Whitney Houston and Enrique Iglesias. Yet
they’ve made their mark as the organisers of the Desert Rock festival,
which – in its third year – attracted an audience of 8,000 in March.
“Having a rock festival in Dubai was a dream for me,” says
Teperdjian. “Years ago ? I told Jackie that I would love to produce
a rock festival in Dubai like Rock in Rio or Rock am Ring (in Germany).
I wanted to have the same energy that other festivals got from their
audiences, which you don’t get from a one-off show.”
Convincing her older sister was a difficult task. Wartanian was
content organising other shows that were safer bets. Yet Teperdjian
persevered and gradually won her over to the idea.
“I would have never thought of the rock festival, but she got me
thinking,” says Wartanian. “Her strong conviction and innate confidence
of ‘Let’s do what nobody else has done’ amazed me. I realised that
this magic would work.”
The sisters, who have lived in the UAE for 30 years, have music in
their blood. Their recently deceased father, who also worked in the
music business, tried to dissuade them from entering the field.
Yet the pair – who’ve organised concerts in Dubai since 1999 – have
since learnt that he was proud of their work. They share their vision
for the Dubai rock industry with Friday.
How did you conceptualise the Desert Rock festival?
Lara Teperdjian: We wanted to create an oasis of rock, fun and
togetherness for a day or two in the desert. I wanted to do something
drastically different; something that could mean pure enjoyment for
the entire family.
What makes rock festivals so special?
Jackie Wartanian: It is a new concept that we brought to the UAE, even
though there have been many around the world, such as Rock in Rio,
the Glastonbury Festival in the UK, Ozzfest and others.
A rock festival isn’t just about the bands or who are performing
or appearing, it is about spending a whole day out with friends and
family. You get more than just a performance – there are activities,
extreme sports, merchandise being sold, food and drinks.
It also caters for different types of people with different types of
music genres – from mainstream bands to British rock, classic rock
and alternative rock or heavy metal. It satisfies a huge range of
people who love music in general.
How did you get involved in the music business?
LT: While growing up, we were always surrounded by music. Jackie
always listened to the classics like Journey, Eagles, Reo Speedwagon
and Queen. I started getting into the harder rock in my college days.
I listened to Disturbed and techno rock like The Prodigy.
Our father was involved in the entertainment industry a long time
ago, but he was against us joining it. But somehow, music had already
infiltrated our bloodstream.
JW: Organising festivals – from the planning stage to the time when
the lights go on – is pure excitement. Our adrenalin keeps pumping
as it gets closer to the day. When we see people smiling, jumping,
releasing their stress and enjoying the moment, the experience they
will take with them is the ultimate thrill. Music is our passion and
we are lucky to make it our business.
Having been part of the entertainment industry himself, why didn’t
your father encourage you to venture into the same field?
JW: Dad (John Teperdjian) was a financier and was involved with a
studio organising shows like the Grammy Awards. (Prior to coming
to the UAE, we lived in the US.) He (felt) the entertainment arena
wasn’t a good place for a lady to be in.
LT: Dad passed away in August, 2005. Although he had never been to any
of the shows we organised, we learnt from (others) that he praised
the job we were doing to promote rock music in the UAE. Our mother
(Angel) is on tenterhooks whenever she sees me struggling to meet the
deadlines for a show. But once she sees the exuberant reactions from
the audiences, a smile lights up her face.
You’ve been through some hardship. Is it true Jackie was hospitalised
when one of the lead performers backed out of one of your shows?
JW: Well, the only shocker we have ever experienced would be Limpbizkit
backing out within 48 hours before the show (in 2004).
They decided to fly to the US directly (rather than stop over) and
gave no excuse for their fans here in Dubai. We were at the airport
waiting to receive them and I got a call that they weren’t arriving.
Yes, I was hospitalised, it was a stressful moment and a learning
experience. We had sold 8,000 tickets and were expecting to sell more
on the same day. After (they) backed out, we had to refund most of
it and also take the blame for it.
We ended up having 3,000 people to see the other bands. Besides this,
local band Juliana Down also didn’t perform. I would not wish this
to happen to any promoter, especially in your inaugural festival.
Because of this situation, sponsors pulled out and some asked (for)
half (their money) back and so on. We had to rebuild our relationship
with the media, audiences and companies ? and prove to them that
it was not our fault. I was almost going to call it quits, but with
encouragement from Lara and my staff we are in our third year now.
Lara, you seem to have been the pillar of strength when things went
wrong. Otherwise, it might have been the end of the festival.
LT: I told her (Jackie) I didn’t want our dream of promoting rock
music to end like this. This was just one bump on the road. As sisters,
we have a strong tendency to never give up.
We knew we could make rock festivals happen here. We made a mistake
by choosing the wrong artist, but you learn from mistakes. We were
charged up to make it even better the following year.
What are the UAE audiences like?
LT: The crowd out here realises that rock music gives you power and
relief. It de-stresses you when you are screaming, jumping up and down.
This year, we sold the tickets without announcing which bands would
be performing. We want people to understand the music, we want to
educate them – through radio and other media – that this is a great
day of having fun with music. We revamped the festival concept to be
an all-day outing with food and fireworks.
What does the public want out of a rock festival?
JW: All (people want) is to have a good time and see their favourite
artists perform. Unless you are in the industry, you will not know
or care how a festival is put together. We are still educating the
people in the UAE about what a festival is all about and about the
different types of music that are out there.
How innovative and creative are you in your approach to rock festivals?
JW: We love to be as creative as possible. We like to come up with new,
interesting ideas to keep audiences entertained or shocked. When they
leave the festival we want them to have the ‘wow’ factor. We always
seek to push the envelope, trying to be different.
What obstacles do you face when approaching performers?
JW: Most of the bands love playing in places they have never been to.
It is also interesting for them to see they have fans in the Middle
East that they didn’t know about. But first trying to go through
their agents is the hardest part in getting the bands to come.
Why are rock musicians put on a pedestal?
JW: Rock stars have a connection with their fans, not only through
their lyrics but also through the charity work and concerns they put
forward to help the community. Rock never dies.
The UAE fans are very similar to those in Europe and the US. They
are many and they are underground, waiting to come out.
We get e-mails every day begging us to have (various) metal bands
perform at the festivals. There are many metal fans out there – not
just in the UAE, but also in Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Egypt –
and they are die-hard fans.
Tell us about the most outrageous incident you’ve experienced
involving fans.
LT: There was this young kid who tried to get past the green room
security guard. He claimed that he was the long-lost brother of the
artist and needed to re-unite with him. Seriously, loads of fans want
to meet the band or lead singers whom they adore.
Different genres of rock music appeal to different people. Have times
changed with the rock scene? Who sells now?
LT: Rock is not just for the youth. Our audiences range from 13 to
50. Classic rock bands always top the list in (terms of) selling out
(tickets). For the British rock groups, (the most popular bands)
would have to be the Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, Stereophonics,
U2 and Coldplay.
For hard rock, it is Disturbed while for alternative rock, it
would have to be Nickelback. Also, you will always have the hard
metal/thrash scene.
Do you get a lot of people returning each year? Is the festival
attracting attention overseas?
JW: When people come to Desert Rock, they leave wanting to know what
is going to happen next or who is coming next year.
Once we announce the next date, we get calls asking if it is true that
this or that band is coming. The tickets are being sold outside the
country faster than locally. This year, we had people coming from the
US, UK, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia – even Russia and Iran.
LT: We have changed and improved our media coverage and have (gained
more) international coverage. We have managed to put the UAE rock
scene on the international music circuit.
What are your upcoming events?
JW: Coming up is the Desert Rhythm Festival on October 26, a world
music festival. We’re also organising Shamal 2006: The Battle 4 Dubai
Desert Rock Festival in December, which will help search for the most
talented unsigned rock band in and around the Middle East.
For more information about CSM, go to

HAIGAZIAN STUDENTS HELP REFUGEES
Haigazian University, Lebanon
Aug. 5, 2006
>From the very first day of the July 2006 war, Student Life officers
started contemplating ways to have their share in ameliorating the
hardships the country faced.
Obviously student brotherly help could not proceed unless the security
situation allowed. Plans were put down, several brainstorming sessions
were held, all concluded with the determination of extending a
helping hand.
Preliminary work began; students were contacted to check about the
whereabouts and conditions of HU students of the bombed areas. Others
were asked about their availability for the university-sponsored
philanthropic work. A long list of volunteer students was prepared.
HU students from the university neighborhood checked in and offered
their assistance and help too.
Soon refugees started to pour into the Armenian Evangelical School,
next to the university. Student volunteers were called to an emergency
meeting. Plans were drawn, and social outreach assistance was put into
action in the form of entertaining the forty refugee kids of those 30
families who had taken refuge in the neighboring school, and extend
help to their parents and elderly in trying to relieve their hardship
and establish a minimum living conditions in collaboration with the
Armenian Evangelical Outreach Project coordinator, Maria Bakalian.
Now one can come across the students playing football or basketball
or table tennis with the kids. Others are coloring figures or drawing
pictures with watercolor paint.
By the end of the day the students gather at the Student Lounge,
brief on their daily activity, assess it and plan for the next day.
Apart from this university-sponsored project, large numbers of
Haigazian University students have volunteered in social outreach
centers at their residential areas.

L’ARMENIE DEPEND TOUJOURS PLUS DE L’ARGENT DE SA DIASPORA
Schweizerische Depeschenagentur AG (SDA)
SDA – Service de base francais
13 août 2006
Erevan (ats/afp) L’Armenie est toujours plus dependante de l’aide
financière de sa diaspora. Selon des donnees presentees jeudi par
la Banque centrale armenienne, ces fonds representent plus de 15 %
du produit interieur brut (PIB) du pays du Sud du Caucase.
“Ces dernières annees, le volume des transferts financiers en Armenie
a augmente de facon significative”, a declare une experte de la Banque
centrale, Karine Karapetian. Entre 2003 et 2005 cet indicateur a en
moyenne bondi de 37 %, jusqu’a representer 15 % du PIB.
De janvier a juin 2006, le volume des transferts financiers en Armenie
a encore augmente de 34 % par rapport a la meme periode de l’annee
precedente”, a-t-elle ajoute. L’an passe, ces transferts de fonds
prives ont atteint 940 millions de dollars (1,13 milliard de francs).
La majorite (72 %) etait expediee par des proches vivant en Russie,
14 % des Etats-Unis, devant l’Allemagne, la Grèce et l’Ukraine (5 %
pour chacun de ces trois pays). Les habitants d’Armenie, ex-republique
sovietique du Caucase du Sud, sont nombreux a vivre grâce a ces
transferts d’argent de leurs proches.
–Boundary_(ID_33RpsAPoX9aNIOkTcLF5xg)–

DIPLOMATIC POST TANGLED IN HISTORY
by Michael Doyle
Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
August 6, 2006 Sunday
Sunday First City Edition
The U.S. ambassadorship to Armenia is snagged on the nominee’s refusal
to call the slaughter of Armenians genocide.
Washington, D.C.
Armenian American activists are flexing their muscles to block approval
of a new U.S. ambassador to Armenia.
The delay is temporary, and career diplomat Richard Hoagland is
probably still a good bet to win the Yerevan posting. He must wait,
though, in a vivid illustration of how ethnic constituencies exert
political clout.
“We’re pretty fortunate to have leaders who do listen to what we have
to say,” said Hygo Ohannessian, chairwoman of the Armenian National
Committee’s Central California chapter. “They know how the community
feels.”
Instead of routinely confirming President Bush’s nominee as scheduled
last week , the GOP-controlled Senate Foreign Relations Committee
pushed Hoagland’s fate over into September.
Instigated by Democratic Sens. Joseph Biden of Delaware and John Kerry
of Massachusetts, the confirmation delay is a symbolic gesture, a
ratcheting up of pressure and a reflection of what Armenian National
Congress spokeswoman Elizabeth Chouldjian termed a “full-bore,
nationwide grassroots campaign.”
Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota last week became the first Republican
to announce his opposition. Coleman, who is Jewish, told the Associated
Press that he feels “heightened sensitivity to the reality of genocide
and mass murder, and the importance of recognizing it for what it is.”
Chouldjian said she has sent out e-mail advisories to about 50,000
activists nationwide and a postal mailing to an additional 15,000.
“It’s like anything; not everyone is involved,” Ohannessian said,
“but those that are interested in this, are quite interested.”
The activists and the senators dispute the Bush administration’s
refusal to acknowledge an Armenian genocide.
Hoagland, a 21-year State Department veteran and one-time ambassador
to Tajikistan, likewise sidestepped the word “genocide” at his June
28 confirmation hearing. Instead, he used words like “horrific” and
“tragedy” to describe the slaughter and deprivations in the Ottoman
Empire between 1918 and 1923.
Hoagland’s own ambassadorial qualifications have not been questioned.
Rather, he is more of a political hostage. The ambassador he seeks
to replace, John Evans, is a diplomatic lame duck after apparently
angering State Department officials with his public references to an
Armenian genocide.
“Mr. Hoagland is caught in the middle of the situation,” said Natalie
Ravitz, spokeswoman for Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.
Boxer is one of nine Senate Foreign Relations Committee members to
press Hoagland on the Armenian genocide issue in follow-up written
questions. The questions from Armenia’s supporters are blunt; the
answers are unfailingly discreet.
“Please provide the State Department’s definition of the term
`genocide’ and an explanation of how the killing and forced exile of
1.5 million Armenians between 1915-1923 fails to meet that definition,”
Boxer urged.
Hoagland replied that “this tragedy is of such enormous human
significance that its historical assessment should be based not on
politics, but through heartfelt introspection among civic leaders,
scholars and the societies at large.”
Although they don’t vote on nominations, House members have likewise
been weighing in. With 159 members, the Congressional Caucus on
Armenian Issues has rallied. Sixty-one House members wrote the State
Department protesting Evans’ removal, including Minnesota Democrats
Collin Peterson and Betty McCollum.
Still, when the dust settles, most nominated ambassadors win
confirmation. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has held hearings
on 476 nominations since President Bush took office in January 2001,
committee records show. Only a handful of would-be ambassadors have
had their nominations thrown back to the White House.
“Defining `winning’ is always a challenge,” said Bryan Ardouny,
executive director of the Armenian Assembly of America, “but this has
been a very good opportunity to have U.S. senators look at history
and understand the past.”

Armenians carrying out archaeological excavations on the territory of
Nagornyy Karabakh

Arminfo
11 Aug 06

Yerevan, 11 August: Armenian archaeologists have launched large-scale
excavations in one of the biggest and well-known settlements of the
pre-Christian period on the territory of Nagornyy Karabakh founded by
Armenian King Tigran II (the Great), Gamlet Petrosyan, head of the
expedition and doctor of history, has told an Arminfo correspondent.
He said the excavations prove that Armenians lived in the valley of
the Khachenaget River in Agdam District in the first century BC. He
said that during the first days of the excavations, the archaeologists
found remains of a citadel wall that belongs to one of the four cities
built by Tigran II – Artsakh’s Tigranakert.
It is notable that the stone blocks discovered there are joined
together with the help of the then Hellenic technology or so-called
knots in the form of a martin’s tail. The archaeologists are also
excavating barrows and quarters of the city.
[Passage omitted: Armenians archaeologists have been searching for
historic monuments in Nagornyy Karabakh for three years]