Armenian president to stand down in 2008, adviser says

AP Worldstream; May 20, 2006

Armenian President Robert Kocharian is to step down at the end of his
second term in 2008, a top adviser said Saturday.

Kocharian, who has ruled his impoverished, landlocked Caucasus
Mountain nation since 1998, could hand the reins over to his defense
minister, said the president’s national security adviser, Garnik
Isagulian.

“One of those who is most experienced and ready to be the next
president of Armenia is the defense minister Serzh Sarkisian,” he
said.

“In this case, Armenia’s current political course will be pursued,”
Isagulian added.

The opposition in Armenia claims that Kocharian is preparing to change
the Constitution to allow him to be re-elected for a third consecutive
term. But the presidential adviser said that Kocharian did not want to
harm the legitimacy of the presidency.

“A person who has given so many years of his life to important state
affairs would never take such a step,” he said.

However, Kocharian will retain major political influence in the
country even after he leaves office, said Isagulian.

“Kocharian after he finishes his second term will continue to wield
influence over the political life of the country, even greater than
that of the prime minister,” he said.

Azeri students urge Tehran to sever ties with Armenia

Azerbaijani news agency APA, Baku
20 May 06

Baku, 20 May: The students of Zanjan University who staged a protest against
the publication of a cartoon insulting Azeris in Iran newspaper today urged
Tehran to sever ties with Armenia, the Baku bureau of the National Revival
Movement of Southern Azerbaijan has told APA.
The protesters, who demanded the restoration of their national rights, said
they view the cartoon as Iran’s official position. They urged Azeri students
to stage protests in all of southern Azerbaijan [northern Iran].
Unidentified people attacked the editorial office of Iran newspaper and
tried to set it on fire yesterday evening.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ANOTHER IMMORAL VICTORY

Lragir.am
20 May 06

The recent `great migration’ in the political sphere of Armenia,
witnessed by the entire society, became, in fact, the threshold of a
new political event. At the moment it is difficult to predict who and
how will step pastthis threshold, and what awaits them after they take
this step. This is politics, and what happened is, though important,
but merely part of it. The disaffiliation of the businessmen from the
Orinats Yerkir Party, and generally, apart from all, the appearance
and disappearance of businessmen in any political party has an
economic importance. The environment that causes rats to abandon the
ship shatters politics the way it threatens the country’s
economicstate.

In economy there is a notion of business reputation, which is almost a
belief in business; at least this is so in developed and developing
countries.

Business reputation is earned through behavior, working style, dignity
of a businessman. How can a businessman have a reputation at all if he
is constantly sent from one party to another? How will his efforts to
involve foreign investors with huge financial capacities to expand,
develop his business, in other words, to prosper, be met? What serious
businessman will agree to cooperate with a businessman who appears
inside this or that political force on an instruction of the
leadership, ready to secede from it on a another instruction at a
necessary moment, serving the political aims of the government?
Whereas in civilized countries the political leadership normally
serves the interests of businesses. Usually, businessmen `hire’
politicians, whofollow the ideology that favors their interests, who
serve the interests of these businessmen in the political sphere. Even
the Armenian children age 1-7 have perceived this durable pattern
practiced in civilized countries with a successful political system,
whereas most businessmen in Armenia would not perceive it. At best
they would set up their own political party, but again following an
instruction from the government. And this does not differ essentially
fromthe phenomenon of creeping into party tickets. In this case,
however, they aregoing to dismantle their own party, not that of
others.

And if the one who has assumed to direct this business `migration’
thinks that the potential foreign partners of the businessmen of
Armenia overlook this phenomenon is bitterly mistaken. Perhaps this is
the reason why investments in Armenia are made by Russian businessmen,
involved in criminal stories in their countries, or companies with
anonymous owners in offshore. It does not make a difference to them
which businessman the government will attach to them, for they
directly deal with the leadership. Maybe this is the reasonwhy the
government deliberately discredits businessmen. For the foreign
investors to deal with the government rather than businessmen, knowing
that the government is the chief of the businessmen. At any rate, if
they do not get billions, they are sure to get millions.

What prospects can an economy have if its main players are discredited
on the will and knowledge of the political leadership of the country?
And also their own ignorance. At least, it is a chance if the
businessmen become engaged in this dangerous game without knowing,
without realizing the dangers of this situation for the country and
for themselves. Because getting used to entering and exiting they may
come into the habit of it. What is a businessman going to do if there
is nowhere else to enter or to exit, and if there is no instruction?
And generally what is a businessman supposed to do later if he is used
to work under someone else’s protection, receiving privilegesfor
service and obedience? What is a businessman going to do if one day
instead of a political party or another he is ordered to give up his
own company, house or country? Are the businessmen ready for this?
Whereas they should know better the `business rule’ of Armenia: one
day another person willshow up who will offer better service and they
may lose the competition.

HAKOB BADALYAN

AMERICAN SCHOOLCHILDREN PREFER KARABAKH, KARABAKHIS PREFER CYPRUS

Lragir.am
20 May 06

The graduating class of Ferrahian High School is in Karabakh. For
seven years now several Armenian schools of the United States travel
to Karabakh in May. Presently there are 40 children in Karabakh. In
three days another group will arrive in Karabakh, reported the Artsakh
Agency for Development of Tourism.

40 children from Karabakh left for Cyprus to spend their summer
vacations there. This is another tradition: for the third year now the
children of soldiers killed in the Karabakh war travel to Cyprus. On
May 27 another group will arrive in Cyprus. In September children from
Karabakh will spend a holiday in Greece.

NEW REFERENDUM SHOULD TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION NEW REALITIES

Lragir.am
20 May 06

This opinion was expressed by the representatives of two major
political parties in Karabakh, considering the idea of a new
referendum for KarabakhOpen.

The OSCE Secretary General had spoken about the opportunity of the
people of Karabakh to express their will during his visit to Yerevan.

Gagik Petrosyan, Azat Hayrenik Party, said a referendum was held in
the Autonomous Region of Nagorno Karabakh and the region of Shahumyan
on December 10, 1991. `If another referendum is held, taking into
consideration the new realities, and if the results of this referendum
is recognized by the international community and Azerbaijan, we think
it would be useful,=80=9D said Gagik Petrosyan.

Arthur Mosiyan, Armenian Revolutionary Federation, thinks that the
referendum would have sense if the liberated areas were also
involved. `Although the question of territories must not necessarily
be solved in a referendum. We have called the parliament for
recognizing the dominance of NKR over these areas. After 1991 and the
war imposed on us the realities changed, and every step that is taken
must take into consideration the new realities.’

FORUM OF INTELLIGENTSIA URGES DEBATES ON THE STATE OF ARMENIAN AVIATION

Lragir.am
20 May 06

On May 18 the Board of the Forum of Intelligentsia of Armenia issued a
news release, which runs: `The crash of A320 in Sochi on May 3 and the
loss of 113 passengers and the crew is not only great sorrow for the
Armenian people, but also a deep concern. So far the officials have
offered suggestions, which contradict to one another, as well as the
well-known facts and professional opinions. The impression is that
this is intended to create an atmosphere of despair and, why not,
indifference.

The society is still hopeful that the discovery of the black boxes
will bring a number of obscure questions to light. However,
independent from all, one can discern the ailing home political
environment between the causes of the crash, which has emerged from
the corrupt system established by the government of Armenia. This
atmosphere has had its negative impact on the system of air
communication in Armenia.

Considering the demand of the society, the board of the Forum of
Intelligentsia of Armenia proposes holding professional debates on the
state of the Armenian aviation and the crash. These activities are
necessary to avoid other crashes.’

Board of the Forum of Intelligentsia of Armenia

OF `ROUTINE’ OF ARMENIAN BUSINESSMEN
X-Sender: Asbed Bedrossian <[email protected]>
X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 — ListProcessor(tm) by CREN

Lragir.am
20 May 06

`It should be noted that businessmen normally stand beside the
government and the state. Take any historical period, any
country. This is a regular thing, and maybe they had an inner feeling
how things would develop, and made a decision relying on talks between
them,’ stated Garnik Isagulyan, adviser to president, May 20,
commenting on the step of the businessmen who quit the Orinats Yerkir
Party. He says there was no pressure on these businessmen, and there
is no evidence to it either. `If there were pressure, there would be a
leak to the press. There is no such thing,’ says Garnik Isagulyan,
adding that he meets with everyone, and would know if there was
pressure. Garnik Isagulyan says if someone who remain in Orinats
Yerkir asserts the opposite, he is ready to apologize in the presence
of reporters. This is to confer.

WITNESSES OF THE QUEST

Garnik Isagulyan, adviser to president, said he can see no danger of
having a parliament of oligarchs. The parliamentary election in 2007
is concerned, and the entire company of oligarchs is preparing for it
at full, at full and with all its political parties. Garnik Isagulyan
considers the establishment of political parties by oligarchs because
we do not have an established sphere of political parties. `A quest is
underway in Armenia, and I thinkthis phenomenon is normal in the
context of this quest,’ says the adviser to the president. He says
Armenia is a small country, and even a man with a small property is
referred to as an oligarch. Garnik Isagulyan says oligarchs enter
parliaments in different countries, and this should be accepted
normally.

Azad-Hye, Dubai, 20 May 2006

We received the following press release from Qatari Armenian community,
issued on 1st May 2006

On 27th April 2006 for the first time in State of Qatar the Armenian
community commemorated the Genocide and paid its respect to the 1.5 millions
martyrs.

The event was organized by the Armenian National Council in Qatar. The
orator of the day was Archbishop Sebouh Sarkissian, Prelate of the Dioceses
of Tehran, who was present in Doha to take part of the “4th Doha Conference
on Religions Dialogue”.

At the beginning of the event the community members lit 91 candles in
remembrance to the souls of the forgotten in order to show their solidarity
for the 91 years of fight against injustice. After inviting the audience to
one minute silence in respect to the souls of the 1.5 millon of martyrs, the
master of ceremony Sarkis Kerkezian made the opening speech on behalf of the
Armenian Council.

In his speech, Kerkezian mentioned that the blood that our martyrs shed in
the deserts of Der Zor is sacred and it is from that same blood that a group
of second generation surviving Armenians put the seeds of a new community in
another Arabian desert of Qatar. As William Saroyan Says’ when two Armenians
meet they form a new Armenia’. He gave a quick view about the current
international status of the genocide and the effort of recognition that are
getting carried on around the globe. He added, `This event is the first in
its nature and a stepping stone to the direction that hopefully one day, in
the upcoming future, our friendly Arabian Gulf countries will take the
necessary steps of recognizing the Armenian Genocide’.

It was decided to show the `Genocide Denied’ documentary which due to some
technicalities it was cancelled. Hence the Keynote speaker of the day Sebouh
Serpazan Sarkissian was invited to deliver the message for the occasion.

Serpazan Hayr gave a comprehensive historical background about the reasons
why the Genocide had been planned and occurred. He expressed his gratitude
that such small Armenian communities that exit around the globe create such
occasions to get together to support and encourage each other to live as
Armenians and carry on the April 24 oath by commemorating and paying homage
to our martyrs. `Nobody can destroy a nation unless a nation destroys
itself’ he said.

He added `the genocide was planned way ahead and it was not derived by
religious motives but through the pan-touranic dream plan of turkey which
failed. The second cultural genocide is still continuing by destroying the
historical Armenian monuments. The third genocide is the fight against the
Armenian memory and remembrance by faking the historical facts which is
impossible to do so due to the existing evidence.’

`We have to continue our struggle of existence’ Serpazan hayr said,
“Genocide is a crime and sin against the God and the laws that He has given
to us that we abide’

Serpazan hayr finished his speech by telling about his experience in the
conference and the commemoration of the Genocide in Tehran. He said `Our
expectation is that in the Arabian Gulf countries in our day to day life we
have to keep our Armenian and Christian Spirit and should commemorate the
genocide which is part of our heritage and permanence.’

At the end of his speech the floor was open to the compatriot Armenians to
address their questions to the Serpazan Hayr.

Subsequently, the Armenian Genocide comprehensive CD, which was prepared by
the Haigazian University Heritage Club, was demonstrated and explained to
the fellow Armenians and a copy of the CD was distributed to all.

 
Afterwards, a collection of Armenian Genocide posters, in a movie format,
was demonstrated to the audience which included the poster prepared for the
event by the young promising designer Kayane Kouzoujian. The poster will be
submitted to the website as an expression of
solidarity by the Armenian community of Qatar to our collective pan-Armenian
fight against injustice.

The event adjourned with a collective singing of the `Der Voghormya’
followed by a prayer to the souls of the martyrs `Hokehankisd’ and
`Bahbanich’ Blessings of Serpazan Hayr. A group of spirited Armenians ended
the event with the `Sartarabad’ anthem.

=621ahl41

Critics’ Forum
Visual Arts
Joanne Julian: Concerning the Spiritual in Art
By Adriana Tchalian

The title of my article, Concerning the Spiritual in Art, comes from
a book written by twentieth-century Modernist Wassily Kandinsky on
the subject of art and spirituality (1910). He, along with others
such as Piet Mondrian, was strongly influenced by religious and
spiritual subjects of his times, and as a result created art that
reflected this awareness. Compared to the charismatic, angst-ridden
artists of today, these early twentieth-century Modernists were sage
and poet in one, creating works that reflected their inner life
rather than generating “art for art’s sake” or imbuing their work
with social or political purpose.

In fact, ever since Paleolithic man began sketching crude renderings
of animals on the ceilings of the Lascaux caves (France, 13,000 BC),
art has become an expression or a reflection of one’s creed – for
these renderings were not meant for decorative or social purposes
but rather as some type of ritualistic magic. Assuming that one
agrees that art has a purpose – whether cultural, political, or
otherwise – and is not merely “art for art’s sake,” empty of meaning
or purpose, it is clear that the most significant role of art has
been the expression of one’s religious or spiritual creed. The
centrality of the spiritual in art is undeniable, be it in the art
of India or the art of the Italian Renaissance, the interior of an
ancient cave or the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, or to offer a
more contemporary example, the open-air ceiling of James Turrell’s
Roden Crater, an extinct crater that has been excavated to function
as an open-air observatory just outside of Flagstaff, Arizona.

And although some contemporary western artists do not offer much by
way of the spiritual in art, even they are keenly aware of its
absence. As art critic and historian Suzi Gablik writes, “the real
crisis of Modernism, as many people have claimed, is the pervasive
spiritual crisis of Western civilization: the absence of a system of
beliefs that justifies allegiance to any entity beyond the self.”
Galib goes on to say that even twentieth-century Abstract
Expressionists were closet spiritualists, quietly revering the early
Modernists’ efforts to distill their spiritual explorations into
fine art.

Having made this argument about art and spirituality, then, how do
we apply it to contemporary Armenian art? Enter the likes of Joanne
Julian, a Los Angeles-based Armenian artist who is a virtual unknown
in the Armenian diasporan community, yet one whose work is well-
recognized amongst mainstream art circles.

There is nothing intrinsically Armenian about Julian’s graphite and
ink drawings. The critic Robert McDonald describes her work as
possessing “the discipline and spirit of Taoist painting.” It is
this proclivity towards things spiritual that is the driving essence
behind her work. Having traveled throughout Asia, Julian has
cultivated an extensive Asian visual vocabulary, which is reflected
in the simplicity and beauty of her drawings – immense brushstrokes,
reminiscent of Asian calligraphy, are set against the glistening
sheen of the graphite, forming an exquisite contrast of color,
texture and shape.

In February of this year, Julian, along with William Amundson and
Robin Dare, participated in an exhibition – Drawn to Scale – at the
Spokane Falls Community College Art Gallery in Washington. The
exhibit was co-curated by Louise Lewis, gallery director and
professor of art history at California State University, Northridge.

According to Lewis, “The juxtaposition of a delicately drawn silver
braid entwined within a vibrant circle of crimson or gold suggests
an unusually exuberant Zen exercise, ironically made more intimate
by the all-enveloping scale. In Horizontal Braid, the intricately
drawn tress stretches within the bottom portion of nearly 3′ high
gold and circle, provocatively inviting the viewer to contemplate
the secrets within the circle.”

The presence of someone of Julian’s talent in both the Armenian
diasporan and American contexts suggests that the yearning for the
spiritual is alive and well, even among the most avant-garde artists
in our communities. In an earlier article, I had posed the question
of whether or not there was an Asian aesthetic in Armenian visual
art. It appears as if Joanne Julian’s work more than answers that
call, while transcending the limits of even that description in the
process.

All Rights Reserved: Critics Forum, 2006

Adriana Tchalian holds a Masters degree in Art History and has
managed several art galleries in Los Angeles.

You can reach her or any of the other contributors to Critics’ Forum
at [email protected]. This and all other articles published
in this series are available online at To
sign up for a weekly electronic version of new articles, go to
Critics’ Forum is a group created to
discuss issues relating to Armenian art and culture in the Diaspora.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The New Anatolian, Turkey
May 20 2006

French Parliament speaker: Laws can’t make history

Urging parliaments not to interfere with the job of historians,
French Parliament Speaker Jean-Louis Debre said on Friday that laws
can’t make history.

Debre made the remark while speaking to France Inter Radio amidst
continued Socialist anger over Thursday’s decision to postpone the
debate of a bill proposing prison terms and fines for people who
question the Armenian genocide claims.

Debre said that the vote didn’t take place because the Parliament ran
out of time. He added that it will be up to the Socialist Party to
submit another Armenian bill to Parliament.

The French Parliament speaker, whose opposition to the bill is
well-known, also expressed his support for the Turkish suggestion to
establish a commission composed of Turkish and Armenian historians to
jointly study archives related to the Armenian genocide claims.

Meanwhile, French sources told the Anatolia news agency that
Thursday’s move did not aim to shelve the debate on the Armenian bill
but rather to drop it from the Parliament’s agenda.