Karabakh Conflict Still Too Far from Solution
PanARMENIAN.Net
24.06.2006 15:53 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Nagorno Karabakh conflict is sill too far from
its solution and those, who say it can be solved in 2-3 years make
too optimistic statements, Senior Research Fellow of the Institute
of World Economy and International Relations Victor Nadein-Rayevsky
stated in an interview with a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter in Yerevan. In
his words, the desire to solve the conflict depends on all parties,
however Azerbaijan is not yet able to provide security guarantees to
the NKR people.
“Lately Azeri position changes and that is good, Baku adds some
realism. However, it should not be forgotten that the years of NKR
independence had their role. The people are not only a subject,
but also an object of the international law and they should decide
their future themselves. There is no difference whether a state is
recognized by the international community or not. The NKR is a party to
the conflict and its presence at the talks is compulsory. They speak
of some autonomy models, but they do not ask the NKR population. I
am sure this is not correct,” Victor Nadein-Rayevsky underscored.

PEACE AGREEMENT WOULD ELIMINATE MONOPOLY
Lragir.am
24 June 06
Ararat Zurabyan, the leader of the All-Armenian Movement Party, thinks
that the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan are not different. Both
are illegitimate and both cause trouble to their societies. Therefore
the resolution of the Karabakh conflict is delayed, said the leader
of AAM June 24 at the Azdak Club. According to him, there is not a
family in Armenia that would like the war to begin. “We are not going
to take Baku. If we had had the opportunity, we would have captured
it, and winners are not tried.
Unfortunately, we did not have the opportunity and we could not have
had,” says Ararat Zurabyan.
Unlike the ARF principle of genetic incompatibility, the AAM believes
that both peoples will remain neighbors forever and are doomed to
signing a peace. Especially that there is a precedent. “Germany and
France, which had serious disputes, are partners, and it was positive
for their societies,” says Ararat Zurabyan.
With regard to the former and present approaches towards the conflict
over Karabakh, Ararat Zurabyan said the best way of evaluating a
person is comparison of his former and present words. “People who
alleged a 8000 km Karabakh, have nothing to yield, not a strip of land,
became very tolerant at once. Whereas the AAM always said that Lachin
and Kelbajar are a security area and cannot be considered. The other
regions will be returned,” says Ararat Zurabyan. According to him, the
settlement should be acceptable for Armenia, Karabakh and Azerbaijan.
“The right for conciliation should be passed over to the generations,
not the threat of war,” says the leader of the AAM, and adds that
it would not be bad to delay the question of the status of Nagorno
Karabakh. “Delaying the question of the status for some 30 years
might be positive, and there might be no borders in 30 years. Who
would think in post-war Europe that borders would become conventional?”
Opening the border would be double benefit for Armenia, believes
Ararat Zurabyan. “After signing a peace these oligarchic, monopolistic
relations will vanish. Because it is impossible to open borders and
wait for somebody to get the protection of the government to import
sugar or fuel,” says the leader of the AAM.

Shifting Moods Mark “Time”
By Aram Kouyoumdjian
Critics’ Forum
Theater
6.24.06
A harsh reality of theater is that monumental works of drama-say, those
with epic-sized casts or taxing technical demands-are rarely produced.
The limiting factor is economic: theaters either lack the resources
to undertake such productions or simply cannot afford them.
Few plays illustrate this harsh reality as well as William Saroyan’s
“The Time of Your Life.” The foremost Armenian-American playwright’s
Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork boasts a script rich with lyricism.
But it requires nearly two dozen actors, which renders it practically
untouchable.
To my knowledge, the play has not been professionally staged since
an exquisite 2002 production by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company
in Chicago. (Rather than mounting its own production, the Seattle
Repertory Company simply imported the Steppenwolf show in 2004,
as did the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco).
So the mere fact that the Open Fist Theatre Company is presenting
“The Time of Your Life” in Hollywood (through July 1) is welcome news.
That this esteemed troupe acquits itself with an impressive production
doubles the delight.
Set in San Francisco at the outset of World War II, “The Time of Your
Life” traces the bustle at Nick’s Pacific Street Saloon. It revolves,
in part, around Joe, a wealthy dreamer and a regular at the bar,
where he endlessly sips champagne and soaks up the atmosphere of the
diverse characters who drift in and out of the joint. Saroyan crafts
a gorgeous mosaic of humanity flowing through the saloon, which
makes “The Time of Your Life” more of a lovely mood piece-funny,
heartbreaking, and redemptive-rather than a strictly plot-driven
narrative.
The denizens of Nick’s watering hole include longshoremen,
prostitutes, corrupt cops, a starving piano player, a pinball addict,
a philosophizing immigrant, and that indelible teller of tall tales,
Kit Carson. Even as these eccentrics struggle with life’s hardships,
they cling, in true Saroyan style, to innocence and hope in their
search for a better, decent life; for work; or for someone to love.
The play’s nominal love story involves Joe’s underling, Tom, and Kitty
Duvall, the prostitute he seeks to save from the streets. Its best
love scene, however, comes as a brief, poetic, altogether surreal
encounter between Joe and Mary, a married woman who strolls into
the bar. In their few minutes together (we never see Mary again),
Joe declares his love for her. Although unable to welcome his love,
Mary admits to being happy with the thought that Joe will pine for
her after she’s gone from his life. The scene’s simple beauty lies
in its depiction of a world where people cross paths as in a dream,
where love is instantly felt and confessed, where longings forever
linger in memory.
For the Steppenwolf production in Chicago, director Tina Landau had
heightened the dream-like quality of Saroyan’s play through a fluid,
stylized manner of movement, at times in rhythm with impeccable
musical choices that punctuated the production and underscored its
transcendent closing tableau.
The Open Fist production-probably funded with only a fraction of
the Steppenwolf budget-cannot match the visual flair of Landau’s
panoramic staging, which had elevated background action to high art.
Nevertheless, as directed by Stefan Novinski, the production is
an accomplished one, sensitive to the shifting moods of Saroyan’s
script. Although he allows the pace to slacken at times, Novinski
deftly handles the challenges of the play’s sprawling storylines.
He elicits fine performances from a talented cast, including Michael
Franco, who ably captures the duality of Joe’s buoyancy and bitterness,
and Bruce A. Dickinson, who nails the deadpan hilarity of Kit Carson.
The period set designed by Donna Marquet creates an authentic milieu
for the action.
While the opportunity to experience an infrequently revived Saroyan
play may be reason enough to see “The Time of Your Life,” it’s the
charmed combination of strong acting and intelligent direction that
makes this Open Fist production a rare treat indeed.
All Rights Reserved: Critics’ Forum, 2006
Aram Kouyoumdjian is the winner of Elly Awards for both playwriting
(“The Farewells”) and directing (“Three Hotels”). His performance
piece, “Protest,” was recently staged at the Finborough Theatre
in London.
You can reach him 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.

Russia-Turkey Relations Became Normal and Friendly
PanARMENIAN.Net
24.06.2006 15:50 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russia-Turkey relations have become normal and
friendly, Senior Research Fellow of the Institute of World Economy and
International Relations Victor Nadein-Rayevsky stated in an interview
with a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, when answering a question on coming
visit of Turkish President Ahmet Sezer to Moscow. He reminded that 90%
of Turkish export goes to Russia. “Turkish economy has strengthened a
bit during past 2-3 years. As of discussion of international problems,
these are discussed at any meeting of that level. Russia cannot play
any role in EU-Turkey relations, as the issue of Russia’s accession
to the EU is not on the agenda. As of regional conflicts, of course
these will be subject to discussion between Putin and Sezer,” the
Russian scholar believes.

AZG Armenian Daily #117, 24/06/2006
Karabakh issue
VARTAN OSKANIAN: TO SUGGEST AUTONOMY TO NAGORNO
KARABAKH IS SELF-DECEPTION
Armenia has supported and still supports all the international measures
directed to aversion and condemnation of genocides, ethnic purges
of people in their historical lands and the attempts to deny these
events. Vartan Oskanian, RA Foreign Minister, said this in the course
of the sitting of the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva, on June 21.
In his speech, Oskanian touched upon the destruction of 2000 Middle
Aged Armenian cross stones in Nor Jugha, Nakhijevan, when the Armenians
had nothing to do but to watch how the Azeris were destroying their
cultural and spiritual heritage. Oskanian stated that this brutal
attitude to the Armenian spirit and culture lasts for already centuries
and is very cynical and dangerous. “2000 marvelous medieval cross
stones were totally destroyed few months ago,” he said. Mr. Oskanian
stated that the Armenians and the international community are quite
concerned that the intentions of the Azeri authorities to settle
the peace are not serious. He emphasized that the cross stones
were destroyed in a place where not a single Armenian lives at
present. Mr. Oskanian said that this factor testifies to the real
intentions and methods of Azerbaijan. He stated that such a brutal
annihilation of a nation’s culture and history leads to mistrust and
loss of peace.
As for the current stage of Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement
process, he said that Azerbaijan’s approach “one step forward, one step
back” applied in the negotiations was concerning, while the suggestion
of autonomy to NKR testify to Azerbaijan’s retreat and decline from the
essence of the negotiations and from the international trends. “It’s
a mere self-deception to suggest autonomy to people who manage their
life in their own historical land for about two decades already,”
Mr. Oskanian said.
Anyway, Mr. Oskanian expressed hope that the negotiations will be
held in the direction that will lead to long lasting peace for all
sides in conflict.
By Aghavni Harutyunian

AZG Armenian Daily #117, 24/06/2006
Home
‘WE DO NOT WANT YOU TO SAY IN USA THE THINGS THAT YOU SAY HERE’
With these words the US Embassy to Armenia rejected Armen Avetisian,
head of the Aryan Union of Armenia, entry to the USA on June 20. On
this occasion the Union disseminated a press release expressing its
indignation over this fact, labeling the Embassy’s rejection of a
political character adding that such an approach is not do credit to
the authorities of a country that views itself as a world power.
According to the release, Armen Avetisian and a member of the Union’s
student and youth wing were to leave for the USA at the invitation of
the Armenian Genealogy Association to meet the Armenian community and
lecture on national ideology and history. Avetisian who was permitted
to visit United States last year, was told: “We do not want you to say
in USA the things that you say here.” To his retort that the US State
Department viewed his arrest as suppression of freedom of speech,
Avetisian got: “Not everything said in the State Department report
was in your favor.”

AZG Armenian Daily #117, 24/06/2006
Culture
FESTIVAL OF YOUTH THEATRE TO LAUNCH IN YEREVAN
Yesterday, the festival of Young Theatre Workers
launched in Yerevan. The festival will last till July
1. David Harutyunian, young director, opened the
festival. He represented a performance staged on “The
Feast of Beasts” by Vahe Kacha.
It is envisaged that 22 performances will be held in
Yerevan theatres and in the theatres in the regions of
Armenia, including the Artsakh based V. Papazian
Theatre and the Tbilisi based Petros Adamian Theatre.
Within the framework of the festival, discussions and
round tables will be held. The organizers of the
festival assure that this arrangement will help the
young generation of theatre workers to get
familiarized and cooperate with the theatre leaders
and participants of international festivals.
The organizers of the festival also represented
“Theatre” periodical issued by the young theatre
workers of Armenia.
By Tamar Minasian

ARMENIAN SAILORS SCORE IN ANOTHER VICTORY
By Tamar Minasian
AZG Armenian Daily #117, 24/06/2006
Moushegh Barseghian and Vahagn Matevosian, sailors of “Cilicia” sailing
vessel, were awarded with “steersman of long lasting expedition”
title. Zori Balayan, writer and member of the crew, informed that
the young sailors passed quite a difficult exam at one of the German
ports and received the abovementioned certificate. The sailors of
“Cilicia” celebrated the victory by drinking toast of Artsakh vodka.

A1+
ONLY NKR HAS THE RIGHT TO SPEAK ABOUT COMPROMISE
[04:54 pm] 23 June, 2006
The coming elections will be another opportunity for the politicians
to make use of the Karabakh conflict for their interests, announced
Shavarsh Kocharyan, the head of the National Democratic Party
administration.
According to him, despite anything the Karabakh conflict must not be
treated that primitively.
Considering the change of the foreign policy of the country in
connection with the Karabakh conflict urgent, Kocharyan said,
«Azerbaijan is trying to prove to the world that Armenia is an
aggressor and the RA authorities cannot introduce changes to their
foreign policy». In this respect Shavarsh Kocharyan considers
the organization of the coming elections in compliance with the
international standards extremely important.
As for the RA authorities speaking about giving territories, Shavarsh
Kocharyan considers it ridiculous. «Only NKR has the right to speak
about compromise».
–Boundary_(ID_F85SBA+Ps8Cq9pzx dcLpjw)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NDP REPRESENTS AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE AMENDMENTS OF THE ELECTORAL CODE
A1+
[04:05 pm] 23 June, 2006
“The amendments to the Electoral Code are meant to contribute to the
reduction of the number of electoral fabrications”, announced Shavarsh
Kocharyan, the head of the National Democratic Party administration
in club “Pastark”.
Before referring to the conclusion of the Venice Commission about the
EC amendments, Mr. Kocharyan reminded that the electoral process in
conditioned not only by the Electoral Code by also by the will of the
authorities as well as of the opposition. According to Kocharyan, the
draft that the NDP represented to the Venice Commission was something
exclusive as both the RA authorities and the opposition signed under
it. Besides, “It also showed the absence of will of the authorities
and the opposition in the electoral process”.
According to Shavarsh Kocharyan, one of the most importance omissions
of the draft Electoral Code is the correlation of the proportional and
majority electoral systems. “If we want to have stable executive branch
of power the Parliament must be more politicized. Those individuals
who are elected by the majority system are the floating votes which
tend from here to there and do not contribute to stability. We must
have a 100% proportional system”.
Mr. Kocharyan is also worried about the way of forming the electoral
committees. He thinks that the authorities and the opposition must have
equal quantity of members in the committees, the members must not be
appointed by the President of the country and they must not be judges.
Mr. Kocharyan also said that the NDP does not have ambitions and
their version is open for broad discussions.