COLEMAN OPPOSED TO NOMINEE FOR ARMENIA AMBASSADORSHIP
The Frontrunner
August 3, 2006 Thursday
The AP (8/3, Frommer) reports, “A Republican senator is planning
to vote against President Bush’s nominee for ambassador to Armenia
because the nominee has refused to refer to the deaths of 1.5 million
Armenians as genocide. ‘I continue to be troubled by our policy that
refuses to recognize what was a historical reality,’ Minnesota Sen.
Norm Coleman said in a telephone interview Wednesday.” Turkey
“strongly objects to the use of the term, and U.S. policymakers are
wary of antagonizing an important strategic NATO ally.” On Tuesday,
“the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on which Coleman serves,
postponed a vote on Richard E. Hoagland’s nomination until next month.”

THE LOVES OF LEBANON: COUPLE BUILDS NEW LIFE, CUISINE BUSINESS HERE
Pittsburgh Post Gazette, PA
Aug 3, 2006
By Virginia Phillips
For Henry and Najat Nazarian, who run a Lebanese food business here,
the recent air strikes that have erupted in the past three weeks in
their home country have brought back harsh memories. The Mt. Lebanon
couple immigrated to the United States during the 1975-1991 civil
war that laid their country in ruins.
“This war is worse,” Henry says. “That was civil war. You could get
in touch with the other side. No one can do that now.
“We hear there have been almost no air strikes north of Beirut. But
there is no safe place south of Beirut. Our cousins have gone at
least for a couple of months to Egypt and to Armenia. They left
businesses behind. For two weeks we haven’t been able to reach an
aunt and uncle in Bint Jbeil, the place talked about so much on CNN,
close to the border with Israel. They are 80 and 87. They have no
car. We just hope someone gave them a ride out. Everyone is calling
the Red Cross and the Red Crescent to find out.
“Najat’s sister says in a 25-mile swath north of the border people
have lost homes and are living in the schools.
“Frankly, Najat and I have been avoiding the whole subject. Maybe
talking about it this way will make it easier for us to face the
realities.”
Meantime, there is the discipline of cooking every day.
“It tastes like they made it half an hour ago.”
Amy Rosenfield, proprietor of Mon Aimee Chocolat in the Strip, has
slipped away from her shop this Saturday morning and down the street
to the Farmers@TheFirehouse farm market to the Najat’s Cuisine stand.
She is scoping out Lebanese food for a party.
“It’s lighter.”
Lebanese-born Henry Nazarian, 48, and his wife Najat, 42, affirm that
their country’s approach is lighter. For one thing, Lebanese tradition
calls for less olive oil than in neighboring nations’ food ways. This
restraint is reflected in the recipes that Henry and Najat have
translated — literally — from their own mothers and grandmothers.
Not that the oil itself is lightweight.
“Would you like to taste this olive oil?” Henry hails the Mediterra
Bread table next door for a baguette to dip. “Be careful,” he says,
pointing to his gullet. This organic Lebanese olive oil, green-gold
in color, has a tiny peppery catch in the throat.
Full-flavored Lebanese oil figures across the board in the Najat’s
Cuisine repertoire. It is a qualifying element in Najat’s strictly
traditional hummus, made with long-simmered dried chickpeas and
Lebanese tahini. Henry unscrews a jar of the sesame nut paste and
offers a sniff. The flavor and fragrance are startlingly fresh and
powerful — another reason the hummus you make at home may not be as
distinctive. But both the tahini and oil are for sale (see “Where to
find Najat’s Cuisine” above).
Hummus is the top seller, followed by baba ghannouj, a roasted eggplant
dip. Third is plaki, a spicy white-bean spread, flavored with tomato
and onions. Gathering fans is muhammara, a peppy spread of sweet
and hot red peppers, walnuts and pomegranate syrup. Other staples
are spinach pies (three versions), sleek (an earthy dish of bulgur,
black-eyed peas and browned onions), tabbouleh (a lemony parsley salad
with bulgur) and grape leaves (you may be surprised that the only
‘meat’ in the filling, Henry’s mother’s recipe, is roasted hazelnuts).
Henry touts a bracing citrus cilantro/mint pesto for roast or grilled
chicken. The green sauce does double duty as a dip for pita chips
and carrots.
Jewels to cuisine
An ad in the national edition of The New York Times read: “Pittsburgh
jewelry designer wants platinum smith with extreme knowledge of all
specialized facets of traditional/contemporary platinum work, must
pass test.”
The jeweler reading the ad in New Jersey three years ago — who then
picked up the phone and said, “We should talk” — was Henry Nazarian.
He and Najat had wearied of East Coast commutes; Najat longed for the
fresh air she’d known growing up in a little mountain town outside
Beirut. When Henry successfully completed the “test,” a set of diamond
and pearl earrings, the couple drove to Pittsburgh.
They did a whirlwind tour of the city, found an apartment in Mt.
Lebanon in an hour on a Sunday (“God’s will”) and left a rental
deposit with Henry’s new employer, Bob Levine of Mt. Lebanon, the
owner of Robert T. Levine and Co., Downtown.
“Henry was trained by masters in Paris and New York,” Mr. Levine
says. “He was adept at so many aspects of jewelry making. He could
fabricate from scratch and could set pave, tiny close-set diamonds,
better than anyone — skills unusual in Pittsburgh. He also had such
refinement of language and disposition.”
Like most Lebanese, Henry and Najat speak flawless French.
Henry and Mr. Levine did eventually agree to disagree — “on
respectful, affectionate terms” — over the fact that the design work
had to be done to punctilious specs and Henry preferred a “Tell me
where we are going, not how to get there” approach.
So the Nazarians launched Najat’s Cuisine two years ago — an idea they
had been incubating for years. Mr. Levine believes he “was probably
fed better by Henry and Najat than by his own mother.” The Levines
received the couple’s first sample food basket.
Mr. Levine takes pleasure in being the force that brought Henry,
“who has an extremely worldly palate and the most determined,
perfectionist ways, and Najat, an unbelievably capable and organized
chef,” to Pittsburgh.
Business ties, marriage
A Eurasian goldfinch, weighing 20 grams, the equivalent of five
teaspoons of sugar, sings and bounces around a cage near the windows
of Najat’s Cuisine’s bright storefront kitchen in North Braddock. An
employee patiently trims a case of parsley that will be hand-chopped
for tabbouleh.
Lebanese hospitality demands a tiny cup of cardamom-scented Lebanese
coffee, which Najat prepares, and serves with her feathery baklava.
There is much to taste, and the backward progression from pastry to
appetizers works fine.
A map of Lebanon spread out on the table shows Najat’s hometown,
Bhrsaf, half an hour from the northern Christian suburb of Beirut where
Henry’s family lived. Business brought the two families together when
Najat was a toddler. Warm ties evolved that weathered Lebanon’s years
of civil war. Henry, 15, and his sister were sent to Paris in 1975,
months after the war began. The Nazarian parents followed.
“Citizen ID cards indicated your religion,” Henry says. “It had become
too risky to show them. Thousands of people were disappearing.” Najat’s
family managed to visit Paris twice.
Henry immigrated to New Jersey in 1981 and sent for his parents. He
went back to Lebanon as a U.S. citizen, and asked Najat’s father
“if she had anybody.” They were married with the parents’ blessing
in 1992 in Najat’s Maronite church, a sixth-century branch of
Christianity. Henry is Armenian Orthodox.
At the time, the United States had no embassy in Lebanon, so Najat’s
visa required arduous overnight trips to the American embassy in
Damascus, Syria, waiting in long outdoor lines that formed at 2 a.m.
Henry refolds the map to make room for a demo of Najat’s father’s
favorite summer refresher. In Lebanon it would be made with a
high-shouldered tomato with a concave top that we don’t have here.
Najat is using a supermarket tomato, just to show how it works. She
scoops out the stem, makes slashes all around the interior, drizzles
in a mix of salt, allspice and olive oil, and replaces the top. After
a while she cuts the tomato into wedges. We sprinkle on more salt
and lime juice. Henry’s habit of spritzing lime on everything is
contagious. This treatment makes something edible of a denatured
winter tomato. Henry anticipates using his own Cherokee tomatoes,
warm from his Pinewood Drive garden. If Henry’s mother can take
credit for most of Najat’s Cuisine’s savory recipes, Najat’s mom is
the guiding spirit for a line of sweets that only begins with baklava.
New to Pittsburgh are mamool, pale semolina dough cookies, formed
in hand-carved wooden molds. “I learned from my mother,” says Najat,
the oldest of four siblings who started helping at age 8.
In fact, the rosewater-scented, nut-filled confections, as
labor-intensive as Christmas cookies, are a high point of Easter.
They are served and given as hostess gifts in Middle Eastern countries,
where each family takes pride in its own refinements to the recipe. The
wooden molds are handed down for generations. Najat’s hand-me-downs,
placed next to her new molds, are visibly darkened by years of
buttery hands.
“The deep, round mold is walnut. The shallow round one is for dates.
The oval is pistachio — always. But for kids, my mom would make the
big round ones with no dates.”
How has Pittsburgh taken to the rosewater?
Najat: “One man was excited, ‘These are cookies with rosewater? I
want them, I want them!'”
Henry: “But we find people don’t like too much of it!”
Word of mouth
One artisan knows another in Pittsburgh. The Nazarians wanted to take
a trunkful of Mediterra’s five-pound loaves of Mt. Athos bread to
New Jersey. They went to the bakery, taking along samples from their
newly launched Najat’s Cuisine. Baker Nick Ambeliotis liked the food
and invited them to do a tasting for a cafe he was planning.
The Nazarians’ next sales call happened to be to the East End Food
Co-op. The Co-op’s prepared foods buyer Fran Bertonaschi said, “I
know you, and I know your food. I tasted it last week at Mediterra.”
He signed them on and recommended them to Today’s Market, a health
food store in Verona.
Another vote of confidence came at the Forest Hills farm market when
they arrived in a downpour for opening day of their second season
there. “People were waiting under umbrellas,” Najat says. They said,
“We are glad to see you.'”
Frozen entrees in the Najat’s Cuisine line do not go to market. Items
including baked kibbeh, several versions using chicken or beef, and
Henry’s mother’s sublimely simple pasta and cheese — egg noodles,
mozzarella and milk, topped with an unusual flat pastry crust —
are available frozen at the store and for catered events.
Three pots of grapevines tagged Cabernet Sauvignon have pride of place
on the file cabinet. They are not for sale. They are for Henry’s mom
in New Jersey. He has already planted his own and built an arbor for
them at home. The couple will soon have fresh grape leaves to stuff
and shade to eat them under.
NAJAT’S TRADITIONAL HUMMUS
PG TESTED
If you use dried chickpeas, Lebanese olive oil and particularly the
Lebanese tahini, your hummus will taste like Najat’s. “You must taste,”
she cautions. “It comes out differently each time.”
1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight (in a pinch, use one 15-ounce
can chickpeas)
Lebanese olive oil
2 tablespoons Lebanese tahini
Salt
Juice of one lemon
2 small cloves of garlic, crushed To soak, put 1 cup chickpeas in
a bowl, cover generously with cold water and soak overnight. Drain
before cooking. Put beans with pinch of salt in a heavy saucepan,
and add 2 cups water, or enough to generously cover.
Bring to a boil and add salt.
Cover and simmer over low heat until tender, about 2 hours, adding
hot water as needed to keep them covered. If cooking chickpeas ahead,
refrigerate them in their cooking liquid. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking
liquid. Makes about 2 cups cooked chickpeas.
Place cooked chickpeas and 2 or 3 tablespoons of the cooking liquid
into food processor. Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil, the tahini, 1/2
teaspoon salt, lemon juice and garlic. Process for 2 minutes, taste.
Correct for salt, lemon juice and tahini. You may prefer a bit more
of any of these. Drizzle more oil on top and serve with pita chips.
CILANTRO/MINT PESTO
PG TESTED
This lively green pesto is recommended for roast chicken. It may also
be used as a dip with raw vegetables and will brighten a vinaigrette
salad dressing or a white bean chili.
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1 cup olive oil, divided
1 large bunch cilantro, rinsed and trimmed; discard roots
1 sprig parsley
1 sprig fresh mint
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 teaspoon salt In heavy saucepan, saute garlic in 1/4 cup olive oil
until light golden. Add 3/4 cup olive oil, cilantro, sprig of parsley,
two or three leaves of mint and lime juice. Cook at low heat a few
minutes until cilantro begins to turn a grayish color. Remove from
heat and allow to cool. Add salt.
Place in processor and whirl until smooth. Keeps two weeks
refrigerated.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RETAIL TURNOVER IN CIS POSTED
RosBusinessConsulting Database
August 3, 2006 Thursday 11:08 AM EST
The retail turnover of the CIS members according to constant prices
rose by an average of 13 percent in January-June 2006 compared to
the same period in 2005, the Interstate Statistical Committee of the
CIS reports.
The biggest growth in retail turnover was seen in Ukraine where it
amounted to 35.6 percent. Armenia showed the lowest growth of 11.7
percent. Growth in retail turnover in Azerbaijan reached 19.7 percent,
in Belarus – 22.1 percent, in Russia (excluding the food industry)
– 21.8 percent, in Tajikistan – 18.3 percent, in Kyrgyzstan – 23.5
percent. Kazakhstan and Moldova’s growth (excluding the food industry)
amounted to 21.9 percent and 19.4 percent respectively.

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION INCREASES IN CIS
RosBusinessConsulting Database
August 3, 2006 Thursday 11:08 AM EST
The industrial production of the CIS countries grew by an average
of 5.5 percent in the first half of 2006 compared to 4.5 percent in
the same period of 2005, the Interstate Statistical Committee of the
CIS reports. The highest industrial production growth rates were seen
in Azerbaijan (41.1 percent), Belarus (12.6 percent) and Turkmenistan
(22.14 percent). Industrial production dropped by 1 percent in Armenia,
by 6.8 percent in Kyrgyzstan and by 6.4 percent in Moldova.
The average industrial output of the CIS countries in June 2006 stayed
at the same level as May 2006 against the growth of 6.3 percent in
June 2005. Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Moldova showed an increase
in output of 2.5 percent, 3.9 percent, 8.3 percent, 19.9 percent and
8.5 percent respectively.

ARARAT LA QUETE DE L’ARCHE;
Le Monde, France
03 août 2006
Le mont où Noe est cense avoir echoue etait repute inaccessible par
les Armeniens… jusqu’a son ascension, en 1829, par le docteur von
ParrotLes montagnes magiquesLe mont où Noe est cense avoir echoue
etait repute inaccessible par les Armeniens… jusqu’a son ascension,
en 1829, par le docteur von Parrot
par Charlie Buffet
Aujourd’hui, on dirait que le docteur Friedrich Wilhelm von Parrot
etait alpiniste, mais il est mort trente ans avant que le terme fasse
son apparition (1875), et l’on ne peut donc pas savoir quel nom il
mettait sur cette mauvaise habitude qui consiste a grimper sur des
montagnes jusqu’a ce que mort s’ensuive. On connaît par contre son
alibi : la science.
Fils d’un brillant physicien et theologien allemand qui avait rejoint
la cour du tsar Alexandre Ier, Friedrich Parrot ne se serait pas
autorise a gravir une montagne sans un objectif savant. Specialiste du
” nivellement “, il ne se separait jamais d’un fragile baromètre qui
lui permettait de mesurer avec precision l’altitude. Il etait ainsi
parti explorer et cartographier le Caucase en 1811, a l’âge de 20
ans. Sous le sommet du mont Kasbek (5 047 m), il avait ete arrete
par une tempete de neige. Dans une eclaircie, il avait vu, ” très
loin vers le sud, un pic très haut et solitaire – très certainement
la couronne argentee de l’Ararat “. La vision s’etait imprimee dans
son esprit, Parrot l’a raconte dans Voyage vers l’Ararat : a 20 ans,
il esperait se dresser sur la montagne de la Genèse – au nom de la
science, et malgre la croyance de ceux pour qui la presence de l’arche
de Noe rendait le sommet inaccessible.
Les annees suivantes, Parrot avait servi dans l’armee du tsar contre
Napoleon et il etait devenu professeur d’histoire naturelle et de
philosophie a l’universite imperiale de Dorpat, aujourd’hui Tartu,
en Estonie. L’espace d’un ete, il avait traverse les Pyrenees de
l’Atlantique a la Mediterranee, en s’arretant toutes les deux heures
pour relever l’altitude. Le raid avait ete accompli dans un delai
tellement rapide, sept semaines, qu’on imagine que l’aspect sportif
n’etait pas secondaire… Alpinisme ? Edward Peck, qui consacre a
Parrot un bel article dans The Alpine Journal, commente : ” Il vivait
avant qu’il devienne a la mode de laisser la joie d’etre en montagne
supplanter les exigences meticuleuses de la science. ”
Au debut de 1829, l’occasion de sa vie se presente enfin. Le tsar
Nicolas Ier, quatre ans après son accession au trône, vient d’affronter
les Turcs et de s’assurer le contrôle du mont Ararat, que la Russie
disputait jusqu’alors aux Empires ottoman et perse.
Friedrich Parrot quitte Dorpat, traverse la Russie occidentale de la
Baltique au Caucase a travers la plaine du Don et la steppe kalmouke.
Au debut de l’automne, après un mois et demi de quarantaine
aux portes d’Erevan a cause d’une epidemie de peste, Parrot est
accueilli dans le monastère d’Etchmiadzine par le patriarche de
l’Eglise armenienne. Grâce aux relations privilegiees de son père
avec le tsar, il a pu financer une
veritable expedition qui comprend, outre un attache militaire, quatre
scientifiques : un mineralogiste, un astronome, et deux etudiants en
medecine. Un jeune diacre, Katchadour Abovian, est embauche comme
interprète. Il explique le sens des deux reliques en bois qui leur
sont presentees : l’une serait un morceau de la lance d’un soldat
romain present lors de la crucifixion du Christ, l’autre un fragment
de l’arche de Noe. Selon la legende, cette dernière aurait ete ramenee
par un moine parti mille ans plus tôt vers le sommet du mont Ararat. Le
moine s’etant endormi, un ange lui serait apparu pendant son sommeil
pour lui remettre la pièce de bois et lui expliquer que sa devotion
les avait liberes, lui et ses semblables, de la necessite de gravir
le mont Ararat. Depuis ce jour, les Armeniens considèrent le sommet
sacre comme inaccessible.
Parrot et ses compagnons se dirigent neanmoins vers le versant
nord-ouest de la montagne et franchissent le fleuve Aras – qui
marquera longtemps l’hermetique frontière de l’empire sovietique. Ils
etablissent leur camp de base a 2 400 mètres d’altitude, non loin du
monastère de Saint-Jacob (detruit en 1840 par un seisme), a l’endroit
meme où le prophète Noe est repute avoir plante la première vigne
pour rendre grâce a son Dieu en descendant sain et sauf du sommet
après le Deluge.
Une première tentative les conduit, après une nuit glaciale où l’on
s’emmitoufle dans l’epais papier buvard prevu pour les herbiers,
jusqu’a l’altitude de 4 700 mètres. Les crampons n’existent pas. A
la descente sur la neige dure, Parrot se laisse desequilibrer par
son compagnon. La glissade sur plusieurs dizaines de mètres s’achève
sur les rochers. Les deux hommes sont indemnes, mais le baromètre
est brise. On decide, compte tenu de la superstition entourant le
sommet, qu’aucun membre armenien de l’expedition n’aura connaissance
de la chute.
Parrot n’etant pas du genre a s’avouer vaincu, le baromètre est repare
et un second assaut s’organise. Il y aura cette fois une lourde croix
de bois (la plus grande des deux poutres fait 3,50 mètres de long et
15 centimètres de section), pourvue d’une plaque de plomb, offerte a
Nicolas Ier par le comte Paskevitch d’Erevan, qui vient d’acheter pour
le tsar les terres entourant le mont Ararat. La croix est benie par
l’archimandrite, et ses deux branches sont chargees sur une paire de
boeufs. Trois soldats russes et quatre paysans armeniens sont enrôles
et tirent la croix avec des cordes une fois que les betes ont declare
forfait. La procession s’arrete au pied d’une pyramide de neige où,
ecrit Parrot, ” aucun etre humain ne s’est jamais dresse depuis le
temps de Noe “. Le baromètre indique une altitude de 4 900 mètres. La
croix est erigee et la descente decidee, deuxième echec. Pendant une
semaine, tandis que le mauvais temps règne sur le mont Ararat, on se
remet des fatigues au monastère de Saint-Jacob, avec force truites
saumonees et sangliers sauvages chasses par les cosaques.
Enfin, le temps s’eclaircit, un groupe de dix personnes se met en
route pour la troisième tentative. On a fait fabriquer une croix
plus legère, plus petite qu’un homme et de 5 centimètres de section
seulement. Le temps est doux, il neige, tous les Armeniens jeûnent,
certains rebroussent chemin. Le lendemain, 9 octobre 1829 a 15 h 15,
ils sont six a se dresser au sommet, a 5 165 mètres d’altitude.
Parrot jubile : ” Ces glaces eternelles dont aucune pierre, aucun
rocher ne brise l’unite, c’est l’austère tete argentee du vieil
Ararat. ” L’instant est solennel. Abovian, l’interprète, qui a fait
toute l’ascension le ventre vide et vetu de sa robe d’ecclesiastique,
a pris l’initiative de planter la croix de telle sorte que l’astronome
Federov, reste au monastère, peut effectuer un releve de l’altitude
(il se trompe de 80 mètres). Le soldat Chalpanov, du 41e regiment
de chasseurs, porte son grand uniforme et ses decorations sous sa
cape. Le groupe boit a la sante du patriarche Noe. Le lendemain,
on tire les fusees de la victoire depuis le monastère.
Certes, il n’y a aucune trace de l’arche sur la cime, mais Parrot
laisse une porte ouverte : elle a pu reposer entre les deux sommets
de la montagne ou etre ensevelie sous la glace.
Si les faits sont tetus, la foi peut l’etre plus encore. L’ascension
a ete observee depuis le bas, et elle a six temoins. Mais, bientôt,
le journal de Tiflis qui a publie le recit de Parrot se fait l’echo de
rumeurs. On y affirme (après tout, on le fait depuis un millenaire),
que gravir la montagne sacree est impossible. Indigne, Parrot demande
a tous ses compagnons de temoigner sous serment. Les deux soldats
s’executent sans broncher, mais les paysans armeniens, illettres,
effectuent leur deposition avec l’aide d’un pretre. Elle est redigee
de manière a installer la confusion entre les deux croix et a laisser
entendre que ” la raideur de la pente, entièrement en glace vive “,
a empeche le groupe de parvenir au sommet. Un autre villageois, qui
n’a pas participe a la tentative decisive, affirme sous serment que
” l’ascension est impossible a cause du froid qui empeche de respirer
“, tandis que ” les pentes de glace vive s’elèvent comme des murs “.
Le jeune diacre Katchadour Abovian, quant a lui, a probablement
temoigne de vive voix en faveur du scientifique allemand. Parrot,
en effet, l’a parraine pour qu’il vienne etudier a ses côtes a Dorpat.
Il y a vecu plusieurs annees, s’impregnant de culture russe, avant
de revenir a Tbilissi pour enseigner. Choque par la mainmise russe
sur son pays a partir de 1840, il a pris la plume. Avec son roman Les
Blessures de l’Armenie, il est considere comme l’un des pères de la
litterature armenienne moderne.
Il est une chose que Friedrich Parrot avait bien comprise, c’est ce
que sa ” non-decouverte ” au sommet avait d’insupportable : ” Tous
les Armeniens sont fermement convaincus que l’arche de Noe reste a
ce jour au sommet d’Ararat “, ecrira-t-il. Et il comprenait ainsi
l’interdiction faite a quiconque de s’en approcher. Il fallait que
la croyance puisse survivre.
Le mont Ararat, berceau de l’arche de Noe : l’image est trop belle pour
se laisser detrôner par un simple constat de visu. En ete, ses neiges
eternelles vibrant dans l’air brûlant de la plaine rappellent qu’il
tutoie les couches froides de l’atmosphère, celles où nous placons
volontiers nos dieux. Tel le zouave du pont de l’Alma revelant les
crues de la Seine, il temoigne de la hauteur du Deluge, auquel Noe,
sa famille (donc nous) et quelques espèces choisies survecurent il
y a quatre mille a cinq mille ans.
C’est un cône parfait, borne-frontière Orient-Occident sur la route
des Indes, veillant, au-dela du jeune Euphrate, sur la Mesopotamie
et les origines de la civilisation. Ses courbes de niveau dessinent
sur la carte des cercles concentriques, comme la pierre plongee dans
l’eau, comme le souvenir de troubles anciens ou l’annonce de ceux a
venir : emblème armenien amarre en territoire turc, le volcan endormi
n’est paisible qu’en apparence. Pleure par l’Armenie au nord, le mont
Ararat domine au sud des ruines d’eglises et des villages kurdes où
patrouillent des soldats turcs a cran. L’ascension n’est autorisee
qu’episodiquement, depuis 1982, et un guide turc publie dans les
annees 1990 annoncait la couleur : ” Notez categoriquement que seule
la route sud est autorisee. Les cordees s’eloignant vers d’autres
voies s’exposent aux tirs sans sommation des patrouilles militaires.
” Dogubayazit, l’ephemère station alpine du mont Ararat, au sud, a vu
toutes ses agences de trek fermer boutique après dix ans d’interdiction
totale. Trop facile pour attirer beaucoup d’alpinistes, le mont Ararat
est a l’epicentre d’une region trop instable pour etre investie par
les tours-operateurs. Mais il est d’autres touristes qui suffiraient
presque a lui assurer un fonds de roulement : la confrerie des
chercheurs de l’arche perdue.
Pour certains chretiens, en effet, retrouver l’arche est devenu une
obsession. (Les juifs n’y songent pas et les musulmans imaginent
plutôt que l’arche de Nuh, l’un des cinq principaux prophètes
de l’islam, s’est echouee sur le mont Djudi, près de Mossoul –
sourate 11). Depuis qu’en 1916 un aviateur russe a repere une forme
de coque près du sommet, on a beaucoup scrute la calotte glaciaire,
bien retrecie ces dernières annees. Un alpiniste espagnol a trouve
une pièce de bois dans une crevasse en 1952 ; l’astronaute americain
James Irwin a cru a l’impossible, puisqu’il avait marche sur la
Lune, mais ses deux expeditions de recherche, dans les annees 1980,
n’ont eu aucun succès. Un aventurier anglais a reussi a attirer
des touristes credules vers une formation rocheuse naturelle au sud
de la montagne qui ressemblait vaguement a un bateau fossilise. En
2004, un homme d’affaires d’Honolulu, Daniel McGivern, a achete des
images satellites du sommet et annonce qu’il etait pret a mettre
1 million de dollars dans un projet d’expedition pour explorer l'”
anomalie d’Ararat “, une tache sombre sous la glace près du sommet –
qui s’est revelee etre une simple tache de glace sombre. A eux tous,
ils n’auront pas demontre grand-chose, sinon peut-etre que la science
ne peut rien pour la religion.
En 1877, James Bryce a reussi en solitaire la troisième ascension du
mont Ararat. Il a ramene du sommet un fragment de poutre en bois qui,
dans ses mains, n’etait autre qu’un vestige de l’arche de Noe. Selon
toute probabilite, il provenait d’une des deux croix montees un
demi-siècle plus tôt par l’expedition de Friedrich Parrot.
Charlie Buffet
A lire : La Genèse.Où est la terre des promesses ? d’Annemarie
Schwarzenbach (Payot/Voyageurs), pour la beaute desenchantee des
descriptions.
–Boundary_(ID_nd0Cek02WQNTsVF8 AK2Qsg)–

CORRUPT GOVERNMENT THREATENS NAGORNO KARABAKH MOST OF ALL
Lragir.am
03 Aug 06
Several days ago the leader of the Aryan Armenian Order Armen
Avetisyan stated referring to the recent statements of the U.S.
co-chair of the Minsk Group Matthew Bryza that the future of the
governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan depends on the willingness to
make a compromise over the Karabakh issue. In other words, he drew
the attention of the public to the threat of infringement upon the
national interest in the period of elections in 2007 and 2008.
Considering that the present “chief strategist”, the Republican
defense minister Serge Sargsyan approved the proposals of the Minsk
Group long ago, we may state that Armen Avetisyan’s warning is quite
logical. In fact, in an effort to find support for their aspirations
to power the Armenian politicians make a deal with forces from the
outside. It is possible to understand the Aryan. It is also possible
to understand that he relies on the will of thousands of Armenian
citizens, who are ready to resist deals.
We would like to warn brave patriots, however, that the danger of the
game of those who hold the power and those who protect this power is
not realized. This is half of the trouble that the weakening Armenian
officials are ready to make a deal with the outside world. The main
danger is somewhere else – our worthy patriots and many honest guys
fail to understand everything.
They fail to understand that by their statements that they will
not allow return of territories they keep the mill of our political
merchants working, who are wiser than our patriots. They are wise
because they have learned to play on the patriotic feelings and
speeches of our society. And only they are interested in Armen
Avetisyan’s statements. No, not because they are going to extend the
statements of patriots to their Western sponsors: these cheap games
have stopped being interesting to anyone in the world.
The cynicism of our corrupt officials should not be underrated. They
understood the value of the “party of the war” for their political
games long ago. They need these patriots to make them scapegoats in
possible military provocations. What provocations? one may ask. The
provocations that these political merchants may undertake to justify
their deal with the outside forces. To cause the war to ignite,
accuse patriots and appear to the Armenian people and the world as
a savior and wise prophet.
Our figures are not fools to sit at the wheel of power with the
appearance of a loser. Therefore, dear patriots, if you can discern
danger in the action of our corrupt government, before calling the
public for resistance demand the public officials who have a direct
lever of influence on the situation in the conflict area to dismiss
these figures. Do not forget that presently we deal with the cynical
criminal holding the power, which feels its imminent death against the
background of the elections in 2007 and 2008. These people have already
managed to announce that “their end would be the end of Armenia”.
The situation is, in fact, more complicated than it seems to dear Armen
Avetisyan. The end of the criminal will not be the end of Armenia,
but it can harm Karabakh considerably. Especially that the key levers
there are held by a man also appears unlikely to quit in 2007,
as the law provides for. And in this case one should be guided by
consciousness, not feelings. The presence of the politician criminal
at the wheel of the military and civilian government becomes highly
dangerous. Experienced Bryza did not tell the Azerbaijani president
Ilham Aliyev accidentally that the first half of 2007 may become a
favorable period for the settlement of the Karabakh conflict. He
hinted that there are people in Armenia and Karabakh who would
sacrifice everything to stay at power.
It is not accidental that Bryza said Armenia is keeping to the right
path to democratization. He was right because he finally realized that
it is the end of the criminal. So he decided to play the last game with
the criminal in the Karabakh sphere. To play and discard finally, both
the criminal and the Karabakh issue. But the criminal does not want to
be discarded. It only wants to play a successful game because there is
no more place to play. Therefore, before becoming engaged in the game,
dear patriots, think how it would end for our Homeland and for you.
MELIK AVANYAN

EITHER MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT PAY LESS OR SUFFER LOSSES
Lragir.am
03 Aug 06
A scrutiny of the lists of 1000 big taxpayers of Armenia for the
first quarter and the first half of 2006 leads to interesting
conclusions. Especially considering that less than a year is left
until the parliamentary election in 2007 and the businessmen members of
parliament again want to have a mandate of immunity in their pockets.
Natali Pharm owned by businessman MP Samvel Alexanyan paid 150
million drams of taxes in the first quarter of 2006 and is the 51st.
In the first half of the same year the company is the 48th with 410
million drams – 150+260. Another company owned by the same member
of parliament, sugar importing Fleetfood is the 33rd in the first
quarter of 2006 with 245.5 million drams, and the 66th in the first
half with 309 million – 245.5+63.5. It means that Fleetfood paid an
average of 4 times less taxes a month, which is strange because in
summer the consumption of sugar goes up in Armenia, whereas the price
of sugar went up and the quality declined.
Vedi Alco owned by Manvel Ghazaryan is the 60th in the first quarter.
It paid 142 million drams. In the first half of the year Vedi Alco
is the 93rd. It paid 226 million drams, 142+124. Or 1.1 times less
a month.
Member of Parliament Ashot Aghababyan’s Hrazdan Holding is in the
158th place with 57 million in the first quarter, and the 154th with
138 million in the first half. By the way, Ashot Aghababyan’s company
suffered losses of 71 million drams in 2005.
Leova Khachatryan’s Concern Energy was the 419th and paid 20.2 million
drams in the first quarter, and now it is 481st with 38 million –
20.2+17.8, or an average of 1.4 times less a month.
Tigran Arzakansyan’s Great Valley paid 27.8 million drams in the first
quarter of 2006 and is the 318th, and in the first half it paid 34
million and is the 522nd, an average of 4.5 times less a month.

POPULATION OF ARMENIA TOTALED 3 MILLION 219 THOUSAND 400
Lragir.am
03 Aug 06
The population of Armenia totaled 3 million 219 thousand 400 as of July
1, 2006. This figure, which was published by the National Statistics
Service, news agency ARKA reports, is up by 4,400 compared with the
same period in 2005. 1 million 500 thousand are men, 1 million 600
thousand are women, 600,300 are children under 14, including 349
thousand boys and 315, 500 girls. Young people aged 15 to 29 totaled
879,600, including 441 thousand men and 438,600 women. 1 million
300 thousand people aged 30-64 lived in Armenia as of July 1, 2006,
including 624,600 men and 704 thousand women. The population aged
above 65 totaled 346,500, including 139,500 men and 207 thousand women.

WFP ASSESSES HIGHLY COOPERATION WITH ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT
PanARMENIAN.Net
02.08.2006 16:19 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian
met with Executive Director of the U.N World Food Program (WFP)
James Morris, reported the RA MFA press office. During the meeting Mr
Morris briefed on the works carried out for providing those suffered
in hostilities in Lebanon with food. He also gave a high estimate
to the cooperation with the Armenian government. For his part Vartan
Oskanian presented the current stage of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
settlement process.

NONE OF OSCE MG PROPOSALS IMPLIES RESTORATION OF ARMENIAN REFUGEES’ RIGHTS
PanARMENIAN.Net
02.08.2006 16:31 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ August 2 the Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group for
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement will meet to discuss the
current stage and prospects of the settlement basing on the outcomes
of U.S. mediator Matthew Bryza’s regional visit. “Refugees and
International Law” civic society network representing the interests
of the Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan has addressed
the mediators with a message that says in part,
“To OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs Matthew Bryza (U.S.), Yuri Merzlyakov
(Russia) and Bernard Fassier (France)
Dear Sirs,
“Refugees and International Law” civic society network formed for
ensuring efficient protection of the rights and interests of the
Armenian refugees from the Azeri SSR and Nakhichevan is appealing to
you with a call to draw the attention of international organizations
to the problem of 500 thousand Armenian refugees. We have to state
that up to now none of the settlement options of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict, proposed by the MG co-chairs, has even a hint on restoration
of their violated rights. We believe that without solving the issue of
Armenian refugees full settlement of the NK issue is not possible. By
its refusal to be a successor of the Azerbaijani SSR, the Azerbaijani
Republic not only demonstrated it is unwilling to provide compensations
to Armenian refugees, but also was deprived of any legal ground to
claim the entire territory of the Azerbaijani SSR. From the legal
point of view the NKR is the only legal successor of the Azerbaijani
SSR. We believe that if NKR citizenship is granted to the Armenian
refugees and territories outside NKR boundaries, within which the NKR
was declared and which are under its jurisdiction today, are given
to them as private property, this can partially solve the issue.
“Refugees and International Law” civic society network is ready to
participate in actions, aimed at attaining a long-term settlement
of the Karabakh issue. We believe that the solution of the matter
should include restoration and effective protection of the rights of
all victims.”
We remind that earlier “Refugees and International Law” civic society
network sent an open letter to Armenian President Robert Kocharian
and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, reports IA Regnum.