Turkey anxious about the bill on Armenian Genocide to be discussed in the
French Parliament

ArmRadio.am
13.05.2006 12:29
In response to the discussion of the bill on penalizing Armenian
Genocide deniers to be held May 18 in the French Parliament, the
Turkish `Justice and Development’ Party faction is collecting
necessary signatures to present a bill on recognizing the 1954-1962
massacre of 200 thousand Algerians by French as genocide to the
consideration of the Turkish Parliament.
`The bill emphasizes the French policy of dual standards, on one hand
in respect to denying the crimes in Algeria and Rwanda, on the other
hand discussing a bill envisaging penalty for negating the Armenian
Genocide,’ representatives of the party told the `New Anatolian’
periodical.
To note, Algeria insists that during 1954-1962 war for independence
France carried out `genocide’ against 1.5 million Algerians, while
Paris notes that only 200 thousand were killed in the war. In the
framework of international organizations Algeria has always been
opposing the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and has been backing
the Turkish position on this question.

President Robert Kocharyan received OSCE Secretary General

ArmRadio.am
13.05.2006 13:35
President Robert Kocharyan received today OSCE Secretary General Marc
Perrin de Brichambaut.
The President welcomed OSCE Secretary General’s visit to Armenia on
the occasion of starting the program of recycling of 872 tons of
mélange rocket fuel. Robert Kocharyan highly appreciated the
effectiveness of cooperation with the OSCE in regard to the volume,
level and prospects.
The collocutors thoroughly discussed the developments over the OSCE
territory and the process of reforming the OSCE as a structure.
At the request of the guest the President presented the current stage
of the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict. He laid emphasis
on the fact that the issue is being settled within the OSCE framework
and a rather effective format has been chosen. Reference was made to
Armenia-Turkey relations.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NKR Presidnet received the delegation of the Union of Banks

ArmRadio.am
13.05.2006 14:40
May 13 NKR President Arkadi Ghukasyan received the delegation of RA Central
Bank Council and the Union of Banks of Armenia headed by President of the
Central Bank Tigran Sargsyan and Head of the Union of Banks Stepan Gishyan.
The meeting, featuring NKR Prime Minister Anushavan Danielyan, Minister of
Finance and Ecoonomy Kamo Nersisyan, Head of Administration of `Artsakhbank’
Kamo Nersisyan, was dedicated in part to the strategy of development of the
crediting system in NKR and the prospects of expansion of cooperation with
Armenian and foreign partners.

Greece preparing for Eurovision-2006

ArmRadio.am
13.05.2006 15:22
This year the Eurovision song contest annually organized by European
TV Companies will be held in Greece, at the Olympic complex of
Athens. Armenia will be represented by `Best singer of the year’
Andre.
The festival will be held May 18 and 20. The first day 10 out of the
24 participants of the semifinal will pass to the final. The best song
will be chosen on May 20.

PanARMENIAN.Net
Implementation of Melange Utilization Program in Armenia Example for
Other Countries

12.05.2006 20:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The opening of the melange processing enterprise is
a good example of cooperation between the OSCE and the Armenian
Government, OSCE Secretary General Marc Perrin de Brichambau said at
the opening of a plant for utilization of propellant components in
Lori region of Armenia. In his words, implementation of the program
will be an example for other countries in the post-soviet space.
At that he remarked that experts from Germany, canada and finland
trained specialists, who will work in Armenia. The OSCE Secretary
General said that the program was composed of three phsses. The US
Government funded the first one. The second one – technical and
economic grounding of the project – was performed by German
specialists. The third phase was the building of the enterprise, in
which all aforementioned OSCE member states participated.

PanARMENIAN.Net
OSCE: Nagorno Karabakh Belongs to Karabakh People

12.05.2006 20:30 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Nagorno Karabakh belongs to the Karabakh people,
OSCE Secretary General Marc Perrin de Brichambau told journalists at
the opening of an enterprise for utilization of propellant components
in Lori region of Armenia. In his words, settlement of the conflict is
possible in the near future. «I have much hope that the problem will
be solved soon,» Marc Perrin de Brichambau underscored.

PanARMENIAN.Net
Armenian Speaker Did What He Deemed Necessary, Armenian MOD Head
Believes
12.05.2006 20:50 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ «I would not advise anyone searching for some
secret aspects in the retirement of Armenian National Assembly Speaker
Artur Baghdassaryan. He did what he deemed necessary,» Armenian
Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan told journalists. In his words,
differences in Orinats Yerkir party were about to happen long ago and
Artur Baghdassaryan’s move is quite explicable. As of businessmen, who
left Orinats Yerkir, in Sargsyan’s opinion, they joined the party
hoping to gain power leverage. «However, now the party does not
have power and they considered leaving it was a right move. As of
myself, I will repeat again I was never member of Orinats Yerkir –
either in 2000, or in 2001 or later,» S. Sargsyan emphasized.

AZG Armenian Daily #087, 13/05/2006

Armenian Genocide
BRITISH-ARMENIAN HISTORIAN ARA SARAFIAN CENSURES FRENCH BILL
Following the May 10 rejection of the Armenian Genocide bill by the
Legislative Commission of the French Parliament, Turkey’s president
Ahmed Necet Sezer sent a letter to president Jacques Chirac of
France. The Turkish president expressed satisfaction with Chirac’s
contribution to Turkish-French relations, emphasized that historic
issues should be left for the historians to deal with and pointed out
that the draft penalizing Armenian Genocide denial goes against
freedom of thought – a basic principle in France.
President Sezer reminded his French counterpart of Turkey’s proposal
to Armenia on “setting a joint group to study genocide allegations.”
Regardless the context, the Turkish president uses the word
“genocide”. Unlike him, Turkish intellectuals including Hrant Dink and
Etien Mahchipian prefer “atrocities” to “genocide” in an open letter
in French daily Le Liberacion.
British-Armenian historian and director of the Gomidas Institute in
London, Ara Sarafian, has joined his compatriots from Turkey censuring
the French draft on the pages of Turkish daily Zaman.
Sarafian thinks the draft law may halt the blossoming debate in Turkey
on what happened in 1915 and once adopted will deal a blow to
Turkey-EU relations thus hindering democratic processes in the
country.
The following is the full text of his remarks in response to Zaman’s
questions about the proposed draft law:
The Armenian issue has become a political issue between two contending
camps, Turkish nationalists (and successive Turkish governments) on
the one hand, and Armenian nationalists on the other. Because Turkish
governments have until recently denied that there was an Armenian
issue to be addressed, or explained that the issue was the product of
“Armenian terrorism” (1970s and 80s), or unfortunate events of mutual
communal carnage, they also set the ground rules of how this issue
would be addressed i.e. in terms of power politics. They thus nurtured
and empowered the radical Armenian nationalist camps we see today.
Armenian nationalists are now playing the game by the same rules, and
they have recently found themselves in a powerful position because of
Turkey’s accession talks for EU membership. They have aligned the
Armenian issue in two somewhat contradictory camps, where the Armenian
issue is used as a yardstick to measure Turkey’s ability to come to
terms with its past, and in doing so, its ability to adopt a new
political trajectory that reflects core values adopted by the European
Union; and at the same time, the Armenian issue is used to give
substance to racists, xenophobes and anti-Islamicists who do not want
Turkey to enter the European Union.
The prospective French law is part of an unfortunate power dynamic,
and whether it passes or not, the final outcome will be the result of
power politics. It is ironic that the French legislature, with its own
past in Algeria and Rwanda, is willing to go down this path.
Perhaps the real tragedy is that the current Turkish government has
taken important steps to resolve the Armenian issue. After all, it has
“uncensored” the Armenian debate in Turkey by allowing it to be
discussed openly, letting Turkish nationalist institutions, such as
the Turkish Historical Society, to fend for themselves in the open
arena. It is true that the debate is unequal. There are still
draconian laws that are invoked against dissidents, and most TV
stations still espouse the anti-Armenian line, but there is still a
significant shift towards open debate. Not all TV stations programmes
espouse the state perspective, many newspapers and publications
discuss the Armenian issue more openly, and many court cases against
dissenters are quashed within Turkish legal system.
There are already many Turks and Kurds who have entered this debate in
a critical manner, and they have critical audiences who want to know
the truth. All of this is to Turkey’s credit and there is every
prospect that the Armenian issue will be resolved in a peaceful manner
in the near future.
It is unfortunate that, if the prospective French law is passed, it
could lead to a souring of relations between Turkey and the EU, as
well as a right-wing backlash within Turkey and its own
democratization process. Such a scenario will suit the interest of the
two nationalist camps, which will remain part of the problem and not
the solution.
I hope, irrespective of what happens in Paris in the next few weeks,
we do not lose the perspective of what is important. Today we have the
opportunity of resolving the Armenian issue in a peaceful and
meaningful fashion, based on the truth, and the dignity of the
descendants of the people concerned. Europeans should help and judge
Turkey and Armenians on how they progress down this road. The current
proposed legislation in Paris is a detraction at best, and a hindrance
at worse.
These views of London-based Armenian historian are pleasing to Turkish
official circles as Ara Sarafian identifies neo-fascistic xenophobia
of the Grey Wolves with the Armenian nationalism and equates the
Armenian Diaspora fighting for the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide with Turkey that insistently denies it. He views the
initiatives of Genocide recognition as a hindrance for settling the
Armenian issue in Turkey as well as for democratization of
Turkey. Meanwhile he condemns the authors of the initiative perhaps
sending a positive signal to Ankara and interested international
powers.
By Hakob Chakrian

AZG Armenian Daily #087, 13/05/2006

People
ARMENIAN PIONEER
A Beirut-native, Haladjian arrived in France as a teenager and studied
linguistics. He entered the telecommunications industry in 1983,
pioneered the first Internet Service Provider (ISP) in France in 1994,
FranceNet, and in 2003, sold it to British Telecom. Many would’ve
retired, but Rafi thinks big. He founded two companies, Violet and
Ozone, which are exploding the boundaries between technology and daily
life. Nabaztag (), the Armenian word for rabbit, was
Violet’s next product after WI-FI and their first for mass
consumption. With a barebones advertising campaign that relied on word
of mouth and web postings, it was released in June of this year and
Parisians rushed to grab 5,000 Nabaztags in ten days. Violet rolled
out another 10,000 units immediately after and those sold out in the
following few months. Now, the company is faced with the dilemma of
how to meet the steep increase in demand.
What makes Nabaztag unique is that Violet has found a way to make
techie objects friendly. Not only can users receive transmitted
emotions that tell Nabaztag owners they are loved through pulsing
colors or sounds, but they can be programmed to tell traffic, weather
and stock reports at a scheduled time.
Why Nabaztag? “First, because I’m Armenian,” he replies. “Second, it’s
hard to find names nowadays and if you want to differentiate a product
you want something that sounds different. When you look at Japanese
products they have Japanese names, like Tamagotchi. Nobody knows what
it means but you get used to it – so why not Armenian? People in Paris
don’t speak more Japanese than Armenian.”

AZG Armenian Daily #087, 13/05/2006
Culture
NEW PERFORMANCE OF ROBERT STURUA
Recently, “The Styx” musical mystery by Gia Kancheli was performed at
the State Opera Theatre. The performance was staged by the famous
Georgian theatre director Robert Sturua.
Robert Sturua became famous in 1970s, when he began staging unique and
bright performances at the Rustaveli Theatre in Tbilisi.
The requiem composed by Gia Kancheli is dedicated to the memory of his
kin and friends. This musical piece was composed in 1999 for cello,
chorus and orchestra. Sturua staged a theatre improvisation based on
light effects, melodies and movements. The piece leads the spectators
to the old legends, to the secret of Life and Death, to the most
ancient times, at the same time reflecting the images of today’s
life. The joint masterpiece of Sturua and Kancheli is called “a
performance of no words” though there is still much to say and
express. The movements, the dances of the actors, the light effects,
music, voices fully reflect the idea of the piece.
Art critic Martin Mikaelian, who has watched the first performances
and the rehearsals of Sturua in 1970s, said the following when
commenting on the last performance of the master: “Mr. Sturua must be
the most “musical” theatre director among his colleagues throughout
the world. While the influential directors of the world stage attack
the spectators with harsh and tragic emphasis, our great friends
Sturua conquers the hearts of art lovers by the gentleness and beauty
of the theatre’s tongue.”
By A. Amirkhanian