MUTUAL CONCESSIONS – NOT END IN ITSELF
A1+
| 15:15:35 | 03-09-2005 | Politics |
Politics is not trade and the notion of “mutual concessions” should be
perceived from the viewpoint of all the parties to conflict. We should
defend our interests and abstract talks about mutual concessions are
inadmissible for me”, NKR Foreign Minister Arman Melikyan stated in
an interview with Ayb-Fe weekly.
Territories are the guarantee for the refugees’ issue
“I am speaking of the parties involved in the conflict. The fate
of Karabakh should be determined by the people of Karabakh. The
authorities of Armenia, Russia or Japan can have a certain role in
the negotiation process, however the final decision should be made
by the Karabakh people”, Arman Melikyan stressed. In his opinion,
the return of territories is not the principal issue. “I think we
should proceed from the universal principles of justice and approach
the issue from the aspect of human rights protection. During many
years these territories were the security zone. However today there
exists one important issue – the fate of Armenian refugees. Today
people speak of 1 million of Azeris but no one speaks of 500 thousand
Armenian. And we hope that the international community will not remain
indifferent to the fate of these people.
Serious prospects
As for Karabakh’s control over the territories and the settling of
the territories, Arman Melikyan thinks it’s an “expensive pleasure”.
“The implementation of such programs will demand great expenses. Our
state does not possess such funds presently. Years are needed to
resettle the refugees”, he says.
As for the conflict settlement, Arman Melikian is rather
optimistic. “The outcome will be positive for us even of years will
past till the conflict is settled”, he stated.

HELSINKI FINAL ACT AS GROUND TO SETTLE THE NKR CONFLICT
A1+
| 19:43:58 | 02-09-2005 | Politics |
“We are somehow obliged to the Helsinki final act in the settlement
of the Karabakh conflict, as well as in the winning of peace and
stability in the region”, this is the opinion of the RA Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanyan.
One of the main principles of the act is the unchangeableness of the
borders of the member countries. Asked the question how the document
will affect the settlement of the Karabakh conflict in this reference
Mr. Oskanyan answered, “There is no need to worry. The right of the
nations’ self-determination is also stipulated in the document,
and it is on this basis that the member countries try to settle
conflicts. In the settlement of the Karabakh conflict we refer to
the document quite often”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Thursday, September 01, 2005
****************************************
ELEGY
A sea of tears
Will not raise
A single dead
And a thousand years of hatred
Will not reform
A single Turk
And yet
We continue to lament our dead
And to hate the Turk.
*
Anyone who has loved and hated knows that love and hatred are quintessentially misleading emotions.
*
To be brainwashed means to be unable to move beyond propaganda.
*
When we criticize another we assume we don’t have his faults.
*
A fanatic is one who is incapable of detecting contradictions within himself, and whenever these contradictions are pointed out to him, he becomes deaf, dumb, and blind.
*
To speak from the gutter means to threaten those who dare to contradict you that they too may be dragged down there.
*
GOOD OLD DAYS
When he was alive Homer was not a best seller; neither did he submit his works to an editor.
*
Denis Donikian: “The most pedestrian ideas come to us under the banner of tolerance. Likewise, the most rabid intolerance is promoted in the name of love.”
#
Friday, September 02, 2005
************************************
Whenever as a boy I learned to appreciate a new symphony by Beethoven I thought I had overcome another barrier separating me from civilization. Then, one day, I woke up and found myself surrounded by barbarians.
*
It’s not easy being right in an Armenian environment because the sources of most of our contradictions are conflicting self -interests compounded by oversized egos and undersized brains.
*
If you behave in an undiplomatic manner in a diplomatic environment, you will be recalled and fired by your superiors. And if you behave like a barbarian in a civilized environment you will be ignored because some civilized people may not share your taste for the gutter. You may now be in a better position to understand why I choose to ignore some of my critics (if you will forgive the overstatement).
*
It is not enough being right; one must be right in a right way.
*
Where everyone claims to be right, some are bound to be wrong; and where everyone asserts infallibility, everyone is wrong.
#
Saturday, September 03, 2005
************************************
Hannah Arendt (1906-1975), political philosopher: “The most radical revolutionary will become a conservative on the day after the Revolution.” This may explain why (according to Hagop Garabents) our revolutionaries were willing to shed their blood for freedom a hundred years ago but they are now afraid of free speech.
*
I may know what I want today, but for the life of me I don’t understand why I wanted what I wanted yesterday, and I have no idea what I will want tomorrow.
*
There is an old American saying: “Every shut eye ain’t asleep.” Likewise, just because he ain’t buried it don’t mean he ain’t dead.
*
Anyone can forgive the forgivable. The trick is forgiving the unforgivable.
*
I am willing to trust a good Armenian and a good Turk, and what I trust in them is not their Armenian or Turkish identity but their goodness, which recognizes no geographic boundaries.
#

Tourist boom for Adjara
The Messenger, Georgia
Sept 2 2005
Officials credit television spots for brining Azeri, Ukrainian and
most of all Armenian tourists to Georgia’s Black Sea resorts
By M. Alkhazashvili
One of the Saakashvili administration’s key economic priorities
is the development of tourism in Adjara. The summer season is of
special importance for this coastal region, as it provides much of the
population with the income they need to subsist on for the entire year.
Many believe that Adjarans were so quick to oppose their local despotic
leader Aslan Abashidze in May of last year because they feared that
the conflict between the latter and the central government might have,
along with other negative consequences, ruined the 2004 tourist season.
This year’s resort season will last until October 25, but it can be
said that Adjara has already received the majority of its tourists.
The local and central governments, as well as leaders in the tourism
industry have declared this season a great success.
In 2004, less than 20,000 people vacationed in Batumi, but this year
that indicator reached 65,000. In addition to domestic vacationers,
the number of foreigners visiting Batumi also significantly
increased. According to Tavisupali Gazeti, the main influx of foreign
tourists to Adjara came from Armenia, Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Germany,
Denmark, Norway, the United States, Turkey and Iran.
The list of countries is impressive, though some of the aforementioned
states, namely those in the West, produced only a small amount of
tourists. Understandably, while developing strategies to entice foreign
vacationers, the main accent is placed on neighboring countries.
On the initiative of the Adjara Tourism and Resorts Department,
a 35-second promotional clip was produced and aired on Armenian,
Azerbaijani and Ukrainian television. As the head of the department,
Temur Zoidze states, this commercial played a key role in the
attraction of tourists from abroad. “This effort yielded many tourists
from foreign countries. We have a program to target Ukraine and if
it is implemented, many more tourists will come from that country in
the future,” he said, as quoted by Tavisupali Gazeti.
A major share of foreign tourists in Adjara this year came from
Armenia. This is due to two basic factors – it is the nearest coastal
area to that country and, for understandable historical reasons,
Armenians do not feel comfortable visiting the more prestigious
resorts of the Turkish Black Sea coast, as the elite of many other
regional countries do. In the future, Adjara will continue its
policy of attracting tourists from Armenia and in so doing, create
new opportunities for cooperation between the countries.
It should be pointed out that the president of breakaway Abkhazia,
Sergei Baghapsh, also attempted to entice tourists from Armenia.
During a mid-August visit to Moscow, he is reported to have held
a closed door meeting with Armenian businessmen where he offered
them to become actively engaged in investing in the Abkhaz resort
business. Though the Sokhumi authorities categorically deny these
reports, the Georgian government speculates that Baghapsh focused on
Armenian businessmen because he knew that their deeper involvement
in the resort industry in Abkhazia would cause great irritation
in Tbilisi.

This Az got to be a win
By Stuart McKinley
[email protected]
Belf ast Telegraph, United Kingdom
Sept 3 2005
03 September 2005
INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL
NORTHERN Ireland’s footballing past has been littered with ifs and
buts and ‘what might have beens.’
While there have been a few shock victories along the way there have
been too many occasions when the results have been shocking.
For every high there has been a series of lows. The delight of
Valencia and the despair of Vaduz. We’ve been brilliant in Bucharest,
but rotten in Reykjavik and while the men in green hammed it up in
Hamburg they were useless in Yerevan.
Over the years there have been many occasions on which Northern
Ireland have fallen flat on their faces when victories have been
expected.
Now when Lawrie Sanchez’s side face Azerbaijan this afternoon the aim
is not to add another to the list.
It may sound straightforward, but according to FIFA the two countries
are ranked level in 116th place and even though the rankings are
regularly criticised they remain the only yardstick for comparing the
abilities of teams.
The expectation level, however, is high. Victory is anticipated and
the one thing we don’t want is a result to match these ones:
1. Northern Ireland 1-1 Faroe Islands (1-5-1991)
The Faroes had sent shockwaves round European football when they beat
Austria in their first ever competitive fixture eight months earlier.
Even though, Billy Bingham’s Northern Ireland side was expected to
come away with a comfortable victory. Colin Clarke struck a
first-half opener, only for the visitors to level the scores and
again fans left Windsor Park disappointed after their team had failed
to put away a lesser side.
2. Northern Ireland 1-2 Latvia (7-6-95)
The June curse struck again as Northern Ireland flopped against a
team playing in their first competitive campaign as an independent
country.
Latvia came back to claim victory after Iain Dowie had put Northern
Ireland ahead early in the game.
A draw would have put Bryan Hamilton’s team into a play-off with
Holland for a place in the finals of Euro 96 and had they won that
place would have been guaranteed.
Instead we were all watching from our armchairs as ‘football came
home.’
3. Albania 1-0 Northern Ireland (10-9-1997)
Quite possibly the worst result ever recorded by a Northern Ireland
team and definitely the match which brought Hamilton’s reign to an
end.
There had been a number of withdrawals through injury, but the team
failed to perform and Northern Ireland suffered their first ever loss
to Albania at senior international level.
4. Iceland 1-0 Northern Ireland (11-10-2000)
Sammy McIlroy’s side had made a decent start to the 2002 World Cup
qualifying campaign with a home win against Malta and a draw with
Denmark.
All that came crashing down around them as in a moment of madness Roy
Carroll raced off his line in an attempt to punch clear from a
free-kick in injury-time.
His punch went straight up into the air and an Icelandic player was
on hand to head it into the net as it came down.
5. Liechtenstein 0-0 Northern Ireland (27-3-2002)
The start of the 12 game run without a goal and the beginning of the
end for Sammy McIlroy.
Steve Lomas’ sending-off early in the second-half didn’t help the
cause, but 0-0 with Liechtenstein wasn’t good enough.
6. Armenia 1-0 Northern Ireland (29-3-2003)
This was meant to be the game in which the year long goal drought
would be well and truly put to bed.
Northern Ireland played reasonably well, but when the much
anticipated goal didn’t come Armenia grabbed their chance and
snatched victory.
7. Northern Ireland 0-1 Armenia (10-9-2003)
Losing away to Armenia was one thing, but it was never going to
happen at Windsor Park, was it?
What had turned from a goal drought into a famine was definitely
going to end in this game, or so we thought.
With Keith Gillespie having limped off the pitch with an injury and
Tommy Doherty struggling to keep mobile the Armenians attacked the
exposed Chris Baird on their left and fired home the only goal of the
game.
8. Northern Ireland 0-1 Canada (9-2-2005)
Northern Ireland were seeking a morale boosting win ahead of the
World Cup qualifiers with England and Poland, but ten-man Canada
threw a huge spanner in the works by scoring and then shutting up
shop to go away with the win.
9. Malta 1-1 Northern Ireland (17-8-2005)
Malta had never even scored against Northern Ireland before let alone
got anything from a game against our team.
In the end Maik Taylor saved a penalty in injury time to save his
side from the highly embarrassing fate of defeat to a team of
part-timers.

The Ordeal of Arab Christians
September 03, 2005 12:53 AM EST
The Conservative Voice
Sept 3 2005
By Magdi Khalil – The recent, simultaneous bombing of six Iraqi
churches reflects the seriousness of the predicament of Arab
Christians, who are trapped between the hammer of terrorists groups
and extremists, and the anvil of fanatic governments that skillfully
manipulate the issue of religious radicalism for their own benefit,
while reinforcing religious, ethnic and sectarian discrimination among
their citizens. Arab Christians live in the bosom of a racist culture
that claims superiority over non-Muslims, fueled by a legacy mostly
filled with violence and hatred and a history centered on strife,
murder and viciousness.
Obviously, the Christians of the Middle East have lost the demographic
race to the benefit of their Muslim compatriots. Their numbers
continue to dwindle not just due to natural factors, but because
many of them chose, or were compelled, to emigrate. Some fell
victims to the constant pressures that escalated to fatal attacks.
And others succumbed to the temptation to renounce their faith. The
Christians of Southern Sudan were the only ones to maintain their
place in that difficult contest, and though they paid a dear price,
they discovered the means to achieve a realistic balance of power
and face off eradication designs.
A survey of the present situation of Christians living in the Middle
East demonstrates a problematic and distressing cycle: Arab Christian
populations are declining, resulting in an erosion of their political
power, which in turn causes their conditions to worsen and ultimately
drives them out of their own homeland. This pattern is repeated
throughout the region.
In Lebanon, Christians represented 50-60% of the population prior to
1975; today this percentage has declined to 25-30%. Most importantly,
their political influence has severely weakened. The Lebanese
emigration ministry estimates the number of emigrants at five
million, more than three and a half million of which are Lebanese
Christians. In the past Lebanon was known to be a safe haven for
persecuted individuals who were hunted because of their religious
or intellectual beliefs. Today, however, it is driving out its own
children because of the Arab infringement, the Palestinian foolishness
and the Syrian occupation.
The Lebanese Patriarch Nasr Allah Safir talked with LBC TV station
about the Christian situation saying: “The Christians feel left out,
their presence being clearly unwanted”. He commented on the injustice
committed against Lebanese Christians: “Lebanon was in a state of
war, and it was the agreement of El Taef that put an end to this war,
but only a partial and selective implementation of the agreement was
carried out.” The writer Mushee Maouz confirmed this statement in his
book , with the following words: “Since 1943, and for many decades,
the Maronite Christians of Lebanon, the Shi’a, and the elite Sunni
have worked together in a diverse, legal and democratic system that
was controlled by minorities. However, the shift in favor of Muslim
communities, Radical Arab nationalism and military Palestinian
existence, as well as the Syrian and Israeli intervention ended up
alienating the Maronites and forcing them to take a defensive stance.”
Iraq witnessed an increase in Christian emigration following the
defeat of Sadam Hussein in the second Gulf War, as the political
speech took religious tones and the economic situation continued to
deteriorate. Once Baghdad fell at the hands of the Coalition troops,
the fanatics came out of their dark caves and began attacking the
liquor shops owned by Christians. As a result more than two hundred
shops had to be closed. The attacks became more serious as they then
targeted Christian women who were not veiled, Christian residences, and
finally took the lives of a number of innocent Christians citizens. The
final attacks targeted Christian churches during Sunday services and
resulted in a large number of casualties and injuries. News reports
mentioned that thousands of Iraqi Christians were forced to migrate
to Syria in the aftermath of such attacks, proof enough that the
so called “resistance” is nothing but another facet of the vicious
terrorism that assaults innocents and ultimately seeks to ruin the
new Iraqi experience.
During a few decades, the percentage of Palestinian Christians
has dropped from 17% to less than 2% of the total population. The
Israeli newspaper reported that entire neighborhoods in Beit Gala,
Beit Lahm and Beit Sahur have been emptied of Christians because of
the overwhelming Islamic tide that has turned the Palestinian cause
into an Islamic issue, and the growing power of the fundamentalists
who are imposing their rules and views on the Palestinian community.
According to the BBC, the Christian inhabitants of Jerusalem, who,
in 1920, represented 50% of the population, currently represent a
mere 10%.
The Palestinian , under the leadership of Islamic organizations,
had a detrimental effect on the Christians who were required to pay a
type of tax to those organizations to support suicide missions. News
coming out of the Holy Land is disturbing. In Gaza, Christian women,
in fear of being attacked by Islamic fanatics, have donned the veil.
During the crisis in the Church of the Nativity, a reporter from
Los Angeles managed to sneak into the church and indicated that
the terrorists have raided the church, leaving nothing intact. They
used the wood of the temple as fire fuel, and the pages of Bibles
as toilet paper. Another incident that took place in Nazareth City,
when the fanatics tried to build a mosque right in front of the
Church of the Annunciation, clearly reveals the intentions of the
fundamentalist organizations to establish an Islamic state on this
most sacred Christian ground.
The situation of Egypt’s Copts is definitely not promising, as
they are now more marginalized then ever. The reports issued abroad
refer to them as “an isolated minority”, “a minority under siege”,
“a persecuted Church” and “an oppressed minority”. To quote Mushee
Maouz: “The Copts’ participation in political life is minimal. The
peaceful integration of the Copts into their society started in the
middle of the 19th Century, but was regularly interrupted by the
militant Islamic movement that disconcerted the Copts and created
tensions between Muslims and Christians. The Copts continued to
swing back and forth between integration and rejection throughout
the 20th Century, and isolation became the common pattern under
the rule of autocratic regimes.” This dismal situation propelled a
million and half Christians to emigrate to the United States, Europe
and Australia. The exact number of the Christian minority living in
Egypt remains a well guarded government secret.
Of all the Arab regimes, the Syrian and Jordanian regimes are deemed
the best in their dealings with Christian citizens. Nevertheless,
the Islamist movement and the deteriorating economic situation have
badly affected the Christians in these two countries. Since the events
of September 11, tensions are running high in the region, and hatred
towards all that is related to the West is growing almost to the point
of triggering a collision between the East and West. To quote the
British reporter Martin Buckley: “The Christians in Jordan feel that
they are being pushed into a difficult corner, either to belong to
the Western World or to the Arab World.” Growing suspicions surround
the Christians, falsely accusing them of being “a fifth column” or an
“inside enemy” – another example of a prevalent mindset that constantly
casts doubts about the Christians’ loyalty and patriotism. It seems
that Christians are sadly destined to pay the price whenever tensions
or conflicts arise between the Arab World and the West.
Throughout the ages of Arab invasion and Ottoman occupation,
Christians of the Middle East: the Copts, Armenians, Syrians,
Maronites, Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Aramaeans have suffered from
persecution along with other minorities like the Shi’a, Kurds and
Druz. Their situation improved, however, when the modern state was
founded after the collapse of the Ottoman rule and at the onset of
Western colonization, becoming more engaged in their societies in
response to the emergent concept of citizenship. Unfortunately, at
the escalation of militant regimes and fascist religious movements,
a relapse occurred costing the minorities most of their justly earned
citizenship rights.
The bleak situation of the Christian Arabs has caught the attention
of honorable men who chose to confront the sinister tide that has
overtaken the region, and some of them paid dearly for their courage
such as Dr. Farag Fouda and Prof. Saad Eddin Ibrahim; the former
who was assassinated in 1991, and the latter who was jailed during
2000-2003.
A number of Arabic writers have recently produced candid articles and
other publications calling attention to the ordeal of Arab Christians.
Saudi Prince Talal Ben Abdelaziz wrote an article entitled “The
Survival of Christian Arabs”, in , a Lebanese newspaper, stating
the following: “The Christian Arabs’ situation is the product of
an environment overwhelmed by fanaticism and a violence level which
can trigger disasters of historical proportions, and, most of all,
the product of an environment strongly disposed to eliminate the
different other. The continued existence of the Christian Arabs in
their homelands will reinforce the foundations of the modern state, the
cultural diversity and democracy, and put an end to the continuous loss
of scientific, intellectual and cultural abilities in our region. Their
emigration is a mighty blow that will prove detrimental to our future.”
Mr. Muhammad Hasanayn Haykal wrote the following words in the
magazine entitled : “I personally feel, as others certainly do,
that if we do not address the issue of Christian emigration, if we
continue to overlook it or neglect it on purpose, then we will face
an Arab scene that will not just be different from the current one,
but one that would have definitely lost part of its assets on a human
and cultural level. It would be such a loss if the Eastern Christians
leave believing that there is no future for them or their children
here, Islam would then be left alone in the East, with only the
company of Zionist Judaism – and most specifically that of Israel.”
As for Mr. Galal Amin, he wrote the following enlightening words:
“Evidently, the issue of Muslims and Copts is not a religious issue,
it stirs up all our issues: education, freedom, rational thinking,
justice, ethics and development. If this argument is valid, then it
is obvious that if we want to see Muslims freed, we need to free the
Copts first”.
Mr. Tarek Heggy wrote the following comment: “Progress and
modernization are infectious! And it is up to the minorities of the
Middle East to pass on these notions into our region”.
There were many other inspiring words, in addition to a significant
visit from Pope John Paul II, who wished to support and encourage the
Middle East Christians. However, no matter how important the words
and visits are, neither of them is capable of achieving significant
results. Only when the foundations of the modern state are firmly
set in place, can we dare hope that this situation will change.
Democracy, liberty and citizenship – the basics of a modern state –
were the factors that initiated the integration of Christians within
their societies in the first half of the last century; and it was the
absence of these factors during the second half of the last century
that sent them back into the dark ages of isolation and persecution,
where they still abide.
Magdy Khalil is an Egyptian writer and analyst residing in the USA.
You can contact him at: [email protected]

Two kings, but only one ruler
By RICK GROEN
Globe and Mail, Canada
Sept 3 2005
They are the co-reigning kings of movies in Canada, English fiefdom,
and have been for the last decade. Both are renowned abroad and the
darlings of the Cannes crowd, if not of any mass audience (no one said
kings have to be popular). Both are as amiable in person as their work
is disturbing on the screen. Both make difficult films that dole out
plenty of sex and violence, yet always in an individual style and in
pursuit of similarly modern themes. Both continue to live in their
home base of Toronto, whose namesake university both attended and in
whose film festival, this year, both have brand new pictures treated
as gala presentations.
So, with all that David Cronenberg and Atom Egoyan hold in common,
how is it that their movies are so completely, so emphatically,
so apples-and-oranges different?
Well, their destination may be the same, but they sure took divergent
routes to get there. In fact, their current offerings at next week’s
TIFF – Egoyan’s Where the Truth Lies, Cronenberg’s A Hi story
of Violence – speak volumes about those separate paths and their
competing talents. And, maybe, about who sits higher on the throne.
Each movie is essentially a genre flick, but – call out the palace
guard – one is very good and the other decidedly ain’t.
More about that later.
Advertisements Let’s first return to the beginnings, where, since
the two are almost a generation apart in age, we already find their
paths divided. Cronenberg is 62, an early baby boomer born and bred
in Toronto the staid, but soon exposed to the headier air of Sixties
rebellion. His artistic heroes were literary and openly subversive –
William Burroughs, Vladimir Nabokov. Egoyan is only 45, an immigrant
born in Egypt to Armenian parents, then raised in British Columbia
and required to adapt to Western ways. His heroes were theatrical
and existentially bleak – Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter.
Now cue the further separation. “For me, art is almost a sacred thing,”
Egoyan has said, and from the outset he established himself as an
art-house director whose work – technically accomplished, non-linear
in plot, European in style – was almost immediately embraced by the
festival set. An early film, 1987’s Family Viewing, not only won the
top Canadian prize at TIFF but reaped further accolades (and some
money too) from none other than Wim Wenders himself. So Egoyan quickly
found his niche, and, thanks partly to him and his awardable skills,
that niche would set the dominant tone in our industry. He was the
artiste; he was the anti-Hollywood.
Not so the young Cronenberg. When TIFF started up 30 years ago,
Cronenberg had just made Shivers, a picture that stood about as much
chance of getting invited to a film festival as a squeegee kid does
to a Rosedale brunch. Not only did critics diss Shivers as schlock
horror at its depraved worst, but even the pols in the House of Commons
turned their collective thumbs down, wondering aloud why good Canadian
taxpayers should be funding such low trash.
Temporarily thwarted but hardly daunted, Cronenberg answered with a
succession of movies – Rabid, The Brood, Scanners, Videodrome – that
only upped the ante further. But by then, amid the ongoing spectacle
of exploding heads and mutating parasites, of syringes growing out
of armpits, and vaginas sprouting from stomachs, the discerning few
were beginning to detect something else, too – a brain at work, a
man grappling with a metaphor, pondering the age-old schism between
mind and body, contemplating the psyche at war with itself, wondering
whether we are consuming technology or technology is consuming us.
Later, in films like Family Viewing, The Adjuster (1991) and Exotica
(1994), Egoyan would also use technology, especially video technology,
but strictly as a distancing device – a symbol of alienation,
a tool for objectification, a means of revealing and concealing,
of sustaining illusions and masking reality. These films are cool,
dispassionate and cerebral. By contrast, in Videodrome and again in
eXistenZ, Cronenberg has people plunging cassettes into the gaping
portals of their tummies, whereupon the illusion/reality fun really
begins. These films are hot, outrageous and, yet, cerebral too. Same
theme, very different approach. Egoyan, the smart immigrant, is
conforming within an artistic model; Cronenberg, the smart baby boomer,
is rebelling within a commercial model.
The rebellion would continue. Who’s more commercial than Stephen
King, yet, in The Dead Zone, Cronenberg redeemed the book with an
infusion of melancholy, even as he extracted from Christopher Walken
one of the few unmannered performances in his ultramannered career.
He did the same in The Fly, turning a safe remake into a lovely
mediation on his favourite subject – the monster within us all. In
1988, when the subject got embodied in the twin gynecologists of Dead
Ringers, he spurned his usual special effects without giving up an
ounce of menace – that film is both profoundly creepy and creepily
profound. And everyone who saw it agreed. With Dead Ringers, Cronenberg
had completed his own metamorphosis from schlockmeister to auteur –
he was now critically respectable.
Of course, over on the Egoyan side of the ledger, respectability
was never at issue, and it skyrocketed with his 1997 adaptation
of the Russell Banks novel, The Sweet Hereafter. Hollywood itself
paid homage to our artiste, awarding him Oscar nominations for both
directing and writing. Not that Egoyan dumbed down his aesthetic
principles. Quite the contrary. He took Banks’s tragedy – on the
death of children – and overlaid it with his trademark complexity,
keeping the survivors alienated and their understanding fragmentary.
The movie’s few detractors argued that, in so doing, he robbed the book
of its raw, incisive emotion. But his legion of admirers countered
that the emotion in any Egoyan film lies in precisely this lack of
incisiveness, that his work (like a Beckett play) triggers anxious
feelings all the more powerful because they can’t be traced to an
“understandable” source. Perhaps.
Over approximately the same period, Cronenberg was taking his
hard-earned reputation and rolling the dice with it, heading off on
his boldest tangent yet. After a bravely hallucinatory attempt to
adapt the unadaptable novel of his beloved Burroughs ( Naked Lunch),
followed by another tiptoe along the illusion/reality boundary ( M.
Butterfly), Cronenberg brought that tangent to an extraordinary
culmination in Crash (1996) – a movie so artfully unsettling that
even the deep thinkers at Cannes couldn’t decide what to make of it.
They settled on conferring a special prize for “audacity.” Others,
appalled by the unholy trinity mating cars to sex to violence, and
by the grisly congress of metal and flesh, reached out for blunter
adjectives. “Pornographic” got thrown around a lot – Cronenberg was
back where he began in Shivers.
Still, whatever you may think of Crash – I find it truly provocative
– this is hardly the labour of a guy resting on his laurels. Unlike
most American directors of his generation, Cronenberg has forged an
independence that he uses to continually take risks, which, more often
than not, pay off in unique and worthy pictures. Like Spider (2002),
a stark yet poignant trip into the divided mind of a schizophrenic,
one more embattled psyche where objective reality wages war with
subjective perception.
Meanwhile, Egoyan has been spinning his wheels of late. Felicia’s
Journey, another tale of imperilled innocence, seemed less a revisiting
than a rehashing of the topic. In Ararat, Egoyan returned to an Armenia
he explored earlier in his most affectingly personal film (1993’s
Calendar). Here, however, the historical canvas is too broad, the
subplots are awkward, and the ending suffers from a near-sentimental
leap into hopefulness.
Which brings us, finally, to the present, to TIFF and the kings’
pair of galas. Where the Truth Lies is a backstage whodunit, a murder
mystery involving a celebrated comedy team. A History of Violence
is a contemporary retelling of that old yarn where an ex-gunslinger,
buoyed by the love of a good woman, tries to go straight even as his
past catches up with him. Okay, but when it comes to smartening up
a dull genre pic, mining for merit in commercial pits, guess who has
the upper hand?
Don’t pick Egoyan. Despite operating with his fattest budget to
date, he badly miscasts a crucial role and, beneath the surface of
the whodunit, finds precious little substance to chew on, nothing
much to interest either him or us. Conversely, Cronenberg, casting
impeccably throughout, converts his gunslinger into yet another study
of the “beast within,” and the movie into a subtle essay on society’s
investment in that beast. Typically, Cronenberg refuses to lyricize
the violence – it’s dirty and brutal. But he’s equally unwilling to
simplify our reaction to violence, insisting that what we abhor we
also lionize, that the same bloody fist that is repellent in the back
alley can be sexy in the bedroom.
Yes, the sex. Compare what both directors do with it. Egoyan has
managed to earn his film an NC-17 rating (in the U.S.) for a sexual
encounter that doesn’t shock, or dismay, or even titillate, that
doesn’t really do anything except forward the plot. While dodging
the censor’s pencil, Cronenberg includes a sex scene that does shock,
that does dismay, and that, both during and in its aftermath, gives
the central theme a wickedly intelligent twist.
In that scene, Cronenberg finds the art that Egoyan holds sacred. And
he finds it for the very reason that nothing is entirely sacred to
him – even art, especially his art, must co-exist with the profane.
So all hail our reigning monarchs who, in their different ways, serve
us well. As to who has served better, I don’t know where that truth
lies – but I’m damn sure where my affection does.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Romania 3 Armenia 0
Sportinglife.com, UK
Sept 2 2005
A new era of Romanian football got off to a somewhat luke-warm start
on Wednesday as Victor Piturca’s much-changed side limped to a 3-0
win against Armenia.
Romania’s 2-0 defeat to Group One leaders Holland at the weekend
all but ended their hopes of qualifying for the World Cup in 2006,
leaving them six points behind their opponents and five adrift of
second-placed Czech Republic.
Piturca admitted after the game that his side seem destined to miss
out and called instead for a new era to begin against Armenia with
qualification to the 2008 European Championships as the ultimate goal.
Accordingly, only five of the side that lined up against the Dutch
were included in the starting eleven at the Gheorghe Hagi Stadium, but
fans looking for a revitalised performance were to leave frustrated.
Ovidiu Petre opened the scoring midway through the first half before
goals either side of the interval from Gheorghe Bucur ultimately
sealed things.
But the hosts were far from compelling in their performance, never
looking to be in complete control.
Armenia meanwhile, despite their defeat, can take satisfaction in
providing a distinctly more encouraging performance than the dire
display they offered in losing 2-1 to FYR Macedonia at the weekend.
The visitors’ defensive game-plan was clear from the outset, with
Edgar Manchurian providing their only real presence up front.
Unsurprisingly therefore, Romania were soon dominating possession
and went ahead after 29 minutes.
Gigel Coman was the architect, creating space down the left flank
before delivering a superb cross that Petre headed home from six yards.
Eleven minutes later and the game was effectively over.
Mihaita Plesan lofted a long ball to Dorinel Munteanu who in turn
nodded into the path of Bucur.
And the striker, in the team in place of Adrian Mutu, made no mistake,
firing home past Roman Berezovsky.
Bucur grabbed his second late on in a poor second period to add a
touch of gloss to the scoreline but Piturca can take heart – it was
the first time in 18 months that Romania have kept a clean sheet.

Sadgeh Hedayat’s Buried Alive
By Syma Sayyah, Tehran
Payvand, Iran
Sept 2 2005
Buried Alive is a famous short story by the 20th century Persian
writer Sadgeh Hedayat. In the story Hedayat recounts the diary of
the last days of a man who struggles with suicide. This story was
recently published in a new book by the Hedayat office.
In this book, there is the original Persian text, a translation to
Armenian by Mr. Khachik Khacher, who is a well known writer of short
stories in Armenian, and an English text. The English translation
is the work of Mr. Carter Bryant and was part of a collection titled
“The Blind Owl” published under the editorship of Dr. Michael Hillman
in the USA in 1978.
This book was launched publicly last week at a ceremony which
was attended by many well known scholars of Persian and Armenian
origin in a packed hall at the Artists Forum in Tehran. The program
started surprisingly promptly. First Mr. Jahangir Hedayat, the head
of the Hedayat Office in Tehran, made a short speech explaining
the event and the book. He then introduced and gave some background
information on Mr. Khacher the Armenian translator and the publishers
(the Varjavand Publishing House). He also pointed to the fact that
this is the second authentic book of stories of Sadegh Hedayat that
has been published recently by the Hedayat Office in Tehran using
the original manuscripts. The first one was “Three drops of blood”,
which was published by Nashreh Cheshmeh.
There has also been a book of Sadegh Hedayat pictures which have been
very well received by the public in Iran and abroad, and another book
of his paintings and drawings which is ready to be published. Mr.
Jahangir Hedayat’s easy narrative and pleasant soft voice made
everyone listen carefully to all the information and anecdotes. He
told the story of the “Buried alive” plot, the reasons why Hedayat.
had such a fondness for Armenians, the story of his friendship with
an Armenian painter and the fact that when he committed suicide in
Paris in 1951, by turning the gas on in his small flat, he had made
sure that he would be found by an Armenian couple he was very fond of.
Afterwards Mr. Kacher came to the podium and made a short speech during
which he thanked Mr. Amir Cheltann for his kindness and guidance when
translating the book.
We then were entertained by a short performance based on an extract
of the story wonderfully staged by a group of young actors under the
direction of the well known cinema and TV personality Mr. Seyrous
Ebrahim-Zadeh. It was indeed very well done! After a enjoying a drama
piece in Armenian, the ceremony came to a close and the guests could
buy the new book. Your place was indeed empty (we missed you)!
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Author Orhan Pamuk to face trial for “public denigration” of Turkish identity
IFEX, Canada (International Freedom of Expression eXchange)
Sept 2 2005
Country/Topic: Turkey
Date: 02 September 2005
Source: Writers in Prison Committee, International PEN
Person(s): Orhan Pamuk
Target(s): writer(s)
Type(s) of violation(s): legal action , charged
Urgency: Threat
(WiPC/IFEX) – International PEN greets with shock the news that the
world-famous Turkish writer, Orhan Pamuk, will be brought before an
Istanbul court on 16 December 2005 and that he faces up to three
years in prison for a comment published in a Swiss newspaper earlier
this year.
The charges stem from an interview given by Pamuk to the Swiss
newspaper “Das Magazin” on 6 February in which he is quoted as saying
that “thirty thousand Kurds and a million Armenians were killed in
these lands and nobody but me dares to talk about it.” Pamuk was
referring to the killings by Ottoman Empire forces of thousands of
Armenians in 1915-1917. Turkey does not contest the deaths, but
denies that it could be called a “genocide”. His reference to
“30,000” Kurdish deaths refers to those killed since 1984 in the
conflict between Turkish forces and Kurdish separatists. Debate on
these issues have been stifled by stringent laws, some leading to
lengthy lawsuits, fines and in some cases prison terms.
Article 301/1 of the Turkish Penal Code under which Pamuk will be
tried is a case in point. PEN sees it extraordinary that a state that
has ratified both the United Nations International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights, and the European Convention on Human Rights,
both of which see freedom of expression as central, should have a
Penal Code that includes a clause that is so clearly contrary to
these very same principles. To quote Article 301/1: A person who
explicitly insults being a Turk, the Republic or Turkish Grand
National Assembly, shall be imposed to a penalty of imprisonment for
a term of six months to three years. To compound matters, Article
301/3 states, Where insulting being a Turk is committed by a Turkish
citizen in a foreign country, the penalty to be imposed shall be
increased by one third. So, if Pamuk is found guilty, he faces an
additional penalty for having made the statement abroad.
International PEN International Secretary Joanne Leedom Ackerman
states that “International PEN is deeply concerned by the efforts of
the public prosecutor to punish and therefore curb the free
expression of Orhan Pamuk, not only in Turkey, but abroad.” She adds
that “It is a disturbing development when an official of the
government brings criminal charges against a writer for a statement
made in another country, a country where freedom of expression is
allowed and protected by law.”
The trial against Pamuk is likely to follow the pattern of those
against other writers, journalists and publishers similarly
prosecuted. Karin Clark, Chair of PEN’s WiPC, points out that “PEN
has for years been campaigning for an end to Turkish courts trying
and imprisoning writers, journalists and publishers under laws that
clearly breach international standards to the Turkish government
itself has pledged commitment.” Although the numbers of convictions
and prison sentences under laws that penalise free speech has
declined in the past decade, PEN currently has on its records over 50
writers, journalists and publishers before the courts. This is
despite a series of amendments to the Penal Code in recent years
which were aimed at meeting demands for human rights improvements as
a condition for opening talks into Turkey’s application for
membership of the European Union. The most recent changes were
enacted in June this year. Journalists in Turkey have staged protests
against the fact that there remain considerable problems in the
revised Penal Code. In April, International PEN joined its the
International Publisher’s Association in a statement to the United
Nations Commission on Human Rights which described the newly revised
Penal Code as “deeply flawed.”
Pamuk is one of Turkey’s most well known authors, whose works have
been published world-wide in over 20 languages. In 2003, he won the
International IMPAC award for “My Name is Red”. His 2004 novel “Snow”
has met with similar acclaim. His most recent book, “Istanbul”, is a
personal history of his native city.
In early 2005, news of the interview for which Pamuk will stand trial
led to protests and reports that copies of his books were burned. He
also suffered death threats from extremists. PEN members world-wide
then called on the Turkish government to condemn these attacks.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Send appeals to authorities:
– expressing concern that Pamuk is to be tried for a statement made
in an interview for an overseas publication
– pointing out that this is in direct contravention of the United
Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European
Convention on Human Rights, to which the Turkish government is a
signatory
– protesting the decision to bring Pamuk to trial
APPEALS TO:
Prime Minister Racep Tayyip Erdogan
TC Easbaskanlik
Ankara, Turkey
Fax: +90 312 417 0476
Cemil Cicek
Minister of Justice
TC Adalet Bakanligi
Ankara, Turkey
Fax: +90 312 417 3954
Similar appeals should be sent to the Turkish Embassy in your own
country.
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.