Manama: Amir of Bahrain receives letter from Kocharian

Amir receives letter from Armenian President

Bahrain News Agency
February 7, 2005 Monday 12:21 PM EST

Manama, February 07

The Amir, Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah received a letter
Monday from the Armenian President, Robert Kocharian.

The letter was delivered by the Armenian National Assmebly Speaker,
Arthur Baghdasaryan during his meeting with the Prime Minister,
Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenia`s FM felicitates Iranian counterpart on victory

Armenia`s FM felicitates Iranian counterpart on victory

IRNA, Iran
February 7, 2005 Monday 11:16 AM EST

Tehran, February 07 — Armenia`s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vartan
Oskanyan sent a message to his Iranian counterpart, Kamal Kharrazi,
felicitating him on the 26th victory anniversary of the Islamic
Revolution.

He said that continued cooperation between the two states` foreign
ministries based on mutual respect can serve to enhance Armenia-Iran
relations in various fields as well as promote their common interests.

Armenian President Robert Kocharian, Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan
had earlier congratulated the Iranian government, Majlis and nation
on the auspicious event.

Big bands make it a big day

The West Australian (Perth)
February 7, 2005 Monday
METRO

Big bands make it a big day

by SIMON COLLINS

Techno, hip-hop and good old rock’n’roll – there was something for
every one of the 36,000 music lovers

More than 36,000 fans rocked into Claremont Showground yesterday for
Perth’s sell-out instalment of the Big Day Out.

They flocked to hear a big range of acts from the hip-hop of Beastie
Boys, the Streets and Scribe, and techno of Chemical Brothers, to
straight-up rock’n’roll from Powderfinger, Spiderbait and the Donnas.

There was something for just about everyone – if you didn’t like the
Aussie hip-hop of Adelaide’s Hilltop Hoods, you could squeeze through
the huge crowd to catch almost veteran rockers Grinspoon.

Punters turned to one another to comment how much Melbourne act
Dallas Crane rocked on the green stage. Or agreed to disagree about
Leeds dance rock act The Music. Or asked the quickest way to the beer
ticket stall.

The Big Day Out is also the ultimate opportunity for self-expression,
with hairstyles designed to turn heads and shock mothers, or bodies
painted head-to-toe in blue paint.

Many simply declared their allegiance by wearing their favourite
band’s T-shirt, usually black.

One of the biggest acts were Iowa hardcore band Slipknot, whose
unrelenting barrage of drums, guitars and guttural roars nearly shook
the Showground into rubble.

The nine-piece act took the stage in their trademark fright-masks,
welcomed by their legion of fans whom the band refer to as Maggots.

Based on the tried and true method of determining a band’s popularity
by the number of T-shirts worn by punters, Slipknot seemed streets
ahead – and the screams of the Maggots confirmed it.

Slipknot and Armenian-American hard rockers System of a Down
delivered the most intense effort segment of the day, prompting mass
moshing and headbanging.

Stage announcers asked for calm in the crowd as the testosterone
flowed as thick and mean as the dense noise.

Decked out in matching Aussie green-and-gold tracksuits,
forty-something rap veterans Beastie Boys busted out some fly hip-hop
jams – that means they were good – to complete 11 hours of action on
the main stages.

There were seven stages in all, including the Local Produce stage
where Screwtop Detonators rocked as if their lives depended on it.

Ten Perth bands performed on this comparatively tiny stage, nestled
in a nook of the venue between the bastion of dance music, the Boiler
Room, and the smaller green and essential stages.

Many local acts have moved beyond this stage in their careers, with
Eskimo Joe and the John Butler Trio earning their spots in the main
arena, while Little Birdy followed Jebediah on the back stages.

And if you felt overwhelmed by the musical smorgasbord, you could
take it easy in a chill-out tent.

GRAPHIC: Home-grown talent: Local boy made good John Butler shows how
his trio earned a spot in the main arena of the Big Day Out.
Pictures: Lee Griffiths.; Fun in the sun: Zeb Hollingsworth and Ashar
Lumsdaine enjoy their big day out at Claremont Showground.;
Rock’n’roll: Powderfinger delivered lashings of straight-up
rock’n’roll.; Surf’s up: Some of the more adventurous fans had a go
at crowd surfing, seen here during Grinspoon’s performance.

BAKU: Azerbaijani president describes Turkey as “closest ally”

Azerbaijani president describes Turkey as “closest ally”

Anatolia news agency, Ankara
7 Feb 05

Baku, 7 February: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has stated that Turkey
and Azerbaijan are the closest allies of each other. “Turkey has always stood
by Azerbaijan,” said Aliyev.

Aliyev hosted Turkish Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc and his delegation at
the Presidential Palace.

In a speech delivered at the palace, Aliyev stressed that relations in all
areas are developing rapidly between Turkey and Azerbaijan. “It is pleasing to
see the developments between our two countries in the areas of economy and
politics. The Turkish investments in Azerbaijan are very prominent for the future
of Azerbaijan,” told Aliyev.

According to Aliyev, Turkey stands by Azerbaijan in the issue of Upper
Karabakh. “We always feel Turkey’s support to Azerbaijan,” expressed Aliyev.

Aliyev thanked Arinc for Turkey’s support that led to the adoption of a
decision by the European Council that describes Armenia’s actions in Karabakh as
“an occupation of Azeri territory”. Aliyev indicated that the understanding of
“one nation, two governments” will always exist between Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Arinc expressed a desire to see the end of Armenian occupation of Karabakh.
“We want the Armenian occupation to end soon and no longer wish to see tyranny
in Karabakh,” said Arinc.

Aliyev will host a dinner tonight in honour of Arinc and his delegation.

Classical Music: Diary

CLASSICAL MUSIC: DIARY

The Independent – United Kingdom
Feb 07, 2005

Michael Church

V “I didn’t try to make it; it came from inside me,” says Sir John
Tavener of his The Veil of the Temple, designed to last from dusk
till dawn in church and 150-minutes long on the new RCA Red Seal/Sony
CD released next Monday. Starting with Sufism and ending among the
Hindus, it reveals the Blessed John in unprecedentedly ecumenical
form, but I’m reassured to find his prejudices still intact. When
I ask what he means by this being “an attempt to restore the sacred
imagination”, he replies: “It’s about a dimension in art which has
got totally lost. When humanism came in with late Beethoven, art
for art’s sake became the goal, leading to things like the artist
currently exhibiting his own excrement in the Tate.”

V Who is Armenia’s greatest composer? Not Khachaturian, despite the
Soviets’ relentless promotion of Spartacus. Few outside Armenia may
have heard of Solomon Solomonian, but his fate encapsulates that
of his country, and his compositions have a uniquely compelling
force. In 1915, with 700 other Armenian intellectuals, he was seized
and tortured by the Turks; he escaped, but went mad, and he died
in a Paris asylum. He’s the subject of a suitably left-field film
at the London Armenian Film Festival, which opens on Friday at the
Institut Francais.

V The Takacs Quartet’s recordings of Beethoven’s string quartets
are being justly acclaimed, but readers of the liner notes may
wonder why none of the players is called Takacs. The ghost is Gabor
Takacs-Nagy, who co-founded the quartet, but left and now leads his
equally acclaimed Takacs Piano Trio. But it’s a shame Decca should
be so economical with the truth.

Armenian defence minister goes to Tehran for talks with Iranian lead

Armenian defence minister goes to Tehran for talks with Iranian leaders

Noyan Tapan news agency
7 Feb 05

Yerevan, 7 February: A delegation led by the secretary of the Security
Council of the Armenian president and Armenian defence minister,
Serzh Sarkisyan, left for Iran on 7 February at the invitation of
the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of the Islamic
Republic of Iran, Hasan Rowhani.

Within the framework of the visit, the members of the Armenian
delegation will meet the head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry
department for CIS countries, Mehdi Safari, and the former Iranian
ambassador to Armenia, Farhad Koleyni, the press secretary of the
Armenian Defence Ministry, Col Seyran Shakhsuvaryan, told Noyan Tapan
news agency.

On the morning of 8 February, the Armenian delegation will visit
the Sa’adabad complex where they will meet the secretary of the
Supreme National Security Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran,
Hasan Rowhani. After that, they will meet Iranian President Mohammad
Khatami and the chairman of the Iranian Expediency Council, Akbar
Hashemi-Rafsanjani.

On the same day, the delegation will visit Tehran’s Armenian eparchy
and the Armenian embassy in Tehran.

The delegation will return to Yerevan on 9 February.

Armenian president goes on short break

Armenian president goes on short break

Mediamax news agency
7 Feb 05

Yerevan, 7 February: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan went on a
short break on 7 February which he will spend on the territory of
the republic, the presidential press service told Mediamax news agency.

Usually Robert Kocharyan spends his winter holidays in the skiing
resort of Tsakhkadzor [near Yerevan].

Armenia-Lada president killed in Tolyatti Russian town

PanArmenian News
Feb 7 2005

ARMENIA-LADA PRESIDENT KILLED IN TOLYATTI RUSSIAN TOWN

07.02.2005 17:10

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia-Lada Company President Rafael Shahmuradian
was killed in the Russian town of Tolyatti. Let us remind that his
life was once attempted on May 24 night last year. At that time saved
by a miracle Shahmuradian stated he has grave suspicions that his
murder was ordered by Armenian Minister of Transport and
Communications, Armenia-Lada stockholder Andranik Manukian.

Lack of trust between Armenians,Azeris may lead to instability – OSC

Lack of trust between Armenians, Azeris may lead to instability – OSCE mission

Mediamax news agency
7 Feb 05

Yerevan, 7 February: The OSCE factfinding mission has completed its
work in all seven districts which are controlled by the Nagornyy
Karabakh defence army and make up the republic’s security zone.

A Mediamax correspondent reports from Stepanakert [Xankandi] that
[Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group] Yuriy Merzlyakov,
[French co-chairman] Bernard Fassier and the special representative
of the OSCE chairman-in-office, Andrzej Kasprzyk, met refugees from
Azerbaijan in the Karabakh capital on 6 February.

Touching on the refugees’ return to their homes, Yuriy Merzlyakov said
this would be possible when all the necessary conditions are met,
including security guarantees and the creation of an atmosphere of
trust between the Azerbaijani and Armenian peoples.

Citing his own experience in Georgia and the Balkans, Bernard Fassier
said if these conditions were ignored, it could lead to further
instability in the conflict zone.

Members of the mission are expected to prepare a report for the
co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group within one or two weeks.

The mission left Stepanakert for Yerevan today.

Azeri parliamentarians going to raise issue of”Armenian Occupation p

PanArmenian News
Feb 7 2005

AZERI PARLIAMENTARIANS GOING TO RAISE ISSUE OF “ARMENIAN OCCUPATION
POLICY” AT OSCE PA WINTER SESSION

07.02.2005 16:28

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Azeri parliamentarians are going to raise the
issue of the “occupation policy of Armenia” at the winter session of
the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to be held February 23-24 in Vienna,
head of the Azerbaijani delegation to OSCE PA Sattar Safarov stated.
The Azeri parliamentarians are to address the Political, Economic and
Humanitarian Commissions on account of “the occupation by Armenia of
the Azeri lands as result of which about 1 million refugees live in
miserable conditions”. “Differently from the Council of Europe, the
decisions in the OSCE are taken on consensual basis exclusively.
Nevertheless the Azeri deputies will put forth efforts to make
Armenia’s occupation policy clear to the international community”, S.
Safarov stated.