Russia, Turkey Weave Closer Economic Ties

By SUZAN FRASER
.c The Associated Press

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – Historic rivals Turkey and Russia have spent
centuries vying for influence in central Asia, the Balkans and the
Caucasus. Most recently, they bickered over routes to carry energy
resources to world markets and traded accusations that each supports
the other’s militant groups.

But underneath that antagonism, the two have quietly woven a web of
economic ties and are eyeing even closer cooperation.

The process will receive an official consecration on Sunday, when
Russian President Vladimir Putin travels to Ankara in a visit rich in
symbolism. Putin will be the first Russian leader ever to pay an
official visit to Turkey.

The Russian leader is to meet Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and oversee the signing of six
cooperation agreements, including defense, finance and energy accords.

The two-day visit “will be a new boost for Turkish-Russian
relations,” Sezer spokesman Sermet Atacanli said Friday.

Turkey and Russia have been rivals for centuries.

At the height of their powers, the Ottoman empire and Czarist Russia
were locked in a struggle for regional supremacy. Friction between the
two precipitated the Crimean War and they were on opposite sides of
World War I. More recently, Turkey was NATO’s easternmost front during
the Cold War.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Turkey and Russia competed for
control in Central Asia and the Caucasus, where Turkic states gained
independence. Economically more powerful, Russia has in recent years
maintained its dominance in the region.

But since the end of the Cold War, Turkey and Russia have also been
concentrating on trade. Today, Russia is Turkey’s second largest
trading partner, after Germany. Turkey is a major consumer of Russian
natural gas, and Turkey’s Mediterranean coast is a favorite
destination for Russian tourists.

Bilateral trade is expected to exceed a targeted $10 billion this year
– an amount Turkish officials say no one would have dreamed of 10
years ago. Turkey’s Trade Minister Kursad Tuzmen said trade will
reach $15 billion in coming years.

A 278-mile pipeline that carries the Russian gas beneath the Black Sea
has been operational since 2002. Turkish companies are active in
Russia in retail, construction and brewing, and investment to date
totals $2 billion.

“It is no longer rivalries, but cooperation which dominates
relations,” said Sinan Ogan, a researcher and Russia expert.

Putin’s trip, originally scheduled for September, was postponed after
the Beslan school tragedy in which more than 330 people were killed in
a siege that Chechen rebels claimed responsibility for.

The Chechnya conflict is expected to feature high on the agenda during
Putin’s two-day visit. Many Turks trace their ancestry to Chechnya and
other parts of the Caucausus, and Turks sympathize with their fellow
Muslims in the war-ravaged Russian region.

Russia has called on Turkey to crack down on Turkish charities that it
claims channel funds and weapons to Chechen rebels. Earlier this
month, Russian officials said their forces in Chechnya killed two
Turkish militants who were fighting alongside Chechen separatists.

On Friday, Turkish authorities apprehended 10 suspected Chechen
militants and two pro-Chechen Turks in an apparent gesture to Putin.

“Russia’s greatest concern is the support from certain Chechen civil
organizations inside Turkey to Chechen terrorist movements,” said
Seyfi Tashan, director of the Ankara-based Foreign Policy Institute.

Turkey has in the past accused Russia of supporting Kurdish rebels who
have waged a war for autonomy in Turkey’s southeast since 1984. The
war has killed some 37,000 people.

Putin and Erdogan are also expected to discuss contentious issues such
as the Caucasus, where Turkey is allied with Azerbaijan and Russia is
friendly with its rival, Armenia.

12/04/04 03:05 EST

134 nations drop death penalty; 62 still have it

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 3 (Reuters) – A total of 134 countries have given
up capital punishment, 10 more than had done so at the start of 2003,
a campaigner against capital punishment reported on Friday.

Of the total, 81 have abolished the death penalty completely, 14 have
abolished it for ordinary crimes, one — Russia — has pledged to
abolish it, and six are observing moratoriums, the Rome-based
organization Hands Off Cain said.

Another 32 countries allow capital punishment but have in effect
abolished it by not carrying out an execution for at least the past 10
years, the group said.

Since the start of 2003, Benin, Ghana, Malawi and Morocco had in
effect abolished the practice by not executing anyone for at least 10
years while Kazakhstan and Tajikistan had put in place a legal
moratorium on the practice, it said.

Another four countries — Bhutan, Samoa, Bosnia and Armenia — either
abolished the death penalty or tightened an existing partial ban since
the start of last year, the group reported at a presentation at
U.N. headquarters.

In all, 62 countries retain the death penalty and in 2003 put to death
at least 5,523 individuals, the group said.

One country alone, China, executed at least 5,000 people last year
while Iran put to death at least 154 and Iraq had executed at least
113 people by April 9, 2003, when the U.S.-led occupation suspended
the death penalty, it said.

12/03/04 18:56 ET

Animal diseases hamper Turkey’s EU bid -study

By Anna Mudeva

AMSTERDAM, Dec 3 (Reuters) – Strengthening Turkey’s porous south and
eastern borders to prevent animal diseases from spreading in Europe is
a key challenge in preparing the country’s agriculture for EU
membership, a report said on Friday.

The report, by an international group of agriculture economists,
assumes Turkey joins the EU in 2015 but says the country will need
more time to attain food safety standards that would allow it to be
part of a single market for animal products.

The risk of disease outbreaks in the EU might increase and food safety
and quality might be diluted by embracing a country with a poor record
in these areas, unless effective border controls were in place from
the moment of accession, the report said.

“Some highly infectious animal diseases that have been virtually
eradicated in western and northern Europe remain endemic in Turkey,”
said the report presented by the Dutch Wageningen University, which
was the lead researcher.

“The situation is complicated by the fragmentation of the livestock
sector, Turkey’s geographical location and its porous borders to the
south and east,” said the report, which focuses on the impact of
Turkish EU membership on agriculture.

Turkey, which borders Syria, Iraq, Iran and Armenia to the south and
the east, hopes EU leaders will agree at a summit on Dec. 17 to open
entry talks in 2005 and eventually join the current 25-member bloc.

The EU has said that agriculture, accounting for half Turkey’s
territory and employing a third of its workforce, will be a key issue
in its preparations for accession.

Friday’s report said highly infectious diseases including
foot-and-mouth and sheep and goat pox had occurred in Turkey virtually
each year since 1996. The country was also prone to outbreaks of
anthrax and brucellosis, it said.

Economic and political turmoil in the Middle East over the past decade
has caused an extension of animal disease epidemics in the region,
posing threats to Europe.

The report said Ankara had shown progress in harmonising veterinary
legislation with EU standards but added the infrastructure,
administrative capacity and commitment needed for effective law
enforcement and border control remained weak.

“Even with effective implementation of the acquis (EU’s set of laws),
it will be many years before Turkey reaches full disease-free status
for all the most infectious diseases,” the report concluded.

“The greatest challenge for Turkey does not, however, concern
policies. It is in fact to develop…effective control of external
borders by the time of accession.”

It estimated that EU budget payments to Turkey under structural
policies, including agriculture, would be between 9.5 billion and 16.6
billion euros in 2015, while Turkey’s budget contribution would be 5.4
billion euros.

Turkey, which would add more than 80 million consumers to the EU-25’s
total of 452 million, has been seeking membership since 1963.

12/03/04 08:42 ET

Karabakh ex-defence chief urges higher military preparedness

Arminfo
3 Dec 04

YEREVAN

The defence ministry of Nagornyy Karabakh should be working flat out
in order to carry out a worthy counter-strike if necessary, the former
commander of the defence army of [Azerbaijan’s breakaway] Nagornyy
Karabakh Republic, Lt-Gen Samvel Babayan, has told Iravunk newspaper.

The defence ministry of Nagornyy Karabakh should do its utmost to make
the enemy behave reservedly and give up its attempts to speak from the
position of force, he said. If the defence ministry of Nagornyy
Karabakh is able to ensure that, everything will move to the area of
politics. In separate cases, it is necessary to show society the real
capabilities of the defence ministry, not to wait for a war and
thousands of casualties and only then, to prove its ability to carry
out counter-strikes.

“We managed to end the war without the intervention of a third force
and should therefore manage to prevent it from resuming without a
third force,” Babayan stressed.

Armenianow.com
3 Dec 2004
;id= 349

Reality Bites: Financing food eats away at an Armenian in America

By Julia Hakobyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter

My first lunch in the United States was the beginning of four weeks study of
whether Americans enjoy American food.
After my stay the question remains unanswered. But it took only one meal to
figure out this: Eating out would leave me both hungry and broke.
Food in America always looks perfect. It does not taste perfect. The price
is far from perfect!
Hunger and the desire to try the nice-looking things in nice plastic plates
in the Duke University cafeteria prevailed over the thrift of an Armenian
woman and my first meal was a lettuce salad with tomatoes, and turkey
sandwich. The salad portion was impressively large and I asked if I can have
the small one.
“This one is small. That’s the big one,” the cook said pointing to a forest
of salad that could satisfy at least two hungry Armenian men’s bellies.
Another truth learned: American food is always in huge portions.

The price for a “small” salad and sandwich with no smell and no taste? $15.
Do you know how much lettuce, tomato, bread, turkey, I could buy in Yerevan
for 7,500 drams?
More surprises awaited when I made my first trip to a market. And “trip” is
exactly what it was. From my Yerevan apartment I need only to walk outside
to find the street filled with food merchants. In Durham, North Carolina,
the nearest market to me was 15 minutes by car.
As soon as I entered the shop I realized that probably two hours are not
enough to go through the store.
The fruits and vegetables of all sorts, size, and colors available on the
planet Earth could be found at that store, which later I found out was one
of the smallest markets in Durham.
It took me 10 minutes to choose bread among dozens and another 10 minutes
for buying tomatoes and apples. When I was going to buy more I saw my German
colleague.
“Don’t buy much,” she said. “I saw the rest of our guys and they are not
happy with that food either. We want to find out where we can buy the real
food.”
“The real?” I asked confusingly. “What’s wrong with this food?”
“Have not you realized that this food,” she claimed showing at the loaf of
bread “is not of good quality. It is genetically modified.”
I vaguely recalled reports of the Euro News we watched in Yerevan about the
efforts of the EU to reduce the genetically modified product on the European
market.
I put the bread back.
“We now are going to find a whole food store, where we can buy organic
food,” she said and seeing that I did not get the meaning of “organic”
added: “The vegetables and fruits that come from farms.”
I looked at the beautiful apples and peaches around. They looked very real.
Maybe too perfect, but still real.
I did not ask my German friend where these fruits come from, but just
imagined hothouses resembling hives but with robots instead of bees pouring
the fruits which grow without sun light in plastic boxes with genetic
additives instead of water.
I joined the group in seeking out organic food. On the way to the market the
Europeans were complaining of American fast food and that the government
does not care that many Americans become fat because of that food.
“I thought Americans are fat because all the time they eat snacks and
chips,” I said.
“No, the truth is that they eat snacks and chips which are made of
genetically modified corn and potatoes,” I was told.
After an hour of driving we finally found a market which was called, just
like I heard: “Whole Food”
When I entered the market, I had a feeling of being in Armenia, at the Pak
Shuka of Yerevan.
The foodstuff looked very natural. As proof that these vegetables and fruits
grew from the earth, there was soil on them.
What I saw next, was nothing like the Prospect market: Three potatoes were
priced at $1.88! One loaf of bread, $7!
As I had left my bread in the genetically modified market I took a loaf of
“organic” bread. Also three potatoes, two cucumbers, greens, cheese, and
paprika and later hardly restrained myself from taking them back to the
counter when I was told to pay $16!!!!
My group was waiting for me outside and each had at least 20 paper bags of
foodstuff. They looked at my only bag with surprise and asked why I bought
so little.
“I did not buy more because it was very expensive for me,” I answered,
unhappy.
“Is food in Armenia less expensive?” they asked me.
“Compared to the prices in the whole market, it is free.”
“So, probably your food too is badly genetically modified?”
“Look,” I said, “The Armenian farmers even don’t know what it is. They have
no money to buy the chemical fertilizers and the only thing they use to make
trees grow better is dung, which they have for free.”
The group was very intrigued with the truth about Armenian vegetables and
started asking questions about Armenian markets, about prices and Armenian
cuisine.
“You stated that potato was incredibly expensive,” a German reporter said as
if he set up a hypothesis. “So, how many potatoes you will buy in Armenia,
let’s say for…hmm. two dollars?”
The group eagerly awaited my answer.
I could lie to them, saying that I can buy twenty kilos. But we all were
reporters and as you know reporters do not lie, at least to each other.
Besides some of them could come Yerevan some day and see the reality.
So, I decided to tell them the truth.
“Ten kilos”
At one moment Armenia turned from the developing poor country with unclear
media landscape into a country of their dream.
The stories of the fertile Armenian land bewitched my colleagues, the group
of people from megalopolitans, some of whom believed that the diary products
are being produced in the markets.
I told them that the apricots in Armenia are as sweet as honey, that we can
drive for 15 minutes from the downtown of the city to reach the nearest
village, where we can see the real fruits on real trees.
I said that all people in Armenia have at least 10 relatives in villages and
that in summer we often go to visit them and can gather the organic harvest
ourselves.
I told that Armenian wine “Areni” for $4 is no worse that the French
Bordeaux for $40 and that for $4 you can buy so much fruit in summer that
you hardly can carry it.
When I came back to Yerevan the first story I told to my colleagues in our
newsroom was the story of the “whole” food. However one of my colleagues was
not impressed with the story of American potato and said that in Armenia the
potato is also genetically modified.
“How is possible that Armenian farmers get the genetically modified seeds?”
I asked.
“Americans brought them within the framework of humanitarian aid,” she said.
The next day I bought a kilo of potatoes. For 20 cents.
I don’t know where that potato came from, if it grew from American seeds or
not.
But it was very good. It smelled like potato and tasted like potato. Very
real. Very organic. Like potato for $1.88 from the Whole Food Market of
Durham.

Armenianow.com
3 Dec 2004
;id= 341

Hidden Danger: Armenian border territory holds 100,000 landmines

By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow Reporter

“For minesweepers wars never end, they keep silent, while mines continue to
speak,” says sapper Henrik Abajyan.
Abajyan knows what mines can do. In 1998 in the Tavush village of Hartashen,
pigs were killed by mines and when the caretaker went to check, he became
the next victim.
Later, when Abajyan went to the same location, he hit a mine.
“I lost one leg and half of the other,” Abajyan says. “There was a man from
Kapan with me in hospital, he had also lost his leg from a mine planting in
his garden.”

300 hectares have been cleared, but 100,000 landmines remain in Armenia
According to the Humanitarian Demining Center of the Ministry of Defense,
11,108 hectares of borderline territories are mined in Armenia today,
totaling some 100,000 mines. The mined territories adjacent to the
Armenian-Azeri border include the regions of Tavush, Syunik, Ararat and
Vayk.
Issues related to landmines were discussed this week during a roundtable
presented by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Becky Thomson, an
ICRC consultant for mines in the Caucasus region, said that the impact of
mines on human life is great, especially in rural communities, where
villagers, their cattle and agricultural equipment often become victims.
“People needn’t be taught how mines look, they never see them,” Thomson
said. “Mines are buried under the ground or lie invisible on the ground.
People walking usually look ahead and not down. In mined territories, when
people start avoiding a path, the grass there grows higher, bones of wild
animals are seen. All this needs to be seen, these are signs of hidden
mines. All too often these territories are not marked with special signs.”
Alvard Saribekyan, 35, from the village of Yeraskh lost a cow to a landmine.
“It was the only cow maintaining our family. Only pieces remained of it, and
those were pieces that were impossible to sell,” says Saribekyan.
According to data of the Humanitarian Demining Center, 328 people suffered
from mines in Armenia in the period of 1993-2000 (150 people become victims
of mines in Afghanistan every month, 80-100 in Angola, 40-60 in Cambodia).
Mines mainly take their toll in autumn, especially among hunters and
villagers going for firewood, and also in spring when the sowing campaign
begins.
In 1997, 123 countries joined the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel
mines. These states are obliged not to produce, use or store land
anti-personnel mines. Within four years they must destroy the stored mines
and demine their own territories by 2009.
According to Thomson, as of 2003, 31 million anti-personnel mines have been
cleared, however 200 million mines are still kept in countries – including
Armenia – that did not sign the Ottawa Convention.
Abajyan says 300 hectares have been cleared of mines in Armenia over the
last two years. According to the estimation of the demining center, there
are 10-11,000 dangerously explosive mines in Armenia today.

Armenianow.com
3 Dec 2004
;id= 342

Return Journey: Refugees from Turkmenistan struggle to adjust to Armenia

By Arpi Harutyunyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter

Most of a group of 205 Armenians who were airlifted to Armenia from
Turkmenistan have returned to that country.
The group were flown to the republic over the past two years ago with the
help of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) following a
crackdown on illegal migrants by the Turkmen authorities.
Rubik Zohrabyan, 52, from Goris, is one of the few who has not gone back to
live in Turkmenistan. He does not even want to remember recent times, though
his living conditions have been satisfactory. As he says, he has been doing
every job except crime in Turkmenistan: he has been a carrier, a driver, a
shoemaker, a trader, a cook.but he has not complained because he earned
enough money.
“Life is easy there, whoever wants to work can find it. We had gas, light,
water, the transport is free of charge.Nobody bothers us. I was happy in
that country,” says Zohrabyan.
He left Goris aged 26 because he realized he could earn more money in
Turkmenistan and traveled there with his wife to work with his uncle because
he was unable to provide for his family in his motherland. He settled there
and the couple had two sons.

Only a few of the Armenians from Turkmenistan remain in Armenia
But during the last few years life for Armenians in Turkmenistan became more
difficult because of their lack of citizenship.
“For several years there have been checks at people’s homes to find those
without citizenship. My house had two doors, so that we could leave through
one of them when the police approached. If we had been caught, we would have
had either to serve three years in prison or pay $5,000,” explains
Zohrabyan.
Earlier this year, he returned to Goris thanks to the International
Organization of Migration and his family will also be back soon. They want
to sell their property in Turkmenistan and resettle in Armenia.
“There is no way back, and I am glad. For the last 15 years I have slept and
woke up with the idea of coming back to Armenia in my mind. My heart has
always been here, in Turkmenistan I lived only physically. I am now in my
motherland: I don’t need anything else,” says Zohrabyan.
He says that one of the reasons he doesn’t want to leave Goris is that he
has got a job there and can provide for his family. He works as a locksmith
at a hydro-electric station.
In contrast to Zohrabyan, others feel sad that they have come back to
Armenia without preparing for the life that awaited them. They mostly live
in poverty: few have found jobs in Goris and the money they brought back
with them has finished.
“You know, I wouldn’t have thought I would face such problems: we don’t work
for already 7-8 months, we buy everything on credit,” says Nvard
Hakhverdyan. “I just wonder how we are going to pay back our debts. Whatever
money we brought we spent in a month or two. We would rather go on living in
fear than think every morning that the children are hungry.”
Nvard’s two children were born in the city of Mari in Turkmenistan. They
lived there for 6 years from 1998 to 2004. Her husband, 38-year-old Vahan
Melkumyan, was a small trader who says that $100-150 dollars a month was
enough to provide for a family of four.
This year Vahan’s family returned to Armenia.
“We were romantic to think we were coming to our homeland to help build it.
But now all that seems funny, when we realize that you do not exist for your
state. No one will pay attention even to those dying of hunger,” says
Hakhverdyan.
It is already 10 months that Nvard and Vahan quarrel every single day. The
husband blames the wife for making him return to Goris and finding
themselves in poverty as a result.
According to the IOM, more than 20,000 Armenians live in the Turkmen cities
of Ashgabad and Mari. The majority are illegal migrants without
registration, who therefore have a status of temporary dwellers. They will
live until they are expelled or return of their own accord.
In 2002 upon the initiative of the IOM and the Embassy of Armenia in
Turkmenistan 113 people were returned to Armenia. A second repatriation took
place in January 2004, when 92 people returned to Armenia.
“We were aware there are many Armenians in Turkmenistan who wanted and
needed to come back to Armenia. We addressed the Embassies of Turkmenistan
and Armenia and got support,” explains IOM Program Officer Ovsanna Babayan.
“Then we asked for financial support from the governments of the Netherlands
and Great Britain. As a result 205 Armenians returned home for free.”
The majority of those who returned to Armenia are dwellers of Goris, the
second largest city in Syunik marz after Kapan. According to the
municipality, the population of the city is 23,500, although local people
insist that many left for abroad even though they remain registered in
Goris.
Babayan explains that once a chain migration began from Goris to
Turkmenistan, people began to follow their relatives there one after
another.
“The mentality in the Goris area is such that as soon as one leaves for a
country others follow him. In this case, it was Turkmenistan,” says Nelson
Voskanyan, the Mayor of Goris. “However, the migration from Goris to
Turkmenistan occurred mainly before the 1980s. There isn’t any more. The
municipality does not keep information about the numbers of emigrants and
repatriates.”
Many of the Goris people met by ArmeniaNow had left Armenia for Turkmenistan
in the1990s. The main reason was the social crisis that existed in all the
cities and villages of Armenia after the collapse of the USSR, as well as
the Artsakh war. Goris was no exception and, since hardly a single resident
of the city did not have a relative in Turkmenistan, many left for that
country.
The family of 38-year-old Karmen Ishkhanyan left in 1992. It was the hottest
period of the war and their apartment block had suffered from shelling by
Azerbaijani forces. Besides, the children were young and they needed
care,something Karmen’s husband Haykaz Hakobyan couldn’t afford.
“During the war, three or four shells fell only on our building. Together
with the neighbors we moved to the basement to be a little bit safer.
Besides, we didn’t have any means of earning a living and my son decided to
move to Turkmenistan to make money,” recalls his mother, 68-year-old Genofya
Melkonyan.
Haykaz and Karmen took their youngest son aged only a few months with them
to Turkmenistan, leaving their two four and five-year old daughters with the
grandmother. They lived there for 10 years.
“We were well-off in Turkmenistan, I had no complaints. My husband used to
repair cars and managed to provide both for us and the family in Goris. But
we couldn’t stay there anymore because we did not have registration” says
Ishkanyan.
They returned to Goris in 2002, but they already think about going back and
are sorry they left their life there.
“Life is boring here. We have become old during these two years. It’s
abnormal, but at this age already we live in memories. We will likely move
there again. It’s ok if we live on the run, in exchange we will have the
means to live,” says Ishkanyan.
Her words anger the grandfather of the family, 70-year-old Henrik Hakobyan.
Of course, he realizes that his son cannot earn enough money in Goris but he
does not want to hear about them going back.
“I have five sons, three of whom are not in Armenia. I haven’t seen my
middle son for 14 years, and I don’t know my grandchildren. If this son
leaves again, I will not be able to stand missing them. But there is no
other way. I don’t know.”
Of the 20 families returned from Turkmenistan, ArmeniaNow managed to find
only five. Others have left for Turkmenistan again, driven in many cases by
the same reasons – unemployment which means an inability to provide the
families.

Agence France Presse
3 décembre 2004 vendredi 3:17 AM GMT

Les nouveaux riches rachètent à haut prix l’art russe parti à l’Ouest

LONDRES 3 déc

Nouveaux riches et marchands d’art de Russie ont montré leur pouvoir
d’achat illimité et leur désir de reprendre possession de leur
patrimoine lors d’une série de ventes exceptionnelles de tableaux et
objets d’art russes cette semaine à Londres, qui ont affiché
plusieurs records.

Ouverte mardi avec des enchères chez MacDougall’s et Christie’s,
suivies de ventes chez Sotheby’s, la “semaine russe” à Londres devait
s’achever vendredi avec une vente de vins de Crimée qui ont appartenu
jadis aux Tsars.

Réceptions, vernissages et razzias dans les boutiques de luxe ont
rythmé la semaine.

Dans les couloirs de Sotheby’s, située dans l’artère du luxe de New
Bond Street, tout le monde parle russe. Des tableaux de peintres
russes de toutes époques sont accrochés aux murs tapissés de rouge de
la salle des ventes.

Des beautés slaves longilignes aux longs cheveux blonds, en manteaux
de fourrure, notent avec leur stylo Montblanc les enchères des pièces
d’argenterie, émaux et porcelaines. Leurs maris, jeunes et trapus, en
col roulé et vestes de cuir, passent leurs ordres, le téléphone
portable vissé à l’oreille.

“J’ai acheté un tableau d’Ivan Aivazovski. Je le collectionne depuis
vingt-cinq ans. Je vais partout pour l’acheter. Mais les Russes et
les Arméniens adorent ce peintre et, comme ils font fortune partout
dans le monde, les prix ont été multipliés par dix ces dernières
années”, explique un collectionneur de 49 ans venu spécialement de
New York.

Plusieurs tableaux de ce peintre spécialisé dans les marines se sont
classés dans les dix meilleures ventes de Sotheby’s comme de
Christie’s. L’un d’eux, “St Isaac on a frosty day” s’est adjugé à 1,6
million d’euros, un record.

“J’ai aussi acheté un service de Fabergé (joaillier fournisseur des
familles royales). Ce n’était pas prévu, mais il a plu à ma femme”,
explique le même collectionneur, dont les arrière-arrières
grands-parents ont quitté l’Arménie en 1915, pour échapper aux
massacres. Comme la plupart des acheteurs, il tient à son anonymat.

L’envolée récente des prix a encouragé Christie’s à se développer sur
le marché de l’art russe, jusqu’ici dominé par Sotheby’s. Une
nouvelle maison spécialisée, MacDougall’s, a organisé sa première
vente, espérant profiter de l’essor du marché à Londres.

“Les émigrants russes après la révolution de 1917 parlaient français
et se sont installés en France. Aujourd’hui les Russes parlent
anglais et viennent en Grande-Bretagne faire leur shopping et y faire
éduquer leurs enfants dans les pensionnats privés anglais”, explique
William MacDougall.

“Ils sont venus pour acheter de quoi décorer leurs maisons à Moscou,
à Londres ou dans le sud de la France”, explique cet ancien
gestionnaire de fonds de la City, qui a ouvert sa maison de vente
avec sa femme russe, Catherine.

Londres est un refuge prisé des “oligarques”, milliardaires récents à
la réputation sulfureuse, à l’instar du magnat du pétrole Roman
Abramovitch ou de Boris Berezovski, recherché par Moscou, qui a
obtenu l’asile politique en Grande-Bretagne.

“Les nouveaux riches ont des moyens illimités et des connaissances en
art limitées, ils achètent au plus cher pour impressionner leurs
amis. Lors des enchères les plus élevées, il y avait des
applaudissements dans la salle”, explique à l’AFP le prince Nikita
Lobanov-Rostovsky, dont la collection d’art russe est très renommée.

Beaucoup des oeuvres en vente étaient parties en Occident lorsque
l’aristocratie russe a émigré après la révolution de 1917.

“Ils redécouvrent leur patrimoine et ont maintenant l’argent pour le
racheter. Les Russes aiment l’art et sont passionnés par leur propre
Histoire. Maintenant qu’ils ont de l’argent, vous voyez le résultat”,
explique de son côté Michael Bing, qui menait les enchères chez
Sotheby’s.

IRANIAN ARMENIAN WRITER R.BEN PASSES AWAY

TEHRAN, December 3 (Noyan Tapan). Ruben Hovhannisian, Iranian Armenian
poet and prosaist, known to the literary world as R.Ben passed
away. NT was informed about this by the Marmara Istanbul daily
newspaper.

R.Ben was born in 1916 in Tehran where he attended the Haykazian
college, then Persian schools. Being an architect by speciality, he
held a position in the Iran National Oil Company for many years.

R.Ben was an active member of the “Nor Edge” (“New Page”) literary
society, which has been engaged in publishing starting from 1935. 26
issues of “Nor Edge” were released owing to Ruben Hovhannisian’s
efforts by 2003. The writer closely knew and worked with H.Falian,
Dev, Vostanik, G.Khanents, Z.Mirzoyan and a number of other writers
who gave new spirit to Iranian Armenian literature with their
publications in “Nor Edge.”

R.Ben died on November 14 in Tehran.

ARKADI GHUKASIAN: ARMENIAN PEOPLE CAN REALIZE PAN-NATIONAL ISSUES ONLY
WITH JOINT EFFORTS OF ARMENIA, ARTSAKH AND SPYURK

STEPANAKERT, December 3 (Noyan Tapan). A wide range of issues
concerning the results of the telethon held on November 25 in US for
the purpose of assisting to Nagorno Karabakh was discussed during the
consultation held by NKR President Arkadi Ghukasian in the evening of
December 2. Oleg Yesayan, Chairman of NKR NA, Anushavan Danielian, NKR
Prime Minister, members of Council of Security, as well as heads of
ministries and departments, other responsible officials of NKR
participated in the consultation.

The NKR President again confirmed that the financial resources
received as a result of the telethon will be used for finishing the
construction of the North-South main, which is of strategical
importance for Nagorno Karabakh from point of view of ensurance of its
military, economic and social security. In this connection he
especially mentioned the necessity of strict control over use of
financial resources, as well as organization of proper working process
in all the sectors of construction. It was emphasized that these
measures should contribute to finishing of the construction in the
fixed terms.

Comparing notes about the telethon, Arkadi Ghukasian gave assurance
that more than pleasing results of this pan-Armenian event, during
which about .5m were collected, is the consequence of rise of
confidence of Armenian Diaspora to Karabakh’s course of
democratization of all spheres of life, reformation of the economy of
the republic, building of a civil society in Artsakh.

One of the most important issues for the Armenian Diaspora is the
future of Arstakh, strengthening of its political and economic
independence, the NKR President said. “The Diaspora beleives in
Artsakh and considers its duty to contribute to its all-round
development,” NKR President emphasized. Arkadi Ghukasian gave
instructions to the participants of the consultation to begin
preparing for the next telethon. He said that he considers necessary
to use the resources received during the next telethon first of all
for development of socio-economic sector of Mardakert region in the
north of NKR, which greatly suffered from Azerbaijan’s military
aggression. According to him, in the future the telethons should be
also dedicated to improvement of Shushi and other rural areas of
Nagorno Karabakh.

Touching upon the political results of his visit to US, the NKR
President mentioned that the Diaspora, Armenian political parties
acting abroad expressed readiness to take more active part in lobbying
of Nagorno Karabakh’s position in its conflict with Azerbaijan in
different international structures.

According to the Press Service attached to NKR President, the
participants of the consultation expressed gratitude to their foreign
compatriots, as well as citizens of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh for
their active participation in the telethon.

The Armenian people can realize pan-national issues only with joint
efforts of Armenia, Artsakh and Diaspora, the NKR President said in
conclusion.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress