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09/17/2004
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1) Armenian, Azeri, Turkish FMs to Meet in New York
2) Ex-Bulgarian PM Appointed New OSCE Envoy to Karabagh
3) Former Karabagh Army Chief Released From Jail
4) Turkey Under Fire over Reform Delay
5) Putin, Saakashvili Spar at CIS Press Conference
6) First Day of School at Pilibos
7) Oshagan’s Exhibit Explores Questions of Immigrant Identity
1) Armenian, Azeri, Turkish FMs to Meet in New York
YEREVAN (Combined Sources)–A tripartite meeting will be held with the foreign
ministers of Armenia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan on the sidelines of the United
Nations (UN) General Assembly on September 17 to discuss ways of settling the
Mountainous Karabagh conflict and Turkey`s possible contribution to those
efforts.
Azeri foreign minister Elmar Mamedyarov said in a statement prior to the
meeting that issues between Azerbaijan and Armenia, particularly the Karabagh
conflict, will be raised during the talks.
Turkey`s possible contribution to the settlement of the conflict would
also be
taken up at the trilateral summit, Mamedyarov said, but he did not elaborate.
Turkish officials declined to give details of the planned meeting’s agenda.
The foreign ministers of the three countries had earlier agreed to meet once
again to discuss the issue at a previous foreign ministerial meeting held
during a NATO summit at the end of June in Istanbul.
2) Ex-Bulgarian PM Appointed New OSCE Envoy to Karabagh
VIENNA (Armenpress)–Former Bulgarian prime minister, Philip Dimitrov, was
appointed special OSCE representative to the Mountainous Karabagh conflict on
September 16.
Several days prior to this appointment, another former top Bulgarian
official, ex-president Petar Stoyanov, was appointed OSCE special
representative to deal with the conflict between Moldova and its splinter
region of Transdniester.
3) Former Karabagh Army Chief Released From Jail
STEPANAKERT (RFE-RL)–Samvel Babayan, the controversial former commander of
Mountainous Karabagh’s army, was pardoned and set free on Friday more than
four
years after being imprisoned on charges of plotting to assassinate the
president of the Armenian-populated republic, Arkady Ghukasian.
An official in the Karabagh government said that Babayan, 39, was in a group
of local convicts who were given an amnesty by a presidential decree. The
official added that the amnesty granted to the once powerful general is a
“partial” one, meaning that he will be on a one-year probation.
He is legally barred from holding a senior government post in Karabagh for
the
next five years.
A former car mechanic, Babayan became the commander of the Karabagh Armenian
army from 1991-1994 during its war with Azerbaijan.
Babayan lost power in late 1999 after his defeat in a bitter power struggle
with Ghukasian. He was arrested in March 2000 just hours after an attempt on
the life of the Karabagh president and was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment
a year for masterminding the plot. Also sentenced were the two men who
confessed to seriously wounding Ghukasian in a late-night ambush in
Stepanakert.
It is not yet clear who initiated Babayan’s sudden release from a fortress
jail in the Karabagh town of Shushi. Kocharian public hinted at the
possibility
of a pardon in November 2001. But Ghukasian has until now argued that Babayan
does not qualify for an amnesty because he has not admitted his guilt.
4) Turkey Under Fire over Reform Delay
ANKARA (Reuters)–Turkey’s ruling party has came under fire from the European
Commission over a decision to delay penal code reforms because of a row over
its plans to criminalize adultery.
The postponement, personally ordered by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan,
rattled
Turkish financial markets and sparked incredulity among Ankara’s diplomatic
community.
Leaders of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) discussed the problem
behind closed doors, but it seemed inevitable that parliament would not now
approve the reform package before the Commission’s progress report on Turkey,
due on October 6.
“Just when things were going so well for them they seem to have shot
themselves in both feet,” said one EU diplomat on Friday.
The AKP, which has roots in political Islam, withdrew the draft penal code
late on Thursday after its drive to include the adultery ban was stymied by
the
center-left opposition.
The proposal to jail cheating spouses had outraged women’s rights groups and
Turkish liberals and alarmed the EU. Earlier in the week the AKP had appeared
to shelve the plans, only to try to revive them after Erdogan’s return from a
foreign trip.
In Brussels, spokesman Jean-Christophe Filori said the Commission was
concerned.
“We understand this delay is due to attempts … to reintroduce adultery as a
criminal offense,” he said. “Such provisions would certainly cast doubts on
the
direction of Turkey’s reform efforts and would risk complicating Turkey’s
European prospects.”
Asked on his way to the mosque on Friday whether Erdogan’s party might still
reinsert the adultery ban into the penal code draft, AKP lawmaker Dengir Mir
Mehmet Firat said: “There is no such decision at the moment.” He made no
further comment.
DECEMBER DECISION
The October 6 report will form the basis of a decision in December by the 25
EU leaders on whether to open long-delayed entry talks with Turkey, a Muslim
country of 70 million people.
Financial markets are nervous that prolonged political wrangling could damage
Turkey’s EU prospects.
Turkish shares were down 1.6 percent to 21,356.55 points in afternoon trade
and the lira weakened against the dollar on the uncertainty.
“This (delay) is bad news for Turkey’s EU accession bid…This increases the
chances that the Commission will attach strings to any date they might give to
begin negotiations,” said Tim Ash, an economist at Bear Stearns International.
Columnist Murat Yetkin of the liberal daily Radikal said Erdogan was trying
not to upset the AKP’s mostly pious and conservative voters.
The EU diplomat said Erdogan had shown in the past–for example in tussles
with Turkey’s powerful secular establishment over religious schools–that he
knew when to back down.
“But this time he does not seem to realize how much ammunition he is handing
to opponents of Turkey’s EU bid,” he said. European public opinion remains
very
wary about admitting the large, relatively poor Muslim country into a wealthy
club whose religious heritage is predominantly Christian.
But it was not all bad news for Turkey.
Incoming European Commission president Jose Manuel Durao Barroso said in a
paper published on Friday that “the ongoing process of reform in the political
and civil life of Turkey is welcomed”.
5) Putin, Saakashvili Spar at CIS Press Conference
TBILISI (Civil Georgia/Interfax)–While speaking at a news briefing in the
Kazakh capital, Astana, President Mikhail Saakashvili said that restoration of
the railway link between Russia and breakaway Abkhazia was inadmissible, while
Russian President Putin said that the reopening of the rail link was agreed
with the Georgian side.
Both Presidents were speaking at a joint news briefing of the leaders of the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) held in Astana on September 16.
Vladimir Putin said the resumption of the Sokhumi-Moscow railway link was
agreed during the talks in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi on March 6-7,
2003 between him and Georgia’s ex-President Eduard Shevardnadze.
“We agreed over simultaneous return of IDPs to Abkhazia and resumption of the
railway link. The return of internally displaced persons is underway. Over
50-60 thousand refugees have already returned to the Gali district [breakaway
Abkhazia],” President Putin said.
However, the Georgian President said that those Georgian displaced persons
who
have already returned to the Gali district of Abkhazia “have no normal
conditions to live” as well as no security guarantees.
Saakashvili stressed the importance of resolving the problem of refugees.
“Three-hundred thousand Georgian citizens, who are ethnic Georgians, were
expelled [from Abkhazia] earlier, and some of them have returned to the Gali
district today actually as slaves. They are being subjected to terror,”
Saakashvili said.
“We are ready to discuss all current issues. Russia can and should play a
positive role in settlement of post-Soviet conflicts. It is in Russia’s
interests as well,” Saakashvili said.
Putin has said he is convinced that all disagreements between Russia and
Georgia should be resolved in a way that would meet the interests of all
parties concerned.
“An economic blockade, not to mention military pressure, do not result in
resolving problems. This is not a road that leads to Church,” Putin said,
rephrasing a quote from a film by prominent Georgian moviemaker Tengiz
Abuladze, which was extremely popular in the USSR in the late 1980s.
Relations between Russia and Georgia have deteriorated as of late. Georgian
parliamentary speaker Nino Burjanadze recently described Moscow’s policy
towards Georgia as hostile “because Russia is aiding Abkhaz and South Ossetian
separatists.”
Meanwhile, high-ranking Russian officials have repeatedly said Russia favors
Georgia’s territorial integrity and called on Tbilisi to settle the
problems of
relations with Tskhinvali and Sukhumi via a peaceful dialogue.
6) First Day of School at Pilibos
–35 years of Service to the Community
HOLLYWOOD–On September 7, another chapter opened in the history of Rose and
Alex Pilibos Armenian school. For the 35th time in its history, the school
welcomed students and faculty members to the new school year. Pride and joy
could be seen on the face of each student entering the gates of the school.
Friends, who had been temporarily separated by the months of summer, tightly
embraced each other and shared their stories. New students were awestruck not
only by the campus and its ark library and gymnasium complex, but also by the
warmth and hospitality of the Pilibos family.
Clinging to their parents and refusing to enter the halls of Kindergarten,
the
younger ones admittedly did not share the same joy. Some adamantly refused to
let go of their parents. Others, comforted by the calm and kindness of their
kindergarten teachers, relented, bid farewell, and embarked on the new journey
that is the school year.
After welcoming students and parents, Dean of students Charles Loussararian
invited Reverend father Viken Vassilian to lead the opening prayer. Student
Council president Ara Thomassian, led the pledges and gave a heartfelt welcome
to students. On behalf of Archbishop Mardirossian and the Prelacy, the Very
Reverend Vruyr Demirdjian, addressed students. A long time Pilibos family
friend and community supporter, Senior Lead officer of the Los Angeles Police
Department, Dikran Melkonian, addressed the importance of education and
student
activities in the development of one’s academic and social life. Principal
Viken Yacoubian, in his welcoming address, passed along his words of advice to
the student body, and thanked those who have tirelessly supported the school
and have been instrumental in its growth and expansion. He thanked the members
of the Finance and Education committees and all those who have had their
positive input in the development and enhancement of the school.
After the brief program, students were directed to their respective
homerooms,
where they spent the entire day settling in and orienting themselves to their
new teachers and classes.
7) Oshagan’s Exhibit Explores Questions of Immigrant Identity
>>From family retreats at Big Bear Lake, inmates in state prison in Blythe, and
church services in Pasadena, to demonstrations on the streets of East
Hollywood, a youth party in Studio City, a drug-rehab center in Palmdale,
and a
convalescent home in Eagle Rock, Ara Oshagan’s exhibit Traces of Identity: An
Insider’s View into LA’s Armenian Community 2000-2004, brings together the
strands of a diverse and vibrant Armenian presence across the breath of the
greater Los Angeles area. Though the works represent four years of work by
Oshagan with Armenians, they, nevertheless, addresses issues of identity and
displacement common to many immigrant communities.
The exhibit runs from September 24, to December 31, at the Los Angeles
Municipal Art Gallery in Barnsdall Park. The opening reception is slated for
September 26, 2:00 to 5:00pm.
Documentary in nature, the 40 large-format black-and-white photographs in the
exhibit explore questions of immigrant and Armenian identity from a
multiplicity of anglesthe religious, familial, political, as well as from the
fringes of society and alternative lifestyles. Traces of Identity, sponsored
by the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern
California and partially funded by grants from the California Council for the
Humanities and the Ignatius Foundation, is the first such photographic project
about Armenians in Los Angeles to be exhibited publicly.
“Armenians are an extremely diverse community in Los Angeles, although they
are united in the common tragedy of the 1915 genocide,” says project director,
Donald E. Miller. “Currently, Los Angeles is the largest concentration of
Armenians living outside the Republic of Armenia. Traces of Identity captures
both the vitality and complexity of this community and powerfully raises the
question, ‘What does it mean to be Armenian in the 21st century?’ ”
Oshagan’s photos are images of everyday life with a deep sense of
intimacy. “I
know almost everyone I photographif not personally, then through a familial or
community connection,” says the Beirut-born photographer. “This allows me a
unique portal into their lives and a shared intimacy.”
“Everything is about the relationships Ara creates with the people he
photographs,” says curator Charlie Hachadourian. “In that space, in that
tension that he shares with his subjects, is the ungraspable, ever-evolving
identity of the Armenians in LA. It is always present, that commonality of
sharing, the history, those traces that allow us to see ourselves as a
community, as a collective. Ara is constantly asking: how do we delineate our
identity as Armenians, how do we perpetually reinvent ourselves as a unique
ethno-specific component of a multifaceted and vast whole.”
As an insider to the community he documents, Oshagan’s work is ultimately a
well-polished mirrora multi-layered self-reflection used to explore questions
of being and identity. Sometimes fluid, sometimes truncated, Oshagan’s
photographs carefully balance the questions asked and answered in each image.
The answers he offers, finally, are questions: “Who am I? How do we define
ourselves as Armenians? Where do we stop and the others begin?”
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