ARMENIANOW.COM March 11, 2005

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CHURCH QUARREL: ARMENIAN CHURCH IN TBILISI UNDER THREAT

By Julia Hakobyan, ArmeniaNow Reporter

An Armenian church in Georgia has again became a subject of debate
following a long term dispute between Armenian and Georgian Dioceses.

This time the debate was raised around Norashen church, where several
months ago tombs from Georgian cemeteries with Georgian inscriptions
appeared.

Norashen, a 15th century construction in the Georgian capital Tbilisi
is located next to Georgian Orthodox Church Jvris monastery. Father
Tariel, the priest of monastery, who brought the Georgian tombs
into the Armenian church, said in an interview to Georgian Mzera TV
Company that ~Sall the churches on the territory of Georgia belong
to Georgian Orthodox, with the exception of some, built also by
Georgians~T. Referring to Norashen the Georgian priest said that
~Schurch was taken away from Georgians by Russians, privatized and
then sold to Armenians~T. Father Tariel assured if digging at the
church, he would discover new Georgian tombs.

Last week Armenian diocese of Georgia and several non Armenian
organizations issued statements protesting against assimilation of
Norashen and ~Sobvious attempt of falsification of the historical
facts.~T Aggressive actions of Georgian ecclesiastic are ~Sblasphemy
towards the deceased, from whose graves the tombs were taken~T,
said father Abgar, the representative of Armenian Eparchy in Georgia.

~SIn fact father Tariel does not deny that the Norashen church
is Armenian but in his interview to Georgian Rustavi 2 channel he
suggested Armenians ‘go to your country Armenia and take care of your
churches there’,~T father Abgar told ArmeniaNow.

~SToday we have to defend not only Norashen but also Surb Nshan and
four other closed half destroyed Armenian churches in Tbilisi. These
churches are obviously Armenian and we will not allow appropriating
them.~T

On March 3 Georgian and Armenian youth organizations organized
a peaceful procession in Tbilisi aiming to raise attention to
Norashen~Rs problems. The participants of the action called both
Dioceses to enter into negotiation for solving the existing problem.

~SThe closed Armenian churches on the Georgian territory officially
are accepted as architecture monuments and ~Qguarded~R by the state
and being on the culture ministry~Rs balance at present,~T says Karen
Elchyan, the head of Armenian Cooperation Centre of Georgia based in
Tbilisi. (ACCG) ~SBut only in Tbilisi, six Armenian churches from
the list of so called ~Qprotected~R architectural monuments were
transformed into Georgian Church.~T

The ACCG as well as other Armenian organizations are going to continue
their efforts to prevent from destruction the historical monuments
in Georgia.

The attempts to convert Armenian Church Norashen into Georgian started
in 1994 when the altar of the church, frescos, and khachkars were
ruined in order to eliminate the fact proving the Armenian origin of
the building. The protest of the Armenian community was not effective
and following the destruction the door with Armenian epigraphy was
changed also.

However the culmination of the church~Rs appropriation happened in
1995 when Norashen was consecrated as Georgian Orthodox.

Such encroachment rose concern in Echmiadzin and an Armenian clergy
arrived to Georgia to meet Georgian Patriarchy ~V Ilia II. But
the problem wasn~Rt solved and sides agreed to delay the question
temporarily ~Suntil favorable conditions~T. The reconstruction works
initiated by Georgian Diocese were stopped and church status remained
unresolved.

The issue of Armenian churches in Georgia is painful for the Armenian
community in Georgia. According to official data some 250,000 Armenians
live in Georgia however neither community not Armenian Diocese can
prevent the further destruction of its churches.

In the beginning of the 20 century there were 30 Armenian churches
in Tbilisi. Now only two churches are acting while others have been
either destroyed or redecorated to remove any characteristically
Armenian architectural features. Now they belong to Georgian Orthodox
and other confessions. Georgian authorities strictly deny the facts
of churches appropriation.

Samvel Karapetyan, a coordinator of the ~SResearch of Armenian
Architecture~T, ngo in Yerevan is very skeptical towards the
attempts of the Armenian community of Georgia to protect cultural
and historical monuments. Karapetyan, who published several books on
Armenian monuments in Georgia calls the current efforts ~Sretarded~T
and ~Sartificial~T ~SThey had to unite and think what to do before
the church was consecrated into Georgian,~T he said.

Karapetyan published a book in 1995 where he described day by day what
was stole, destroyed, and vandalized in Norashen church. However he
says his book got no attention nor response from Armenian authorities.

~SNorashen is just a sample, a result of our own politics towards our
culture. I accuse Georgians in what they do, but moreover I accuse
the Armenian government which allows Georgians to do it.~T

AT WAR: ARMENIAN TROOPS ON THE GROUND IN IRAQ

By Aris Ghazinyan, ArmeniaNow Reporter

The Armenian military contingent dispatched to Iraq began service
within a Polish battalion on March 1, Press Secretary of the RA
Ministry of Defense Colonel Seyran Shahsuvaryan told ArmeniaNow.

Forty-six ~Snon-combatant~T Armenians went to Kuwait for special
training in mid-January.

~SAfter passing a course of adaptation to the new conditions as well
as a short preparatory course, the Armenian contingent accompanied by
a Polish battalion crossed the southern border of Iraq and on March
1 began implementing their direct duties,~T Shahsuvaryan said.

That representatives of the armed forces of Armenia, unlike Georgian
and Azeri servicemen in Iraq, will not participate in military
operations.

~SArmenia is not going to send to Iraq a strictly military contingent,
which should be involved in military operations,~T said Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanian last September. ~SThe matter concerns only
humanitarian assistance to this country and Armenia~Rs participation
in the post-war rehabilitation of Iraq.~T

The Armenian deployment includes one general commander, one liaison
officer attached to the Polish division~Rs staff, one platoon
commander, three doctors ~V a cardiologist, a physical therapist and
a psychiatrist, 10 sappers and 30 drivers.

~SIt was originally planned that Armenian drivers would operate
military vehicles at the disposal of Armenia~Rs Ministry of Defense,
however we had to abandon this intention, as the fact of their being
unfit for specifically desert areas with sand surface and conditions
of sharp daily fluctuations in temperature became apparent,~T said
Shahsuvaryan. ~SIn particular, our vehicles are largely meant for
passing sections typical for Armenia, and they lack parts essential
for desert areas.~T

The decision about sending Armenian peacekeepers to Iraq was made by
the Ministry of Defense on April 26, 2004. On June 9, the Government
supported this decision and endorsed the proposal. President Robert
Kocharyan ratified the proposal last August 9.

Various politicians and groups have opposed sending Armenians to the
war in Iraq, stating that to do so would jeopardize relations for
the community of Armenians in Iraq, some 25,000.

But on December 24, with a vote of 91-23 and one abstention, the
National Assembly gave its approval. Most deputies who opposed sending
troops worried over how Armenia~Rs participation would affect relations
with Russia, who has opposed the war.

National Assembly Vice-Speaker, ARF Dashnaktsutyun faction member
Vahan Hovhannisyan said in this connection: ~SArmenia is entitled to
make decisions proceeding from its interests in the matter of sending
an Armenian contingent to Iraq. Russia itself rendered much assistance
to this country writing off the bulk of Iraq~Rs state debt.~T

The prospect of national communities in Arab countries and problems
of security of the contingent itself aroused much more concerns in
Armenian society. In an editorial, ~SAzg~T daily, raised a question:
~SWho will assume the responsibility if one day we see a prisoner
from among our compatriots pleading for indulgency on one of the
Arabic TV channels?~T The fact that representatives of the Armenian
contingent are not immediately involved in military operations, in
the opinion of not only political analysts, but also many citizens
of Armenia cannot serve as a guarantor of peace.

~SAlmost every month we witness on television people being taken
prisoner, and the victim, as a rule, is a journalist representing
a pacifist newspaper or a member of a humanitarian mission far from
military affairs,~T says 55-year-old Rita Manaseryan from Yerevan. ~SI
watched the joyous farewell party for our guys on television on January
18 and did not understand the point of the celebrations. I think that
the fact of our children~Rs non-participation in military operations
cannot calm our authorities.~T

(Armenian also has a 34-member platoon on duty in Kosovo as part of
a Greek battalion, with a rotation of new troops expected March 12.)

Armenia~Rs financial obligation ~Sdoes not exceed $600,000~T and
includes only payment of salarires, said Armenia~Rs Defense Minister
Serge Sargsyan late last year. ~SI should mention that the Parliament
of Armenia gave its consent only for a year~Rs stay of Armenian
peacekeepers in Iraq. A rotation of the personnel will take place
after six months from the day of leaving and the personnel will be
replaced with a new one.~T

NEGOTIATIONS IN EQUATORIAL GUINEA: OSKANIAN REPORTS ON VISIT WITH
IMPRISONED PILOTS

By Zhanna Alexanyan, ArmeniaNow Reporter

After recovering from an illness upon his return from Equatorial
Guinea Februrary 20th, Minister of Foreign Affairs Vardan Oskanian
met with journalists Wednesday to report his meeting concerning the
fate of the six Armenian pilots imprisoned there.

Last November the Equatorial Guinea court found the pilots guilty
of participating in a plot to overthrow the government there, and
sentenced them to 14-24 years prison. They were arrested March 9,
2004 and were held at the Malabo ~SBlack Beach~T prison. The Armenian
pilots had left for Malabo in January and were arrested after making
their first flight.

On February 21 in Malabo the Minister met with the Prime-Minister,
the State Secretary, the Foreign Minister and the Prosecutor General
of the country. The Armenian side wished also to meet the president
of the country, but the Guinean side had made the program of meetings
without the participation of the Armenian side.

The negotiations referred to the creation of legal grounds for an
agreement between the two countries to release the pilots back to
Armenia. Oskanyan insists that high-level meetings will facilitate
an efficient resolution of the problem with the Armenian pilots.

~SIn fact contacts were established on quite a high level that
will facilitate in future the most efficient procedure regarding
the question of imprisonment and transportation of our pilots to
Armenia,~T said Oskanyan. ~SWe didn~Rt have the connection before,
now I have at least the opportunity to talk to my colleague.~T

The authorities of Equatorial Guinea have promised to seriously
discuss the issue. The Foreign Minister sees positive trends in
the resolution of the problem, although no final response has been
received. The Guinean side has expressed its readiness to discuss
the possibility of signing agreements that will allow in the nearest
future to return the Armenian pilots.

Last week the president of the Union of Armenians of Russia Ara
Abrahamyan stated in an interview with ~S168 hours~T weekly he could
help the Armenian side in returning the Armenian pilots sentenced in
Equatorial Guinea, but a special consent from the state is necessary
for that.

~SI am going to have a phone talk with Ara Abrahamyan and ask what
our opportunities are. If indeed there is an opportunity to solve
the problem through him, why not, we should use it,~T said the
Minister. ~SWe just need to coordinate to escape a parallel work and
overlapping as well as the opposite effect by all means.~T While in
Malabo, Minister Oskanyan visited the Armenian pilots.

~SThe prison conditions there are quite hard and the guys~R
psychological and moral conditions are quite hard,~T said the
Minister. ~SLooking a bit tired, they looked depressed, but I can~Rt
comment on their physical condition and in terms of health. When we
asked them, they said health is normal, but they are quite depressed.~T

APPEAL DENIED: COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF NAJARIAN IN PROPERTY DISPUTE

By Mariam Badalyan, ArmeniaNow Reporter

The Appellate Court of Armenia has denied an appeal by the General
Procuracy to stop the Procuracy~Rs investigation into whether criminal
charges should be brought in a dispute between George Najarian, a well
known Armenian-American philanthropist and a former business associate
in Yerevan, Grigor Igityan. The court proceedings may still continue
on the same matter (deciding whether it is a criminal or civil matter)
if the General Procuracy decides to further appeal the case in the
Cassation Court.

Armen Nadiryan, Senior Investigator in especially important cases
says they will decide whether to further appeal or not after they
see the court decision in written form.

In summary: After 18 months of investigation (following termination
of investigation by the Yerevan city Procuracy) the General Procuracy
concluded that the case was entirely a civil business dispute and
should be resolved in a civil court. A lower court, however, ruled
that the investigation should continue, leading to the General
Procuracy~Rs appeal.

If the appeal were successful, Najarian might still be entitled to the
disputed property, but there would be no fraud charges brought against
Igityan. Najarian claims Igityan embezzled his property (two buildings
at #4 and #11/12 Dzoragiugh District and a Photoshop at Abovyan Street
founded as a partnership between Najarian and Igityan). During his
concluding speech Najarian lawyer Ashot Poghosyan argued, among other
things, that investigators wrongfully considered a receipt to Igityan
by Najarian in connection with their photo business. According to
the lawyer, Igityan was supposed to pay back the original money,
after which the two men were to share the profit as partners. The
investigators, however, had considered it a loan made to Najarian
by Igityan.

Senior Investigator Nadiryan accused Poghosyan of disclosing
pre-investigation secrets and pointed out that the investigators
considered all facts in combination, whereas Poghosyan points to
single facts separately.

During the hearing the court heard an extract from a letter by Igityan
addressed to the President of Armenia, which said that Najarian
hired lawyers who were intimidating Igityan~Rs family and asked the
President to take relevant measures in protecting the safety of his
family. Poghosyan called the letter a ploy by Igitiyan to distract
attention from the main issue of the complaint.

OFFLINE: PREVIOUSLY ~SCLOSED~T DOMAINS NOW ~SOPEN~T

By Arpi Harutyunyan, ArmeniaNow Reporter

For 10 years many domains registered in the ~Qam~R Internet zone
have been considered untouchable. By a decision of the Internet
Union of Armenia the domains were restricted from use because,
according to Union president Igor Mkrtumyan, they carry state and
national significance.

Few, though, have known about the off-limits domains. Only those who
wanted to register one of those domains and were denied have learned
of the status.

~SThere was a time when young people called ~QInternet squatters~R
appeared in Armenia, who bought well-known domains and resold them
at higher prices. That is why we registered a number of domains and
kept it locked. In our opinion those are the domains of national
value and importance,~T says Mkrtumyan.

But since March 4 year the domains called ~Sclosed~T became officially
~Sopen~T.

Individuals and organizations can apply to the Internet Union on-line,
receive a permission, then sign an agreement with companies providing
Internet communication in Armenia and run the domains.

The national Internet community of Armenia was created in 1995. The
Internet Union was registered, which undertook the full responsibility
for allotting of domains.

The Armenia server was created and the stock of Armenian data,
previously administered in Moscow, was moved to Armenia. Since 1997
all the works connected with the internet are done in Armenia.

Until the present 3,700 domains have been registered in the ~Qam~R
zone, of which 1,200 belong to foreigners. Rights to use of the
domains are sold by the Internet Union for a fee of $24 per year.

According to Hrach Bayadayan, president of the ~SInformation
technologies Foundation~T the policy of allotting domains in Armenia
is wrong. He believes clear mechanisms for distributing domains should
be developed; for instance, permission for registering domains should
be given solely to locals and organizations connected with the sphere.

People still speculate in domains, the IT specialist says and disagrees
with the policy imposed by the Union.

~SI can~Rt see any logic in how the domains are separated,~T says
Bayadayan.~TI know many registered domains that do not yield to those
~Qclosed~R ones. I have as well registered the ~Qsociety.am~R domain
that had no less importance. And why was it decided to declare them
open now?~T

David Sandukhchyan, coordinator of the ~SGlobal Initiative for Internet
Policy~T, holds the same opinion.

~SWe had registered the media.am domain for ~QInternews~R, which was
not an accidental one. If hotel.am had special value and had to be
kept closed, then the media.am should also appear in the list. So a
question arises what principles have been chosen?~T says Sandukhchyan.

~SIt is obvious the Internet Union has had some internal reasons
to undertake the policy,~T says Bayadayan. ~SThe thing is that that
we, the specialists, have not been informed of anything. They give
us reason to suppose they might have organized a shadow sell: they
registered a large number of domains and sold then to people who paid
them more. And now they declare the domains they did not manage to
sell ~Qopen~R. All these are, of course, suppositions.~T

The Union has in fact distributed domains of special significance to
various individuals and organizations since its creation. Among them
is hayastan.am, yerevan.am, diaspora.am.

To the question of why a number of known domains were sold if
supervision over them was set, the president of the Internet Union
answered: ~SIt is now useless to go deep into all that stuff. All
those domains are declared ~Qopen~R already.~T

PATIENT PENSIONERS: THE DOCTOR WILL SEE YOU NOW ~V FOR FREE

By Gayane Abrahamyan, ArmeniaNow Reporter

Pensioners over 65 will now be entitled to free medical treatment at
walk-in clinics in Armenia following an order from the Health Ministry.

Previously, free treatment was available only to impoverished families,
disabled people and families of those killed in the war over Nagorno
Karabakh. The elderly, whose pensions were only 6,000-8,000 drams
per month, were expected to pay even for consultations, which cost
between 1,000 and 2,000 drams.

Susanna Ghazaryan, a senior specialist at the Department for First
Medical Help at the Ministry of Health, says the free service is
intended for the entire population beginning next year. Although
pensioners were given the right to free treatment in January, many
remain unaware of it.

In 2004, 8.7 billion drams was allotted for the program and 12.4
billion this year.

Nazeli Minasyan, 68, says she attended Polyclinic Number One in
Yerevan a month ago for check-ups on her heart, but had to pay for
the cardiologist~Rs consultation and for her cardiogram. She says she
has receipts for payment of her treatment and intends to ask for her
money back.

~SI paid 1,500 drams to the doctor, and 2,000 for cardiogram; the bad
thing is that they did not give me any advice,~T complains Minasyan
anxiously.

At Polyclinic Number 8 in Arabkir community, Doctor Anahit Sargsyan
says medics strictly observe the new system and treat all pensioners
for free.

~SFrom this year, even the calls are free for them; in our clinics
only the sonogram survey is charged for as it does not belong to
the clinic. All of the rest, the analyses, the cardiogram, the ECG,
Roentgen are free for pensioners and for chronic patients,~T says
Sargsyan.

According to nurse Nonna Zakaryan, staff welcome this new law on free
check-ups. She says: ~SIn my family I have parents-in-law over 65,
my father-in-law~Rs heart should be checked at least once a year. How
can one manage that with the 6,000 drams they get?~T

However Zakaryan believes that doctors will work for free and
attentively only when they receive proper salaries. At Polyclinic
Number 8, doctors are paid 20-25,000 drams ($35-44) per month while
nurses get 15,000 drams ($26). In other Polyclinics, such as those
in Davitashen and Nor Nork, doctors get more than 35,000 drams
(determined by the Government).

~SThere are Polyclinics where they get 10,000 more drams, but how
does that happen when both of us are run by the State? We serve the
same amount of the population, but they work full-time and we were
cut to 75 per cent. It depends on them to treat the way they want,~T
says Zakaryan.

Open door days are also planned across the country in May for
pensioners and veterans of the Great Patriotic War. On these days the
best specialists of the republic will survey and prescribe treatments
to the elderly. ~SMedicines will be distributed, partially for free,
partially for a 30 percent discount,~T says Ghazaryan at the Ministry
of Health.

A partnership between the Ministries of Health and Defense has also
ensured that 200 free trips to the spa resorts of Arzni and Jermuk will
be available for veterans of World War Two to enjoy rest and treatment.
According to the Veterans~R Union, there are 12,000 veterans of the
Second World War in Armenia. Some are skeptical about who will be
chosen to receive the spa treatments.

Vladimir Abrahamyan, an 82-year-old disabled veteran, his suit
decorated with medals, said: ~SIt~Rs obvious that it will be those
who have relatives in the ministries. I reached as far as Berlin,
I~Rll see whether they let me go or they will push their own people.~T

SERVICE OR PUNISHMENT?: ARMENIA~RS ALTERNATIVE MILITARY SERVICE
QUESTIONED BY PARTICIPANTS

By Vahan Ishkhanyan, ArmeniaNow Reporter

Twenty-four young people whose religious convictions do not allow
them to serve in the army were enlisted for alternative labor
service last autumn. They serve in hospitals and homes for elderly
people. Twenty-two of them are Jehovah~Rs witnesses.

Non-military service became possible after a law on alternative service
was passed in December 2003. However, many of the servicemen regret
to have opted for alternative service and say that they would prefer
rejecting service altogether and going to prison.

The reason, they say, is that labor service is conducted by the
military regime, is controlled by military police and by 1.5 years
longer ~V 42 months or 3.5 years.

~SIf it continues like this, it is better to be in prison,~T
says 18-year-old Vagharsh Margaryan, who, together with his three
fellow-believers, is serving in Sevan~Rs mental hospital.

They are not allowed to leave the premises of the hospital, they
work without days off and wear uniforms, on the back of which it is
written: ~SAlternative Labor Service~T. Military police pay visits
once every 10 days and inspect their service. In fact, their service
is not civil. In their cards it is written: ~SRA Armed Forces~T.

By becoming a member of the Council of Europe, Armenia assumed
obligations to adopt a law on alternative civil service and before
that release from prisons draft dodgers who rejected to be enrolled
in the army for their religious convictions. About 150 Jehovah~Rs
witnesses had been put in jail for refusing service in the army.

~SThe authorities wanted to adopt a law on military alternative
service (that is, service in military units without carrying
weapons), however Europe demanded that a law on alternative civil
service be adopted,~T says Armenia Helsinki Committee Chairman Avetik
Ishkhanyan. ~SIt was under pressure from the Council of Europe that
alternative labor service was included into the law besides military
alternative. However, this is not a civil service and contradicts
the European standards.~T

According to those standards, civil service must not be controlled by
the military, be without uniform and not exceed the term of military
service.

Ishkhanyan says that the authorities in fact try to cheat Europe by
presenting military-controlled labor service as civil service.

According to the information provided by the Helsinki Committee, one
serviceman at Vardenis~R mental boarding house had a broken collarbone
and he was taken to hospital. However, there the military put pressure
on him and he returned without getting proper treatment. Now he is
serving with a dislocated collarbone.

Sevan Mental Hospital workers complain that they are not allowed to go
to town to participate in religious gatherings. ~SWe ask them to let us
go out twice a week for two hours, but it is prohibited. People from
military police come and threaten that if we leave the premises,
they will put us in the guardhouse,~T says 19-year-old Boris
Melkumyan. Hospital director Gagik Karapetyan says that like in the
army, here too, until six months of service is completed, they will
not be allowed to go off the premises.

Nevertheless, the guys are not dissatisfied with their work. They work
in construction and do sanitary-inspecting work, distribute meals,
see that patients do not behave in a disorderly way and cause no
harm to one another. The administration also demands that they clean
patients~R waste, however the servicemen have refused, saying that
it is a humiliating job.

~SIf they are faithful indeed, then why don~Rt they follow the
precepts? It is said in the Bible: love your neighbor ~V but they do
not love, if they loved, they would clean the waste of the patients,~T
says the hospital~Rs head physician Aram Alexanyan.

Vagharshak Margaryan replies that it is not that they either love the
patient or not, but they do not accept the offered conditions. ~SIf
their goal is to send us for such jobs, it is they who do not love
us and humiliate us.~T Previously, National Assembly Deputy Speaker
Vahan Hovhannisyan said that alternative service should be shameful.
Nevertheless, they do not force the men to do dirty work. However,
according to the data of the Helsinki Committee, a serviceman at
Yerevan~Rs boarding house situated in Nork is forced to do humiliating
work.

The hospital~Rs administration has no clear idea of how to deal with
the men, as no order of alternative service was provided to them,
but they received only verbal instructions, as Alexanyan says, ~Swe
are guided by our horse sense~T. Generally, the mental hospital has
no need for additional labor force, and the alternative servicemen
are not of much use: ~SIt would be good if I were far from this
headache,~T says the mental hospital~Rs director Gagik Karapetyan.

Not all of Jehovah~Rs witnesses agreed to alternative
service. Currently, 18 Jehovah~Rs witnesses are in jail for refusing
to be enrolled for service. They refuse to be enrolled for alternative
service considering it humiliating and too long.

MANANA: A DECADE PROVIDING FOOD FOR HUNGRY MINDS

By Suren Musayelyan ArmenianNow Reporter

Eleven-year-old Armen Babayan isn~Rt being a truant. Simply sometimes
the fifth former leaves boring school lessons earlier to spend more
time at Manana.

It is ten years that children like Armen have the opportunity to
attend the Manana youth educational-cultural center where they can
learn journalism, translation skills, computer graphics and web
design, painting, photography and filmmaking as well as many other
useful subjects.

The center~Rs director Ruzanna Baghdasaryan says the idea to set up
the center arose still when the country was in crisis, when many
children didn~Rt attend school because they were either closed or
poorly heated in winter. ~SWe wanted to keep children busy and make
their lives more interesting,~T she says.

According to Baghdasaryan, very few children attended the center at
first. But then the number of pupils gradually increased to up to a
hundred a year and now, she says, about a thousand children have passed
through this center. The first recognition of Manana came in 1996 when
their newspaper ~SKhabarbzik~T won the first prize of UNICEF as the
~Sbest initiative of the year~T. Since then, according to Baghdasaryan,
Manana pupils have won numerous prizes both at home and abroad.

In 2004, she says, Manana won grand prizes at 17 international
contests. About a 100 children aged 8-18 currently attend the center
where they are involved in different clubs. Their work is available
to the public online as they now have their own website created and
maintained by the center itself.

Baghdasaryan says that they have children from different social
backgrounds and that there are no selection criteria like exams
or competitions. There is no tuition fee at Manana, there is
only membership fee, which is 2,000 drams a month, about five
dollars. But according to Baghdasaryan, they do not take money from
all children. She says there are children from poor families for whom
they even cover their travel expenses. ~SWe have not so many children
from rich families, though. Perhaps they think that something which
is free is not good,~T says Baghdasaryan.

For many years Manana worked on pure enthusiasm, without any external
support. ~SI have noticed that many international organizations in
Armenia tend to fund programs that have a more humanitarian nature,
such as feeding the poor, while they simply have no funds designated
for programs like this one that develops creative abilities,~T
Baghdasaryan says. ~SThey think that to make a film is for a satisfied
person only. If an Armenian child doesn~Rt make a film he will not
die. That~Rs what most of them think.~T

Nor do they get any assistance from the government. Baghdasaryan
says that when they were given a week to find a new office or face
eviction three years ago she wrote letters to authorities, but there
was no response. ~SOur government thinks they have much more important
things to take care of,~T says Baghdasaryan. ~SSimply I think that
we are a little ahead of our time and therefore cannot demand much.~T

Perhaps they would have to close but for the assistance provided by
the Tufenkian Foundation, which undertook to rent a new office on 2
Baghramyan Avenue in Yerevan.

~SOf course we have problems with our material-technical base and
sometimes it seems fantastic to have made such achievements on the
international arena with so many difficulties and so few resources,~T
says Baghdasaryan. ~SManana~T worked closely with UNICEF producing
short films, which later won prizes at international festivals. Now,
Baghdasaryan says, they have an offer from the UN Youth Orchestra to
produce a film for their Bach concert in Hamburg on March 15. ~SIt~Rs
an honor for us and for Armenia. But that~Rs honor, not money,~T
she says.

Many of Manana alumni stay in the center even after graduating. Arpine
Grigoryan, 20, is a fourth-year student at the Engineering University
now. After attending Manana for almost eight years, she now works
there on the center~Rs website and teaches children web design. ~SThe
experience I got here helps me a lot. I not only work on the website. I
come here every day after classes. I can say this is my second home,~T
she says.

Arpine also participates in film production. Her ~SCarousel~T film
was nominated for a prize at an international festival in Amsterdam
and was recently shown on the BBC.

Anna Javakhyan, 23, recently graduated from the Philological Department
of the Teachers~R Training University. Now she teaches children to
write their own stories. ~SI loved Manana very much and attended
the center with great pleasure. Now I teach children here with great
pleasure too,~T she says. ~SThere is ability in every child. Simply
he needs to have aspiration. I think the atmosphere here is perfect
for generating this aspiration.~T

The work of Manana children can be seen at: and

IN PRAISE OF WOMEN: FESTIVAL HOPES TO PROMOTE GENDER ISSUES

By Gayane Lazarian, ArmeniaNow Reporter

The opening of an international women~Rs festival on the ~SWomen~Rs
Dialogue~T subject was announced at NPAK (Modern Experimental Art
Center) on March 8. The festival will continue until March 14.

The festival was opened with feminist works at the exhibition hall. It
was accompanied by electronic music presented by female DJs from
abroad. Women~Rs dialogue was conducted not only through the presented
works, but also through live contacts.

In the works ~SThesis~T, ~SExercise~T, ~SAction~T the same girl is
trying to show the balance in life which is necessary for her from a
young age. The author of the pictures is Cristina Ohlmer from Germany.

~SIt is the first time I am in Armenia, and I think that it is an
amazing initiative to be able to present a woman from different
perspectives through art,~T she says.

The idea of the festival belongs to Yeva Khachatryan, who is the
festival curator. Yeva says that March 8 was not chosen by chance.

~SWhat is March 8 in the Armenian society? This day means getting
presents and flowers from men. Even April 7, which was adopted after
the collapse of the Soviet Union, is just another version of the
Russian-Armenian March 8 by its contents. Today, we call on women to
remember the sense and history of the International Women~Rs Day,
whose Armenian version is a picture opposite to reality,~T the
curator explains.

~SWe show problems through art at this festival. I believe and am
convinced that especially modern art contains the power through which
it is possible to do that. Of course, in our country it is generally
difficult to make changes, but we can achieve result if the festival
becomes continuous,~T says Yeva.

A male leather belt is proudly hanging from one of the walls of the
hall, from this belt modestly are hanging different kitchen ware
~V a rolling-pin, a mallet, a crusher, a ladle, a crimp sealer. The
leather belt seems to be overseeing the mild talk of the tools and
allows them to show off to viewers.

The author is artist Arevik Arevshatyan. She says that the work is
called ~SFidelity Belt~T.

~SDuring crusades when men went to war they locked their women so that
they remained faithful. With this work I want to say that there are
criteria by which the society understands a woman~Rs mission. That is,
the presence in the kitchen is a woman~Rs primary mission. It is the
heritage that reaches every woman and no one but them can remove it.~T

According to Arevshatyan, she became interested in feminist
movements in the 1990s. And the festival is another step towards the
establishment of feminism in Armenia.

UNDP Women~Rs Rights Department Manager Kristina Khenshen says that
generally people speak about feminism and feminist views with fear
and difficulty not only in Armenia but also in other CIS countries.

~SAt this festival feminist views are presented through women~Rs
works. That~Rs what dialogue consist in and a question arises ~V what
is a woman~Rs status in Armenia today?~T says Khenshen.

Khenshen considers what is happening at NPAK to be very important for
the establishment of feminism in Armenia. If there are issues between
the rights of men and women, they should be corrected in some way,
especially if both know the possibilities well. ~SIf the situation
is settled, all this is feminism to me. It is the first feminist
step. It is very important to bring the intellectual dialogue of
different women to one space, which is public,~T says Khenshen.

Yeva Khachatryan says that women~Rs rights are infringed upon in
Armenian society.

~SAnd here the main restraining factor is not the law, but the
not-so-progressive mentality of our society which, even embracing
European values, is incapable of rejecting traditional ideas
accumulated over centuries,~T says Yeva. Arevshatyan also thinks that
similar events will bring in changes in society because it is guided by
international models. Armenian women themselves must understand their
model ~V what do they like: an oriental standard or the western one?

~SI think that with our ideals we are more inclined towards the
European model. Women have rights in family, society and defend
them. Simply all this is in a closed state and is observed only
in families. It needs to come out to public discussion,~T says the
painter.

Practical workshops on the subject of ~SStop Violence against Women~T
will also be held as part of the festival, led by social worker Marlen
Reissle from Norway.

~SPrivate talks will be held with 30 women, we~Rll try to be of use
in solving their problems. The first week of the festival will be
the most active, symposiums will be held on three days during one
week. ~STsovinar~T NGO, which also deals with these problems, will
also participate,~T says Yeva.

The main sponsor of the festival is the UN Gender Policy Program. About
$4,500 will be spent on the festival. One of the walls of the
exhibition hall is declared to be the ~SWall of Love~T. Small pieces of
paper patches are full of quatrains devoted to the woman and love. The
visitors read or add a couplet of their choice.