Petits =?UNKNOWN?Q?=E9chos=2E=2E=2E_kilt=E9s?=

La Nouvelle République du Centre Ouest
12 juillet 2004

Petits échos… kiltés

Aux spectateurs de vendredi

La direction des fêtes Franco Écossaise d’Aubigny propose aux
spectateurs qui n’ont pu voir la totalité du spectacle donné vendredi
9 juillet à cause des intempéries, d’assister gratuitement à la
représentation du vendredi 16 juillet. Retirer de nouveaux billets
auprès du Seta, en mairie, au 02.48.81.50.07.

Personnalités

Le spectacle de samedi soir a affiché complet. Parmi les spectateurs
présents, Anne Merloz, préfète du Cher, Philippe Levesque, sous
préfet de Vierzon, Georges Ginoux, sénateur-maire du Cher mais aussi
Jacques Genton, ancien sénateur, Thierry de Montbel, conseiller
général d’Argent, (Michel Autissier, conseiller général d’Aubigny est
venu, lui, vendredi), Maxime Camuzat, vice-président du conseil
général ainsi que de nombreux maire et élus du Cher Nord.

Coups de chapeaux

Un coup de chapeau à la troupe d’acteurs bénévoles de l’association
des Fêtes Franco Écossaise qui a mis beaucoup d’ardeur mais aussi de
professionnalisme à jouer le spectacle, vendredi soir, sous la pluie.
Une mention spéciale pour Laurence Régnier, attachée parlementaire
d’Yves Fromion, alias Quentin le fantôme. Elle a bien joué son rôle
d’autant qu’il demandait de bonnes conditions physiques, descendant
d’une échelle de corde de la tour puis évoluant en l’air, sanglée à
des ingéniosités techniques des services techniques de la ville.
L’ingénierie municipale mérite également un coup de chapeau.

Groupes

Les spectateurs ont eu l’occasion d’apprécier de très beaux groupes
comme Les Lions de Shanghaï venus de Belgique, le groupe folklorique
Sasun d’Arménie, le groupe africain Moudoumango ou encore la troupe
du Far West albinien. A noter que pour les spectacles de vendredi et
samedi, ne seront pas présents, les groupes chinois et arméniens. Ils
seront remplacés respectivement par le groupe Le lion et le dragon et
par l’ensemble Ziema Zywiecka de Pologne.

Fêtes franco-écossaise les 13 et 14 juillet

Dissociés du spectacle, les fêtes franco-écossaise auront lieu, mardi
et mercredi, avec de nombreuses animations. Dès mardi soir, les
traditionnelles ripailles seront suivies d’un spectacle et
d’intronisations d’archers écossais. Mercredi, ripailles à midi avec,
au programme, de nombreuses animations : marché médiéval, défilé des
personnages et groupes folkloriques, reconstitutions de scènes
historiques en centre ville, jeux médiévaux et spectacles des danses
dans les Grands Jardins. Pour terminer, feu d’artifice aux étangs et
bal populaire place du Marché. Le tout, rythmé, cela va de soi, des
cornemuses du pipe band d’Aubigny.

Spectacles

Il reste des places pour le spectacle des vendredi 16 et samedi 17
juillet. Entrée : 5 EUR, gratuit pour les moins de 12 ans. Ripailles
: 11 EUR (dont 1 EUR de consigne remboursé à la restitution du
plateau vaisselle). Réservations au Seta au 02.48.81.50.07 ou à
l’office de tourisme en téléphonant au 02.48.58.40.20.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Haigazian University – Commencement

PRESS RELEASE
Haigazian University
Beirut Lebanon
Tel: 961-1-353011
Email: [email protected]
Web:

Vartoug Balekjian
Public Relations
Haigazian University

Haigazian University’s 44th Commencement
June 30, 2004
Beirut

Haigazian University- Beirut: Clad in gowns and caps, 88 graduates (35
students with the BA degree in the Faculty of Business Administration &
Economics, 21 with the BA in the Faculties of Humanities and Social &
Behavioral Sciences, 31 students with the BS degree in the Faculty of
Sciences, and one student with the MA in Education – School Administration)
of Haigazian University marched, following their instructors, to the
platform to receive their degrees from the hands of Haigazian University
President, Rev. Dr. Paul Haidostian, then marched out of the University, as
the President put it, “as potential business leaders, as educators and
teachers, as social workers and as lab scientists.” Eight students
graduated with honors and one with high honors.

Rev. Nishan Bakalian, the Campus Minister, offered the invocation. Then
President Haidostian welcomed the almost 1,300 invitees – politicians,
diplomats, officials representing President of the Lebanese Republic
General Emile Lahoud, Prime Minister Mr. Rafik Hariri, House Speaker Mr.
Nabih Berry and Army Commander General Michel Sleiman, clergy, community
leaders, parents, relatives and friends of Haigazian University.

“Haigazian University promises to continue its academic activities
believing that a wholesome educational system is a unit that includes
mental, spiritual, social and physical education,” said the President, and
added that Haigazian is convinced that Lebanon not only needs educated
people, but also people who are mature, honest, fair and servant-spirited,
and that in this precise sense Haigazian will continue to serve Lebanon and
humanity.

The keynote speaker was the Personal Representative of the UN
Secretary-General for Southern Lebanon, Mr. Staffan De Mistura.

Mr. De Mistura’s previous assignments have taken him to “where human-made
or natural disasters have hit nations and countries,” thus exposing
essential but invisible human needs besides those of safety and
nourishment. The distinguished guest speaker, based on firsthand, personal
experiences in Kosovo, Croatia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Ethiopia, Sudan, and
Chad, seasoned his speech with anecdotes, and highlighted three fundamental
human needs: dignity, truth and positive thinking. His words were a
heartwarming blend of academics and human needs. Mr. De Mistura challenged
the graduates to steadfastly cherish their human dignity by being useful,
to always have truth as an ally and to nurture positive thinking – filling
the white space of a sheet of paper rather than focusing the one black dot
in its center.

Deans Dr. Fadi Asrawi and Dr. Arda Ekmekji presented the candidates for the
degrees in the Faculty of Business Administration and Faculties of
Humanities, Social & Behavioral Sciences and Sciences respectively, and
President Haidostian handed them their degrees.

The program also included a valedictorian address. Mireille Bogharian, a
Business Administration major, thanked the faculty & staff of Haigazian
University and the parents for assisting them to reach graduation day.
Speaking both in Arabic & English, Ms. Bogharian urged her classmates to be
aware of the emigration allure and instead of waiting for opportunities of
success, she challenged them to create such opportunities with
self-confidence and all that Haigazian gave them.

After singing of the Alma Mater, the President of Union of Armenian
Evangelical Churches in the Near East, Rev. Megrditch Karagoezian, asked
God’s blessings upon the graduates. Finally, everybody joined in to
congratulate the happy and proud students in the Mugar Garden of Haigazian
University.

Prior to the Commencement Exercises, a Baccalaureate Service was held in
the First Evangelical Church, on Sunday, June 27, to thank God for His
grace and goodness throughout the academic year 2003-2004. The sermon was
delivered by Dr. Mary Mikhael, the President of the Near East School of
Theology. Then two students passed on the light they received from
President Haidostian to their classmates and pledged, on behalf of all the
graduates, to “hold high the light of truth, to defend the light of freedom
and to spread the light of service” to their communities.

Haigazian University
Public Relations Office

Lebanon

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

http://www.haigazian.edu.lb/
http://www.haigazian.edu.lb/events

New Iranian envoys arrives in Armenia

New Iranian envoys arrives in Armenia

Arminfo
8 Jul 04

YEREVAN

The new ambassador plenipotentiary and extraordinary of the Islamic
Republic of Iran [IRI], Ali Reza Haqiqian, arrived in Yerevan today.

The ambassador will soon present his credentials to Armenian President
Robert Kocharyan and start his duties, the press service of the
Armenian Foreign Ministry told Arminfo news agency.

The ambassador, Ali Reza Haqiqian, was born in Esfahan in 1958 and has
a university degree. He has been in the Iranian Foreign Ministry since
1981, represented the Islamic Republic of Iran in Canada, Germany and
Iraq.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BAKU: Musharraf assures Azeri leader of support in Karabakh issue

Pakistan’s Musharraf assures Azeri leader of support in Karabakh issue

Azerbaijani TV Channel One, Baku
8 Jul 04

The presidents of Azerbaijan and Pakistan, Ilham Aliyev and Pervez
Musharraf, held a joint news conference following the signing of a
number of bilateral cooperation agreements. Before answering
questions, the presidents made statements.

In his remarks, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev welcomed the
visiting Pakistani president and the delegation accompanying him. He
said the visit was a significant event in the history of the two
countries and added that the two countries maintained effective
cooperation in the political, economic and cultural fields. Aliyev
said that Pakistan and Azerbaijan had always supported each other in
the international arena.

“Pakistan has always supported Azerbaijan’s fair position on the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and I would like to thank the
distinguished president on behalf of the Azerbaijani people,” Aliyev
said.

He said that Azerbaijan would also provide its political support to
Pakistan. Under such circumstances, economic cooperation will bring
the countries even closer together, Aliyev said. These issues, he
added, are permanently discussed by the intergovernmental economic
cooperation.

“There are great opportunities in the fields of tourism, energy and
agriculture. Of course, our relations in the humanitarian and cultural
areas are successfully developing as well. Pakistan and Azerbaijan are
allies, we understand each other very well, our positions on
international and regional issues overlap and I am sure that our
relations will improve even further after this visit,” Ilham Aliyev.

At the end of his statement, Aliyev reiterated his words of welcome
for the Pakistani leader and expressed the hope that the visit would
be productive and successful.

In his reciprocal address, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf
thanked his Azerbaijani counterpart for the warm welcome and for his
words about thriving Pakistani-Azerbaijani relations. He said it was a
pleasure to lead the Pakistani delegation visiting Azerbaijan.

“Pakistan and Azerbaijan enjoy very strong cultural, historic and
religious bonds, therefore, these bonds must facilitate cooperation
and collaboration in all fields, especially political and economic,”
he said.

He added that the presidents and the delegations of the two countries
had held a very comprehensive exchange of views on many areas.

“In the political field the special feature of our relationship is the
reciprocal support that Pakistan has always received and is always
grateful to Azerbaijan for its support on the Kashmir dispute. We also
support Azerbaijan in the Nagornyy Karabakh issue,” Musharraf
stressed.

“The occupation of Nagornyy Karabakh by Armenia is the cause of
concern to us, the government of Pakistan, and every individual
Pakistani. Therefore, I have assured the president of our continual
and full support in this dispute with Armenia over Nagornyy Karabakh,”
he said.

The Pakistani president pointed to complete identity of views on all
international issues and said that the two presidents had agreed to
keep in touch in order to continuously renew their approaches to
problems.

“In the economic field we have agreed that we need to identify areas
of common interest and focus on them through the creation of a joint
economic commission which must meet on an annual basis, so that we can
then proceed further for mutual benefits,” Pervez Musharraf said.

“We are extremely glad at the signing of these agreements. We look
forward and are very sure that these will be precursors for more
interaction between our two countries, for closer cooperation and
understanding between our two countries,” he said.

Musharraf said he had invited Ilham Aliyev to Pakistan and that the
invitation was accepted.

At the end of his statement, Musharraf said in Turkish: “Long live
Pakistani-Azerbaijani friendship. I believe that we are not friends,
we are brothers. Pakistan has always been together with Azerbaijan.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Tax officers reveal illegal coffee packaging workshop

ArmenPress
July 9 2004

TAX OFFICERS REVEAL ILLEGAL COFFEE PACKAGING WORKSHOP

YEREVAN, JULY 9, ARMENPRESS: Armenian tax officers tracked down a
Lebanese Armenian who was running an illegal workshop that was
grinding and packaging coffee. The Lebanese, Arsen Sarkisian, hired a
building in a Yerevan community and installed makeshift equipment for
roasting, grinding and packaging of coffee. After searching the
workshop tax officers found around 1,000 kg of coffee beans, 6 kg of
peas that were mixed with ground coffee. The ground coffee was packed
in paper-bags carrying the trademark of Cafe du Brazil. The tax
officers revealed also 1,300 packs of ground coffee carrying the
trademark of Knarik and Black Coffee, granted to G. Mkhchian firm.
Sarkisian admitted that he was engaged in this business since last
April without having the license. Investigators are calculating now
the amount of damages he sustained to the budget and are trying to
discover the illegally produced packs of coffee in local trade
outlets. An investigation is started into the case.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ASBAREZ Online [07-09-2004]

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
07/09/2004
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://

1. Demonstration Planned Against Turkish Prime Minister in Paris
2. Youth Priority in ARF CC and Archbishop Mardirossian Meeting
3. South Ossetia Releases Georgian Peacekeepers
4. OSCE Accused of Meddling in Armenia’s Affairs
5. ‘Armenians for Kerry’ House Parties Across The Nation
6. A Year in The Life of Rose Alex Pilibos School
7. Glendale ANC, Community Leaders Welcome New GUSD Superintendent Escalante
8. Art Exhibit A LIGHT WITHIN
9. Five Armenian Chess-Players Rank Among FIDE’s Top 100 List

1. Demonstration Planned Against Turkish Prime Minister in Paris

Organized By ARF And ADL of France, with Support of French-Armenian
Coordinating Council

PARIS (Gamkonline)–In view of Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
upcoming
visit to France, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and Armenian Democratic
League (Ramgavar party) have called on French Armenians to participate in a
mass demonstration against Turkeys’ genocidal and denialist policies, on
Tuesday, July 20, at Place du Trocadero (Human Rights Square) in Paris.
In their announcement of the demonstration, the organized stated that the
undertaking has the support of the Paris and Rhône-Alpes French-Armenian
Coordinating Council as well as the Representative Council of Marseilles
Armenian Associations.
Prime Minister Erdogan will be in Paris July 19-20, after visiting Germany
and
Holland, in an attempt to secure France’s support in December 2004 for
beginning talks regarding Turkey’s accession to the European Union.
“At a time when French public opinion is negatively disposed toward Turkey’s
accession the Union, particularly because of Turkey’s denial of the Armenian
Genocide, we cannot accept the French people might be confronted by a decision
that is unacceptable to them,” the organizers stated in their announcement.
“We cannot accept that genocidal and denialist Turkey might join a Europe of
memory and human rights. We cannot accept that a Turkish Premier will wage,
right before our eyes, a campaign of disinformation, to which acquiescent
media
outlets will give wide coverage.”
French President Jacques Chirac will cast a decisive vote on behalf of France
in December regarding Turkey’s accession. In the meantime, Turkey has
undertaken a massive public relations campaign in an attempt to show that it
meets the European Council’s Copenhagen Criteria for accessionwithout,
however,
meeting the conditions set forth by the 18 June 1987 decision of the European
Parliament, which recognized the Armenian Genocide and called on Turkey to do
the same.

2. Youth Priority in ARF CC and Archbishop Mardirossian Meeting

A delegation representing the ARF Central Committee of the Western US paid an
official visit to the Armenian Prelacy on Wednesday, July 7, to congratulate
Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian on his recent re-election as Prelate, for a
third term, by the National Representative Assembly.
The ARF delegation was headed by CC Representative Hovig Saliba. Also present
at the meeting were members of the Prelacy Executive Council, whom the ARF
reps
congratulated on their election as well, wishing them continued success.
The meeting also provided an opportunity to exchange views on issues of
concern to both the Church and community organizations. Discussions
centered on
bringing Armenian-American youth closer to the Church and other national
institutions, and in doing so to collaborate and coordinate efforts,
particularly in light of their shared goal of preserving Armenian identity and
enlisting the potential of the youth in the service of the Armenian people.
The Prelate and Executive Council members welcomed this initiative. The
delegation, in turn, reaffirmed both its deep confidence in the Prelate and
Council and its willingness to continue the mutual cooperation and coordinated
work in order to ensure the success of the Prelacy’s undertakings.

3. South Ossetia Releases Georgian Peacekeepers

Prague (RFE-RL)–Separatist forces in South Ossetia on Friday freed dozens of
Georgian peacekeepers, a day after detaining and disarming them.
Irina Gagloeva, a spokeswoman for the South Ossetian government, said 35 of
the 38 peacekeepers were turned over to Georgian officials at a checkpoint
in a
village just south of the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, at midday.
Gagloeva said three peacekeepers remain in custody, accused of unspecified
“grave crimes.”
But Mikheil Kebadze, the commander of the Georgian peacekeeping battalion in
South Ossetia stated that 36 peacekeepers were captured initially and that all
have been released:
“The first group of 32 were handed over to us, while four soldiers still
remained hostage,” Kebadze said. “But five minutes later, they gave us those
four, as well. So, all 36 of the detained soldiers were released. [Minister of
Internal Affairs Irakli] Okruashvili was waiting for them. They were put into
buses and driven away. To where, I don’t know. The soldiers were released
without any conditions, as had been agreed.”
The Interior Ministry troops were seized when armed men entered the South
Ossetian village of Vanati–east of Tskhinvali and populated by ethnic
Georgians–and disarmed members of a peacekeeping force stationed there.
The capture of the troops and videotape of them–shown on Russian
television–kneeling in front of South Ossetian soldiers have further raised
tensions in the region.
Since his election in January, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has
secured the removal of the leader of another fractious region, Ajaria, and has
now set his sights on restoring central rule in both South Ossetia and
Abkhazia, a breakaway region on the Black Sea.
South Ossetia declared independence from Tbilisi after it fought a short
civil
war with Russian support in the early 1990s.
Tensions had already been high since Georgia sent troops to protect
antismuggling checkpoints in South Ossetia last month. The atmosphere worsened
on Wednesday when Georgian troops seized a convoy they said was carrying
rocket
launchers intended for separatists.
Russia said the weapons were meant for its peacekeeping troops.
Saakashvili today cut short a state visit to Iran and returned to Tbilisi,
where he headed into a meeting with his security ministers.
Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania had earlier described the raid on
Vanati
as an “insolent provocation implemented personally by Ossetian separatist
leader Eduard Kokoity.”
Kokoity’s chief of staff, Eduard Kotayev, said on Thursday that those
captured
were not members of the peacekeeping force and that they had been captured
in a
zone manned by Russian peacekeepers.
But the secretary of Georgia’s National Security Council, Gela Bezhuashvili,
said the capture of the Georgian peacekeepers was meant to preserve Kokoity’s
authority.
“Kokoity’s illegal government is losing support among its own people because
[Kokoity] is acting against his own people,” Bezhuashvili said. “He is making
his own people hostage of his actions and in that way seeks to preserve his
own
authority.”
Aleksandr Yakovenko, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, on 8 July
urged both sides to show maximum restraint.
In Washington on Thursday, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher called
for the soldiers’ immediate release and said the United States condemned the
incident.
“We are encouraging all sides to work towards the immediate release of the
hostages and to take steps to reduce tensions,” Boucher said. “We think that
intensified dialogue is the best way to a peaceful solution that ensures
Georgia’s territorial integrity and avoids further violence.”
Moscow aligns itself with the international view that both South Ossetia and
Abkhazia are part of Georgian territory. But it has often backed the two
provinces in disputes with Tbilisi and has granted many of their people
Russian
citizenship.

4. OSCE Accused of Meddling in Armenia’s Affairs

VIENNA (RFE-RL)–Armenia has joined Russia and seven other ex-Soviet states in
accusing the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) of
unjustly meddling in their internal affairs.
In a joint statement circulated at the OSCE’s governing Permanent Council in
Vienna on Thursday, they complained that the 55-nation security organization,
of which they are all members, spends too much time monitoring elections and
human rights in the Commonwealth of Independent States.
“In part (the OSCE) does not respect such fundamental principles…as
non-interference in internal affairs and respect of national sovereignty,”
said
the statement signed by Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova,
Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
“It is of concern that OSCE field missions focus not on their mandated
role to
help the authorities of the receiving state…, but exclusively on monitoring
human rights and democratic institutions,” it added.
“The document did not come out of thin air,” the spokesman for the Armenian
Foreign Ministry, Hamlet Gasparian, said on Friday. “There has long been
concern about the OSCE and a need for reform inside the OSCE.”
Gasparian claimed that the OSCE “sometimes” acts beyond the framework of its
responsibilities in the former Soviet Union. “Whenever a certain organization
oversteps that boundary that is considered an interference in internal
affairs,” he said.
The criticism was apparently initiated by the biggest and most influential
CIS
country, Russia. It has long accused the OSCE of applying double standards to
its member. Moscow is in particular unhappy with OSCE observers’ criticism of
President Vladimir Putin’s landslide reelection last March.
Other signatories of the statement, notably Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, have
long been ruled by autocratic leaders who are regularly denounced as gross
human rights offenders by international non-governmental watchdogs like
Amnesty
International and Human Rights Watch.
The OSCE has monitored the presidential and parliamentary elections held in
Armenia since independence and did not judge any of them to be democratic. Its
observers reported numerous instances of serious fraud such as ballot stuffing
and miscounting during last year’s Armenian presidential vote.
Also, the OSCE’s permanent office in Armenia has repeatedly criticized the
Armenian authorities’ human rights record. It described as politically
motivated the arrests of several prominent opposition figures during the
recent
campaign of anti-government demonstrations in Yerevan and helped to secure
their release.
“We are not saying that human rights are not important,” Gasparian said. “We
are talking about unbalanced approaches during electoral processes. There is a
misbalance of importance attached by the OSCE to various spheres and there is
inequality in its assessment of countries.”
The Russian head of the OSCE office, Vladimir Pryakhin, declined on Friday to
comment on the CIS criticism of his organization.
Reacting to the statement, the European Union and the United States missions
to OSCE argued that human rights and rule-of-law issues can not be considered
internal affairs, the Associated Press reported. In a statement issued by the
Netherlands, which holds the rotating EU presidency, the union said it will
reflect on the issues raised by Russia and the others but added that it has
“serious concern about certain elements of the declaration.”
Armenia committed itself to even stricter standards of democracy and human
rights when it joined the Council of Europe in 2001. In addition, Armenian
leaders announced last March that they are ready to assume additional
obligations on political reform in order to forge closer ties with the EU.

5. ‘Armenians for Kerry’ House Parties Across The Nation

WASHINGTON, DCGrassroots “Armenians for Kerry” committees joined over 1,100
homes nationwide in organizing events for the National John Kerry House Party
Day on June 26. The events constituted one of the largest coordinated
grassroots fundraising efforts for a presidential candidate in American
history.
“Armenians for Kerry” hosted seven house parties in communities large and
small across the United StatesArizona, California, Idaho, Massachusetts,
Nevada, and New Jersey. Each of the house parties was able to go onto a
conference call with Kerry who described his vision for the future of
America.

Previously, Armenian Democrats and supporters had joined together in
Arlington, Virginia for a House Party in May, bringing together activists from
the Northern Virginia, Washington, DC, and Southern Maryland. Kerry for
President Ethnic Outreach Coordinator George Kivork offered remarks at the
Virginia gathering.
Fundraising at these events was coordinate through the ArmeniansforKerry.com
website that tracks and credits donations to the Kerry campaign from Armenian
American contributors.
“I was excited to see the high turnout at our House Party and am increasingly
encouraged by the growing Armenian interest in the Kerry campaign by
Democrats,
Independents, and even Republicans,” said New England “Armenians for Kerry”
coordinator Sevag Arzoumanian. “When Armenian American voters take a moment to
contrast the Bush Administration’s terrible record with Senator Kerry’s
twenty-year track record of fighting for Armenian American issues, they see
that their choice is clear. Armenian Americans will go to the polls in record
numbers this November 2nd to help elect John Kerry as our next President.”
In Watertown, Massachusetts, the Greater Boston “Armenians for Kerry”
committee hosted a casual yet informative event at the home of the Arzoumanian
family. Sevag Arzoumanian and Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)
Eastern Region Chairman Dikran Kaligian addressed the importance of supporting
Kerry’s bid for the presidency, and the unprecedented opportunity his
candidacy
offers to advance Armenian American issues, and strengthen US-Armenia
relations.
Guests had the opportunity to register to vote and to sign-up as volunteers
for the John Kerry campaign. They were also told of upcoming events, including
plans by New England “Armenians for Kerry” committees to hold “Armenstock” an
Armenian music festival at Camp Haiastan in Franklin, MA on August 28.
Burbank Board of Education Vice President Paul Krekorian and his wife Tamar
hosted the “Armenians for Kerry” House Party in Southern California. The
reception featured Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Frank Pallone
(D-NJ),
who spoke ardently about Kerry’s strong record on issues of concern to the
Armenian American community.
“Here in California and across the country, Armenian Americans are
standing up
proudly today in support of John Kerry,” explained Krekorian. “The
extraordinary outpouring of grassroots support at events like these
demonstrates that Armenian Americans clearly understand what is at stake in
this election. We have a historic choice this November. Senator Kerry offers
an unblemished pro-Armenian record and the prospect of the most pro-Armenian
administration since Woodrow Wilson. The Bush-Cheney team, on the other hand,
offers only the threat of four more years of unrelenting neglect of, and
outright assault on, the issues, interests, and values that are most important
to our nation’s citizens of Armenian heritage.”
Guests at the “Armenians for Kerry” House Party in Ridgewood, New discussed
the impact a Kerry election would have on Armenian Americans.
They reviewed Kerry’s long record of support on Armenian American issues and
discussed his recent statements on the Armenian Genocide and the 86th
Anniversary of the founding of the First Armenian Republic.
“Armenians for Kerry” chapters across the US have also been meeting with
local
Kerry campaign leaders and coordinating participation in the campaign’s
grassroots and get-out-the-vote activities. Some 20 chapters of “Armenians
for
Kerry” have already organized additional chapters that are in the formative
stages.
For more information about “Armenians for Kerry” and Senator Kerry’s
record on
Armenian American issues, visit
“Armenians for Kerry” works in partnership with the Armenian American
Democratic Leadership Council (AADLC), a long-standing ethnic council of the
Democratic National Committee’s National Democratic Ethnic Coordinating
Committee. The AADLC actively fosters support within the Armenian American
community for the Democratic Party and national Democratic office holders,
while promoting the election of Armenian American Democrats to political
office
and encouraging participation by Armenian American Democrats at all levels of
the public policy process.

6. A Year in The Life of Rose Alex Pilibos School

By Sanan Haroun
11th Grade

The 2003-2004 academic year was a very dynamic one for Rose & Alex Pilibos
Armenian School, with students participating in all sorts of new and fun
activitiesfrom the annual Science Fair to visiting Armenia, and also making
major athletic achievements. Students and teachers devoted a lot of energy and
long hours to make this school year a success. Let’s take a quick glance at
life on North Alexandria Street.

STUDENT COUNCIL

Every year in the month of June, students take part in an election to choose
the members of next school year’s Student Council. Our Student Council,
composed of two delegates from each class of sixth grade and higher, as
well as
an elected cabinet, worked on a number of events to make the school year
active, fun, and enjoyable. Throughout the year, the Council organized Friday
night dances, debates on current affairs, an amusing lip-synching contest, and
a special Valentine’s Day gift sale.
A new event this year offered the opportunity to observe May 28 Armenian
Independence Day, with a celebration of Armenian culture with music, food, and
even dancing.
In addition to the two-on-two basketball and backgammon competitions, the
Student Council even managed to bring a water dunking booth and a huge
slide to
the campus.

SCIENCE FAIR

Another outstanding event was the science department’s annual Science Fair.
Student projects were based on conducted experiments and the scientific
method.
Through experimentation, the projects sought to answer such questions as
“Which
household window cleaner is best?” and “Which gum flavor lasts the longest?”
Just in case you are wondering, according to scientific studies done by
Pilibos
students, the Winter Fresh gum’s flavor will last the longest. . . Students,
therefore, got to learn about science-related resources outside of the
classroom and in daily life.

SCIENCE QUIZ BOWL

In February, Pilibos students also participated in the 2004 Los Angeles
Department of Water and Power (LADWP) Science Quiz Bowl. The Quiz Bowl
consisted of two sections, a question and answer contest, and a “hands-on”
scientific trials competition. Among eleven thousand students from throughout
the country, nine Pilibos students participated in the regional competitions.
They sacrificed many lunch hours to prepare for the event; it obviously paid
off.

ACADEMIC PENTATHLON, DECATHLON

Having general knowledge is important to everyone right? That’s exactly why
Pilibos gives students an option to enter the Southern California Private
Schools Academic Pentathlon and Decathlon. Regardless of their GPA, students
can enter the two competitions to participate in the scholastic activity. In
both the Pentathlon and the Decathlon, nine students in allthree A, three B,
and three C averagingtook part in learning various subjects.
In the Pentathlon for middle-school students, each of the nine students was
given five subjects: science, math, an essay section, literature, and a
super-quiz round.
For seventh graders, the super-quiz subject was African History; for eighth
graders, United States History.
Each of the nine High School students participating in the Decathlon had to
study to prepare for ten areas: art, music, math, economics, language and
literature, speech, an essay section, an interview section, science, and a
super-quiz round. The super-quiz round for the High School students this year
was the Journey of Louis and Clark.
The journey to prepare for the challenge began in September for Pilibos
students, and ran until early spring. Each and every day, and even on
Saturdays, information was crammed into their heads for hours on end.
Even over Christmas break, teachers and students alike left their cozy, warm
homes to come to school instead to prepare for this event.
The challenge proved to be rewarding. Pilibos students came out victorious,
placing first place in their division and third in the overall rankings.

MODEL UNITED NATIONS

This year the United Nations (UN) came to Pilibos for the first time.
Twenty-two Pilibos students represented the People’s Republic of Korea at the
Model UN which took place at the University of California, Berkeley in March.
Each year approximately 200,000 high school and university students worldwide
take part in a variety of Model UN programs.
Throughout the weekend, students partook in a variety of issues and
discussions, and had the opportunity to also represent the Palestinian
Minister
of Security Affairs and the International Monetary Fund Governor for the
Russian Federation.
They drafted resolutions and delivered a position on diplomatic actions
during
the model session. Pilibos earned a commendation in the United Nation Drug
Control Policy Committee (UNDCP). As a diplomatic treat, after debating all
day long, students toured San Francisco.

THE SOCIAL ELEMENT

Life at Pilibos is not just academics, however; social events allow students
to hang out and kick back in a fun atmosphere. The annual Winter Formal and
Prom (with a French theme this year) for instance, proved to be a blast.
Students danced, ate and mingleduntil early hours of the morningall with
chaperones, of course.

ATHLETICS

Pilibos excelled in athletics as well; the Girl’s Varsity Volleyball team,
Boy’s and Girl’s Varsity Basketball teams, and the Boy’s Varsity Soccer team
made the 2003-2004 regional playoffs this year. Dedication, commitment, and
plenty of sweat produced great results.
Though competitions were fierce, Pilibos athletes were unstoppable. Let’s not
forget to mention the Cheerleaders and Drill Team members who made the
half-time of basketball games entertaining with their cheers, stunts and,
choreographed dances. Over 30 high school girls spent most of their
after-school hours in the gym perfecting their maneuvers that ended up looking
great during show-time.

ARMENIA

In April, the 12th grade graduating class went on a remarkable and treasured
journey to Hayastan and Artsakh. Throughout their life, and especially at
Pilibos, the students learn about their country and ethnicity through
textbooks, classes, and photographs; the trip enabled them to see and
experience the homeland first hand. They met His Holiness Catholicos
Karekin II
in Etchmiadzeen, descended down the steps of Khor Virab Monastery, visited
military bases in Artsakh, and even managed to bring home a few gifts for the
school’s new library. Their trip was amazing; word has it they are all
planning
to return to Hayastan next year.

NEW LIBRARY

This year one phenomenon at Pilibos was the opening of the new and high-tech
library. Nowadays, students have a great environment and atmosphere in
which to
study, research, and even read for funwith all sorts of resources at hand. The
library includes state-of-the-art electronic catalog system and a
check-in/check-out system. In addition to these technologies, the Pilibos
library also carries top of the line computers, allowing students to use the
electronic catalog, research on the web, or use useful programs. Now, there is
a quiet environment outside of the classroom walls, where students can explore
the Internet for useful information, learn, and even cram for tests and exams.
Rose & Alex Pilibos Armenian School allows students to make their academic
years and learning experience fun-filled, useful, and memorable. With a lot of
events going on, the students and teachers definitely need a summertime break.
However, Pilibos will be back in session this September for the 2004-2005
school yearso stay tuned for more exciting and fun events.

7. Glendale ANC, Community Leaders Welcome New GUSD Superintendent Escalante

GLENDALENewly selected GUSD Superintendent Dr. Michael Escalante had the
opportunity on June 24 to meet and get to know area Armenian civic and
business
leaders, during a reception held in his honor by the Armenian National
Committee-Glendale Chapter.
In addition to Glendale Councilman Rafi Manoukian, many leaders in the field
of education also attended the reception, including GUSD Assistant
Superintendent Alice Petrossian, GUSD Board President Greg Krikorian, and
Glendale College Board of Trustees members Dr. Armine Hacopian and Ara James
Najarian.
It also provided Escalante his first opportunity to become acquainted with
not
only representatives of area Armenian organizations including the Armenian
National Committee, the Armenian Relief Society, and Homenetmen, but also with
Glendale City department heads and board members of Armenian descent.
“I have been to many receptions over the years,” said Escalante, “but I have
to say that this is by far the most professional and elegant one I have ever
been a part of, and I can’t thank you enough for opening your doors to me the
way that you have.”
Glendale ANC chairman Artin Manoukian welcomed Escalante to his new position,
“We have a fantastic school district, and I am certain that he will maintain
the district’s stellar reputation. We look forward to being a resource to Dr.
Escalante for issues concerning the tens of thousands of Armenian students in
the district.”
Prior to accepting the position of Superintendent at GUSD, Escalante
served as
Superintendent of the Fullerton school district. Under his leadership, the
Fullerton district was able to establish new technology networks for all
schools, pass a $68 million general obligation bond for facilities, build new
school site facilities and modernize existing buildings, formulate policy on
the fair share of developers toward new facility costs, design and implement a
district-wide instructional initiative to improve teacher instruction and
student achievement, and reduce district overhead by $1.5 million annually in
centralized services, so funding could be directed into classrooms.
Escalante holds an EdD in educational leadership from the University of
Southern California, a MA degree in educational administration from Loyola
Marymount University, and a BA degree in history and industrial arts from San
Diego State University.
His career in public education began in 1973 as an elementary teacher in the
Hawthorne School District, where he also taught English as a second
language to
adult learners.

8. Art Exhibit A LIGHT WITHIN

July 9 to 11, Homenetmen Glendale ‘Ararat’ Chapter Hall

A Light Within exhibits the works of five talented Armenian women artists,
each displaying a personal uniqueness with a feminine touch.
The exhibit features a collection of images from multiple sources,
backgrounds, and emotions, with each work telling a different story.
The artwork of Adana, Alina, Lara, Armineh and Alenoush are diverse, yet
connect through a strong, ambitious light which can only emerge from within.
The exhibit runs Friday through Sunday, July 9 to 11 at the Homenetmen
Glendale “Ararat” Chapter’s Baghdasarian-Shahinian Hall.
For further information visit <;, or call
(323) 256-2564 weekdays after 2:00 pm
Exhibit address 3347 N. San Fernando Rd, Los Angeles, California.

9. Five Armenian Chess-Players Rank Among FIDE’s Top 100 List

YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–On July 1, FIDE published its rankings of the finest
chess-players of the world.
Leading the list was Garri Kasparov with an individual rating of 2817.
Kasparov was followed by Viswanathan Anand (India, individual rating of 2782),
Vladimir Kramnik (Russia, 2770), Alexander Morozevich (Russia, 2743), Peter
Leco (Hungary, 2741), Michael Adams (England, 2738), Veselin Topalov
(Bulgaria,
2737), Hudit Polgar (Hungary, 2728), Peter Svidler (Russia, 2727) and Alexey
Shirov (Spain, 2725).
Vladimir Hakobian of Armenia, with an individuals rating of 2692, ranks 17th
of the list. Four others representing Armenia–Levon Aronian (32nd, 2671),
Rafael Vahanian (53rd, 2642), Smbat Lputian, (60th, 2634) and Gabriel Sargsian
(88th, 2617)–also made it to the top 100 list.
Female Armenian chess champion, Elina Danielian, with a rating of 2430, was
ranked 31st in the Women’s top 100 list. Hudit Polgar of Hungary was at the
top
of the list with a rating of 2728.

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

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ARMENPAC Co-Chair Annie Totah Meets Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton

ARMENPAC
421 East Airport Freeway, Suite 201
Irving, Texas 75062

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 8, 2004

CONTACT: Bryan Ardouny
Phone: (406) 546-5250
E-mail: [email protected]

ARMENPAC CO-CHAIR ANNIE TOTAH MEETS WITH SENATOR HILLARY RODHAM
CLINTON (D-NY) AND REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD)

Irving, TX – As part of ARMENPAC’s ongoing effort to thank
pro-Armenian supporters in Congress and to educate our elected
officials about issues of importance to the Armenian community,
ARMENPAC Co-Chair Annie Totah recently met with Senator Hillary Rodham
Clinton (D-NY) and Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) at a special
reception for Congressman Van Hollen.

Totah thanked Senator Clinton and Congressman Van Hollen for their
support of legislation to affirm the Armenian Genocide (S. Res. 164
and H. Res. 193). This bipartisan, bicameral legislation was
introduced in the Senate by Senator John Ensign (R-NV) and in the
House by Congressmen George Radanovich (R-CA), Frank Pallone (D-NJ),
Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and Adam Schiff (D-CA).

`Passage of this legislation will not only help defeat the ongoing
Turkish campaign to deny the Armenian Genocide, but will also help
ensure that the lessons of this terrible crime against humanity are
used to prevent future genocides against Armenians or any other ethnic
minority or peoples,’ said ARMENPAC Co-Chair Annie Totah.

S. Res. 164 is pending further action in the Senate Judiciary
Committee, while H. Res. 193, having been approved by the House
Judiciary Committee, has stalled on the House Calendar awaiting
consideration by the full House.

ARMENPAC is an independent, bipartisan political action committee and
was established to shape public policy by raising awareness of and
advocating for Armenian-American issues. ARMENPAC provides financial
support to federal officeholders, candidates, political action
committees and organizations that actively support issues of
importance to Armenian-Americans.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BAKU: Azeri official hails results of Pakistani leader’s visit

Azeri official hails results of Pakistani leader’s visit

525 Qazet, Baku
10 Jul 04

Text of unattributed report by Azerbaijani newspaper 525 Qazet on 10
July headlined “Pervez Musharraf’s visit to Azerbaijan is a great
political event” and subheaded “Novruz Mammadov thinks”

The Pakistani president’s visit to Azerbaijan should be regarded as a
great political event, Novruz Mammadov, head of the foreign relations
department of the Presidential Executive Staff, has told Olaylar news
agency.

Mammadov said that along with the fact that Pakistan is one of the
first countries to recognize Azerbaijan’s independence, there are
brotherly relations between the two countries. Novruz Mammadov
recalled that Pakistan supports Azerbaijan’s position on the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict: “Pervez Musharraf stated that he
regards Armenia as an occupier and at the same time, he said that the
occupier must withdraw from the occupied territories.”

Mammadov said that our countries have already signed up to 20
agreements on expanding cooperation in the economic, cultural and
security spheres.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Reopening the Gates in Turkey?

Beliefnet.com, NY
July 10 2004

Reopening the Gates in Turkey?

By Terry Mattingly
Scripps Howard News Service

There are two front gates into the walled compound that protects the
home of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the
world’s 300 million Eastern Orthodox Christians.Visitors enter
through a door secured by a guardhouse, locks and a metal-screening
device. They cannot enter the Phanar’s main gate because it was
welded shut in 1821 after the Ottoman Turks hanged Patriarch Gregory
V from its lintel. The black doors have remained sealed ever since.

A decade ago, bombers who tried to open this gate left a note: “We
will fight until the Chief Devil and all the occupiers are chased
off; until this place, which for years has contrived Byzantine
intrigues against the Muslim people of the East is exterminated. …
Patriarch you will perish!”
The capital of Byzantium fell to the Turks in 1453. Yet 400,000
Orthodox Christians remained in greater Istanbul early in the 20th
century. That number fell to 150,000 in 1960. Today fewer than 2,000
remain, the most symbolic minority in a land that is 99 percent
Turkish. They worship in 86 churches served by 32 priests and
deacons, most 60 or older.

What the Orthodox urgently need is an active seminary and
patriarchate officials are convinced the European Union will help
them get one, as Turkey races to begin the formal application
process. At the top of the list of reforms sought by the EU are
improved rights for non-Muslims.

Thus, during the recent NATO Summit, President Bush held a strategic
meeting with Istanbul Mufti Mustafa Cagrici, Armenian Patriarch
Meshrob Mutafyan, Chief Rabbi Ishak Haleva, Syriac Orthodox
Archbishop Yusuf Cetin and Patriarch Bartholomew. “The European Union
here is not focused so much on religion as it is on basic human
rights,” said Phanar spokesman Father Dositheos, through an
interpreter. “For us this means hope. Any attention to the rights of
minorities has to be good for us in the long run. Here, a little bit
of religious freedom would go a long way.”

But hard questions remain, as terrorists compete with Turkish
reformers for headlines. Western politicos are anxious for Turkey to
serve as a bridge between East and West, between secularized Europe
and the Muslim world. But others worry that decades of work by Turkey
to mandate secularism on its people will have the opposite effect _
creating fertile soil for the growth of radical forms of Islam.

The Greek government now backs the entry of its once-bitter rival
into the European Union. But one of the most outspoken critics of
this move is the Orthodox archbishop of Greece. “Turkey is not a
European country and, while its culture is worthy of our respect, it
is not compatible with our European culture,” said Archbishop
Christodoulos, during an interview in Athens. “This is not a matter
of prejudice. … Our European culture has a sense of unity that
comes from the spiritual traditions and the common spiritual roots of
these countries.”

But officials at the Phanar disagree and hope to verify reports that
Turkey will take concrete steps to demonstrate its acceptance of some
Western values _ such as religious liberty. The Orthodox and other
religious minorities are anxious to have more control over their
finances, to be able to grant work permits to foreign clergy, to
freely elect their own leaders and to build and rebuild sanctuaries.

During his visit, Bush said he was satisfied that Turkey will soon
let the Orthodox reopen the Halki seminary on Heybeliada Island,
which was closed in 1971 under laws strictly controlling all
religious education. In addition to training new clergy, this might
strengthen two surviving monasteries. This is crucial since, under
Turkish law, any monk who is elected Orthodox patriarch must be a
Turkish citizen.

But change is slow and uncertain in this ancient city. The gate to
the Phanar was been sealed for many generations. “We hear rumors. The
government officials say Turkey will allow us to reopen the seminary
if the church will reopen the gate,” said a church official who asked
not to named. “The church says it may reopen the gate if the Turks
allow the seminary to be opened. The government says it will allow us
to reopen the seminary if we open the gate. We are used to this.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Hacked flesh and great ideas

The Guardian, UK
July 10 2004

Hacked flesh and great ideas

James Buchan assesses an epic engagement with the aftermath of the
Ottoman empire in Louis de Bernières’s Birds Without Wings
Read an interview with Louis de Bernières

Buy Birds Without Wings at Amazon.co.uk

Birds Without Wings Louis de Bernières
625pp, Secker & Warburg,
£17.99
The destruction of the Ottoman empire in the first world war and its
aftermath put an end to a tradition of religious and ethnic tolerance
in Asia Minor, the Balkans and the Arab lands. In place of the
corrupt but uninquisitive old order, a half-domesticated nationalism
ruined the old cosmopolitan cities of the eastern Mediterranean –
Istanbul, Salonika, Smyrna, Beirut, Alexandria – broke up any
affinities between Muslims, Christians and Jews, and undermined every
effort to establish liberal and prosperous states. There has been a
century of war.

Romantic nostalgia for a lost world of pashas and cohabitation
prompted Lawrence Durrell to write The Alexandria Quartet of 1957-60.
A brilliant and overdue Levantine society worked out its destiny in
prose as honeyed and indigestible as Oriental confectionery. The
swansong of exotic English literary modernism, The Alexandria Quartet
is now the deadest of dead dogs.

Louis de Bernières has chosen in place of a sophisticated commercial
city of the 1930s a picturesque village on the Lycian coast in about
1900. This is Eskibahce, now just another ghost town on Turkey’s
southern shore but once a place where Christians and Muslims lived in
friendly intimacy, illiterate in both Greek and Turkish, and more
alike than they knew. A beautiful Christian girl makes veiling all
the rage, while the village molla halts the stoning of an adulteress
by appealing not merely to the sharia but to the doctrines of Jesus,
son of Mary. It is a place, as one might expect from De Bernières,
that is folksy, capricious, sentimental, superstitious, good-hearted
and brutal in the extreme.

In place of a single complex life story or family narrative, De
Bernières introduces and sets in motion a mob of characters
restricted, necessarily as in Dickens, to a single salient
characteristic. There is the beautiful Philothei, a Christian girl
betrothed since infancy to Ibrahim the Goatherd; two boys who play at
birds nicknamed Karatavuk (Blackbird) and Mehmetçik (Robin, or so
we’re told); Father Kristoforos with his religious doubts and
Abdulhamid Hodja with his beloved mare; the Greek schoolteacher who
stays up all night corresponding with irredentist secret societies;
the landlord Rustem Aga, his unfaithful wife and Circassian mistress
who is not who she seems; and Ibrahim the Potter, who has a talent
for such leaden aphorisms as “If the cat’s in a hurry, she has
peculiar kittens.”

As he tells their stories, De Bernières interleaves a biography of
Mustafa Kemal, founder of modern secular Turkey and known as Atatürk
or Father of the Turks. This old-fashioned piece of hero-worship
introduces a 19th-century solemnity which jars with the genre scenes
in Eskibahce, but does no real harm. Indeed, for those who don’t know
the modern history of the Middle East, the 22 biographical chapters
may be of some use.

As the old order begins to disintegrate, the Muslim boys of the town
are called up to do their religious duty and fight for the Sultan.
They are surprised to find they are fighting one set of infidels
(Australian Franks, British Franks, even French Franks) while allied
with another set of infidels (German Franks). Mehmetçik, who despite
his name is a Christian, is shipped off to a labour battalion. The
Armenians are told to collect their belongings and, in a scene kept
scrupulously free of hindsight, marched out of the town.

Karatavuk finds himself on the Gallipoli peninsula. In a terrific
literary set-piece, far beyond anything De Bernières has attempted or
achieved up to now, the boy fights his way through the Allied
invasion and defeat. The story winds its way through the
opportunistic Greek invasion of the Aegean coast, the Turkish defence
under Mustafa Kemal, the mass departure behind their icons of the
Christians from Eskibahce to mainland Greece, and the burning of the
Christian quarters of Smyrna.

For De Bernières, who sometimes cannot resist the 19th-century
manner, “history is nothing but a sorry edifice constructed from
hacked flesh in the name of great ideas”. His historical bugbears are
religious absolutism and “the devilish false idols of nationalism”.
Yet in the saintly village molla Abdulhamid Hodja or Karatavuk and
his comrades at Gallipoli, De Bernières the novelist shows that
religion and patriotism can also produce acts of heroism and
generosity. Those sections are a reminder that a book doesn’t have to
have complex characterisation to convey the less obvious truths of
life.

In his early novels, set in Latin America, De Bernières appeared to
be working off some debts to the magical-drippy school of Gabriel
García Márquez. There is an unfortunate scene here in which the
foul-mouthed corpse of a Greek merchant denounces the Greek and
Allied leaders as he sinks to the floor of Smyrna harbour. There is
also a Latin American copiousness that becomes more evident after
Karatavuk’s ordeal at Gallipoli. In the last third of the book, the
story loops away in distant meanders, like a river approaching the
sea. In those chapters, I learned some words of Turkish but many more
of English, such as immanitous, mommixity and phatic.

For those readers who liked the Italian officer in Captain Corelli’s
Mandolin, there’s an Italian officer here too. His name is Granitola.
He is part of the Italian army of occupation in southern Anatolia and
makes friends with Rustem Bey; he passes a few pages pleasantly
enough. A new character is introduced on page 607. If historical
novelists since Walter Scott have had difficulty starting – why begin
then? Why not a bit before? – De Bernières finds it agony to stop.
The reader closes the book with a satisfied thud only to hear the
yelping of two trapped epilogues and a crushed postscript.

But then, all critics say books are too long and all authors say they
are precisely the right length.

· James Buchan’s novels include Heart’s Journey in Winter. To order
Birds Without Wings for £15.99 plus p&p call Guardian book service on
0870 836 0875.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress