Author: Boshkezenian Garik

MEMORIAL PLAQUE TO BE UNVEILED ON THE HOUSE, WHERE TUMANIAN REMAINED UNDER HOUSE ARREST

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.10.2009 19:03 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ At the initiative of the Yerevan Museum of Armenian
poet and writer Hovhannes Tumanian on October 8 a memorial plaque will
be unveiled on the wall of the building, Abovyan street 1/1. Hovhannes
Tumanian lived a month in the spring of 1921 in this house.

"The greatest poet Hovhannes Tumanian lived in this house in spring
of 1921" will be written on the marble slab, authored by Samvel
Ghazaryan. Hovhannes Tumanian arrived in Yerevan only 5 times and
for a very short time. Between March 20 to April 19, 1921 Hovhannes
Tumanian stayed in Yerevan, and particularly he was placed under
house arrest. During this month Hovhannes Kajaznuni, Hamo Ohanjanian,
Vahan Minahorian and other Armenian social and political figures
visited Hovhannes Tumanian.

AZERBAIJANI NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS OPPOSE OPENING OF TOURIST ZONE IN GEYGEL LAKE

Azerbaijan Business Center
28.09.2009 15:18

Baku, Fineko/abc.az. The Society of Steady Development fears emerging
of problems with ecology of Geygel lake after beginning of functioning
of tourist zone there.

Chairman of society Fikrat Javadov said that Azerbaijan has two
problems with drinkable water – trans-border rivers and Geygel lake.

"60-70% of all drinking-water is brought by rivers, flowing from
territory of neighboring states, where they are polluted. Now Geygel
lake is close territory, but earlier there was recreation area. The
issue concerning organization of tourist zone in the lake emerges
again, although there is not a tool today, protecting the lake from
pollution," F.Javadov said.

In accordance with data of the society, 2.2 times less water is
used per capita in Azerbaijan as compared to Armenia and 7 times in
comparison with Georgia among Caucasian countries.

PRESS OFFICE

Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Chris Zakian
Tel: (212) 686-0710; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

September 29, 2009

___________________

DIOCESE HOSTS DINNER FOR ARMENIA’S VISITING FOREIGN MINISTER NALBANDIAN

On Saturday, September 26, 2009, Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern) and the President of the
Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR), hosted a dinner in honor of Dr. Edward
Nalbandian, the visiting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of
Armenia.

Minister Nalbandian was accompanied by Ambassador Tatoul Markarian,
Armenia’s Ambassador to the United States; Ambassador Garen Nazarian,
Armenia’s new Permanent Representative to the United Nations; and other
members of the Armenian delegation.

The dignitaries met with leaders of the Armenian American community in the
formal reception room of the Diocesan Center in New York.

In his opening remarks Archbishop Barsamian welcomed Foreign Minister
Nalbandian and his colleagues, who are in the United States to pursue the
delicate and sensitive issues surrounding recent Armenian diplomacy.

In greeting the guests, Oscar Tatosian, chairman of the Diocesan Council,
and Randy Sapah-Gulian, chairman of the FAR Board of Directors, stressed
that the entire Armenian American community has been following with serious
attention the initiatives of the Armenian government, in its effort to
"normalize" diplomatic relations with the Republic of Turkey.

"Armenians around the world express their views and concerns about it-and
that is natural, since so much is at stake. However, we hope that your
visit and meetings here will shed light on the protocols signed recently
with the Turkish authorities, and give more comfort to our communities in
supporting the realistic and future-oriented policies of the Armenia
government," said Mr. Tatosian.

Dr. Nalbandian thanked the Primate and dinner guests for a warm reception,
and acknowledged the Diocesan Center as a "bridge between Armenia and the
diaspora," where dignitaries from Armenia’s political, cultural, and
scientific arenas are always welcomed. "This is a house of all Armenians,"
he said, "and all visitors feel proud at this center."

The Foreign Minister proceeded to share his views on the most sensitive
aspects of the protocols, which have generated a great deal of reaction
around the world. He recounted in considerable detail the negotiation
process with Turkish counterparts, which eventually led to the signing of
the "groundbreaking" documents.

"In the course of the extensive public discourse around the protocols, some
allegations are being made that are either inaccurate and do not represent
reality-or, which is worse, [they] are distorting the essence and the letter
of the signed protocols," said the Foreign Minister.

According to Mr. Nalbandian, the entire negotiating process and the final
documents were generated at the initiative of the Armenian government, and
not imposed on the Armenian side, as some have claimed.

* Negotiations without any precondition

"The history of diplomatic relations proves that all sensitive issues
between countries could be better resolved at the negotiating table, in the
framework of mutual respect and trust," stated Minister Nalbandian in his
address to the guests at the Diocesan Center.

"We have never shied away from declaring on any possible occasion, from any
international podium, that Armenia does have unresolved issues with our
neighbor, including the recognition of the Genocide," he said. "We have
made it absolutely clear to our Turkish counterparts, and no preconditions
were ever discussed or agreed upon in the process of preparing the
protocols."

He continued: "The establishment of diplomatic relations between our two
states will set the start for a long-term dialogue between the diplomats and
representative authorities, during which the two countries will seek a
resolution to many historic, and new, bilateral problems."

An open and cordial question-and-answer session followed Mr. Nalbandian’s
formal remarks. Guest at the dinner, representing a cross-section of the
American Armenian community, raised their own concerns and asked the Foreign
Minister to clarify numerous matters that had been circulated about the
protocols.

On an admittedly sensitive subject, Mr. Nalbandian fielded every question,
and even shared intimate details about the documents and the processes and
negotiations behind their preparation.

"Some critics-either not deliberately, or with an obvious political
intent-are claiming to see things that are not in these documents, and have
never even been discussed in the negotiations," Mr. Nalbandian said.

"Contrary to what is being speculated, no one-sided concessions, no hidden
or open preconditions, were made by the Armenian side. The documents have
clearly stated what has been achieved at the negotiating table: All issues
of bilateral relations would become agenda items of further negotiations
between the two governments, after the diplomatic relations between Armenia
and Turkey are established, and the borders are open." said Mr. Nalbandian.

Following the meeting, Sarkis Jebejian, an international lawyer who attended
the gathering as a member of the Armenian General Benevolent Union’s Central
Board of Directors, said: "We applaud the initiative of the President of the
Republic of Armenian and the entire government to commence these
negotiations without any precondition."

Mr. Jebejian added: "The AGBU stands ready to assist the government in any
way necessary, and calls upon the entire diaspora to unite in support of
this complex and important mission."

# # #

PHOTOS ATTACHED

Photo1: Dr. Edward Nalbandian, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic
of Armenia, visits the Diocesan Center on Saturday, September 26, 2009.

Photo2: Foreign Minister Nalbandian delivers his remarks about recent
developments between Armenia and Turkey.

Photo3: The Primate presents Foreign Minister Nalbandian with a gift on
behalf of the Diocese.

Kansas City Sta
Posted on Sat, Sep. 26, 2009 10:15 PM

Pianist Nareh Arghamanyan opens Friends of Chamber Music’s season

By MICHAEL PETTENGELL
Special to The Star

When the subject is music, most of us are `hopeless romantics.’

Made to order is the upcoming season from Friends of Chamber
Music. It’s focusing on the work of Frederic Chopin, beginning Friday
with 20-year-old award-winning pianist Nareh Arghamanyan.

The best romantic composers blend strength and feeling seamlessly, and
Arghamanyan, an Armenian virtuoso who has been winning prestige and
competitions since age 8, is perfectly suited for such a task. Her
program includes Mendelssohn, Schumann, the evergreen Beethoven and a
Chopin Polonaise. The last is part of the series’ 200th birth-year
celebration of that angst-ridden composer, who was Polish by
nationality, French by temperament.

`I think Nareh Arghamanyan is one of the most exciting new talents,’
said Cynthia Siebert, executive director of the Friends of Chamber
Music. `She is certainly the young and up-and-coming pianist out
there.’

The pianist and Chopin are revolutionaries of a sort. Chopin blended
emotion and power in his reworking of traditional genre pieces,
turning them inside out. His musical strength belied the
stereotypically frail picture of him. Arghamanyan may look small as
she approaches the keyboard, but she surprises with her authoritative
touch and her ever inventive artistic intuition.

Like most prodigies, Arghamanyan was introduced to the piano early on,
and it was love at first touch.

`I was 3 years old,’ she said recently from California, where she was
beginning her U.S. tour, `and my mother showed me a toy piano and
said, `This is a toy ¦ you can play with this toy rather than go
outside and play.’ I was really amazed at the sounds that it
produced. And soon afterward I started playing piano for like six
hours every day.’

Arghamanyan’s ability to win piano competitions is nothing less than
astounding.

`I was really having fun with
I was all the time looking for another one or another opportunity to
compete or to play. It was the meaning of my life.’

Although one might think of concert performing as a kind of
nerve-racking experience, nothing is further from the truth for
Arghamanyan. In fact, it is there that she makes some of her most
meaningful discoveries.

`Every time I play a concert I discover something new and different
about the music,’ she said. `When I am playing a concert it is so
obvious to me, I discover new elements, new dynamics and new
voices. And sometimes I wonder why I never noticed these things before
¦ in all the hours of practice. But it comes only during the
concerts, when I am so obviously hearing more.’

She pondered this ability and added, `I cannot say what it is, maybe
the intensity of the performance.’

It might surprise and delight concertgoers to learn that they are part
of an ongoing creative process: `In concert, you might say that I am
kind of experimenting’ ‘ she laughed ‘ `because when I hear the
recordings of these concerts, they never sound the same.’

Siebert said Arghamanyan’s style was her forte.

`She is exquisitely talented, with such great attention to nuances and
detail,’ Siebert said, `not to mention the emotional quality she
brings to a piece. She will be hard to top this season.’

Said Arghamanyan, `For me the emotion and the meaning of the piece are
most important. You have to have the technical side, but that is only
a means to getting at the concept of the piece.’

For her, musical pieces take on an almost human aspect.

`Pieces have distinct personalities, and for pianists, we have to go
into all these different personalities and understand them ¦ so we
have to be very flexible and open to them.’

It is clear that the concert stage is what sustains Arghamanyan, and
she sees it as a means of communication.

`When I am playing I am trying to communicate with people with my
sound,’ she said. `It is that connection that I want them to tak
omething from the concert. And that, for me, would be a successful
performance.’

THE SHOW
Friends of Chamber Music’s Master Pianists Series kicks off with Nareh
Arghamanyan at 8 p.m. Friday at the Folly Theater, 300 W. 12th. For
tickets call 816-561-9999 or go to

ntertainment/story/1467317.html

Tert.am
13:23 ¢ 25.09.09

Michelle Obama’s Gift to First Ladies of G20 Countries

First Ladies participating in the G20 countries’ summit, which began
on September 24 in Pittsburg, will take home honey and a unique
porcelain tea set, announced the White House press service.

The hospitality extended to the first ladies included a separate
gathering at Rosemont Farm near Pittsburg, reports Russian press
agency ItarTass.

The tea sets were modelled on a set used by Abraham Lincoln’s family
in 1861. Michelle Obama’s presents were reported to have an
`individual and historical’ meaning: Lincoln was the first president
to eliminate slavery in the US and Obama is the country’s first black
president.

As for the honey, Michelle Obama procured it from beehives located in
her White House `garden’; the garden was cultivated with the help of
school children.

Tert.am

News.com

Armenia-Turkey football match to take place on Oct 14
10:45 / 09/26/2009

The Turkish Football Federation announced the time of the match
between the Armenian and Turkish football teams. The Hurriyet
newspaper reports that the match is to start at 9:00 p.m., Ankara time
(11:00 p.m. Yerevan time).

It is the last match of the World Cup qualifying round of 2010. Fatih
Terim, Head Coach of the Turkish national football team, plans to
accept an offer received from an Italian club.

Armenian Foreign Minister in New York for Karabakh Talks
2009/09/26 | 11:14

p olitics

RoA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian arrived in New York yesterday
and has met with Minsk Group Co-chairs Yuri Merzlyakov, Bernar Fassier
and Robert Bradtke. Also attending the meeting, which lasted for two
hours and focused on the Karabakh negotiations process, was Anjei
Kasprchik, Personal Representative of the OSCE President.

FM Nalbandian congratulated Mr. Bradtke on his recent nomination to
replace Matthew Bryza as U.S. Co-chair and hoped that his long years
of diplomatic service would contribute to settlement process.

RA Economic Competition Protection Committee will conform to European
standards
24.09.2009 20:43 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today, Memorandum of Understanding was signed
between RA State Committee for Economic Competition Protection and
German Technical Cooperation Organization (GTZ).

The memorandum stipulates for GTZ assistance to Economic Competition
Protection Committee in a number of directions: suggestions for
amendments in competition laws to promote discovery of
anti-competition agreements, consultations of international experts in
complicated cases, awareness increase on competition policy, bringing
collaboration between RA Economic Competition Protection Committee,
Public Services’ Regulation Committee and CBA in conformity with
European standards, RA Economic Competition Protection Committee press
service reported.

THE ARBITRAL AWARD OF WILSON

s15297.html
09:58:17 – 25/09/2009

and on other matters concerning the same

I recently read the following news article with great astonishment:
`Dwelling on Woodrow Wilson’s arbitral decision, Andranik Mihranyan
noted that the decision has no legal force, and is unacknowledged by
US Congress.'[1] If the news agencies have quoted this respected
professor correctly, then he is in error. Mr. Mihranyan has clearly
confused the chronologically close, yet two very distinct issues – the
mandate for Armenia and the question of Armenia’s borders – and has
therefore arrived at a wrong conclusion.

Considering the timeliness of the matter, I find it appropriate to
give a brief account of the aforementioned issues.

The mandate for Armenia and the question of Armenia’s borders
The Paris Peace Conference ultimately took up the main issues of the
Ottoman Empire in the San Remo session, which took place from the 24th
to the 27th of April, 1920. The conference got involved with
clarifying the fate of Armenia as well within this context, by which
the Supreme Council of the Allied Powers officially approached the US
President Woodrow Wilson on the 26th of April, 1920 with two separate
requests: a) for the United States to assume a mandate for Armenia,
and b) for the President of the United States to arbitrate the
frontiers of Armenia.[2] The two issues were completely independent of
each other, and therefore were addressed to separate people or bodies
and came under separate judicial authorities.

For the first – the mandate – the Paris Peace Conference approached
the United States as a state. The legal basis for such a request was
Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, according to
which member states of the League of Nations could carry out
`tutelage’ on behalf of the League of Nations. Since this issue
concerned an obligation by an international treaty, the President of
the United States had to receive the `Advice and Consent’ of the
Senate, in accordance with the US Constitution. And so, the Senate of
the United States – and not Congress – having discussed the issue of
taking on a mandate for Armenia from the 24th of May to the 1st of
June, 1920, voted against it. The real reason for this was that the US
was not a member of the League of Nations, and therefore there was no
legal basis to carry out any activities on its behalf.

The second request – arbitrating the frontier of Armenia with Turkey –
did not come under the authority of the Senate, and so that part of
the legislative branch of the United States could not and in fact
never did take up this issue. International arbitration forms part of
international law and is regulated exclusively as per international
public law. Therefore, even a week before the Senate began to discuss
the mandate for Armenia, on the 17th of May, 1920, President Wilson
gave an affirmative answer to the second request, taking on the
responsibility and authority of arbitration to decide the frontier
between Armenia and Turkey.

What followed in this regard is relatively better known. Based on the
compromis of San Remo (the 26th of April, 1920), as well as that of
Sèvres (the 10th of August, 1920), US President Woodrow Wilson
granted the arbitral award on the frontiers between Armenia and Turkey
on the 22nd of November, 1920, which was to come into force in
accordance with the agreement immediately and without
preconditions. Two days later, on the 24th of November, the award was
conveyed by telegraph to the Paris Peace Conference and for the
consideration of the League of Nations. The award was accepted as
such, but remained unsettled, because the beneficiary of the award –
the Republic of Armenia – ceased to exist on the 2nd of December,
1920.

The status of Wilson’s arbitral award

It is necessary to state, first of all, that any arbitral award, if it
is carried out with due process, does not just have some theoretical
`legal force’, but is a binding document to be carried out without
reservations. Moreover, arbitral awards are `final and without
appeal’.[3] `The arbitral award is the final and binding decision by
an arbitrator’.[4]

The final and non-appealable nature of arbitral awards is codified
within international law. In particular, by Article 54 of the 1899
edition and Article 81 of the 1907 edition of the Hague Convention for
the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes.

It is evident from the aforementioned that arbitral awards a) are
inherently binding and non-appealable decisions, and b) do not require
any ratification or approval from within a state.

And so, by the arbitral award of the President of the United States
Woodrow Wilson, the frontier between Armenia and Turkey has been
decided for perpetuity, being in force to this day and not subject to
any appeal.

There is another important issue to consider. Have the authorities and
public bodies of the United States ever expressed any position with
regards to President Wilson’s arbitral award deciding the border
between Armenia and Turkey?

The position of the executive branch

The highest executive power of the United States not only recognised
Wilson’s arbitral award, but has also ratified it and, therefore, it
has become part of the law of the land of the United States. The
President of the United States Woodrow Wilson and Secretary of State
Bainbridge Colby ratified the award of the arbitrator Woodrow Wilson
with their signatures and The Great Seal of the United
States. According to international law, the personal signature of the
arbitrator and his seal, if applicable, are completely sufficient as
ratification of an arbitral award. Woodrow Wilson could have been
satisfied with only his signature or as well as his presidential
seal. In that case, the award would have been the obligation of an
individual, albeit a president. However, the arbitral award is
ratified with the official state seal and confirmed by the keeper of
the seal, the Secretary of State. The arbitral award of Woodrow Wilson
is thus an unqualified obligation of the United States of America
itself.

The position of the legislative branch

As mentioned above, arbitral awards are not subject to any legislative
approval or ratification. So the Senate, which reserves the right to
take up matters relating to foreign policy according to the US
Constitution, never discussed the arbitral award deciding the
Armenian-Turkish frontier. Nevertheless, in the course of discussing
other matters, the Senate of the United States explicitly expressed
its position on this award on at least one occasion.

On the 18th of January, 1927, the Senate rejected the Turkish-American
treaty of the 6th of August, 1923, for three reasons. One of the
reasons was that Turkey `failed to provide for the fulfillment of the
Wilson award to Armenia’.[5] Senator William H. King (D-Utah)
expressed himself much more clearly in an official statement on this
occasion, `Obviously it would be unfair and unreasonable for the
United States to recognize and respect the claims and professions of
Kemal so long as he persist in holding control and sovereignty over
Wilson Armenia.'[6] The vote in the Senate in 1927 testifies without a
doubt to the fact that Wilson’s arbitral award was a ratified award
and had legal bearing in 1927. Nothing from a legal perspective has
changed since then, and it thus remains in force to this day. I would
like to especially emphasise that this aforementioned discussion and
vote took place years after `the relevant treaties … defin[ing]
… the … border’ cited in the unfortunate pair of protocols.

Let me also add that the restoration of relations between Turkey and
America (after the First World War) still does not have a basis in any
treaty, and numerous controversial legal questions are left
unaddressed in that matter.

The position of public bodies

The most important public bodies in the United States are the
political parties. The main clauses of party programmes are to be
found in the party platforms, which are approved by the general
assemblies of political parties.

The Democratic Party of the US (the party of current President Obama)
has official expressed a position on Wilson’s arbitral award on two
occasions, in 1924 and in 1928.

In its 1924 programme, the Democratic Party included a separate clause
of the `Fulfillment of President Wilson’s arbitral award respecting
Armenia'[7]as a platform and goal. The 1928 platform went even
further, citing the US as a state and, as per the `promises and
engagements’ of the Allied Powers, `We favor the most earnest efforts
on the part of the United States to secure the fulfillment of the
promises and engagements made during and following the World War by
the United States and the allied powers to Armenia and her people.'[8]
The only `promise and engagement’ of the United States to the Republic
of Armenia was and continues to remain the arbitral award of Woodrow
Wilson on the border between Armenia and Turkey.

Let us put to one side the person of Andranik Mihranyan. I simply used
his statement as an opportunity to say all of the above. Let us
instead consider the most important question, which remains
unanswered, at least to me:

Is there indeed any other people, except for the Armenians, who, even
after possessing all of the above and many more legal leverages, would
willfully, with great pomp and show even, go ahead and reject her own
Homeland and bring in outside dictators?

Ara Papian
Head of the Modus Vivendi Centre
22 September, 2009

TURKEY SEEKS UNPROBLEMATIC RELATIONS WITH ALL NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES: TURKISH FM

Trend News Agency
24.09.2009 12:33

Ankara seeks unproblematic relations and maximum cooperation with all
neighboring countries, including Armenia, Turkish Foreign Minister,
Ahmet Davudoglu, said during his speech at the UN General Assembly,
the Turkish Anadolu news agency reported.

Ankara has achieved its goal, without taking into consideration the
relations with Yerevan.

"We seek to normalize relations with Armenia. The stabilization of the
situation in the Caucasus will also contribute to the normalization
of the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations," the minister added.

According to Davudoglu, Turkey’s policy increases the confidence in
the country at the international level every day.