‘ARMAVIA’ COMPANY OPENS NEW DIRECTION TO FRANKFURT
Arminfo
2007-02-26 11:26:00
The "Armavia" Air Company opens a new direction to Frankfurt.
As the informed sources told ArmInfo, the flights of A-319 airbus
will be carried out on Saturdays. A two-sided 3-month ticket will
cost $446, and $1096 by business-class. The departure from Yerevan to
Frankfurt will be at 11:25 AM, the arrival – at 1:05 PM. The flight
in back direction – at 5:50 PM, the arrival in Yerevan – at 1:00 PM
by local time.
Arka News Agency, Armenia
posted Feb 23 2007
RPA: PARLIAMENT’S FOURTH CONVOCATION NOT TO DIFFER FROM CURRENT
YEREVAN, February 22. /ARKA/. The Republican Party of Armenia (RPA)
thinks that the composition of the parliament of the fourth
convocation will not differ from the acting, Party’s secretary Gagik
Melikyan.
"We think that there will be no special changes in the new
composition of the National Assembly, even if there are, they will
not be too essential," he said.
Touching upon the RPA party list, Melikyan pointed out that
businessmen are almost lacking there, instead the number of women and
youths has significantly increased.
Armenia’s current parliament consists of 131 members, 90 of which are
elected by party and 41 by majority system.
The hugest parliament faction is the RPA – 39 deputy mandates, The
ARF "Dashnaktsutyun" – 11, the "Orinats Yerkir" (Law-Governed Country
Party) – 9, the National Unification Party – 7 mandates, the "United
Labor Party" – 6, "People’s Deputy" Deputy group – 15, and
"Entrepreneur" Deputy group -10. L.M. -0–
Turkey’s Violent New Nationalism
Turkey’s pro-European elite is the target of a growing wave of violent
ultra-nationalism.
By Owen Matthews
Newsweek International
March 5, 2007 issue – The threats have been arriving daily, often via
e-mail. "You traitors to Turkey have had your day," reads one. "Stop
prostituting yourself and your country to foreigners or you will face
the consequences."
Not long ago, E, a prominent Turkish writer, would have shrugged off
such missives-as did his friend Hrank Dink, the editor of Agos,
Turkey’s main Armenian-language newspaper, who for years had been a
target of nationalist hate-mail. But after Dink was shot dead last
month by a 17-year-old ultranationalist assassin, the threats suddenly
became deadly serious. "Things are changing in Turkey, very much for
the worse," says E, asking that his name not be used for fear of
reprisals. "Before Dink’s murder, I always spoke out against
nationalism and narrow-mindedness. Now I fear for my life."
A wave of violence is sweeping Turkey, targeting its modern,
pro-European elite. Prominent liberals like Can Dundar, a columnist at
the newspaper Milliyet who supported a 100,000-strong march in
Istanbul protesting Dink’s killing, have received warnings to "be
smart" and tone down their coverage. Nobel Prize-winning writer Orhan
Pamuk, vilified by nationalists for comments hemade last year
condemning the massacres of Ottoman Armenians in 1915, canceled a
reading tour in Germany and has left Turkey for self-imposed exile in
the United States. Many other academics and journalists have been
given police protection.
It’s not only intellectuals who feel beseiged. Turkey’s ruling AK
Party faces the same peril-a nationalist backlash that is undermining
four years of sweeping progress. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, once feared by Turkey’s pro-Western elite for his Islamist
background, finds himself fighting to protect liberal values on
everything from human rights and free expression to membership in the
European Union. Erdogan condemned Dink’s murder as "a bullet fired at
the heart of Turkish democracy." The killers, he said, were "not
nationalists but racists," bent on isolating Turkey from the modern
world. But the evidence is mounting that the tide is turning against
him and his European agenda.
The nationalists have a growing list of grievances. Chief among them:
that Erdogan, prodded by Brussels, granted more cultural rights to the
country’s 13 million Kurds. But instead of peace, the last year has
seen an upsurge in Kurdish guerrilla attacks on Turkish
soldiers. That’s given rise, in turn,to a number of anti-Kurdish
nationalist groups. The leader of one such group, the Patriotic Forces
in Mersin, an ethnically mixed town in the largely Kurdish southeast,
recently called on "Turkish patriots" to take to the streets to
prevent Kurds from "taking over." Worse, Erdogan’s entire EU project
was called into question last December when Brussels partially
suspended talks in a dispute over Cyprus. After so many sacrifices for
Brussels’ sake, many Turks considered it "a slap in the face," says
Naci Tunc, an activist for the Nationalist Action Party, or MHP.
With national elections this fall, Erdogan himself is under intense
political pressure to take a more nationalist line. Recent polls in
Milliyet show that support for the MHP has risen to 14.1 percent, up
from 8.4 percent inthe 2003 vote, while support for the AK Party has
slipped from 33 percent to 26. A bellwether of just how far Erodogan
is willing to go in accommodating the nationalists involves the
notorious Article 301, a provision of the national legal code that
criminalizes "denigrating Turkishness" and has been used to prosecute
dozens of journalists and writers, including Pamuk. Brussels insists
that it must go; all of Turkey’s opposition parties, chasing
nationalist votes, insist it must stay. "We want to change the
article," says a seniormember of Erdogan’s cabinet. "But we are
alone."
Another test comes in April, when Erdogan must decide whether or not
to run for president-a largely symbolic post, but one which carries
veto power over all legislation. The president is elected by
Parliament, where Erdogan enjoys a comfortable majority. But as a
former Islamist, imprisoned as recently 1999 for sedition, he faces
strong opposition from conservatives in Turkey’s politically powerful
and staunchly secular military, judiciary and bureaucracy-
collectively known as the "deep state." They insist on a more
moderate, secular president as a counterbalance to Erdogan, or
whomever the AK Partymight choose to succeed him.
Perhaps not even Erdogan himself, as yet, knows whether he will indeed
make a play for the presidency. But if he does, Islamist-hating
nationalist radicals are sure to be inflamed. Dangerously, there’s
evidence linking many of Turkey’s ultranationalists to the Army and
security forces. A video leakedto the media earlier this month showed
Dink’s 17-year-old killer, Ogün Samast, posing with smiling police
officers and holding a Turkish flag after his arrest.
An internal investigation has also shown that warnings of plans to
kill Dink were ignored by Istanbul police-though it’s not clear
whether due to negligence or malice.
Erdogan is too canny a politician to antagonize the country’s Army to
the point that an old-style coup becomes likely. But at the same time,
he must tread carefully. Last week the chief of the military General
Staff, Yasar Buyukanit, spoke out against those who sought to "split
the state." It wasa clear warning to pro-Armenian liberals and
separatist Kurds, but most of all to Erdogan as he considers the
thorny problems of reforming Article 301 and whether to run for
president.
It’s a delicate balancing act. He must at once crack down on
ultranationalist thuggery, without alienating an increasingly
nationalist electorate. And he needs to continue with his government’s
program of reform, lest Turkey’s EU bid fail irrecoverably. As
resistance to his policies continues to grow more violent, that job
will become vastly more difficult-if not impossible.
With Sami Kohen in Istanbul
© 2007 Newsweek, Inc.
URL: _ k/_
( sweek/)
Obituary
Dick Tahta
A maths teacher with gusto, he inspired the schoolboy Hawking
Geoffrey Hoare and Eric Love
Friday January 5, 2007
Guardian
Dick Tahta, who has died aged 78, was one of the outstanding
mathematics teachers of his generation. In a national advertising
campaign to attract recruits to the profession, the theoretical
physicist Stephen Hawking was among famous people asked to name one
teacher who had inspired them: "Mr Tahta," was Hawking’s response.
Dick was born in Manchester, where his Armenian parents set up home
after the first world war war. From Rossall school, in Fleetwood,
Lancashire, he gained a scholarship to Christ Church, Oxford, in
1946. Mathematics was his main subject, but he read widely and
intensively – English literature, philosophy and history – at a
formidable speed. A book a day was his norm for 60 years.
National service in the RAF (1950-52) was followed by six months in
Florence absorbing Italian language and art before finding a career
suited to his quicksilver intellect. First he tried journalism, which
taught him to write clearly and unpretentiously.
In 1954 he was invited back to Rossall school to teach English and
history.Gradually a few mathematics lessons were introduced, and Dick
found he enjoyed teaching them. He then took up the subject in
earnest, moving next year to St Albans school, Hertfordshire, where
Hawking was a pupil. During six years there, he married his wife
Hilary and began the sideline of restoring houses as his family
grew. His energy and capacity for hard work were daunting, and he had
a gusto that made students and friends feel more alive.
His reputation brought him the post of lecturer in mathematics
education atExeter University in 1961, and there he built up a
wonderful network of students and teachers in West Country schools. A
magical teacher, he enjoyed the lively interaction of the
classroom. His postgraduates found themselves making 8mm animated
films, exploring Dartmoor, and even baking as part of maths
teaching. He wanted to liberate the typical mathematics psyche,
sometimes trapped in narrow abstract byways.
His openness matched the openness of the 1960s, and his interest in
the creative divergent mind led him to experiment with contemporary
music and art. In the basement of his family’s Regency house in
Exeter, students and teachers could try their hand at sculpture and
painting.
Dick was a perfectionist: he used to laugh at his extreme tidiness and
perfect file boxes; then he would go off to read about problems of
consciousnessand the senses.
He was a leading member of the Association of Teachers of Mathematics
(ATM), propagating ideas and influence throughout his career with a
deep belief in the value of cooperative effort. Thus he was part of
the ATM collective which in the 1960s wrote the influential books Some
Lessons in Mathematics, Notes on Mathematics in Primary Schools and
Mathematical Reflections. He founded and edited the ATM journal
Recognitions, and was co-editor of another ATMpublication, Mathematics
Teaching, from 1983 to 1987.
>From 1960 until earlier this year, he wrote articles in mathematics
education journals. These and his book contributions reflected his
interests – Renaissance painting, church history, poetry and
linguistics among them. In 1972, from his work with local teachers,
he co-authored Starting Points, which became a seminal book for
mathematics teachers. Throughout the 1970s he gave much energy to
Leapfrogs, a group of mathematics educators who produced a range of
innovative teaching materials and went on to make a ground-breaking
educational TV mathematics series – first called Leapfrogs; later
Junior Maths – which ran for 12 years. He forcefully promoted visual
approaches to mathematics and was instrumental in getting
mathematical film more widely used -especially the geometric films of
Jean-Louis Nicolet and Caleb Gattegno.
Dick was part of the team that produced the ATM book Geometric Images,
and co-authored Images of Infinity for the Leapfrogs group. Geometry
was one of his enthusiasms and he eagerly embraced the possibilities
that computer software brought to its study. But the visual was always
a means to each learner’s inner world of mathematics. Dick had
pondered deeply the human side of mathematics, and brought to teaching
insights into the psychology of learning,whether of the active life of
young boys and girls or the emotional needs of adolescents, and his
eclectic vision embraced psychoanalytical approaches to child
development. In working with adults his awareness of group dynamics,
his ability to support others, and a continual questioning of his own
rolemade working with him a journey of discovery. At the end of the
1970s, the school of education at Exeter became a vast new
institution, and Dick took early retirement in 1981. He went to teach
in America and South Africa, and contributed to courses at Warwick and
the Open University.
Fascinated by minor Victorian amateur mathematicians, he delved into
the papers of the photography pioneer William Fox Talbot, who had
published mathematical results when younger. Dick’s last book,
published days before his death, was on another Victorian, the
clergyman and amateur mathematician ThomasKirkman, known for the
Fifteen Schoolgirls, a problem in combinatorics.
After some years in London, he moved to Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire,
where he lived, appropriately, in a weaver’s house. He was a star in
the local Shakespeare society, at Bath, and worked for Relate, the
marriage guidance charity, while Hilary practised as a
psychotherapist. Theirs was a marriage oftrue minds. In the last year,
he produced a thoughtful book, called Ararat Associations, linking
Atom Egoyan’s film Ararat (2002) with his own life andthe history of
Armenia. He was a wise and generous man who inspired love and an
increase of intellectual energy in everyone who came within his ambit.
Hilary died in 2000; Dick is survived by three daughters and a son.
· Dikran Tahta, mathematician, teacher and author, born August 7
1928;died December 2 2006
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
"POWER OF PARTY IS NOT PROVIDED BY NUMBER OF MEMBERS AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES," LSPA CHAIRMAN BELIEVES
Noyan Tapan
Feb 21 2007
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 21, NOYAN TAPAN. "The Labour Socialist Party of
Armenia" (LSPA) which has 2500 members at present has not decided yet
to participate in the coming parliamentary elections or not. Party
Chairman Movses Shahverdian stated about it at the February 21 press
conference. In his words, power of parties is not at all provided by
the number of members and financial resources. "A party must first
of all have good ideas what one can not say about today’s political
field," M.Shahverdian noticed. And the LSPA, in his words, is one of
those rare parties "even in the name of which an idea is evident."
According to the LSPA Chairman’s estimation, Armenia, as a newly
independent country, was to form a political system, clarify national,
state problems and create a basis for democracy in the country. But,
in M. Shahverdian’s words, "a complete mess exists today in all these
spheres of the republic."
NKR PRESIDENT ARKADY GHOUKASSIAN’S ADDRESS TO NAGORNO-KARABAKH REPUBLIC’S PEOPLE
DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Feb 21 2007
Dear citizens of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic!
Today I again have to address you in connection with the current
Presidential elections to be held in the NKR. Unfortunately, some
mass media of the Nagorno-Karabagh and Armenia go on speculating on
my possible nomination for the Presidency, however, the issue was
closed long ago. In part, some forces are trying to present my last
year’s statement on expedience of the Acting President’s reelection
to the third term from the political and moral viewpoints as a game
that had allegedly been planned to dull public opinion. Such actions
can just harm the image of the Nagorno-Karabagh as a state adherent
to the European values. Moreover, the speculations of the kind bring
unnecessary nervousness to our society and contribute to its split.
To avoid unhealthy false rumors concerning my intentions for the
future, last October I considered it necessary to make a statement
that would remove all the questions concerning my possible seeking
a third term.
However, a statement made by the NKR President was not enough for
some mass media and politician elements. They obviously believe
the President should confirm his denial to again ballot every day,
provoking him to make the steps of the kind by their insinuations.
Naturally, one can ignore the people’s unworthy conduct, but for the
fact that their actions harm our society.
The people resort to various actions to slander the President. Any
action in the state and outside immediately connected with my name
is presented as alleged confirmation of the Acting President’s hidden
intentions to again participate in the elections of the state’s head.
Meanwhile, every day the NKR ordinary citizens, the representatives
of various political organizations and NGOs, state employees, MPs, our
compatriots in Armenia, other countries, Artsakh’s friends abroad and
famous foreign diplomats, politicians, politologists, philanthropists
appeal to the President to stand for the Presidency at the forthcoming
Presidential elections. However, the President, who respects himself,
cannot speak one thing today and another thing tomorrow. Expressing
deep gratitude to all the citizens of our Republic and our friends
abroad, who support internal and foreign policy I pursue I again
state I will not run for President.
However, being aware of the conduct of political speculators and mass
media that serve them I am almost sure my statement will not terminate
unhealthy talks on the subject. Nothing can be done about it: we seem
to deal with the cureless disease. I am just sorry for the people.
I repeat again: the most precious value for me is high international
image of my Motherland – the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, without which
the NKR’s recognition by the international community is impossible.
ERDOGAN AT DINNER OF AMERICAN BUSINESS FORUM IN TURKEY
Anatolian Times, Turkey
Feb 20 2007
ISTANBUL – "We don’t expect a negative decision to be adopted
regarding the draft on so-called Armenian genocide at U.S. House of
Representatives in April. However, I am concerned that a contrary
decision may overshadow our strategical partnership," said Turkish PM
Recep Tayyip Erdogan who attended the dinner of the American Business
Forum in Turkey (ABFT) at Istanbul Hilton Hotel on Saturday.
"We are getting close to a very sensitive period. April is closing and
so-called Armenian genocide allegations will be brought onto agenda
again. We are tired of it. But, Armenian diaspora is not. We say that
this is historians’ job. I wrote a letter to Armenian Prime Minister. I
proposed this issue to be examined by historians, political scientists,
lawyers, archeologists and art historians.
Then, we–politicians– shall assess the reports on these
examinations. Turkey opened its archives. More than 1 million documents
have been examined so far. If you (Armenia) have archives too, you
shall open them. If third countries have archives, they shall open
and we examine. But we cannot accept to be stained without making
these examinations," Erdogan said.
He noted, "currently, there are nearly 40-50,000 Armenians who
living as illegal migrants in Turkey. But, we don’t send them back to
Armenia. Why these Armenians are living in Turkey? Because they do not
have the appropriate living conditions in Armenia. They came Turkey,
and we do not send them away."
Noting that Turkish FM Abdullah Gul as well as Turkish Chief of
General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit held meetings in the United States
regarding the draft on so-called Armenian genocide, Erdogan called on
businessmen to exert efforts too. He expressed belief that economic,
political, military, commercial and cultural solidarity between Turkey
and the United States will continue from now on too.
"It is very meaningful that the economic and commercial relations
with the United States are developing in parallel with comprehensive
cooperation on political and security areas," said Erdogan.
"This development will have important contributions to all dimensions
of strategic partnership," he added.
"We attach importance to evaluate the existing potential in economic
relations on maximum level. It is pleasing that the bilateral trade
volume between Turkey and the United States nearly reached 12 billion
USD by the end of 2006. But this is not enough. Last year, U.S.
investments in Turkey was 5 billion USD. But these figures do not
reflect the real potential," noted Erdogan.
Noting that Turkey is the country which fulfilled the highest number
of privatization in Europe last year, Erdogan said that direct
international investment worth of 20 billion USD was made in Turkey
in 2006.
Erdogan said that Turkey is the 19th biggest economy of the world,
and it has become an attraction center for international investments
with its 200 billion USD of foreign trade.
Erdogan noted that Turkish contracting companies have completed
projects worth of 100 billion USD abroad so far. "We wish these
companies to make more cooperation with U.S. private sector. This
cooperation will yield very successful results especially in
reconstruction projects in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon," he added.
Aravot, Armenia
Feb 17 2007
SURVEY SHOWS SOME ARMENIAN MEDIA BIASED IN RUN-UP TO ELECTIONS
by Garik Lazarian
"H1 and ALM are unbalanced"
The Caucasus Media Institute has summarized up the results of its
10-day broadcast media monitoring. It related to the news broadcast
by TV and radio, the participation of politicians in political and
entertainment programmes and the happenings related to them in the
election period. Four TV channels – Public TV, Shant, ALM and Yerkir
Media [Country Media], and two radio stations – Public Radio and
Azatutyun [Freedom] Station – were monitored. "We counted the time
provided for a particular politician and party. We also paid
attention to the contents and intonation of the coverage," Council of
Europe expert David Ward said.
The head of the monitoring group, expert Nina Iskandaryan, said that
some of the media had been biased and given obvious preference to
certain political parties and politicians. In the news the references
to politicians were balanced, except for "Haylur" [Public TV news
programme]. "Public TV dedicated 75 per cent of its news to the
ruling coalition, and only 25 per cent to the opposition and other
forces. Public Radio gave more time to the parties that are not
members of the coalition than the ones that are part of it. Before
the start of the [election] campaign ‘Haylur’ can try to make its
news coverage more balanced," Iskandaryan said. She mentioned that
Yerkir Media and Shant have given balanced information on the whole,
while the Azatutyun radio station spent more of its broadcast time on
parties that are not members of the coalition (63 per cent) than on
the ones in the coalition (37 per cent).
In the case of ALM, Iskandaryan said that the ones covered mostly
were the parties that are not members of the coalition, and great
attention was paid to the People’s Party, both in the news and
separate programmes, which is because the owner of the TV station and
head of the [People’s] Party, Tigran Karapetyan, is a presenter.
Iskandaryan said that similar surveys will be carried out two weeks
before and during the parliamentary election campaign.
International Herald Tribune, France
Feb 16 2007
Turkish aide foresees revisions to Article 301
By Dan Bilefsky Published: February 16, 2007
BRUSSELS: Turkey plans to revise a controversial law that makes
insulting Turkishness a crime by the end of this year, according to
the country’s chief European Union negotiator.
The law – Article 301 of the Turkish penal code – has resulted in
prosecutions against leading Turkish intellectuals, including Orhan
Pamuk, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature last year, and
Hrant Dink, an Armenian-Turkish journalist who was killed in January
in Istanbul.
Ali Babacan, a leading member of the governing Justice and
Development Party, a minister in the cabinet and the country’s EU
negotiator, said Thursday that the law was harming Turkey.
Asked if the government would abandon the law, he said, "That is not
going to happen. Article 301 will stay." But he added that the
government was looking at ways to change the way the law was being
implemented and said his hope was that it could be altered before
elections in November.
Turkish analysts said such a change would most likely entail
narrowing the legal definition of what constitutes an insult to
Turkishness and amending the law.
"As a government, we have indicated we are not happy with what is
going on in Turkey with regard to that law," Babacan said. "When
novelists, columnists and Nobel Prize winners go back and forth from
the courtroom, this is not good for Turkey."
The European Commission, the European Union’s executive branch, has
been particularly concerned about the law, which attracted global
criticism last year when Pamuk was put on trial for telling a Swiss
newspaper that more than a million Armenians were massacred by
Ottoman Turks during World War I. Critics of the law also say that it
contributed to a nationalistic political climate in Turkey that led
to the murder of Dink, an outspoken proponent of free speech who had
criticized the law.
Babacan said the intensifying animosity toward Turkey in Europe was
making headlines at home and risked spurring an anti-EU backlash.
"There has been severe damage to the credibility of the EU process in
Turkish eyes," he said.
A1+
VARDAN AYVAZYAN TO HOLD A MEETING
[05:49 pm] 16 February, 2007
On the eve of the Parliamentary elections RA Ecology
Minister Vardan Ayvazyan is going to hold a meeting.
Vardan Ayvazyan, who is member of the Republican Party
and the Union of Armenians from Georgia, will
demonstrate with this step that in the upcoming
elections, the union of Armenians from Georgia will
support the Republicans.
«I don’t want the opposition to think that only they
can organize a meeting», the Ecology Minister said
mentioning that the Union has over 30 thousand
members.