Author: Chaltikian Arsine

MANAS BOUJIKIAN COMPLETES FUNDING HIS $400,000 PLEDGE TO ANCA ENDOWMENT FUND

Noyan Tapan
Dec 24, 2009

WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 24, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The Armenian
National Committee of America (ANCA) reports that Manas Boujikian,
a long-time community leader, has completed funding his $400,000
pledge, ahead of schedule, to the ANCA Endowment Fund. Asbarez wrote
that Manas Boujikian is a "foot-soldier in the Armenian Cause".

"We are deeply grateful to our community and nation for producing such
a proud and devoted son," ANCA Endowment President Ken Hachikian said.

In the words of M. Boujikian, "the ANCA Endowment Fund represents
the single best investment we can make in ensuring a bright future
for the Armenian nation".

RA WRITERS’ UNION TO PUBLISH FIRST BOOK: LEVON ZAVEN SYURMELYAN’S POETRY COLLECTION

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.12.2009 17:00 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Opening of publishing house, sponsored by AGBU,
became the main event for the Union of Armenian Writers.

"The new publishing house, named after Levon Zaven Syurmelyan, will
give us a chance to publish books at minimum expenditure," Armenian
Writers Union chairman Levon Ananyan noted.

Levon Zaven Syurmelyan’s poetry collection is the first book to
be published.

ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH EPARCHY HAS TO BE FORMED IN JAVAHK

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.12.2009 17:15 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Georgian Orthodox Church is acting actively, even
aggressively in Javahk, an expert at Mitk analytical center, Eduard
Abrahamyan said.

As he told the news conference in Yerevan, this has been one of the
reasons for Javahk’s spiritual issues.

"Today, the policy conducted by Georgian Orthodox Church leads to
either Georgification or demolition of ancient Armenian churches,"
Eduard Abrahamyan emphasized, adding that Armenian Apostolic Church
eparchy has to be formed in Javahk, based on current situation.

"We’ve already addressed the All Armenian Catholicos with the issue
and believe he’ll take a positive decision and initiate certain steps
in this direction," he concluded.

IRAN POLICE CLASHES WITH OPPOSITION AT MEMORIAL SERVICE

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.12.2009 21:18 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Iran police clashed with mourners at a memorial
service in Isfahan on Wednesday for dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah
Hossein Ali Montazeri, arresting more than 50 and beating women and
children, reports said.

Hundreds of police and security force members early morning surrounded
the Seyed mosque in Isfahan where the service was to be held and
prevented mourners from entering, sparking fierce clashes, opposition
websites said.

The mourners were shouting slogans in support of Iran’s opposition
Green Movement and police fired tear gas to disperse them, website
Rahesabz.net. said.

The latest crackdown on the opposition comes a day after its major
leader Mir Hossein Mousavi was sacked from his post as president of
the Academy of Art, which the architect and painter had headed for
10 years.

Montazeri, a fierce critic of the clerical regime he helped create
and a vocal backer of the opposition, died aged 87 on Saturday.

His funeral in the holy city of Qom on Monday saw hundreds of thousands
of mourners pour onto the streets, effectively turning the ceremony
into a massive anti-government protest which ended in clashes between
police and mourners.

HAKOB AVETIKYAN, ROBERT ATTECHYAN HONORED WITH GOLDEN PEN AWARD

PanARMENIAN.Net
22.12.2009 21:09 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Robert Attechyan of Istanbul-based Marmara newspaper
and Hakob Avetikyan, editor-in-chief of Azg newspaper, Yerevan, were
honored with Golden Pen award during a ceremony held in the Union of
Journalists of Armenia.

"There were many candidates but the best were awarded," said Rafik
Hovhannisyan, Deputy Culture Minister of Armenia. "Some complain that
young journalists are not awarded but the point is that Golden Pen
is an academic award. It’s given to mature journalists."

As an alternative, Hakob Avetikyan jestingly offered to honor young
journalists with silver of bronze pens.

ARF GOING FOR FUNDAMENTAL SOLUTIONS

Yerkir
21.12.2009 19:00

Yerevan (Yerkir) – The Armenian Revolutionary Federation’s 119th
anniversary was solemnly marked at the Sundukyan Theater in Yerevan
on December 12. ARF Bureau representative Hrant Margaryan was the
keynote speaker at the event.

Margaryan focused on the recent events stemming from the signing of
the Armenian-Turkish protocols on establishing diplomatic relations.

Margaryan slammed Turkey’s hostile position towards Armenia from the
beginning of the Artsakh conflict. He also spoke of Turkey’s policy
of denying the Armenian genocide.

"We are not anti-Turkish, and the other side is not pro-Turkish,"
Margaryan said. "We are against Turkey’s denialist position, Turkey’s
anti-Armenian policies, but we are for the Armenian-Turkish relations
and the opening of the border. We are against humiliating conditions,
or any preconditions."

We need fundamental solutions, Margaryan concluded, and the ARF is
going for fundamental solutions.

The full text of Margaryan’s speech is available in Armenian.

YEREVAN TO HOST CONCERT DEDICATED TO GOHAR GASPARYAN’S 85TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
21.12.2009 16:43 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A concert dedicated to soprano Gohar Gasparyan’s
85th birth anniversary will take place on Tuesday, December 22 in
Yerevan. Concert organizers are the National Academic Opera and Ballet
Theatre after Alexander Spendiaryan and Armenia’s Ministry of Culture.

"The concert program includes performances by the prominent singer’s
best students and soloists from the National Academic Opera and
Ballet Theatre (David Babayan, Narine Yeghyan. Sofia Sayadyan,
Hovhannes Ayvazyan, Armenuhi Seyrabyan etc.), as well as laureates of
the contest in memory of Gohar Gasparyan. The audience will listen
to works by Armenian and foreign composers," Lena Levonyan, Head of
Soloists’ Department at National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre,
told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

Gohar Gasparyan born in an Armenian family in Cairo, on December 14,
1924, is also known as the "Armenian nightingale". Gasparyan studied at
a Music Academy in the city. In 1948 she migrated to Soviet Armenia
along with hundreds of thousands of other Armenians from the Middle
East.

>From 1949 she had performed 23 operas at the Armenian Opera Theater.

She also taught at Yerevan State Conservatory. Gasparyan was a People’s
Artist of the USSR and Hero of Socialist Work. She was also honored
with Mesrop Mashtots order.

Her repertoire included about 500 works by Russian, French. German
and Italian composers. Gohar Gasparyan died on May 16, 2007.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENTIAL CONTROL SERVICE REVEALS MASSIVE VIOLATIONS

news.am, Armenia
Dec 21 2009

As a result of inspections conducted over the last few months, the
Control Service of the President of the Republic of Armenian has
revealed numerous violations in the work of almost all the ministries
and government agencies. Major violations were registered in the work
of the RA Ministry of Nature Protection. At his press conference,
Head of the Servide Hovhannes Hovsepyan pointed out violations in
the royalty and income tax payments. "In the case of royalty the
concessionaires did not pay about 1bn AMD to the state budget. As
regards the income tax, they did not pay about 300m AMD," Hovsepyan
said. Mine concession licenses were issued with massive violations
as well.

The licenses were issued to the economic entities that failed to
fulfill their commitments before. Over 500m AMD were not paid to
the state budget due to loopholes in Armenian laws. Some of the
concessionaries failed to meet their investment commitments, which
caused damage of several billion AMD to the state. The relevant
authorized agencies levied 130m AMD instead of 247m AMD for mine
exploitation licenses. License taxes totaling 600m AMD were not paid
to the budget.

Hovsepyan reported a considerable decrease in the number of violations
after some of the powers were transferred from the RA Ministry of
Nature Protection to the RA Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources.

ISABEL BAYRAKDARIAN SHOWERS HER LUXURIANT VOICE ON GUSMAN HALL
David Fleshler

South Florida Classical Review
/12/isabel-bayrakdarian-showers-her-luxuriant-voic e-on-gusman-hall/
Dec 21 2009

The Armenian-Canadian soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian brought to the
University of Miami’s Gusman Hall a luxuriant soprano voice of a
quality rarely heard on South Florida’s opera stages.

Although the performance Sunday began with a short set of Schubert
songs, this was not a traditional lieder recital, and it’s a good bet
that even vocal aficionados wouldn’t have known half the works on the
program. And even in a music world that has become more international,
Bayrakdarian’s range of languages was impressive, as she sang in
Greek, Armenian, Spanish, Arabic, Yiddish and Aramaic, in addition
to the usual German and Italian.

Bayrakdarian is not one of those sopranos you go to for showy high
notes and vocal virtuosity, although there was plenty of that toward
the end. Her creamy lyric soprano voice was made for long lines of
melody, and this was displayed in song after song, in a recital that
was hard to beat for sheer sonic pleasure. Technically, her voice
was a precise instrument, with fine intonation and a tight vibrato
that never lost the tonal center, except for a few high notes.

She performed with her husband Serouj Kradjian at the piano, as part
of the Sunday Afternoons of Music Series.

Her technical precision, lush voice and sensitive phrasing were on
display in the Schubert lieder and Bellini songs. And she brought
a piquant and sensual quality to Ravel’s arrangement of six Greek
folk songs. But the highlight of the recital were four Armenian folk
songs recorded and arranged by Reverend Gomidas, an Armenian composer
traumatized by the Turkish government’s 1915 campaign of genocide, who
determined to travel Armenia and record the country’s musical heritage.

Bayrakdarian was born in Lebanon to Armenian parents and came to
Canada as a teenager, graduating from the University of Toronto.

Introducing these songs, she alluded to the genocide, telling the
audience the songs came from villages that "do not exist anymore." She
sang Dear Mara, a song of mourning and grief, and an Armenian lullaby
in tender, gentle tones. She brought a passionate but still polished
tone to Children’s Prayer. And her performance of an Armenian woman’s
complaints about her mother in law came off with a light touch and
wry wit.

Also fine were the performances of Spanish folk songs by Fernando
Obradors and a series of tangos by various composers, as Bayrakdarian
allowed a darker, smoky tone into her voice for these sultry,
passionate songs.

Her stage presence was inviting and engaging. Her expressions and
gestures were those of a singer who enjoyed sharing the music with
an audience, rather than just a vocal technician running through her
repertoire. Her husband expertly handled the often-difficult piano
parts, and unlike many accompanists he played assertively enough to
take center stage when the occasion called for it.

Applause was rapturous. She gave two encores, La Rosa Y el Sauce of
Carlos Guastavino, and Tanti affetti in tal momento from Rossini’s La
Donna del Lago, where she showed off vocal pyrotechnics, handling the
runs and ornaments of Rossini’s florid coloratura work with accuracy
and gusto.

AS IMPARTIAL MEDIATORS, OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS ARE INSPIRING ARMENIA

news.az
Dec 21 2009
Azerbaijan

Iranian ambassador in Azerbaijan Muhammad Baghir Bahrami said
participation of regional countries in Karabakh settlement would be
more effective than mediation of nonregional states that, he said,
observe their own interests. What can you say about it?

This is an obvious fact that the mediating countries serve their
own interests in mediation. Iran will also serve its own interests
in case of participation. But Bahrami is right when saying that the
responsibility is primarily laid on Armenia and Azerbaijan. If these
countries do not demonstrate enough wisdom and responsibility, any
decisions imposed by other countries will harm the profound interests
of these two nations.

But the co-chairs also say this. Don’t their positions coincide with
what the Iranian ambassador said?

Certainly, the co-chairs say the same thing. But at the same time,
they directly affect the process of the conflict. They support one
of the conflict parties, Armenia, both in financial and in military
sense, by supplying it with weapon and economically, politically and
with respect to information. And then they say the parties should
agree themselves. How can one agree with a country that is fully
supported by Europe, the United States and Russia?!

But Iran also maintains close cooperation with Armenia…

Iran is not supporting, Iran is trading. Free assistance with arms
and large financial aid are different from mutually profitable trade.

Can Iran be possibly included into the list of mediators?

The possibility is highly unlikely because this problem is dealt with
by European organization – OSCE, while Iran has nothing to do with
Europe. If an Asian structure is involved into the problem resolution,
Iran will have a chance to become an international mediator.

Don’t you think the Karabakh conflict has already had a negative
experience of Iran’s mediation when Armenians attacked and invaded
Shusha on the next day after signing the reconciliation agreement?

I remember these events as if they happened yesterday. Aliakbar
Vilayati, the then Iranian foreign minister, met with then president
of Azerbaijan Mutallibov in Baku in February 1992 and obtained his
agreement on mediation, After that he went to Agdam where Russian
servicemen did not allow him to Karabakh. Then he was obliged to
return to Tehran. Later when Mutallibov was overthrown by the Popular
Front, the acting president of Azerbaijan Yagub Mammadov arrived in
Tehran at the invitation of Iranian President Aliakbar Rafsanjani
where he signed a ceasefire agreement with Armenian President
Levon Ter-Petrosyan. As soon as the plane with Ter-Petrosyan on
board directedYerevan, Armenians invaded Shusha at instruction of
the Russian commandment. Mammadov heard the news about Shusha upon
arrival to the Baku airport. He returned to Rafsanjani and expressed
his bewilderment, while the Iranian president said it is not his step,
it is Russia’s fault. After some time Russia agreed to return Shusha
in exchange for Mutallibov’s return and Azerbaijan’s participation
in the military structure that was created in CIS for a single command.

Mutallibov agreed to it which is proven by many evidences. In Beylagan
I saw Russian tanks going to Karabakh – Shusha was to be returned. But
the Popular Front made a coup and this plan was annulled and Shusha
was not returned. Lachin was invaded in several days. This was the
cost of Popular Front’s inauguration. We lost two important cities
and thus ended Iran’s mediation.

Do you think it possible to reform the co-chairmanship institution
to raise its effectiveness?

This is senseless because the main players in the world are the United
States, Russia and France. What can other countries do in their place?

Who will listen to them? Will they have any opportunity to influence?

This format of the mediators differs with their ability to influence
the process and Armenia and Azerbaijan, though more Armenia, because
Azerbaijan is a financially self-sufficient state and Armenia is fully
financed by these countries (Europe, Russia and the United States).

They can influence Armenia. I do not tell them ‘start bombing Yerevan’,
but if they stop money transfers, Yerevan will immediately agree on
settlement. Azerbaijan should also intensify its policy. If earlier
chances were given to war, it is now necessary to give a chance to
peace. There are many opportunities for Azerbaijan to put forward
some useful and effective initiatives without harm to its territorial
integrity: to support a part of the Armenian public that is sick and
tired of this mess with Karabakh. But this is not being done.