Author: Kajoyan Gevork

EU official tells Turkey it cannot “hide unpleasant things anymore”

Anatolia news agency, Ankara
5 Apr 05

Istanbul, European Union (EU)-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Commission
(JPC) Co-chairman Joost Lagendijk said on Tuesday [5 April] that EU
closely watched Turkey and all the eyes of European countries were
now on Turkey.

Addressing the Strategic Communication Management meeting organized
by the Platform of Institutional Communication Professionals,
Lagendijk said that there were certain problems in perception
of Turkey within EU countries and also in perception of the EU by
Turkey. “This misperception between the EU and Turkey should change”,
Lagendijk said, noting that “EU watches you, their eyes are on you.
The European press and the parliament have all turned their eyes to
you. Whatever you do in Turkey is closely monitored by EU. You can’t
hide unpleasant things anymore.”

“Turkey has to determine its foreign policy in line with this
perspective”, added Lagendijk.

Referring to Cyprus issue, Lagendijk said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul have been successful with
their recent policies on Cyprus. EU public opinion attaches importance
to sensitive issues, not general policies, he said. “For instance the
economic growth of Turkey was covered by a small article in European
newspapers, but the discussions on Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk [whose
books were burned on the orders of a local official in Turkey] were
in the front pages of those newspapers.”

Mentioning the Ankara Protocol in his speech, Lagendijk urged Turkey
to sign the protocol before 3 October. “You can surprise everybody
(Greek Cypriots and Europeans included) by signing the protocol now.
Why don’t you help in the lifting of the embargo on Turkish Cypriots
by signing the protocol beforehand?,” he asked.

Referring to the negative repercussions of some incidents that
took place in Turkey and reflected by the European press, Lagendijk
called on Turkey to take action and not to stay indifferent to the
claims brought against Turkey like the Armenian allegations or the
Kurdish issue.

Lagendijk said that talking about ‘burning of books’ should be out
of the question in Turkey, adding that the reaction of officials to
incidents like the police intervention on an illegal demonstration
on 6 March (International Women’s Day) is very important.

“Such incidents can take place in all EU countries, but the attitude
of officials vis-a-vis such incidents should be in line with the
EU values,” he said, noting that officials should clearly show that
beating of demonstrators is wrong.

“Please don’t permit any incident about Turkey to be used against
your country by the European press ,” he said.

Lagendijk said that Turkey has so many trump-cards at her hand to
change the perception of Turkey, calling on Turkey to use those cards
well and promote itself well in Europe with a new understanding.

BELGIUM ARMENIA’S MAIN TRADE PARTNER AMONG EU STATES

05.04.2005 07:42

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian President Robert Kocharian today met
with President of the Chamber of Representatives of the Kingdom of
Belgium Herman De Croo, the Press Service of the Armenian leader
reported. In the course of the meeting the parties appreciated the
level fo the Armenian-Belgian relations, noting that the fact that
Belgium is the main trade partner of Armenia among the EU states
evidences it. The interlocutors emphasized the need to expand the
political dialogue between the two countries, to which the activation
of the interparliamentary cooperation can contribute. In the course
of the meeting Robert Kocharian and Herman De Croo discussed matters
of Euro-integration of Armenia, specifically within the context of
the Wider Europe: New Neighbors EU Program. Besides, the parties
discussed a range of regional issues.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF WEEKLY “THE NOYAN TAPAN HIGHLIGHTS” HAROUTIUN
KHACHATRIAN IS FIFTY

YEREVAN, APRIL 4, NOYAN TAPAN. Editor-in-chief of the English weekly
newspaper “The Noyan Tapan Highlights” Haroutiun Khachatrian is today
celebrating his 50th birthday. The newspaper has been published by
the information center Noyan Tapan for over 12 years. H. Khachatrian
was one of the founders of the independent information center Noyan
Tapan in 1991 and held the position of Deputy Director for a long
time. During 14 years in analytical journalism, Candidate of
Biological Sciences Haroutiun Khachatrain has written several hundred
articles on topical problems of Armenia and the region, including
articles on economics, finances, politics and integration problems.
Yet he is most famous for his joint work with Ph.D. Ali Abasov (Baku)
“The Karabakh Conflict. Versions of Solution: Ideas and Reality”. The
book ran into two editions in Russian (in 2002 and 2004) and was
translated into Armenian, Azerbaijani and English. It attracted
attention of the experts aslo due to the fact that it represents the
first attempt at collaborative work by the researchers of the two
conflicting sides. Noyan Tapan’s staff congratulates Haroutiun
Khachatrian on his 50th anniversary and wishes him further creative
success.

Village Voice, NY
March 30 2005

Housing of the holy: Church to be luxury residences

By Albert Amateau

The facade and tower of St. Ann’s Church at 124 E. 12th St. is about
all that remains of a house of worship that has gone through multiple
transformations serving Protestant, Jewish and Catholic communities
since it was first built in 1847.

But former parishioners, East Village neighbors and preservation
advocates are still hoping to save the remnant of the unofficial
landmark where Mass was celebrated for the last time on Jan. 16.

The church, built as the 12th St. Baptist Church with a facade of
locally quarried Manhattan schist, was acquired in 1856 by Temple
Emmanuel-El, a congregation of Reform Jews who remained there until
they moved to Fifth Ave. at E. 65th St. in 1870, when St. Ann’s, a
Roman Catholic parish on Astor Pl., acquired the building.

The interior was demolished and rebuilt in the French gothic style
according to a design by Napoleon LeBrun. Over the years, the
parishioners included luminaries like Alfred E. Smith, who became
governor of New York State and ran for president in 1928, and Peter
Maurin, founder of The Catholic Worker.

In 1929 the church was declared the National Shrine of St. Ann,
dedicated to the mother of the Virgin Mary, but the parish later
declined due to changing demographics. In 1977 the National Shrine of
St. Ann was transferred to a new church in Metairie, La., a New
Orleans suburb.

However, the Armenian Catholic community convinced the Catholic
Archdiocese of New York in 1983 to give them the church for as long
as they could maintain the building. But in recent years, the
archdiocese had to cover maintenance expenses and the Armenian
Catholics had to move in February of last year.

The archdiocese sold the property for $15 million to a developer
based in Brooklyn, Hudson Companies. In February of this year, the
archdioceses removed the carved white marble altarpieces, the
statuary and the organ built in 1864 by Henry Erban to a diocesan
warehouse in Staten Island.

Alan Bell and David Kramer, principals of Hudson Companies, said last
week their plans to build luxury apartments on the site are still
very general, but they have indicated that they are sympathetic to
preservation concerns.

`They told us they would like to keep the facade and tower of the
church but they warned that height and setback requirements in the
zoning might prohibit that,’ said Andrew Berman, executive director
of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. While
City Planning has confirmed that keeping the church facade and tower
would violate zoning rules, Berman said he still hopes to find a way
that would allow the developer to preserve the front of the church.

Berman said he is also asking the developers to salvage elements of
the adjacent rectory at 110 E. 12th St. built as a rowhouse before
the 1847 church.

In a letter to Landmarks Preservation Commissioner Robert Tierney,
Berman said the rectory’s only major alterations are changes to the
window lintels and the addition of a fourth floor and roof cornice in
the 19th century.

Nancy Cosie, a longtime neighborhood resident who worshiped at St.
Ann’s over the years, said she was devastated at the loss of the
church that served so many diverse worshipers.

`We had the Armenian Rite and an Ecuadorian parish dedicated to Our
Lady of Quinche in Ecuador,’ Cosie recalled. `And since the late
1980s we had traditional Latin Masses at 2 p.m. on Saturdays – I
think it was the only Latin Mass in Manhattan. The Armenian Bishop
Tertzakian gave approval for them and for an English Catholic Rite
that’s been celebrated here since the late 1990s,’ Cosie said. `The
Armenians spent about $500,000 fixing things like the roof and then
they were evicted even though the archdiocese says they chose to
move,’ Cosie added.

The parish school at the rear of the church with a front on E. 11th
St. was sold in the early 1980s and was converted into apartments.

Syrian delegation visits National Assembly

30.03.2005 15:52

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – The delegation of 12 Arab tribal leaders from
Syria, visiting Armenia in to participate in events marking the 90th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, met with the leadership and
representatives of political forces of the Armenian National Assembly
on Tuesday.

National Assembly Vice Speaker Vahan Hovhannisian, NA members Maqnvel
Badeyan, Samvel Balasanian, Hrair Karapetian, Vostanik Marukhian,
Victor Dallakian, Aghasi Arshakian and Grigor Ghonjeyan represented
the Armenian parliament in the meeting.

They expressed their gratitude to the guests, who in turn indicated
that the friendship between the Armenian and Arab peoples would last
forever and that they condemned any violence in any country.

The delegation members also attendee the hearings on the Karabakh
issue under way in the National Assembly.

Interfax
March 30 2005

Karabakh settlement will require compromises – minister

YEREVAN. March 30 (Interfax) – Settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
will require painful compromises from Armenia and Azerbaijan,
Armenian Defense Minister and Security Council Secretary Serzhik
Sarkisian said on Wednesday.

“I am absolutely sure that the settlement of the Karabakh crisis will
be painful for the Armenian as well as for the Azerbaijani people,”
Sarkisian said at parliament hearings devoted to the Nagorno-Karabakh
settlement.

“A compromise presumes concessions, and nobody can make concessions
without difficulties,” he said.

If Armenia receives security guarantees for Nagorno-Karabakh, the
existing security area around Nagorno-Karabakh [seven Azerbaijani
regions under control of the Karabakh side] “will lose its meaning,”
he said.

The handing over of those territories to Azerbaijan is not yet on the
agenda, Sarkisian said. “We just have to be ready to hold
negotiations on the security area,” he said.

Armenian minister urges recognition of Karabakh’s right to self-determination

Arminfo
29 Mar 05

YEREVAN

Progress in the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict will be
made when international documents confirm the right of
self-determination of the Nagornyy Karabakh people and Azerbaijan
recognizes it, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan has told
journalists.

He said that it will be possible then to speak about a solution to the
consequences of the conflict. “What the Armenian side is demanding is
not maximalism. This is the minimum we can claim. We only want the
right of self-determination of the Nagornyy Karabakh people to be
recognized,” the Armenian foreign minister said.

As for the possibility that the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic [NKR] will
be included in the negotiating process, this can happen when the
presidents reach agreement on fundamental issues and only details need
to be discussed. “However, we are not at this stage yet,” the minister
added.

Commenting on Russian President Putin’s statement that Russia is ready
to help settle the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, Oskanyan said: “I think
that this statement by the Russian president is a good wish. We also
want this, but the acceleration of the negotiating process should not
have an artificial nature. Such acceleration will lead to
complications.”

He said that Azerbaijan should stop making belligerent statements and
violating the cease-fire in order to ensure the effectiveness of the
negotiations. As for the OSCE mission’s report on the results of the
visit to the NKR-controlled territories, the minister thinks, if
Azerbaijan stops speculating with “the settlement of the
NKR-controlled territories” after the OSCE expert group’s report, this
will mean that Azerbaijan was worried and calmed down after the
report. If Azerbaijan continues speculating with this issue, this will
mean that Baku is pursuing political aims, the Armenian foreign
minister stressed.

Turkey to continue backing Azerbaijan on Karabakh issue – naval chief

Turan news agency
29 Mar 05

Baku, 29 March: The goal of Turkish Navy Commander Vice-Adm Ozden
Ornek’s visit to Baku is to discuss cooperation between the two
countries’ navies, the Turkish admiral said at a meeting with
Azerbaijani Defence Minister Safar Abiyev yesterday.

The Turkish admiral said that the two countries’ military should
cooperate to safeguard the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline.

For his part, Safar Abiyev noted that “some enemies” of Azerbaijan
might attempt to prevent the region’s oil and gas projects from being
implemented. With this regard, they are “dragging out” the settlement
of the Karabakh conflict. Turkey, which has the most powerful army in
NATO and in the region, should be actively involved in achieving
this. He expressed his confidence that Ankara will continue taking a
fair position and will not open its border with Armenia.

Ornek assured Abiyev that “despite pressure, Turkey will not open its
borders”.

PanArmenian News
March 28 2005

PHILIP KIRKOROV CONVINCED THAT BULGARIA WAS UNDER ARMENIAN YOKE FOR
LONG TIME

28.03.2005 03:33

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Philip Kirkorov is convinced that Bulgaria was
under the Armenian yoke for a long time. He told about it during one
of the interviews when answering the question why his father sings
Armenian songs, IA Regnum reports. The singer is sure that due to
this very reason a lot of Bulgarians accustomed themselves to the
Armenian language and culture. Let us remind that on the occasion of
Day of Motherhood and Beauty Philip Kirkorov has been invited to
Yerevan to give a couple of concerts. In this view about 30 youth
organizations sent a letter to the concert arrangers. The authors of
the letter called to cancel the concert. They reminded of Kirkorov’s
anti-Armenian, moreover pro-Turkish position. Besides, he has
recently outraged an Armenian journalist and spoke scorn of her
origin. The protest initiators consider that the invitation of
pro-Turkish singer to Armenia on the threshold of the 90-th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide is immoral. The profit of the
concert is recommensurable with moral values. The representatives of
the youth organizations noted that if the concerts are not cancelled
they will undertake measures to prevent them.

Plus ça change on the tour of French films
By HANNAH McGILL

The Herald, UK
March 27 2005

Once upon a time, France was the mecca of movie snobs. From A Bout
De Souffle to Betty Blue, French cinema danced between the cool and
the cerebral, providing intellectual challenge, artistic innovation,
erotic frisson and fashion iconography, all at the same time.

Today, the baton of arthouse hipness has been taken up by Latin
American and Far Eastern film-makers. French cinema has shed the
dominance it had in the 1970s and 1980s. Recent works have met with
lukewarm international responses. Catherine Breillat and Gaspar Noe
command their own particular followings, but the extreme content of
their films renders each very much an acquired taste. Jean-Pierre
Jeunet scored a massive hit with the effortlessly adorable Amelie
four years ago – but his recent follow-up, A Very Long Engagement,
has failed to confer the same glory upon its nation, chiefly because
its level of American funding means that it can’t be classified as a
French film. The better-received French films of recent times,
meanwhile – among them Francois Ozon’s marital melodrama 5×2, and
Christophe Barratier’s sentimental fable Les Choristes – are
small-scale, formally conservative works.

Can the annual Renault French Film Festival tour, which visits
Edinburgh and Glasgow next week, relight the fire? Certainly it’s a
mixed bag: one costume piece (Arsene Lupin), one tale of rock’n’ roll
debauchery (Clean), one sensitive contemporary drama (Brodeuses), and
one rollicking existential soap (Rois et Reine). Interestingly, where
French stars used to be enlisted to bring exotic glamour to films
from other nations, both Jean-Paul Salome’s Arsene Lupin, based on
the 1907 novel by Maurice Leblanc, and Olivier Assayas’s Clean draw
part of their appeal from the involvement of international stars.
Kristin Scott Thomas corsets up in the former, while Hong Kong
superstar Maggie Cheung stars in the latter. Arsene Lupin is a
commercial romp, but does boast the presence of the up-and-coming
French matinee idol du jour, Romain Duris, in the lead. Also in
Arsene Lupin is the beautiful Eva Green – one of very few pretenders
to the irresistable starlet slot left vacant by the likes of
Emmanuelle Beart and Beatrice Dalle. (What happened to Virginie
Ledoyen? And Ludivine Sagnier?)

Clean, by contrast, is determinedly contemporary, and strives hard
for pop-culture cool in its account of the efforts of Cheung’s
widowed rock wife to regain custody of her child and fulfil her
artistic aspirations. It’s an ambitious piece, beautifully shot; but
the performances are poor, and Cheung proves that singing isn’t one
of her many talents.

Eleonore Faucher’s debut, A Common Thread (Brodeuses), is the story
of a pregnant 17-year-old (Lola Naymark) who finds a new focus when
she’s employed as the assistant of an Armenian seamstress. This forms
part of what is fast becoming a genre in itself: films in which a
sullen teen girl drifts about having intense life experiences, losing
her innocence, and gazing limpidly at shiny objects. Lynne Ramsay has
a lot to answer for – delicate, closely-observed films such as this
are slinking forth from countries all over the globe. A Common Thread
is a servicable if not particularly striking example. It doesn’t do
anything wrong but nor does it make you desperate to see what Faucher
will come up wth next.

There is one very special film here, however. The highlight of the
programme is Arnaud Desplechin’s remarkable, resplendent Kings and
Queen (Rois et Reine) – a relationship drama with the scale and
intensity of an opera.

The charismatic Emmanuelle Devos stars as Nora, a twice-married
mother of a young boy. Upon discovering that her father is dying of
cancer, Nora tries to track down her former lover, Ismael, in the
hope that he’ll step in and provide a role model for her son, who
can’t stand her current husband. But Ismael, played by Mathieu
Amalric, has worries of his own: he has been committed to a mental
institution, perhaps in error, perhaps not. Outside the hospital,
Ismael’s loopy exuberance passes for artistic abandon. Inside,
however, it’s an illness to be medicated. It doesn’t help that he
keeps sleeping with his fellow inmates, and telling his therapist
that women have no souls. The therapist’s bland reactions tend to
back him up). The film is long and stylistically indulgent (please,
someone pass a law against the casual deployment of jump cuts), but
it’s a remarkably dynamic, unpredictable and involving study of
various types of commitment.

A varied and interesting set of films, then, albeit one that doesn’t
quite counter the sense that French cinema is undergoing something of
a fallow period. Still, the rest of 2005 boasts more titles for
Francophiles to look forward to, among them The Beat That My Heart
Skipped, and Innocence. Or stick with the past masters – Jean-Luc
Godard’s latest, Notre Musique, comes out in May.

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