Author: Karakhanian Suren

PRESIDENT KOCHARIAN RECEIVES EBRD PRESIDENT

ArmenPress
May 19 2004

YEREVAN, MAY 19, ARMENPRESS: Armenian president Robert Kocharian
received today a delegation of the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD), led by its president Jean Lamierre. Kocharian was
quoted by his press office as saying that Armenia is strongly committed
to expanding the frames of cooperation with EBRD with more active
involvement of the Bank in the economic development of the country.

Jean Lamierre will visit also the neighboring Georgia and Azerbaijan to
meet with heads of state, senior government officials, business leaders
and members of the international community based in the region. The
main goal of the visit is to reinforce the Bank’s commitment to all
three countries. In particular he is expected to emphasize how the Bank
can use new initiatives to help these countries address investment
needs in areas ranging from privatizations and infrastructure to
the support of individual entrepreneurs, apart from the need for
authorities to tackle corruption and improve the rule of law to
attract much-needed investment.

The visit comes on the back of a new EBRD initiative to support
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Tajikistan
and Uzbekistan , where more than 50 per cent of the population live in
poverty. The Bank aims to support also more private-sector development,
particularly focused on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. The
EBRD has invested around Euros 700 million across the three countries,
in projects ranging from banking to infrastructure and energy to
supporting small and medium-sized enterprises.

Five arrested on 14 May – Armenian web site

A1+ web site
18 May 04

17 May: The [opposition] Justice Party headquarters has been conducting
detailed research, the results of which were announced today.

The party members try to prove with the help of facts that the ninth
point of the PACE [Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe]
resolution has been violated in Armenia up until now. The practice
of administrative arrests has not stopped: five people were arrested
on 14 May.

>>From the morning through to the evening of 14 May, barriers were
put out to block the movement of people and some roads were closed.

Violating the constitution and the PACE requirements, the mayor’s
office has not authorized a peaceful rally on Freedom Square.

KARABAKH ABLE TO FIGHT OFF AZERI ATTACK – NKR Defense Minister

Hayastani Hanrapetutyun, Yerevan
8 May 04

Text of David Mikaelyan’s report by Armenian newspaper Hayastani
Hanrapetutyunni on 8 May headlined “‘If the army and society are
united, they are invincible,’ Seyran Oganyan says”

This is an interview with the defence minister of the Nagornyy
Karabakh Republic, Seyran Oganyan.

(Hayastani Hanrapetutyun correspondent) Mr Minister, the Azerbaijani
press often touches on the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani
border and says that the Azerbaijanis are holding commanding positions
and making progress in those sectors of the border that are controlled
by the Artsakh (Karabakh) defence forces. Are these rumours true? And
what is the situation today?

(Seyran Oganyan) Since the 1994 armistice, i.e. over the past 10
years, no serious change of positions has taken place on the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border. First of all, I mean the contact line
with the enemy. I should say that our forces always control the
situation, and any attempt to violate the border is foiled. Until 1996
there were frequent active exchanges of fire on the border. Sometimes
there were even incursions by sabotage and reconnaissance groups. In
1996-2000, these incursions almost ended while positional exchanges of
fire continued. In recent years there has been certain activity by
sabotage groups. But they have always been defeated. The rumours
disseminated by the Azerbaijani mass media that the enemy (Azerbaijan)
has infiltrated our territory in some cases and that as a result of
their “progress”, they have taken the commanding positions are an
absolute lie. Naturally, this propaganda aims to carry out
psychological attacks and terrorize the peaceful population, to cause
a feeling of fear, hopelessness and panic among the people. But this
is doomed to failure.

(Correspondent) To what decree is a resumption of hostilities
possible?

(Oganyan) On the whole, the war can resume at any time. For this
reason, we should always be ready and on alert. But I do not think
that today Azerbaijan is ready to start the hostilities, especially as
we manage to maintain the correlation of forces. The process of army
build-up, in particular, the fulfilment of strategic programmes (the
strengthening of defence structures, positions, the renewal of modern
military equipment, measures directed at raising the fighting spirit
of soldiers, etc.) give us an opportunity to take realities into
account and at the same time, to analyse and assess the situation
soberly. I repeat once again that the fighting efficiency of the army
is on such a level that not only can we defend ourselves, we can also
carry out a counter-strike at the enemy. In recent years we have
carried out great work in the sphere of strengthening the link between
the army and the people. And if the army and society are united, they
are invincible.

(Correspondent) Representatives of the so-called “Karabakh Liberation
Organization” in Baku have been more active of late. They call for “a
peace march” to Shushi (Susa) on 9 May. Do you think that such
statements are serious?

(Oganyan) As is known, we are at war at the moment and war has its own
rules. We have a state border and they should have a visa for
crossing it. It is difficult to guess how they will manage to get this
right. If they have bellicose purposes, they will naturally get a
relevant response from our side.

(Correspondent) It is no secret that regular supplies play a decisive
role in the army. How do you settle the commanders’ problems and renew
the staff of officers?

(Oganyan) An army cannot be organized in one day and all problems
cannot be settled immediately. It is no secret that the staff of
officers is reinforced by people of different professions. Most of
them had participated in the war and had gained experience. But within
the framework of the personnel policy, we have been sending our boys
for higher education in military institutions of Armenia and other
countries since 1995. This process is continuing today and according
to an agreement, the staff of officers and commanders is reinforced by
relevant personnel. The state is taking care of improving social
conditions for its officers and their families.

(Correspondent) Mr Minister, what did the 10 years of the armistice
give us?

(Oganyan) First, I should emphasize that the armistice was a result of
the efforts of the whole Armenian nation. It gave us an opportunity to
switch to a peaceful life after long-lasting suffering, to seriously
deal with army build-up, to restore the economy, to gradually
strengthen the army, and to ensure the security of our country and
people. Unfortunately, it is impossible to restore spiritual values
and human losses. One should not forget that we are in a so-called
relative war. And the situation “neither peace nor war” compels us to
be on alert all the time.

Armenian opposition bloc suggests discussing ways out of crisis

Noyan Tapan news agency
7 May 04

YEREVAN

The Justice bloc has offered the ruling coalition to hold a political
dialogue on “Ways out of the crisis that has taken shape in the
country since the 2003 presidential elections”. The secretary of the
Justice faction, Viktor Dallakyan, told Noyan Tapan today that this
decision was made at a meeting of the bloc.

According to Dallakyan, the chairman of the National Unity Party,
Artashes Gegamyan, will also express his attitude towards the subject
of the political dialogue. Representatives of the bloc will meet him
in one or two days. Only after that will the final opinion of the
opposition be submitted to the chairman of the National Assembly,
Artur Bagdasaryan.

Dallakyan added that if the coalition also outlines issues of interest
to it, they could all be included in the agenda of the political
consultations.

The MP also said that the Justice bloc has no problem with the format
of the dialogue.

To recap, at the end of yesterday’s meeting between the coalition and
the opposition, the sides issued a joint statement expressing their
readiness to continue the dialogue by forming the agenda of issues to
be discussed jointly.

ic Lanarkshire.co.uk, UK
May 6 2004

Boxing title rival says he will `cook’ champ Scott May 6 2004

SCOTT Harrison’s trash talking challenger William Abelyan has
threatened to `cook’ the WBO Featherweight Champion.

The Armenian, who is the Cambuslang fighter’s mandatory opponent at
the Braehead Arena on May 29, believes he will strip the world champ
of his title.

William Abelyan said this week: `Harrison is only keeping my world
title belt warm for me. Just make sure he is polishing it so it’s
nice and shiny for me when I take it off him on May 29.

`My world title opportunity has been a long time coming. I stepped
aside to let Harrison fight Medina the second time following his loss
to him. By rights I should have fought Medina and I am certain I
would have knocked him out and would be the World champion now.

`Medina gave him a grilling but I’m going to cook him.’

The 26-year-old is not intimidated by going into the Braehead Arena
which will inevitably be packed with Harrison fans.

Abelyan said: `Everyone’s telling me what a hostile atmosphere it is
going to be in the arena on the night. To tell you the truth I
couldn’t care less.

`If you saw where I come from in Armenia then you would have a reason
to be worried. Going to Scotland does not scare me one bit.

`What are his fans going to do for him? They are not going to be in
the ring taking sledgehammer punches – Harrison is.

`I’m not going to Scotland to make friends, I’m going there to do my
job which is to knock Harrison out cold.’

With just over four weeks until their fight, Abelyan claims to be
ready for Harrison now.

Said Abelyan: `I wish the fight could be tomorrow because the way I
am punching now he will not make it passed the first round. My
training for this fight has been fantastic and I’ve never felt in
better shape.’

Tickets for Harrison’s fight are priced at £30, £50, £75 and £125 and
are available from the Seatem Box Office on 0870 906 3839 or the
Braehead Arena Box Office on 0870 444 6062.

ARMENIAN MINISTER DECLINES TO COMMENT ON AZERI COUNTERPART’S REMARKS ON TALKS

Arminfo
4 May 04

YEREVAN

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan has refused to comment on
the statement of Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov that
Armenia and Azerbaijan “are discussing the issue of returning
territories”.

“I don’t want to comment on these statements,” Oskanyan said today,
answering journalists’ questions within the framework of the meeting
of the group on information affairs. He added that the meeting between
the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Robert Kocharyan and Ilham
Aliyev, was successful enough and such meetings will be
continued. This meeting gives us the right to hope that common contact
points will be found during the negotiations, the Armenian foreign
minister added.

YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

APRIL 23-29, 2004

HIGHLIGHTS:

ROUND TABLE ON WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY

PACE DEMANDS TO CREATE FAIR CONDITIONS FOR THE FUNCTIONING OF MEDIA IN
ARMENIA

INVESTIGATIONS THAT INCITE DOUBT

ALL THE POSSIBILITIES EXHAUSTED

“A1+” CONTINUES THE FIGHT FOR RETURN ON AIR

MIKAEL DANIELIAN DOES NOT BELIEVE THAT THOSE WHO ATTACKED HIM WILL BE
REVEALED

“KENTRON” TV COMPANY CHANGES OWNER AND NAME

NEW PROFESSIONAL HOLIDAY ESTABLISHED

ROUND TABLE ON WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY

Yerevan Press Club congratulates all the colleagues on World Press Freedom
Day and invites to take part in a round table, devoted to this date. The
event is organized by “Partnership for Open Society” initiative and will be
held on May 3 at 12.00 at Yerevan “Congress” Hotel.

PACE DEMANDS TO CREATE FAIR CONDITIONS FOR THE FUNCTIONING OF MEDIA IN
ARMENIA

On April 28 at the session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe Resolution on honoring of obligations and commitments by Armenia was
passed, focusing on the inner political situation in the country. The
document says that the actions of Armenian authorities with regard to the
protest actions held by opposition run contrary to the PACE Resolution on
Armenia, adopted on January 27, 2004 (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, January
23-29, 2004). Among other issues the PACE is concerned over the freedom of
expression issues. “Freedom of expression continues to be seriously
curtailed and several acts of violence against journalists, which took place
during the recent events, were carried out or were allowed to happen by the
police and security forces”, the Resolution point out.

The PACE also called on Armenian authorities to immediately investigate – in
a transparent and credible manner – the recent incidents and inform the
Assembly of their findings, as well as “create fair conditions for the
normal functioning of the media, notably as regards the issuing of
broadcasting licenses to television companies, particularly to television
channel ‘A1+'”.

The Resolution notes that if by the September session of PACE no progress in
implementing the recommendations is achieved, the Assembly “resolves to
reconsider the credentials of the Armenian delegation”.

INVESTIGATIONS THAT INCITE DOUBT

The violence against journalists that occurred during the opposition rallies
of April 5 and 13 were condemned by Armenian and international
organizations, also professional associations, who called on the authorities
of the country to hold everyone guilty accountable. On a number of episodes
when media representatives were injured, criminal proceedings were
instituted. However the situation of today arises doubt that the law
enforcement bodies are interested to determine and punish the people who
used force against journalists on professional duty.

Thus, on April 24 “Haikakan Zhamanak” published an article “Investigation
Course Becoming a Disgrace”, where the actions of the law enforcement bodies
are described. The actions were a reply to two letters by “Haikakan
Zhamanak” to the General Prosecutor reporting the cases of impeding the
work of the daily’s correspondent Haik Gevorgian and the acts of violence
directed at him.

As it has been reported, Haik Gevorgian was injured both on April 5 and 13
(see details in YPC Weekly Newsletter, April 2-8, 2004 and April 9-15,
2004). At the same time according to the journalist in the second case the
Deputy Head of the RA Police Hovhannes Varian personally took his photo
camera and ordered to a group of people who accompanied him and had batons
on them, to beat him. Because of this “Haikakan Zhamanak” addressed the RA
General Prosecutor demanding to hold Hovhannes Varian accountable (see YPC
Weekly Newsletter, April 16-22, 2004).

In the publication of April 24 “Haikakan Zhamanak” points out the fact that
both its reports on the incidents with Haik Gevorgian on April 5 and 13 are
currently considered by the investigative bodies within the proceedings,
instituted, in fact, against the opposition parties. As the newspaper
writes, “the potential object of the case” started by Article 258 of the RA
Criminal Code (“public disorder”) with regard to events of April 5 is the
opposition party “National Unity”, while the opposition “Justice” block is
accused of an attempt of a violent regime overthrow in the early morning of
April 13.

According to “Haikakan Zhamanak”, the prosecutor’s office, instead the two
ways for proceeding applications, as stipulated by the legislation – to
institute criminal proceedings basing on a press report or to refuse in
instituting it – chose to act in the third manner, which, in the opinion of
the editorial office is inadequate and does not allow to expect those guilty
to be punished.

ALL THE POSSIBILITIES EXHAUSTED

On April 23 the RA Court of Cassation confirmed the decision of the RA
Commercial Court on the suit of “Meltex” LLC, the founder of “A1+” TV
company, versus the National Commission on Television and Radio. As it has
been reported, on March 23 the Commercial Court declined the claim of “A1+”
to provide specific justification for the refusals to grant broadcast
licenses in the competitions held by the National Commission on June 11 and
July 18, 2003 (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, March 19-25, 2004).

Thus, after this ruling by the Court of Cassation, “A1+” exhausted all the
possibilities to challenge the results of the broadcast licensing
competitions in the Armenian judicial bodies.

“A1+” CONTINUES THE FIGHT FOR RETURN ON AIR

On April 24 the Freedom of Expression Assistance Fund and the initiative
group to protect “A1+” TV company announced a rally to be held on the World
Press Freedom Day. The demands, addressed to the authorities at a similar
protest action on April 2 (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, April 2-8, 2004), have
not been implemented and retain their urgency. These are, namely, the need
to hold a broadcast licensing competition for the vacant frequencies as soon
as possible and the involvement of the representatives of the public sector
in the evaluation of the bids presented.

The rally will be held on May 3 at 16.00 in Yerevan at the square in front
of “Moscow” cinema house.

MIKAEL DANIELIAN DOES NOT BELIEVE THAT THOSE WHO ATTACKED HIM WILL BE
REVEALED

The Chairman of Armenian Helsinki Association Mikael Danielian is positive
that despite the immediate assignment of the RA President Robert Kocharian
to General Prosecutor Aghvan Hovsepian, those guilty in attacking him will
never be found and punished. He announced this at a press-conference on
April 23.

As it has been reported on March 30 Mikael Danielian was attacked by unknown
people (see details in YPC Weekly Newsletter, March 26 – April 1, 2004). On
April 1 he was visited at the hospital by the investigator of prosecutor’s
office of Arabkir community, Yerevan, who informed Mr. Danielian about the
institution of criminal proceedings, however, according to Mr. Danielian, he
was not well enough at that stage to give testimony. The next visit of the
investigator, this time with a forensic expert, to Mr. Danielian was only
made on April 14 when he was recovering at home and the traces of the
beating had already disappeared. The conversation with the investigator
convinced the head of the Helsinki Association that the assignment of the
President will not be carried out. In the opinion of Mikael Danielian, the
authorities of Armenia, despite the appeals and addresses of the
international human rights organizations are not interested to disclose the
crimes committed both against him and against journalists on April 5 and 13.

“KENTRON” TV COMPANY CHANGES OWNER AND NAME

Recently the information about the sale of “Kentron” TV company and the
change of its head was officially confirmed (see YPC Weekly Newsletter,
April 16-22, 2004). On April 24 the new head of the TV company that will
interrupt the broadcasts for 10 days and will go on air with a new name,
“Aravot” TV, was appointed – it is the Chief Editor of homonymous newspaper
Aram Abrahamian. According to Aram Abrahamian, the new owner of the TV
company is the non-party deputy of the RA National Assembly (elected by the
party list of the Republican party of Armenia, though), the head of “Milta”
LLC Murad Guloyan, a fellow-villager of another NA deputy, president of
“Multi Group” Company Gagik Tsarukian.

Aram Abrahamian (who, at the time when “A1+” was on air, hosted the popular
“PostScript> program) announced on the pages of “Aravot (the journalist also
says he will continue to head this daily) that he will continue to assist
the return of “A1+” on the air, will take part in all the actions to support
it as well as will offer the TV company to take part in the preparation of
programs for “Aravot” TV. The delicacy of the situation is that the 37th UHF
where now “Kentron”/”Aravot” broadcasts used to be taken by “A1+”. By the
results of the competition, finalized by the National Commission on
Television and Radio on April 2, 2002, “A1+” lost the broadcast license for
the frequency to “Sharm” company, the founder of “Kentron” TV company.
However, as Aram Abrahamian assured, should a new competition for this
frequency be announced, “Aravot” TV will not take part in it and will assist
the victory of “A1+”.

It should also be mentioned that on November 1, 2002, the suit of “A1+”
founder “Meltex” LLC versus the Republic of Armenia was accepted for
consideration by the European Court for Human Rights (see YPC Weekly
Newsletter, November 2-8, 2002). The suit challenges the rulings of the
judicial authorities of the country on the legitimacy of broadcast licensing
competitions, held by the National Commission. Considering the fact that
almost a year and a half has passed since the acceptance of the suit the
hearings at the European Court may start pretty soon and it is quite
possible that the 37th frequency will become the center of new developments
again.

NEW PROFESSIONAL HOLIDAY ESTABLISHED

In Armenia a new professional holiday is established – the Day of Press
Worker. According to the decision of the Government passed on April 22, this
holiday will be celebrated annually on October 16. On this day in 1794 in
the city of Madras, India, the first Armenian periodical publication,
“Azdarar”, was produced.

When reprinting or using the information above, reference to the Yerevan
Press Club is required.

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[email protected]

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Editor of YPC Newsletter – Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
____________________________________________
Yerevan Press Club
9B, Ghazar Parpetsi str.
375007, Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+ 374 1) 53 00 67; 53 35 41; 53 76 62
Fax: (+374 1) 53 56 61
E-mail: [email protected]
Web Site:

Poochigian Presents Bill to Ensure Armenian Genocide Life Insurance
Settlements Reach Victims’ Families
Published on Thursday, April 22, 2004

April 21, 2004

SACRAMENTO – Senator Chuck Poochigian (R-Fresno) has introduced Senate Bill
1689 to exempt Armenian Genocide life insurance settlements from state
taxation and other calculations related to income. The bill passed out of
the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee today o­n a 5-0 vote.

If ultimately approved by the Legislature and signed into law by Governor
Schwarzenegger, recipients of settlement payments would not have their state
income tax, financial aid or unemployment benefits negatively impacted by
their receipt of such settlements. The bill’s language mirrors exemptions
similarly afforded recipients of reparations and other legal
settlements related to the Holocaust.

“Survivors and heirs of victims of the Armenian Genocide have waited many
decades to resolve their claims. Correcting a past wrong should not have the
unintended consequence of financially harming the victims and their heirs
now,” said Senator Poochigian.

The Armenian Genocide-the First Genocide of the 21st Century-was marked by
unspeakable crimes against humanity. 1.5 million Armenians were subjected to
forced marches into the desert, torture, mayhem and murder. Thousands of
innocent children were orphaned. Those who escaped left behind all their
worldly possessions and emigrated to other nations.

Prior to 1915, the New York Life Insurance Company wrote over 2,000
insurance policies to Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. Many of these
policies were written for individuals who became victims of the Armenian
Genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Turks. Heirs o­n the policies later
sued for the value of the policies. In 2004, New York Life settled with
claimants resulting in a settlement of $20 million. A significant portion of
the
settlement will go to settle claims with heirs o­n the policies.

Senate Bill 1689 is modeled after Senate Bill 1397 (Brulte) and Assembly
Bill 989 (Chan) which exempted Swiss bank claim settlements and restitution
payment made to victims of the Holocaust.

Senate Bill 1689 reflects Senator Poochigian’s o­ngoing effort to affirm the
historical fact of the Armenian Genocide, promote the cause of justice for
victims, and guard against recurrence of such acts. In 2000, Senator
Poochigian authored Senate Bill 1915 which enabled victims and heirs of
victims of the Armenian Genocide to access the California court system to
compel insurance companies to pay insurance claims owed to victims of the
Genocide. That bill received the unanimous approval of the Legislature and
provided the opportunity to pursue contractual claims pertaining to the
recent settlement.

SB 1689 is expected to be heard next in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
No hearing date has been set.

####

Senator Poochigian’s website can be found by visiting:
.

St. Petersburg Times, FL
May 3 2004

Book review
The resurgence of things repressed
By ELLEN EMRY HELTZEL

The Daydreaming Boy
By Micheline Aharonian Marcom

“In Paradise there is no past,” observes the young Catholic, Rachel, in
Micheline Aharonian Marcom’s highly acclaimed first novel, Three Apples
Fell From Heaven. She is speaking from the grave after drowning herself
to avoid being raped by Turkish soldiers. For her, hell is the pain of
memory.

In her new novel, The Daydreaming Boy, Marcom reprises this theme, her
subject once again the Ottoman Empire’s 1915 genocide against the
Armenians. This time, the story remains in the land of the living, told
by a fictional narrator who’s looking back a half century after the
killings.

Vahe Tcheubjian – curiously, he bears the same name as the person to
whom the book is dedicated – lives in Beirut, Lebanon. He is both an
unexceptional figure and a tragic one, describing himself as “a
smallish man, a man whose middle has begun to soften and protrude, his
long toes hidden in scuffed dress shoes.” Beneath this bland exterior,
however, lies a person “undone by history.”

Vahe has lived a life of suppressing the events that scarred him and
destroyed his family. At the age of 7, his father was bludgeoned to
death and his mother delivered to an unknown fate, while he was sent by
boxcar to Lebanon and the Bird’s Nest Orphanage. There, he grew up
among what he calls the “Adams in the wasteland” – child refugees
pulled from their homes and herded together in a
survival-of-the-fittest environment.

Vahe remembers how he ached with loneliness. He wrote letters to the
mother who never replied. He cherished the weekly assembly-line baths,
a brisk scrubdown by a dour-looking matron, because it gave him the
chance to recall maternal touch.

After leaving the orphanage, he worked as a carpenter, got married. And
then, as a middle-aged man, Vahe can’t stop thinking about Vostanig,
the outcast who was sexually and physically abused by the other boys,
including himself, at the Bird’s Nest. “The stranger: He was all of us,
the damned exiled race in its puny and starved and pathetic scabbed
body,” he recalls. “How we longed to kill him.”

For years, Vahe made a habit of visiting the Beirut zoo on Sundays,
where he shared a smoke with the tobacco-loving chimp Jumba. But before
handing over the cigarette, he would poke its burning end into the
chimp’s flesh, exacting his price. If there’s any doubt that Vahe is a
deeply damaged man, this gratuitous cruelty dispels it.

Jumba and his fellow primates are an on-going motif in the book, their
captivity and behavior reflecting how Vahe perceives a hostile world. A
newspaper article datelined South Africa announces the discovery that
man and gorilla share the same brain size and capacity, underscoring
the primal connection. The metaphor threatens to overpower the story,
but Vahe is too compelling to ignore.

Vahe has learned to translate his grief and emptiness into lust,
braiding sex and violence together, as he was taught. Having been
victimized himself, he becomes victimizer, as indicated by this simple
exchange with the servant girl, Beatrice:

“Would you like a chocolate?”

“No, merci.”

“No, merci? Here, take it. I’ve bought these chocolates and I would
like for you to take it.” She is still looking at the floor and I’ve
grabbed her hand and push the gold truffles into her small hand. . . .”

But dialogue is the exception in a story built mostly on interior
monologue, using poetic, even mnemonic, devices that reflect how memory
works. For Vahe, the past returns in intermittent blasts, like power
surges traveling down the neural pathways. Through his eyes we see the
lies and obfuscations gradually fall away.

The Daydreaming Boy probes Vahe’s interior life, displaying his cruel,
hungry sensibility, and eventually locates the sources of his pain.
What remains is a man who sees himself for what he is, “the ragged
round left by absence of affection and knowing.”

– Reviewer Ellen Emry Heltzel is a book critic and writer who lives in
Portland, Ore. With Margo Hammond she writes the weekly column Book
Babes, which can be found at

“The Daydreaming Boy,” by Micheline Aharonian Marcom, Riverhead Books,
$23.95, 224 pages.

PARLIAMENTARY SPEAKER FEARS FOR ARMENIA’S FUTURE

Haykakan Zhamanak, Yerevan
24 Apr 04

Text of Naira Zograbyan report by Armenian newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak
on 24 April headlined “The National Assembly chairman is concerned
again”

The assessments given yesterday at a news conference by the National
Assembly chairman, Artur Bagdasaryan, are diametrically opposed to
other top officials’ assessments of the country. While the president
thinks that the country’s further development is in no danger and
continues to construct the country, and the opposition, which has no
other toy, is conducting rallies, yesterday the National Assembly
chairman presented to journalists a scenario in which Armenia’s future
is threatened if the domestic political conflict continues developing
according to this logic and the parties refuse to negotiate.

“Mutual avoidance of negotiations will lead to unpleasant events,
which we have already had. If events continue to develop as at
present, we shall lag behind democratic values, as the authorities,
which are based on keeping law and order, are starting to apply
force. So, the right of force goes ahead and policy falls back.

“The situation in foreign policy also causes concern: Armenia’s
international authority is being damaged, which is a blow to the
country, and the further worsening of events will prompt developments
which will go beyond the framework of democracy and will cause harsh
international assessments. If events develop in this way, Armenia’s
membership of the Council of Europe may be discussed at any time. This
means the country will be isolated internationally and under a
political and economic blockade. And all of us can see this
happening.” This is what the National Assembly chairman predicted for
Armenia.

So what is to be done? According to Artur Bagdasaryan, although it is
very difficult to find a way out of the prevailing situation,
nevertheless dialogue is again the main solution. So, before the next
resolute rally of the opposition on 27 April, the National Assembly
chairman invites the political forces to negotiations at 1800 (1300
gmt) on 26 April on the situation in the country. By the way, Artur
Bagdasaryan again reconfirmed what he had said during his previous
news conference that the arrests on political grounds and the
“pogroms” of the opposition parties’ offices alienate Armenia from
democratic values.

He was the only top official of Armenia to condemn yesterday the
violence against Ashot Manucharyan (a member of the political council
of the Armenian Socialist Forces and ex-interior minister, who was
beaten up in the street on 22 April). Touching on the attack on the
demonstrators on 13 April, Artur Bagdasaryan again recalled the
structure that is responsible for guarding the National Assembly
building (i.e. the police and not Bagdasaryan himself). He also
advised journalists to think why it is advantageous for some people to
point the finger at the National Assembly. And though on 27 April, on
the day of the opposition’s rally, he again will not be responsible
for the security of the National Assembly building, yesterday he
informed journalists that from 1800 on 27 April the National Assembly
door will be sealed on his orders.