Author: Nahapetian Zhanna

ERDOGAN AND MERKEL SPAR AHEAD OF TURKEY VISIT
By Honor Mahoney

Axis of Logic
e_59099.shtml
March 29 2010

The integration of the three million Turkish nationals in Germany has
once again emerged as a source of discord between Berlin and Ankara
ahead of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to Turkey today
(29 March).

Due for her first visit to the country in four years, Ms Merkel and
her Anatolian counterpart have engaged in a familiar exchange of
barbs concerning the role of Turkish citizens in German society.

Ahead of the trip, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that
secondary schools for the children of Turkish immigrants should be
set up while Germany should also allow dual citizenship.

Ms Merkel responded via her weekly video message with a clear refusal
of the demands. She said that integration into German society does
not mean "assimilation" or "giving up the home country." Migrants
should share in a successful society through work and family life.

She added: "That of course means learning the German language and
abiding by German laws."

The exchange – a similar one was held in 2008 around the time Mr
Erdogan was visiting Berlin – comes against the backdrop of Turkey’s
bid for EU membership.

Germany is opposed to Ankara’s full membership of the EU. Turkey, which
formally opened the by now painfully slow EU membership negotiations
in 2005, has responded by becoming increasingly assertive in its own
backyard, including loudly criticising Israel’s activities.

Among the topics likely to be brought up include possible sanctions
against Iran for its nuclear programme. While Ms Merkel favours
sanctions, Mr Erdorgan, whose country currently is sitting in the
UN Security Council as a non-permanent member, is against further
sanctions, arguing instead for a diplomatic solution.

Meanwhile, Spiegel Online reports that Ms Merkel wants to raise the
issue of Armenia and the ongoing dispute over whether mass killings
of Armenians during the First World War amounted to genocide. Turkey
says that the 1915 massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire was
does not warrant the moniker, something Mr Erdogan repeated in the
latest edition of German news weekly Der Spiegel.

While political tensions between the two countries are running high,
they remain closely linked on the business front. Turkey remains one
of the most important export markets for the German economy. This has
meant that leading business organisations in Germany have approached
the whole question of Turkish EU membership with a more conciliatory
and pragmatic tone than can be heard at the political level.

WHERE DOES ARMENIAN MONEY GO?

Tert.am
17:30 30.03.10

RA Central Bank former president Bagrat Asatryan said today that the
country’s monetary base, manifested through the national currency,
began to diminish near the end of 2008. According to Asatryan, that
process continues till today.

There are two factors for why there’s a sharp decline in demand for
money, one of which is political, said Asatryan.

"A distrust of authorities is growing among the public and
consequently, toward the national currency," explained Asatryan.

According to the former Central Bank president, the second factor
is money flowing out of the country. As an example, Asatryan
named Georgia, where there are more favourable conditions for doing
business. In his observation, lately, a flow of Armenian business to
Georgia is noticeable.

Asatryan also said that during the first 3 months of 2010, the
financial base (expressed by dram) has decreased by 45 billion AMD. In
2008, the cash (on hand) base in the country was 344 billion dram,
while in 2009, that amount was 320 billion AMD. According to data
as of March 25, 2010, the base has diminished and now comprises 274
billion AMD.

The casualties of love

Sony Pictures Classics, Star Tribune

Amanda Seyfried and Julianne Moore with director Atom Egoyan on the
set of "Chloe"

Director Atom Egoyan experienced some painful real-life parallels as
he explored the mysteries (and miseries) of marriage in a new erotic
thriller.

By COLIN COVERT

Last update: March 27, 2010

Atom Egoyan’s "Chloe" is a story of suspicion, deception, fixation,
rejection and violence. The Canadian director calls his film "an
erotic mystery"; while he stages bold sex scenes with Liam Neeson,
Julianne Moore and Amanda Seyfried, he expects viewers to respond
primarily to the psychological drama that arises among the three.

Moore plays an intimacy-starved physician who believes Neeson, her
musicologist husband, is cheating. Hiring upscale escort Seyfried to
test his fidelity, she finds herself trapped in a scheme she can no
longer control.

"Chloe," which opened Friday, represents a step into the mainstream
for the cerebral Canadian filmmaker. Egoyan, 50, has earned numerous
international honors but not much commercial success. Born in Cairo of
Armenian descent and raised in Victoria, British Columbia, Egoyan
often explores issues of alienation and identity. Those fixations add
intellectual heft to "Chloe," which might have been a "Fatal
Attraction" retread in other hands.

During a recent Minneapolis visit, Egoyan said he persuaded his cast
to sign on for a sexually charged thriller by describing it simply as
a drama. "This is the story of a marriage," he said. "Our erotic lives
are an essential part of who we are, and the erotic life of this
couple has disappeared. Julianne Advertisement Moore’s character hires
a prostitute rather than a detective to investigate her husband
because she needs to re-create the erotic image of who this man is. It
also goes into the competing fantasies these women have of who the
other might be. That makes for very interesting drama.

"Once you get over how it’s going to be choreographed and what they’re
comfortable with in terms of their own bodies, you then concentrate on
what’s going on in their heads. Nobody’s going to go see sex. They can
get that on the Internet. They’re going to see drama."

Expressing character through architecture

The couple played by Moore and Neeson live with their son in a large
ultramodern house whose open design suggests the courtyard of "Rear
Window." There seem to be more vantage points for the characters to
observe each other than common areas for them to interact.

The location was chosen to represent the family’s disconnected
emotional lives, Egoyan said: "The house suggests she’s obsessed with
order and control. She’s detached from what she’s actually feeling."

One of the concerns of the film is the fragility of family and
relationships, a concern that struck home with cruel irony during the
filming. Midway through the shoot, Neeson’s w ife, Natasha Richardson,
died after a skiing accident; after taking a hiatus to grieve, he
returned to complete his remaining scenes.

Egoyan called Neeson’s return "heroic, especially considering the
story." At the same time Egoyan, after two decades of marriage,
separated from his wife and frequent star Arsinee Khanjian. Each event
informed the way the filmmakers proceeded.

At times Egoyan wondered whether the film would be "fatally
compromised."

"I thought, ‘How do we finish this film without Liam’s scenes?’ That
was scary. It was a terrible, terrible experience, the worst thing
I’ve had to deal with professionally." As for his own marital issues,
"it was a difficult time but we’re back together and trying to make it
work.

"This was a very odd film to be making at that point of my life. I was
actually raising a lot of these issues between husband and wife as
they were being raised on set. It made it more tense. It felt very
urgent."

Each character in the film takes destructive, and ultimately
dangerous, actions out of a need for love, Egoyan said.

"I think falling in love means you think somebody is listening to your
story in a way no one has ever heard it before. And when anyone falls
deeply in love you cannot understand why the person you’re feeling
that for would not reciprocate. There just must be a point where they
understand that you are something special."

Secrets and lies

Storytelling is a key theme for Egoyan as an Armenian, whose people
suffered genocidal mass killings by the Turkish government during
World War I. Turkey has long denied the extermination campaign, and
for the director, the notion of unreliable narrators has a political
as well as personal resonance.

"Denial of historic reality is something one is always thinking
about," he said. "There are certain things in my family history that
I’ve heard different versions of, certain myths that are elaborated or
extinguished by people who are not served by those stories."

There’s also a darker chapter of personal history that explains
Egoyan’s fascination with secrets and lies. His first love was silent
about the fact that her father was abusing her.

"No one in town talked about that; there was so much denial going
on. Years after, I was very affected by that — the stories she told
me and was telling herself, reinventing history. My interpretation was
that the victim didn’t really know what was happening. There was a
confusion of love, this strange blurring between parental and romantic
love. I was fascinated to think what a victim of abuse might have to
imagine to justify what was happening to herself." It’s a theme that
crops up in Egoyan’s "The Sweet Hereafter," and again in "Chloe."

While the film climaxes in a violent confrontation, viewers shouldn’t
take the finale as a villain’s just deserts. The fallen character is a
casualty of love.

"When you fall in love, it’s mad. You feel it so strongly that you
cannot apprehend that the other person is not reciprocating. It’s so
clear what your life could be with that person and when it’s denied
you become really desperate. And you act in ways that are ill-
advised. It’s irrational. Delusional. Mad love. I’ve experienced
that. I think a lot of people have."

Colin Covert . 612-673-7186

IWPR – Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
No. 537, March 26 2010

KARABAKH WOMEN DENY DISCRIMINATION

Rare regional exception where most women believe their rights are respected.

By Anahit Danielyan in Stepanakert

Women in Nagorny Karabakh, in a rare exception in the South Caucasus,
say they do not suffer discrimination and are happy with their
position in life.

Karabakh, which has declared independence from Azerbaijan but not been
recognised internationally, is out of the mainstream of political life
in the region, making it hard to draw any firm conclusions.

There is no law regulating the number of women who should hold
particular jobs, but politicians say female representation is
increasing steadily. Some 29 per cent of judges are now women, and
four of the 12 ministers are women, as are four of the 33 members of
parliament.

Narine Aghabalyan, minister for culture and youth issues, says the
proportion of women in top jobs is higher in Karabakh than in Armenia.

`I have not come across any cases where the rights of women have been
violated. In our ministry, for example, women are in the majority, and
that isn’t good, either. If we need to appoint a man to some post,
then it shouldn’t be seen as a violation of women’s rights,’ she told
IWPR.

Her words were echoed by Ludmila Barseghyan, one of the four women in
parliament.

`As far as I can see, the public attitude is that women are no worse
than men, and that a woman is no less strong in her sphere than a man.
This is confirmed by the fact that the number of female deputies is
increasing, and we are more concerned with improving the living
standards of our citizens,’ she said.

The words of the likes of Barseghyan and Aghabalyan appear to convince
many women that opportunities are open to them.

`I don’t think there are any restrictions on women’s participation.
The fact that women have significant roles in government is clear
confirmation of this. I don’t hold any official position, but I have
to recognise that there are women in government circles,’ said Anzhela
Gevorgyan, a resident of Stepanakert.

Experts say it is hard to draw clear conclusions since there have been
few studies of the real position of women in society.

They note, however, that women in Karabakh are unlikely to speak out
against domestic violence, since they do not see it as being in any
way abnormal.

Karine Grigoryan, 38, was married when she was just 20 to a man ten
years her senior. She said her husband often prevented her leaving the
house when he was in a rage.

`But it never occurred to me that he was violating my rights. That’s
probably a result of my upbringing. From childhood on, I was taught
that a woman has to listen to a man, and that he decides everything in
the family,’ she said.

The prosecutor’s office in Karabakh says that in 2009, nine sexual
crimes were recorded, or which two were rapes or attempted rapes, and
seven related to immoral behaviour.

Hasmik Khachatryan, a judge in the Karabakh Appeals Court, said the
paucity of domestic violence cases before the courts was not a reason
for complacency.

`In my experience, such cases have not been investigated. But judging
by what’s reported in the media and police records, women’s rights are
often violated not just by men, but by women too,’ she said.

Karabakh’s human rights ombudsman, meanwhile, said women mainly
submitted requests for help with grievances related to labour or
living conditions. However, this could mean that women are keeping
quiet about domestic violence.

`I cannot say for sure whether women’s human rights are being violated
or not, but I think they are,’ said Julia Arstamyan, head of Harmonia,
a Karabakh non-governmental organisation. `Nor can I say why girls do
well at school and university, but the jobs mostly go to men. Not only
that, but more senior the position, the more it is to held by a man.’

Hasmik Mikaelyan, head of an NGO called Motherhood, said the women who
suffer most are over 30.

`Only women aged from 19 to 30 are accepted for jobs, and anyone over
30 is left without work,’ she said. `They also often refuse to give
jobs to pregnant women or those who have recently married.’

Anahit Danielyan is a correspondent for the Hetq online newspaper in
Stepanakert.

Aysor, Armenia
March 27 2010

Commemoration day of Lazarus raising from the dead

On the 41st day of the period of Great Lent, the Armenian Church
commemorates Lazarus being raised from the dead.

The Gospel according to St. John (Jn 11:11-46) relates the story.
Lazarus was from a family loved by Jesus Christ. He was the brother of
Mary and Martha, who often received Jesus. Lazarus dies after
succumbing to an illness. Upon hearing that His friend has died,
Christ goes to visit the family, and says to Martha, `I am the
Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in me will live, even
though he dies¦’ Christ asks Martha if she believes this, to which she
replies, `Yes, Lord. I do believe that you are the Messiah, who was to
come into the world.’ Christ, standing before the grave, commands
Lazarus to come forth, and he appears, being restored to life. By
doing so, Christ proves that He is, in fact `Life and Resurrection’.

The Gospel story telling about the raising of Lazarus contains the
passage: `Jesus wept.’ The Jews, seeing Jesus expressing grief, said:
`See how much he loved him!’

The raising of Lazarus is an example of the coming resurrection of all
those who have fallen asleep in Christ. The weeping of Jesus
demonstrates His great love towards mankind.

news.am, Armenia
March 26 2010

Karabakh peace process discussed in Brussels

18:57 / 03/26/2010 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, the course of
Geneva discussions, Middle East peace process and other international
topical issues were canvassed at the meetings of RF Deputy Foreign
Minister Alexander Grushko with European officials in Brussels.

Grushko met with Secretary General of the EU Council Helga Schmidt and
Joao Almeida – European Commission’s Director-General for External
Relations, RF Foreign Ministry reports.

The negotiations on new EU-Russia agreement, prospects of visa-free
regime between EU and Russia, as well as bilateral cooperation issues
were in focus.

A.G.

21-YEAR-OLD PIANIST SHOWS MATURE, MAGNIFICENT ARTISTRY
By Alan Becker

South Florida Classical Review
/03/21-year-old-pianist-shows-mature-magnificent-a rtistry/
March 24 2010

Nareh Arghamanyan is not a name familiar to most concertgoers,
but just wait. The 21-year-old Armenian pianist has garnered many
impressive awards and recognitions. They include the Gina Bachauer
international Junior Piano Competition, the 1997 International Chopin
Competition in Yugoslavia, and the 2008 Montreal International Musical
Competition. In 2004 she was the youngest student admitted to the
University for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and graduated in
2008 with highest honors.

>>From what was heard Tuesday night at the University of Miami’s
Gusman Concert Hall, Julian Kreeger and Friends of Chamber Music of
Miami deserve our gratitude for bringing this exceptional artist to
the Miami audience, since this young pianist demonstrated talent and
musicianship of the highest order.

Arghamanyan opened with three of Domenico Scarlatti’s sonatas, all
in D minor. They formed a most satisfying triptych and the playing
ranged from the most refined tones, barely sounding forth, to the
electricity of rapid passagework with lightning repeated notes to
take one’s breath away.

This refinement was matched in Schumann’s rarely played Humoresque,
in which the composer puts his two personalities—Florestan and
Eusebius–clearly on display in six sharply contrasting sections. The
contrasts between Schumann’s passionate and introspective side were
manifest in this performance, realized to the fullest in Arghamanyan’s
supple yearning, and powerful fleet-fingered technique. It was a
remarkable achievement, and further pointed out what a first-rate
work Schumann has given us.

Franz Liszt’s Ballade No. 2 dates from 1853 and is a substantial work
that tells the adventure of a melody, much as the composer has done
in his Piano Concerto No. 2. It is chock full of Lisztian rhetoric,
but the melody itself has a gentle character in most all of its
variations. Once again this young aritist was able to encapsulate
all of its moods and passions with great feeling and depth.

After the preceding challenges, taking on Rachmaninoff’s
knuckle-busting Etudes-tableaux, Op. 33 would almost seem to be
a cruel and merciless challenge. Needless to say Arghamanyan was
well-suited temperamentally to this music, and gave us performances
of great passion, rhythmically stunning contrasts, and great beauty
in all of Rachmaninoff’s yearning vocalise-like lines. This reviewer
would be hard pressed to recall another performance of the set quite
as outstanding as this one.

GEORGIA’S RULING AND OPPOSITION PARTIES ARE INDIFFERENT TO PLIGHT OF JAVAKHQ-ARMENIANS

Tert.am
14:45 ~U 24.03.10

Both ruling and opposition parties of Georgia are completely
indifferent to the requests and demands of the Armenian community in
the country’s Samtskhe-Javakhq-Tsalka region, according to a statement
released by Russia’s Javakhq-Armenian community.

"This once again convinces all of us that Georgia’s ruling party, as
well as the opposition, basically, don’t have any national programs:
they are simply struggling within themselves for a seat and a tasty
meal, stemming from their own interests," reads the release.

There’s no difference between Georgia’s ruling party and the
opposition, say Javakhq-Armenian community members.

"Objective prerequisites have been created in Georgia today,
when whatever opposition party could display its distinctiveness
and perfection, speaking about the violation of the rights of the
Samtskhe-Javakhq-Tsalka Armenians and, in general, Georgia’s other
ethnic minorities," write Russia’s Javakhq-Armenian NGOs, inviting all
interested parties and opposition parties to an open dialogue through
teleconference, round tables and other civilized forms of discussion.

Javakhq is a region in Georgia with a large ethnic Armenian
population. There have been several protests and clashes with police
about the treatment of Javakhq-Armenians, who say they have experienced
discrimination and their rights violated by the Georgian authorities.

SLOVENIAN PRESIDENT TO VISIT ARMENIA

Tert.am
16:02 23.03.10

President of Slovenia Danilo Turk and First Lady Barbara Miklic Turk
are set to visit Armenia in the coming days, according to Armenia’s
Ministry of Culture. The Slovenian president has said that cultural
cooperation will be dominant among the other three areas of cooperation
to be discussed during the visit.

Barbara Miklic Turk, in turn, referred to the Armenian Festival
in Slovenia.

"First of all, I want to say that all those present at the opening
ceremony of the festival and the exhibit were delighted with the
presentation. Ancient ceremonial clerical objects, outfits, female
embroidered clothes and ornaments, other exhibit samples leave an
indescribable impression [on people]. We need to know each other
closely and develop the cultural relations of our two nations which
stand close to each other with their system of values. I also hope
that the First Lady of Armenia, Mrs Rita Sargsyan, will visit Slovenia,
and that we will together attend the closing ceremony of the Armenian
Year [in Slovenia]," Barbara Miklic Turk was reported as saying.

TURKISH POLITICIAN CONSIDERS THAT "TERRIBLE BARBARITIES" WERE COMMITTED AT BEGINNING OF CENTURY

NOYAN TAPAN
MARCH 23, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, MARCH 23, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian and Turkish peoples living
side-by-side for nearly 700 years do not deserve this condition when
there are no diplomatic relations and the border is closed. Cem Toker,
the Chairman of the Liberal-Democratic Party of Turkey, stated at
a March 23 press conference. Saying that he has repeatedly visited
Armenia he mentioned that he sincerely wants to make a personal
contribution to the issue of normalization of Armenia-Turkey
relations. According to C. Toker, the stereotypes, misunderstanding
and biassed attitude in the two countries should be liquidated to
normalize the relations. The Turkish politician said that after his
third visit to Armenia he met and conveyed his observations to the
President of Turkey, who, according to him, "perhaps is the only
Turkish official who devotedly works for the Armenian-Turkish process."

C. Toker also said that all media in Turkey criticize Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s statement that if necessary he will
deport Armenians illegally living in the country. "It is inadmissible
policy and if suddenly an attempt to deport Armenians was made the
Turkish people would oppose to it," C. Toker said.

In response to the question "do you personally accept the fact of
the Genocide?" the Turkish politician said that "terrible barbarities
were committed at the beginning of the century" but he does not know
whether those events can be named "genocide." "I understand that it
is a national wound for Armenians and I respect that sorrow," he added.

According to C. Toker, though today people speaking about the Genocide
in Turkey are named traitors they are not prosecuted criminally. He
drew journalists’ attention to the fact that Agos editor-in-chief
Hrant Dink’s funeral was so crowded that could not be compared with
the funerals of Kemal Ataturk and former President Ozal.

Speaking about the Armenian-Turkish protocols he predicted that Turkey
will not ratify them in the near future as the Turkish authorities
see three hindering circumstances: the Nagorno Karabakh problem,
RA Constitutional Court’s decision and U.S. and Sweden’s position in
the Genocide.