Author: Toganian Liana

BAKU DISCLOSES WHAT PEACEKEEPING FORCES IT WANTS TO SEE IN KARABAKH

Today.Az
15 August 2009 [11:59]

There are still certain differences in the conceptions of the
Armenian and Azerbaijani sides regarding settlement of the Karabakh
conflict, Head of International Relations Department of Azerbaijani
Presidential Administration Novruz Mammadov said in an interview with
Turan news agency.

"Azerbaijan’s position remains the same – stage by stage liberation
of occupied territories around Karabakh, and return of displaced
people to their native lands. During the transition period Lachin and
Kelbajar regions must be liberated and a corridor between Karabakh
and Armenia must be created. These processes must be accompanied by
cleaning territories from mines and restoration works. It can take
from 5 to 10 years," Mammadov said.

"Then displaced people must return to Karabakh, and it is necessary to
deploy peacekeeping forces. After the return of 60,000 Azerbaijanis
there and the restoration of situation legal status of Karabakh
can be determined only in the frames of Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity. It can take up to 10 years," Mamedov said.

He said it is early to speak about exact time now, because it is
not known how the processes will develop. The return of only seven
regions around Karabakh will cause the return of 760,000 people.

"All houses, industrial and social infrastructure have been destroyed
there. Several years will take cleaning the territories from mines,
and the whole process can take 15 to 20 years," Mammadov said.

Not going into details of renewed Madrid Principles he said that they
are about development of Karabakh’s status, i.e. who and when will
take a decision, question on peacekeeping forces, their structure,
placing and question connected with corridor.

He agreed with co- chairs that the sides are close to agreement,
but even a small detail can influence the process of settlement.

"Of course Armenia wants the resolution of legal status at first stage,
but co-chairs agreed that all seven regions around Karabakh must be
returned," Mammadov said.

"Azerbaijan’s does not want peacekeepers from neighbor countries in
the peacekeeping forces. It would be better if peacekeeping forces
were from European states and U.S.," Mammadov said.

He said that it would be appropriate to deploy peacekeepers to the
contact line between Karabakh and nearby regions.

"Status of Karabakh must be determined on the basis of Azerbaijan’s
Constitution. It will be determined at the last stage, so nothing
can be said now," Mamedov said.

In case of successful development of peaceful process communication
will be opened; question on opening of automobile roads will be raised.

"I think Armenia first of all is interested in opening of railway,
because of blockade caused by it itself," Mammadov said.

WORLD RECORD SET BY FRANKFURT-HAHN AIRPORT

Heavy Lift
August 14, 2009

Frankfurt-Hahn airport has claimed aviation history by loading the
heaviest single cargo item seen via air freight.

A generator for a gas power plant in Armenia, measuring 16.23 m in
length and 4.27 m wide, and weighing just short of a record 190 tonnes,
was loaded onto an Antonov 225, the world’s largest cargo plane.

The airport was chosen to handle the cargo, managed by General Service
AG and Charter Service Niklas on behalf of Alstom AG (Switzerland), due
to its accessibility for heavy load transport and for its reputation
for professional handling procedures.

Before being loaded, the generator was shipped by river and road
from Rotterdam. A total of six flights are required to transport
the entire gas power plant to Armenia, all of which take-off from
Frankfurt-Hahn Airport.

ARMENIA TO EVALUATE EDUCATED PEOPLE

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
14.08.2009 15:08 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian society should treat intellectuals with
more attention and take measures to develop intellectual games in
the country, Education Minister Armen Ashotyan told today a news
conference devoted to Armenian teams’ participation in South Caucasus
Championship in intellectual games.

By demonstrating more attention to educated people, we’ll to return
the value of knowledge to Armenian society, Minister said.

Ashotyan finds intellectual games a good method showing that
intellectual movement develops in Armenia, and there are people with
high level of intellect.

LARGE-SCALE MANEUVERS IN ARMENIA

armradio.am
13.08.2009 14:50

Armenian peacekeepers arranged 6-day military exercises at the
educational center after marshal Baghrmyan. RA Defense Minister
Seyran Ohanyan, NATO representatives and other observers followed
the maneuvers. It is the third day of large-scale maneuvers in Armenia.

Colonel Artur Simonyan, the commander of peacekeeping brigade at
the Defense Ministry, said that such maneuvers are conducted for the
first time. Special mission units, peacekeeping forces and aviation
participate. The maneuvers will last 6 days. Nearly 900 soldiers and
officers of Armenian army will take part in the maneuvers.

ISRAELI AMBASSADOR PAYS SECRET VISIT TO ARMENIA

NEWS.am
20:09 / 08/12/2009

Israeli Ambassador to Armenia Shemi Tsur (residence in Israel) is on a
visit to Yerevan. Although the Ambassador has held numerous meetings
with Armenian officials, his visit was not announced. The RA Foreign
Office explained to NEWS. am that Tsur did not hold a meeting with
the RA Foreign Minister, and the Deputy Minister receives over ten
ambassadors daily. All the visits are not normally announced. Tigran
Balyan, Press Secretary of the RA Foreign Office, said Ambassador
Tsur’s visit is a regular working one and "no special significance
should be attached to it."

Ambassador Tsur has held a meeting with Rima Varzhapetyan, the Head of
the Jewish community in Armenia. They discussed the recent scandal over
an article on Armenia allegedly being a transit point for the supply of
arms to Hezbollah. The article was published by the Italian Corriere
della sera. Talking to NEWS.am, Ms. Varzhapetyan stated Israel does
not regard this report as serious. "Israel is interested in friendly
relations with Armenia," she said. Varzhapetyan pointed out reports
like that are aimed at damaging relations between countries, but the
attempts are doomed to fail. Ambassador Tsur, in turn, stated Israel
does not regard such reports as serious either.

Mr. Tsur’s statements could be considered satisfactory, and the report
forgotten, but for the fact that his visit has been made a secret
of. It is the secret, which is mostly likely aimed at "protecting"
him from importunate journalists, that suggests Mr. Tsur is unwilling
to comment on or refute this information. According to the reliable
information at our disposal, Ambassador Tsur is to stay in Armenia
until this Friday.

GUINNESS FLIGHT

try&pid=14903
11:52:39 – 12/08/2009

Today morning, at 9:12, an AH 225 cargo plane landed at the Zvartnots
airport of Yerevan, which brought a new generator-stator of 197 tones
for the Yerevan Heat and Power Station. This flight is a record because
before there has never been transported one piece weighting so much.

REVENGEFULNESS TOWARDS POLITICAL PRISONERS

rahos||country&pid=14898
15:43:07 – 11/08/2009

The amnesty was declared in a way to let as many people as possible in
prisons. This is the opinion of the representative of the committee
for political prisoners and politically persecuted people, lawyer
Vardan Harutunyan. He insisted today that the government had the
problem to keep certain political prisoners in prisons. One of
them, according to Harutunyan is the NA parliamentary member, Sasun
Mikaelyan. He stated that all the political prisoners charged in the
same case have been set free except Sasun Mikaelyan. Revengefulness
was added to personal revenge. Proceeding from this, they formulated
the text of the amnesty in a way that we still have 21 political
prisoners. Harutunyan mentioned other two political prisoners, whom
the government treats with special revengefulness. They are the young
activist of the HAK Roman Mnatsakanyan and Sargis Hatspanyan.

Harutunyan stated that Roman Mnatsakanyan is not one of the organizers
of the movement but only a participant of rallies. He stated that the
officials of the penitentiary institution, treated Mnatsakanyan very
bad and the head of the institution did not even hide his negative
attitude towards the youth.

The third political prisoner is Sargis Hatspanyan. Harutunyan
stated that everyone knows and admits the fact that Hatspanyan is
a participant of the Artsakh liberating battle. But the ministry
of Justice demands from Hatspanyan a certificate proving that he
participated in the Artsakh war. The lawyer stated that thousands of
people participated in the war, but such a certificate may present
only those, who continued their service in the army.

ARMEN GRIGORYAN CONGRATULATED THE ARMENIAN YOUTH

Aysor.am
TODAY, 12:26

Armen Grigoryan, the RA Minister of Sport and Youth, congratulated
the Armenian young people on the International Youth Day.

"In almost all the spheres of state development and society progress
the youth too has had its participation and input. There is no any
area, culture, education, science, sport, business, management,
etc., where the present problems and issues will not concern the
youth somehow.

Being the carriers of the values created and passed from generation
to generation during our history by our ancestors, and being the
motivating force of society development, the future of creating free,
powerful and democratic state is in the hands of the youth.

One more time I congratulate the youth on the International Youth
Day and wish the young people of Armenia new victories, success and
brave undertakings for the favour of the society and our state", –
reads the congratulating message of the Minister.

TURKEY WOOS RUSSIA AS EU HOPES DIM

The National
August 12. 2009 12:25AM

ISTANBUL // As the EU shows little interest in taking Turkey on board
as a new member in the near future, Russia has emerged as a powerful
new partner for Ankara, providing energy and trade deals and sending
a growing number of holidaymakers to Turkey’s sunny coasts.

The ever closer relations between Ankara and Moscow is a sign of
weakened ties between Turkey and the EU, Nihat Ali Ozcan, an analyst
at the Economic Policy Research Foundation, or Tepav, an Ankara-based
think tank, said yesterday.

"If things were better with the EU, Turkey would be part of the
European approach. But because it is outside that approach, it plays
more locally."

Nowhere is that trend more visible than in energy policy. Turkey is
eager to become a major player in international energy matters and
wants to make full use of its unique geostrategic position as a country
between East and West. "Turkey is pursuing its own interests, it is
more independent" than it would be as an EU member, Mr Ozcan said.

"Europeans need to really understand what’s going on in Turkey,
how close it has gotten to Russia as opposed to Europe and the US,"
Zeyno Baran, an energy expert at the US-based Hudson Institute,
told EUobserver.com, an online publication dealing with EU affairs.

During a visit to Ankara last week, Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime
minister, signed a protocol with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, paving the way for a multibillion dollar gas pipeline from
Russia through the Black Sea to the Balkans.

The agreement on the South Stream pipeline, which would provide Moscow
with a new pathway to deliver gas to Europe, came less than a month
after Turkey and several European partners launched the rival Nabucco
project, which is backed by the EU and designed to lessen European
dependency on Russian gas imports.

Ankara started EU membership talks in late 2005, but negotiations have
proceeded slowly. Turkish officials have repeatedly voiced frustration
about the hostile position taken by high-ranking EU politicians such
as the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, who has openly rejected
the Turkish application in spite of the ongoing negotiation process.

The attitude of Mr Sarkozy and other sceptics in the EU has made it
easier for Russia to court Turkey, Mr Ozcan said.

Although the two countries are heirs of rival empires and stood on
opposing sides during the Cold War, relations between Turkey and
Russia have improved significantly in recent years.

They signed 20 different agreements during Mr Putin’s visit. Russia
is also interested in building Turkey’s first nuclear power
plant. According to official figures, trade between the two countries
reached a volume of US$40 billion (Dh147bn) last year. Russia has
become Turkey’s biggest single trading partner, while Turkey is
Russia’s fifth biggest, Mr Erdogan said.

Putting their relations on a new level, Ankara and Moscow agreed
on regular yearly meetings on the prime ministerial level. Other
government ministers from the two countries will meet twice or three
times a year.

Meanwhile, Russian tourists have been flocking to Turkey’s
coasts. "Olga has overtaken Helga," a Turkish newspaper commented
recently, when new official figures indicated that the number of
Russian tourists in the southern coastal city of Antalya had surpassed
that of German holidaymakers for the first time.

Germans have traditionally been the strongest national group among
tourists in Turkey, numbering 4.4 million visitors last year. But the
Russians are catching up fast. Almost three million Russians came to
Turkey last year, and Russian businessmen have invested billions of
dollars in hotels on the Turkish south coast. In an acknowledgement
of the growing number of Russian guests, the buildings of one hotel
look like the Kremlin in Moscow.

Turkey is sending a deliberate message with its new Russian
partnership, Ahmet Davutoglu, the foreign minister, told journalists
after Mr Putin’s visit.

"This is what we want to tell the world: Yes, we have an EU
orientation, and no one should have doubts regarding our Nato
membership, but [Turkey] conducts comprehensive policies with all
global and neighbouring players in accordance with its geographical
region," the minister said.

>From time to time, critics may argue that Turkey is turning away
from the West, while at other times there may be doubts that Turkey
is cutting its ties to the East, Mr Davutoglu added. "We have to
overcome those momentary and temporary ways to look at things."

For Turkey, Russia plays a part in some of its most pressing foreign
policy issues. As a close partner of the Greek part of Cyprus, Moscow
could help to bring about a solution for the divided Mediterranean
island, which would in turn improve Ankara’s EU prospects.

Russia is also an important player in the ongoing dispute between
Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorny-Karabakh, a problem
that has prevented progress in efforts by Turkey to improve ties
with Armenia.

"Turkey is not an EU member country, nor should it be expected
to become one soon," Cagri Erhan, a political scientist at Ankara
University, wrote in the Turkiye newspaper. "There is no rational
reason why Turkey, as a country that is not an EU member yet, should
synchronise its foreign policy with Brussels."

Mr Ozcan of Tepav said this trend was likely to continue, as there was
no sign of a turnaround in Turkish-EU affairs, let alone of a quick
Turkish accession to the EU. Unlike Europeans, who are perceived by
many Turks as endlessly lecturing their country about human rights
and other issues, Russians "do not treat Turkey condescendingly",
Mr Ozcan said.

FILM COMPOSER MARIA ANDRIASOVA ESPARZA IS NOMINATED FOR 2009 …

Top40-Charts.com
2009-08-10

Film Composer Maria Andriasova Esparza is Nominated for 2009 ‘Mozart
Award’ from International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, UK for her
Original Music

New York (Top40 Charts/ Sony Masterworks) – Moscow-born, American
concert pianist, film composer, and producer Maria Andriasova Esparza
() is nominated for a distinguished 2009
International "Mozart Award" from the International Biographical
Centre, Cambridge, UK for her original music, following in the
footsteps of her late father, the legendary Russian composer and
philosopher Iosif Andriasov, who was honored with the "International
Man of the Year Award" in 2000 from the International Biographical
Centre, Cambridge, UK. A winner of three consecutive Calouste
Gulbenkian Foundation Awards, Maria Andriasova Esparza received her
education at the Moscow P.I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Russian Academy
of Sciences (concentration in mathematics), and the Juilliard School
in New York (Bachelor Degree), and is represented by the Broadcast
Music, Inc. (BMI) as a composer. Maria is married to Guillermo
Esparza (), the celebrated American
iconographer, sculptor, and painter.

In June of 2009, Maria Andriasova Esparza composed, performed,
and recorded an original soundtrack to a documentary film about her
husband, "Guillermo Esparza, an American Iconographer", an original
production by Los Angeles filmmaker Veronica Aberham for Studio-Online,
an affiliate of London-based Studio International.

The film was released on June 1st, 2009 and premiered on June 7,
2009 at St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral in New York for its 200th year
anniversary, after the historic Mass delivered by Archbishop Timothy
Michael Dolan.

The prominent New York socialite, fundraiser, concert pianist,
film composer, and producer Maria Iosifovna (Andreasian) Andriasova
Esparza, was born in Moscow into a family of celebrated musicians,
with a direct musical lineage to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and an
ancestral lineage to Prince Alexander Vasilievich Suvorov. Maria
Andriasova started playing piano and composing at the age of
three under the direction of her father, the legendary Russian
composer Iosif Arshakovich Andriasov. Maria’s maternal grandfather,
Professor Leonid Vasilyevich Kudryashov, was Chairman of the biology
department at the Moscow Lomonosov University. Maria’s maternal
great-grandfather, Professor Veniamin Aleksandrovich Lebedev,
established the Arkhangelsk University. At the age of six, Maria
enrolled at the Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory. At the same time,
Maria performed her first compositions at the Union of Composers
in Moscow. She also studied at the Russian Academy of Sciences with
concentration in mathematics.

Maria made her professional debut at the age of nine as actor and
narrator in the legendary Second Symphony by Iosif Andriasov (for
which Mr. Andriasov refused the Lenin Prize from the Soviet government
and became a notorious political figure), reciting text by the poet
laureate Vladimir Lazarev, under the baton of Maestro Gennady Cherkasov
with the Big Symphony Orchestra and Choir of Radio and Television (now
known as the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow under Maestro
Vladimir Fedoseyev, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor). The Second
movement of Iosif Andriasov’s Second Symphony tells a story of young
Maria (nicknamed "Marianka"), and of her childhood drawings.

In 1979, Ms. Andriasova moved to New York City with her parents. US
Senators Jacob Javits, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and Edward Kennedy were
instrumental in bringing the family to the USA. Maria continued her
piano studies at The Juilliard School and also continued her studies
of studio art and drama at The Professional Children’s School, where,
at a personal invitation by Mrs. Marion Javits, she was introduced
to performing for charitable events. Maria earned her bachelor’s
degree from The Juilliard School, being awarded full-scholarship
throughout the program in the class of Concert Pianist and Professor
Oxana Yablonskaya. Maria continued her studies of life drawing and
painting at the Art Students League in New York in the class of
Barbara Adrian (studio of Reginald Marsh). At the same time, she
developed an interest in the world of finance.

To further her knowledge of the stock market and investment strategies,
in 1998, Maria launched her successful financial career working for
Robert Soros and George Soros at Soros Fund Management in New York,
and now specializes in Private Asset Management. In 2000, Maria
received an honorary award from Art Students League in New York for
her portraits of Beethoven, Stravinsky, Richard Strauss, and the
poet Nikolai Kluyev. As a concert pianist, Maria won The Calouste
Gulbenkian Foundation scholarship awards (Lisbon, Portugal) during
three consecutive years (1984, 1985, 1986); she is the recipient of
the P.A. Schaffer award, New York; Maro and Anahid Ajemian award;
Jewish Foundation for the Education of Women award; Armenian
Diocese Association award (Boston, MA); "Outstanding Musician of
the 20th Century" award from the International Biographical Centre,
Cambridge, UK with a commemorative medal in 1999; and is listed in
the International Who’s Who in Music, England since 2000. In May 2009,
Ms. Andriasova Esparza was invited to join the Board of Directors of
The Highbridge Voices, part of The Highbridge Community Development
Corporation (HCDC), a web of services and initiatives that began
in 1988 in a massive effort to revitalize the South Bronx community
of Highbridge.

Maria Andriasova Esparza is a co-producer of two "In Memoriam"
festivals dedicated to the music of her late father, composer Iosif
Andriasov, as well as audio and video recordings of the festivals:
in Moscow, at the Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory Grand Hall, with
Russian Federal Orchestra, soloists of the Bolshoi Theater, Maestro
Vakhtang Jordania, conductor (2002); and in Yerevan, Armenia, at Aram
Khatchaturian Symphony Hall, with Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra
under Ohan Duryian, Maestro Karen Durgaryan, conductor, and the Choir
of Armen Akob Cultural Centre, Maestro Armen Amirkhanian, conductor
(2001). In 1995, Asahi Broadcasting Corp., Tokyo, Japan, released a
documentary film on Maria’s father, composer Iosif Andriasov, where
Maria served as an interpreter for her father. Maria also composed,
performed, and recorded the soundtrack for Bryn Magnus’ experimental
Off-Off Broadway play "George Sand", with performances in New York,
Madison, Wisconsin, and St. Thomas, Virgin Islands (Anne Biberman
Productions.) Maria has performed internationally, including all
major concert halls in New York City: The Carnegie Hall’s Isaac Stern
Auditorium (Maestro Richard Westenburg, conductor) and the Weill
Recital Hall; at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts: Alice
Tully Hall (Maestro Bruno Ferrandis, conductor), Avery Fisher Hall
(Maestro Richard Westenburg, conductor); In 2002, she was invited by
the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and performed Piano Trio by
her father, Iosif Andriasov, at Davis Symphony Hall; performed and
recorded with the Big Symphony Orchestra of Radio and Television,
Moscow (Maestro Gennady Cherkasov, conductor); appeared on radio and
television, including CBS Special on The Juilliard School, PM Magazine
for The Fox Network, broadcast over "Organisation Internationale de
Radiodiffusion et de Te’le’vision" (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia,
Germany, Finland, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the European republics
of the former USSR), Asahi TV (Japan), Yomiuri (Japan), Russian All-St!

ate Radio nd Radio Freedom (Philippines). Maria Andriasova Esparza
has premiered several dozen contemporary compositions, a number of
which have been dedicated to her, and has participated in American
Landmarks Festival and Dmitry Kabalevsky Festival.

Maria Andriasova Esparza is married to Guillermo Jose Esparza
(), the celebrated American sculptor,
iconographer, and painter, whose works are in the permanent collections
at the Vatican Museum in Rome, the Phanar Museum in Istanbul, Turkey,
the US National Archives, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

In 1995, Maria Andriasova was invited by Donald Trump, as US cultural
representative, to perform at the Gala concert dedicated to His
Holiness Pope John Paul II’s visit to the United States to commemorate
the International Year of the Family and to celebrate the friendship
between the United States and the Vatican. At this event she met her
future husband, American artist Guillermo Esparza, whose Ecumenical
sculptures were commissioned by Archbishop Iakovos, Former Archbishop
of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America, funded
by the American Greek Orthodox community and a Catholic community
of the US. His Eminence Archbishop Iakovos presented the silver
sculptures to the representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, on his historic visit to the
Vatican, presented the sculpture to His Holiness Pope John Paul II,
and kept the other sculpture at the Phanar in Constantinople. Maria and
Guillermo Esparza were married by Bishop Rodney Michel at the Episcopal
Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City, New York, under Guillermo
Esparza’s Mural of the Pantokrator, Archangels Michael and Gabriel.

Maria enjoys presenting poetry at her recitals, and regularly performs
her original music set to readings by various poets, including
Guillermo Esparza’s "The Seaward Angel of Desire" from his "Versos
Delfines" series. Maria’s latest project is writing and performing
music for sacred spaces, which accompanies sacred artwork installations
of Guillermo Esparza in cathedrals and churches internationally. Maria
Andriasova Esparza and Guillermo Esparza live and work in Manhattan.

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