A HOLY MASS IN ECHMIADZIN
&p=0&id=1149&y=2010&m=01&d=28
24.01.10
On the 24th of January, 2010 under the heading of the Armed Forces
spiritual leader Bishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan in the Cathedral of St.
Echmiadzin a holy mass was given in the light of the 18th anniversary
of the RA National Army. The RA Minister of Defence Seyran Ohanyan,
high ranked militants and representatives of the AF officer staff
were presents at the ceremony.
CLINTON SPARED DAVUTOGLU ONLY 15 MINUTES
News.am
11:40 / 01/28/2010
January 27, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had a private
meeting with the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton within the
framework of an International Conference on Afghanistan in London. RA
CC decision on the Armenia-Turkey Protocols was on the agenda,
Turkishjournal informs. The meeting lasted for 15 minutes only with
no details available.
Davutoglu planned a tete-a-tete conversation with Hillary Clinton
to express again his concern over the RA CC judgment, Turkish media
report referring to the diplomatic sources. According to the sources,
the Turkish Foreign Office is drafting a legal document to indicate
that the RA CC decision conficts with the Protocols.
The Turkish side was greatly indignant over the fact that U.S. hailed
the decision as a positive step.
DELEGATION OF RA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY TO VISIT ISTANBUL IN FEBRUARY
Noyan Tapan
Jan 27, 2010
YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, NOYAN TAPAN. At the invitation of executives
of Tuyap – one of Turkey’s largest organizations holding fairs, an
Armenian delegation headed by Chairman of the RA Chamber of Commerce
and Industry (CCI), National Assembly deputy Martin Sargsyan will
visit Istanbul in February. Executive Director of CCI Arayik Vardanian
announced on January 27 that the opportunities of promoting economic
relations between the two countries will be discussed at the meeting.
According to him, a delegation of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry
of Van Province (Turkey) paid a visit to Armenia recently and made
a proposal for cooperation. A. Vardanian said that the Turkish side
envisages encouraging tourism in the province through Armenia – prior
to the decision on the border’s opening to be taken by politicians.
A. Vardanian did not share the concern that in case of opening the
Armenian-Turkish border, the Armenian market will be glutted with
cheap Turkish goods, thus causing damage to the Armenian manufacturer.
In his words, those goods, which "were to invade the Armenian market,
invaded 10-15 years ago".
Speaking about the 2010 plans of RA CII, he said they envisage
organizing an exhibition of Armenian goods in Syria in the autumn.
Under the agreements with India, this year too, exhibition-sales of
Indian commodities will be held in Yerevan in the spring and autumn.
There are also plans to hold an exhibition of goods made in
Eastern Europe and Baltic states in Yerevan as well as to ensure the
participation of Armenian businessmen in the international fair Resale
2010 in Germany on April 21-23.
The RA CII was founded in 2002. It has 11 regional bodies, including
one in Yerevan. Among its members are nearly 3,000 companies,
70% of which are small and medium enterprises. The RA CII has 20
representative offices in other countries. In 2008 an arbitration
court at the RA CII was established.
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIER RECEIVES WARM WELCOME IN YEREVAN
Gevork Nazaryan
USA Armenian Life
January 1-7, 2010
In 2008, the Caucasus Institute foundation published a book in Yerevan
entitled "Caucasus Neighborhood: Turkey and The South Caucasus." The
chief editor of the said book is Aleksandr Iskandaryan – the director
of the Caucasus Institute. The volume consists of analytical papers
that were presented during a conference which took place in Istanbul,
Turkey, from August 1 to August 4 of 2008. The conference was organized
by the Caucasus Institute.
The book includes an article by Aybars Gorgulu, one of the presenters
of this conference who has entitled his piece: "Turkey-Armenia
relations: An eternal deadlock?" According to the introduction, Gorgulu
is a member of the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation in
Istanbul. In the said article Gorgulu denies the historical factuality
of the Armenian Genocide that has been acknowledged and reaffirmed by
countless international academic and human rights bodies. In fact,
the word genocide was coined by Raphael Lemkin, a lawyer and legal
scholar, who from the very inception of the word noted that the
Armenian Genocide is a "classic" case study of a pre-planned and
systematically implemented attempt at total annihilation of a whole
people. In his article, Gorgulu explicitly denies the Armenian Genocide
and, when referring to it, places the word genocide in quotation
marks. The article serves as a lamentation piece for the Turkish
author who decries the fact that "Even the EP (European Parliament –
G.N.), let alone the parliaments of leading EU member countries such
as Germany, France, Belgium, Greece, Italy and Netherlands, adopted
the ‘genocide’ allegations. (p. 137)."
The article and the book did not go unnoticed, at least to Dr. Armen
Ayvazyan and his "ARARAT" Center for Strategic Research, which has
been at the forefront of battling Armenian Genocide denial and the
Turkish government propaganda machine. The "ARARAT" Center filed a
lawsuit against the Caucasus Institute foundation’s director Aleksandr
Iskandaryan and, on December 3, 2009, the first court hearing was
held. The statement submitted to the Kentron and Norq-Marash districts
of Yerevan’s court of first instance particularly noted that the
Caucasus Institute has explicitly denied the Armenian Genocide by
publishing the article by Aybars Gorgulu. The Caucasus Institute was
defended by attorney Vahagn Grigoryan, who represented the director of
the Caucasus Institute Aleksandr Iskandaryan during the court session,
because the latter did not even bother to show up for the hearings.
In its claim the "ARARAT" Center demanded that the court do the
following:
Compel the Defendant to publicly retract the false information
reflected in the Book "Caucasus Neighborhood: Turkey and The South
Caucasus" published by the Caucasus Institute foundation in 2008 and
disseminate retraction in "Hayastani Hanrapetutyun" and "Azg" daily
newspapers, "Golos Armenii" Russian-language newspaper and the main
news broadcasts of "H1", "Shant" and "Armenia" broadcasting companies,
which broadcast also on satellite, by determining the order of the
public retraction by the court decision.
Prohibit any further use of the word genocide in quotation marks and
further dissemination of all copies of the same book under disposition
of the Defendant.
Order payment of symbolic damages of one dram for the moral damage
caused.
The second and final hearing took place the next day on December 4,
2009, during which Karine Petrosyan, the presiding judge over the case
at the Kentron and Norq-Marash district court, without any explanation
dismissed the case with suspension. The crucial suspension of the
case, which can have a course-altering impact on the struggle for
international reaffirmation of the Armenian Genocide, took place in
a court session that lasted a whopping 1 minute and 15 seconds.
In a statement made immediately after the case, the "ARARAT" Center’s
attorney Arthur Grigoryan made it clear that they find the suspension
completely unacceptable and will appeal the case to higher courts,
including the Appeals’ Court, then, if necessary, the Cassation Court
and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
On December 17, 2009, emboldened by the dismissal of the case,
Iskandaryan invited Gorgulu to Armenia, where in Yerevan’s Hotel
Armenia Marriot the genocide denier received a warm welcome and gave
a lecture during the "seminar" organized by the Caucasus Institute
foundation. The angry protesters picketing outside were dispersed by
Armenian police officers who had come to defend the Turkish denier
of the Armenian Genocide. Iskandaryan did not permit members of the
media to cover the "seminar" citing the need for "anonymity" and the
"imperative exchange between the seminar participants." The cloud of
secrecy and lack of transparency, which is an essential component
of the democratic process and the public’s right to know, is quite
revealing of the modus operandi of the Caucasus Institute foundation
and its director Aleksandr Iskandaryan. Astonishingly, among the
participants of the discussion with the genocide-deniers was also
Hayk Demoyan, the Director of the Yerevan Institute-Museum of Genocide.
According to the France-Armenie magazine (Denial of the Armenian
Genocide goes Unpunished, Dec. 18, 2009), in his previous writings
Iskandaryan has explicitly stated that "Western Armenia is not an
Armenian land…" and historically only had "Armenians who just lived
there…" One would be very surprised and even call it utter ignorance
if it were not for the statement that put it all into its right
"perspective", made only days ago by the Turkish government financed
Tesef organization, which stated that it had been "cooperating" with
Iskandaryan and his Caucasus Institute foundation for quite some
time now.
The above course of events is almost surreal and I believe hardly any
Armenian would expect to see this happen of all places in … Armenia.
But then again what we have seen unfold in front of our eyes also
seems to come directly out of a Rene Magritte painting. Only days
prior to the annual commemoration of the Armenian Genocide hardly
anyone knew of the things to come in the form of the "roadmap"
which at its very inception raised a furor of countless questions
and concerns. Very few Armenians expected that Armenia would actually
agree to establish diplomatic relations with Turkey based on several
pre-conditions that Turkey had set forth (most notably the recognition
of the current artificial "borders" imposed by the Turkish genocidal
regime and the agreement to establish a commission which will question
the unequivocal historical fact of the Armenian Genocide already
reaffirmed by countless international and national bodies).
Dr. Armen Ayvazyan and the "ARARAT" Center have already begun the
good fight on behalf of all Armenians, all of the descendants of the
survivors of the Armenian Genocide and all those who have fallen victim
to man’s inhumanity to man. Today Dr. Ayvazyan is on the frontline when
it comes to fighting and holding accountable the likes of Gorgulu, who
have unbelievably been invited and lauded, of all the places, in the
capital of all the Armenians -Yerevan. Come new year and Dr. Ayvazyan
will tour the Armenian communities of Greater Los Angeles and inform
all of the concerned Armenians about the current standing of the
"Turkish-Armenian protocols," about the (formerly unimaginable) denial
of the Armenian Genocide in Armenia. Most importantly, Dr. Ayvazyan
will not only update us on these crucial issues concerning the future
of the Armenian people and Armenia, but will also present concrete
steps of how each and every one of us can help out and do his or her
part in order to once and for all put an end to this shameful and
dramatic chapter in millennia-old Armenian history.
TERMS FOR YEREVAN, BAKU CANNOT BE VIEWED AS PRESSURE: NIKOYAN
News.am
13:30 / 01/26/2010
OSCE MG Co-Chair Yuri Merzlyakov’s statement that Yerevan and Baku
should submit their proposals on Madrid Document points, that are
not yet agree upon cannot be viewed as pressure on the parties,
RA NA Vice-Speaker Samvel Nikoyan informed NEWS.am.
According to him, the statement indicates rather the urge by
international community to resolve the conflict within shortest time
than pressure on parties to the talks. "If the statement says precise
dates, it does not necessarily about a pressure. It simply means to
present own stance and proposals in due time that should eventually
spring to life," Nikoyan noted.
Asked what propound Armenian side should make, he replied: "There
are principles Armenia should not budge from like Karabakh’s right
to self-determination, fixing of land bond between Armenia and NKR,
as well as international guarantees’ provision for Karabakhi people
security."
Armenia cannot make concessions on the mentioned points, Nikoyan
concluded.
WAR AND PEACE, THEATRE ROYAL, GLASGOW
By Andrew Clark
Financial Times
January 25 2010 22:46
It is a popular misconception that masterpieces arrive in fixed
form, like a gift from heaven. Some of the most successful operas
– Carmen, Don Carlos, Boris Godunov , to name but three – have
extremely messy histories, and until recently no one bothered
if the edition was bowdlerised. What great composers have always
wanted is to communicate. If the performance breathes style and
conviction, it doesn’t matter which version you use. It’s only modern
musicologists who believe in the possibility of an "original" text and
its superiority over established versions. Bizet, Verdi and Mussorgsky
never heard the so-called original versions of the operas cited above:
practical considerations came first.
This is the context in which we must judge War and Peace, a
collaboration between Scottish Opera and music academies in Glasgow,
Russia and Armenia. It is billed as "the world premiere of the original
version". But Prokofiev’s opera went through so many versions –
none of which he heard complete – that it’s hard to credit this one
with greater authenticity than the others. It is "edited" by Rita
McAllister: she has pieced it together from manuscripts, orchestrating
parts of the war scenes that Prokofiev wrote in piano score and axed
at the behest of his Soviet minders. This version omits the ball scene
and the Fili scene in which Field Marshal Kutuzov sings his paean to
Moscow. It also knocks an opera of four hours down to two and a half.
Does it work? It has greater consistency than the established
version, which hardly justifies its length. But it misses some
wonderfully rousing moments in the second half. What validates it
is the all-round quality of performance, staged by Irina Brown,
designed by Chloe Lamford and conducted by Timothy Dean. With a cast
of students and young professionals, the opera’s contrast of young
and old personalities must be taken as read, and some voices are
underprojected, but the overall effect is fluent and atmospheric.
Aleksey Gusev’s virile Napoleon steals the show; Maria Kozlova’s
Natasha and Aram Ohanian’s Kutuzov also show promise.
PURCHASE AND SALE TRANSACTIONS OF MILLION 975 THOUSAND CONDUCTED AT NASDAQ OMX ARMENIA OJSC ON JANUARY 25
Noyan Tapan
Jan 25, 2010
YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, NOYAN TAPAN. Purchase and sale transactions of
million 975 thousand at the weighted average exchange rate of 378.25
drams per dollar were conducted at Nasdaq OMX Armenia OJSC on January
25. According to the press service of the Central Bank of Armenia,
the closing price was 378.23 drams.
Lecture for businessmen and marketing specialists on the subject
`creation of brand and its management will take place in Yerevan
YEREVAN, January 22. /ARKA/. Union of Information Technologies (UITE)
with the support of SPMS organizes lecture on the subject `Creation of
brand and its management’. The aim of the seminar is to develop
potential of the companies in the given sphere.
Attendees of the lecture will get introduced to the conception of
brand and trade marks, their formation, market research, market
analysis and its segmentation, positioning of brand in the market,
development of creative strategy, individualism, peculiarities,
essence, attributes and control over its management.
Participants will get answers of the questions related to the impact
of brand on the consumers and its main components, productivity of its
usage and opportunities of its modification and methods of its
introduction. Armenian and foreign companies, as well as beginner IT
companies will participate in the seminar. -0-
CO-CHAIRMEN OF OSCE MINSK GROUP HOPES FOR COORDINATION OF PRINCIPLES OF SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH PROBLEM
Kazakhstan Today
Jan 22 2010
The co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk group hope for prompt coordination
of the principles of settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem during
the presidency of Kazakhstan in OSCE. The co-chairman of the OSCE
Minsk group of the Russian Federation, Yury Merzlyakov, informed at
a briefing after the meeting in Astana with the Secretary of State
– the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Kanat Saudabaev,
Kazakhstan Today agency reports.
"We also expect that, during the forthcoming trip of Mr. Saudabaev,
we will be able to inform of the position of our three
countries-intermediaries and the OSCE chairman, which consist in
necessity of prompt coordination of the main principles of settlement
of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem," Y. Merzlyakov said.
RESERVATION SET BY ARMENIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT ARE DUE TO SICK PUBLIC CONSCIOUSNESS IN ARMENIA
Today
Jan 22 2010
Azerbaijan
Day.Az interview with Azerbaijani political expert Zardusht Alizade.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry is discontent with reservations the Armenian
Constitutional Court has made to the Turkey-Armenia protocols. What
is the reason behind the Armenian Constitutional Court’s move?
Armenia’s Constitutional Court has no right to make changes to the
protocols signed by the country’s Foreign Ministry. It can express
its opinions which may be considered by the Armenian parliament while
ratifying the protocols. The parliament may also propose changes
taking into account the CC opinion. But in this case, the Armenian
foreign minister will have to negotiate a new text of the protocol
with his Turkish counterpart. With regard to Turkey’s consent to this,
I think that it would be against it.
The Constitutional Court can only express its opinion and the Foreign
Ministry will decide whether to take into account the CC views or not.
In your opinion, how it will impact further dialogue between Turkey
and Armenia?
I think it will pose some extra difficulties in work of the Armenian
Foreign Ministry, especially because Turkey’s Foreign Ministry has
already expressed its negative opinion about attempts to convert the
text of the protocols signed.
May ratification of the Turkey-Armenia protocols fail at this stage?
In fact, it is possible. But I think both Armenian and Turkish
governments want to see progress in normalization of relations which
will help to overcome difficulties sooner or later.
The reservations set by the Armenian Constitutional Court are due
mainly to features of the Armenian national thinking and sick public
consciousness in Armenia.
The Turkish leadership links opening borders with a possible progress
in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict …
This is Turkey’s position which is not reflected in the text of
the protocols. This is Turkey’s desire. The Armenian government has
clearly stated that it sees no links between the Armenian-Turkish
normalization and resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The
U.S. and Russia also support this position.
I think now it is up to the Azerbaijani authorities to prove that
such a link exists.
Given the current situation of the dialogue between Ankara and Yerevan,
can today’s trend impact the Karabakh negotiations? Is it appropriate
to says that the Armenian Constitutional Court decision will impact
settlement of the Karabakh conflict?
In principle, I think that the Armenian CC said nothing new on the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue. I think that the situation has not changed.
The parties are still committed to their original positions.
This will have no impact on Karabakh talks and once again shows that
Armenia’s position is unchanged.
Maybe, Armenia tries to protract ratification of the protocols?
I think that it does not. Armenia simply takes into account the
domestic situation and tries to make ratification of the protocols
possible in the national parliament.
N. Abdullayeva
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