Author: Varosian Antranik

ARMENIAN WORKER STABBED IN THE CENTER OF MOSCOW

Aysor
Jan 12 2010
Armenia

Yesterday evening on the Novi Arbat street was killed an Armenian
worker arrived from Armenia. The murder was commited next the building
N15 on Novi Arbat street. Not far from "Moskvichka" supermarket, the
"Vesti" news agency was informed by the Inner Affairs of Moscow.

At present, according to the sources, constructions are being realized
there and also workers living there. They have had quarrel there and
because of that the citizen of Armenia was stabbed to death.

The sources also inform that the police had arrested 5 suspects. They
are all workers from CIS countries. Preliminary investigation is
being carried out.

Event: Public Lecture
Date: Friday, January 22, 2010 at 7:30pm
Venue: Merdinian Armenian Evangelical School
Address: 13330 Riverside Dr., Sherman Oaks, CA

Abstract: Identities are inseparably related to past experiences of
individuals and social groups: from families and clans to
nations. Reflecting the self-positioning of people in specific broader
socio-cultural contexts they are hierarchical, dynamic, and an
individual or social group may combine together components of
different identities. Nowadays philosophers studying this subject
stress the major distinction between identity at a time and identity
across time. This distinction is especially salient across other
humanities and social sciences. A very large amount of research is
carried out on the subject of contemporary identities but relatively
few explore their historical transformations. Armenian Studies are not
an exception. During the last two decades a substantial research
effort has been devoted to the study of modern Armenian identity and
only a handful of works discussing its historical trajectory were
published. The lecture will discuss the causes of that disparity and
the importance of a long-term perspective. It will address the origins
of Armenian identity and the sociopolitical, economic, linguistic,
demographic, and territorial aspects of its formation and
transformations. Special attention should be paid to the roles of
social elites in the construction of identities, yet the extreme
constructivist position must be rejected. Several consecutive periods
in the transformation of Armenian identity are identified and
analyzed: (1) from the Early Iron Age (ca 1000 BC) to the end of the
Post-Achaemenid Period (early 2nd century BC); (2) the Artashesian
Period (2nd – 1st centuries BC); (3) the Arshakuni and Marzpanate
transformation (ca 224 – 670 AD) — period of formation of the main
traits of the Modern Armenian national identity; (4) the Bagratuni and
Seljuq period (9th – 12th centuries) — dilution of Armenian identity;
(5) the Cilician Period (12th – 14th centuries) — formation of the
Armenian Diasporan identity; (6) from the Great Lazarian-Arghutian
resettlement (1828-30) to the present — resproach substantially
differs from the generally accepted periodic characterization of
Armenian history. It stresses two major aspects: the cyclical nature
and the apparent gradual consolidation of Armenian identities. Further
investigations may confirm or disprove these findings.

Gregory E. Areshian received his Ph.D. from the Saint-Petersburg
(formerly Leningrad) Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of
Sciences of the USSR. He directed the excavations of several
archaeological sites and participated in other archaeological field
projects in Armenia, Syria, Georgia, Egypt, and Central Asia. He is
the author of more than 130 publications mostly concerning Near
Eastern, Armenian, and Caucasian history and archaeology from Late
Prehistory to the Modern times, and also social theory. He authored
and edited four books. During the late 1970s and 1980s Dr. Areshian
served as a Professor of Archaeology and History at Yerevan State
University, the First Vice-President of the Department of Antiquities
of the Republic of Armenia, and as the Associate Director of the
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Academy of Sciences of
Armenia. In 1991 – 92 he served as the Deputy Prime Minister in the
first government of the independent Republic of Armenia. In 1993 he
was invited as a Visiting Professor to UCLA, and, after moving to the
USA, he taught at the University of Wisconsin, and the University of
Chicago. Currently he is the Director of the Armenian Research Program
of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA. Since 2007 he
co-directs the Dvin and Areni UCLA Joint Projects in Armenia and
continues participating to the Mozan-Urkesh Project in Syria. His
principal area of interest is the anthropological history of Armenian,
Iranian, and Mesopotamian civilizations from Prehistory to the Modern
times. Other areas of his current research include social complexity,
interdisciplinary study of imperialism, interactions between pastoral
nomads and sedentary civilizations in the Near East and Eurasia,
archaeology of Global Warming, and the interdisciplinary
(archaeological-linguistic-art historical) reconstruction of Ancient
Near Eastern, Indo-European, and Classical mythology.

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Karine Abalyan
Tel: (212) 686-0710; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

January 11, 2010
___________________________________________

ST. SAHAG AND ST. MESROB ARMENIAN CHURCH OF WYNNEWOOD, PA OFFICIALLY
WELCOMES NEW PASTOR, FR. OSHAGAN GULGULIAN

On Sunday, January 3, Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of
the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), visited St. Sahag and St. Mesrob
Armenian Church of Wynnewood, Pa., where he celebrated the Divine Liturgy
and joined the community in officially welcoming its new pastor, the Very
Rev. Fr. Oshagan Gulgulian.

"Fr. Oshagan has been a loyal shepherd of the Armenian Church, who has
faithfully served God and our national heritage," the Primate said. "His
energetic presence has benefited our own Diocese and the Mother See of Holy
Etchmiadzin, as well as the Armenian community of India, where he served
with distinction, and drew world attention to the country’s venerable but
little-known Armenian presence."

A welcome banquet was held in Fr. Gulgulian’s honor following services, with
almost 200 people in attendance. The Very Rev. Fr. Haigazoun Najarian,
Diocesan Vicar and a former pastor of St. Sahag and St. Mesrob Church,
delivered the invocation.

The program featured remarks and musical performances by violinist Angela
Kodokian and vocalist Karine Hovnanian. The parish also presented Fr.
Gulgulian with a hand cross during the banquet.

Fr. Armenag Bedrossian, pastor of the area’s St. Mark’s Armenian Catholic
Church, offered congratulations to Fr. Gulgulian on behalf of the
Philadelphia-region Armenian clergy.

Diocesan delegate George Kodokian offered a welcoming toast in honor of Fr.
Gulgulian. "Some of you in the audience may know the following passage from
the Bible: ‘A new friend is as new wine; when it is old, thou shall drink it
with pleasure.’ (Ecclesiastes 9:10)," he said. "Hayr Sourp, we believe that
through your spiritual leadership you will flourish and nurture the
friendships in our community so that one day we will all say together: our
friendships are now old and let’s drink it with pleasure."

The banquet was co-chaired by Diocesan delegate Lisa Manookian and Parish
Council vice chair John Torcomian. It was sponsored by the United Armenian
Charities.

‘A fresh start’

Fr. Gulgulian began serving at St. Sahag and St. Mesrob Armenian Church last
summer, moving to the Philadelphia area from India where he served most
recently as the manager of the Armenian Philanthropic Academy and pastor of
the Armenian churches of India.

A native of Beirut, Lebanon, he studied at the Theological Seminary of the
Great House of Cilicia and at the Gevorgyan Theological Seminary at the
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. He was ordained into the holy priesthood in
February 1987, and continued his education in Geneva, Switzerland and at
Columbia University in New York City. In April 2003, he received a Master of
Divinity Degree in Pastoral Ministry and a Religious Teaching Certificate
from Trinity Theological Seminary in Indiana.

Fr. Gulgulian has served in the Diocese of the Armenian Church of Canada as
well as in the Eastern Diocese, including the communities of Richmond, Va.,
Miami, Fla., and Chelmsford, Mass.

He said he was familiar with the community at St. Sahag and St. Mesrob
Church from time spent in the Eastern Diocese. "It’s a very unique parish,"
he said. "They embraced me and they welcomed me."

Currently, the parish is preparing to co-host the 2010 ACYOA Juniors Fall
Sports Weekend over Columbus Day Weekend with Holy Trinity Armenian Church
of Cheltenham, Pa. The community also would like to build an athletic
complex – a project Fr. Gulgulian hopes to help the parish realize in the
coming years.

He said the community was glad to welcome the Primate last week, on the
first Sunday of the new year. "It was a fresh start for all of us," Fr.
Gulgulian said.

"I know that Hayr Sourp takes his vocation most seriously, and is determined
to share the spiritual riches of our church with all of his parishioners,"
Archbishop Barsamian said. "His enthusiasm, his human kindness, and his warm
sense of humor will not fail to inspire his new flock. And I have faith that
the people of Wynnewood will do everything they can to aid and strengthen
his ministry."

###

Photos attached.

Photo 1: The Very Rev. Fr. Oshagan Gulgulian, the new pastor of St. Sahag
and St. Mesrob Armenian Church of Wynnewood, Pa., was officially welcomed by
the parish on January 3.

Photo 2: Very Rev. Fr. Oshagan Gulgulian, Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, and
Very Rev. Fr. Haigazoun Najarian at the welcome banquet held in Fr.
Gulgulian’s honor.

KAREN AVAGYAN: ARFD RALLY UNABLE TO AFFECT CONSTITUTIONAL COURT DECISION

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.01.2010 13:57 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ ARF Dashnaktsutyun’s rally against positive
conclusion of RA Constitutional Court is quite understandable, RA
Republican Party parliamentary group member Karen Avagyan said.

"It’s just another occasion to express their protest," he told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

As the MP noted, the rally is unable to affect Constitutional Court
decision, as issues, causing Dashnaktsutyun’s apprehensions in relation
with current RA-Turkey rapprochement process were not stipulated in
the document. "Based on the above, RA Constitutional court will pass
a positive conclusion on Protocols," Karen Avagyan noted.

The Protocols aimed at normalization of bilateral ties and opening of
the common border between Armenia and Turkey were signed in Zurich
by Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish
counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu on October 10, 2009, after a series of
diplomatic talks held through Swiss mediation.

The Republican Party of Armenia is a national conservative political
party in Armenia. It was the first political party in independent
Armenia to be founded (2 April 1990) and registered (14 May 1991). It
is the largest party of the centre-right in Armenia, and claims to have
140,000 members. The party controls most government bodies in Armenia.

At the 2003 parliamentary elections on May 25, the party received
23.5% of the popular vote, winning 31 out of 131 seats. At the last
parliamentary elections on May 12, 2007, the party received 33.91%
of the popular vote, winning 64 out of 131 seats. The former prime
minister, Andranik Markaryan, was the leader of the party. Current
President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, is the chairman of HHK board.

The Republican Party’s national conservative ideology is based on
tsegakron, an early 20th century Armenian nationalist ideology (roughly
translated as "nation-religion"). It was formulated by Garegin Njdeh
and holds that the Armenian national identity and state should carry
religious significance for all ethnic Armenians.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun is an Armenian
political party founded in Tiflis (Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia)
in 1890 by Christapor Mikaelian, Stepan Zorian, and Simon Zavarian
The ARF has the largest number of members from the political parties
present in the Armenian Diaspora, having established affiliates in
more than 200 countries.

The ARF Dashnaktsutyun led the effort toward the establishment of
the first Armenian Republic in 1918 and was the party in power for
the duration of its existence. Following the Sovietization of Armenia
in 1920, the ARF-Dashnaktsutyun was banned by the Communists and its
leadership exiled.

In the Diaspora, the ARF Dashnaktsutyun fought Soviet rule over
Armenia and championed the cause of Armenian rights and independence;
it played a leading role in organizing a social and cultural framework
aimed at preserving the Armenian identity.

The ARF Dashnaktsutyun officially re-emerged in Armenia during the
dissolution of the USSR, in 1990.

On December 28, 1994, the activities of the ARF-Dashnaktsutyun were
"temporarily suspended" by the Armenian authorities. In view of
the political nature of the anti-ARF interdictions by the Armenian
authorities, the ARF continued to operate in Armenia. On February 9,
1998, less than a week after the resignation of the then president
Ter-Petrossian, the Justice Ministry lifted the ban on the ARF
Dashnaktsutyun.

Prior to Serzh Sargsyan’s election as president of Armenia and for
a short time thereafter, the ARF was a member of the governing
coalition, even though it nominated its own candidate in the
presidential elections.

news.az, Azerbaijan
Jan 7 2010

Turkey to try persuade Moscow to exert pressure on Armenia in Karabakh issue
Thu 07 January 2010 | 12:13 GMT Text size:

Tabib Huseynov News.Az interviews Tabib Huseynov, analyst of the
International Crisis Group.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to visit
Russia during which the Karabakh conflict is said to be one of the
central issues. What should we expect from this visit?

We should view this visit as a link in the overall chain of the
settlement process. Certainly, this single visit will not change
anything, but if we view it in the context of the whole process, this
visit is very important as Turkey will try to persuade Russia to
influence Armenia. If Armenia agrees to a compromise in the Karabakh
settlement, which would result in a framework agreement on basic
principles of the settlement, the ratification of the Turkish-Armenian
protocols will be possible. Turkey understands that without a progress
in Karabakh it won’t be able to open borders with Armenia as
Azerbaijan is against it. Therefore, Ankara wants Russia to influence
Armenia. In this sense, certainly, Erdogan’s visit is important for
Turkey.

How do you assess Erdogan’s chances to persuade Russia to put pressure
on Armenia?

In fact, the chances are not bad. If we view the dynamics of
development of relations between Turkey and Russia, it is very
positive. Turkey and Russia today are very big trade partners, they
have strategic partnership in a wide specter of issues, for example,
on preservation of the status quo in the Black Sea basin, which means
that these countries are for their own hegemony in the region. This
issue is of great importance for Russia and Turkey. Moreover, Turkey
has recently agreed for Russia’s use of the Turkish coast to lay the
South Stream gas pipeline which is also important for the relations
between these two countries. It should be noted that Russia is
interested in the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border also because
it will cut Armenia’s dependence on the Georgian transit and, thus,
the role of Georgia as a transit country in the region and for Armenia
will be reduced. Therefore, considering Moscow’s interest in the
Turkish-Armenian rapprochement, it can be suggested that it will try
to attain any progress in the Karabakh issue. We have seen that
throughout 2009 Russia has been the most active mediator in the
Karabakh conflict settlement. It is possible to agree on a framework
agreement on the basic principles if the dynamism of the last year’s
Armenia-Azerbaijan talks as well as the international interest to the
Turkish-Armenian rapprochement remain.

As Armenia is the closest ally of Russia in this region and
considering this it is clear that Moscow will not change its position
in the Karabakh settlement, does Turkey have something to offer to
Russia in exchange for its benevolence in the Karabakh conflict
settlement?

Well, then it would be more reasonable to ask what Azerbaijan can
offer to Russia¦ I think, certainly, Armenia will remain the closest
ally of Russia in the Caucasus. Even if Azerbaijan tries, it will not
be able to take Armenia’s place for Russia. But the situation around
the Karabakh conflict today is somewhat unique because all external
powers, including Russia, are interested in changing the status quo in
the region not radically but gradually and in a predictable and
controllable manner. There is a certain consensus among the OSCE Minsk
Group co-chair countries that the status quo of the Karabakh process
is not sustainable. After the Russian-Georgian war Russia is also
interested in changing the status quo in the region, as it understands
that the remaining problems may detonate and lead to undesirable
implications for itself as well as for Europe and the US. They came to
an opinion that the status quo should be changed gradually and in a
predictable manner so that this change does not destabilize the
situation and preserves all stakeholders’ interests. The framework
agreement on the basic principles that is now being discussed by the
presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia in fact does not contradict to
the basic interests of Russia as the Russian influence in the region
will not decline in case the conflict settlement fixed in these basic
principles is initiated. This means that Russia will preserve its
levers of influence both on Armenia and on Azerbaijan as the
determination of Karabakh’s status will be left to an indefinite
future term.

By the way, despite your opinion that Russia is interested in
normalization of these relations, there is another opinion that the
Turkish-Armenian rapprochement will further extrude Russia from the
South Caucasus. What can you say about this opinion?

I think it is possible but in a remote perspective. This will not be
the case in the short- to middle-term perspective. Even if the border
between Turkey and Armenia opens, it will not mean that all the
problems between the two countries will be settled at once. There will
be a long process of reconciliation. The historical commission will
consider topics that are painful both for Turks and Armenians. The
Armenian insecurities about Turks will not pass quickly among
Armenians. Besides, one should recall that the Russian troops are
still present in Armenia and for the foreseeable future they will be
remain to protect Armenia’s borders. Moreover, Russia will retain the
economic leverages on Armenia. Thus, the Turkish-Armenian border poses
no clear threat to Russia. On the contrary, it will provide wider
opportunities to Russia for raising its political presence in the
region, reducing Armenia’s dependence on the Georgian transit and
getting more opportunities to put pressure on Georgia, including,
perhaps, in the Javakheti issue. For example, today Moscow and Yerevan
are not interested in stirring up trouble in Georgia’s Javakheti
region as Armenia depends strongly on the Georgian transit. But if
Armenia has an alternative access to the world, Moscow and Yerevan may
feel more convenient raising up the issue of Javakheti. Overall, we
should take into account that Russia’s policy in the region is
many-sided, and Turkey’s growing role in the region does not
necessarily lead to reducing the Russian role.

Leyla Tagiyeva
News.Az

news.am, Armenia
Jan 7 2010

In 2010 Armenia to feel results of participation in Eastern
Partnership program

12:26 / 01/07/2010 `Last year was marked by two key events in Armenia’
Yerevan mayor elections and Armenia-Turkey Protocols’ signing, as well
as public interest in this event,’ the head of Yerevan press club
Boris Navasardyan told NEWS.am. According to him, mayor elections were
long way off from being transparent, however this was the first step
towards democracy.

Speaking about Armenia-Turkey Protocols and Armenian public response
to this process, Navasardyan underlined that real discussions between
different political forces were held first in 90 years. Regardless of
any developments, the discussions were useful for the development of
political idea and system on the whole.

Navasardyan also said that in 2010 Armenia will feel the results of
participation in EU Eastern Partnership program that will influence
domestic political situation as well.

A.G.

LA Weekly
Jan 7 2010

Far From the Lebanese Crowd
Mantee, via Beirut, on Ventura Boulevard
By Jonathan Gold
Published on January 07, 2010 at 1:15pm
Anne Fishbein

Pretty spectacular: mantee, at ManteeWhatever sort of Lebanese
restaurant you may be thinking of at the moment, Mantee is the other
kind, a tiny, stuffy café near the eastern end of Ventura Boulevard,
not too far from the studios but a million miles from the brash good
cheer of places like Carnival and Skaf’s. Mantee isn’t where you come
for a falafel plate or roasted chicken; it’s where you go to watch a
stunningly beautiful waitress set a plate of sausage aflame.

The restaurant has a claustrophobic, overdecorated look you may
associate with tearooms, a dining room spackled with framed
orange-crate labels and with windows trimmed with lace; it is
furnished with murderous sub-decorator chairs, a plague of houseplants
and a wash of appalling music. The desserts are outsourced from a
pastry chef who never met a passion-fruit mousse she didn’t like. The
first time I walked into the restaurant, I would have bolted if the
friends I was meeting weren’t already seated on the patio. Mantee
really does feel like a restaurant your great-aunt’s bridge partner
might suggest after her second 7 and 7, and the list of house
specialties, which include filet mignon with cherries, filet mignon
with brown sauce, and canapés of sliced sujuk topped with fried quail
eggs, reads like a catering menu.

But that tan, the thick, salted yogurt drink that is standard at
Lebanese joints ‘ here it’s rich, barely soured, almost buttery, like
fresh mozzarella sipped through a straw. The hummus is complexly
nutty, expressing the round, toasty taste of chickpeas instead of
concealing it with sesame paste, and it’s even better sprinkled with
Lebanese pine nuts fried in olive oil. In the fattouch, the fried
shards of pita bread are tossed with fresh mint and slightly
astringent leaves of purslane instead of the usual assortment of
lettuces, and the simple dressing of oil and lemon juice quivers with
the tartness of sumac. The house-made lebne has a creamy depth of
flavor you may never have experienced in yogurt.

Mantee is run by Jonathan Darakjian, whose family owns one of the
best-known Armenian restaurants in Beirut, and his menu, down to the
lamb chops and the basturma canapés, turns out to be pretty close to
that of the Lebanese original. (That odd sautéed fillet is cousin to
kafta karaz, a very good ground-meat kebab with a cherry-studded
sweet-sour sauce, which is a specialty of both Mantee and the Beirut
restaurant Al Mayass.) So while the pomegranate-sweetened
walnut-pepper dip muhammara may be stodgy and the stuffed grape leaves
are exactly like every other stuffed grape leaf you’ve tasted, the
raw, pounded-beef kibbe nayeh has a real, sinewy presence; and a dish
of baked feta, which you would expect to be on the dull side, is
transformed into something like a pungent Levantine version of a
Mexican queso fundido. The spicy sujuk sausage sizzles to a tawny,
caramelized shine above its flaming, waitress-tended crock. The
su-bourek, a flaky pastry of cheese-stuffed filo, crackles and oozes
when you stab it with your fork, which is just what you expect a good
bourek to do. And as you’d reasonably expect, Mantee’s namesake dish
is pretty spectacular: a white-hot gratin plate bubbling with
garlic-infused yogurt and a handful of crunchy little beef dumplings.
If you squint, the dumplings look a bit like hats plucked from a
platoon of Napoleon dolls.

As at most Lebanese restaurants, the best dishes tend to be the mezze:
the salads and dips and bits of sausage that form most of the menu.
The kebabs, though professionally prepared, come as an afterthought.

So is the cooking here better than what you find at local places, like
Alcazar and Marouch? Not necessarily, but the flavors have an edge
quite unlike anything else in town. The comparison is inexact, but you
may be reminded of the sensation, after years of eating polished
Hunanese dishes in the San Gabriel Valley, of running into the rough,
sturdy cooking of a chef freshly arrived from Hunan.

MANTEE: 10962 Ventura Blvd., Studio City. (818) 761-6565,
ManteeCafe.com. Open Sun., Tues.-Thurs., 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m.; Fri.-Sat.,
11 a.m.-10 p.m. MC, V. No alcohol. Street parking. Mezze $4.95-$7.95;
entrées $12.95-$17.95. Recommended dishes: Hummus with pine nuts,
lebneh, mantee `traditional,” sujuk flambé.

1-07/eat-drink/far-from-the-lebanese-crowd/

news.am, Armenia
Jan 3 2010

Armenia’s foreign policy entered a new phase: Expert

11:10 / 01/03/2010 Armenia’s geopolitical role increased due to
initiative foreign policy in 2009, Turkish studies expert Ruben
Safrastyan told NEWS.am. The expert considers the fact that Armenia
managed to deepen strategic partnership with Russia and simultaneously
retain friendly relations with Georgia and intensify the process of
European integration an achievement.

According to him, Armenia’s foreign policy entered a new risky phase,
which is however justified. `Yerevan takes such a risk to empower new
geopolitical possibilities to Armenia,’ he said.

Forecasting the coming year developments, Safrastyan underlined that
no factual breakthrough should be expected in Karabakh peace process.
`The conflict has not reached real solution phase,’ the expert said.
As to Armenia-Turkey dialogue, Safrastyan reckons that it will
continue in 2010. The momentum will be registered in ratification of
the Protocols, as both Yerevan and Ankara are interested in it.

A.G.

Hurriyet Daily News
Dec 31 2009

>From rehearsal to performance: 2009 to 2010

Thursday, December 31, 2009
SERKAN DEMÄ°RTAÅ?
ANKARA ` Hürriyet Daily News

As the world spins out of 2009 and lands in 2010, Turkey is poised for
another year of nail-biting moments and heart-stopping developments.
>From the Ergenekon investigation to the Armenian initiative, from the
Kurdish issue to EU membership, there is much work to be done and news
to be covered as we take another trip around the sun.

Ahmet Türk.

Predictions of how the country’s agenda will play out in 2010 are no
longer shrouded in mystery ` the new year will be a continuation of
2009.

Many pending issues like the Ergenekon case and other alleged plots
against top government personalities, the reconciliation process with
Armenia, and the Cyprus negotiations will continue to develop and take
unexpected twists. It’s impossibly to know today which ones will
finish with a happy ending.

Domestic tension

In domestic politics, there is widespread concern that the political
tension born in 2009 will increase further at the expense of
deteriorating, already-fragile ties between key state institutions.
Though there is a perception that the Ergenekon investigation slowed
down during the second half of 2009, there are still more than 150
people in prison, among them prominent journalists, academics and
officers. Be sure the case will pass through critical junctures in
2010, but legal experts warn that its conclusion might be far, far off
in the future.

>> Click for the "A review of 2009 in headlines" photo gallery

Regarding civil-military ties, unearthed weapons caches revealed
alleged military plans to topple the government. The recent claims
that two high-ranking officers were planning to plot against Deputy
Prime Minister Bülent Arınç will surely have implications in the
coming year. Chief of General Staff Gen. Ä°lker BaÅ?buÄ? is expected to
leave his post to current land forces commander Gen. IÅ?ık KoÅ?aner in
August. The attitude of the military in 2010 will be determined by how
the country addresses these difficult times.

Ruling party and opposition

Relations between the government’s ruling party and its two main
opposition parties are lacking an optimistic approach as 2010 begins.
The year 2009 witnessed some of the worst government-opposition
dialogue in recent memory, marked by the use of offensive language.
Very little change is foreseen in the relations as long as the
government-led Kurdish initiative continues to be the main fault line
for domestic politics.

The government has already announced its determination to keep the
initiative on track through a number of legal efforts, which it hopes
might even increase the initiative’s momentum. Draft laws granting
more rights to Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin are expected to be
submitted early in the new year. It is still unknown, however, if this
process alone can eradication terrorist attacks by the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. Additionally, the surrender of PKK
members, especially in northern Iraq, will depend on the effectiveness
of cooperation among Turkey, Iraq and the United States. This is one
example why 2010 will be important in terms of foreign policy.

Furthermore, U.S. plans to withdraw troops from Iraq in 2010 are
crucial for Turkey’s plans to end PKK terrorism. The trilateral
mechanism between Turkey, Iraq and the U.S. and the deepened ties
between the Turkish government and the Regional Kurdish Administration
have yet to prove their success in creating a better environment for
jointly fighting the PKK. One thing is sure: There will be more
dialogue and diplomatic visits between Turkey and Iraq in 2010.

Mixed bag for 2010

The most notable event in 2009 took place in Zurich, Switzerland where
Turkey and Armenia signed historic protocols to establish diplomatic
ties and open the border. The two countries, however, have already
postponed ratifying the protocols to sometime in 2010. In full support
of the process the U.S. will likely put pressure on Turkey to ratify
the protocols quickly. This pressure is expected to increase as April
24 nears, which is the annual commemoration date for the killings of
Armenians at the end of Ottoman Empire in 1915.

Another important issue 2010 will inherit from 2009 will be Iran’s
nuclear program. Turkey’s position until now is far from satisfying to
the Western world.

On Cyprus, no doubt 2010 will prove to be an important year. Despite
international efforts, Turkish and Greek Cypriots did not make real
progress toward a plan that can be put to referendum. What makes the
situation worrisome is that Turkish Cypriots will hold presidential
elections in April and the current head of the nation and pro-solution
Mehmet Ali Talat risks losing his post to a more hard-liner
politician.

The process on the island will also have an impact on Turkey’s
membership talks with the European Union as they approach a deadlock
due to Ankara’s refusal to open ports and airports to Greek Cypriot
vessels. Two-thirds of the 35 negotiation chapters are blocked by the
Greek Cypriots and other member countries. Though Turkey’s chief EU
negotiator Egemen BaÄ?ıÅ? said the government is determined to make more
democratic reforms, the key to opening Turkey’s path to the EU will be
the fate of Cyprus question.

FIRST SOLO SHOW AT LORI BOOKSTEIN FINE ART FOR VARUJAN BOGHOSIAN

Art Daily
Dec 29 2009

Varujan Boghosian, American Bouquet, 1997. Mixed media construction,
26" x 18" x 2 1/2".

NEW YORK, NY.- Through January 9th, 2010, Lori Bookstein Fine Art is
presenting constructions, collages and sculpture by Varujan Boghosian.

This is the artist’s first solo show at Lori Bookstein, following a
two-person show with Paul Resika in 2006.

A lifelong collector, Boghosian’s studio is a veritable trove of
old children’s toys, antiquated tools and oddball objects, a palette
composed not of paint but of parts and scraps scavenged from constant
trips to flea markets and antique stores. His working method is
characterized by the various roles of selector, editor, builder,
juxtaposer. The artist’s collages, like his relief constructions and
boxes, cherish the out-dated and the cast-off and revitalize them
with new meaning, contemporaneity and aesthetic value.

Time is an essential element; present in the varied histories of
Boghosian’s chosen working materials, but also part of the working
process. Objects amass in his studio, perhaps waiting years for their
new purpose to reveal itself. Once re-contextualized, the materials,
however surprisingly and often surrealistically reconfigured by the
artist, tend to manifest their agedness and their vulnerability but
are also rescued from it. The recognition of intended purposes is
vital to Boghosian’s work, and yet, his skill in transcending prior
meanings and identities allows for a conversation with the past while
circumventing nostalgia.

History and legend are themselves employed as tools to be recast by the
artist. The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice has been one such source which
Boghosian has mined repeatedly. Although the viewer sees glimpses of
the story – allusions to music, fleeting gazes of disembodied eyes –
the relationship is never so concrete as to be definitive. Robert
M. Doty, curator of Boghosian’s 1989 retrospective exhibition at
the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth, explains how the artist creates
something ever larger out of the bits and pieces of component parts:

There is a mood about the work, a stirring of feelings about life
and death, which is greater than the specific narrative and has
universal meaning and appeal. Boghosian has revitalized the myth of
Orpheus in his own terms, using physical means to create images which
act as catalysts for transforming individual rapport into the most
fundamental human experience.

Varujan Boghosian was born in 1926 in New Britain, Connecticut, the son
of Armenian immigrants. After serving three years in the Navy during
World War II, Boghosian attended college under the G.I. Bill. A 1953
Fulbright Grant allowed him several years of travel and work in Italy,
until he returned to America and enrolled in the Yale School of Art
and Architecture to study under Josef Albers.

Boghosian has exhibited extensively, showing for years at Stable
Gallery and Cordier & Ekstrom. He is currently represented by Berta
Walker Gallery in Provincetown and Lori Bookstein Fine Art in New
York. Public collections include the Boston Museum of Fine Arts,
the Hood Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of
Modern Art and the Whitney Museum. The artist, retired from a 35-year
teaching career at Yale, Brown and Dartmouth, lives and continues to
work in Hanover, New Hampshire.