Author: Zaminian Bedik

YOU’RE INVITED TO FORUM THEATRE PERFORMANCE IN YEREVAN THIS SATURDAY

Tert.am
10:10 â~@¢ 19.03.10

Students at the Yerevan State Linguistic University named after V.

Brusov have come together to present "Dead End of the Open Sea"
("Ô²Õ¡O~A Õ®Õ¸Õ¾Õ" O~CÕ¡Õ¯Õ¸O~BÕ&# xB2;Õ¸O~BÕ´" in Armenian), an interactive
forum theatre performance, as part of the "Open Your Mind" program.

In Saturday’s production, audience members can stop the performance,
come up on stage and resume the role of the actors, and thus, change
the outcome of the story.

Forum Theatre, created by Augusto Boal as part of what is widely
known as the "Theatre of the Oppressed," is an attempt to undo the
traditional actor-audience divide and engage the audience in the
performance. Forum theatre often includes short scenes in which a
character, or characters, is being oppressed in some way. The process
allows the audience to intervene.

The Forum Theatre performance begins at 7 pm on Saturday, March 20,
in Yerevan’s "Art Center of Aesthetic" Small Theatre.

Admission is free and all are welcome to attend (no prior acting
experience is necessary).

ATTY: EX-NY ART DEALER TO ADMIT NEARLY $100M FRAUD
By Jennifer Peltz

AP
18 March 10

NEW YORK – A once-high-flying art dealer plans to admit swindling
nearly $100 million from a star-studded clientele that included tennis
great John McEnroe and the estate of actor Robert De Niro’s father,
the dealer’s lawyer said Thursday.

Former gallery owner Lawrence B. Salander was expected to plead guilty
Thursday to grand larceny and scheme to defraud, attorney Charles
Ross said. He said Salander would admit to a sweeping scheme that
prosecutors say involved a dream of dominating the Renaissance art
market and victimized heirs to a roster of prominent artists.

"This is a sad day for Mr. Salander. It is, however, a good result
for him and for those whom he is deeply remorseful about hurting,"
Ross said. He said Salander, 60, expected to be promised a prison
sentence of a maximum range of six to 18 years – compared with the
25 years he could have faced if convicted – and would try to raise
money to repay his victims.

The now-closed Salander-O’Reilly Galleries LLC, established in 1976,
advertised works by artists ranging from 19th-century master Gustave
Courbet to Armenian-born American abstract expressionist Arshile Gorky.

Salander is accused of financing a deluxe lifestyle by selling art he
didn’t own and luring clients into bogus art investment opportunities.

He sold investors shares in artworks that added up to more than
100 percent and lied about what the backers stood to get in return,
the Manhattan district attorney’s office said. When owners consigned
art to him to sell, he struck deals below the prices the owners had
authorized, used the works to satisfy his own debts and balked at
demands to return the pieces, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors say McEnroe lost more than $2 million, and the estate of
abstract expressionist Robert De Niro Sr. lost more than $1 million.

Earl Davis, son of artist Stuart Davis, lost more than $6.7 million
after consigning 96 of his father’s paintings to Salander for sale,
according to prosecutors.

The art broker used the stolen money for such personal luxuries as
private jet travel and a 66-acre country estate, and to finance
a self-created campaign to corner the market in Renaissance art,
prosecutors said.

The criminal investigation began in October 2007 after allegations
arose that the gallery was stealing its wealthy clients’ art and
money. Soon afterward, a judge halted sales and ordered the gallery’s
contents seized.

The process of dismantling the business continues in bankruptcy court.

Some consigned artworks have been returned to their owners, while
creditors recently hashed out a plan to sell off thousands of other
pieces the gallery held, said Robert J. Feinstein, creditor for
the lawyers.

CONTROVERSIAL TURKISH SERIES TO MAKE FILM ABOUT KARABAKH

news.az
March 18 2010
Azerbaijan

Kurtlar Vadisi Turkish hit TV series Kurtlar Vadisi (Valley of the
Wolves) is to make a film concerning the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict
over Karabakh.

The film Kurtlar Vadisi-Qarabag will be made by Pana Film, producers
of the Valley of the Wolves series and films.

The film crew and actors are already in Azerbaijan. Popular Turkish
actor Necati Sasmaz, who plays Valley of the Wolves hero Polat Alemdar,
is amongst them, local media report.

The Valley of the Wolves series and films have broken viewer records
in Turkey.

They have not been without controversy. When an episode of the current
series, Kurtlar Vadisi-Pusu (Valley of the Wolves: Ambush) showed
Israeli agents mistreating a Turkish child and shooting an old man,
the Israeli government complained of bias in the programme.

ARMENIA’S FUTURE LIES IN ADOPTION OF NEW ECONOMIC POLICY, ARA NRANIAN SAYS

Noyan Tapan
March 17, 2010

YEREVAN, MARCH 17, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. "Armenia’s
future lies in adoption of a new economic policy," member of "ARF"
parliamentary faction Ara Nranian expressed an opinion at the
National Assembly on March 16. He said: "The Republic of Armenia
needs fresh approaches and solutions and new people capable of making
these changes". According to him, the ARF together with Socialist
International will organize a conference in Yerevan on March 25-26 with
the participation of experts and politicians from several countries.

The member of the same faction Ruzanna Arakelian said there is already
inflation and an incontrollable situation in connection with the rise
in the gas tariffs starting from April. In her words, mechanisms
to curb inflation are either absent or they are not controlled. As
for elimination of the inflation consequences, she considered it
necessary that a law on indexation of incomes be adopted in Armenia,
which was done in some countries. Another member of "ARF" faction
Artsvik Minasian announced that in connection with the gas tariff
rise and its substantiation, their faction has created a working
group and will regularly discuss this issue.

In the words of Heritage faction’s member Armen Martirosian,
everybody knows that in Armenia the economic policy is a derivate
of the governance policy, and the authorities use both legislative
and executive levers and create unfair and unequal conditions, due
to which "big business is growing, while small and medium business
is almost eliminated".

The independent deputy, non-party man Victor Dallakian underlined the
necessity of not only making the rich pay the full amount of taxes,
but also imposing additional taxes on them – for luxury. He informed
those present that he put a bill on luxury tax in circulation at the
National Assembly. The bill proposes that persons with property of 0
thousand and over should pay additional taxes, and luxury taxes should
be used to increase the birth rate, pay pensions, family allowances,
unemployment, disability and other benefits, and to pay medical
services of the socially vulnerable groups.

RULE OF LAW DECISION TO RECALL MINISTERS CONDITIONED BY IMPROVEMENTS TO THE PARTY

Tert.am
13:01 ~U 16.03.10

The decision to recall two ministers from the Rule of Law Party and
propose new candidates was determined by a serious process initiated
by the party and there is nothing preposterous in that, said Rule of
Law leader Artur Baghdasaryan, noting that Gurgen Sargsyan and Mher
Shahgeldyan are those individuals who will have to busy themselves
with the party’s day-to-day issues.

"Mher Shahgeldyan, as before, will today be responsible for the party’s
political-ideological reform. Gurgen Sargsyan will continue to remain
a member of the party’s political council and will be responsible for
reform in the economic sector. The party today has serious economic
programs which must be presented to the public and to the government,"
he said.

BILL IN THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT REGARDING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE.

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.03.2010 19:59 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ John Torosian, the leader of the Armenian community
of Cardiff, said the measure on the Armenian Genocide Remembrance
Day was brought to the British parliament at the wrong time.

"This Bill could not have come at a worse time as an election is due
to be called very soon and there will not be enough time to pass
this Bill. Once Parliament is suspended and an election is called
that will be the end. Worse than that even if one MP shouts "object"
the bill will fail without it going to a debate. This is the weakness
of the system," he told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

"There is no domestic way of bringing the recognition vote to the
commons unless the Liberal Democrats are voted in to Parliament as
part of a coalition government. Unfortunately even in the unlikely
event that the Liberal democrats come in to power we should be aware
that their position on the Armenian genocide will go the same way
as Obama. On a purely objective view the chances that an election
will not be called in the next few weeks is ZERO. If the Bill gets
to Parliament the chances that a Turkophile MP will not shout object
is ZERO," he said, adding that the other weakness of the Parliament
is that there are quite a few key political figures who are Jewish
and they have no desire to "Upstage" the holocaust.

"We are the subject of political ping pong once again. The previous
bill and the new bill which is very similar is bellow for your
information," he concluded.

Turkey expects compensation from Sweden

14.03.2010 17:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt phoned his
Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday to express his
`deep sadness’ over the resolution on the genocide of Armenians,
Assyrians, Chaldeans and Pontiac Greeks adopted by the Swedish
Parliament earlier this week with a vote 121-130.

Mr. Erdogan said for his part that `history should not be politicized
in parliaments.’

`Turkey has opened all of its archives and these documents are ready
for the close scrutiny of not only historians but also all global
scholars and researchers. We have been extremely disappointed about
the passage of the resolution. We expect the Swedish government to
compensate the damage that the decision of the Swedish Parliament has
caused,’ the Turkish PM said, Today’s Zaman reported.

Armenian servicemen prevent attempt of border raid by Azerbaijani party

2010-03-12 16:44:00

ArmInfo. The Armenian Defense Ministry press-service reported that on
March 3 approximately at 1:30am near the village of Koti, Tavush
region, Armenian servicemen exposed an Azerbaijani subversive group of
5 people out of uniform with special arms.

The Armenian servicemen made certain warning shots, and then crossfire
began. As a result, one of the members of the subversive group was
wounded and proved in hostage. However, he died on the way to
hospital. The remaining members of the group escaped to Azerbaijan.

Operative measures revealed that Azerbaijan will send another
subversive groups to Armenia. To prevent their possible activity, the
special divisions of the Armenian Armed Forces have taken additional
measures to protect the border, the Defense Ministry reported.

The same day approximately at 9:00pm another group of three people in
black camouflages and with optic sight guns were exposed in the same
area. The analysis of the situation shows that the group acted under
cover of another group. As a result of the measures taken by the
Armenian party the Azerbaijani subversive groups suffered losses and
escaped leaving 2 bodies in the neutral zone.

In total, three Azerbaijani raiders were killed on March 3 (the bodies
of the two of them are in the territory of Armenia), another raider
(name Ibrahim) was wounded but could reach the territory of
Azerbaijan. Another few raiders were identified as well: Vali Valin,
Sagif Namazov, certain Nizami and Khagani. The phone in the pocket of
the killed raider Hasan contained video records of the funerals of
Shahid, special training of the internal troops in Gazakh and
religious ceremonies.

The killed might be members of the radical Wahhabi Islamic Movement.
The personal things of the killed and the tattoos on their bodies
allow supposing that they belonged to the special services of
Azerbaijan and underwent special training.

SWEDEN CALLS MASS KILLING OF ARMENIANS GENOCIDE

The Swedish Wire
March 11 2010

The Swedish parliament labels, against the advice of the government,
the massacres of Armenians during World War I as genocide – immediately
sparking a diplomatic row.

The Swedish parliament on Thursday recognised the massacres of
Armenians during World War I as genocide, immediately sparking a
diplomatic row with Turkey.

Its resolution, which the government had opposed, "signifies that
Sweden recognises the 1915 genocide of Armenians" and other ethnic
groups during the breakup of the Ottoman Empire.

Turkey quickly denounced the vote, cancelled a visit to Stockholm
by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan scheduled for next week,
and recalled its ambassador from Stockholm for consultations.

"We strongly condemn this decision. Our people and our government
reject this decision based upon major errors and without foundation,"
said a statement from Erdogan’s office.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were killed during World
War I by their Ottoman rulers in a planned campaign of extermination
as the empire was falling apart, a stance that is supported by several
other countries.

Turkey rejects the genocide label. It argues that between 300,000
and 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks were killed in civil
strife when Armenians rose up for independence and sided with invading
Russian forces.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt immediately announced that the
position of his government, which supports Turkey’s entry into the
European Union, "remains unchanged".

"We think it is a mistake to politicise history," Bildt wrote on
his blog from Copenhagen, where he was attending a meeting of Nordic
foreign ministers.

"Unfortunately the decision of the parliament will not facilitate the
process of normalisation between Turkey and Armenia, nor the work of
a commission which should investigate the events of 1915," he added.

The adoption of the resolution came as a surprise after four members
of the conservative majority rebelled to support the opposition
resolution, which passed by one vote.

A US Congress panel branded the World War I massacre of Armenians as
genocide earlier this month, sparking a diplomatic row with Turkey,
which recalled its ambassador from Washington.

281-sweden-calls-mass-killing-of-armenians-genocid e

ARMAVIR GOVERNOR AWARDED GENERAL DIRECTOR OF SCR WITH GOLD MEDAL OF THE REGION

ARKA
March 12, 2010

YEREVAN, March 12. /ARKA/. On Thursday Ashot Ghahramanyan, Armavir
Governor awarded Shevket Shaydullin, General Director of CJSC
"South-Caucasian Railway" with gold medal of Armavir region for
reconstruction of the station "Dalarik" and opening of electric
centralization module.

As a national transport company "South-Caucasian Railway" aims
at the improvement of transport services and modernization of its
infrastructure and rolling stock", said Shevket Shaydullin during
the opening.

Together with new technologies culture of production is also invested –
working places, other working conditions, reconstructed roads, modern
railway equipment which will provide reliable level of train movement.

General Director of CJSC "South-Caucasian Railway" awarded a number
of employees with certificates and money awards in monthly salary.

Concession management of "Armenian railway" is implemented by CJSC
"South Caucasian Railway" which is 100% affiliate of Open JSC "Russian
Railway". SCR accepted the railway stock of CJSC "Armenian railway"
on its balance from June 1, 2008 according to Concession Agreement
signed on February 13, 2008. The terms of concession management is
for 30 years with the right of prolongation for another 10 years.