Brussels, Yerevan Ink Documents On Transport Network, Aviation
EU/Armenia - European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini
and Armenia's foreign minister Edward Nalbandian sign a document on
extension of Trans-European Transport Network toward Armenia,
Brussels,24Nov,2017
The European Union and Armenia inked two separate documents regarding
Trans-European transport network expansion and common aviation area in
ceremonies following the signing of a Comprehensive and Enhanced
Partnership Agreement in Brussels on Friday.
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and EU High Representative
for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini signed a
Protocol on High-Level Understanding on the Expansion of the
Trans-European Transport Network to the Republic of Armenia.
"The document is aimed at increasing the efficiency of transport
communication between the EU and Eastern Partnership countries,
identifying common infrastructure priorities and developing transport
networks," the press service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry said.
Meanwhile, Armenia's Deputy Foreign Minister Karen Nazarian and Chief
Negotiator of the Directorate General of the European Commission for
Mobility and Transport Klaus Geil initialed an Agreement on the Common
Aviation Area.
According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry's website, among a number
of advantages for the parties the Agreement also provides for the
possibility of Armenia joining the EU single aviation zone, as well as
envisages the introduction of advanced European experience in the
aviation sphere of Armenia.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2017 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org
BY HENRY NIKOGOSYAN On November 24, Armenia and the EU officially signed the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
For Armenia, signing CEPA marks a substantial step toward developing western democratic reforms. The agreement bolsters bilateral relations between the two governments, opening a path to expand economic activity. In return, Armenia has agreed upon fundamental goals that are in the financial, political, and moral interest of the Armenian people.
CEPA’s main points include cooperation on the following:
1. Developing a common defense policy, including various security-building measures and fighting terrorism.
2. Domestic reforms by increasing the effectiveness of democratic institutions, rule of law, respect for human rights, transparency, accountability, progress of legal reform, creation of statistical data for governance, and enhancing the fight against corruption.
3. Developing financial sectors by exchanging expertise and best practices, reforming financial institutions and primary industries (such as energy and agriculture), adopting laws that prevent distortions of fair competition, and facilitating reforms in favor of bilateral investments.
4. Improving research and innovation, employment protection, educational and training systems, environmental protection, and development of widespread availability of information and communication technology.
5. Compliance with international intellectual property regimes. CEPA is a positives change in the Armenia’s vision for the future. Since 2015, Armenia has been an exclusive participant in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which has come with virtually no economic development and a stagnant GDP.
In short terms, the last three years have been lost.
Prior to joining EAEU, Armenia was in talks with the EU to establish stronger bilateral relations. However, the country’s elite chose to abandon the path to Europe in exchange for greater solidarity with Russia—a concession that was not returned during the April 2016 clashes.
Armenia’s has historically been reluctant to steer far from its northern neighbor. This shift to more constructive policies occurred only after Armenia experienced the extreme pressures of the April clashes, protests, and the hostage crisis. But CEPA is a purely voluntary cooperation, meaning that Armenia can walk away at any time, notwithstanding minimal repercussions under the agreement.
Armenia’s transformation into a true western democracy relies on agreements like CEPA. With participants like Deputy Foreign Minister Garen Nazarian, who is not only a distinguished diplomat of Armenia but also an advocate for human rights, these transformations can succeed.
Maintaining interests to deepen relations with the EU are essential in preventing Armenia from reverting to its prior economic strategy. Creating that interest, without further war, is imperative. And this burden falls on the citizens of Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora.
The New York Times
Obituaries
George Avakian, Record Producer and Talent Scout, Dies at 98
From left, Louis Armstrong, the songwriter W.C. Handy and George
Avakian in the 1950s. Mr. Avakian helped popularize the long-playing
record and organized the first jazz reissue series, preserving the
recorded legacies of Armstrong and other pioneers.CreditColumbia
Records
By Peter Keepnews
Nov. 22, 2017
George Avakian, a record producer and talent scout who played a key
role in the early careers of Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Keith Jarrett
and Bob Newhart, among many others, died on Wednesday at his home on
the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He was 98.
His death was confirmed by his daughter Anahid Avakian Gregg.
Over the course of a career that began when he was in college,
Mr. Avakian (pronounced a-VOCK-ee-an) was involved in virtually every
facet of the music industry. He helped popularize the long-playing
record; organized the first jazz reissue series, preserving the
recorded legacies of Louis Armstrong and other pioneers; and
introduced dith Piaf to American audiences.
He made his most lasting mark as a jazz producer with Columbia Records
in the 1950s. He brought Brubeck and Davis to the label, helping to
transform them from artists with a loyal but limited audience to
international celebrities. He signed Johnny Mathis, then an unknown
jazz singer, and oversaw his emergence as a chart-topping pop star. He
persuaded Louis Armstrong to record the German theater song "Mack the
Knife," an unlikely vehicle that became one of his biggest hits. And
he supervised the recording of Duke Ellington's performance at the
1956 Newport Jazz Festival, which revitalized Ellington's career.
George Mesrop Avakian was born on March 15, 1919, in Armavir, Russia,
to Armenian parents, Mesrop and Manoushak Avakian. His family moved to
the United States shortly after he was born. His younger brother,
Aram, became a respected film editor and director.
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An avid jazz fan and record collector, George was a sophomore at Yale
and already a published jazz critic when he persuaded Decca Records to
let him record the guitarist Eddie Condon and other musicians who had
been fixtures of the Chicago scene a decade earlier. Those sessions,
in 1939, produced "Chicago Jazz," a package of six 78
r.p.m. recordings that is widely regarded as the first jazz album.
"When I saw how much alcohol Eddie Condon and his guys drank and
abused their health," Mr. Avakian told Down Beat magazine in 2000, "I
was very alarmed and became convinced they couldn't possibly live much
longer. So I persuaded Jack Kapp at Decca to let me produce a series
of reunions to document this music before it was too late.
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"They were only in their mid-30s. But I was 20. What did I know about
drinking?"
Columbia hired Mr. Avakian in 1940 to assemble and annotate a
comprehensive jazz reissue series, something no record company had
undertaken before. Working one day a week for $25, he compiled
anthologies of the work of Armstrong, Ellington, Bessie Smith and
others, establishing a template that the industry continued to follow
into the CD era.
In 1946, after five years in the Army, Mr. Avakian became a full-time
member of Columbia's production staff.
While overseeing the company's jazz operations, he wore many other
hats as well. He was in charge of pop albums and served as a one-man
international department, releasing Piaf's "La Vie en Rose" and other
important European records in the United States.
He also played a significant role in establishing the
33#-r.p.m. long-playing record as the industry standard, supervising
production of the first pop LPs shortly after the format was
introduced in 1948.
Image
George Avakian in 2009.CreditFrederick M. Brown/Getty Images
Mr. Avakian later worked briefly for the World Pacific label before
joining the Warner Bros. movie studio's newly formed record
subsidiary, where he was in charge of artists and repertoire from 1959
to 1962.
With a mandate to get Warner Bros. Records on solid financial ground
by delivering hits, he temporarily shifted his focus from jazz. He
brought the Everly Brothers to the label and signed a young humorist
named Bob Newhart, who had been working as an accountant in Chicago
and moonlighting as a radio performer but had never performed for a
live audience.
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Mr. Newhart's first album, "The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart,"
became one of the best-selling comedy records of all time.
In 1962, Mr. Avakian joined RCA Victor Records, where he was in charge
of pop production but also had the opportunity to renew his
involvement in jazz, producing critically acclaimed albums by Sonny
Rollins, Paul Desmond and others.
Tiring of the day-to-day grind of the record business, Mr. Avakian
became a freelance manager and producer in the mid-60s. His first
client of note was Charles Lloyd, a saxophonist and flutist whose
freewheeling style had attracted a young audience and who became one
of the first jazz musicians to perform at the Fillmore Auditorium in
San Francisco and other rock venues.
The pianist in Mr. Lloyd's quartet was Keith Jarrett, and Mr. Avakian
worked with him as well, helping to lay the groundwork for his
breakthrough as one of the most popular jazz musicians of the 1970s.
By the late '90s Mr. Avakian had come full circle: He returned to
Columbia Records to supervise a series of jazz reissues. This time the
medium was CD rather than vinyl. And this time many of the recordings
being reissued had originally been produced by Mr. Avakian himself.
Mr. Avakian was married for 68 years to the violinist Anahid Ajemian,
a founding member of the Composers String Quartet. She died in
2016. Aram Avakian died at 60 in 1987.
In addition to Ms. Gregg, Mr. Avakian is survived by another daughter,
Maro Avakian; a son, Greg; and two grandchildren.
In 2014, Mr. Avakian and Ms. Ajemian donated their archives, including
unreleased recordings by Armstrong and Ellington, to the New York
Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.
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Among the many honors Mr. Avakian received were a Trustees Award for
lifetime achievement from the National Academy of Recording Arts and
Sciences in 2009 and a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters
award for advocacy in 2010.
Receiving the N.E.A. award, he said at the time, was "a culminating
honor that confirms my long-held belief: Live long enough, stay out of
jail, and you'll never know what might happen."
Daniel E. Slotnik contributed reporting.
A version of this article appears in print on November 23, 2017, on
Page A24 of the New York edition with the headline: George Avakian,
Producer of Jazz Greats, Dies at 98. Order Reprints | Today's Paper |
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Azeri-Press news agency (APA), Azerbaijan
Saturday
Ilham Aliyev: Partnership with EU is one of key priorities of
Azerbaijan's foreign policy
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev attended the European Union`s
Eastern Partnership Summit in Brussels at the invitation of President
of the European Council Donald Tusk.
The head of state addressed the plenary session of the summit, APAreported.
The Azerbaijani president said that the partnership with the European
Union is one of the key priorities of Azerbaijan's foreign policy.
'This year in February, we started active negotiations on a new
agreement. I hope these negotiations will end soon. This agreement
will create opportunities for further cooperation between our
countries. The European Union is the major trade partner of
Azerbaijan. Fifty percent of the country's trade accounts for the
share of EU member countries. Since Azerbaijan gained its
independence, the investments of the European Union to the Azerbaijani
economy have exceeded $20 billion. This demonstrates the presence of a
good investment climate,' the president said.
The head of state noted that Azerbaijan continues its policy of
political and economic reforms.
'We attach great importance to the development of democracy,
protection of human rights and we are strictly committed to it. We
have reduced the unemployment rate to 5 percent. Foreign debt,
compared to gross domestic product, is low than 20 percent,' the
president added.
President Ilham Aliyev said that the main challenge that Azerbaijan
faces, is the continuation of the Armenian occupation of its
territories: 'Almost twenty percent of the internationally recognized
territory of Azerbaijan is under occupation by Armenia more than 20
years. As a result of the occupation, more than one million
Azerbaijani people have become refugees and internally displaced and
we have been exposed to ethnic cleansing policy. The UN Security
Council has adopted four resolutions which demand immediate and
unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from our territories,
which are not fulfilled by Armenia. Separatism, aggressive separatism
are intolerable in the 21st century. All forms of separatism must be
condemned and a single approach to all aspects of separatism should be
applied. The territorial integrity of Azerbaijan has the same value as
the territorial integrity of any other state and it must be restored.'
Referring to the energy policy, the president noted that Azerbaijan is
closely cooperating with the European institutions in this sphere.
'The Southern Gas Corridor, a large-scale energy project, is worth
over $40 billion and it will allow us to extract more natural gas and
transport it from Azerbaijan to European markets. The 3500-kilometer
gas pipeline will be a new route and will carry gas to the European
market from news sources. This is a policy of energy diversification
along with the energy security policy. Thus, Azerbaijan's gas fields
will be only new natural gas source of Europe and the pipeline will
significantly change the energy map of the European continent.
Azerbaijan's proven gas reserves are at the level of 2.6 trillion
cubic meters which will be enough to transport natural gas to Europe
in the coming decades,' said Ilham Aliyev.
Fousseni and Foussena, age 4 Anush Babajanyan hide caption
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Anush Babajanyan
Fousseni and Foussena, age 4
Anush Babajanyan
As Armenian photographer Anush Babajanyan wandered through the streets of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, she encountered something she found a bit strange. "I was walking with a friend of mine in the city's central district," she says. "And we started to see twins everywhere."
Asana and Alasan, age 4 Anush Babajanyan hide caption
toggle caption
Anush Babajanyan
As they approached the big mosque in town, she saw more and more of them — congregations of twins, milling about the streets. Most of them were very young children, accompanied by their mothers. "And they were playing — with each other and their mothers."
Every now and then, passers-by would stop to give the kids some money.
"I started to ask around to try to understand," Babajanyan says. "And that's when I found out the twins were giving a blessing to those who gave them money."
Rasidatou and Latifatou, age 4 Anush Babajanyan hide caption
toggle caption
Anush Babajanyan
Rasidatou and Latifatou, age 4
Anush Babajanyan
In parts of West Africa, people believe that twins have mystical powers. "It is believed that they can make a wish come true," Babajanyan explains. Intrigued, she hired a French-speaking fixer and went back to find the twins and their mothers. "I just talked with them for a long time, and I made portraits of those who agreed," she says.
The resulting series is a bit of a departure from her other work. Babajan has dedicated most of her career to documenting life in the Caucasus — and recently, she's been dedicated to documenting the peace-building processes between Armenia and Turkey.
We spoke with the 34-year-old freelance photographer about what attracts her lens, and drives her as a photographer. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Tell us a more about your Twins project. Were the young twins shy around the camera, or were they used to being the center of attention?
I would not say the children were used to cameras. In a couple of cases, they would start to cry as soon as they saw me take it out. Of course, to them, I'm a total stranger — so before I even asked to take their photo, I would spend a lot of time just hanging out with them and their mothers. I would play around with them. And then, after a while, if they were comfortable, I would take some pictures.
Did the kids think they possessed magical powers?
It's hard to really understand to what extend the children think of themselves as mystical beings. For them, all of this was something ordinary and natural — they'd been coming out to the street for a long time.
As for the people giving them money, I think different people approached with different ideas in mind. But for most of them, they maybe hoped for the best, but more than anything I think they were just honoring this old tradition. Best case, their wish comes true. But even if it doesn't, there's nothing bad to come out of this — and at the least they're helping the children.
Did you feel the kids were being exploited at all?
The children weren't working as such, they were just playing around. And they weren't there for the whole day — so it wasn't necessarily that this affected their education at all. Actually, many of the kids I saw out there were too young for school. Ultimately, this activity fed them — and twins actually will be able to earn a living for the whole family. So I cannot judge these mothers for bringing them to the street.
Have you been back to Abidjan since taking these portraits last year?
No, but I really want to go back and visit the children!
There was a small exhibition I set up in Abidjan before I left, and I told the families where it was, and that they should go and see their portraits. I hope at least some of them went.
For most of your career, you've had your lens trained on the Caucasus — highlighting the aftermath of territorial conflict and war. How does this series fit with the rest of your work?
Armenia is very poor country. Many countries in Africa — too many, including Ivory Coast — are also poor, But Armenia is also one of those countries where people are very warm, and they are never reserved. And so is the Ivory Coast.
I always thought, there are enough issues in my region to focus on. But another reality is that we are all connected, as humans, no matter how far we live from each other.
QAZI AHMED, Pakistan, Nov 25, (Agencies): As 200 armed men surrounded their house on a hot August night in 2005, Nazo Dharejo and her sisters grabbed their Kalashnikov and puny stock of ammunition and climbed to the roof.
The gunfight which followed earned her the moniker “Pakistan’s toughest woman”, and became the subject of a film which has been entered in next year’s Academy Awards, vying for glory alongside heavy-hitters such as Angelina Jolie’s “First They Killed My Father” and Joachim Trier’s “Thelma”.
A world away from Hollywood’s red carpet, at the ancestral home Dharejo fought for in Pakistan’s rural Sindh province, she described the night which could lead to Oscar glory.
“I will kill them or die here but never retreat,” Dharejo, now in her late 40s, recalled saying as assailants attacked her home.
Her husband begged her to stand down but she refused, facing down her own relatives — who were armed and had long sought to take her family’s property after her father died leaving no male heir, she said.
Her grandfather had several wives, and the male heirs in other branches of his family were laying claim to her inheritance.
But her family had defied rural Pakistani cultural norms of the time to educate their daughters and teach them they were as good as boys, and the sisters were willing to give their lives to prove it.
From their position on the roof their tiny army — the three sisters, Dharejo’s husband, and some loyal friends and neighbours — held off the onslaught, with household staff making daring runs for more ammunition until daylight broke.
A five-year legal battle over the land eventually saw her foes pay half a million rupees ($4,800) in compensation and offer a public apology — an act of utmost disgrace in rural Pakistan.
Born in a conservative feudal family, Dharejo was entitled to learn the Koran at home — and that was all.
She persuaded her father to allow her and her sisters to study English, which paved the way for her to gain her Bachelor of Arts in economics at Sindh University, where she could study at home and appear in public only for the exams.
But the modern justice system has made few inroads into rural Sindh, where little has changed for centuries in a society dominated by feudalism, and the bloody years-long fight over her family’s land threatened many times to derail her progress.
“It kept intensifying. Five, six murders took place and in 1992 my brother was also murdered,” she explained.
When her father died that same year, the women who visited to pay condolences taunted her mother and sisters that their family line had ended.
But Dharejo’s determination — particularly her defiant stand over her family’s property years later — slowly turned the tide.
Soon neighbours began to speak of her as “Waderi”, a new feminine version of the male honorific “Wadera” meaning something akin to a feudal “Lady”.
“She has become such a huge tree spreading soothing shade to the people around her,” commented Zulfiqar Dharejo as his wife, draped in a traditional printed Sindhi shawl, rocked gently on a nearby swing bed in their sparse drawing room, hung with more guns.
In 2013 Dharejo’s story came to the attention of a British-born Pakistani filmmaker, Sarmad Masud.
Fascinated, he got in touch. The result is My Pure Land, the 98-minute Urdu-language film version of Dharejo’s story starring Suhaee Abro, which became the UK’s official entry in the Oscar’s foreign language category.
Contenders
It faces tough competition: a record 92 countries have entered this year. Other contenders include Jolie’s film on the Cambodian genocide.
Nominations will be announced in January, with the ceremony held in March.
Masud told AFP: “I was immediately inspired by (Dharejo’s) courage and heroism.”
But he conceded making the movie, filmed in some 30 days around Lahore, had been tough.
Temperatures touched 40 degrees during filming; both he and his wife, the production designer on the film, were briefly hospitalised; and the set was attacked.
Much to his frustration, they also never met their heroine in person, though they spoke often.
Despite its labelling by some critics as a “feminist Western”, My Pure Land has only a few action scenes in it, Masud said.
Ultimately it is a drama about a father’s loving relationship with his daughters, he explained.
“It was important to shine a light on characters and a part of the world which is very rarely accurately represented on screen,” he added.
Dharejo said she was “very happy” with the the final film, adding that the triumphant story belongs to Sindh and Pakistan”.
She said: “That is an honour for me.”
Also:
TEHRAN, Iran:Armenia’s foreign-language film submission to the Academy Awards for this year invites viewers to imagine a world without war, according to its director.
Anahid Abad, the director of “Yeva,” said at the Iranian premiere of her debut movie on Thursday, “The world without any war is much more beautiful, even for warmongers.”
The film tells the story of a young woman who escapes her influential in-laws with her daughter, Nareh, after her husband’s tragic death and takes refuge in a village in the Karabakh region.
Criticizing war, Abad said its consequences are long lasting. “I was not directly in frontline of any war, but war was a part of my life,” said Abad.
Abad has a long track record working in Iranian cinema as an assistant director.
Her film is a joint production between the National Cinema Center of Armenia and the Iranian Farabi Cinema Foundation in Tehran, where the Iranian premiere was held.
The foundation also submitted Iran’s foreign-language film entry to the Academy Awards for this year, another anti-war film by a female director, Narges Abyar’s “Nafas (Breath).”
Alireza Tabesh, the managing director of the foundation, told The Associated Press that both countries submitting anti-war films by female directors this year was “an invaluable coincidence”.
“Launching co-production projects with countries in the region… is one of the main goals of this foundation”, Tabesh said, “It offers the opportunity of entering into new markets and enables film producers to share their visions.”
Iran has one of the largest Armenian communities in the world.
L'Express s'est entretenu avec Bako Sahakian, le président du Haut-Karabagh. Une république auto-proclamée située sur le territoire de l'Azerbaïdjan, non-reconnue par la communauté internationale.
Quand les armes se tairont-elles? Des combats de tranchées ont encore lieu, sporadiquement, entre les armées de l'Azerbaïdjan et du Haut-Karabagh, une région qui a souhaité s'en détacher lors de l'éclatement de l'URSS, avec le soutien armé décisif de l'Arménie, que Bakou reconnaît comme seul belligérant.
La guerre pour le contrôle de ce territoire, peuplé majoritairement d'Arméniens, a fait 30 000 morts et des centaines de milliers de réfugiés. Et depuis le cessez-le-feu de 1994, rien n'a changé, la signature d'un traité de paix se faisant toujours attendre – cette république auto-proclamée n'est reconnue par aucun Etat membre de l'ONU.
Une signature qui ne devrait pas intervenir tout de suite considère le président du Haut-Karabagh, Bako Sahakian. De passage en France cette semaine pour le lancement des "Journées de l'Artsakh", L'Express l'a rencontré.
Le ministre russe des Affaires étrangères, Sergueï Lavrov, a déclaré cette semaine que les négociations pour la paix entre le Haut-Karabagh et l'Azerbaïdjan "ne se termineront pas de sitôt"…
Bako Sahakian: Je préfère des analyses réalistes comme celle-ci aux déclarations de haut-responsables politiques de tel ou tel pays annonçant que la solution est proche. Mon pays est la partie la plus intéressée pour une paix définitive dans la région. Le seul fait que l'Artsakh (nom officiel du Haut-Karabagh depuis un vote en 2017) ne soit pas reconnu par d'autres pays est pénalisant pour notre population.
Pour arriver au début de l'établissement d'une paix, il faut établir des relations de confiance entre les parties. Ce qui n'existe pas du tout aujourd'hui. En tout cas, l'accord obtenu avec les médiateurs du conflit, qui concernait la mise en place de mécanismes d'enquête pour éviter toute violation du cessez-le-feu, n'a pas été respecté. Il aurait pu influer d'une manière positive sur l'établissement d'une relation de confiance et permis qu'on ne s'entre-tue plus.
Qu'attendez-vous de la France, dans le groupe de Minsk avec les Etats-Unis et la Russie, chargé de faciliter une issue pacifique du conflit?
La France est un pays ami pour les Arméniens. Et notre première volonté, dans le contexte du conflit, n'est pas que la France devienne un ennemi de l'Azerbaïdjan.
LIRE AUSSI >> "Diplomatie du caviar" en Azerbaïdjan: une enquête anti-corruption en Europe
Mais en même temps, nous ne souhaitons pas que des relations s'établissent entre l'Azerbaïdjan et un certain nombre de responsables politiques sur la base de mensonges, de corruption et de fausses valeurs. Cela se fait en grande partie au détriment de notre pays.
L'Azerbaïdjan a acheté beaucoup d'armements sophistiqués ces dernières années. Craignez-vous une attaque d'envergure?
Que ce soit avant l'achat de ces armes sophistiquées ou après, l'Azerbaïdjan a toujours été dans la logique de les utiliser contre le Haut-Karabagh. Elle ne s'en est jamais cachée et son président, notamment, profère assez régulièrement des menaces. Quand il y a eu l'agression azerbaïdjanaise de quatre jours en 2016 (110 morts, dont des civils, de part et d'autre), une partie de ces armes a été utilisée contre le Haut-Karabagh.
Une grande partie de ces armes a été vendue par la Russie, pourtant partenaire stratégique de l'Arménie et amie du Haut-Karabagh. Vladimir Poutine ne joue-t-il pas un double-jeu?
L'Azerbaïdjan en achète également à Israël, la Biélorussie, l'Ukraine et d'autres pays. L'occasion nous a été donnée à plusieurs reprises de dire que ces ventes à l'Azerbaïdjan sont inadmissibles, sachant qu'il promet leur utilisation contre le Haut-Karabagh. Il y a des négociations auxquelles l'Azerbaïdjan participe, mais parallèlement, il ne cesse pas les menaces d'une reprise de la guerre. C'est un pays qui se durcit, dont on connaît la situation en matière de liberté [en régression]. Nous considérons que cette menace n'est pas uniquement contre les Arméniens, mais aussi contre la communauté internationale dans son ensemble.
Des canons arméniens, pointés vers l'armée de l'Azerbaïdjan, le 8 avril 2016, au Haut-Karabagh.
REUTERS
Le régime en place en Azerbaïdjan, incarné par le clan Aliyev, vous paraît-il durable?
L'actuel président azerbaïdjanais (Ilham Aliyev) a hérité son pouvoir de son père (Heydar Aliyev, président de 1993 jusqu'à sa mort en 2003 à 80 ans). Récemment, il a nommé son épouse comme vice-présidente du pays (Mehriban Aliyev). Cette famille veut rester coûte que coûte au pouvoir. Je parie que quand le fils aura l'âge de prendre le pouvoir, il trouvera une fonction qui garantira à cette famille de le conserver.
La restitution à l'Azerbaïdjan de certains districts qui ne sont pas peuplés par des Arméniens vous semble-t-elle, à terme, envisageable?
Ce n'est évidemment pas la première fois que l'on me pose la question. Voici ma réponse: l'Azerbaïdjan a été artificiellement créé au début du XXe siècle sur une partie de notre territoire, le Haut-Karabagh, sur décision du parti bolchevique. Je suis en désaccord avec l'affirmation d'une "occupation" par l'armée du Haut-Karabagh. Le conflit qui a surgi entre l'Azerbaïdjan et le Haut-Karabagh a été la conséquence de la politique des bolcheviques. Nous ne pouvons pas trouver de solution si on continue à réfléchir comme eux.
Et concernant les ex-zones de peuplement azéri sous votre contrôle?
Le malentendu existe avec la communauté internationale parce qu'elle met la question des frontières et du statut des territoires au centre des solutions. Pourquoi, dès lors, ne pas parler des territoires peuplés d'Arméniens et qui ne le sont plus, à la suite de nettoyage, comme à Chahoumian, dans la partie nord du Haut-Karabagh (sous contrôle azéri depuis la guerre). Nous sommes d'accord pour discuter des territoires évoqués, mais il faudrait discuter de l'ensemble de ces territoires d'une manière globale.
La ville fantôme d'Agdam, à présent sous contrôle arménien, a compté près de 30 000 habitants, majoritairement azéris. Ici le 29 octobre 2009.
REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili
Quelle est votre position concernant la Catalogne, dont l'autorité régionale a vainement proclamé son indépendance?
Mon pays exprime sa solidarité envers tous les peuples qui luttent pour leur liberté et leurs droits. Certains processus sont irréversibles, à partir du moment où tout un peuple aspire à la même chose. S'il y a des divergences de points de vue, il faut les régler de manière pacifique. La guerre ne règle rien. Ce que je souhaite au peuple catalan, s'il souhaite, sur la base de son droit à l'autodétermination, changer de statut, c'est qu'il le fasse d'une manière pacifique.
Pas question donc de reconnaître à ce stade une indépendance catalane?
L'établissement de relations normalisées entre les Catalans et l'Etat espagnol est dans l'intérêt des deux entités. C'est à eux de s'entendre. S'ils ne s'entendent pas, nous pourrions voir, en fonction des relations que nous pourrions établir, qu'elle sera notre position. Mais je ne suis pas favorable à une reconnaissance par principe. Ce n'est que déclaratif et cela n'apportera rien de substantiel.
La Chorale arménienne Sahak Mesrop et son chef Khatchig Yilmazian. PhotoL'utilisation de l'article, la reproduction, la diffusion est interdite – LMRS – (c) Copyright Journal La Marseillaise
Ce concert pour chœur et orchestre devrait attirer un nombreux public dans ce lieu exceptionnel par la qualité de l’acoustique qu’est l’Abbaye Saint Victor de Marseille mais aussi parce qu’il rend hommage à une communauté qui a développé depuis longtemps des liens d’amitiés avec la cité phocéenne.
L’apogée se situant juste après le génocide de 1915 ou plus de cinquante mille arméniens d’Anatolie ont émigré à Marseille. Devenus tailleurs, cordonniers, homme d’affaires ils ont fait de cette diaspora une chance pour la ville sans oublier leurs racines et notamment la musique chorale.
Beaucoup de chants qui sont au programme du concert ont des origines antiques, datant des temps préchrétiens. Le compositeur Komitas (19ème siècle) qui est considéré comme le fondateur de la musique arménienne classique moderne à voyagé entre 1899 et 1910, dans les régions montagneuses d’Arménie pour y collecter plus de trois mille mélodies populaires, laissant ainsi un riche patrimoine musical. À l'instar du chant byzantin, le chant arménien se compose principalement d'hymnes. À l'origine, ces hymnes étaient en prose, mais une versification du chant arménien s'est progressivement développée. Dans la liturgie, les chants arméniens utilisés au cours d'un office sont classés en modes. C’est une musique fortement évocatrice et largement solennelle comme les auditeurs pourront s’en rendre compte. Parfois les instruments traditionnels arméniens accompagnent ou alternent avec le chant tels le kanon, le tar, le saz, la zourna, le dehol (tambour) et surtout le doudouk sorte de flûte arménienne, instrument joué toujours par les hommes pendant les fêtes populaires ou les funérailles et qui est un peu le symbole de l’Arménie éternelle. Un beau concert, témoignage de l’amitié entre les hommes sur le sol marseillais.
J-FP
Chœur arménien Sahak Mesrop ce vendredi soir à 20h30 à Abbaye de Saint Victor, Marseille(13007). Concert organisé par les Amis de Saint Victor.
Daily Mirror, UK
Friday
Henrikh in a fight for future: Shape up or it's the end, Hen
by DAVID McDONNELL
MANCHESTER UNITED outcast Henrikh Mkhitaryan is facing a battle to
convince manager Jose Mourinho that he deserves to reclaim his place.
Mkhitaryan's form has deserted him to such an extent Mourinho has axed
him from United's last two match-day squads, despite the attacking
midfielder being fully fit.
Mourinho left Mkhitaryan (above) out of the squad that beat Newcastle
4-1 - and made the 28-year-old travel to Basel before omitting him
from Wednesday's disappointing 1-0 Champions League defeat in
Switzerland.
Mourinho hopes the stigma of being dropped will jolt the Armenian from
his slumber.
Signed from Borussia Dortmund for £27million in July 2016, Mkhitaryan
enjoyed an impressive start this season - producing a handful of
assists to apparently cement his place as United's No.10.
But his form dropped off, with Mourinho and his United coaches
deciding he no longer warranted his place and agreeing to drop him
completely.
Mkhitaryan has been on the receiving end of Mourinho's 'tough love'
approach before. He was exiled for nearly two months last season
following a calamitous 45 minutes in United's 2-1 derby defeat by
City.
The playmaker returned to become one of United's most effective
players as they won the League Cup and Europa League.
Mourinho has preferred Juan Mata, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial
in attacking roles recently, while Jesse Lingard is in favour again -
and £89m Paul Pogba back in business after injury.