THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST
by Jan Verwoert

frieze, UK
May 1 2006

In these days of cultural complexity it’s important to ask ‘what is
local’ and ‘what does it need’?

The other day I had lunch in the new restaurant da Karlo near where I
live on Karl-Marx-Allee in Berlin. They serve Italian food and play
Brazilian music, and the waiters speak Spanish. With a good view of
the Stalinist architecture of the Allee, I read an essay by a French
filmmaker who recounted how, when he first saw a Jonas Mekas film, he
didn’t understand a word of the American voice-over, which was spoken
with a Lithuanian accent, but still loved every minute of the movie.

As my pizza Napoli arrived, to the strains of a melancholy samba
tune, it struck me that it is precisely these moments of cultural
interference that I look for in art.

By ‘interference’ I don’t mean to evoke the notion of ‘diversity’
that the advertisers and ideologues of the 1990s seized on as
a way to brand urban consumer culture as the earthly paradise
of capitalist liberalism. I’m thinking more of those accidental
moments when different voices and languages overlap at the opening
of an exhibition or during a break at a conference, or when different
meanings clash in an art work or a text, or in your mind when you try
to piece together memories of a show, discussion or journey. No doubt,
simulating such moments of cultural complexity has today become a
routine affair for art professionals. Yet what routines cannot procure
are interferences. They have to occur of their own volition, and when
they do, they don’t necessarily make sense. Take the constellation
of a defunct Soviet Modernism, a sad samba, a book about American
underground cinema and a pizza Napoli. This could be a perfect or a
meaningless moment (or both). It could be a typical Berlin moment,
but then it could also occur in any place with a socialist past where
they serve pizza.

This is also why I believe that the genius loci of a particular
city can be an important factor but never the sole reason for the
occurrence of magical moments. Who knows, special things could also
happen when in some out-of-the-way place a motley crew of characters
from various countries meet at an exhibition, conference, art school
or residency. In fact, even when they take place in a metropolis,
gatherings of international artists and intellectuals can feel
distinctively marginal in exactly the same way as they would if
they had happened somewhere ‘provincial’. I remember, for instance,
the experience of a panel discussion in the Guggenheim New York as
being not substantially different from that of a seminar in a disused
convent in Cork. With about 20 people listening on both occasions,
the discussion was marked by a similar amount of interference, some
of it white noise with people talking at cross purposes, but some
of it very inspiring when the improvised discourse suddenly threw up
terms that made it possible to agree or disagree in a meaningful way.

I have had this experience in many places, and it makes me think about
the close relationship between internationality and marginality. It
seems to me that internationalism in art today is primarily about
mediating eccentric positions from different cultural contexts in
front of a small local audience. The common ground for this new
internationalism could in fact be a feeling of marginality shared by
artists and intellectuals from various countries. What I appreciate
about this international discourse is that through its fickleness it
is a counterpoint to what happens if a local or national art scene
is left to focus on itself for too long. The outcome is usually that
the members of such scenes feel forced to defend the position they
took up years ago in a never-ending trench warfare. To keep on the
margins of such pointless local quarrels and instead look for a more
open exchange with like-minded people in an international discourse
has always seemed preferable to me.

Discussing such ideas of internationalism and marginality with a
small group of artists and writers in the garden of an art school
in a suburb of Yerevan, Armenia, the sociologist Hraech Bayadyan
made a good point. He described how the post-Soviet condition had
changed the social status of the intellectual from being that of a
dissident to that of a marginal figure. While the political regime
still occupied itself with dissidents (and both censored and sponsored
them), new capitalism simply marginalizes intellectual labour as
economically unprofitable and thus pushes it into oblivion. I argued
that if this marginal position is not recognized inside the country,
it would be in an international discourse. Bayadyan countered this by
saying that such recognition only make a difference when it affects
local struggles. He saw his task therefore as being to translate
international discourse into Armenian and thereby try to bring up to
date a language that had suffered a time-lag through being displaced
by modern Russian. This position made me wonder about how, on my part,
a flirtation with the international may also always imply an escape
from a commitment to the local. Still, I have difficulty figuring
out what the local could want from me. Writing this in Umeå, Sweden,
with everything outside covered in deep snow, while back in Berlin
spring and another biennial have just arrived, I come to no conclusion.

Jan Verwoert is contributing editor of frieze. Although based in
Berlin he teaches at the Academy of Fine Arts Umeå and the Piet Zwart
Institute Rotterdam.

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FREEDOM HOUSE: ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT CONTINUES TO RESTRICT FREEDOM OF THE PRESS

Regnum, Russia
May 1 2006

“Although, Armenia has influential independent and opposition printed
mass-media and its constitution protects freedom of word and press,
its government continues to restrict full mass-media freedom in the
country,” Mass-Media Freedom – 2006: Global Survey of Mass-Media
Independence report of non-governmental Freedom House organization
maintains.

Research was conducted in 3 global categories: legal sphere of
mass-media functioning, political influence on information and
access to information, as well as economic pressure on content and
distribution of information. Such survey, which analyses events in
2005, evaluates both deeds of government and mass-media themselves,
for example, level of mass-media independence, corruption among
journalists.

According to the report, decrease of level of press freedom was evident
in Latin America, Russia, several African and Asian countries in
2005. Press is free in 73 of 194 analyzed countries; it is “partially
free” in 54 countries, and “not free” – in 67 countries.

Armenia takes 137th place of the list, USA – 17th one, Ukraine – 113th,
Georgia – 118th, Azerbaijan – 161st, Kazakhstan – 165th, Tajikistan
– 167th, Byelorussia – 185th, Uzbekistan – 187th, Turkmenistan –
190th. Burma, Cuba, Libya, North Korea, and Turkmenistan are recognized
to be the worst countries of worst ones in the aspect.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA SHOULD LOOK FORWARD FOR FUTURE NOT KEEPING PAST MEMORIES- PACE CHAIRMAN

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
May 1 2006

In order to normalize its relations with Turkey Armenia “should look
forward for future not keeping past memories,” the chairman of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Rene Van der
Linden told in exclusive interview to MediaMax.

“The fact that both Armenia and Turkey are members of the Council
of Europe allows MPs from both countries to meet and hold joint
discussions. I think that if you live in the same region and you
don’t have any open relations in trade, economy, culture you are not
benefiting your own countries in the first place. You can not create
a stable future in the region if you are isolated from your neighbors.”

“If you are looking for a solution you will find it. Though, you
will never find a 100% solution. Compromise is always a must as both
sides have their own arguments and if you will only stay on your own
principles and feelings it won` t be possible to find appropriate
peaceful solution for future,” Van der Linden said.

GUL CRITICIZES FRANCE OVER BILLS PROPOSING JAIL TIME, FINES FOR “GENOCIDE” DENIAL

Turkish Press
Milliyet
May 1 2006

Press Review

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul has sharply criticized France for five
bills in the legislative pipeline proposing jail sentences of up to
one year and fines for denying the so-called Armenian genocide. Last
week, Gul met with his French counterpart Philippe Douste-Blazy
during the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Sofia. Gul said that
if Turkish politicians paying an official visit to France are asked
by reporters about the so-called Armenian genocide, they would say
that the allegations don’t reflect the facts. “Then will you put
these politicians in jail?” asked Gul.

ARMENIAN DOCTOR’S JOURNEYS HOME BENEFITED HIS PEOPLE
By Diane Haines

NorthJersey.com, NJ
Herald News
May 1 2006

A Paterson-based physician has given life to his ancestral homeland
of Armenia.

Over the past 10 years, Dr. Haroutune Mekhjian has performed open-heart
surgery on 70 to 80 patients in Armenia. He also has trained Armenian
physicians to do the delicate operations.

His first humanitarian trip was in 1996, only months after the only
heart surgeon in Armenia died unexpectedly at the age of 60.

Mekhjian helped fill the void by providing the much needed surgery
during yearly visits.

“The need for cardiac surgery was so much there,” he says. “There are
young women who have had rheumatic fever and their valves are badly
damaged. The operation costs $2,000 and it was nearly impossible to
get that kind of money to be treated. We didn’t charge anything.”

And those missions are only part of his contribution to Armenia. He
also has shipped medical supplies donated by various vendors and by
St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson.

The irony is that Mekhjian nearly left school to go into the bed
manufacturing business with his father in Syria. Instead, he listened
to his mother.

“I didn’t want to go to school after I finished elementary school
training,” he recalls. “My father was a successful businessman and
he wanted me to go into the business. He manufactured beds. But my
mother insisted I should go and get my education.”

He attended a high school run by American missionaries, where he
learned English. After graduation, he went to the American University
of Beirut — a renowned university worldwide, but especially in the
Middle East.

In 1916 his ancestors escaped the Turks, who then controlled the area
now known as Armenia. Mekhjian was born on Easter Sunday in 1939 in
Aleppo, Syria, where he attended high school. He traveled to Beirut
to complete medical school and study general surgery. After marrying
his wife, Shake, a registered nurse, the couple emigrated to New York
City in June 1969. Mekhjian began his residency in cardiac surgery
at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, then went on to St. Luke’s
Hospital, where he remained in private practice for the next 12 years.

By 1982, he says, “St. Joseph’s had the largest cardio-cauterization
department in the whole metropolitan area, with 2,000 cases as
compared to 500 or 600 at New York hospitals.” At the time, the chief
of cardiology at St. Joseph’s was referring cases to St. Luke’s.

It was Mekhjian who launched the open-heart surgery practice at St.
Joseph’s that year. He had to wait another 13 years, however, before
taking his first exploratory trip to Armenia, which was virtually
closed to travel while part of the former Soviet Union.

“In 1991, the Soviet Union broke up and Armenia was one of 20 republics
which got its independence,” Mekhjian says, “and it was a lot easier
for us to travel. There was news about poverty and the miserable
conditions the people were in. In 1995, I went on a fact-finding
mission with my wife.”

After two weeks of collecting information, he returned to New Jersey
and organized a trip for the following year to begin cardiac surgery.

Seated behind his large, wooden desk at the hospital, the 66-year-old
Mekhjian, who lives in Alpine, wears a white lab coat and gestures
frequently with his hands. His neatly ordered desk has piles of
paperwork and a pencil holder with an American flag. Two computers and
a plastic model heart sit on nearby cabinets. The pale green walls
are hung with a large map of the United States and pictures of the
doctor taken at the Vatican with the world leader of the Armenian
Apostolic Church and Pope John Paul II.

On Mekhjian’s first working trip to Armenia, he was accompanied by
his wife, a cardiac anesthesiologist and the chief of perfusion (the
operator of the heart and lung machine). There were 15 operations
scheduled over 12 days at Mikaelian Heart Institute in Yerevan,
the capital. All the patients survived and returned home.

The following year, Mekhjian brought a whole team from Armenia
to America.

“They spent one month at St. Joseph’s and one month at Westchester
Medical Center (in Westchester County, New York),” he says. “After the
training, I felt confident they could handle the situation themselves.”

Over the years, Mekhjian and his team have operated on between 70
and 80 patients, all of whom recovered. Although he has returned to
Armenia each year, it is strictly to consult and deliver supplies.

“They thought we were magicians,” he says. “I believe we made a
major contribution.”

RELIGIOUS LEADERS COME TOGETHER FOR TOURISM
By Aslihan Aydin, Ankara

Zaman Online, Turkey
May 1 2006

“Faith Tourism Days III” jointly organized by Turkey’s Department
of Religious Affairs and Travel Agencies Association (TURSAB) will
bring religious leaders together for a three day meeting chaired by
the Director of Religious Affairs Professor, Ali Bardakoglu.

Leaders of different religious communities in Turkey including
Turkish-Armenian Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan, Turkish Jews Chief Rabbi
Isak Haleva, Istanbul Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomeos, and
Syriac Catholic Community Patriarchal Vicar Bishop Yusuf Sag will
come together for this meeting.

The organization will be held in the Anatolia Auditorium at the
Istanbul Lutfi Kirdar International Congress Center on March 12-13-14.

The Third Faith Tourism Days meeting is perceived as the “meeting of
religions” for the spiritual leaders, while travel agencies see it is
an important step to developing an alternative to sea-sand-sun tourism.

Ali Bardakoglu will chair the first session titled, “Concept of
traveling and visitors in religions.”

The panel titles of the second days are: “Istanbul: Intersection of
Civilizations,” “Leaders and evidence of organized religions in the
Balkans,” “Religious tourist sites in Istanbul and its surrounding
neighborhood,” and “The past, present and future of living in Istanbul,
an example of multiculturalism.”

Tourist traders will make speeches on the last day of the meeting
as part of the discussion titled, “The past, present and future of
faith tourism.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS MEET IN MOSCOW TOMORROW

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
May 1 2006

OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs– Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia), Steven Mann
(the USA), Bernar Fasie (France) and personal representative of OSCE
chair- in-office Andrzey Kasprzyk will come together tomorrow in
Moscow, Baku Office of Andrzey Kasprzyk has informed APA.

The co-chairs will precise new details on regulation of Nagorno
Garabagh conflict. In tomorrow’s meeting the co-chairs will identify
the date of the next visit to the region. During the visit to
the region new proposals will be submitted to Azerbaijan-Armenia
leadership.

IN SOFIA, FM GUL DISCUSSES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MATTER WITH FRENCH FM

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
source: Hurriyet
May 1 2006

At an unofficial meeting of NATO ministers last week in the Bulgarian
capital of Sofia, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul touched on
the Armenian genocide matter in comments to French Foreign Minister
Philippe Douste-Blazy.

Referring to the drafts of 5 different bills in the French Parliament
which propose jail sentences for people denying the Armenian genocide,
Gul said to Blazy: “You are planning on giving prison sentences to
those who deny the Armenian genocide. But let’s say that either I or
the President of Turkey make an official visit to France, and that at
a press conference there, upon questioning from reporters, we say ‘The
accusations of genocide are lies. They have no ties to reality.’ What
would you do, throw us in prison? Would this suit France, a country
which is one of the champions of freedom of expression and thought
in Europe? So you are essentially giving one side the right to do
whatever they want, while you deny the other side the right to express
its feelings about lies that are being told about it. This perspective
runs contrary to European values.”

Canadian firms not invited to bidding for Sinop reactor

With regards to other countries’ recent stances on the Armenian
genocide, the Canadian government went ahead on April 24 to make
announcements accusing Turkey of genocide against the Armenians.

Following on this, a decision was made in Ankara not to invite Canadian
companies to take part in bidding for contracts in the building of the
nuclear power plant planned for the Black Sea city of Sinop. French
companies are widely considered to be in front running for contracts
connected to the planned Sinop nuclear power plant.

D.C. RALLY CONDEMNS DARFUR GENOCIDE
By Lynn Sweet Sun-Times Columnist

Chicago Sun-Times, IL
May 1 2006

Yesterday, today and tomorrow, there are, have been and will be
genocidal murders occurring in the Darfur region of Sudan. On Sunday,
thousands gathered on the National Mall to try to do something about
the horrors.

“We are here because we refuse to be silent,” said Elie Wiesel,
the author and Nobel Peace Prize winner whose work is rooted in his
Holocaust experience.

“Remember, silence helps the killers, never the victims.”

Thousands came together chanting “never again,” the pledge born out
of the Holocaust as the genocide, which started in 2003, continues.

Clergy; lawmakers including Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), and
celebrities, such as actor George Clooney, ’60s-era comic and longtime
activist Dick Gregory, and Olympic speed skater Joey Cheek, took the
stage to keep the pressure on the United States and the international
community.

WHAT SHOULD U.S. DO?

What should the United States do about the killings in Sudan’s Darfur
region? E-mail [email protected]. Some edited replies will
be printed.

Unlike some causes, where rallies are held for or against something,
when it comes to the killings, rapes, starvations and forced migrations
in Darfur, everyone in the United States is on the same side —
the right side.

165 groups band together

President Bush has done more than any other Western leader, though
he said when he took office that slaughters such as those that took
place in Rwanda and Burundi in the 1990s would not happen during his
tenure. He penned the words “not on my watch” on a memo, and those
words were transferred Sunday onto signs and T-shirts.

Bush was supportive of the Sunday rally and more to be held across
the country, including one in Chicago at 4:30 p.m. today on Federal
Plaza. Bush met with Darfur advocates in the White House on Friday
and said the rallies are a “march for justice” that represents “the
best of our country.”

But three years after the conflict began, people are still dying
as the violence between Muslims — ethnic Africans under siege by
Arab Janjaweed militias backed by the Sudanese government — is
responsible for the deaths of between 200,000 and 400,000 people,
with another 2.5 million displaced.

Sunday’s rally was organized by a coalition of 165 religious, human
rights and humanitarian organizations, with the American Jewish
community a driving force behind the “Save Darfur” effort. “When we
needed people to help us,” Wiesel said, “nobody came.”

Armenia. The Holocaust. Cambodia. Rwanda. Bosnia. Darfur. Many students
have been drawn to the Darfur cause because it is not history. It is
a current event.

A contingent of 110 students came to Washington from the University
of Illinois.

Abby Kritzler, 22, from Wilmette, a senior at American University
in northwest Washington, was on the Mall. She is writing a thesis on
genocide for her “faith, peace and justice” minor.

“It is just unacceptable for me to do nothing about it,” Kritzler
said. “I just could not tolerate sitting and watching everything and
feeling bad about it and not doing anything.”

‘We want more; we want more’

Rabbi Amy L. Memis-Foler, from Temple Sholom at 3480 N. Lake Shore,
flew from Chicago to Washington on Sunday morning to bear witness.

She was carrying a poster board made by Temple Sholom sixth-graders
that said “History repeats itself. Stop the Genocide.”

“Our presence helps spread the word to the nation, to the world,”
Memis-Foler said.

Cheryl Gutmann, a Temple Sholom member on the Mall with Memis-Foler,
said, “People are coming together to make a statement.”

The House and Senate have passed the “Darfur Peace and Accountability
Act,” but the two chambers have yet to agree on final language.

Obama, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has been
championing the measure. He will visit Sudan during an August trip
to Africa.

Speaking before his largest crowd since becoming a senator, Obama said,
“Silence, acquiescence, paralysis in the face of genocide is wrong.”

Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Jendayi Frazer had the most
difficult assignment — speaking for the Bush administration to a
crowd that wanted Bush to do more.

Bush has been working to bolster African Union forces and to get
the United Nations to send in troops. “The strategy is working,”
said Frazer.

“We want more; we want more,” the crowd chanted.

“So do I. So do I. So does your government,” Frazer said. “The ghosts
of Rwanda hang over our heads.”

VIEWPOINT: US-IRAN CRISIS FALLOUT
Alexei Makarkin
UPI Senior News Analyst

Middle East Times, Egypt
May 1 2006

MOSCOW — Escalation of the US conflict with Iran directly affects
the interests of its neighbors.

A military solution may generate serious problems for Iraq, where it
took the political forces several months to agree on the distribution
of government positions. Moreover, a Shia has again become prime
minister, and the Iraqi Shias have historical ties with their brethren
in Iran. Understandably, political risks in Afghanistan and Pakistan
will markedly grow. The states of the South Caucasus, also Iran’s
neighbors, will face problems, too.

The media report that the United States is hoping for Azeri cooperation
– its territory could be used as a potential bridgehead for military
action against Iran. This may or may not happen, but nevertheless is
on the agenda. The agenda may include the use of Azeri airspace and
airfields, and the deployment of US troops on Azeri territory.

Obviously, Baku is not very enthusiastic about this prospect. To begin
with, Azerbaijan maintains close relations with Iran. They signed a
non-aggression and cooperation treaty in 2002. Last December their
representatives attended the inauguration of the gas pipeline –
under a 25-year-long bilateral agreement, Iran will supply 80.5
million cubic meters of natural gas a year.

During his recent trip to Baku, Iranian defense minister Mostafa
Mohammad-Najjar said: “The security of Azerbaijan is the security of
Iran. Our defense capability is your defense capability.” He seemed
keen to find out the Azeri position on the eve of Aliyev’s visit to
the US. It is clear, however, that if Azerbaijan becomes an American
ally in the war against Iran, it will itself become a target for
Iranian missiles.”

Moreover, Iran is the home for at least 35 million Azeris – their
number being bigger than the population of Azerbaijan itself – many of
them with relatives in Azerbaijan. It is rumored that the Americans
may try and use the ethnic factor – contradictions between the Azeri
Diaspora and the Tehran regime (as Stalin tried to do in 1946). If so,
the United States will find it hard to do without Baku.

But let’s not forget that Stalin did not succeed, although the Iranian
central government was much weaker than it is now. In addition, if
hostilities break out, refugees may flood Azeri territory and create
serious problems for the Baku authorities.

Finally, the Islamic fundamentalists in Azerbaijan may use military
action to enhance their positions by espousing anti-American rhetoric.

While Baku is thinking about its position in the Iranian crisis,
Armenia is worried that it may have a negative effect on the Karabakh
problem, in which the United States is increasingly trying to act as
a go-between. So far, the point at issue is whether Baku will grant
Karabakh the right to self-determination, and sanction a referendum,
the results of which are already clear. Only in this case will Armenia
agree to concessions, and return to Baku control over the areas of
the country, outside Karabakh, which are now occupied by its armed
formations.

For the time being, Aliyev rejects the idea of a referendum as a matter
of principle – if he agrees to it, he will weaken his position inside
the country and give the opposition an excuse to lash out at him.

Today, the Americans are emphasizing their role of an “honest broker”
at the Karabakh negotiations, and are trying to exert equal influence
on either side. But the question is if they are so interested in Azeri
territory as a bridgehead for military action against Iran, how can
they “compensate” Baku for the tremendous political risks involved?

At the very least, the United States could support the Azeri option
of the Karabakh settlement, which Armenia finds unacceptable. At most,
Washington may look the other way if Baku possibly attempts to resolve
the issue with military force. The leader of the Armenian opposition
Stepan Demirchyan said with good reason: “The consequences of a war
in Iran will be destructive for the whole region.” He added that a
war in Iran would spell disaster both for Nagorny Karabakh and Armenia.

Although unlikely, even the possibility of such a war causes concern
in Armenia and other Commonwealth of Independent States nations,
which have a vested interest in peaceful settlement of conflicts
on their territory. Thus potential US military intervention in Iran
may not only result in huge casualties, part of which will be caused
by Tehran’s retaliation, but also exacerbate old seats of tension,
which have been almost extinguished. In short, it could trigger a
chain reaction with unpredictable consequences.

Alexei Makarkin is deputy general director of the Center for Political
Technologies in Moscow and wrote this commentary for the RIA Novosti
news agency. This article is reprinted by permission of RIA Novosti.