Tuesday 30 September 2008

Jewel of Medina - Father Frank's Rants

FATHER FRANK’S RANTS

Rant Number 321 30 September 2008

Jewel of Medina

“Deceit, superstition and fanaticism”: Voltaire’s considered opinion of the Catholic Church. Yet in 1741 the same scoffing French writer wrote an unctuous letter to Pope Benedict XIV. Addressing him as ‘most Blessed Father’ and grovelling ‘I kiss your sacred feet’, he dedicated to the Pontiff his Mahomet. A play in five acts and an unveiled attack on the Prophet of Islam. ‘A false and barbarous sect’…that is tenor of Voltaire’s letter. Benedict was a cultured man, in sympathy with the Enlightenment and keen on science and learning. His answer was courteous. I wonder whether he ever suspected Voltaire might be tongue in cheek. Indeed, there is a diatribe online which insinuates that Voltaire’s real target was not Muhammad but Christ. Anyone who has read Mahomet will judge that unlikely. Admittedly, it would have been just like the sort of low cunning the Frenchman delighted in…

Voltaire was poisonous but I would hesitate to put him in the same literary category as Sherry Jones. The American authoress of The Jewel of Medina. A book of which (groan…) we are bound to hear rather too much. A historical novel, apparently. About one of the Prophet’s wives, young Aysha. The initial publisher dropped it. Then a bomb was thrown at the home of The Jewel’s British publisher. Call me a cynic, I bet media folks are smacking their lips. We are in for much posturing and waffle. A modest re-run of the Rushdie affair. Freedom of expression versus obscurantism, that sort of guff. Antidote wanted. The priest discovers it in the greatest of all English poets. And a great Christian, too.

John Milton’s Aeropagitica is a speech he addressed to the Parliament of England in 1644. Puritan MPs had decided to censure or suppress opposition pamphlets. Milton, himself a Puritan, rose against that with passion: ‘Who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God’s image; but he who destroys a good book kills reason itself, kills the image of God, as it were in the eye’. He observed that the most scurrilous invectives against Christianity, like those of Proclus, Celsus and Porphiry, had not been banned by Christian emperors. That the early Church Councils had declared books not acceptable but left it to people’s conscience whether to read them or not. That St Paul in his letters quotes pagan authors. That if you want to refute a book you first have to read it. That the Bible itself vividly reports many blasphemies and sins. That although Solomon warns that ‘of many books is weariness of the flesh’ he says nothing whether any book is unlawful. ‘For books are as meats and viands are; some of good, some of evil substance’, yet God, Milton wrote, has left the choice to each man’s discretion. Although the author of Paradise Lost took original sin seriously, he also believed that man has not lost the divine gift of free will. When God gave Adam reason ‘He gave him freedom to choose, for reason is but choosing.” Otherwise Adam would have been an automaton, human only in name.

The poet waxed lyrical about the English and their vocation to uphold and spread Christian freedom: ‘Why else was this nation chosen before any other, that out of her, as out of Sion, should be proclaimed and sounded forth the first tidings and trumpet of the Reformation to all Europe?” Protestant England to him was a vast house of liberty, a mansion of refuge, a ‘Nation of Prophets, of Sages, of Worthies.” So he was out to show it is tyrants who are liable to gag the press and ban books. Keeping human beings under tutelage, like children, can only prevent and stifle their growth. His fierce Protestantism made him invoke comparisons with the Inquisition and the curtailing of freedom of thought in the Catholic nations of his time. And he warns you cannot hope to make people better by stopping them to read books, even bad books. “If the amendment of manners be aimed at, look into Italy and Spain”. Are those places better off in morals? Touché’…

The analogies are tempting. Muslims and the Islamic countries today like the ultramontane Catholicism of old. Hell-bent on stifling self-expression, art and free thought. Seeking to burn books and kill writers. Fatwa­-issuing Muslim scholars as Torquemada. The West as a beacon of liberty, America and England as havens of tolerance…and son on.

Actually, a bit less simple. Plenty of scientists, poets, architects and writers have flourished under Islam. The Inquisition did not prevent Cervantes, Calderon, Lopez de Vega, Gongora, Velasquez and Murillo from producing their masterpieces. Nor did the Counter Reformation Popes (Galileo notwithstanding) stop artists and writers like Michelangelo, Bernini, Caravaggio, Tasso, Marino and Vico from being creative. And of course the Puritans closed down theatres, hunted out witches and persecuted Catholics. Milton himself wrote the immortal Paradise Lost during the monarchist Restoration, a regime embodying the denial of all his hopes. Maybe tyranny even works as a stimulus to artistic creation, who knows? Solzhenitsyn’s example springs to mind.

I don’t know yet whether The Jewel of Medina is a cheap novelette or fine fiction. The extracts I have glanced at suggest the former. But that’s irrelevant. Nobody suggests only good novels should be printed, or the bookshops would be decimated. Bad literature often serves a useful purpose in telling about the tastes and mores of an epoch. Nor is historical accuracy the point. That hardly matters in fiction. Shelly Jones naturally swears she respects Islam’s Prophet. Well, she would, wouldn’t she?

Going back to Voltaire. And the idea that, under the guise of besmirching Muhammad, he was really out to hurt his own religion. I fear The Jewel will indirectly have a similar effect. Because in the eyes of many Muslims worldwide the West equals Christianity. Alas, that is no longer true, anymore than the England of Elizabeth II corresponds to that of Elizabeth I. The conspiracy-minded brigade will see this as another link in the chain of attempts by Christians to defame their Prophet. And so the smouldering embers of the bogus clash of civilisations will glow again. The innocent may suffer and die.

The priest can only wish and pray: la samaha Allah!

Revd Frank Julian Gelli

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Where is the Beef? - RAG Mamoul (ragmamoul1@gmail.com)

ARTICLE BY DR. DIKRAN ABRAHAMIAN ONTARIO, CANADA

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S. Khachi Herisayi Avantagan Khrakhjank

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT IN DAMASCUS, SYRIA

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Saturday 27 September 2008

Armenian News


BARONESS COX AWARDED RA PRIME MINISTER'S MEMORIAL MEDAL
armradio.am
25.09.2008 17:22

According to today's decision,The Republic of Armenia, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, the Vice-Speaker of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, President of the British-Armenian Parliamentary Group, Baroness Caroline Cox was awarded a memorial medal of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia for her considerable contribution to the reinforcement and development of Armenian-British ties and the friendly relations with the Armenian people. Today the Prime Minister handed the medal during the meeting with Baroness Cox at RA Government.

During her recurrent visit to NKR and Armenia Baroness Cox was accompanied by a large delegation of people interested in Armenia and Artsakh, who will become the best friends of Armenia in the future, according to the Baroness.

Greeting the guests, RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan expressed gratitude to Caroline Cox, noting that the Baroness, who has become a legendary personality for our people, is very well-known in Armeniaand Artsakh thanks to the various missions she realized.

The Vice-Speaker of the UK House of Lords Caroline Cox told the Prime Minister about her recurrent visit, noting that she spent most of her trip on the sacred land of Artsakh participating in the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the rehabilitation centre established with her assistance.

Baroness Cox thanked the Prime Minister for the awards and the warm words.

During the meeting with Tigran Sargsyan she said to be interested in the possible influence of the declaration of independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on the process of settlement of the Karabakh conflict, the current state of Armenian-Turkish relations after the Turkish President's visit to Armenia and well as the approaches of the Armenian authorities on the matter. The Prime Minister presented the official stance of our country on the above-mentioned issues.


DIASPORA SHOULD COUNTER TURKEY'S DIVIDE AND CONQUER STRATEGY
By Harut Sassounian
AZG Armenian Daily
26/09/2008

Armenians worldwide have been following with great concern sinister Turkish attempts at rapprochement with Armenia.

Their apprehension is based on several factors. The first is that Turkey has pre-conditioned its rapprochement with the demand that Armenia participate in a historical commission on the Armenian Genocide---a devious stratagem to cast doubt on the long established facts of the Armenian Genocide.

Furthermore, Turkish leaders have publicly announced that their true intent is to let the world know that Armenians and Turks are engaged in serious negotiations on the Armenian Genocide, therefore, it is no longer necessary for the U.S. Congress or parliaments around the world to adopt resolutions on this issue.

Finally, Turkish leaders have stated that by making a separate deal with Armenia, they would be rendering the Armenian Diaspora and its demands irrelevant.

Nevertheless, in assessing the Turkish attempt at reconciliation with Armenia, one needs to keep in mind the following issues:

In the aftermath of the recent Russian-Georgian war, all countries in the region have re-evaluated their strategic interests. The opening of the Turkish border would reduce Armenia's reliance on Georgian ports to import more than 80% of its supplies. To protect Armenia's national security, the Parliament should immediately adopt legislation prohibiting foreign ownership of strategic resources, vital industries and real estate in sensitive border regions.

Turkey, on the other hand, has several reasons for wanting to improveits relations with Armenia:

1) Having normal diplomatic relations and an open border with all its neighbors, including Armenia, would help realize Turkey's desire of becoming a dominant regional power

2) To help bring economic prosperity to the most destitute regions of Eastern Turkey

3) To provide an opportunity for Turkey to project its political and economic power across the Armenian border, all the way to the Central Asian Republics

4) To downplay the charges of genocide from the Armenian Diaspora and third countries by establishing a historical commission

5) To facilitate Turkey's entry into the European Union, since having open borders with neighboring states is an EU requirement.

The rapprochement between Armenia and Turkey is also being encouraged by Europe and the United States, because it would create an alternate land corridor for the unimpeded transport of vital oil and gas supplies from the Caspian region to the West. This new initiative also serves
Russia's interests, as the opening of the Armenian/Turkish borderwould diminish the value of Georgia's Black Sea ports.

While it is understandable why Armenia and Turkey are seeking improved relations, it remains to be seen whether Armenia would be better off at the end of these deliberations, given Turkey's extensive diplomatic experience compared to that of Armenia. After all, getting concessions
from Turkey is not an easy task, as demonstrated by the lengthy and unproductive negotiations over Cyprus. What counts is the end result, rather than the process itself!

Rather than getting involved in acrimonious debates with Armenia's leadership, we should acknowledge that Armenia's interests may sometimes diverge from those of the Diaspora, and that the two would take different positions on some issues, given the differences in their status. Therefore, Diaspora communities should pursue their own agenda, independently from that of Armenia.

In order to counter Turkey's attempts to make the Diaspora irrelevant, Armenians worldwide should continue their efforts to expose Turkish crimes against humanity and go beyond mere genocide recognition by expanding their activities to the following areas:

- Pass resolutions in the U.S. Congress and European parliaments,
seeking to defend the human rights of the Armenian minority in Turkey,
particularly the rights of Armenian churches and schools;

- Demand the lifting of an undeclared ban on Armenian citizens of
Turkey to enter its diplomatic service or hold high-ranking military
posts;

- File lawsuits in the European Court of Human Rights and U.S. Federal
Courts to force Turkey to return to the Armenian Patriarchate of
Constantinople (Istanbul) the hundreds of Armenian church buildings
confiscated by the Turkish government after the Genocide;

- Seek the return of personal properties expropriated by Turkey;

- Expose the muzzling of Turkish citizens under Article 301 of the
Turkish Penal Code which makes it a crime to refer to the Armenian
Genocide; and

- Strongly counter all attempts by Turkish officials and their hired
lackeys to deny and distort the facts of the Armenian Genocide.


TURKISH AIRSPACE COMPLETELY OPEN FOR ARMENIA
PanARMENIAN.Net
26.09.2008 18:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia will henceforth be offered the same rules
as the other countries crossing the Turkish airspace.

Turkey has completely opened its airspace for Armenia, which lost
air communication routes after the Georgian-Russian conflict.

All limitations for Armenian aircraft have been lifted,
Azeri Trend
news agency reports with reference to CNN Turk
.
[reliabe source of news???]


YEREVAN'S ZVARTNOTS AIRPORT TOUGHENS RULES, FORBIDS CARRYING LIQUID IN HAND LUGGAGE
ARKA
Sep 26, 2008

YEREVAN, September 26. /ARKA/. Yerevan's Zvartnots Airport will give
effect to new rules from October 1, prohibiting passengers to carry
liquid in hand luggage, the press service of Armenia's national air
carrier Armavia reports.

According to the new rules, drinks, water, gels and aerosols in hand
luggage must not exceed 100ml.

All the passengers of Zvartnots, including transit passengers, are
to show inspectors the liquid in their bags and send it as heavy
luggage.


OSCE Deplores Freeze On Armenian TV Tenders
By Emil Danielyan

A senior official from the Organization for Security and Cooperation
urged the Armenian authorities on Friday to repeal legal amendments
that prolonged a de facto ban on the country's main independent TV
station for at least two more years.

Under government-drafted amendments approved by the Armenian
parliament earlier this month, the National Commission on Television
and Radio (NCTR) is not allowed to hold fresh tenders for
broadcasting licenses until July 2010.

The government says the measure is necessary for expediting Armenia's
transition to mandatory digital broadcasting by 2012. But government
critics believe its real purpose is to fend off renewed Western
pressure for the reopening of A1+, the only national TV channel that
had regularly aired criticism of the government before being pulled
off the air in 2002.

Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE representative on freedom of the media,
also questioned the official rationale for the move in a letter to
President Serzh Sarkisian released by his office. "By cutting off any
potential applicant broadcasters from entering the market until 2010,
the limited pluralism in Armenia's broadcasting sector will be
further diminished," he said.

"A moratorium on new licenses for analogue transmission should not be
the first step in the transition to digital broadcasting.
Digitalization should not be allowed to reduce diversity and
plurality or preserve a lack thereof. If the broadcasting landscape
in a country is not sufficiently pluralistic and diverse, it would be
appropriate to delay digitalization and undertake other reforms
first," added Haraszti.

A1+ lost its broadcasting frequency in a supposedly competitive
tender that was won by a pro-government media outlet. Its numerous
attempts to win another frequency have been blocked by the government-
controlled NCTR since then.

In a largely symbolic verdict, the European Court of Human Rights
last June fined the Armenian government 20,000 euros ($30,000) for
the ban and said the NCTR's consistent rejection of A1+ applications
violated the European Convention on Human Rights. The Strasbourg-
based court stopped short of explicitly ordering the Armenian
authorities to allow A1+ to resume broadcasts, though.

Haraszti said the freeze on issuing broadcasting licenses runs
counter to the court ruling. The Vienna-based official also pointed
to a recent resolution by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe that urged Armenia to "ensure an open, fair and transparent
licensing procedure" and allow A1+ to apply for a new license.


Such actions would make it perfectly clear to Turkish officials
that unless they deal directly with the Diaspora and reach a fair
settlement on the damages emanating from the Armenian Genocide,
they would continue to be hounded around the globe, regardless of
any agreements they might have reached with the Armenian government.

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Friday 26 September 2008

The Economist - Turkey and Armenia: Friends and Neighbours

Turkey and Armenia

Friends and neighbours
Sep 25th 2008 | ANKARA AND YEREVAN
From The Economist print edition


Rising hopes of better relations between two historic enemies




KEMAL ATATURK , father of modern Turkey, rescued hundreds of Armenian women and children from mass slaughter by Ottoman forces during and after the first world war. This untold story, which is sure to surprise many of today’s Turks, is one of many collected by the Armenian genocide museum in Yerevan that “will soon be brought to light on our website,” promises Hayk Demoyan, its director.

His project is one more example of shifting relations between Turkey and Armenia. On September 6th President Abdullah Gul became the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia when he attended a football match. Mr Gul’s decision to accept an invitation from Armenia’s president, Serzh Sarkisian, has raised expectations that Turkey may establish diplomatic ties and open the border it closed during the 1990s fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. The two foreign ministers were planning to meet in New York this week. Armenia promises to recognise Turkey’s borders and to allow a commission of historians to investigate the fate of the Ottoman Armenians.

Reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia could tilt the balance of power in the Caucasus. Russia is Armenia’s closest regional ally. It has two bases and around 2,000 troops there. The war in Georgia has forced Armenia to rethink its position. Some 70% of its supplies flow through Georgia, and these were disrupted by Russian bombing. Peace with Turkey would give Armenia a new outside link. Some think Russia would be happy too. “It would allow Russia to marginalise and lean harder on Georgia,” argues Alexander Iskandaryan, director of the Caucasus Media Institute.

Mending fences with Armenia would bolster Turkey’s regional clout. And it might also help to kill a resolution proposed by the American Congress to call the slaughter of the Armenians in 1915 genocide. That makes the Armenian diaspora, which is campaigning for genocide recognition, unhappy. Some speak of a “Turkish trap” aimed at rewriting history to absolve Turkey of wrongdoing. Indeed, hawks in Turkey are pressing Armenia to drop all talk of genocide.

Even more ambitiously, the hawks want better ties with Armenia to be tied anew to progress over Nagorno-Karabakh. But at least Mr Gul seems determined to press ahead. “If we allow the dynamics that were set in motion by the Yerevan match to slip away, we may have to wait another 15-20 years for a similar chance to arise,” he has said.


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Economic News from Armenia -


CONSTRUCTION OF NEW NUCLEAR POWER UNIT IN ARMENIA TO COST 5.2-7.2 BILLION DOLLARS
Noyan Tapan
Sep 24, 2008

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 24, NOYAN TAPAN. A document on Armenia's joining
the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) will be signed during a
conference of GNEP in Paris on October 1, the RA minister of energy
and natural resources Armen Movsisian stated at a September 24 event
on presentation of the sections "Information on the Environment of the
New Nuclear Power Unit in Armenia" and "Preliminary Planning Studies"
which make the main part of the documents "Feasibility Study on
Construction of a New Nuclear Power Unit in Armenia" and "Assessment
of the Impact of the New Nuclear Power Unit on the Environment". The
documents were developed with the assistance of USAID.

According to the minister, the indicated documents' section on
personnel training is being prepared with the help of the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and will be ready in June 2009, while
the section on geophysical and seismological characteristics of
the platform of the power unit to be built is being developed with
financing of the Armenian side. The indicated documents will be
finished in June 2009.

The minister said that in December 2008 the Armenian government will
submit the bill on construction of a new nuclear power unit of the
Armenian Nuclear Power Plant (ANPP). With its adoption, the powers
and obligations of the organizations involved in the construction of
the new power unit will be established.

The U.S. ambassador to Armenia Marie Yovanovitch said that it is
planned to decommission the operating unit of the ANPP in 2016,
and taking into account the fact that it generates 40% of Armenia's
electric power, the replacement of the capacity of the operating unit
is of great importance from the viewpoint of ensuring Armenia's energy
security. This is the reason why the U.S. government assists Armenia
with creation of new replacement capacities.

In her words, the new power unit will open new opportunities for
Armenia and will enable to deepen the regional energy integration
and develop the regional energy market.

The above mentioned main sections of the documents "Feasibility Study
on Construction of a New Nuclear Power Unit in Armenia" and "Assessment
of the Impact of the New Nuclear Power Unit on the Enviroment" were
presented by Armen Arzumanian, the head of the first company of PA
Consulting Group/ Scientech group involved in the development of
the documents. He said that the operating nuclear power unit will
be decommissioned in 2016 - at the end of the designed term of its
service, in case of availability of a replacement nuclear capacity. It
is envisaged constructing the new power unit in the area of the ANPP
and putting it into operation in 2017.

The construction cost of the new nuclear power unit with a capacity
of 1,000-1,200 megawatts will make 5.2-7.2 billion USD. The only
possible source of debt finance of the project are the export credit
agencies of construction service and equipment supplying countries. The
project's financing at the expense of own capital will be done with
Armenia's state resources, and resources of private investors and a
state-private association. Financial resources of the governments of
Armenia's neighboring sates are another possible source of finance.

The calculated wholesale tariff of electricity to be generated by the
new nuclear power unit will make 7.5 cents a kilowatt if the Armenian
government is the owner of the unit, 9.7 cents if the owner is the
state-private association, and 12.7 cents if the power unit is owned
by an independent investor.

By the documents, for Armenia, the program of expansion of atomic
energy production has no economic alternative because in case of any
scenario of financing the construction of a nuclear power unit, the
cost of electricity generated by a nuclear unit is much lower than
that generated by thermal power plants with an equivalent capacity.


IRAN TO DELIVER GAS TO ARMENIA
PanARMENIAN.Net
23.09.2008 17:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The head of Iranian Gas Export Company says the
country will be able to provide Armenia with the gas it needs during
the coming winter.

"Iran will pump three million cubic meters of gas to Armenia during
this winter," said Reza Kasaei-Zadeh.

Armenia's Minister of Energy, Armen Movsisyan, recently said that the
capacity of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline project would increase to
2.5 billion cubic meters per year.

"The opening of the Iranian-Armenian pipeline will guarantee the
energy safety of Armenia," he said.

He added that this would become feasible by increasing the capacity
of the Kadzharan-Yerevan section of the pipeline by November, 2008.

The Iran-Armenia gas pipeline project was officially opened on
March 19, 2007 by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Armenian
President Robert Kocharian. The project will provide Armenia with an
alternative to the gas it now imports from Russia.

The two countries will share the $220 million cost of the 140 kilometer
pipeline, Press TV reports.


Armenia Slides In Global Corruption Rankings
By Astghik Bedevian

The situation with government corruption in Armenia has continued to
slowly but steadily deteriorate in the past year, according to the
latest global survey released by a respected anti-graft watchdog on
Tuesday.

Every year the Berlin-based Transparency International (TI) rates
countries of the world on a 10-point scale, with zero indicating an
extremely high degree of corruption as perceived by entrepreneurs and
experts.

Armenia, along with Argentina, Moldova and four other states, ranked
109th out of 180 nations covered by Transparency International's 2008
Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). It was assigned a score of 2.9,
faring slightly worse than it did in the previous CPI released one
year ago.

Armenia's score is based on seven corruption-related surveys
conducted by other organizations, including the World Bank. It had
already dropped by 0.1 point to 3.0 last year, dragging the country
down to 99th place in TI's 2007 rankings.

By contrast, TI found a further significant drop in perceived
corruption in neighboring Georgia, giving the latter 3.9 points and
putting it in 67th place. Georgia was 79th in last year's CPI.

As always, the Armenian government and its supporters will draw
comfort from the fact that all other non-Baltic former Soviet states
were again judged to be more corrupt than Armenia. In particular, its
arch-foe Azerbaijan regressed to 158th place in TI's latest rankings.

TI's Armenian affiliate, the Center for Regional Development (CRD),
portrayed the survey as a further indication of the `systemic'
character of bribery and other corrupt practices that have long
plagued the country. `Unfortunately, there are very few areas
unaffected by corruption,' the CRD chairwoman, Amalia Kostanian, told
a news conference. `If corruption is systemic, you can not eradicate
it in one particular area.'

The administration of former President Robert Kocharian pledged to
combat corruption throughout its decade-long rule that came to an end
last spring. It launched in 2003 a Western-backed anti-corruption
program consisting of mainly legislative measures. There is little
evidence that they have reduced the scale of graft, however.

Kocharian's successor and longtime close associate, Serzh Sarkisian,
admitted in July that the virtual absence of prosecutions of corrupt
government officials has undermined public trust in the declared
crackdowns on corruption. `People must see that we are not only
talking but also acting,' Sarkisian said in a speech. `If we talk
about corruption all day long and don't show persons engaged in it,
then our actions will not only produce zero results but will further
aggravate the situation.'

His prime minister, Tigran Sarkisian, (no relation) has been even
more vocal in acknowledging the seriousness of the problem. Sarkisian
has described graft as the number one problem facing Armenia.

Opposition politicians and other government critics dismiss the
significance of such statements, saying that corruption is one of the
pillars of Armenia's political system that has allowed Kocharian,
Sarkisian and other top officials to stay in power. They also say
that Armenian law-enforcement agencies are themselves too corrupt to
tackle the problem in earnest.


New Russian Gas Price For Armenia Unveiled
By Ruzanna Stepanian

Armenian officials disclosed on Tuesday the new, considerably higher
price of Russian natural gas which Armenia will have to pay next year
and which will rise further in 2010.

The national gas distribution company ArmRosGazprom (ARG) said that
under the terms of its agreement signed with Russia's Gazprom
monopoly last week, the gas price will grow from $110 to $154 per
thousand cubic meters starting from April 1, 2009.

The agreement signed in Moscow envisages the tariff's gradual
increase to international levels, currently exceeding $250 per
thousand cubic meters, within the next few years. According to ARG's
chief executive, Karen Karapetian, Gazprom will be charging Armenia
$200 per thousand cubic meters from April 2010.

President Serzh Sarkisian and top ARG executives downplayed the price
hike's impact on Armenian households and corporate users as they
revealed it during a meeting at the Russian-controlled company's
Yerevan headquarters. `The tariffs that will take effect on April 1,
2009 will only slightly increase the socioeconomic burden [of the
population,]' Sarkisian said.

`I am convinced that the new tariffs will not weigh heavily on the
economy,' Karapetian told reporters after the meeting. He said the
increased cost of Russian gas, the main source of winter heating for
Armenian households, will be mitigated by recent years' dramatic
appreciation of the Armenian dram against the U.S. dollar.

Karapetian also stressed the fact that the measure will take effect
after the 2008-2009 heating season and therefore spare the population
extra spending this winter.

Russian gas is also used by local thermal-power plants that general
about one third of Armenia's electricity. Whether they will seek to
raise their electricity fees as a result is not yet known.

The retail prices of gas in the country already surged by 50 percent
on May 1 after the Armenian government stopped subsidizing them with
proceeds from a controversial 2006 deal with Gazprom that left more
Armenian energy assets under Russian control.

The latest tariff deal with Gazprom came amid the nearing completion
of work on the second and final section of a gas pipeline linking
Armenia to neighboring Iran. Sarkisian announced on September 3
Armenia will be able to import up to 2.5 billion cubic meters of
Iranian gas annually `in late October or early November.'

Gazprom supplies to Armenia totaled just over 2 billion cubic meters
last year.

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Armenian News - Turkey scared to admit Armenian genocide, says historian


Remarks cast shadow over efforts to rebuild relations

Turkish show interest in museum of tragedy

Monday September 22 2008
Members of the Armenian community join a demonstration march in London

Members of the Armenian community join a demonstration march in London in 2005. Photograph: Edmond Terakopian/PA

Turkey risks a collapse of its secular political system akin to that of the Soviet Union if it bows to international pressure to recognise the 1915-22 Armenian genocide, the head of Armenia's state memorial to the event has told the Guardian.

Hayk Demoyan said Ankara could not acknowledge the systematic killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman troops during the first world war because it would lead to a wholesale re-writing of history and undermine the ideological basis of the Turkish state.

In remarks that will cast a shadow over attempts to forge a new Turkish-Armenian rapprochement, he said those implicated included Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of modern Turkey and a figure Turks are taught to revere. Historical documents proved Atatürk committed "war crimes" against Armenians and other groups in his drive to create an ethnically homogeneous Turkish state, Demoyan insisted. "Fear of rewriting history is the main fear of modern Turkey," said Demoyan, director of The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute in Yerevan, Armenia's capital.

"It is a fear of facing historical reality and causing a total collapse of the ideological axis that modern republican Turkey was formed around. Turks get panicked when you compare Atatürk's legacy to Lenin.

Atatürk was sentenced to death in absentia by a military judge to punish war crimes during the first world war. There are documents from non-Armenian sources listing him as a war criminal ."

Demoyan's remarks come amid fledgling attempts to re-establish links between two countries which have not had diplomatic relations since 1994, following a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Turkey's ally.

Tentative efforts towards normalising ties occurred this month when the Turkish president, Abdullah Gül, visited Yerevan to attend a World Cup football match between Turkey and Armenia at the invitation of his Armenian counterpart, Serge Sarkisian.

Unlike most visiting heads of state, Gül did not visit the genocide museum, which displays documentary and photographic exhibits proving, Armenian officials say, that their ethnic brethren were subjected to deliberate genocide. Turkey vehemently denies this and has jailed Turkish citizens who argued otherwise. However, rising numbers of Turkish tourists and journalists have visited the museum recently.

"More than 500 Turks have visited this year. They've come in unprecedented numbers," Demoyan said. "Their reaction is one of shock. At first there is denial. Sometimes they ask: 'What is our sin?' or 'How can we be responsible for this?'. It's not taught in Turkish schools, so we understand their reaction."

Turkey claims the Armenian death toll has been exaggerated and that most victims died from starvation or disease. It also argues that many Turks were killed by Armenian groups.

ARMENIA STRIVES TO MAINTAIN BALANCED FOREIGN POLICY
Yerevan to host NATO exercises as it chairs Russian-backed security body.
By Ara Tadevosian in Yerevan

The August war between Armenia's close ally Russia and close neighbour Georgia rocked its foreign policy of "complementarity", but analysts say President Serzh Sarkisian is working hard on maintaining a balance between Russia and the West.

Following Moscow's recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on August 26, the Russian leadership sought the support of its allies in the Commonwealth of Independent States Collective Security Pact, of which Armenia is now the chairman, signalling that it wanted them to follow the Russian lead over the two territories.

But two days before the members of the security pact were due to meet in Moscow, Sarkisian made it clear that he would not be recognising the two breakaway territories.

On September 3, Sarkisian told foreign diplomats in Yerevan, "Armenia cannot recognise the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, not having recognised the independence of Nagorny Karabakh."

The Nagorny Karabakh Republic, which declared independence in December 1991, is strongly supported by Armenia but not recognised as an independent state by it, or any other country.

One senior western diplomat in Yerevan described Sarkisian's statement as an "elegant move", to get himself out of a serious dilemma.

Fyodor Lukyanov, editor-in-chief of the journal Russia in Global Politics, told IWPR, "They understand in the Kremlin that this is a very serious issue. Armenia is in an especially delicate position because of the problem of Karabakh. I don't believe Moscow will put pressure on Yerevan."

Analysts say that Armenia was put in a tricky position by the crisis but is hoping to manoeuvre out of it and not alienate any of the country's partners.

"Armenia will not have to make a decisive choice and to 'swear on its blood' its loyalty to one or other partner," said Lukyanov.

"On the other hand Russia of course demonstrated a new kind of behaviour [during the August crisis] and will try to consolidate its sphere of influence, something which will objectively lead to greater rivalry for the post-Soviet space and for the Caucasus.

"Russia has never concealed that it thinks of politics in this part of the world as highly competitive. Basically, the United States has thrown off appearances and adopted the same position."

From the American side, Ron Asmus, director of the Transatlantic Centre of the German Marshall Fund in Brussels, said, "It may well become harder for Armenia to maintain the balance it seeks to achieve in its policy of complementarity.

"But it won't be the US that will pressure Armenia to make any choice. We will respect the choice of Armenia and defend its right to decide where it wants to belong."

Armenia relies on both Russia, its main trading partner, and Georgia, its main transit route to the outside world, for economic survival and the war hit the Armenian economy very hard.

The blowing up of a railway bridge in central Georgia on August 16 disrupted trade to Armenia and caused two weeks of fuel shortages.

Around 70 per cent of imports to Armenia come through the Georgian port of Poti, which was occupied by Russian forces during the conflict, while land connections to Russia via Georgia have been severely restricted for almost two years.

In mid-August, in the midst of the Georgia crisis, Sarkisian told his security council that Russia is a "strategic ally" of Armenia, while Georgia is a "friendly country", indicating his strategic preference while aiming not to offend either.

Interestingly, Armenian opposition leader and former president Levon Ter-Petrosian has taken an openly pro-Russian position during the crisis.

"No one can dispute that it was Georgia who unleashed the war and did it with the aim of liquidating the Republic of South Ossetia," said Ter-Petrosian in an interview to the A1+ internet news site. "No one can also dispute that by its decisive intervention, Russia saved the South Ossetian people from genocide. If Russia had delayed its assistance even by six hours, South Ossetia would not exist today."

Alexander Iskandarian, director of the Caucasus Media Institute, said that he did not expect Georgian-Armenian relations to suffer, despite the identification of Armenia with Russia. He said that the tensions between the two countries were typical of neighbours and the leaders on both sides were able to stop them deteriorating.

On taking on the chairmanship of the CIS Collective Security Pact, Sarkisian also hinted at unhappiness with other members of the organisation. Without naming them, he appeared to be referring to Kazakstan and Uzbekistan which have given support to Azerbaijan.

The word complementarity was coined in 1998 when Sarkisian's predecessor, Robert Kocharian, was elected president to describe the country's policy of staying friends with its military ally, Russia, and the United States, which has a large Armenian diaspora as well as Europe and Iran.

One of the main aims of the policy of complementarity is to avoid "putting all your eggs in one basket". One consequence of this is that, despite the downturn in relations between Russia and the West and the virtual suspension of the Russia-NATO council, Armenia is pressing ahead with NATO exercises later this month as part of the Partnership for Peace programme.

The Cooperative Longbow/Lancer exercises will take place in Armenia from September 26 to October 21 and will be the biggest ever such NATO exercise to be held in the South Caucasus.

Around 1,100 soldiers will take part from 21 countries from NATO, its partners and also the United Arab Emirates.

Western officials and analysts say that it is unfair to force Armenia to make a choice in its foreign policy.

US deputy assistant secretary of state Matt Bryza told the Armenian news agency Mediamax, "Armenia is an independent country with a sovereign government elected by its citizens. It can pursue any path it wishes. The United States is a close friend of Armenia's, and remains committed to helping Armenia achieve the goals of its complementarity foreign policy."

Ruben Safrastian, director of Armenia's Institute of Oriental Studies, noted that one consequence of the American-Russian stand-off in the Caucasus was Turkey's new initiative for a Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform, currently being presented at the United Nations General Assembly, which Moscow had endorsed more enthusiastically than Washington.

Safrastian said that because it saw itself as having a stronger position in the South Caucasus, Moscow did not see the possible normalisation of Armenian-Turkish relations as a threat and would be supporting this process.

Ara Tadevosian is director of Mediamax news agency in Yerevan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Armenian News - Turkey scared to admit Armenian genocide, says historian


Remarks cast shadow over efforts to rebuild relations

Turkish show interest in museum of tragedy

Monday September 22 2008

Members of the Armenian community join a demonstration march in London in 2005. Photograph: Edmond Terakopian/PA

Turkey risks a collapse of its secular political system akin to that of the Soviet Union if it bows to international pressure to recognise the 1915-22 Armenian genocide, the head of Armenia's state memorial to the event has told the Guardian.

Hayk Demoyan said Ankara could not acknowledge the systematic killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman troops during the first world war because it would lead to a wholesale re-writing of history and undermine the ideological basis of the Turkish state.

In remarks that will cast a shadow over attempts to forge a new Turkish-Armenian rapprochement, he said those implicated included Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of modern Turkey and a figure Turks are taught to revere. Historical documents proved Atatürk committed "war crimes" against Armenians and other groups in his drive to create an ethnically homogeneous Turkish state, Demoyan insisted. "Fear of rewriting history is the main fear of modern Turkey," said Demoyan, director of The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute in Yerevan, Armenia's capital.

"It is a fear of facing historical reality and causing a total collapse of the ideological axis that modern republican Turkey was formed around. Turks get panicked when you compare Atatürk's legacy to Lenin.

Atatürk was sentenced to death in absentia by a military judge to punish war crimes during the first world war. There are documents from non-Armenian sources listing him as a war criminal ."

Demoyan's remarks come amid fledgling attempts to re-establish links between two countries which have not had diplomatic relations since 1994, following a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Turkey's ally.

Tentative efforts towards normalising ties occurred this month when the Turkish president, Abdullah Gül, visited Yerevan to attend a World Cup football match between Turkey and Armenia at the invitation of his Armenian counterpart, Serge Sarkisian.

Unlike most visiting heads of state, Gül did not visit the genocide museum, which displays documentary and photographic exhibits proving, Armenian officials say, that their ethnic brethren were subjected to deliberate genocide. Turkey vehemently denies this and has jailed Turkish citizens who argued otherwise. However, rising numbers of Turkish tourists and journalists have visited the museum recently.

"More than 500 Turks have visited this year. They've come in unprecedented numbers," Demoyan said. "Their reaction is one of shock. At first there is denial. Sometimes they ask: 'What is our sin?' or 'How can we be responsible for this?'. It's not taught in Turkish schools, so we understand their reaction."

Turkey claims the Armenian death toll has been exaggerated and that most victims died from starvation or disease. It also argues that many Turks were killed by Armenian groups.

ARMENIA STRIVES TO MAINTAIN BALANCED FOREIGN POLICY
Yerevan to host NATO exercises as it chairs Russian-backed security body.
By Ara Tadevosian in Yerevan

The August war between Armenia's close ally Russia and close neighbour Georgia rocked its foreign policy of "complementarity", but analysts say President Serzh Sarkisian is working hard on maintaining a balance between Russia and the West.

Following Moscow's recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on August 26, the Russian leadership sought the support of its allies in the Commonwealth of Independent States Collective Security Pact, of which Armenia is now the chairman, signalling that it wanted them to follow the Russian lead over the two territories.

But two days before the members of the security pact were due to meet in Moscow, Sarkisian made it clear that he would not be recognising the two breakaway territories.

On September 3, Sarkisian told foreign diplomats in Yerevan, "Armenia cannot recognise the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, not having recognised the independence of Nagorny Karabakh."

The Nagorny Karabakh Republic, which declared independence in December 1991, is strongly supported by Armenia but not recognised as an independent state by it, or any other country.

One senior western diplomat in Yerevan described Sarkisian's statement as an "elegant move", to get himself out of a serious dilemma.

Fyodor Lukyanov, editor-in-chief of the journal Russia in Global Politics, told IWPR, "They understand in the Kremlin that this is a very serious issue. Armenia is in an especially delicate position because of the problem of Karabakh. I don't believe Moscow will put pressure on Yerevan."

Analysts say that Armenia was put in a tricky position by the crisis but is hoping to manoeuvre out of it and not alienate any of the country's partners.

"Armenia will not have to make a decisive choice and to 'swear on its blood' its loyalty to one or other partner," said Lukyanov.

"On the other hand Russia of course demonstrated a new kind of behaviour [during the August crisis] and will try to consolidate its sphere of influence, something which will objectively lead to greater rivalry for the post-Soviet space and for the Caucasus.

"Russia has never concealed that it thinks of politics in this part of the world as highly competitive. Basically, the United States has thrown off appearances and adopted the same position."

From the American side, Ron Asmus, director of the Transatlantic Centre of the German Marshall Fund in Brussels, said, "It may well become harder for Armenia to maintain the balance it seeks to achieve in its policy of complementarity.

"But it won't be the US that will pressure Armenia to make any choice. We will respect the choice of Armenia and defend its right to decide where it wants to belong."

Armenia relies on both Russia, its main trading partner, and Georgia, its main transit route to the outside world, for economic survival and the war hit the Armenian economy very hard.

The blowing up of a railway bridge in central Georgia on August 16 disrupted trade to Armenia and caused two weeks of fuel shortages.

Around 70 per cent of imports to Armenia come through the Georgian port of Poti, which was occupied by Russian forces during the conflict, while land connections to Russia via Georgia have been severely restricted for almost two years.

In mid-August, in the midst of the Georgia crisis, Sarkisian told his security council that Russia is a "strategic ally" of Armenia, while Georgia is a "friendly country", indicating his strategic preference while aiming not to offend either.

Interestingly, Armenian opposition leader and former president Levon Ter-Petrosian has taken an openly pro-Russian position during the crisis.

"No one can dispute that it was Georgia who unleashed the war and did it with the aim of liquidating the Republic of South Ossetia," said Ter-Petrosian in an interview to the A1+ internet news site. "No one can also dispute that by its decisive intervention, Russia saved the South Ossetian people from genocide. If Russia had delayed its assistance even by six hours, South Ossetia would not exist today."

Alexander Iskandarian, director of the Caucasus Media Institute, said that he did not expect Georgian-Armenian relations to suffer, despite the identification of Armenia with Russia. He said that the tensions between the two countries were typical of neighbours and the leaders on both sides were able to stop them deteriorating.

On taking on the chairmanship of the CIS Collective Security Pact, Sarkisian also hinted at unhappiness with other members of the organisation. Without naming them, he appeared to be referring to Kazakstan and Uzbekistan which have given support to Azerbaijan.

The word complementarity was coined in 1998 when Sarkisian's predecessor, Robert Kocharian, was elected president to describe the country's policy of staying friends with its military ally, Russia, and the United States, which has a large Armenian diaspora as well as Europe and Iran.

One of the main aims of the policy of complementarity is to avoid "putting all your eggs in one basket". One consequence of this is that, despite the downturn in relations between Russia and the West and the virtual suspension of the Russia-NATO council, Armenia is pressing ahead with NATO exercises later this month as part of the Partnership for Peace programme.

The Cooperative Longbow/Lancer exercises will take place in Armenia from September 26 to October 21 and will be the biggest ever such NATO exercise to be held in the South Caucasus.

Around 1,100 soldiers will take part from 21 countries from NATO, its partners and also the United Arab Emirates.

Western officials and analysts say that it is unfair to force Armenia to make a choice in its foreign policy.

US deputy assistant secretary of state Matt Bryza told the Armenian news agency Mediamax, "Armenia is an independent country with a sovereign government elected by its citizens. It can pursue any path it wishes. The United States is a close friend of Armenia's, and remains committed to helping Armenia achieve the goals of its complementarity foreign policy."

Ruben Safrastian, director of Armenia's Institute of Oriental Studies, noted that one consequence of the American-Russian stand-off in the Caucasus was Turkey's new initiative for a Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform, currently being presented at the United Nations General Assembly, which Moscow had endorsed more enthusiastically than Washington.

Safrastian said that because it saw itself as having a stronger position in the South Caucasus, Moscow did not see the possible normalisation of Armenian-Turkish relations as a threat and would be supporting this process.

Ara Tadevosian is director of Mediamax news agency in Yerevan.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thursday 25 September 2008

Hear Our Cry! Enough Is Enough! - Sarine Khatchikian


Dear Reader

This letter was sent to me well before Seta’s Armenian Blog was created and I would like to take this opportunity to air it as it touches me each time I read it, and I do not know if this lady is still alive or how things have panned out for the children under her care at her school. I seem to remember forwarding her plea to a National Broadcast TV Station, but to date I have not had a reply.


Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2006 3:16 PM

Subject: Hear Our Cry! Enough Is Enough!

Hear Our Cry! Enough Is Enough!

I am a citizen of Lebanon living in this biblical land. Currently being one of those who is living and witnessing the ongoing horror in my beautiful country, I am enraged, angered, sad, distressed and confused as to what to do.

I am sick and tired of people taking advantage of my country, carrying out their own wars on my land, cleaning up their dirty laundry at the cost of my fellow citizens. I am not a supporter of any political party; I am with the land of "Milk and Honey" as the Bible states. My rage is against Israel, Hezbollah, Bush’s USA, Iran, Syria and the previous Lebanese government.

How dare they, under selfish pretexts, which I do not even wish to discern, exploit our country to settle their horrendous accounts. Hezbollah claims to be defending its land. I used to admire that group during the years when Israel had occupied the South, being the only ones to defend the land. After the occupation, they should have joined the Lebanese Army if they really intended to defend this land. They have no right to compel the people of Lebanon to pay the price for their selfish moves!

Bush (yes, Bush, not even Mr. Bush!) has declared himself as nothing short of the next Messiah who has taken under his ‘wings’ the duty of bringing justice to the world, stopping terror from the globe!!! What a noble and kindred spirit! Shame on him! What right does he have to violate the privacies of other countries? Before meddling internationally, one should clean up the national disorder. What about the homeless in the USA? What about the educational standards in a number of public schools? What about the crime rates in the states? What about substance abuse rates? What about tempered rights of children? What about the youth landing home in coffins from Iraq?

Israel! Shame on you for using "God’s Chosen People" as a slogan for every inhumane action in the world! God’s chosen people should be setting examples for the rest of the world, not violating every single humanitarian decree! What will you tell God about the innocent children whose lifeless bodies are hanging out from their parents’ cars as they are fleeing your bombs? What will you tell the children whose parents are lying dead in front of them with their intestines bulging out of their bodies in front of their tiny innocent eyes? What will you tell students when they find their schools completely destroyed and leveled to the ground? How can you justify bombing ambulances and humanitarian workers when they are selflessly and nobly trying to fulfill their missions of evacuating people and caring for the wounded? How can you hit homes and not allow people to remove their dead from under the rubble? THEIR DEAD! You took their lives, at least leave their dead bodies to their families!

Syria and Iran! It pains my heart to see those two beautiful countries who have throughout the history of mankind been pioneers in almost every aspect of existence (long before the Western world had even woken up) now taking a back seat in the vehicle of modernizing the world. There exist noble people in those countries who have now been classified as terrorists because of the dark leadership ruling them. If that is the way they want their countries governed, they have every right to do so! But keep Lebanon out of it!

We are not savages, we are not beasts! We are a civilized nation. We do not accept to have others recklessly run our country. It is time that we have a strong governing body that prioritizes the needs of its nation above others.

What we are facing today is Hurricane Katrina and the last Tsunami combined and then multiplied! Yes modern world, that is what we have! There are around half a million refugees all around Lebanon having taken shelter in schools, and yes, even on so-called safe "streets" sleeping on sidewalks. Do we really understand what that means? 500,000 people sleeping on the icy ground, with no blankets, no mattresses, nothing to eat but a bite of bread once a day! Do we really know what it means to have 200 people use 4 toilets and not have a single drop of water to flush it? Do we? Let’s just face the bare facts for a moment. We read and hear the media say "war" and "refugees". Now, picture one of our local schools with your entire family in it, with your newborn baby crying for milk, with your young son shaking from fear not grasping why he is sitting on the floor while his father or mother is bleeding to death in front of him and the ambulance is not coming! What would you do? Wouldn’t you spit at the face of this unjust world?

Enough is enough! The Lebanese are a proud and noble nation, who after 30 years of destructive war caught up with the rest of the world and proved to everybody that they can be the best in any professional domain.

Let us be, let us help the world with our potentials, allow us to our basic human rights so we can live and be able to welcome you on our biblical land and share with you the "Milk and Honey" that God has bestowed upon us.

Sarine Khatchikian

School Principal

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Father Sergius - Father Frank's Rants

FATHER FRANK’S RANTS

Rant 320 24 September 2008

Father Sergius

There was once a young Russian aristocrat. A prince and an officer in the Imperial army. Brilliant, intelligent, brave. Had all the gifts. Excelled in everything he did and naturally he was very proud of it. Till the day he fell in love with a beautiful, wealthy and noble young woman. Although the prince was not rich, she agreed immediately. Overjoyed, he looked forward to the wedding. Shortly before it, however, his bride shocked him: she had been the emperor’s mistress. The young man’s world fell apart.

Had it been any other man, the prince would have killed him. But he adored his emperor. Still, his pride mortally wounded, he could not continue as before. Broke the engagement and entered a monastery. Became a monk. In religion, his name was now Father Sergius. An exemplary, strict and devout servant of God. Outdid everybody else at austerities, fasts, long prayers, harsh discipline, everything. But even that wasn’t tough enough. So Sergius became a hermit. Dwelled alone in a primitive cell, some distance away from the monastery. The handsome young fellow, so proud of his looks, now let his hair grow unkempt and wore the roughest monkish cowl. Constant prayer and hard work. That was his daily routine.

Sergius’ fame for holiness spread far and wide. So much so some idle aristocrats made a wicked bet. A shapely female would knock at the door of Sergius’ hut, pretending to have lost her way, and then seduce him. One dark and stormy night the temptress got in. She really was very beautiful. The monk invoked God’s help but felt his resistance was about to yield. What should he do? He laid his forefinger on a block, picked up an axe and, with a swinging blow, chopped his finger off. Horrified, seeing the gushing blood, the woman begged for Sergius’ forgiveness. Later, she too entered a monastery.

After this act, Sergius’ reputation grew immense. They treated him as a living saint. People came from all over Russia to ask him for healing, for miracles, for mercy. Although outwardly very lowly, inwardly the monk now felt a certain pride. Until the day a rich peasant brought along his daughter, not particularly beautiful but young. They were left alone in his cell. This time Sergius gave in. Laid down with the willing girl and…fornicated.

When Sergius awoke, he thought of committing suicide. Instead, he ran away. Wandered in the woods, aimlessly. Exhausted, he slept. Dreamt of a childhood friend, an ordinary girl called Pashenka, whom he had not seen since being a boy. She was his last hope, he decided. On foot, begging his bread, Sergius travelled for days and weeks. Till he arrived, in rags, at Pashenka’s simple house. Despite the time lapse, she recognised him. Offered hospitality but Sergius wanted to know about her. What life had she led? Was she happy? Actually, she had lived a very normal life, with her share of woes, as well as joys. And she was painfully aware she was not right with God. Now Sergius saw Pashenka was all that he should have been and was not. “I lived for people, pretending it was for God, while she lives for God and thinks she is living for people.” Despite the religious habit, it had all been sheer vainglory. At last he understood God does not care for that.

So Sergius set off a wandering pilgrim, a beggar, from village to village. Until he was arrested as a vagrant and exiled to Siberia, where he settled on the holding of a wealthy farmer. He lived on there as a gardener, teaching the children and tending the sick.

Leo Tolstoy authored ‘Father Sergius’. A story the philosopher Wittgenstein would advise his favourite students to read. The solution to the riddle of human existence, he thought, is hinted at in tales such as this. Perhaps. Certainly Tolstoy meant it as a parable of human pride. Sergius is at heart a fine, decent human being. Endowed with many natural and spiritual gifts. But all the devotions, the holy endeavours, the good deeds, even the humility in Sergius’ life are choked and defiled and nullified by his colossal, monstrous pride. His very saintliness is bogus because it arises out of the same human arrogance. It is only when Sergius spectacularly fails, when he is forced to realise his outwardly holy life had really been a fake, a sham and a deception, that God accepts him at last. And so in that he finds peace.

Tolstoy’s ideal was notoriously pre-industrial and sentimental. Even his Christianity was more Buddhist than orthodox. Still, in Father Sergius he is gesturing at something tremendously important. Something that may speak volumes about us today.

Pride is strictly the primeval sin. It predates creation. It is the sin by which the angels fell. Foolish pride led them, like the Titans, to storm Heaven, to attempt to dethrone God. Insightfully, in the epic poem Paradise Lost John Milton shows Satan and his rebel spirits setting out ‘to win the Mount of God, and on his Throne to set the envier of his State, the proud Aspirer’. And Adam and Eve’s transgression also arose out of the same fateful root, human pride. The serpent knew it when he invited them ‘to become like God, knowing good and evil’. Hence the Fall.

Be not deceived. Pride does not manifest itself only in individuals. It also rages in the life of institutions, cultures and nations. Thus the priest sees the economic and financial upheavals now shaking the Western world as also rooted in inordinate human pride. Our civilisation is puffed up with its own human achievements. It glories in its own man-made idols, its human rights, its liberal democracy, its wealth, its consumerism, its sexual freedom, its bogus celebrities, its vile entertainment industry...it could go on. In truth, the West has quietly dethroned God – not by violent revolution against him but, worse, by ignoring his presence, his commandments, his love – and has replaced his worship with the monotheism of the market. But now the proud visage of that phoney idol is cracked, its frown of superiority is humbled, the sneer of command has gone.

Verily, a god that has failed. Al Hamdulillah!

Revd Frank Julian Gelli

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Results of our first online survey - GIBRAHAYER e-magazine


GIBRAHAYER
e-magazine

www dot gibrahayer dot com
The largest circulation Armenian e-magazine
Circulates every Wednesday
Established in 1999

GIBRAHAYER'S FIRST ONLINE
MINI-SURVEY REVEALS...

Gibrahayer - Nicosia 24 September, 2008 - Gibrahayer e-magazine's first online survey has provided interesting information about our community that may help decision-making bodies to re-assess their mission in our island.
No doubt, there are aspects of the survey itself that could be organised in a different way. Subscribers have come forward with new ideas, to include more questions, to have more options and use different models and approaches.
The few people actively involved with Gibrahayer's publications probably could not undertake a bigger survey. In order to accomplish this we will need volunteers. You can begin by sending to us an email and we will do our best to put people and questions together and organise a bigger survey.
The survey that we publicise today, probably has certain shortcomings. We start with the very fact that this was an ONLINE survey and not a telephone or postal one. We are certain that we would have had similar shortcomings if the survey was conducted over the phone. Would the interviewees truthfully answer the questions put to us? Perhaps an online survey better catered for anonymity.
Nevertheless, Gibrahayer's first online survey IS a reality and here are YOUR results, which provide a near indication and some trends in our community.

ONLINE SURVEY RESULTS

  • Despite our Christian values and pride as the first Christian nation, only 18% regularly attend Church, almost 6% never attend Church and the rest attend Church a few times a year on christenings, weddings and funerals.
  • Despite attempts in recent years to increase Greek learning at the expense of Armenian and English, 54% of parents wanted to send their children to English secondary private schools with 0% to a Greek Cypriot Gymnasium.
  • Despite talk of regression of the Armenian language, 70% said that they spoke Armenian best, better than Greek or English.
  • Despite a close contest in the elections of a few years ago, Armenian MP Vartkes Mahdessian was rated with a combined positive vote of "good" and "excellent" taking 66% while 23% did not give an opinion and 11% declared that they found the MP's work "unsatisfactory".
  • Despite the size of the community and ongoing talk that community functions are not attended well, only 13% declared they do not attend events and 10% that they attended less than three functions a year.
  • Despite the fact that 18% skipped the question, Cypriot political parties received the following preferences. DIKO 34%, DISY 29%, AKEL 25%, EDEK 15%.
  • Despite 14% skipping the questions the Gibrahayer placed themselves, 19% right-wing, 24% center-right, 49% center-left and 9% communist.
  • Despite efforts by the "graduating" Hokapartsoutiun to show that there are
    minimal problems in Nareg, only 4% found Nareg's mission extremely good, 25% very good, while 71% gave Nareg a negative vote between "could be much better" (51%) and very bad (20%).
  • Despite being labelled upper Middle-class, almost 30% said they were just making ends meet, 5% not making ends meet, 10% said that money was not an issue, while one in two stated they were simply living comfortably.
  • Despite the fact that Armenian Cypriots declare being chezok (neutral) and almost 18% skipped the question, when asked if they were to vote which Armenian political party they would vote for, Ramgavars collected 14%, Henchagians, 13%, Communists 5% and ARF Dashnaktsoutiun 70%.

POLITIS FACT SHEET ON GIBRAHAYER NOW ONLINE

GIBRAHAYER e-magazine

To view the 22-page Chronicle published in Politis newspaper by
Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra, click on the image above or click
here

TURKISH AND ARMENIAN DIPLOMATS BEGIN NEXT ROUND OF NEGOTIATIONS

September 20 - ArmInfo: The next round of negotiations between the Armenian and Turkish diplomats began in Switzerland, APA reports with reference to the Turkish Daily News. According to the newspaper, diplomats are trying to finalise a draft for the common declaration of goodwill in the wake of a tripartite meeting between the foreign ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia to take place in New York at the end of September, said the Turkish Daily News, APA reports.
Undersecretary of the foreign ministry, Ertugrul Apakan, and his deputy, Unal Chevikez, headed for Switzerland late Sunday to meet their counterparts in Bern, which already hosted two rounds of talks in May and July.
Diplomatic sources said Armenia now moves closer to giving a green light for a joint committee of historians to study the events of 1915. The source recalls that the Armenian and Turkish diplomats have already held secret negotiations in Switzerland in May.

REMEMBERING ADANA 1909
A Hundred Year Perspective
GIBRAHAYER e-magazine
CALL FOR PAPERS

To mark the centenary of the Adana Massacres of 1909 a one-day symposium will be held at the London School of Economics on 28 March 2009. The meeting will look back at Adana 1909 to evaluate the humanitarian activity in the aftermath of the 1909
massacres and to explore the response, imagery and meaning ascribed to those events.
Since 1909, Adana has continued to resonate as an evocative historic community in the consciousness of the Armenian Diaspora, and it has commanded artistic responses in literature, art and film.

Possible subjects might include, but are not limited to, the following:
* the response to Adana 1909 by observers, survivors, humanitarian organizations and writers;
* analysis of or new approaches to the classic texts by authors such as Zabel Yesayian, Souren Bartevian, Siamanto, Arshagouhi Teotig or Hagop Terzian;
* analysis of texts by foreign observers on Adana 1909;
* Adana in oral narratives or song;
* the relationship between art, violence and mourning;
* literary texts or film or artwork exploring Adana as lost (or ancestral) home, images of Adana, memory or Diasporan identity.
Those wishing to participate should send the titles of their proposed papers with a 300 word summary to the organising committee. Entries should include the names of presenters, their institutional affiliations, as well as contact details. Once accepted the final drafts of each paper should be sent to the organisers by February 1, 2009 for distribution amongst discussants prior to the seminar meeting. The seminar will be in English.

For more details please email adana at gomidas dot org
Organised by the Gomidas Institute, 42 Blythe Rd., London, W14 0HA, England

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GIBRAHAYER EMAGAZINE TO LAUNCH
TRIVIA GAME IN SEPTEMBER 2008

Gibrahayer - Nicosia - As part of its plans to expand its online activities, Gibrahayer e-magazine will be launching an Educational online Trivia Game, that parallel to providing prizes to its winners, will provide an educational forum on important historical and political happenings of Armenian reality.
A team across Armenia and the Diaspora has already started working on the project and the Game will be officially launched this autumn.
More than 100 major prizes have been donated and will be given out to our winning subscribers.
We urge our subscribers to support our new online activities by financially contributing to the team that will be working on the project.

MAKE OUR EDUCATIONAL TRIVIA GAME REALITY
BY CALLING
909-35037

Thank you for extending Gibrahayer e-magazine's lifeline and providing us with the opportunity to constantly bring innovation to our online services.
Call 909-35037. Every call costs 7.86 euros for Cypriot subscribers.

International subscribers can make contributions to: Marfin Popular Bank Public Company Ltd, Bank Address: Strovolos Industrial Area sub-Branch Stavrou Avenue 96-I, 2034 Nicosia - Cyprus, A/C Name: Aynedjian Simon, Account No: 101 1100 3412, Swift Code: LIKI CY 2N, IBAN: CY13 0030 0101 0000 0101 1100 3421

All names of contributors will be announced in the Autumn of 2008, when Gibrahayer e-magazine resumes publications.

VISIT WWW.GIBRAHAYER.COM

  • New Opinion Column.
  • Armenian article about Benon Sevan.
  • Cyprus this week.
  • Our online family - Omphalos Tis Gis.
  • Home - Armenia and Turkey inch forward.
  • Home - Tennis star David Nalbandian in Armenia.

Sports News on Gibrahayer.com

Read all the important news related to Cyprus and Armenian sport-world by visiting the section entitled Cyprus and Armenian Sports on www.Gibrahayer.com

  • Visit the Sports Page on Gibrahayer.com, to view the complete schedule of fixtures of Cyprus Champions Anorthosis Famagusta, until December 2008

TATIANA FERAHIAN IN STRASBOURG EXHIBITION

Nicosia - Wednesday 24, September 2008 - Armenian Cypriot artist and Gibrahayer e-magazine cartoonist Tatiana Ferahian, will be accompanying Mrs. Daphne Trimikliniotis, to help set up the group exhibition entitled diverCYty, which will take place at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, from 30 September - 10 October 2008.
The participating artists in this exhibition are:
Carla Abrantes, Mariza Bargilly, Tatiana Ferahian, Anna Georghiou, Clara Zacharaki-Georgiou, Nilgün Güney, Nitsa Hadjigeorgiou, Sofia Hadjipapa, Inci Kansu, Mariam Souhanova Foukara, Katie Stefanidou, Ismet Tatar, Daphne Trimikliniotou, Susan Vargas.
"The exhibition showcases the work of fourteen women - Cypriot artists from different communities, different ethnicities and cultures, who, apart from the fact that they all live on the island of Cyprus, they have one thing in common; they all express their emotions, their feelings and aspirations through Art. The exhibition aims to demonstrate the diversity between the individual artists, to show their different styles and artistic expression which is as individual and unique, as they are as people. They all find their own way to communicate through their art, sending a message of will to live in harmony and peace in a reunited island within a multicultural and open Europe." Daphne Trimikliniotis (President of Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts, E.KA.TE.)
"The event is specially organised to coincide with the President of the Republic of Cyprus H.E. Mr Demetris Christophias' presence in Strasbourg, the statesman who conceived the dream and made it a vision of his life, to re-unite the long-tormented and artificially divided island of love." Michalis Stavrinos (Permanent Representative of the Republic of Cyprus to the Council of Europe.)

GIBRAHAYER e-magazine

Sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Culture of The Republic of Cyprus
in association with the Permanent Representation of Cyprus to the Council of Europe

Gibrahayer Calendar

  • Every Sunday from 7:00 pm - midnight - Marie Louise (vocals) and Armen (guitar and vocals) perform at The Golden Bay Hotel Bar in Larnaca.
  • Every Thursday (starting from 17 July) and every Sunday after 10:30 pm - Hovig (vocals) and Argyro (piano) perform at Pralina Bar on Stasikratous street in Nicosia.
  • Thursday 25 September at 9:00 pm - Homenmen Nicosia vs Lefkoniko at The Melkonian Indoor Stadium. For the second year running Homenmen, under coach Armen Danielyan will be contesting for the 3rd Division of the Cyprus Futsal Championship.
  • Saturday, September 27, at 5:00pm - Armenian Evangelical Church Service at the Greek Evangelical Church in Nicosia.
  • 30 September - 10 October 2008 - Armenian Cypriot artist and Gibrahayer e-magazine cartoonist Tatiana Ferahian, will be accompanying Daphne Trimikliniotis, to help set up the group exhibition entitled diverCYty, which will take place at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, from 30 September - 10 October 2008 (details enclosed above)
  • Friday 14 November at 8:30 pm - Celebrations for the 20th Anniversary of the Armenian Relief Society of Sosse Cyprus Chapter at The Cleopatra Hotel in Nicosia. Details to follow.
  • Friday 28th November 2008 - The Office of the Armenian Representative has invited the world famous «Cadence» Ensemble of Armenia to perform only for one night at Latsia Municipal Theatre. «Cadence» Ensemble’s repertoire includes masterpieces of classical and contemporary music of European, American, Russian and Armenian composers as well as the works of Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla.
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