Monday 31 May 2010

Keghart.com Editorial: Nagging Doubts Persist‏

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Armenian News

RFE/RL Report
Armenia's Rivas Reaches Eurovision Final
28.05.2010
Karlen Aslanian, Gayane Danielian


Armenia's entry has earned the right to sing in the final of a popular
annual pan-European song contest, raising hopes among local fans for a
coveted top prize this year.

Russian-Armenian singer Eva Rivas (born Valeria
Reshetnikova-Tsaturian) performed an English-language song, `Apricot
Stone', during a Eurovision show in Norwegian capital Oslo Thursday
night. Famous Armenian maestro Jivan Gasparian accompanied her in the
three-minute performance, playing the duduk. Rivas's song was about
ties to the Motherland symbolized by an apricot pit.

The 22-year-old native of Rostov-na-Donu in southern Russia was one of
10 out of 17 participants of the contest's second semifinal voted by
the audiences and experts into the final. The other winning entries of
the day included Azerbaijan's Safura, Georgia's Sofia Nizharadze and
Turkish rock band maNga.


Armenia - Eva Rivas and Jivan Gasparian during the dress rehearsal of
the Eurovision song contest in Oslo
One of bookmaker favorites, Rivas, will now compete in the grand
finale scheduled for Saturday against 24 contestants, including
representatives of the Eurovision founding nations, France, Spain, the
United Kingdom, Germany, and host Norway. The ultimate winner, as in
the case with the semifinals, will be decided through a combination of
a telephone-based public voting and a jury vote.

People in Yerevan approached by RFE/RL on Friday were optimistic about
Rivas's chances to secure the first win for the country at
Eurovision. Most said they liked her Thursday performance and praised
the combination of the singer's voice, looks and song.

`This wasn't a diva style performance, but was a simple show, wild
beauty,' popular Armenian singer Shushan Petrosian told RFE/RL. `She
[Rivas] was singing very emotionally and was free in her movements on
the stage, she was like fire. Even her coarse voice sounded natural.'

Petrosian said she liked the Ukrainian entry most, but stopped short
of making predictions for the final.

Armenia's leading blogger writing about the local showbiz Kamo
Tovmasian told RFE/RL he was impressed by Rivas's performance which he
said deserved a victory this year. `Hers was one of the best
performances... Forecasts for an Armenia win had also been made
before. So, I think one simply has to wait and see,' he said.

`I don't think that the main competition will be between Eva [Rivas]
and Safura. Azerbaijan's show is not that strong,' Tovmasian added.

Armenia, which participates in the annual contest for the fifth time,
has traditionally enjoyed strong support from the televoting public
not least due to the presence of Armenian communities in European
countries. The nation's best Eurovision result so far was in 2008 when
singer Sirusho finished fourth.

Last year, Azerbaijani citizens who had voted for the Armenian song in
the Eurovision contest, were called to the Security Ministry to
explain their vote after the national telecommunications company
offered its phone records to the authorities. That led to an
investigation by Eurovision officials and eventual rule changes
concerning telephone records.
HOW ANGELINA JOLIE LOOK-ALIKE MAY WIN EUROVISION 2010
Armen Hareyan
HULIQ.com
May 26 2010
SC

On May 29th the world will know the name of the 2010 Eurovision
winner. This time the winner may well become an Angelina Jolie
look-alike Eva Rivas representing Armenia.

This evening I heard that the European bookmakers are lowever the
bets on Eva Rivas because of her increasing chances of becoming the
winner of the 2010 Eurovision with her song Apricot Stone. Armenia
is a relatively new entrant into the Eurovision Song Contest and Eva
is the 5th representative the country is sending to the competition,
which this time takes place in Oslo.

In the past few years Eurovision voting was highly politicized. It is
widely held that friendly countries give votes to one another and to
their neighbor. The citizens for a particular country cannot vote for
their representative. Thus, to make a comparison with the American
Idol imagine each state sends only one representative for the Idol.

You are in North Carolina and can vote for any state but yours. Now,
let's say the representative of California is very good and South
Carolina is OK too. You decide to vote for South Carolina because
it is your neighbor. If South Carolina wins, next year it gets to
host the American idol FInale. This in turn means more tourism,
more revenues for SC and puts it on the spotlight.

This is how Eurovision use to be in general. Eastern Europeans used
to vote for each other, Scandinavians for their neighbors and so on.

However, few years ago the organizers, finally realizing this
situation, changed it. Now the 50 percent of the vote comes from
the international jury. Thus, the potential winner should have both,
neighboring countries in the final and a great song performance to
get the votes of the jury.

Eva Rivas seems to have both and this is why apparently bookmakers
have lowered her bets anticipating her to become the possible winner.

This young girl, who many say, looks like Angelina Jolie (see the
image comparison where Eva is on the right), has a great song and
the and the favor of the neighboring countries.

Her song Apricot Stone has every winning component. It starts
moderately, then grows in the rhythm. World renowned duduk player
Jivan Gasparyan, who participated in the creation of so many Hollywood
movies, will accompany Rivas in her Eurovision performance. Watch
Eva Rivas singing Apricot Stone here.

When it comes to the countries giving her the vote political reasons,
many of those countries that historically have given Armenia a high
vote are already in the Final. Six of these countries are in the
Semi-final and at least some of the will go to the final. There is
also another dimension to this aspect. Eva Rivas is half Armenian and
half Greek. She has spent most of her life in Russia and it expected
that she may get more votes because of her half being Greek. Countries
supporting Greece and Russia may also give Eva substantial number of
votes because of that very reason.

However, we wish that the best singer becomes and the best song
become the winner of the 2010 Eurovision. Rivas will make her first
performance on May 27th. The final will be held in Oslo on May 29th.

* The Most Beautiful Woman in Eurovision 2010 * The 2010 Eurovision
Shines The Spotlight on Norway.


ARMENIA WILL ORGANIZE ROCK AGAINST GENOCIDE FESTIVAL
Tert.am
27.05.10


By a May 27 ruling the Government of Armenia decided to offer a 10
million AMD subvention to the Municipality of Shirak marz (province).

The money will be used for the construction of Gyumri's #6 Musical
School after Azat Shirinyan.

The program Rock Aid Armenia/Armenia Grateful 2 Rock envisages
reconstructing the above-mentioned music school. The 18,327,000 m AMD
raised by a recent benefit concert by the famous British group Deep
Purple (Ian Gilan) will be transferred to a bank account specially
opened by the Fund for Armenian Relief and will be used for the
purpose.

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan also said that the Government
intends organizing a festival called Rock Against Genocide.

Several musicians across the world have already agreed participating
in it.

LINSI FOUNDATION WILL ALLOCATE 12 MLN FOR SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION
Lragir.am
27/05/10


The press service of the government reports that the executive body
agreed to sign a memorandum between the Armenian government and the
Linsi foundation. This means that the foundation will continue its
project of school construction in the disaster zone allocating 12
million dollars. Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan thanked the partners
from the Linsi foundation.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT
Lragir.am
27/05/10


Amnesty International Report 2010: the State of Human Rights

On May 27, the annual report of the Amnesty International was
released. The part dedicated to the state of human rights in Armenia
runs:

Impunity for perpetrators of human rights violations persisted.

Freedom of expression was restricted and journalists were attacked.

The ban on holding demonstrations in the centre of the capital,
Yerevan, which had been introduced in March 2008 during the state of
emergency, remained in place. Protection of women and girls against
violence fell short of international standards. The government failed
to provide a genuine alternative to military service.

Background On 19 June, the National Assembly granted an amnesty for
opposition activists imprisoned in relation to the events in Yerevan,
in March 2008. The amnesty covered those who had not been charged
with violent crimes and had been sentenced to prison terms of less
than five years.

Those who did not fall under the amnesty had their sentences halved.

On 1 and 2 March 2008, violent demonstrations had taken place in
Yerevan to protest against the presidential election results of
19 February, in which opposition candidate Levon Ter-Petrossian
lost to incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan. Some progress was
made in Azerbaijan-Armenian talks over the disputed territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly ethnic Armenian enclave within
Azerbaijan that broke away following the 1990 war. On 2 November,
following talks in Moscow, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a joint
agreement aimed at resolving the dispute on the basis of international
law.

Violence against women and girls In its concluding observations
published in February, the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women expressed concern about the lack of
legislation referring to domestic violence and the absence of a
responsible state institution. The Committee called on the authorities
"to enact, without delay, legislation specifically addressing domestic
violence against women", and to provide sufficient shelters. A draft
law on domestic violence was under discussion by the authorities, but
had not been presented to parliament by the end of the year. During
2009, only one shelter for victims of domestic violence, run by the
Women's Rights Centre, was operational.

Impunity In October, four police officers were charged with using
force against members of the public during the demonstrations on
1 March 2008. By the end of the year, no independent inquiry had
been conducted into allegations of use of force by police during the
March 2008 events. In June 2008, an ad hoc parliamentary commission
had been established to investigate the events, but did not function
because the opposition refused to participate. A separate factfinding
group made up of representatives from diverse political factions and
the Ombudsperson was disbanded by presidential decree in June 2009,
before it became operational.

Freedom of expression On 30 April, Argishti Kiviryan, a lawyer and
journalist, was severely beaten by a group of unidentified men outside
his home in Yerevan. The attackers reportedly beat him with sticks
and attempted to shoot him.

The OSCE Representative for Media Freedom called on the authorities
to investigate the attack and expressed concern about the lack of
investigations into violent attacks against journalists, contributing
to a climate of impunity. In July, two suspects were detained. The
investigation was ongoing at the end of the year.


GRAND TOBACCO COMPANY TO BUILD 70 OAST HOUSES IN
TAVUSH REGION, ARMENIA, BY 2011
ArmInfo
2010-05-27 12:51:00


ArmInfo. The Armenian Company Grand Tobacco will build 70 not-large
oast houses in the Tavush region, Armenia, by 2011, Mikael Vardanyan,
Armenian parliamentarian, told ArmInfo.

"We have been working in that area for already 3 years. In 2009 we
had 107 oasts throughout Armenia, including 45 in Tavush. This year we
will increase their number by 40, including 16 were build in Tavush,"
M. Vardanyan said. One oast costs US$50,000. In 2011 the number of
oasts in Tavush will reach 70. The company is expected to continue
the program in case of further favorable conditions, specifically if
there are no amendments to the tobacco legislation unfavorable for the
company. The company has contracts with farmers in Tavush region for
purchase of tobacco from 370ha of lands. The company is constantly
controlling over sowing and harvesting to upgrade the production
quality. "Our specialists are growing plants up to certain level to
control their right growth and than supervise harvesting. All this
allow upgrading harvesting and its quality," M. Vardanyan said.

Farmers receive at least US$1000 per ha (nearly 380,000 AMD up to 1
million AMD). "We are trying to soften climate risks. For instance,
last year we purchased hailed harvest for the usual price," he said.

Grand Tobacco was founded in 1997. As of Jan 1 2010 the company
dominates in the Armenian market of cigarettes. The company's share
in production of cigarettes is 50.8% and in production of non-filter
cigarettes is 92.3%.

A Good Armenian History web site

Armenian News

RFE/RL Report
Armenia's Rivas Reaches Eurovision Final
28.05.2010
Karlen Aslanian, Gayane Danielian


Armenia's entry has earned the right to sing in the final of a popular
annual pan-European song contest, raising hopes among local fans for a
coveted top prize this year.

Russian-Armenian singer Eva Rivas (born Valeria
Reshetnikova-Tsaturian) performed an English-language song, `Apricot
Stone', during a Eurovision show in Norwegian capital Oslo Thursday
night. Famous Armenian maestro Jivan Gasparian accompanied her in the
three-minute performance, playing the duduk. Rivas's song was about
ties to the Motherland symbolized by an apricot pit.

The 22-year-old native of Rostov-na-Donu in southern Russia was one of
10 out of 17 participants of the contest's second semifinal voted by
the audiences and experts into the final. The other winning entries of
the day included Azerbaijan's Safura, Georgia's Sofia Nizharadze and
Turkish rock band maNga.


Armenia - Eva Rivas and Jivan Gasparian during the dress rehearsal of
the Eurovision song contest in Oslo
One of bookmaker favorites, Rivas, will now compete in the grand
finale scheduled for Saturday against 24 contestants, including
representatives of the Eurovision founding nations, France, Spain, the
United Kingdom, Germany, and host Norway. The ultimate winner, as in
the case with the semifinals, will be decided through a combination of
a telephone-based public voting and a jury vote.

People in Yerevan approached by RFE/RL on Friday were optimistic about
Rivas's chances to secure the first win for the country at
Eurovision. Most said they liked her Thursday performance and praised
the combination of the singer's voice, looks and song.

`This wasn't a diva style performance, but was a simple show, wild
beauty,' popular Armenian singer Shushan Petrosian told RFE/RL. `She
[Rivas] was singing very emotionally and was free in her movements on
the stage, she was like fire. Even her coarse voice sounded natural.'

Petrosian said she liked the Ukrainian entry most, but stopped short
of making predictions for the final.

Armenia's leading blogger writing about the local showbiz Kamo
Tovmasian told RFE/RL he was impressed by Rivas's performance which he
said deserved a victory this year. `Hers was one of the best
performances... Forecasts for an Armenia win had also been made
before. So, I think one simply has to wait and see,' he said.

`I don't think that the main competition will be between Eva [Rivas]
and Safura. Azerbaijan's show is not that strong,' Tovmasian added.

Armenia, which participates in the annual contest for the fifth time,
has traditionally enjoyed strong support from the televoting public
not least due to the presence of Armenian communities in European
countries. The nation's best Eurovision result so far was in 2008 when
singer Sirusho finished fourth.

Last year, Azerbaijani citizens who had voted for the Armenian song in
the Eurovision contest, were called to the Security Ministry to
explain their vote after the national telecommunications company
offered its phone records to the authorities. That led to an
investigation by Eurovision officials and eventual rule changes
concerning telephone records.
HOW ANGELINA JOLIE LOOK-ALIKE MAY WIN EUROVISION 2010
Armen Hareyan
HULIQ.com
May 26 2010
SC

On May 29th the world will know the name of the 2010 Eurovision
winner. This time the winner may well become an Angelina Jolie
look-alike Eva Rivas representing Armenia.

This evening I heard that the European bookmakers are lowever the
bets on Eva Rivas because of her increasing chances of becoming the
winner of the 2010 Eurovision with her song Apricot Stone. Armenia
is a relatively new entrant into the Eurovision Song Contest and Eva
is the 5th representative the country is sending to the competition,
which this time takes place in Oslo.

In the past few years Eurovision voting was highly politicized. It is
widely held that friendly countries give votes to one another and to
their neighbor. The citizens for a particular country cannot vote for
their representative. Thus, to make a comparison with the American
Idol imagine each state sends only one representative for the Idol.

You are in North Carolina and can vote for any state but yours. Now,
let's say the representative of California is very good and South
Carolina is OK too. You decide to vote for South Carolina because
it is your neighbor. If South Carolina wins, next year it gets to
host the American idol FInale. This in turn means more tourism,
more revenues for SC and puts it on the spotlight.

This is how Eurovision use to be in general. Eastern Europeans used
to vote for each other, Scandinavians for their neighbors and so on.

However, few years ago the organizers, finally realizing this
situation, changed it. Now the 50 percent of the vote comes from
the international jury. Thus, the potential winner should have both,
neighboring countries in the final and a great song performance to
get the votes of the jury.

Eva Rivas seems to have both and this is why apparently bookmakers
have lowered her bets anticipating her to become the possible winner.

This young girl, who many say, looks like Angelina Jolie (see the
image comparison where Eva is on the right), has a great song and
the and the favor of the neighboring countries.

Her song Apricot Stone has every winning component. It starts
moderately, then grows in the rhythm. World renowned duduk player
Jivan Gasparyan, who participated in the creation of so many Hollywood
movies, will accompany Rivas in her Eurovision performance. Watch
Eva Rivas singing Apricot Stone here.

When it comes to the countries giving her the vote political reasons,
many of those countries that historically have given Armenia a high
vote are already in the Final. Six of these countries are in the
Semi-final and at least some of the will go to the final. There is
also another dimension to this aspect. Eva Rivas is half Armenian and
half Greek. She has spent most of her life in Russia and it expected
that she may get more votes because of her half being Greek. Countries
supporting Greece and Russia may also give Eva substantial number of
votes because of that very reason.

However, we wish that the best singer becomes and the best song
become the winner of the 2010 Eurovision. Rivas will make her first
performance on May 27th. The final will be held in Oslo on May 29th.

* The Most Beautiful Woman in Eurovision 2010 * The 2010 Eurovision
Shines The Spotlight on Norway.


ARMENIA WILL ORGANIZE ROCK AGAINST GENOCIDE FESTIVAL
Tert.am
27.05.10


By a May 27 ruling the Government of Armenia decided to offer a 10
million AMD subvention to the Municipality of Shirak marz (province).

The money will be used for the construction of Gyumri's #6 Musical
School after Azat Shirinyan.

The program Rock Aid Armenia/Armenia Grateful 2 Rock envisages
reconstructing the above-mentioned music school. The 18,327,000 m AMD
raised by a recent benefit concert by the famous British group Deep
Purple (Ian Gilan) will be transferred to a bank account specially
opened by the Fund for Armenian Relief and will be used for the
purpose.

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan also said that the Government
intends organizing a festival called Rock Against Genocide.

Several musicians across the world have already agreed participating
in it.

LINSI FOUNDATION WILL ALLOCATE 12 MLN FOR SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION
Lragir.am
27/05/10


The press service of the government reports that the executive body
agreed to sign a memorandum between the Armenian government and the
Linsi foundation. This means that the foundation will continue its
project of school construction in the disaster zone allocating 12
million dollars. Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan thanked the partners
from the Linsi foundation.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT
Lragir.am
27/05/10


Amnesty International Report 2010: the State of Human Rights

On May 27, the annual report of the Amnesty International was
released. The part dedicated to the state of human rights in Armenia
runs:

Impunity for perpetrators of human rights violations persisted.

Freedom of expression was restricted and journalists were attacked.

The ban on holding demonstrations in the centre of the capital,
Yerevan, which had been introduced in March 2008 during the state of
emergency, remained in place. Protection of women and girls against
violence fell short of international standards. The government failed
to provide a genuine alternative to military service.

Background On 19 June, the National Assembly granted an amnesty for
opposition activists imprisoned in relation to the events in Yerevan,
in March 2008. The amnesty covered those who had not been charged
with violent crimes and had been sentenced to prison terms of less
than five years.

Those who did not fall under the amnesty had their sentences halved.

On 1 and 2 March 2008, violent demonstrations had taken place in
Yerevan to protest against the presidential election results of
19 February, in which opposition candidate Levon Ter-Petrossian
lost to incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan. Some progress was
made in Azerbaijan-Armenian talks over the disputed territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly ethnic Armenian enclave within
Azerbaijan that broke away following the 1990 war. On 2 November,
following talks in Moscow, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a joint
agreement aimed at resolving the dispute on the basis of international
law.

Violence against women and girls In its concluding observations
published in February, the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women expressed concern about the lack of
legislation referring to domestic violence and the absence of a
responsible state institution. The Committee called on the authorities
"to enact, without delay, legislation specifically addressing domestic
violence against women", and to provide sufficient shelters. A draft
law on domestic violence was under discussion by the authorities, but
had not been presented to parliament by the end of the year. During
2009, only one shelter for victims of domestic violence, run by the
Women's Rights Centre, was operational.

Impunity In October, four police officers were charged with using
force against members of the public during the demonstrations on
1 March 2008. By the end of the year, no independent inquiry had
been conducted into allegations of use of force by police during the
March 2008 events. In June 2008, an ad hoc parliamentary commission
had been established to investigate the events, but did not function
because the opposition refused to participate. A separate factfinding
group made up of representatives from diverse political factions and
the Ombudsperson was disbanded by presidential decree in June 2009,
before it became operational.

Freedom of expression On 30 April, Argishti Kiviryan, a lawyer and
journalist, was severely beaten by a group of unidentified men outside
his home in Yerevan. The attackers reportedly beat him with sticks
and attempted to shoot him.

The OSCE Representative for Media Freedom called on the authorities
to investigate the attack and expressed concern about the lack of
investigations into violent attacks against journalists, contributing
to a climate of impunity. In July, two suspects were detained. The
investigation was ongoing at the end of the year.


GRAND TOBACCO COMPANY TO BUILD 70 OAST HOUSES IN
TAVUSH REGION, ARMENIA, BY 2011
ArmInfo
2010-05-27 12:51:00


ArmInfo. The Armenian Company Grand Tobacco will build 70 not-large
oast houses in the Tavush region, Armenia, by 2011, Mikael Vardanyan,
Armenian parliamentarian, told ArmInfo.

"We have been working in that area for already 3 years. In 2009 we
had 107 oasts throughout Armenia, including 45 in Tavush. This year we
will increase their number by 40, including 16 were build in Tavush,"
M. Vardanyan said. One oast costs US$50,000. In 2011 the number of
oasts in Tavush will reach 70. The company is expected to continue
the program in case of further favorable conditions, specifically if
there are no amendments to the tobacco legislation unfavorable for the
company. The company has contracts with farmers in Tavush region for
purchase of tobacco from 370ha of lands. The company is constantly
controlling over sowing and harvesting to upgrade the production
quality. "Our specialists are growing plants up to certain level to
control their right growth and than supervise harvesting. All this
allow upgrading harvesting and its quality," M. Vardanyan said.

Farmers receive at least US$1000 per ha (nearly 380,000 AMD up to 1
million AMD). "We are trying to soften climate risks. For instance,
last year we purchased hailed harvest for the usual price," he said.

Grand Tobacco was founded in 1997. As of Jan 1 2010 the company
dominates in the Armenian market of cigarettes. The company's share
in production of cigarettes is 50.8% and in production of non-filter
cigarettes is 92.3%.

A Good Armenian History web site

Sunday 30 May 2010

Turkish Scholar Taner Akcam Advocates‏

The Georgetown Armenian Boy's Farm a Designated Historic Site‏

For the past two years, the Armenian National Committee of Toronto (ANCT) has been working to have the Georgetown Armenian Boys Farmhouse, presently known as the Cedarvale Community Centre, designated as a protected historic and cultural site. Between 1923 and 1927, 109 Armenian boys and 29 Armenian girls who were orphaned during the Ottoman Empire's systematic genocide against the Armenians, were brought to Canada by the Armenian Relief Association and raised in what is currently known as the Cedarvale Community Centre.

After researching the designation process, ANCT approached the Heritage Halton Hills Committee and submitted their request to support an application for designation in 2009. In cooperation with Heritage Halton Hills, the ANCT prepared a designation report, which was presented to the committee at their monthly meeting in December of 2009. The son of a Georgetown Boy and Georgetown Girl, Mr. George Shirinian, the grandson of a Georgetown Boy, Mr. Peter Adourian, and Prof. Isabel Kaprielian also participated with their respective presentations. The Committee approved the designation report in January 2010 and submitted it to Town Council for approval, together with two support letters from Canadian author Marsha Skrypuch and local director Sam Hancock. Halton Hills Town Council reviewed the report at the monthly meeting on March 22, 2010. ANCT members were present at the meeting and Mr. George Shirinian made a presentation on behalf of the Armenian community.

In accordance with the city's regulations, the Town Council published the "Notice of Intention to Designate" in the Independent Free Press, a local newspaper, on April 20, 2010, which appeared for 30 days and thus expired on May 20, 2010 without any reported objections. Halton Hills Town Council officially passed the by-law to designate Cedarvale Park on May 25, 2010.

The unveiling of the official municipal plaque will take place at Cedarvale Park (181-185 Main St. S., Halton Hills, Ontario L7G 3E9) on June 26, 2010 at 2:00pm, in the presence of His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos. The Town of Halton Hills and the ANCT invite members of the Armenian community at large to attend this historic occasion and witness the unveiling of the designation plaque. Buses have been arranged by the Armenian Community Centre, which will depart at 12:30pm. The memory of the Georgetown Boys will be preserved through this designation, as the site will serve as a permanent memorial site commemorating the Armenian Genocide and Canada's role in saving Armenian lives.

The Armenian National Committee of Toronto is a chapter of the Armenian National Committee of Canada, a grassroots organization that was founded in 1965 to address the concerns of the Canadian Armenian community on a broad range of issues.

Saturday 29 May 2010

ARMENIAN INSTITUTE

LECTURE

ՕՐՕՐ ՄԱՅՐ ՀԱՅԱՍՏԱՆԻՆ

OROR MAYR HAYASDANIN: ON HOME, DISPLACEMENT AND THE ARMENIAN LULLABIES

By Melissa Bilal

Monday, 7 June 2010, at 7:30 pm

Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS, Russell Square, WC1H 0XG

(Tube: Russell Square)

Focusing on specific examples, Melissa Bilal will present ethnographic and historical accounts of Armenian lullabies becoming mediums of expressing gendered experiences of home as well as mapping, imagining, modernising, nationalising or mythologizing a homeland. She will consider these practices as performances of belonging to a space or a people. An Armenian lullaby in Turkey, she argues, is a metonym that functions on the margins of belonging and displacement, the speakable and the unspeakable, memory and the impossibility of memory, modernity and the end of modernity.

Melissa Bilal is a graduate student of ethnomusicology at the University of Chicago, Department of Music. She received her BA and MA from Boğaziçi University, Sociology Department. Her dissertation research focuses on the genealogy of Armenian lullabies from the late 19th century to the present. She is the co–editor (with Lerna Ekmekçioğlu, 2006) of Bir Adalet Feryadı: Osmanlı’dan Türkiye’ye Beş Ermeni Feminist Yazar 1862–1933 (A Cry for Justice: Five Armenian Feminist Writers from Ottomans to Turkey (1862–1933) and author of numerous articles and chapters in edited volumes.

MY DEAR BROTHER: ARMENIAN LIFE IN TURKEY 100 YEARS AGO

Project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund

The Armenian Institute is grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund for supporting this and other forthcoming events under the project: My Dear Brother: Armenian Life in Turkey 100 Years Ago.

The Armenian Institute is a London-based registered charity dedicated to making Armenian culture and history a living experience, through innovative programmes, educational resources, workshops, exhibits and performances. Its work is supported by friends, patrons and voluntary donations. For more information about the Armenian Institute or to find out about supporting the important work of the Institute, please visit our website at www.armenianinstitute.org.uk, contact us at info@armenianinstitute.org.uk or call 020 7978 9104. If you would like your email address to be removed from the list, please send an email with "remove" in the subject heading to info@armenianinstitute.org.uk.

ALM # 1208 -- Cavusoglu: A Turkish Denialist Pinocchio Invades Armenia

logo

DIASPORA'S MOST WIDELY ACCLAIMED & CIRCULATED INDEPENDENT ARMENIAN WEEKLY
Issue #1208 May 26, 2010

In This Issue
Sassounian
Harut Sassounian


Watch
Harut Sassounian's speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VOL2HjQzjk


Appo Jabarian - Paris
Appo Jabarian

Watch
Appo Jabarian's speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHO5xzX3KjA


Paris, France -- Recently, Harut Sassounian and Appo Jabarian delivered remarks in commemoration of the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

To watch click on the above links.

We would like to express our gratitude to Jean ECKIAN, Gary BEDIAN, Brian JABARIAN, Franck MOURADIAN, Nishan HAGOP PAPARIAN and Chris BEDIAN for their invaluable artistic and technical assistance in making both video documentaries possible.

Editorial Staff
USA Armenian Life Magazine

Letter to the Editor


Dear Sir:

What a factually driven, politically savvy, and diplomatically expressed elaborate scrutiny is recommended by Mr. Harut Sassounian in his May 27 column: "Senate should scrutinize Bryza before
confirming him as Ambassador to Baku."

I hope Mr. Bryza's nomination proceedings will be conducted openly and critically, following the line of questioning suggested by Mr. Sassounian.

Just like the L.A. Times and the New York Times editorials help shape American policies, The California Courier helps define sound perspectives for the Armenian Diaspora, regarding issues pertaining to Armenia and the Armenians.

Hovannes Havoonjian
Yorba Linda, CA

Saroyan
The Bancroft Library's new archival material on William Saroyan includes (left to right) a sketch "from a Turkish admirer," a photo of the author in his youth, and a framed drawing of Saroyan with a passage of his writing on Armenia. (Images courtesy of the Bancroft Library)

The Bancroft Library accepts gift of William Saroyan archives

By Kathleen Maclay, Media Relations
19 May 2010

BERKELEY - The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, has received a spectacular gift of hundreds of books, drawings, correspondence and other personal communications to and from one of America's best-known writers, the Armenian-American author and playwright William Saroyan.

William Saroyan
William Saroyan (Photo courtesy of The Bancroft Library)

The rich collection includes approximately 48 cartons with 1,200 books and other archival materials assembled by his niece, Jacqueline Kazarian, of San Francisco, who also is the founder of the William Saroyan Literary Foundation International. A celebration of the gift is set for noon on Friday (May 21) at The Faculty Club on campus.

"UC Berkeley is such an incredible place of learning and growing and intellectual exploration," said Kazarian, who earned degrees in communication and decorative arts at UC Berkeley in the early 1950s. "I know that my uncle wanted his library, manuscripts and galleys to go to Berkeley. Students will be inspired by the collection."

Apart from this gift, The Bancroft Library already retains significant holdings of Saroyan's work that it collected over the course of his life and career, and it continues to add to that collection. Most of the latest materials come from Saroyan's home on San Francisco's 15th Avenue that is now a Saroyan museum directed by Kazarian. Those materials were supplemented by Kazarian's extensive personal collection, as well as by items of Saroyan's that she acquired through a prominent Boston archivist and via a Saroyan friend.

"Jacqueline Kazarian's new gift is the largest and most substantial augmentation to the Saroyan collections at Bancroft that we have ever received," said Peter Hanff, Bancroft's deputy director.

Saroyan, born in Fresno, Calif., in 1908, drew extensively on his Armenian-American heritage and childhood experiences for his books, plays and short stories. Much of his writing was considered impressionistic and reflected a hearty optimism often hard to find during the gritty Great Depression. He died in 1981 at the age of 72, with his niece at his side.

saroyan_typewriter350
The author's classic manual typewriter, as
displayed at his San Francisco home.
(Photo courtesy of The Bancroft Library)


When Story magazine editors Martha Foley and Whit Burnett printed Saroyan's "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze" in 1934, it was an immediate success, triggering Saroyan's fame and standing as one of his many literary achievements.

"Uncle Bill's writing revolutionized the short story," said Kazarian, adding that she has always found his work "almost spiritual and fable-like."

His five-act play, "The Time of Your Life," is the only American play to have won both the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Saroyan's work as a screenwriter with Hollywood director Louis B. Mayer on the film "The Human Comedy" won an Academy Award in 1943, and Saroyan later wrote a widely acclaimed book with the same title.

Kazarian's gift to The Bancroft Library includes multiple first editions of Saroyan's works, such as "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze," "My Name is Aram" (1940), "The Human Comedy" and "Obituaries" (1979), and many materials personally inscribed by the writer. Also among the new items according to Steven Black, the head of acquisitions for Bancroft, are letters, telegrams and notes written by Saroyan to relatives and others close to him, mostly during the 1930s and 1940s.

"He personalized a lot of what passed through his hands," Black said, noting that much of the material features marginalia reflecting Saroyan's thoughts and interests.

Saryan 350
Antiquarian book dealer Peter Howard of Berkeley,
poring through Saroyan materials.
(Photo courtesy of The Bancroft Library)


There also is a copy of Henry Miller's "Aller Retour New York," an 80-page journal about a 1935 visit by Miller to New York City and his journey aboard a Dutch ship back to Europe. It is inscribed by Miller to Saroyan.

And a Saroyan scrapbook in the collection contains press announcements about the Pulitzer Prize for his book, "The Time of Your Life." He scoffed at the award, contending that the arts should not be judged by commerce.

The new Bancroft collection also contains a pre-publication proof of "Burnt Norton," the first poem of T.S. Eliot's "Four Quartets," which Black said the publisher may have given to Saroyan "when he crossed the pond" on a trip from his temporary home in France to England.

There also is a wide range of magazines, including issues of Horizon and the Partisan Review, a leading publication of the Anglo-American intelligentsia during the 1930s and '40s, Black said.

The first major deposit at The Bancroft Library of Saroyan's papers was recorded in October 1980, and the library agreed to organize the collection and give Saroyan a general description and an index. After Saroyan died in 1981, the Saroyan Foundation paid the library to continue assembling the papers for official archives, which the foundation ultimately decided to place at Stanford University. That happened in 1996.

Kazarian's donation is in honor of Berkeley antiquarian book dealer Peter Howard, who has provided appraisal assistance to Bancroft on Saroyan materials and other collections for decades. While director of The Bancroft Library, the late James D. Hart also developed strong professional and personal ties to Saroyan over the years, according to Kazarian and Black.

Saroyan-Kazaryan
William Saroyan's niece, Jacqueline Kazarian,
surveys materials in his home. (Photo courtesy of The Bancroft Library)


"Now, the Saroyan family materials come to a place that Saroyan himself would have been happy to see accepting them," Black said, noting that Bancroft is proud to have so much of Saroyan's "intellectual remains" to be able to share with the public.

Scheduled to speak about the acquisition at Friday's event are Jacqueline Kazarian; David Calonne, vice president of education for the Saroyan Literary Foundation International and a Saroyan scholar; San Francisco novelist Herbert Gold; theater director Val Hendrickson reading Saroyan's short story, "Common Prayer," and the credo to "The Time of Your Life"; and Charles Faulhaber, director of The Bancroft Library.

UC Berkeley already is home to an Armenian Studies Program, which is focused on contemporary Armenian history, politics, language and culture. And Bancroft, a rich, special collections library containing historical and literary documents and other materials relating to California, the West, Mexico and Latin America, is known for its strong collections on California writers, including Jack London, Robinson Jeffers, Bret Harte, Frank Norris and others.

More information about The Bancroft Library is online.. Bancroft is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.


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EE Cover -1208
__________________________________

Cavusoglu: A Turkish
Denialist Pinocchio
Invades Armenia

___________________________________________________

By Appo Jabarian

Executive Publisher / Managing Editor
USA Armenian Life Magazine



akj Ankara was proud to have propelled its own version of Turkish Denialist Pinocchio into international infamy, last week. Turkish President of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Mevlut Cavusoglu's denialist Pinocchio nose even grew longer.

In Yerevan, the length of Mr. Cavusoglu's nose out-performed its previous status, thanks to his ability to hurl so many lies in so few words.

Thank goodness, his visit, originally branded as "official," was downgraded to "working" visit by Armenian officials. The reason was his refusal to pay an official visit to the Genocide Monument.

"When the Armenian media questioned him about his refusal, Cavusoglu lied by saying that his predecessors had not done so either. Armenian journalists corrected him by pointing out that his predecessors had in fact visited the Genocide Monument," revealed Harut Sassounian, Publisher of The California Courier.

Mr. Cavusoglu is a career liar about historic facts.

This week, because of his misdeeds, he was "granted" by USA Armenian Life Magazine with the coveted "Genocide Denialist Pinocchio Award." The graphic artists at the Los Angeles-based Armenian American weekly went fast to work to mount a Pinocchio nose on Mr. Cavusoglu's face.

The pre-press news about USA Armenian Life Magazine's "Genocide Denialist Pinocchio Award" must have been leaked out even before the graphic work on the front cover was completed. As a result, the editorial offices were bombarded by telephone calls by representatives of other candidates vying for the same "award."

The first caller was a lady claiming to be calling from the White House. She begged to have President Obama be granted a similar award.

We asked: "Why shall we grant her wishes?" She said that Pres. Obama already earned that right because he lied in his first year in office by failing t o keep his campaign promise to properly recognize the Armenian Genocide. Her wish was granted.

The second caller was a male who was supposedly an aid to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. His reasoning was that his boss Hilary turned to be a big liar by merely agreeing with and cheer-leading for the Zurich-signed Turkish Protocols that force Yerevan to recognize the current borders between Armenia and Turkey. His wish was immediately granted.

The third caller was a man who claimed to be an assistant to Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. His reasoning was that Mr. Davutoglu is a gross liar. His "zero problems with neighbors" policy not only failed but also increased Turkey's problems, and mushroomed into a worldwide opposition. The man also complained that Mr. Davutoglu's policy to weaken Armenia and Armenians worldwide backfired. The opposite happened. World Armenians are now even more energized, lamented he.

Similar requests came from the offices of Turkey's President Gul, and Prime Minister Erdogan. The requests were granted without further ado.

Since there is only one front cover in this issue, and since the field of "Genocide Denialist Pinocchio Award" recipients became so crowded so fast, USA Armenian Life's staff decided to "put all genocide deniers in one basket."

Our graphic artists somehow managed to fit them all in. Secretary Clinton ended up sitting on Cavusoglu's nose along with Pres. Obama. Turkey's Pres. Abdullah Gul, and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hung from it. While Foreign Minister Davutoglu was set next to his boss, Erdogan.

Finally, I asked if the original Mr. Pinocchio would be willing to join the group. He said that he was vehemently opposed to the idea. He stressed that he would be deeply hurt if by mistake we included him. He underlined that it would be an insult for him to join these infamous liars. He explained that while his elongated nose makes people laugh, the infamous genocide denying Pinocchios' noses make people cry. He begged us to keep him out and we obliged.

But seriously, refusal by any foreign official visitor of Armenia to lay a wreath at the Armenian Genocide Monument during a visit to Yerevan is an insult to the 95-year-old injury that continues to bleed the hearts of millions of victims worldwide.

"By refusing to follow protocol, Cavusoglu not only insulted the Armenian nation, but also violated the long-standing recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the European Parliament. In the end, by his words and deeds, the Turkish diplomat managed to embarrass himself and undermine his own credibility as a political figure unworthy of representing a prominent European institution and its values," wrote Sassounian.

On May 18, responding to Sassounian's article, a reader called "Informed Turkish American citizen" wrote on www.armenianweekly.com: "When will Armenian officials stop accommodating deranged genocide denying propagandists in their own country? When are Yerevan officials going to grow a pair and stand up like men to rightly defend their nation's dignity, history and their own family's martyrs? How pathetic can the enslaved cowards in Yerevan be? How many times will the Republic of Armenia continue to accommodate the likes of genocide deniers Robert, Ahmet and Murat, before realizing their only intention is to deface the memory of genocide victims anew and incite hatred against those who seek justice and reconciliation? Shame on them and shame on Cavusoglu."

Another reader, Mike Mirakian wrote: "Try going to a synagogue and NOT wearing a yarmulka and see how far you'll get past the doors. I'm not Jewish but I'll wear a yarmulka out of respect. Visitors to Armenia should do nothing less. If you won't respect our most sacred of places, stay the hell out of the country! What kind of Mickey Mouse leaders do we have running Armenia? If you don't respect yourself how do you expect anyone else to respect you? ... No disrespect meant to Mickey Mouse.... Try disrespecting old Mickey at a Disney venue and you'll be hustled out of the Magic Kingdom post haste!"

This Turkish Denialist Pinocchio known as Mr. Cavusoglu invaded Armenia, and snuck up on one of Europe's highest institutions (PACE), unchecked. That's a shame! European officials should come clean and immediately demand his resignation.
______________________________________

Turkish President of European Council Should be Barred from Armenia
_______________________________
By Harut Sassounian

Publisher, The California Courier

hsMevlut Cavusoglu, the Turkish President of PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe), offended his hosts by refusing to lay a wreath at the Armenian Genocide Monument during his visit to Yerevan last week.

When the Armenian media questioned him about his refusal, Cavusoglu lied by saying that his predecessors had not done so either. Armenian journalists corrected him by pointing out that his predecessors had in fact visited the Genocide Monument.

After getting caught, he changed his tune and confessed that it was his personal decision not to visit the Monument and asked that Armenians respect his wishes.

Why should Armenians respect a genocide denier and a liar? Although a founder of the ruling Justice and Development Party and member of the Turkish Parliament, Cavusoglu was not visiting Armenia as a Turkish official, but as President of PACE. It is regrettable that earlier this year Armenia 's delegates to PACE were not successful in blocking his election to the Presidency of this influential European institution.

The real issue is not Cavusoglu's ethnic background. No one should be disqualified from any post due to his or her ethnicity. The objections are based on his long-standing opposition to Armenian issues, including denials of the Armenian Genocide and support for Azerbaijan in the Artsakh conflict.

Upon learning that Cavusoglu would not visit the Genocide Memorial -- a standard protocol for all high-ranking dignitaries visiting Yerevan -- the Armenian government decided to downgrade the status of his visit from "official" to that of a "working" one. Needless to say, this was just a slap on the wrist, given the gravity of his offense. Regrettably, Armenian officials did not issue a single word of criticism or condemnation. They should have taken a harsher measure against Cavusoglu and cancelled his trip to Yerevan . By not enforcing the country's long established protocol, Armenian officials are simply encouraging future visiting dignitaries not to respect the memory of Armenian Genocide victims.

A bad precedent was already set in September 2008, when Pres. Gul was invited to Yerevan . I wrote a column then urging Armenian authorities to ask the Turkish President to lay a wreath at the Genocide Monument . Unfortunately, no such request was made of Pres. Gul, and he was more than happy to sidestep the issue!

I must commend the Armenian Revolutionary Federation for refusing to meet with Cavusoglu during his Yerevan visit, because of his disrespect for Armenian Genocide victims. His visit was also condemned by the local Student Union of the Hnchag Party.

Unfortunately, officials of an opposition party met Cavusoglu in Yerevan to pursue their own agenda, asking him -- a Turk -- to condemn the Armenian government's human rights record. Meanwhile, pro-government parties met Cavusoglu to familiarize him with Armenia 's position on major regional issues, as if he would be willing to change his views on the Armenian Genocide, Artsakh and Armenian-Turkish relations.

Regardless of his own and his government's denialist position on the Armenian Genocide, Cavusoglu should not be excused for not having visited the Genocide Monument .. Even Ambassadors of countries that do not formally acknowledge the Armenian Genocide take part in the solemn procession on April 24 and lay a wreath at the Genocide Monument ..

By refusing to follow protocol, Cavusoglu not only insulted the Armenian nation, but also violated the long-standing recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the European Parliament.

In the end, by his words and deeds, the Turkish diplomat managed to embarrass himself and undermine his own credibility as a political figure unworthy of representing a prominent European institution and its values.

To avoid similar scandals in the future, Armenian officials must contact foreign dignitaries in advance of their planned visits and impress upon them the importance of respecting Armenia 's established protocol on laying a wreath at the Genocide Monument . Should they refuse, their visit should be promptly canceled. Can anyone imagine a foreign dignitary visiting Jerusalem and refusing to lay a wreath at the Yad Vashem memorial for Holocaust victims? He or she would not be allowed to set foot in Israel again. The Armenian government should take a similar stand vis-à-vis the Armenian Genocide Memorial!

At the end of his first visit to Armenia , Cavusoglu announced that he would be back in Yerevan in October. I hope Armenian officials do not let him into the country, unless he is prepared to respect Armenia 's established protocols for all foreign dignitaries.

If Armenian officials do not insist on applying their own rules and regulations, foreign dignitaries would have no reason to comply!

________________________________________________________

E. D. Jamie

________________________________________________________

Armenian apricot stone becomes a tree

Eva Rivas Oslo, Norway - The tall Armenian beauty Eva Rivas had her first rehearsal today, and she was not only singing about an Apricot Stone, it even appeared next to her on stage! Warm feelings surrounded her performance, which is a musical blend of ethnic and modern sounds.

The Armenian entry for the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest will feature one of the national symbols of Armenia: an apricot. It is not only part of many myths and legends, but it also gave the colour to the lower stripe of the Armenian flag. On stage, an apricot stone was placed behind Eva, and there was also an artificial waterfall. During the performance, a dancer approached the waterfall with a vase and then watered the apricot stone. It then opened up and made a small apricot tree appear, which kept growing till the end of the stage act.

Armenia will be setting a new record in this year's Eurovision Song Contest: Eva Rivas will be accompanied on stage by Jivan Gasparyan, a 83-year-old musician - he will be the oldest ever person to feature in an Eurovision Song Contest performance. He will be seated on a stone, playing a duduk, a traditional Armenian flute. Apart from him, Eva has three female backing vocalists to support her.

The tall Armenian singer performed in casual clothes today, but she showed her dress for the Semi-Final to the cameras - it will be a long dress in the colour of apricots. The stage was also lit in orange colour, and it was surrounded by dark curtains. Smoke effects were used, fitting the soft and mystic atmosphere of the song. In the last run of the rehearsal, the pyrotechnical effects were also rehearsed. They consisted of single flames appearing along the edges of the stage.

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Ombudsman Sees Continued Restriction of Freedom of
Assembly in Armenia


YEREVAN (RFE/RL)-Armenia's human rights defender has criticized the authorities for failing to show full commitment to the principles of freedom of assembly. In an ad hoc report unveiled in Yerevan on Tuesday, Ombudsman Armen Harutiunian also blamed certain vague provisions in the current legislation for the situation.

The report reviews the situation with the freedom of assembly in Armenia since the 2008 presidential election till today. It concludes that the principles of "state obligation to protect peaceful rallies, exclusion of discrimination and other principles" have been violated.

"The conduct of public authorities in many cases gives reasons to assume that they fail to fully appreciate the importance of freedom of assembly," Harutiunian said during the presentation of the report.

According to the data published in the report, the Yerevan authorities rejected more than 80 requests for holding public rallies in the city in 2008.

"There were not that many requests for public rallies in 2009 and particularly so far this year and the number of rejections isn't that large correspondingly, because it is not a pre-election period now. The same problems, however, may recur during pre-election periods, as the legislation remains the same," he said.

The Armenian parliament introduced drastic changes in the freedom of assembly legislation shortly after nonstop rallies staged by the opposition after the disputed 2008 presidential election led to the country's worst political crisis. The changes severely restricted the rights to hold rallies and demonstrations and gave local authorities sweeping powers to reject requests for holding protest events based on vague conclusions of law-enforcement agencies. The Armenian lawmakers later removed some of the restrictions under pressure from the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, but did not fully revert to the version of the law that existed before March 2008.

The ombudsman's latest report does not refer to cases of violence, police detentions and criminal prosecution applied against oppositionists participating in marches of protest in 2009. It only says that citizens' right to hold marches appeared to be 'less protected' than the right to stage rallies.

Harutiunian said he planned to come up with a new draft law to try to fill in the gaps in the existing legislation.

The ombudsman acknowledged the existence of violations in the practice of applying laws, but would not be drawn into a discussion of the 'democratic credentials' of the current government.

"An ombudsman is not a politician and this is not a political report," Harutiunian underscored.