Eurovision’s dirty secret – BBC (video)

With just a few days left until the Eurovision Song Contest, BBC Panorama has prepared a film about Azerbaijan to discover the truth about the 2012 host country and its approach to what it has called the world’s most watched non-sporting event.
Reporter Paul Kenyon finds out how the contest has been used as a tool of intimidation.
The film, which lasts 30 minutes, uncovers all the facts that discredit Azerbaijan as a country which earned the right to organize the 2012 contest after its representatives, Eldar Gasimov and Nigar Jamal, won the first place in Germany last year.
According to Kenyon, Azerbaijan has taken advantage of the contest for political ends. He considers Eurovision a chance for the country to sing a song of respectability amid the criticism against its repressive regime. Kenyon recalls the country’s hostile attitude to Armenia’s 2009 participants, Inga and Anush Arshakyans, noting that Azerbaijan stopped the broadcast as the singers made their entry on the stage. The BBC reporter believes Armenia is not attending this year’s contest for security considerations. He has talked to Rovshan Nasril, an ethnic Azerbaijani, who voted for Armenia as a sign of protest against his country’s anti-democratic move.
Kenyon has also interviewed the Azerbaijani Ambassador to the UK, Fakhraddin Gurbanov, and the organizer of the contest, Ingrid Deltenre, to know their opinion about the democracy situation in the country. 
The full film is below.  Read more... (242 words)

Knowing the neighbors: Armenia to raise the level of Caucasus studies

The Yerevan State University (YSU) says in the next academic year Caucasus studies will become available for undergraduate students. In launching the course the Caucasus Studies Department of the Faculty of History at YSU considers the importance of studying the language, history and culture of Armenia’s neighboring countries, including Azerbaijan.

Enlarge Photo

Edik Minasyan (l), Hayrapet Margaryan

Dean of the Faculty of History Edik Minasyan told media on Tuesday that in 2011 the faculty admitted eight students for the new specialty. Beginning next September 50 seats will be allocated for bachelors degree studies, with five students to attend the courses without a fee and an additional place to become available for a demobilized army conscript.  Read more... (538 words, 2 images)

How Should the Diaspora React To New Turkish Overtures?

10:50, May 23, 2012

By Harut Sassounian

Publisher, The California Courier

I have been informed by reliable sources that Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is continuing his efforts to initiate a personal ‘dialog’ with the Diaspora on Armenian-Turkish issues. Earlier this month, Davutoglu met with Armenian-Americans, as follow up to the meetings he held in Washington last March.

During their conversation in May, the Armenian interlocutors frankly advised the Turkish Foreign Minister that Ankara must address Armenian demands for genocide recognition and restitution before any ‘reconciliation’ could be achieved. The Turkish side reportedly indicated a willingness to discuss these thorny issues with Diasporan representatives.  Read more... (758 words)

Armenian Governing Parties Said To Renew Coalition Deal

The three political parties represented in Armenia’s outgoing government will sign a new power-sharing agreement after all, one of their leading members predicted on Tuesday.

“Discussions on the formation of a [new governing] coalition are taking place within the framework of Orinats Yerkir, the Republican Party (HHK) and the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK),” said Heghine Bisharian, deputy chairwoman of the Orinats Yerkir. “After this negotiating process is over I think that a coalition will be formed by these three political forces.”

Bisharian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) that her party and the HHK have already agreed on the parameters of their continued cooperation and only need to clarify cooperation terms with the third coalition partner. The talks with the BHK will end “soon,” she said.

Academics consider Armenian diaspora, preservation of culture

Fewer Armenian Americans are speaking the language of their native country, eroding the ability of the diaspora to preserve its culture, according to an expert at UCLA who addressed a conference organized at the Central Library on Saturday, glendalenewspress.com reports.
 
Since 1970, the use of the Armenian language has decreased dramatically in all areas of diasporan life, including weddings, baptisms, schools and newspapers, said Hagop Gulludjian, a lecturer of Armenian studies at UCLA.
 
Language is key to the survival of ethnic identity, particularly because the Armenian diaspora appears to be permanent, he added.
 
“Ultimately, the world is language,” Gulludjian said.
 
While Armenian organizations focused their efforts on education during the first half of the 20th century, today’s diaspora favors issues that are less related to cultural survival, Gulludjian said, including recognition of the Armenian genocide and assistance to homeland, he added.
 
He proposed the creation of a “critical mass” of users of the language, which will result in more books and newspapers being published in Armenian and the language being used more often in homes, churches and at social events.
 
Organizers of the conference — the ARPA Institute and library officials — gave him a choice, he noted: make his presentation in Armenian or English, which left him with a difficult choice.
 
“If I speak in Armenian, the older generation, plus educated immigrants from the Near East, will understand me,” he said.
 
However, non-Armenian speakers and those who speak Armenian, but maybe not to the point of understanding abstract thoughts, will not.
 
Another topic discussed at the conference was the apparent lack of coordination among the three political parties of the diaspora with the Armenian government, according to Stephan Astourian, executive director of the Armenian studies program at UC, Berkeley.
 
He said the parties claim that they have power, but have done little during the past 20 years. He said one organization should be set up to represent all Armenian communities.
 
Also discussed was a paper by Simon Payaslian, chairman of modern Armenian history and literature at Boston University, which looked at how diasporan communities are declining in the Middle East and United States — but for different reasons.
 
In the Middle East, there’s an exodus of Armenians, while in the United States, he attributed the trend to assimilation.   Read more... (398 words)

HAK candidates dispute election results in CC

Six candidates running for “majoritarian” seats in the May 6 parliamentary elections are disputing election results.
Samvel Harutyunyan [Constituency No 37], Manuel Gasparyan [Constituency No 3], Nikol Pashinyan [Constituency No 7], Gagik Nersisyan [Constituency No 17], David Matevoysan [Constituency No 38] and Levon Zurabyan [Constituency No 9], all representatives of the Armenian National Congress (HAK), have already applied to the Constitutional Court demanding to annul the results of the vote in their electoral districts.

Hovhannes Papikyan, a spokesman for the Constitutional Court, says the preliminary study of applications lasts eight days.

The CC President has instructed the court members to study the applications in accordance with the law and report about the results.

Source: A1+ – Originial Article

OEK Minister not going to yield his portfolio

The portfolio of the Minister of Transport and Communications is likely to be taken from the Rule of Law Party (OEK).

Minister Manuk Vardanyan says he is unaware of the oncoming appointments in the new government. According to press reports, Gagik Beglaryan, who entered the National Assembly on the party list of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), has ‘an eye’ on the position.

According to rumors, the government is discontent with the minister.

Manuk Vardanyan says he will be glad to retain the post. The minister says nothing is decided yet; however he does not rule out that he may leave the party.

“If they were displeased with my work, they would say it openly. I have heard any complaints,” Mr. Vardanyan told A1+.  Read more... (155 words)

Voskehat’s Dusty Streets: Catholicos Garegin II Was Born Here But Doesn’t Get Involved

10:45, May 19, 2012

Dusty streets and people with downtrodden, dour faces…

This is the general picture I get when visiting Armenia’s rural communities. Village residents have nothing but complaints to tell the reporter who stumbles into their realm. Turn on the tape recorder, however, and their tune changes – What hardships? What frustration?

Go to the village of Voskehat, in Armavir Marz, and you’re greeted with the same picture.

But the village has one proud boast under its belt – it’s where Catholicos Garegin II was born and where his brother Gevorg Nersisyan serves as mayor.

The village has its host of problems ranging from a dilapidated irrigation system to a school in need of urgent repair. Mayor Nersisyan’s answer is that the community just doesn’t have the resources to tackle these problems.

AGLA NY’s Statement In Response to the May 8th Terror Attack in Yerevan

The Armenian Gay and Lesbian Association of New York is appalled by the terrorist firebombing of DIY bar on May 8 and the subsequent hate crimes against the establishment this past week. We also condemn the proliferation of verbal, Facebook, Youtube and other online attacks lodged against the queer community of Yerevan. Furthermore, we denounce acts of hate speech and threats against anyone in Armenia deemed different or “threatening to society”, including artists, intellectuals, and other free-thinkers.  Read more... (409 words)