Video guide to Karabakh

По-русски. Видео гид по Карабаху.

Sirusho, wikipedia and cataphracts

Reporter.web.review 1.0
by Emil Sanamyan
Published: Friday June 12, 2009

Washington - Before launching what I hope will become a new regular Armenian Reporter feature, just a few general thoughts on the subject of the Internet.

It has become a cliché to say that the popularization of online technologies has fundamentally altered our lives. This change over the last 20 years has affected the way individuals worldwide communicate with one another, entertain themselves, consume news, and, increasingly, trade goods and do work.

The generation gap is slowly disappearing. There are some weeks when I exchange more e-mails than phone calls (regular or over the Internet) even with my parents, who are relatively new Internet users. My family is more likely to see photos or videos of their grandchildren online rather than in print or on disc. And you are more likely to read these words on your computer screen than on a printed page.

From 2000 to 2008, the number of Internet users more than quadrupled from 361 million to 1.6 billion out of an estimated global population of 6.7 billion people. This is nearly every fourth person in the world. With ready Internet access on most new telephones and improved and inexpensive cellular connections, it is likely that world's entire population will have online access in the next decade.

This new organization of humanity into personal e-mails, websites, blogs, and Facebook, Tweeter, and YouTube accounts can seem cacophonous, dizzying, and often distracting. Certainly, this new array of media is becoming an evermore significant challenge for traditional media, whose readers, listeners, and viewers have migrated to the web in droves.

But it has also provided mass media with unique new opportunities. One is to study people's preferences and attitudes with an ease and accuracy that is unprecedented. By simply checking Internet monitoring traffic sites, one can learn how this newspaper's readership changes month-to-month and even how popular this article is compared to others.

This web.review is intended to cast a look on what we and our readers believe are the more important trends in human relations as reflected online.

Since our newspaper's determined focus is on things Armenian, this inaugural review will take advantage of the aforementioned measuring tools to look at what the world's most popular Internet gateways - places where most of humanity find what they are looking for on nearly every subject - have to offer on the subject of Armenians. Or, in effect, what it means to be Armenian in the world today.

According to the regularly updated Alexa.com, the five most popular websites worldwide are Google, Yahoo, YouTube (also owned by Google), Facebook, and Microsoft's Live (most recently branded as Bing).

When searching for "Armenian" (or most other terms) on Google, Yahoo, or Live one is invariably directed to relevant entries in Wikipedia, a collaborative user-created encyclopedia that anyone can edit and which itself is the seventh-most-visited website in the world.

In recent years, Wikipedia has trumped all other established reference sources. Today, having a well-written and updated reference page on Wikipedia is often more important than having one's own website.

Wikipedia's "Armenia" page is "semi-protected," meaning that only registered users can edit its content which - a result of more than five years of updates by volunteers - on first glance appears comprehensive and accurate.

On YouTube, entertainment videos rule. And it is Sirusho who continues to represent Armenians after performing in the Eurovision song contest last year. Three separate videos of Sirusho's "Qele, qele" have been viewed more than a million times each. No other video on an Armenian subject comes close.

This year's Eurovision contestants Inga & Anush with "Jan, jan," a video that has been online only three months (as opposed to Sirusho's more than a year), are a distant second with over half a million views.

Oddly enough, when sorted by "Relevance" the most popular Armenian-themed video is a re-play from a computer game "Total war" pitting forces of Rome, Armenia and other ancient states. As it turns out, Armenia is the foe to beat in that game with an especially tough armored cavalry known as cataphract.

Even stranger are the second and third "relevant" entries. They are, respectively, a talking parrot and a Chinese student from Beijing University practicing their Armenian-language skills.

Finally, what do Armenians concern themselves with on Facebook? If one is to judge by most popular groups, it is seeking to "Recognize the Armenian Genocide." A group by that name launched by several Armenian-American students had more than 32,000 members as of this week.

An apparently rival "Armenian genocide? Bull****!!" group created by a lone Turkish activist has grown to more than 23,000 members. Meantime, a group set up by several dozen individuals affiliated with a number of Turkish universities "Armenian genocide? Bull****!" (note just one exclamation sign) has 8,300 members (with at least some overlap in membership likely).

The second most popular Armenian group "Armenia," also started in the United States, has just over 3,800 members and it too seeks to highlight the Armenian Genocide recognition campaign.

To sum up, Armenia's Eurovision contestants, echoes of the campaign for and against Armenian-Genocide recognition, and little-known volunteers behind Wikipedia's Armenian entries are the three most influential elements shaping the Armenian image online.

-Emil.Sanamyan@reporter.am

Clinton on Armenia-Turkey; MCC aid cut; Azerbaijan PNTR; new DoD manager for Eurasia

Washington Briefing
by Emil Sanamyan

Secretary Clinton remains upbeat on Armenia-Turkey talks

There has been "no flagging of commitment" to the normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on June 5. She was speaking at a joint press conference with visiting Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Asked whether she remained hopeful about a resolution of Armenian-Turkish relations on a bilateral track or in the Karabakh conflict since the statement by Armenia, Switzerland, and Turkey was issued on April 22, Mrs. Clinton said she remained "very encouraged by progress that has been made and commitment by governments involved."

Mrs. Clinton emphasized that Armenia and Turkey "have committed themselves to a process of normalization"; although she also counseled there was a need for "patience and perseverance" to achieve results in what she said was a "difficult undertaking" addressing longstanding issues.

She also pointed to this week's Armenia-Azerbaijan presidential summit in Saint Petersburg as evidence of progress in the Karabakh peace process.

Although immediately after the April 22 statement, the United States emphasized the need for the normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations to take place "without preconditions and within a reasonable timeframe," U.S. officials have since linked progress in these talks to the Karabakh negotiations, describing the two processes as parallel.

Armenian officials insist there should be "no parallelism" or any other linkages between the two processes.

The United States also has not defined what it would consider to be "a reasonable timeframe," with Mrs. Clinton again saying that it was up to Armenia and Turkey to continue "on the path they themselves have set," and that the United States was only acting in a supporting role.

For his part, Mr. Davutoglu reiterated that Turkey "is fully committed to normalization with Armenia and resolution of Armenian-Azeri issues."

U.S. agency cuts $67 million in Armenia funding

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) board met on June 10 and decided that it "will not resume funding for any further road construction and rehabilitation" in Armenia, the agency said in a press release.

The MCC's five-year $235 million Armenia compact originally included $67 million for road construction and repair and $146 million for agriculture projects. The latter projects have continued.

"MCC regrets that it cannot move forward with funding road construction in Armenia," the corporation's acting CEO, Rodney Bent, said in a statement. "The responsibility for this outcome remains with the government of Armenia, whose actions have been inconsistent with the eligibility criteria that are at the heart of the MCC program. I do not anticipate that the Board will revisit this issue in the future."

The agency first introduced a hold on road projects after U.S. officials blamed the Armenian government for the violence that followed last year's presidential elections.

The latest ruling comes after the May 31 election for the Yerevan city council, the conduct of which received a mixed review from observers, including criticism from the U.S. Embassy.

The MCC is chaired by the secretary of state and its decisions are influenced by State Department determinations on whether a country is making progress toward meetings eligibility criteria.

[Asked by the Armenian Reporter for comment late on June 11, the head of media relations for Armenia's Foreign Ministry, Tigran Balayan, said the ministry had been focused on a visit from the Estonian foreign minister and had no immediate comment.]

Proposed removal of U.S. trade restrictions for Azerbaijan questioned

Armenian organizations are questioning the rationale and timing for the efforts to remove Soviet-era trade sanctions against Azerbaijan – commonly referred to as the Jackson-Vanik amendment.

On June 4 Reps. Robert Wexler (D.-Fla.) and Bill Shuster (R.-Pa.), who co-chair the Turkey and Azerbaijan caucuses, respectively, introduced House Resolution 2742 "to authorize the extension of nondiscriminatory treatment (normal trade relations treatment) to the products of Azerbaijan," which would terminate the restriction vis-à-vis Azerbaijan. The bill has since been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee.

Azerbaijan and all other former Soviet republics and satellite states inherited the restriction in the aftermath of the Soviet breakup. It was originally intended to promote human rights, particularly freedom of emigration. Rarely enforced, it has been a symbolic measure and successive U.S. presidents have annually waived the restriction.

Jackson-Vanik restrictions had been previously removed for former Soviet republics that joined or were about to join the World Trade Organization (WTO). Although Azerbaijan first applied for WTO membership in 1997, it has until now showed little interest in joining the group.

"The consideration of this ill-timed legislation would afford Members of Congress a valuable opportunity to review Azerbaijan's unacceptable behavior on a range of issues – from its arms build-up and its threats of renewed aggression against Armenia to its authoritarian political system and systematic destruction of Christian Armenian cultural heritage," Aram Hamparian of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) told the Armenian Reporter.

Ross Vartian of the U.S.-Armenia Public Affairs Committee (USAPAC) added, "The United States cannot grant Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) to a nation like Azerbaijan that blockades another nation, Armenia, in violation of U.S. law."

The Obama administration has not yet taken a public position on the proposed legislation.

Meanwhile, the State Department's incoming assistant secretary for political-military affairs, Andrew Shapiro, praised Azerbaijan for "cooperating in good faith" in the Karabakh peace process and indicated that the United States would continue security assistance to Azerbaijan, the ANCA reported on June 10.

The comment came as part of Mr. Shapiro's confirmation process and was in response to questions from Sen. Barbara Boxer (D.-Calif.) who raised the issue of Azerbaijani war threats against Armenia and continued U.S. security assistance to Azerbaijan.

Pentagon’s Eurasia manager appointed

American University professor Celeste Wallander was appointed deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia policy, the Department of Defense reported on June 9.

The new appointee is an expert on Russia and has also written on U.S. policy toward Iran. In her analyses, Ms. Wallander has sought to counter the frequently alarmist descriptions of Russia's intentions, portraying Moscow leaders as primarily pragmatic and their policies as seeking to manage rather than confront America's dominance in world affairs.

Prior to her appointment, Ms. Wallander led the Program on New Approaches to Research and Security (PONARS) that focused on the former Soviet space, particularly the Caucasus, and was first housed at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and since 2007 at Georgetown University.

Discussing last year's Russian-Georgian war, Ms. Wallander told PBS NewsHour that "in traditional security terms, the Caucasus is in a geostrategically important part of the world."

"The Caucasus is just north of Iraq and Iran," she elaborated. "It's just west of Central Asia, which involves Afghanistan. So all these regions are areas in which the United States is militarily engaged because these are where the security challenges of the 21st century are."

17th cent. Armenia vessel discovered in Caribbean

Long-lost Armenian ship, the stuff of legend, to become a “living museum” in the Caribbean
Explorers unravel mystery of the “Quedagh Merchant” hijacked in 1698
by Emil Sanamyan
Published: Friday June 05, 2009

Indiana University’s Charles Beeker (l.) and Fritz Hanselmann collect a sample from what is believed to be the wooden keel of the Quedagh Merchant under a pile of coral-shrouded cannons on June 2. Eleanor Seagle / Published with permission

Near Catalina Island, Dominican Republic - This has been a mystery three centuries in the making.

Burned and scuttled off the coast of this former Spanish colony, an Armenian merchant ship captured by British privateer Captain William Kidd has since become the stuff of legend and an elusive prize for treasure hunters.

Since it was accidentally found in December 2007, the researchers involved have called Quedagh Merchant an unprecedented discovery of its kind in recent history. They are now working on ascertaining the vessel's identity and on the creation of a unique museum.

An international mystery

According to British records, Kidd captured the Quedagh Merchant (also known as Cara Merchant) in January 1698 from Armenian traders near the coast of India and then sailed on it to the Caribbean.

In 1701, after a two-year public trial in London, Kidd was hanged to his death on charges of murder and piracy - charges based in main part on testimony from the Armenian vessel's owners.

Seeking to bury the evidence after looting much of its precious cargo, Kidd's associates set the ship on fire and sunk it in 1699. Subsequent efforts sanctioned by the British Crown to find the vessel and its cargo and compensate the Armenians proved fruitless.

The story of the missing ship became an obsession for numerous historians and explorers in the West. Among Armenians, however, the Quedagh Merchant - like much of the Armenian maritime heritage - has remained virtually unknown.

To this day, few Armenian studies of the subject have been attempted. One of these few was a Russian-language paper by Yuri Barsegov, a Moscow professor with expertise in maritime law, published in an obscure academic journal in 1984.

"When I first heard of this Armenian ship in early 2007, I thought to myself: right, this is just another fable that Armenians like to brag about among themselves," recalled Pavel Galoumian, who together with his wife Isabella Agad, was recognized at the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo on June 1 at an event dedicated to the discovery of the shipwreck.

But after checking British sources, Mr. Galoumian learned that the Armenian provenance of the vessel was well-documented. Having since gone through a mountain of literature on the Quedagh Merchant, he argues that its significance goes far beyond public excitement about pirates and treasures.

"Much sought-after internationally, this vessel represents a highly significant but little-studied chapter of Armenian history," Mr. Galoumian told the Armenian Reporter.

In fact, from the 17th century and well into the 18th, at the dawn of the modern era, Armenian diaspora communities in Iran and India dominated commerce between Asia and Europe that, in its significance for the world economy, can be compared to trade between the United States and China today. (See an interview on the subject in the Armenian Reporter.)

A search for Armenian treasure

Passion for Armenian history and adventure turned the Galoumians - he a physicist who had worked at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva and she a professional translator - into born-again sea explorers.

Natives of landlocked Armenia and Switzerland, respectively, Mr. and Mrs. Galoumian purchased a yacht and decided to embark on a fresh search for the elusive Quedagh Merchant.

They joined with sea enthusiasts from Yerevan's Ayas Nautical Research Club led by Karen Balayan, who in 2004-6 had sailed around Europe in a replica of the 13th-century Armenian vessel Kilikia.

In a sketch, "The Quest for the Armenian vessel: Quedagh Merchant," prepared in March 2007, Ayas members said that beginning that December they would undertake an expedition to the Caribbean Sea aboard a 46-foot yacht, Anahit, sailing under the flag of the Republic of Armenia.

Mr. Galoumian admits that the chances that their four-person team could find the three-century-old relic underwater were slim.

"But we thought we would ask the local population, focusing primarily on the area between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, specifically the uninhabited islet of Mona, where Quedagh Merchant was known to have been hiding at one point, and see what we could find," Mr. Galoumian remembered.

But just days after the Anahit sailed from the United States came the stunning news reports.

Researchers from University of Indiana (IU), acting on a tip to Dominican officials from a local resident, found what appeared to be the long-lost Quedagh Merchant. (By then, the IU team had been doing archeological work in the waters of the Dominican Republic for 15 years.)

"We felt shock." Mr. Galoumian was candid about his first reaction. "I felt like a dog that lost a bone he didn't know he could have."

But when the Anahit crew made contact with the American team, they began to collaborate. The Armenian Nautical Association has since become one of the main sponsors of the research effort.

Examining the discovery

In the past 18 months, the IU team, led by Professor Charles Beeker, has been examining the wreck. They have identified at least 26 cannons and what may be the vessel's wooden keel. One cannon has since been removed from the water for lab examination.

Evidence gathered so far, the general location of the wreck, and the location of the cannons - which were piled together to force the burning vessel underwater - are consistent with contemporary descriptions of the Quedagh Merchant's last sighting off the coast of the present-day Dominican Republic.

Researchers are also looking to see whether the ship is made of teak, a hardwood common to parts of India near the port of Surat, where the vessel was reportedly built.

"Additionally, Captain Kidd testified that Cara Merchant had fully rebidded seams - that means tongue and groove joining. So that's another thing we are looking for," noted John Foster, a senior archeologist from California State Parks Administration and also a senior member of the IU team.

Much of the wreck remains buried and it is so far unclear whether any of the ship's original cargo - such as rock sugar - was left on it and has, in some form, survived the fire and water.

Prof. Beeker says that mounting evidence is pointing toward a strong probability that the shipwreck they found is the Armenian merchant vessel captured by Kidd.

Also underway is historical research.

Fritz Hanselmann, an IU graduate student and a member of the research team, noted the need for additional research from Armenian sources.

"We have conducted archival research in the British Library and Public Records Office in the [British] National Archives," Mr. Hanselmann told the Armenian Reporter. "What we are lacking is information from Armenian sources pertaining to the owner of the ship and his dealings with other merchants and the British East India Company" before it was captured by Kidd.

Establishing a "living museum"

A memorial plaque to be installed underwater.

Last year, the IU team received a $200,000 grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) with a mandate to work with the Dominican government and others and turn the shipwreck into a "living museum" - living remnants of the Armenian ship in its final resting place.

When completed, the museum would be open to snorkelers and divers. Considering the existing tourist flow to the Dominican Republic and the unique attractions of a pirate shipwreck, the new museum is likely to become a major attraction.

The June 1 event at the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo highlighted progress on the project so far and brought together senior members of the Dominican government and the local diplomatic corps.

One of the most enthusiastic participants was British ambassador to the Dominican Republic Ian Worthington, himself a diver who had already visited the underwater site.

"This is a marvelous discovery and the efforts to bring an international quality [should contribute] to the project's longevity," Mr. Worthington told the Armenian Reporter.

"This is Dominican patrimony, but there is also a link to my country, because Kidd was Scottish; there is an obvious link to Armenia and to India; and overall this is a unique project," he added.

At the event, Mr. Galoumian shared a similar vision of "a cross-cultural center" on Catalina Island near the find that would highlight the history of all nations involved in the Quedagh Merchant.

See the National Geographic Channel's program about the discovery.

Obama in Cairo, Davutoglu at UN, Russia/Georgia talks, Iran elections

First published in June 6, 2009 Armenian Reporter

Washington Briefing
by Emil Sanamyan

Barack Obama urges fresh start with Muslim world

In a much-anticipated address, President Barack Obama acknowledged on June 4 misunderstandings between the United States and many Muslims, and also stressed that "America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition."

The almost-one-hour-long speech was delivered at Cairo University in Egypt before an audience of 3,000; it was also carried live worldwide. Among other things, the president sought to emphasize shared values between Christians, Jews, and Muslims, frequently quoting from holy books.

Mr. Obama also promised a more evenhanded approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict rather than simply supporting Israel's actions unconditionally, as was the case under George W. Bush.

Earlier this year, Mr. Obama had already addressed Muslims via the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV, in a Nowrooz message to Iranians, and during a visit to Turkey.

Separately, on June 1, the United States' Caspian energy envoy Richard Morningstar delivered a letter from Mr. Obama to Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev.

According to reports in the Azerbaijani press, Mr. Obama stressed the importance of exporting energy products in and near Azerbaijan, and pledged to offer America's "partnership" and "friendship" for continued progress on energy issues.

FM: Turkey wants new emphasis on U.S. ties, continued Armenia talks

U.S.-Turkey relations should be forward-looking and "make contributions to humanity" rather than excessively focus, as they have, on military cooperation, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told the American-Turkish Council (ATC) conference in a keynote address on June 2, Zaman reported.

The annual ATC conference is primarily funded by major U.S. weapons producers with a long history of selling their products to the Turkish military. It featured appearances by top military officers from both countries - Admiral Mike Mullen and General Ilker Basbug - who, Mr. Davutoglu noted, have known one another for 30 years.

Drawing a parallel between the United States and Roman Empire, Mr. Davutoglu urged the United States to take the more thoughtful, multilateral foreign-policy approach of Marcus Aurelius, rather than the unilateral approach of Julius Caesar.

Asked at a press conference the following day about Armenia-Turkey talks, Mr. Davutoglu sought to portray the process as continuing, albeit slowly. He also reiterated the linkage of Armenia-Turkey talks and the Karabakh dispute as "processes that positively support each other." He warned, however, that "moving frozen conflicts is a painful process which necessitates patience."

Mr. Davutoglu also acknowledged the link between Armenia-Turkey talks and Armenian-American efforts to pass a congressional resolution on the Armenian Genocide.

He argued that a "positive pace" in Armenia-Turkey talks will have to be maintained so that "the Armenian issue [is] no longer an issue blocking Turkish-American relations."

During a weeklong U.S. trip, the Turkish foreign minister also visited the United Nations headquarters in New York, as Turkey assumed the Security Council's rotating presidency.

Russia, Georgia may discuss opening of border crossing

While the rhetoric between Moscow and Tbilisi remains acrimonious, the Russian Foreign Ministry has proposed to hold talks with Georgian diplomats on reopening the main highway linking the two countries at the Lars checkpoint. A formal request was reportedly made on May 24, and Georgian officials have said they agreed to begin talks.

Before being closed by Russia in 2006, formally for repairs but also as a form of pressure on Georgia, the road served as a key ground-transportation link for Armenia, which has since had to rely on Black Sea ferry links that bypassed the Russian-Georgian border.

Meanwhile in Tbilisi, the Georgian opposition campaign against incumbent President Mikheil Saakashvili began to unravel, after failing to win substantial public support. One of the main opposition leaders, Irakly Alasania, has effectively split from others in the opposition coalition, most notably Nino Bourjanadze and Levan Gachechiladze, by calling for dialogue with Mr. Saakashvili.

Iran’s president faces strong electoral challenge

Early expectations that Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would easily win reelection in voting on June 12 have now been replaced with those of a close race with a former prime minister, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, with the outcome likely to be decided in a runoff election.

According to media reports, the two candidates launched into personal attacks as they debated one another on live television on June 3. The debate became so heated that Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, reportedly intervened to halt it.

Mr. Mousavi was prime minister between 1981 and 1989, during the years of war with Iraq. He has criticized Mr. Ahmadinejad for doing a disservice to Iran as president. Mr. Mousavi is backed by Mr. Ahmadinejad's predecessor Mohammad Khatami, who was president between 1997 and 2005.

Coming up: Sarkozy, Gordon, and Peres in the Caucasus, Obama in Russia

Recently appointed Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon will be in the Caucasus the week of June 8, visiting Armenia on June 9.

On June 25–26, French president Nicolas Sarkozy will visit Kazakhstan and the three Caucasus states. France is one of the lead mediators in Karabakh negotiations.

On June 28, Israeli president Shimon Peres will be in Baku, as part of a trip to Central Asia.

And between July 6 and 8, President Barack Obama will visit Russia for talks that are likely to focus on Afghanistan, Iran, and North Korea, but might also include discussion of Caucasus concerns.