Wednesday, February 27, 2008

BUCH: „Der Orientalist“, Tom Reiss‘ fulminante Biografie über Lev Nussimbaum alias Essad Bey.

Herzblut und Öl
Ein Jude als muslimischer Prinz: „Der Orientalist“, Tom Reiss‘ fulminante Biografie über Lev Nussimbaum alias Essad Bey.

Von Ulrike Voswinckel

Als Essad Bey 1926 von der „Literarischen Welt“ in Berlin als Experte für den Orient engagiert wurde, war er gerade 21 und hatte schon so viel Weltgeschichte erlebt, dass er für den Rest seines Lebens davon erzählen konnte. Dieser Essad Bey war eine auffallende Gestalt in Berlins literarischer Szene: Er trat als kaukasischer Krieger mit Pelzmütze und Dolch auf oder im Frack mit Fez, er verkehrte in russischen Emigrantenzirkeln und war seit seiner Zeit im russischen Gymnasium in Charlottenburg mit den Nabokovs und Pasternaks befreundet.

Im Alter von 17 wählte er den Namen Mohammed Essad Bey und frequentierte dunkle Versammlungslokale der Panislamisten. „Der Wunsch, den islamischen Frieden der Menschheit zu erschließen“, bestimme sein Dasein. Sein erstes Buch „Blut und Öl im Orient“ verursachte 1930 einen Skandal unter islamistischen Organisationen, die ihn als „Geschichtsschwindler“ bezeichneten; seine weiteren Bücher unter dem Autorennamen Essad Bey wurden allesamt Bestseller in der Weimarer Republik, mit so unterschiedlichen Themen wie „Flüssiges Gold, ein Kampf um Macht“, „Mohammed“, eine Biografie des Propheten, „Zwölf Geheimnisse im Kaukasus“ und „Stalin. Die Karriere eines Fanatikers“. Diese Studie, 1931 erschienen, veranlasste Trotzki im Exil zu der Frage: Wer ist bloß dieser Essad Bey?

mehr im Tagesspiegel >>>

KONFLIKT: Kurden im Kaukasus und Rückzug der PKK-Guerilla

Einmarsch mit 10000 Soldaten
Türkische Großoffensive gegen den Nordirak. Luftangriffe auf kurdische Dörfer. Informationen von der US-Armee. Rückzug der PKK-Guerilla in den Kaukasus?
Von Nick Brauns

Offenbar haben zahlreiche PKK-Kämpfer in den vergangenen Monaten ihre Stützpunkte im Irak verlassen und sind in Richtung Kaukasus gezogen. Am Freitag meldeten türkische und aserbaidschanische Medien, daß die kurdische Guerilla in den von armenischen Truppen seit Anfang der neunziger Jahre besetzten, offiziell zu Aserbaidschan gehörenden Gebieten Fuzuli und Lachin aktiv sei. Der israelische Geheimdienst habe diese Informationen bestätigt, so die aserbaidschannische Presseagentur APA. Während die armenische Regierung derartige Berichte dementierte, zeigte sich der Sprecher der US-Botschaft in Baku, Jonathan Henik, gegenüber »Radio Free Europe –Radio Liberty« besorgt. Es könnte zu Anschlägen der PKK-Guerilla auf die Ölpipeline von Baku zum türkischen Mittelmeerhafen Ceyhan kommen. In Armenien und Aserbaidschan leben etwa 200000 Kurden.

Der ganze Artikel in Junge Welt >>>

FLUG: Moskau - Tiblisi ist wieder möglich !!!

Flugverbindung Moskau – Tiflis wieder hergestellt russland-aktuell.ru - Moscow,Russia

Die Flugverbindung zwischen Moskau und Tiflis wird ab Ende März wieder hergestellt. Die Flugroute war im Herbst 2006 wegen politischer Unstimmigkeiten zwischen den Führungen beider Länder eingestellt worden.

KULTUR: Entdecken Sie Aserbaidschan! - in Deutschland 2008


Wir lüften den Schleier und führen Sie durch die Kultur Aserbaidschans.


Jetzt auf: www.kulturjahr-aserbaidschan.de

Das „Kulturjahr von Aserbaidschan in Deutschland“ zeigt die Facetten und die Vielfalt des Landes im Kaukasus. Lassen auch Sie sich verzaubern vom kulturellen Reichtum Aserbaidschans. Gehen Sie mit dem „Kulturjahr von Aserbaidschan in Deutschland 2008“ auf die Reise durch das „Land des Feuers“ und entdecken und vor allem erleben Sie, was dieses Land so einzigartig macht.

Wenn Sie regelmäßig über das aktuelle Programm des Kulturjahres von Aserbaidschan in Deutschland informiert werden möchten können Sie sich auf http://www.kulturjahr-aserbaidschan.de/ in den Newsletter eintragen.


Willkommen zum Eröffnungsfestival
vom 26.03. – 08.04.2008 in Berlin

Aserbaidschan – Land des Feuers
Kulturjahr von Aserbaidschan in Deutschland 2008
Aserbaidschan – über dieses Land wissen meist nur Einheimische und Kenner Konkretes zu berichten. Die Allgemeinheit kennt das „Land des Feuers“, wie der Landesname übersetzt lautet, oft nur als eine Region südlich von Russland, die reich an Bodenschätzen ist. Wie facettenreich und vielfältig Aserbaidschan tatsächlich ist, wird das „Kulturjahr von Aserbaidschan in Deutschland 2008“ zeigen. Erstmalig in seiner Geschichte lädt der Kaukasus-Staat zu einer derart ausgedehnten Entdeckungsreise durch seinen kulturellen Reichtum ein. Ein ganzes Jahr lang präsentieren wir kulturelle Höhepunkte aus Musik, Literatur und Kunst – eine Europapremiere für die beeindruckende Kultur Aserbaidschans.
Bereits das Eröffnungsfestival „Willkommen in Aserbaidschan“ in Berlin mit seinen vielen verschiedene Veranstaltungen demonstriert die Vielfältigkeit dieses Kulturjahres. Von Konzerten über Lesungen bis hin zu einem Symposium präsentiert sich Aserbaidschan als Land zwischen Tradition und Moderne.
Feierlich eröffnet wird das Kulturjahr mit einem Gala-Konzert des Staatlichen Symphonieorchesters Aserbaidschan am 27. März. Die kulturelle Reise beginnt bereits mit einem Pre-Opening zum aserbaidschanischen Film am 26. März. In der Folge laden Konzerte mit traditioneller und zeitgenössischer Musik dazu ein, aserbaidschanische Klangwelten – mit den größten Musiklegenden des Landes und dem talentierten Nachwuchs – zu entdecken. Weiterhin demonstriert das Land des Feuers mit Marionettentheater und Volksmärchen, dass es eine der ältesten Kulturen der Welt besitzt. Gleichzeitig lässt eine Filmreihe mit aktuellen Spielfilmen das Fortleben von Traditionen sichtbar werden. Und schließlich soll ein Symposium umfassend über Land und Leute informieren.
Lassen auch Sie sich verzaubern vom kulturellen Reichtum Aserbaidschans. Gehen Sie mit dem „Kulturjahr von Aserbaidschan in Deutschland 2008“ auf die Reise durch das „Land des Feuers“ und entdecken und vor allem erleben Sie, was dieses Land so einzigartig macht.

REISE: Khatschkare und Klöster am Ararat - Armenienreise 2008 - Eine tolle Tacke-Tour

Liebe Fans der tollen Tacke-Tour und solche, die es werden wollen!

Es konnte nicht ausbleiben, dass bei den Reisen auf den Spuren des frühen Christentums irgendwann auch Armenien dran sein würde, ist es doch das Land, in dem das Christentum zuerst zur Staatsreligion erklärt wurde, und zwar anno 301, über drei Jahrzehnte vor dem Toleranzedikt Kaiser Konstantins des Großen.
Und Armenien behauptet sein Christentum die Zeiten hindurch, obwohl es zum Spielball der benachbarten Mächte, der Perser und Byzantiner, der Türken und Russen wird.
Im Mittelalter erlangen armenische Könige vorübergehend die Selbständigkeit. Auf diese Zeit gehen viele der Klöster zurück, die Ziel der Reise sind. Dabei werden Sie erkennen, dass Armenien nicht nur eine eigene Schrift, sondern auch eine eigene Architektur entwickelte, vor allem aber in den Khatschkaren über eine originelle, sehr reizvolle Form des Kreuzes verfügt.
Seit dem Konzil von Chalzedon als Monophysiten abgestempelt und seit den Synoden von Dwin 506 und 552 von der byzantinischen Reichskirche getrennt, entwickelt die armenische Kirche ein Eigenleben, das sich auch in der liturgischen Kleidung der Hierarchen zeigt. Die nehmen nach dem Kontakt mit den Kreuzfahrern die römische Mitra nebst Krummstab an und verpassen ihren Priestern die byzantinische Kronenmitra.
Wenn der „Hausberg“ der Armenier, der Ararat, auch nicht – mehr – auf armenischem Territorium liegt, so findet man ihn dennoch im Staatswappen, auf der Flagge und als Kopfbedeckung der Mönche, Bischöfe wie des Katholikos, des geistlichen Oberhaupts der Armenier. Den biblischen Berg sieht man auch bei gutem Wetter von der Hauptstadt Jerevan, bzw. Eriwan aus. Die Reisegruppe wird in Chor Virap an seinem Fuße verweilen, auf den Noahs Arche nach der Sintflut strandete, glaubt man den Legenden.
Den Protest des türkischen Außenministers beim sowjetischen Kollegen wegen des Ararats im Wappen der Sowjetrepublik Armenien bügelte Letzterer mit dem Hinweis ab, die Türken hätten bekanntlich den Halbmond im Wappen, ohne dass er ihnen allein gehöre.
Verborgen bleiben wird nicht, was Armeniern nicht nur zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts von Türken angetan wurde: Der erste Holocaust des 20. Jahrhunderts. Den nahm sich Hitler für seinen zum Vorbild, weil die Großmächte ihn - vorrangig das Deutsche Kaiserreich - kommentarlos geschehen ließen, ohne auch nur den leisesten Versuch zu unternehmen, ihn zu verhindern.
Kurzum Sie werden ein geschichtsträchtiges Land erleben, das an der kulturellen Grenze zwischen Europa und Asien, zwischen Christentum und Islam angesiedelt und dessen Kultur zwar orientalisch angehaucht, aber tief christlich ist. Allerdings hapert es noch ein wenig mit der touristischen Infrastruktur. Deshalb ist die Tour nichts für Perfektionisten, meint Ihr Wilhelm Tacke.
Wer aber über seinen Schatten springen kann, erlebt Eindrucksvolles.


Mountains Aragats: uploaded on February 26, 2008 by Vaghinak Petrosyan

Reiseverlauf:
Fr. 30.05.08:
Flug mit LH 369 um 17.20 Uhr ab Bremen, München an 18.35 Uhr, Weiterflug mit LH 3256 um 21 Uhr ab München
Sa. 31. 05.08:
Ankunft um 3.55 Uhr in Jerevan. Besichtigung der urartäischen Festung Erebuni – 782 v. Chr. – Besuch des historischen Museums und der Genozid-Gedenkstätte Tsitsernakaberd mit Museum. ÜN.: In Jerevan
So. 01.06.08:
Fahrt nach Edschmiadzin, religiöses Zentrum Armeniens mit dem Sitz des armenisch-orthodoxen Katholikos. Teilnahme am Sonntagsgottesdienst in der Kathedrale und evtl. danach Empfang durch den Katholikos . Besuch im Kirchenmuseum mit Schatzkammer wie der Kirchen Surb Hriphsime und Surb Gayane aus dem 7. Jhd. Auf dem Rückweg Besichtigung der Ruinen der Palastkirche Zvarthnots Vorbeifahrt am Dorf Musaler, wo die Überlebenden des Musa Dagh – Franz Werfel – angesiedelt wurden.
Mo. 02.06.08:
Besuch der armenischen Handschriftensammlung Matenadaran und Ausflug zum römisch-hellenistischen Tempel von Garni 1. Jhd. v. Chr. sowie zum Höhlenkloster Geghard
Di. 03.06.08:
Fahrt nach Chor Virap. Hier wurde Gregor der Erleuchter 15 Jahre in einer tiefen Grube gefangen, bevor er Armenien zum Christentum bekehren konnte. Hier traumhafter Ausblick auf den „heiligen“ Berg Ararat. Weiter zum Kloster Noravankh, vom 12. –14. Jhd., Sitz der Bischöfe von Sjunik. Mittagessen mit Weinprobe in einem Weinkeller. Über den Selim-Pass zur Selim-Karawanserei, ein architektonisches Bindeglied zwischen christlicher und islamischer Architektur. Weiter ins Dorf Noraduz mit Friedhof von 1000 Khatschkare, d.h. Kreuzsteinen, aus dem 12. Jhd.
Mi. 04.06.08:
Fahrt zum Kloster Odzun, 6. Jhd. Weiter zu den Klöstern Sanahin und Hagbat mit Kirchen und Bücherei. Hagbat gehört zum UNESCO-Weltkulturerbe. Weiter nach Alaverdi. ÜN im Tulipan Heritage Hotel in Avan Dzotaget
Do. 05.06.08:
Fahrt in die „Armenische Schweiz“, über Dillishan zur Klosterakademie Hagarzin, 11.-13. Jhd.. Von dort zum Kloster Goschawank, 12.-13. Jhd. Über den Sevanpass – 2000 m - zum Sevan-See, der „blauen Perle“ Armeniens mit dem Sevankloster, 9.-10. Jhd. einst Verbannungsort des armenischen Adels. ÜN.: im Avan Marak, Tsapatagh
Fr. 06.06.08:
Fahrt nach Jerevan über Zachkadsor, dem „Tal der Blumen“, weiter zum Kloster Ketscharis mit Kuppelkirchen aus dem 11.-13. Jhd. Und Harutiun-Kirche von 1220. ÜN.: Jerevan
Sa. 07.06.08:
Ausflug nach Aschtarak mit Besichtigung der Kirche Karmrevor, 7. Jhd., weiter zur Festung Amberg, 11. Jhd. Zu Füßen des Aragat, 4090 m., Besuch der Klöster Hovhannavank und Saghmosavank, das „Kloster der Psalmen“, in der Khasach-Schlucht. Mittagessen in armenischer Familie. ÜN.: Jerevan
So. 08.06.08:
Tag zur freien Verfügung in Jerevan.
Mo. 09.06.08:
Rückflug mit LH 3257 ab Jerevan, 5.55 Uhr an München. Weiter mit LH 360 um 6.50 Uhr ab München, an Bremen 8.05 Uhr.

Reisepreis:
Bei 16 Personen Mindestteilnehmerzahl:
1.855 € pro Person im Doppelzimmer
2.160 € pro Person im Einzelzimmer
Sollten mehr Armenien-Fans teilnehmen wollen, verringert sich der Preis.

Folgende Leistungen sind in den genannten Reisepreisen eingeschlossen:
- Flug mit der Deutschen Lufthansa ab Bremen über München nach Jerevan und zurück in der Economyklasse
- alle zur Zeit gültigen Steuern und Gebühren für die Flüge
- 8 Übernachtungen in Hotels der guten Mittelklasse - Hotels
- Halbpension während der Rundreise
- Rundreise im klimatisierten Reisebus gemäß Reiseprogramm
- deutschsprachige Reiseleitung vor Ort
- Eintrittsgebühren für Museen
- Besuch eines nationalen Konzerts
- Reiseführer oder Informationsmaterial Armenien
- Insolvenzversicherung

Ein Visum ist für deutsche Staatsbürger erforderlich. Die Kosten sind in den genannten Reisepreisen nicht enthalten. Die Kosten liegen bei rund 50 € und sind nicht im obigen Preis einkalkuliert.

Anmeldung bei:
Regina Maack
TUI Leisure Travel Special Tours GmbH
Vertrieb Leserreisen & Kreuzfahrten
Wachtstraße 17-24 (Baumwollbörse)
28195 Bremen
Tel.: +49 (0) 421 - 3226894
Fax: +49 (0) 421 - 3226889
e-mail: regina.maack@tui-lt.de
Internet: http://www.reisehotline24.de/

JOB: Projektassistenz (m./w.) Zentralasien / Kaukasus

Die Leistungen der COMMIT sind darauf ausgerichtet, die Startschwierigkeiten für internationale Unternehmen auf den perspektivreichen wie komplizierten Märkten der GUS-Staaten zu minimieren. COMMIT erarbeitet komplexe Lösungen in den Bereichen Research, Trade, Consulting und Event.
COMMIT realisiert Maßnahmen zur Förderung der Wirtschaftsbeziehungen zwischen Deutschland und den GUS-Staaten im Auftrag staatlicher Institutionen .
Für unseren Geschäftsbereich Zentralasien und Kaukasus besetzen wir am Standort Berlin die Stelle eines Projektassistenten (m/w)

Für diese verantwortungsvolle Tätigkeit setzen wir voraus:
- Abschluss eines Hochschulstudiums (vorzugsweise Wirtschaftswissenschaften), wünschenswert ist eine Doppelqualifikation durch Abschluss in GUS und in Deutschland
- Hervorragende Deutsch- und Russischkenntnisse in Wort und Schrift
- Gute Englischkenntnisse, gerne Kenntnisse einer zentralasiatischen Sprache
- Kommunikationsstärke und überzeugendes, selbstsicheres Auftreten
-Spaß an eigenverantwortlicher Arbeit in einem aufgeschlossenen, jungen Team
-Routinierter Umgang mit den gängigen MS Office-Anwendungen

Die Projektassistenz (m./w.) arbeitet in der Organisation der Delegationsreisen und unterstützt die Bereichsleitung bei den Aufgaben im Research- und Consultingbereich. Die Organisation der
Delegationsreise beinhaltet insbesondere die Akquise von Teilnehmern, die Absprache mit örtlichen Partnern (IHK in der Zielregion, Fachministerien etc.), Buchung von Flügen, Transfers und Unterkunft, Ausarbeitung eines fachlichen und kulturellen Rahmenprogramms, Organisation von Kooperationsbörsen mit lokalen Unternehmen, Durchführung von Rund-Tisch-Gesprächen in Fachministerien sowie die Vorbereitung der Abrechnungsunterlagen für das BMWi.

Bitte richten Sie Ihre Bewerbungsunterlagen bis zum 7. März 2008 ausschliesslich per Email (vorerst kurzes Anschreiben und Lebenslauf) an:

COMMIT GmbH
Herr Matthias Toepfer
Friedrichstr. 95
10117 Berlin
Tel.: 030-206164821
Fax: 030-206164810
Email:
m.toepfer@commit-group.com
Web: www.commit-group.com

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Matthias Toepfer
Strategie und Analyse
COMMIT Project Partners GmbH
Friedrichstraße 95
10117 Berlin
Tel.: +49 30 2061648-21
Fax: +49 30 2061648-10
E-mail:
m.toepfer@commit-group.com
www.commit-group.com

TALK: Tony Anderson, 'Reflections on Georgian History and Culture’

Hi Everyone

There has been a change of speaker for Tuesday
10th April 2008

Tony Anderson - an experienced traveller to Georgia is giving an illustrated talk on his:
‘Reflections on Georgian History and Culture’

7.00 – 9.00pm
Ticket: £5.00 inc. wine/juice


Venue:
Belle Vue Conservatory
Belle Vue Park
Newport

Due to ill health the scheduled speaker, Philip Longworth is unable to come to Newport. We have sent our best wishes for his speedy recovery and hope he may be able to give his talk at a later date.

Follow up:
Walking in Georgia: A Talk by Peter Nasmyth

For those who attended Peter Nasmyth’s talk on Georgia and heard his concern as to how Tbilisi is being developed might like to take a look at this site -
As Peter remarked to us – ‘…its Dubai meets Disneyland in the Caucasus.’

Further information contact 421103 or see:

www.nkta.org

Catherine Philpott 26.02.08

PHOTOGRAPHY: Architecture In Baku




Panoramas (Set) Azerbaijan (Set) Baku, Azerbaijan (Set)

Uploaded on January 17, 2008 by teuchterlad

BOOK REVIEW: The Post-Soviet Wars: Rebellion, Ethnic Conflict and Nationhood in the Caucasus. By Christoph Zürcher

Gebundene Ausgabe: 285 Seiten
Verlag: New York Univ Pr; Auflage: illustrated edition (15. Dezember 2007)
Sprache: Englisch
ISBN-10: 0814797091
ISBN-13: 978-0814797099
Größe und/oder Gewicht: 22,9 x 15,5 x 2,5 cm


Kurzbeschreibung "The Post-Soviet Wars" is a comparative account of the organized violence in the Caucusus region, looking at four key areas: Chechnya, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Dagestan. Zurcher's goal is to understand the origin and nature of the violence in these regions, the response and suppression from the post-Soviet regime and the resulting outcomes, all with an eye toward understanding why some conflicts turned violent, whereas others not. Notably, in Dagestan actual violent conflict has not erupted, an exception of political stability for the region. The book provides a brief history of the region, particularly the collapse of the Soviet Union and the resulting changes that took place in the wake of this toppling. Zurcher carefully looks at the conditions within each region - economic, ethnic, religious, and political - to make sense of why some turned to violent conflict and some did not and what the future of the region might portend. This important volume provides both an overview of the region that is both up-to-date and comprehensive as well as an accessible understanding of the current scholarship on mobilization and violence.

Synopsis "The Post-Soviet Wars" is a comparative account of the organized violence in the Caucusus region, looking at four key areas: Chechnya, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Dagestan. Zurcher's goal is to understand the origin and nature of the violence in these regions, the response and suppression from the post-Soviet regime and the resulting outcomes, all with an eye toward understanding why some conflicts turned violent, whereas others not. Notably, in Dagestan actual violent conflict has not erupted, an exception of political stability for the region. The book provides a brief history of the region, particularly the collapse of the Soviet Union and the resulting changes that took place in the wake of this toppling. Zurcher carefully looks at the conditions within each region - economic, ethnic, religious, and political - to make sense of why some turned to violent conflict and some did not and what the future of the region might portend. This important volume provides both an overview of the region that is both up-to-date and comprehensive as well as an accessible understanding of the current scholarship on mobilization and violence.


Georgian Times , February 25: The earliest books that came out about the Caucasus after the collapse of the Soviet Union were firsthand accounts of events. Now, a second spate of books, which attempts to apply analytical frameworks to the turbulent events that occurred after the breakup of the Soviet Union, are beginning to appear. Christoph Zürcher’s The Post-Soviet Wars: Rebellion, Ethnic Conflict and Nationhood in the Caucasus falls into this category. The book examines where in the Caucasus wars occurred (Georgia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Chechnya) and where they didn’t (Dagestan and Ajara) and places those case studies within the context of international quantitative literature that attempts to explain why internal wars occur.

Those who are knowledgeable about the Caucasus will find much information they have already come across. However, for those interested in international conflict who possess little regional understanding, the tersely written detail provides a good overview.

To whet your appetite for some of the details about why wars started in the Caucasus, Zürcher argues that, in Georgia, anti-Soviet rhetoric allowed for no maintenance of Soviet institutions, increasing the likelihood of conflict, since state institutions utterly collapsed as a result. Furthermore, the fallback on nationalist rhetoric, which was seen as the only way of creating a cohesive political force, then alienated both Abkhaz and Ossetians. Zürcher, perhaps controversially, also claims that Armenian politics looked very similar to Baltic politics (and different from Georgian and Chechen) in that the same type of state weakness did not exist. However, Zürcher makes the claim, which has been echoed in much of the democratization commentary about Armenia, that instead of the Baltic states’ orientation towards Europe, Armenia’s politicians unified around war in Nagorno-Karabakh, creating an anti-reform minded regime.

From a more technical standpoint, the book is a rare breed within political science literature, as it is specifically concerned about testing existing theories about internal wars by examining a series of case studies. In doing so, the volume seeks to refine those theories. While this type of book is out of vogue because the academic nomenklatura does not perceive the endeavor as groundbreaking, it serves an important role in refining theories, something Zürcher does throughout the book.

So what does Zürcher find in relationship to the international quantitative literature? Several variables that are generally cited as determinants of internal war do not appear to hold true in the Caucasus: low economic development and mountainous terrain do not help in explaining the conflagrations in the Caucasus. Despite the Caucasus being mountainous, most conflicts occurred in urban environs or in the plains. In the conflicts where mountains played a role, the guerillas (which conflict theory supposes are aided by mountains) had the mountains against them. In fact, Zürcher seeks to refine the theory about the relationship between mountains and war and suggests several plausible alternative hypotheses, part of the intellectual merit of the book. One interesting hypothesis is that mountains are a proxy for the cheap recruitment of male soldiers, since mountainous areas often have high unemployment rates and hence a male population ready to mobilize.

The volume also reinforces the idea found in the international quantitative literature that states that weakness often plays an important role – perhaps much more so than underdevelopment – as does the role of one ethnic group constituting the majority of the population. This ethnicity argument is well-highlighted in Zürcher’s case study of Dagestan, where ethnicity did not play the same role as in Georgia, Armenia or Chechnya, in part because of the fact that no ethnic group had a majority.

Overall, this reviewer found the findings sound, but would have like to see more analysis of some of the interesting proxy variables discussed above. This, however, could form the basis of a new and fruitful conflict research agenda in the Caucasus.


AmazonShop: Books, Maps, Videos, Music & Gifts About The Caucasus

NEWS: Georgia News Digest 02-26-08

A service of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies

Attached PDF file easily navigable with Bookmarks pane
Archives and associated files at groups.google.com/group/genewsfiles (from February 2008) and groups.google.com/group/genews (before February 2008)


1. Opposition hopeful of dialogue with government
2. Labour Party urges UK police probe into their leader's "poisoning"
3. “Labourists” call on Scotland Yard to investigate fact of Natelashvili’s illness
4. Labor Party addresses GB ambassador
5. Soso Tsiskarishvili: Stopping the hunger strike was the right decision
6. Opposition may resume dialogue with majority
7. Opposition leader’s flat raided in Kvareli
8. Leader of National-Christian Movement opposes Qronika newspaper
9. For Georgia's president, Ben-Gurion in the mirror
10. Elections and new amendments may transform parliament structure
11. Change of government balance in post-November Georgia
12. Government’s programme gets going
13. Report of the Observer Mission at the January 5, 2008, Presidential Election
14. Post-Revolution not so rosy: German report stings Georgia
15. Bertelsmann report to speak on Georgia’s successful reforms
16. That’s what you think: So why should Georgia care?
17. Government accused of “social populism”: Eurobonds issue provokes debate
18. 526 households get 1000-gel voucher under worthy beginning program
19. Corruption reduced to a minimum at Georgian customs
20. Estonia helps Georgia reform its public radio-TV company
21. Public broadcaster gets new management, but will everyone like it?
22. Demand for ethnic minority seat on Public TV board
23. National minorities are demanding inclusion of their representatives in the Board of Trustees
24. New Public TV board expected this week
25. The fate of Imedi will be decided by Badri Patarkatsishvili family
26. Imedi license suspension on hold
27. Georgians do not believe Badri Patarkatsishvili’s death was caused by natural causes
28. The death of Badri Patarkatsishvili: From international conspiracy theories to local Georgian politics
29. Burying Badri Patarkatsishvili may take several weeks
30. Well known figures question Patarkatsishvili’s death
31. Peres wanted Patarkatsishvili to be buried in Israel
32. Patarkatsishvili’s death will impact social mood
33. Sister denies knowing about Patarkatsishvili will
34. Georgian tycoon's widow and family to share his £6bn fortune
35. Bank of Georgia, Bank Republic eye Azeri market
36. NBG prolonged till 5 March authority of interim administration at Standard Bank
37. British fund likely to acquire company Ushba
38. Tiflis Development to invest millions in 2008
39. Azerbaijani state oil company increases investment in Georgia
40. What was on the table for Saakashvili and Putin?
41. Discussion with Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov [excerpt]
42. Russia update [excerpt]
43. Russia and Georgia move to mend old wounds
44. The shift starts
45. US and Kosovo [excerpt]
46. Russia rejects recognizing Abkhazia and South Ossetia: What does she have in Mind?
47. Irakli Menagharishvili: Georgia has the right to make a strategic choice
48. Russia has no clear policy on Kosovo, Abkhazia or South Ossetia
49. Solution of problems of Abkhazia, S. Ossetia must be acceptable for both sides – Lavrov
50. Breakaway regions oppose Georgian, Russian joint monitoring of borders
51. Sokhumi, Tskhinvali against Joint Russo-Georgian border control
52. Abkhazia, S. Ossetia refuse to let in Georgian customs
53. Separatists to cast votes in Russian presidential election
54. Georgian party considers separatists' anger natural
55. Book Review: The Post-Soviet Wars: Rebellion, Ethnic Conflict and Nationhood in the Caucasus
56. OSCE Chairman-in-Office to visit Georgia
57. Foreign Minister on NATO, Russia’s WTO membership terms
58. NATO Assessment mission to prepare final report on Georgia by February 25
59. Georgia hosts international seminar on economic aspects of security
60. Defence ministry does not conceal deaths of Georgian corporals in Iraq
61. Negotiations on wheat import over
62. Three candidatures for ambassadors presented to parliament for approval
63. Citizen of Nigeria detained for illegal crossing of border
64. “Georgian Airways” postpones flights to Baku
65. State representative in Kakheti region met local journalists
66. 16th anniversary of Khojali tragedy marked in Georgia
67. Ethnic groups in Georgia # 3 –Udis
68. Georgian pupils move to Russian schools: Unintended consequences of the education reform
69. Higher education becomes easier for minorities

full digest: Georgia News Digest - Ansicht in Groups BetaNeu!

Jonathan Kulick, Ph.D., Director of Studies, Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, 3a Chitadze, Tbilisi 0108, Georgia (Republic),
jonathan.kulick@gfsis.org, office: +995 32 47 35 55, mobile: +995 95 33 33 40, USA voicemail: 310.928.6814

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

PHOTOGRAPHY: Three Georgian Dancer In Avignon



Uploaded on February 13, 2008 by peace-on-earth.org

View more as slideshow >>>

DANCE: State Ballet of Georgia - a young company with her star Nina Ananiashvili

The talent, and inexperience, show
By Lewis Segal

Los Angeles Times, February 22: A young company with an antique pedigree, that's the reconstituted State Ballet of Georgia, which brought four works choreographed late in the last century or early in this one to UCLA's Royce Hall on Thursday.
If that repertory often challenged the dancers more than the audience, give them time: Georgian-born international star Nina Ananiashvili became artistic director only four years ago and had to virtually start from scratch. Like our even younger Los Angeles Ballet (across campus in the Freud Playhouse this same weekend), impressive talent and inexperience go hand in hand when they take the stage.
The problems arose most consistently on Thursday in "Chaconne," George Balanchine's alternately serene and courtly large-scale suite to music (on tape) by Gluck. Ananiashvili danced the ballerina role as if lost in a beautiful dream, but her partnership with the effortful Vasil Akhmeteli kept the technical difficulties of their duets more evident than their rapt lyricism.
Generally, the Tbilisi dancers brought freshness and exactitude to the more conventional step combinations here but looked decidedly uncomfortable in the many experimental ones.
The trio (Rusudan Kvitsiani, Ekaterine Chubinidze, Otar Khelashvili) proved especially ill at ease, and a secondary duet (Maya Dolidze, David Khozashvili) started promisingly but grew progressively shaky.
Unfortunately, an errant follow-spot added to the disarray and all but wrecked the haunting final sequence in "Duo Concertant," Balanchine's mercurial duet in which the dancers stand listening to a Stravinsky piece for piano and violin (played onstage by Liam Viney and Roberto Cani) and then begin an increasingly involving partnership.
If you could scarcely see them in the finale, Nino Gogua and Lasha Khozashvili danced the other, brighter sections gorgeously, their youth, charm and spontaneity gilding the choreography and making it seem an inspired improvisation.
With "Bizet Variations," Bolshoi Ballet artistic director Alexei Ratmansky contributed a formula, quasi-romantic exercise for three couples -- not as unwatchable as his "Pierrot Lunaire" for Diana Vishneva and company in Costa Mesa last week but just as fundamentally soulless.
This is one of those ballets in which the men have some freedom to actually dance (and get assigned off-the-rack bravura, for the most part) but the women are continually yanked about and hauled overhead, subordinated to the partnering. Again cast opposite Akhmeteli (playing a flamboyant outsider), Ananiashvili alone brought the sense of an inner life to the choreography -- even to simple walking steps and absolute stillness. And Anna Grinberg played the somber "Chromatic Variations" powerfully."
Sagalobeli" used taped Georgian folk music played by the musical ensemble of the same name to accompany a divertissement suggesting the twisty fervor and nervy elegance of the nation's ethnic dances but managed to avoid both extreme classical abstraction and opera-ballet literalism.
Like Ananiashvili, choreographer Yuri Possokhov began as a dancer at the Bolshoi but spent most of his career outside Russia -- at San Francisco Ballet.
Although his concept was prefigured, and trumped, by the late Maurice Béjart in such works as "Golestan," and Possokhov often rode roughshod over bold changes in the music's tempos and instrumentation, the dancers made an exciting case for "Sagalobeli," projecting its exotic technical qualities with great skill.
The piece began and ended with the men, but the most original choreography turned up in an undulating women's quartet invaded and dominated by Anna Muradeli, who then soloed, her movement at once lush and passionate, liquid yet perfectly centered. Gogua and the omnipresent Akhmeteli danced the inevitable, conventional pas de deux.
Mostly executed in browns and beiges, Anna Kalatozishvili's costumes adroitly enhanced the women's hyper-extended line and the men's heightened muscularity. The company ends its UCLA Live engagement with three performances of "Giselle" today and Sunday.


Georgian State Ballet embraces heritage while moving forward
By Laura Bleiberg

Orange County Register , February 22: Nina Ananiashvili, the luminous ballerina of the Bolshoi and American Ballet Theatre, has added the title of "company artistic director" to her resume, and if one performance is a predictor, this new role will suit her exceedingly well.
In 2004, Ananiashvili took over the leadership of the Georgian State Ballet, in her hometown of Tbilisi. The company is more than 70 years old, but recent government political tumult caused stagnation at the theater. Ananiashvili, with former Bolshoi artistic director Alexei Fadeyechev as her co-director, are patching the leaks, and launching the ship forward on a new course, including a current United States tour.
At the moment, Ananiashvili's greatest asset may be as a crowd-drawing star, and she appeared in two of the four ballets Thursday night on the Georgians' Los Angeles stop at Royce Hall (through Sunday, presented by UCLA Live).
Despite its long history, the Georgian State Ballet is in its adolescence. The dancers are young and made youthful mistakes Thursday, such as the occasional collision (not fatal, thank goodness) and that old deer-in-the-headlights face of fright. Missed lighting cues and an off-stage crash or two were other gremlins that bedeviled the show.
The latter might not have been the Georgians' fault. Either way, what's more important, is that the new leadership has embraced Georgia's distinctive cultural heritage, and in doing that they are laying the foundation for a uniquely styled and, perhaps, innovative company.
No.1 on the agenda was the ballets of choreographer George Balanchine, Georgia's favorite native son. (Turns out his composer brother, Andrey Balanchivadze, helped found the company.) Ananiashvili, who guested early in her career with Balanchine's New York City Ballet, has added 10 of his ballets to her company's repertory.
The night began with his courtly and romantic "Chaconne" (1976), to recorded selections from Gluck's opera "Orfeo ed Euridice." From the opening all-female tableaux, the women of the corps de ballet showed themselves naturals at the sophisticated glamour that was one of Balanchine's gifts to women.
The ladies' confident faces and assured body placement projected an aura that rippled throughout the theater. The men were a little unsteady, particularly in the ballet's exacting footwork. Make no mistake, this is a virtuoso work without looking like one.Ananiashvili and Vasil Akhmeteli were the lead couple, and despite some partnering bobbles, were an attractive presence. Ananiashvili performed with a ripe suppleness. Her long legs are one of her great assets and she used them to strong effect in the role's unfolding circular developées and high kicks. An attractive and strong dancer, Akhmeteli had to rush the small jumps a bit to keep up with the music. The movement of their alternating solos, though, was a thrilling bit of "Anything you can do, I can do better."
In Balanchine's "Duo Concertant" (1972), ballerina Nino Gogua was the "It" girl, a standout of excellent proportions who will perhaps take over Ananiashvili's mantle. This winsome, yet elegant dancer was the muse/love interest for partner Lasha Khozashvili, who was both buoyant and boyish. Violinist Roberto Cani and pianist Liam Viney made the tricky Stravinsky pieces sound easy.
Alexei Ratmansky's "Bizet Variations" (2008), was a flirtatious, romantic jaunt for three couples to Bizet's Chromatic Variations (played by Anna Grinberg). Though it had no libretto, a story could be imagined: lovers at a ball, enticing one another away from their intended. To my mind, Ananiashvili and Akhmeteli were the more experienced couple, easily attracting the opposite gender. As with Ratmansky's "Pierrot Lunaire," seen last week at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, the choreographer's kinetic language here was fluid and pretty, but overflowing with unmemorable steps that rushed past without distinction.
The closing ballet came from yet another Bolshoi alumnus: Yuri Possokhov, now choreographer-in-residence at San Francisco Ballet. His "Sagalobeli" was an homage to Georgian folk traditions and the score (recorded) consisted of short, reedy folk instrumentals and songs.
Possokhov made the best use of the company's men, giving them solid poses and airborne leaps, one leg tucked under. Steps that suggest vernacular dance – especially a rolling torso and undulating hip swings for the women – recurred through the piece.
A female dance that bespoke longing and feminine solidarity was my favorite. Possokhov had the audience in his pocket throughout, though, and the crowd actually clapped to the music, which was a first for me at a ballet performance.
This show of affection must certainly have warmed Ananiashvili's heart. She and the Georgians are off in the right direction.

MUSIC: Georgian jazz singer Maia Baratashvili takes the prize in Monte Carlo

By Diana Dundua

Messenger, February 22: Georgian singer Maia Baratashvili won the award for best female vocalist 2007 at the Monte Carlo International Jazz Awards.
Baratashvili submitted her latest album, “Maya,” to a board of European judges for consideration, and fought off competition from the UK, the US and Italy.
She will now perform a solo set at the awards gala in Monte Carlo.“
It will consist of three parts,” the singer explained. “
An exhibition of modern French photographers with photos on jazz, then my solo performance and finally an after party attended by the Monte Carlo elite.”
Baratashvili has been a member of the Tbilisi Municipality Concert Orchestra since 1998 and has been performing jazz for the past 13 years.“
[She] never imitates anyone and creates her own style,” Iura Vachnadze of Radio Liberty said at a February 19 press conference in Tbilisi where Baratashvili discussed her award.
Gaioz Kandelaki, the founder of the Tbilisi Municipality Concert Orchestra, said she deserves her success. “Every concert for Maia is a huge responsibility and she puts all her strength into each of them,” Kandelaki remarked.



Maya Baratashvili with the Tbilisi Concert Orchestra, conducted by Givi Gachechiladze, at the Tbilisi Jazz Festival, 2006. From: shvilishvili


Since her youth Maia Baratashvili has been captivating audiences with her powerful and emotive voice. Trained in a classical music education at Tbilisi's leading performing arts college, Maia moved into Jazz in 1995 as part of "David's Jazz Soul Club" opened in Tbilisi her home town. Since then she has gone on to perform as a soloist with the Tbilisi Municipal Jazz Orchestra, the Georgian State Symphony Orchestra, and numerous jazz ensembles.
She has performed throughout Europe impressing crowds in Moscow with Igor Brill and his trio, at the International Jazz Event in the capital cities of Latvia and Lithuania with Jorn Skogheim, Norwegian composer and guitar player, and back in Tbilisi at the numerous International Jazz Festivals together with jazz greats like George Duke, Mikhail Okunne, where she successfully combined the capacities of featured guest and Master of Ceremony.
She has released four CDs and won several prizes for her works.

Homepage: www.maia.ge

Myspace: www.myspace.com/maiabaratashvili

Since her youth Maia Baratashvili has been captivating audiences with her powerful and emotive voice. Trained in a classical music education at Tbilisi's leading performing arts college, Maia moved into Jazz in 1995 as part of "David's Jazz Soul Club" opened in Tbilisi her home town. Since then she has gone on to perform as a soloist with the Tbilisi Municipal Jazz Orchestra, the Georgian State Symphony Orchestra, and numerous jazz ensembles.
She has performed throughout Europe impressing crowds in Moscow with Igor Brill and his trio, at the International Jazz Event in the capital cities of Latvia and Lithuania with Jorn Skogheim, Norwegian composer and guitar player, and back in Tbilisi at the numerous International Jazz Festivals together with jazz greats like George Duke, Mikhail Okunne, where she successfully combined the capacities of featured guest and Master of Ceremony.

NEWS: Georgia News Digest 02-25-08

A service of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies

Attached PDF file easily navigable with Bookmarks pane
Archives and associated files at groups.google.com/group/genewsfiles (from February 2008) and groups.google.com/group/genews (before February 2008)


1. Amid infighting opposition gets ready for hunger strike
2. Opposition bent on massive hunger strike as authorities fail to fulfill list of demands: Protest city in the cards as tents prepared; head of public TV to be replaced
3. Opposition begins hunger strike in five cities
4. Opposition on defensive, as some slam calling off protests
5. Levan Gachechiladze’s statement on calling off hunger strike
6. Some leaders of United Opposition have different view on cessation of rallies
7. Labour Party condemns opposition's decision to stop hunger strikes
8. Speaker says opposition needs no guarantees other than her word
9. ‘No additional guarantees, above memorandum’ – Burjanadze
10. Interview: Giorgi Targamadze
11. Late Georgian tycoon's party not to dissolve
12. Patarkatsishvili’s family denies support to his party
13. Part of Patarkatsishvili’s allies intends to establish new party
14. Patarkatsishvili to be presumably buried in “Arkadia”
15. Arkady Shalovich Patarkatsishvili 1955-2008: An oligarch once worth more than the country he lived in
16. Alone in politics
17. Government steps up fight against poverty, promises to deliver on reforms
18. Fight against corruption brings results at customs checkpoints
19. The politics of sustained civil unrest
20. Post-election, questions linger about Georgia’s campaign finance practices
21. Kosovar independence and the Russian reaction [excerpt]
22. Kosovo’s independence and international reaction
23. Pandora’s box now open for business: As Kosovo claims independence, the world braces
24. There is a Kosova precedent, though not what Moscow says it is
25. Situation in Caucasus could worsen after Kosovo precedent – Rogozin
26. Russian activists rally for Dniester region, Abkhazia independence
27. Abkhazia, S. Ossetia still working on appeal to CIS, U.N. – Bagapsh
28. Foreign ministers of breakaway territories to meet in Moscow
29. Russia not to Recognize Abkhazia, South Ossetia
30. Separatist official reports on Geneva meeting under UN auspices
31. Does Russia need independent Abkhazia?
32. The President and those with him: Vladimir Putin hands the CIS heads over to his successor [excerpt]
33. Russia cannot force Georgia to give up EU, NATO membership – MP
34. Senators call upon Secretary of State to back Georgia's aspiration
35. Tbilisi claims principle agreement on Russia’s WTO entry terms
36. Saakashvili content with results of meeting with Russia president
37. Mikhail Saakashvili rounds acute angles
38. Lavrov: Putin and Saakashvili considered consequences of Georgia’s integration into NATO
39. Direct flights set to resume after Putin-Saakashvili meeting
40. Premier hails agreement on resuming air traffic with Russia
41. Opposition suspicious of trade-off between Saakashvili, Putin
42. Parliamentary opposition does not exclude that authority compromised with Russia
43. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit Georgia
44. Burjanadze met with Director Ambassador of ODIHR
45. Burjanadze visited factory bio-energy in Austria
46. Report on presidential election held in Georgia presented at OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
47. Parliament speaker addresses assembly
48. Prime Minister visits Great Britain on February 25-27
49. Georgian observers monitoring presidential elections in Armenia did not fix violations
50. From Georgia to Armenia: Levan and Levon – similar names, similar fates
51. Government plans to increase hydropower
52. Georgian energy sector privatizations since 2003
53. PM hails National Bank's record on inflation
54. Georgian government prepares amendments on property legalization
55. Governmental initiative outlines Georgian stock exchange liberalization
56. Development world update: Two years on MCG going strong
57. Farewell Iberia: Georgia’s last oceangoing cargo vessel is sold
58. Georgian banks pursue regional expansion
59. GTAM head assesses Georgian investment opportunities
60. Tax preferences for foreign construction companies
61. MPs demand consideration of their remarks on the package of bills on global competitiveness of financial sector
62. Businessmen make remarks on bill "on financial sector global competitiveness"
63. NBG administrative costs reduced
64. Rakeen launches real estate development project in Tbilisi
65. Five Georgian citizens accused of robbery in Ukraine are arrested
66. Representative of Russian peacekeeping forces arrested in Batumi port
67. President says Georgia associated with "success, strength, special features"
68. Saakashvili met with Georgian diaspora in church
69. Proposed Russian road gives hope to ethnic minorities in Georgia
70. Fact of environment pollution with oil prevented
71. The new Dezertir Market opens in Tbilisi
72. New draft of Adjara constitution
73. Tbilisi getting safer, officials say
74. Harsh weather wreaks havoc across Georgia
75. The hammer and sickle and the test of time
76. Georgian jazz singer takes the prize in Monte Carlo
77. The talent, and inexperience, show
78. Georgian State Ballet embraces heritage while moving forward
79. Gallery director shares her skills

full digest: Georgia News Digest - Ansicht in Groups BetaNeu!

Jonathan Kulick, Ph.D., Director of Studies, Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, 3a Chitadze, Tbilisi 0108, Georgia (Republic),
jonathan.kulick@gfsis.org, office: +995 32 47 35 55, mobile: +995 95 33 33 40, USA voicemail: 310.928.6814

Monday, February 25, 2008

NATURAL FASHION: Collection from Lika Katsitadze

Fashion House “BISSONI”

ქ. თბილისი, ყაზბეგის ქ. #18 (ვერაზე)
18, Kazbegi str. (on the Vera), Tbilisi / Georgia
Tel.: +995 (32) 233331; +995 (99) 910023
Fax: +995 (32) 507150
Mail:
lika@wanex.ge
URL:
www.bissoni.ge












Hours of service: 10:00 - 19:00

Shop-saloon “Lika-ka” was established in 2005 .
In shop-saloon of designer Lika Katsitadze customers can purchase or order exclusive, high quality and natural clothes of women, children and men. The saloon also offers individual service, models for wedding dresses, evening dresses, bags and accessories. Qualified customers will help you to make the best purchase. The saloon really appreciates pretentious customers. Every customer is special and individual so the shop-saloon does not repeat the models.

The partners of the saloon are:
Gallery “Spiegel”, Minden/ Germany
Model Saloon “Klara Kainzbauer”, Munich/ Germany

Salon is the member of :
From 2007 member of model designers association.
In December of 2006 designer LIKA KATSITADZE with association “Elekana” has made a fashion show of clothes made by ecologically safe and exclusive material in Sheraton Metekhi Place.
In April of 2007 was invited to take part in international exhibition ”40. WISA 2007” in Bielefeld/Germany, where the shop has presented its own collection.
Nowadays Lika Katsitadze has several suggestion from Germany (Minden, Glauhau, Bielefeld) on making the personal exhibition.

Production:
In our shop customers can buy: exclusive, high quality and individual models of natural material, accessories for women, men and children. customers can purchase as hand-made as well production made by modern technology.

extra information:
In our organization there is system of discounts:
seasonal 20-50%
10% - for our customers
10% - (over 300 lari) 10% - for students, ”Euro26” and IPPA Georgia’ s “Patriot Cards”


TRAVELOUGE: Georgia in the Time of Misha - By Melik Kaylan

On the eastern edge of Western Europe, Melik Kaylan finds layers of history, a dashing president called "Misha," and a place alive with optimism and possibility.
From
September 2007
By Melik Kaylan

On a warm night in Tbilisi, where the glossy air has bas-reliefed everything (and everyone) into a kind of celebrity pop-up, I find myself living a glamour moment among the newly minted café society of Georgia. It's a Studio 54 photograph of sorts, but taken in a country wedged roughly between Chechnya and Iran. And so the scene feels at once familiar and strange: men etched in designer poses, fine-boned models having too much fun, that feeling of being at precisely the right place at the right time—all punctuated by the blank stares of VIP's ignoring VIP's. Very Warhol. Perfectly déjà vu. We're on a veranda looking down at the tree-lined Mtkvari River winding through the capital's archaic elegance. It's the after-party of a fashion show, and the peculiar assortment of people illustrates Georgia's ancient role as a merging point of cultures along the Silk Road.

more >>>

ART: "Albrecht von Habsburg" - Painting by Lado Pochkhua

Paintings by Lado Pochkhua (Set)

NEWS: Georgia News Digest 02-22-08

A service of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies

Attached PDF file easily navigable with Bookmarks pane
Archives and associated files at groups.google.com/group/genewsfiles (from February 2008) and groups.google.com/group/genews (before February 2008)


1. report: A Flickering Beacon of Democracy: Human Rights in Georgia in 2007
2. Georgian, Russian Ministers on Putin-Saakashvili talks
3. A look ahead at strategic relations with Russia [excerpt]
4. Russia agrees on terms to lift Georgian air blockade
5. video: Russia & Georgia: Frosty relations thawing?
6. Georgian, Russian leaders to discuss ties at CIS summit
7. Foreign Minister optimistic following Saakashvili-Putin meeting
8. Premier hails agreements with Russia on resuming flights
9. Russia assesses positively talks between Russia, Georgia
10. Saakashvili invites Putin to visit as PM, calls for cooperation
11. Putin sees signs of improvement in relations with Georgia
12. video: Interview: Aslan Abashidze
13. Russia's Latin lover
14. Russia warns Georgia against joining NATO
15. Georgia willing to respect Russia's interests in joining NATO
16. NATO- Big risk or big security
17. McCain, Lieberman, and NATO
18. We are not going to an opposing bloc!
19. State Department daily press briefing [excerpt]
20. Grin and bear it. Declaration of independence by Kosovo bodes problems for Europe [excerpts]
21. Treading carefully on the matter of Kosovo independence
22. Separatists recognize Kosovo's independence
23. Kosova and the “frozen” conflicts of the former USSR
24. The case for clarity: Why does the EU support independence for Kosovo?
25. Kosovo, controversially free at last [excerpt]
26. In uneasy position, Georgian troops protect Kosovo’s independence
27. Abkhazia, S. Ossetia preparing to ask Russia, CIS, UN to recognize independence
28. Abkhazia, Georgia favouring peace process under UN lead praised
29. Abkhazia and South Ossetia: A backgrounder
30. Hunger strike scheduled by United Opposition to be supposedly postponed
31. Opposition gears up for rally, hunger strike
32. Seven leaders of united opposition to participate in hunger strike
33. Irakli Batiashvili: the opposition’s huger strike will have an international resonance!
34. Labourists to join hunger strike in case of demanding dismissal of Saakashvili
35. Labour Party forms National Insubordination Council
36. Some NGOs, opposition parties join Labor Party declaration
37. Party to collect signatures for banning foreign bases
38. GEL 721,000 spent on Gachechiladze election campaign
39. Needed amendments held up by parliamentary wrangling
40. Speaker expresses readiness for dialogue with opposition
41. Chairperson of Parliament of Georgia called upon opposition to continue dialogue with authorities
42. Ruling party’s political games do no one any favors
43. Ruling party firm on its earlier proposals
44. The President of Georgia has met the representatives of the scientific society
45. Saakashvili pardons 32 convicts
46. Burjanadze in Vienna for OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
47. Health minister met with directors of medical institutions
48. Parliament may approve Board of Trustees’ members on February 26
49. Georgian Regional Media Association (GRMA) announcement
50. Issue of Imedi TV will not be discussed at the meeting of News Corp Europe authorities
51. Union of Orthodox Parents protested in front of Public Broadcaster office
52. Finance Minister reported to businessmen on the bill concerning Global Competitiveness Of The Financial Sector
53. MPs find unacceptable articles in package of Draft Laws on Global Competitiveness in Financial Sector
54. The Government agreed upon with banks the program of cheap crediting
55. Subsistence minimum on decline in Georgia - National Bank
56. Bread price not to be increased in Georgia
57. Controversy over ‘downgrading’ role of State Audit Agency
58. Besik Shengelia appointed as Commander of Georgian Navy
59. Project works to promote sexual health education in Georgia
60. Armenia to deliver cement for Sochi Olympics construction
61. Money being taken from the students
62. Meeting dedicated to CRA legal basis improvement to be held in Bakuriani
63. Lost people founded and hospitalized in Tbilisi
64. Government to help population damaged with heavy snow
65. video: Skiing cancelled - due to snow!
66. African swine flu: Did the plague break out, or did somebody break it out?
67. Shida Kartli governor ignores illegal activities of Gori’s Municipality Council
68. Kakhetians cheated by Georgian President Saakashvili
69. Government criticized over harassed journalists
70. People born in Georgia cannot integrate in the country
71. Disable people petition president
72. Investigation needed: Activities of the Kakheti Regional Agency for Social Subsidies
73. Gela Mtivlishvili blames the Prosecutor’s Office
74. Nine years as “hostages” in Georgia’s Pankisi Valley
75. Hard evidence and/or a fourteen-year sentence?
76. Hunger strike of cheated property owners
77. video: First ice championship held in Georgian mountains

full digest: Georgia News Digest - Ansicht in Groups BetaNeu!

Jonathan Kulick, Ph.D., Director of Studies, Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, 3a Chitadze, Tbilisi 0108, Georgia (Republic),
jonathan.kulick@gfsis.org, office: +995 32 47 35 55, mobile: +995 95 33 33 40, USA voicemail: 310.928.6814

MULTIMEDIA: Georgien. Kaukasus-Republik im Wandel. Von Karl und Gudrun Wolff

In Münster - am Mittwoch, 27. Februar, 20.00 Uhr
Aegidiiplatz 3, VHS Gebäude, Raum 208/209
Eintr.: 3.-/5.- €

www.muenster.org/drg

Im Herbst 2007 gingen die Menschen in Georgien auf die Straße und protestierten gegen ihren Präsidenten Saakaschwili, den sie 2003 als Helden der Rosenrevolution mit 96 Prozent der Stimmen gewählt hatten. Das Land, das als Garten Gottes bezeichnet wird und einst die reichste Republik der Sowjetunion war, hat nach seiner Unabhängigkeitserklärung eine lange Phase der Instabilität mit Bürgerkrieg, Sezessionskonflikten in Abchasien und Süd-Ossetien und den Niedergang seiner Wirtschaft erlebt und befindet sich heute wie der gesamte Südkaukasus im Spannungsfeld zwischen amerikanischen und russischen Interessen. Die junge Demokratie hat sich für den Weg nach Europa entschieden, will in die NATO und in die EU. Schon heute flattert die Fahne der EU neben der georgischen Fahne.
Die Referenten berichten mit vielen Fotos nach einem dreimonatigen Studienaufenthalt vom Alltag in Georgien, seiner Geschichte und Kultur, vom Wandel und von den Perspektiven, Problemen und Potentialen im gast -und deutschfreundlichen Land im Südkaukasus.

CONCERT: Pianoimprovisationen von Paata


am Sonntag, den 24. Februuar 2008 / Beginn: 17.00 Uhr

NEWS: 20 Feb 08 | Caucasus Reporting Service 432

Armenia: Sarkisian Poll Triumph Challenged
Opposition promises mass protests after official candidate declared president. By Rita Karapetian in Yerevan (CRS No. 432 20-Feb-08)
Voting Incidents Mar Armenian Election
Presidential ballot overshadowed by polling-booth violence and other allegations of foul play. By IWPR reporters in Armenia (CRS No. 432 20-Feb-08)

IWPR Comment
Separation Anxiety
By Thomas de Waal (20-Feb-08)

Friday, February 22, 2008

PHOTOGRAPHY: ჟინვალი მზის ჩასვლისას

ჟინვალი მზის ჩასვლისას
Photo on February 19, 2008 by Nino Ozbetelashvili

View as slideshow >>>

NEWS: Georgia News Digest 02-21-08

A service of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies

Attached PDF file easily navigable with Bookmarks pane
Archives and associated files at groups.google.com/group/genewsfiles (from February 2008) and groups.google.com/group/genews (before February 2008)

1. 25 issues to be considered at cabinet meeting on Wednesday
2. Parliament to consider pack of anti drug draft-bills on Wednesday
3. Gurgenidze called on ministers to have close contacts with society and media
4. Government unveils 50-day action plan
5. Government unveils anti-poverty plan
6. 4 leader of opposition to participate in hunger strike scheduled for February 22
7. Zviad Dzidziguri: Levan Gachechiladze will not make a public apology to Rustavi 2 journalists
8. CEC refuses to release key information to Public Defender
9. Infamous prison at the end of its days as government seeks to relieve overcrowding
10. Georgian delegation takes part at session of UN Environment Protection Council
11. Foreign Ministry of Cuba proposes to open diplomatic representation of Georgia in the country
12. Georgian leader congratulates official winner of Armenian election
13. Georgian-Russian talks on accession of Russian Federation to WTO to be held in Geneva
14. Bakradze: Georgia not to be against Russia’s membership of World Trade Organization
15. State Minister left for Moscow
16. Minister voices "cautious optimism" on presidents' meeting in Moscow
17. Georgian leader to seek better ties at Putin talks
18. Russia points to Georgia's membership in NATO - RF general
19. Russia, Georgia can make breakthrough in relations – speaker
20. Separation anxiety
21. The Kosovo precedent
22. EU must pay the price of Kosovo failure [excerpts]
23. Deputy speaker says West provoking Russia into recognizing breakaway republics
24. Russia should not hurry to deny Abkhazia, S Ossetia's independence
25. RF shouldn't back independence of Abkhazia, S Ossetia -LDPR leader
26. CIS leaders say refusing to recognize not enough
27. Separatist leaders give no indication of imminent recognition from Moscow
28. The foreigns present: Your guide to the hellholes [excerpts]
29. Permanent dialogue to contribute to the peaceful settlement of Abkhaz conflict
30. MP: Russian legislator's meeting with separatist leader "provocative"
31. Georgia says RF's role in Geneva meeting on Abkhazia constructive
32. Minister notes Russia’s constructive role in Abkhaz talks
33. Saakashvili says Abkhaz conflict pits "modern state" against "tribalism"
34. Quadripartite meetings on regulation of Abkhaz problem to be restored by turn in Gali and Zugdidi
35. Abkhazian President: Kosovo's declaration of independence sets 'precedent'
36. Nugzar Ashuba: Not recognizing Abkhazia’s independence will be amoral behavior!
37. Friends of UN demand corresponding conditions for refugees to be returned in Abkhazia
38. Georgian border police briefly detain Russian peacekeeper serving in Abkhazia
39. Ministry of Education of Abkhazia to hold presentation of project “My Profession”
40. S Ossetia head for Duma hearngs on S Ossetia, Abkhazia independence
41. Russia has "new plan" for Georgia's breakaway regions - separatist leader
42. South Ossetia's leader says recognition may come "this year"
43. South Ossetia possibly recognized in 2008 - separatist leader
44. Live video monitoring of tax and customs services becomes possible
45. Rule of law, lack of qualified staff and tax administration three key problems of Georgia’s economy, says AmCham
46. Georgia picks JPMorgan, UBS for $500 mln Eurobond
47. After his release from prison the founder of 202 TV company is willing to meet the president
48. The list of applicants for Public Broadcaster Board of Trustees’ membership has been published
49. Representatives of institutions which society trusts most shall be presented in Public Broadcaster Board of Trustees
50. Rustavi 2 and Mze demand reduction in free airtime for political commercials
51. Founders of Rustavi newspaper published a magazine
52. Number of applicants for Georgian citizenship increased in 2007
53. Windstorm damaged block of five-storey apartments in Poti
54. Scrap iron thief let free
55. The President of Georgia met Jaba Tkeshelashvili, who had been kidnapped from Tskaltubo region
56. Zurab Janjghava to visit repairing works at Kutaisi-Sokhumi gas pipeline
57. BBC Symphony Orchestra

full digest: Georgia News Digest - Ansicht in Groups BetaNeu!

Jonathan Kulick, Ph.D., Director of Studies, Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, 3a Chitadze, Tbilisi 0108, Georgia (Republic),
jonathan.kulick@gfsis.org, office: +995 32 47 35 55, mobile: +995 95 33 33 40, USA voicemail: 310.928.6814

Thursday, February 21, 2008

BOOK: "Ali & Nino", The novel by Kurban Said


"We were a very mixed lot, we forty schoolboys
who were having a Geography lesson one hot afternoon
in the Imperial Russian Humanistic High School of Baku, Transcaucasia:
thirty Mohammedans, four Armenians, two Poles, three Sectarians, and one Russian".
[Blame the translator for the word 'Mohammedans'].

So begins Kurban Said's first of two novels, mostly set in the town of Baku and Persia, and generally on the cusps of Asia and Europe and war and peace, and it is in Baku that a young Muslim named Ali falls in love with a lovely Christian named Nino. Their relationship, if it is to be, must overcome many obstacles. In many ways Baku, with its multi-ethnic population, is a metaphorical marriage of East and West.

First published in Vienna in 1937, this classic story of romance and adventure has been compared to Dr. Zhivago and Romeo and Juliet. Out of print for nearly three decades until the hardcover re-release in 2000, Ali and Nino is Kurban Said's masterpiece. It is a captivating novel as evocative of the exotic desert landscape as it is of the passion between two people pulled apart by culture, religion, and war.

------------------------------------------------------

The Orientalist, the biography of Kurban Said, by Tom Reiss.

www.theorientalist.info by Tom Reiss

Part history, part cultural biography, and part literary mystery, The Orientalist traces the life of Lev Nussimbaum, a Jew who transformed himself into a Muslim prince and became a best-selling author in Nazi Germany.

Born in 1905 to a wealthy family in the oil-boom city of Baku, at the edge of the czarist empire, Lev escaped the Russian Revolution in a camel caravan. He found refuge in Germany, where, writing under the names Essad Bey and Kurban Said, his remarkable books about Islam, desert adventures, and global revolution, became celebrated across fascist Europe. His enduring masterpiece, Ali and Nino–a story of love across ethnic and religious boundaries, published on the eve of the Holocaust–is still in print today.

But Lev’s life grew wilder than his wildest stories. He married an international heiress who had no idea of his true identity–until she divorced him in a tabloid scandal. His closest friend in New York, George Sylvester Viereck–also a friend of both Freud’s and Einstein’s–was arrested as the leading Nazi agent in the United States. Lev was invited to be Mussolini’s official biographer–until the Fascists discovered his true origins. Under house arrest in the Amalfi cliff town of Positano, Lev wrote his last book–scrawled in tiny print in half a dozen notebooks never before read by anyone–helped by a mysterious half-German salon hostess, an Algerian weapons-smuggler, and the poet Ezra Pound.


AmazonShop: Books, Maps, Videos, Music & Gifts About The Caucasus

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

EXHIBITION: Paintings by Anton Balanchivadze in Paris

Anton Balanchivadze, he has to go soon to Paris. He has got there a personal exhibition.

Link: პარიზი ქართველი მხატვრის მოლოდინშია

Artist-Info & more paintings >>>



















EDUCATION
1985 - 1995 German Gymnasium Tbilisi, Georgia
1991-1992 studied in Cologne, Germany)
1993 - 1995 Art Studio of Karaman Kutateladze and Gia Gordedziani, Tbilisi, Georgia
1995 - 2001 Tbilisi State Academy of Arts, Painting and Graphic Arts (Diploma and the degree of an Artist-Painter (Diploma N 0071068))

HONOURS AND CERTIFICATES
1989 Several first places and medals - Elene Akhvlediani young artist's competition, Tbilisi, Georgia
1989 Bronze Medal and Diploma - 19th International Children's Art competition, Tokyo, Japan
1994 Special award by the embassy of France in Georgia for the painting dedicated to the Day of Freedom

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND EXHIBITIONS
1997- 1990 Elene Akhvlediani Gallery of Young Artists
1995- 2001 Annual student exhibitions at the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts
1997 Young artists exhibition at Abanotubani, Tbilisi, Georgia
1998 Founded the Shadow Theatre and gave several general performances at the International Association of Cultural Initiatives
1999 Made a decoration for Mozart's Magic Flute: performed by the Georgian Chamber Music Theatre Orpheus
2001Painted murals on the walls of German kindergarten, Tbilisi, Georgia
2002 Personal exhibition at History Museum "Qarvasla", Tbilisi, Georgia
2003 Decoration for Ibsen's drama "When We the Dead Awaken" performed by the Georgian Chamber Music Theatre "Orpheus"
2003 Personal exhibition in Tbilisi State Conservatory, Georgia
2004 Painted murals on the walls of the Art Therapy Department of the Psychiatric Clinic , Tbilisi , Georgia
2005 Artistic Director and one of the founders of Georgian Art Group (GAG)
2005 The Exhibition of GAG , Kopala Gallery , Tbilisi , Georgia
2005 The Group Exhibition of Georgian Painters, held by Painters Union of Georgia, National Picture Gallery, Tbilisi, Georgia
2005 The Group Exhibition of Contemporary Georgian Artists, Kopala Gallery, Tbilisi, Georgia
2005 Designer and one of the Founders of Gallery and Art Cafe " Tapir ", Tbilisi, Georgia
2005 Christmas Exhibition of GAG, Tapir Gallery
2005-2006 Several GAG exhibitions, Tapir gallery, Tbilisi, Georgia
2006 Personal Exhibition, Hobby Gallery, Tbilisi , Georgia
2006 Illustrations for R. Kipling's "Fairy tales", Archil Sulakauri Addition, Tbilisi, Georgia
2006 Stone sculpture "dzveli nacnobi", Garikula, Georgia
2006 The Group Exhibition "The New Generation In Contemporary Georgian Art", Kopala Gallery, Tbilisi, Georgia
2006 The Group Exhibition, Arci Gallery, Tbilisi, Georgia

NEWS: Georgia News Digest 02-20-08

A service of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies

Attached PDF file easily navigable with Bookmarks pane
Archives and associated files at groups.google.com/group/genewsfiles (from February 2008) and groups.google.com/group/genews (before February 2008)

1. Parliament majority, opposition level mutual accusations
2. Vote on key constitutional amendments postponed
3. 25 issues to be considered at cabinet meeting on Wednesday
4. Saakashvili to get informed about first results of new acting plan in 50 days
5. Law-makers claim government ignores part of remarks on the bill
6. Opposition meets foreign diplomats, threatens mass protests
7. Opposition threatens mass hunger strike
8. Shalva Natelashvili accuses the administration of responsibility in Badri Patarkatsishvili’s death
9. United Opposition to hold presentation of headquarters in Batumi
10. Opposition raises campaign funds
11. Christian-Democrats” demand to maintain buildings of “Tavadaznaurta” and “Shavnabada” school
12. Georgian leader addicted to power, ex-minister says
13. Okruashvili stays in the public eye, with an extradition decision pending
14. Supporters of Okruashvili held rally with demand of using sequestrated office
15. MP calls for U.S. intervention to stop railway privatization
16. President calls on tax department to act carefully
17. Amount of foreign investments is usd 450 millions in 2008
18. State Eurobonds to be issued in April
19. Georgia and Kazakhstan achieve agreement on cereals supply
20. Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project presented in Geneva
21. Shevardnadze hails Castro as heroic
22. Staff reduction expected at Kote Marjanishvili Theater
23. Minister of Foreign Affairs to meet with Jean-Louis Laurens
24. Protected border is not same as closed border
25. Locals, tourists expecting for assistance in Gudauri
26. Health Care Minister meets director of clinics
27. President meets parliamentary majority to discuss Kosovo
28. President Saakashvili sees no parallels between Georgia, Serbia
29. Kosovo part of "big political game" - Georgian foreign minister
30. Saakashvili's and Putin's wishes ahead of meeting
31. The Putin-Saakashvili meeting could bring good news
32. Tbilisi notes progress in economic talks with Moscow
33. Georgia, Russia achieve progress at flight connection talks
34. Russian Communists call for review of attitude towards breakaway republics
35. Russia won't recognize Abkhazia, South Ossetia - senior MP
36. Kosovo to have no effect on peacekeepers in Abkhazia – Baluyevsky
37. Other separatists ask 'why not us?'
38. Abkhazia, South Ossetia's sovereignty could spark CIS crisis
39. Russian TV and radio highlights 11-17 February
40. Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Sean McCormack holds regular news briefing [excerpt]
41. Series of arrests has begun in Tskhinvali
42. South Ossetia to seek recognition after Kosovo independence
43. Abkhazia preparing for war - Georgian TV
44. Abkhaz official says Kosovo's independence "artificial"

full digest: Georgia News Digest - Ansicht in Groups BetaNeu!

Jonathan Kulick, Ph.D., Director of Studies, Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, 3a Chitadze, Tbilisi 0108, Georgia (Republic),
jonathan.kulick@gfsis.org, office: +995 32 47 35 55, mobile: +995 95 33 33 40, USA voicemail: 310.928.6814