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April 3, 2009
1. Days of Expectation: Armenian-American leadership met Obama
policy advisors prior to president’s departure for Turkey
2. Financial Aid? Small business owners say WB loan will not
reach those who need it
3. The NKR Settlement Question: Public not in accord with latest
suggestions
4. Weathering the Storm: A commentary on Armenia and "Border Economics"
By Richard Giragosian
5. Living in Limbo: Vanadzor families’ hopes on hold as crisis
stops construction
6. Hidden Life, Public Fear: Armenian gays face long walk to freedom
7. Fishy concerns: Businessmen accuse law in hindering the fish industry
8. Dogmatic Solution: Yerevan curs are being curtailed in dramatic fashion
9. Match made in . . . Vanadzor? Armenia’s "third city" opens
cyber dating service
10. Soccer: No luck for Armenia in Tallinn either on or off the pitch
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1. DAYS OF EXPECTATION: ARMENIAN-AMERICAN LEADERSHIP MET OBAMA POLICY
ADVISORS PRIOR TO PRESIDENT’S DEPARTURE FOR TURKEY
By John Hughes
ArmeniaNow editor
Advocates for recognition by the United States of the Armenian
Genocide turn attention to Ankara, Turkey in the coming days when
President Barack Obama meets Turkish President Abdullah Gul April 5.
Hopes that Obama will lead his administration to officially recognize
the Armenian Genocide have run strong, strengthened by repeated
statements of support the president has made during (and before) his
campaign which was backed by Armenian Americans.
Last week, prior to Obama’s departure for the G-20 Summit in London,
from which he is to travel to Turkey, representatives of the Armenian
Assembly of America and the Armenian National Committee of America
met, at the invitation of the White House, with Obama’s senior foreign
policy advisors.
"The Armenian-American leadership continues to look forward, this
April, to President Obama honoring his repeated pledges to properly
recognize the Armenian Genocide, to broaden U.S.-Armenia relations,
and to support other issues impacting Armenia and the surrounding
region," said a statement released by the Assembly ().
Both the Assembly and ANCA () have launched massive
awareness campaigns and are urging their American-based members to
rally the support of the US Congress, as it now considers HR252 – a
resolution calling for recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
At a press conference in Yerevan today (Friday), Assembly country
director Apri Vartanian said she is confident the Genocide issue as
well as discussion of opening borders will come up during the
Obama-Gul meeting.
" . . . And I believe Turkey will do anything to prevent Obama from
using the word ‘genocide’ and recognizing it at all. I also think
that Turkey will resort to blackmail, if necessary – by affecting
America’s interests that depend on Turkey as well," Vartanian said. "I
nevertheless think that Obama will be consistent and keep his pledge.
Anyway, pronouncing the word doesn’t mean that the Genocide will be
recognized today – it’s a process that may be launched by just using
the word."
Just three months into his presidency, Obama may find it prudent to
avoid potential controversy over raising the Genocide issue. It is
likely, though, that meetings will focus on Turkey’s role in helping
America strengthen its position in the region as it begins withdrawing
troops from Iraq, while starting a build-up in Afghanistan.
A more likely opportunity for the US President to fulfill his pledge
will come when he makes the traditional statements on April 24 –
Armenia’s Day of Remembrance.
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2. FINANCIAL AID?: SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS SAY WB LOAN WILL NOT REACH
THOSE WHO NEED IT
By Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
The Central Bank of Armenia announced a plan this week to develop
small and medium businesses, using a $50 million Wold Bank loan.
The project will serve to develop "the basis of a stable economy" said
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan. Some, though, are sceptical whether
the money will go to those who need it most.
Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Vache Gabrielyan pointed out that
the amount provided by the World Bank will be distributed through
eight banks, with interest rates starting at 15 percent – a
potentially prohibitive rate for struggling entrepreneurs.
"The interest rates are very high, the banks have made the
documentation requirements stricter, which basically means that those
loans will not be available for ordinary entrepreneurs, and the large
enterprises and oligarchs will distribute the loans among themselves,"
Minas Petrosyan, PhD in economics, told ArmeniaNow, clarifying that
large entrepreneurs have split up their businesses, registering them
as medium enterprises, and now they have an opportunity to pay less
taxes and take loans.
This pessimistic prognosis becomes more realistic when it turns out
that no organization is going to supervise the process of granting
loans.
The World Bank says they are not authorized to interfere with the
banks’ activity.
"We are in no position to either supervise or impose low interest
rates, as it is the banks who take on the risks of lending the money
and it’s up to them to decide on what conditions to provide loans,"
says World Bank employee Karen Grigoryan.
Since January, the government has been periodically announcing various
projects to assist small and medium enterprises, promising to invest
about $250 million into the development of this sphere, whereas the
representatives of small and medium enterprises claim that loans are
not what they need – what they need is a normal taxation field. "In
these days of crisis nobody will take loans – you never know what will
happen tomorrow," says Martin Grigoryan, the owner of a clothing shop.
"The Tax Service is conducting such aggressive policy these days that
you keep thinking they may come and find some kind of fault, fine you
for millions and that will be it."
Grigoryan’s fears are not groundless; some of his colleagues appeared
in such a state and had to close down their stores.
"Look, this store next to me used to work well, the owner was an
educated person, he came from the US, set up a business and settled in
his motherland, but as he had no support in high circles, they came,
fined him 50 million drams ($135,000) for no reason, so he sold
everything to cover the expenses and fled back to America," Grigoyan
says, adding, "this is how they fill the budget."
Although since last year the Prime Minister has been periodically
stressing that their priority is to tax large enterprises and do away
with shadow economy
52 percent of the RA budget is made up of value-added taxes paid by
ordinary citizens when they buy something, 24 percent is the burden of
small and medium businesses, and almost as much is paid by large
enterprises (but that includes state institutions, such as state
higher education institutions).
According to economist Andranik Tevanyan, the obligatory installation
of cash machines and stricter taxation that started this year have led
small and medium enterprises to the brink of death.
"What loan support are you talking about, when stores and other
businesses are closing down daily?" Tevanyan wonders. He says that
according to the research data of his organization, 20 medium
businesses in the center of Yerevan alone have closed down during the
past month.
"This is the result of the tax terror – they need to fill the
3-billion-dollar budget, but there are not so many tax-payers in this
country, so they either have to force the large enterprises to pay
taxes normally, or strangle small businesses, and the government has
chosen the second option," Tevanyan says.
Contrary to the economist’s statement, Sargsyan said in a March 16
interview, "it is unacceptable to collect taxes by all possible means,
and we are not going to resort to such steps … we should collect as
many taxes as our economy creates."
However, the Prime Minister’s words were refuted by owners of some
small enterprises.
"It’s even funny that he should say a thing like that. In that case,
why do tax inspectors come every day and tell us we must pay tax
advances and fill the budget?" says the accountant of one city-center
electronics shop, showing the 200,000 dram ($540) receipt for the
money they paid on the day of the interview.
Provincial businessmen are in a particularly difficult state. In
Kapan, where a project for the development of small and medium
businesses is implemented as well, businesses are closing daily
residents say.
Armen Sahakyan, who closed down his clothes store a month ago, says
that the government must design the projects more carefully.
"What do we need their loans for, if we have no customers? And who is
our customer? The mining plant of Kapan (is the customer), and if the
plant is not working, the employees appear in a difficult state and we
have no consumers, " Sahakyan told ArmeniaNow and offered a more
effective solution. "As far as I know it is envisaged to implement a
150-million-dollar project for the development of small and medium
businesses in our province, let them give at least half of the money
to Kapan plant that has been closed down for the past 5 months so that
the people can work, that way we’ll have a job, and they’ll have jobs
as well."
Another issue is the problem of the shopping mall traders who came out
to protest again last week.
The traders at the Surmalu, Malatia and Hrazdan malls complain that
their trade has reduced by about 80 percent, but they continue to pay
as much rent as they did before. However, the biggest concern is
inequality, they claim they are paying more taxes than the owners of
the fair.
"We pay about a 200,000-dram ($540) monthly rent, but they enter
100,000 dram ($270) in the registration journal, and if about 200
people work at the mall, you can imagine how much shadow business
there is," says Surmalu bulk sales center trader, who preferred to
remain anonymous.
According to another trader at Hrazdan mall, they have to pay taxes,
not just the rent, and, she claims, the owner of their mall – MP and
Armenian Republican party member Ashot Aghababyan – is not paying the
taxes completely.
"He is a large entrepreneur, and we are small ones, we are strictly
required to pay taxes, but the tax inspectors never ask us how much
rent we pay, and they don’t compare the figure we name with the one
registered in the journal, this is how they combat the shadow economy,
this is how they develop small businesses, they are just strangling
us," says Zina, a mother of 3, who took a 2-million-dram ($5,000) loan
last year to develop her business. Now she is unable to pay it off not
only because of the lack of sales, but also because of the dram
depreciation, which increased the amount by about $1,500.
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3. THE NKR SETTLEMENT QUESTION: PUBLIC NOT IN ACCORD WITH LATEST SUGGESTIONS
By Naira Hairumyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Another regular meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia
will be held on May 7 in Prague or Brussels, and on the threshold of
this meeting the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk group are soliciting
public support.
"In the nearest few months one may expect serious advances in the
settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict," said Matthew Bryza,
American co-chairman of the group in Baku on March 28.
An Armenian-Azeri forum of NGOs was held in Vienna on March 24-28
under the auspices of International Alert, a British NGO. This was the
first forum of NGOs; and the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk group took
part in it. At two other forums organized by International Alert, the
participants discussed the issues of democracy and European
integration. The latest forum touched upon security issues.
"The forum defined the three main spheres, in which the initiatives on
increasing trust between the sides of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must
be strengthened and expanded. Work must be carried out in each
society, direct contacts should be maintained, and joint projects
should be implemented between Armenians and Azeris in the spheres
where it is possible," said project coordinator Desislava Rusanova.
Azeri journalists attended the forum, and reported the new from
Vienna. The news aroused distinctly negative reaction in Armenia and
Karabakh. Political scientists and experts commented on the statements
made at the forum and pointed out that Armenian society would not
accept the ways of settlement offered by mediators. "I don’t know to
what extent Aliev and Sargsyan respect each other, but it seems to me
there is mutual trust between them. However, the population sticks to
its previous position," Bryza stated.
Experts on the conflict say the presidents have passed decision-making
on to the their publics.
Bernard Facier, French Co-Chair of the Minsk Group told about the
position of the mediators. He pointed out that "a more realistic thing
to do is to return the territories controlled by the Armenian military
to Azerbaijan, and, taking into account the guarantees of safety, to
work out a temporary status of Nagorno Karabakh that will be
acceptable both for Baku and Yerevan. The other part of the problem
cannot be solved now, and only in 5-10 or 15 years – upon return of
the Azeri community – will it be possible for the population of
Nagorno Karabakh to have self-determination," the French mediator
stated.
In an interview to Armenianow.com, Manvel Sargsyan, a participant of
the forum, ex-advisor to the President of Karabakh pointed out that,
unlike the leaders of the countries, who, forced by certain reasons,
had to agree to the offered settlement principles, societies are not
ready for such settlement. "The first experience demonstrated that
there is a huge gap between those who conduct the process, and the
public," said Sargsyan, pointing out that the voiced discontent
testifies to the gap between the positions of the authorities and the
society.
The revelations of the French mediator caused a distinctly negative
reaction among the Karabakh delegation. Karine Ohanyan, a Karabakh
reporter, says that Armenian participants of the project objected to
the co-chairmen, saying that starting from 1988, all actions of
Karabakh were aimed at securing its own safety. This task is still
urgent today: the safety is now preserved thanks to the status quo. In
the participants’ opinion, the suggested option of the problem
settlement does not secure safety. Ex-deputy Foreign Minister of
Nagorno Karabakh Masis Mailyan stated that NKR is an actually existing
state, and all agreements must be reached with its participation and
taking into account the current reality.
Bryza announced that he understands the fears of Armenians of Nagorno
Karabakh who don’t want to return the controlled territories for
security reasons, "but this will happen on secured international
guarantees, not only on Azerbaijan’s guarantees." And his French
colleague hinted that failing to accept the suggested method of
settlement might lead to a new war. Karabakh participants qualified
this as blackmail.
Earlier on, 10 youth organizations of Karabakh came up with a joint
statement, which says that extreme Armenophobia and propaganda of
hatred towards Armenians have become part of the state policy of
Azerbaijan. "Hatred towards Armenians in today’s Azerbaijan is
comparable to the anti-Semitic hysteria in the Nazi Germany," the
statement reads, and it also says that under such conditions it is
unthinkable to talk about returning the territories and securing
safety.
The Karabakh conflict arose around the status of Nagorno Karabakh, and
this primary cause of the problem can be resolved. This statement was
made by an Armenian MP of the oppositional "Heritage" party Larisa
Alaverdyan, when she was commenting on the words of Bernard Facier,
co-chairman of the Minsk Group. According to her, the delayed status
offered by the French co-chairman in an "asymmetrical form" means that
"the Armenians of Karabakh are left to the mercy of Azerbaijan."
"I would like to get an explanation, to find out why the recognition
of Karabakh’s independence is so scary against the background of an
actually existing state formation that has proven its ability to
defend itself from the external enemy, a formation that has made great
steps in building a state, moreover, building a
parliamentary-presidential democratic republic," Alaverdayn stated.
According to Karabakh informational and analytical portal "De facto,"
the process of Karabakh settlement is moving on in the direction that
threatens the safety not only of Nagorno Karabakh republic, but of
Armenia as well, and the so-called Madrid principles completely ignore
the interests of the two Armenian states.
Karabakh participants of the forum say that the danger presented by
Facier’s suggestion is evident merely because it is in accord with
Azerbaijan’s position. "Does he really think that both Armenian sides
are capable of making such serious concessions and placing under real
threat the safety and the very existence of NKR on the security
guarantees given by Azerbaijan?" says Leonid Martirosyan, editor of
Karabakh newspaper "Azat Artsakh."
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4. WEATHERING THE STORM: A COMMENTARY ON ARMENIA AND "BORDER ECONOMICS"
By Richard Giragosian
Several recent developments have only confirmed the negative impact of
the global financial and economic crisis on the Armenian economy, with
signs that the downturn will only continue to worsen in the coming
months.
These most recent indicators of a worsening economic crisis in Armenia
include a recent report released by the Armenian Central Bank showing
a significant reduction in the flow of remittances, or money from
abroad, coming into Armenia. According to the Central Bank report,
released on March 31, the level of cash transfers among banks handling
remittances for the first two months of the year was some 20 percent
lower for the same period last year.
In addition, because remittances do not rely solely on the banking
system, the actual reduction in formal bank transfers suggests an even
larger drop in the amount of money coming into the country. Other
recent signs point to an even deeper and more lasting economic
downturn, however.
For January and February of this year, Armenia’s Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) also fell, posting a significant three-percent
contraction that formally ended several years of double-digit economic
growth. Even more troubling for the Armenian state, was the news that
tax collection also fell by some $230 million, or almost 15 percent,
for the same period.
Other recent signs point to an even deeper and more lasting economic
downturn. According to Yerevan’s largest private realtors, the real
estate market in Armenia, whose exorbitant prices were long thought to
be artificially sustained, is now suffering severe pressures from low
demand and falling prices. The so-called real estate "bubble" of
Yerevan has begun to deflate, with the statistics for real estate
transactions reporting a sharp decline in prices for homes and
apartment rents alike.
Faced with these developments, the Armenian government has recently
decided to "postpone" some $359 million in planned spending programs
until later in the year, hoping to ride out the economic storm through
the coming months.
Against the backdrop of several months of constant reassurances and
vague optimism expressed by Armenian officials, this move suggests
that the severity of the mounting economic crisis has finally become
too painful to ignore. In fact, the government’s decision to defer
spending is a serious step, as it effectively freezes about 14 percent
of total state spending.
Look to the Borders
In light of these negative economic trends, there may be at least a
partial way out of this mounting crisis, however. Open borders and
free trade have long been recognized as basic prerequisites for
economic growth and development. In Armenia’s case, the economic
isolation from closed borders and landlocked geography has been
particularly severe, and has only tended to exacerbate a deeper
economic vulnerability.
Yet it may be the benefits of "border economics" that offer the
country a way out of the crisis. For a recent example of the
significance of "border economics," Armenia hosted a massive influx of
tourists from neighboring Iran. During the last week of March, for
example, an estimated 20,000 Iranian tourists flocked to Yerevan to
celebrate the Iranian New Year, known as "Novruz."
This recent influx of tourists from Iran brought new hope and fresh
business to Armenian merchants and hotel operators, as well to
restaurants, as thousands of Iranian young people celebrated their
temporary "freedom" from Iran’s ban on drinking alcohol.
Even more important than the tourism-related revenue from the Iranian
influx to Armenia, with some economists estimating that the average
tourist spends about $1000 per week, was the longer term significance
of the event.
Tourists’ Delight
More specifically, the influx of Iranian tourists to Yerevan to
celebrate their New Year in a relaxed and hospitable environment
affirms the potential benefit for cross-border trade and tourism. And
this is also a lesson of what can happen if Turkey opens its
long-closed border with Armenia. Instead of Iranian tourists, Armenia
can well expect to receive a sudden influx of Kurds and Turks, eager
to drive only a few hours across a newly opened border to enjoy a
refreshingly welcoming atmosphere in Armenia.
For Kurds, such a new opportunity to come to Armenia offers not only
entertainment and tourism, but even more importantly, provides a
welcome relief from the repression of daily life under the constant
surveillance of Turkish police and security forces.
In this way, the potential for Armenia to emerge as a safe haven for a
new boom in tourism is a real opportunity. And Armenia may become the
destination for not only Iranians eager for the freedoms of daily life
that they are denied in their own country, but also for a new wave of
tourists, coming to Armenia through a newly opened Armenian-Turkish
border. And this may be one of the most important economic gains from
an open border, with benefits apparent for both sides.
But the impetus is now squarely on Turkey, which must open the border
that it closed. Turkey must also accept the reality of Armenia as its
neighbor by extending normal diplomatic relations, and must come to
terms with the reality of addressing the legacy of the Armenian
genocide. Only then can an opening of the border help to open minds
as well.
……………………………….
Rich ard Giragosian is the director of the Yerevan-based Armenian
Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS). "Weathering
the Storm" is a weekly column exclusively for ArmeniaNow.
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5. LIVING IN LIMBO: VANADZOR FAMILIES’ HOPES ON HOLD AS CRISIS STOPS
CONSTRUCTION
By Naira Bulghadaryan
ArmeniaNow Vanadzor reporter
The construction of a new "elite" apartment building in the center of
Vanadzor has been suspended indefinitely due to financial problems
brought on by the global economic crisis.
The large-scale construction has been silent even after spring brought
weather suitable for the work, leaving nothing but a hole dug out for
the foundation in the center of the city.
"The increase in the prices of construction materials and the rapid
decrease in investments postpone our work for an indefinite period,"
says Artur Vardanyan, general manager of Vimperg the company that won
the building rights in 2007. He added in the past year they were
hardly able to carry out preliminary ground work (in fact, only 50
percent of it).
Having covered the construction site on four sides, Vimperg now waits
for a turn in the economy.
Meantime, 12 families that were promised to get apartments in the
building are left to wait.
According to the agreement signed by Vanadzor Municipality and
Vimperg, 12 out of about 50 apartments of the 9-storeyed building will
be given to families who lost their apartments in this very area as a
result of the 1988 earthquake.
Before the earthquake, there were two apartment buildings in the area.
Seventy-two families lost homes and while most accepted city-sponsored
apartments in other parts of town, 12 held out for the new building.
An agreement was signed between the Municipality and the residents
stating that if the new building wasn’t finished in three years, the
city-funded residents would receive a payment equivalent to the market
value of the homes they were promised. One year is left on the
agreement.
"We are now offering an alternative," Mayor Samvel Darbinyan says. He
and the constructors have decided to provide the residents with sums
of money, but, unlike what is stated in the agreement, not the whole
sum, but part of it along with RA government-issued certificates
verifying the purchase of an apartment.
If the municipality provides the certificates and Vimperg provides the
money, the owners of a studio will get about 6 million dram ($16.000),
owners of one-bedroom apartments will get 7 million dram ($21.000),
and owners of two-bedroom apartments will get more than 10 million
dram ($28,000). The total sum to be provided by Vimperg is about
$100,000.
The residents, though, reject this alternative. They claim that the
certificates and the money are not enough to buy apartments in the
location of their previous homes or nearby.
"We want them to build our building, if they are not doing it, we want
apartments instead of ours, in the location of our previous homes,"
48-year old Robert Chilingaryan complains.
Instead of the one-bedroom apartment that belonged to his father, the
Municipality is offering 7 million drams ($21,500). Chilingaryan
assures that apartments in the location of their previous homes or in
the city center are more expensive.
According to Armen Amirbekyan, general manager of Amirbekyan real
estate agency, the prices for studios in the center of Vanadzor start
from $20,000 dollars. A one-bedroom apartment costs $21,000-30,000.
But the apartments have not been renovated.
"I don’t want to live in the suburb, my ancestors lived in the center
as well," says 51-year old Seyran Harutyunyan, who is one of the
protesters. Two years ago his family removed the domik (temporary
house) that had stood in the location of their previous building, and
now they are renting an apartment.
"My children grew up in this temporary house, and now I have to go and
live in a suburb," Harutyunyan says, demanding as much money as he
needs to buy an apartment right in the center.
To defend their interests, the protesting residents of Vandzor have
turned to attorney Edmon Marukyan, who claims that the mayor’s offer
is illegal.
"If the citizens decide to take the case to court, we are not only
going to argue the issue of the discrepancy between market prices and
the offered sum of money, but also demand apartments equivalent to
those in an elite building in this location," says Marukyan.
The lawyer believes that, according to the agreement, the municipality
must provide as much money as is equivalent to the prices of the
apartments in the center.
But the mayor counters that he, too, will appeal to court – on the
grounds that the citizens have not complied with the provisions of the
agreement and refused to take the money.
"We are fulfilling our obligation. The government provides purchase
certificates; we provide the money. This is what we have, take it if
you want to, and if you don’t want to – it’s your choice," says the
angered mayor, insisting that for the price of the purchase
certificate and the offered money, the residents can buy apartments in
different parts of the city, including the center.
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6. HIDDEN LIFE, PUBLIC FEAR: ARMENIAN GAYS FACE LONG WALK TO FREEDOM
By Vahan Ishkhanian
Special from Institute for War and Peace Reporting
The recent publication of Azeri writer Alekper Aliev’s gay novel
Artush and Zaur, dealing with an Armenian-Azeri love affair, rocked
the conservative and mainly Muslim society of Azerbaijan.
It broke a double taboo – love between Armenians and Azeris and
same-sex love, at the same time.
But while the furor cast a harsh spotlight on homophobia in
Azerbaijan, on the other side of the ethnic and religious divide, in
Armenia, gays face just as much prejudice.
Hovhannes Minasian found this out to his cost. Now 26, he is one of a
small minority of gay men in Armenia who do not fear to give out their
real names in interviews.
He gained this freedom – involuntarily – after being sent to jail for
his sexual orientation. After that, the whole of his former
neighborhood and his relatives learnt about it and there was nothing
to hide.
His nightmare began in 1999, when police arrested him and accused him
of sodomy. A man who had once had an affair with him apparently
betrayed him, and four others, to the authorities.
Minasian, then 17, says he immediately admitted he had had a sexual
relationship with a man. "I never thought it was a crime, so when they
asked me if I did it, I confirmed it," he said.
He says the police who arrested him beat him violently, demanding that
he name other homosexuals, which he refused to do.
He was one of six persons charged for the then crime of sodomy under
Article 116 of the Armenian penal code, receiving a relatively short
jail sentence of three months as he was under age. (the article
envisage up to 5 years imprisonment)
While in prison, Minasian says he came under constant pressure. "The
prisoners were as cruel to me as the jailors, I was like a toy for
them, they used to bully me and throw me around the cell," he said.
After his release, the lads living next door to him chased him around,
throwing stones at him and screaming "gay" at his back.
That is not all. He says a policeman tried to blackmail him into
confessing the names of wealthy homosexuals he knew about.
When he failed to extract this information, he told the manager of the
bar where Hovhannes worked of his sexual orientation, and Hovhannes
and his gay friend were fired.
Nine years since his conviction, the local boys have stopped chasing
Hovhannes. They got used to him. He has a job. Still, he is going to
leave the country, tired of the general climate of hostility.
In 1922, a few years after the Bolshevik revolution, homosexuality
ceased to be a penal offence in the newly formed Soviet Union.
But it was reintroduced as a crime in 1933, and eventually removed
from the penal code in 2003.
Armenian film director Sergey Parajanov was twice executed for that
article in 1948 and 1974.
In spite of the official change in the letter of the law,
discrimination and intolerance against Armenian gays remains
widespread.
A year ago, Khachik, a 21-year-old student at university, was thrown
out of his home when his parents found out about his sexual
orientation.
Khachik says he realized he was different from the rest when he was 13
or 14 and accepted he was more interested in boys than girls.
"At that age, when you start to masturbate, I used to imagine guys,"
he confessed. "I thought I was alone with all this but then I found
people just like me on the Internet."
He waited until he was 20 to have his first sexual encounter with a
man whom he met on the Internet and introduced to his family as a
friend.
Trouble erupted after Khachik’s mother discovered that their
relationship was not entirely innocent.
"We were watching a film in my room and I didn’t know the door was
open. Mother came and saw us kissing," he recalled.
At first, she wept, but later, once his father was home, the two of
them became far more aggressive.
"Dad got really angry and said, ‘Aren’t girls enough for you? You want
to start dating guys? My son can’t do that!’
"Mother started screaming that it would be better if I died. It would
be better not to have a son than to know he was gay.
"She even tried to hit me. I tried to hold her back, but dad began to
help her. Then they told me I was no longer their son and that I had
to leave the house. So I went away."
Khachik has been living in lodgings ever since and has to work in two
jobs to support his studies.
Two months after being thrown out, he was exempted from military
service because of his "deviant" sexual orientation.
According to the Helsinki Rights Committee in Armenia, in 2004 an
internal defense ministry code effectively bans homosexuals from
serving in the armed forces.
"When I told the army psychologist I was gay, he threw the pen on the
table and exclaimed ‘Damn it!’" Khachik recalled.
He says another officer struck him with a folder, saying, "You are not
a man! How can an Armenian claim he’s limp wristed?"
He was then dispatched to a medical institution for official diagnosis
– which duly described him as possessing a "non-traditional sexual
orientation".
On the subject of the deferment of conscription for homosexuals,
Colonel Seyram Shahsuvaryan, representing the defense ministry, sent a
written response to IWPR.
In it, the colonel denied the existence of any unofficial ban on
homosexuals serving in the army, "The law on compulsory military
service in Armenia does not allow the exemption from military service
of homosexuals."
In Aliev’s controversial novel, Artush and Zaur, the two lovers
eventually decide to take their own lives, jumping from Baku’s Maiden
Tower, a symbol of doomed love in Azerbaijan.
Psychologist Davit Galstian says societal pressures in Armenia have
driven some gays to take their own lives in a similar desperate
fashion.
Within the past three years, he knows of at least 10 homosexual men
who threw themselves off the Kiev bridge in Yerevan, the capital’s
biggest.
He cites several tragic cases that he has come across in his practice.
A man’s life that was destroyed when his family discovered his
orientation; a woman who rejected her own children and sent them to an
orphanage after learning that their father, her husband, is gay; and a
father who threw his 14-year-old gay son out of the house, who then
turned to street prostitution.
"There is a real phobia against homosexuals in our society, people
consider them beasts," he said.
"My [gay] patients learn about me from each other and come here. They
say at least I listen to them."
Politicians do little to dispel the fog of ignorance and prejudice
around the subject. Indeed, some make it worse.
One former member of parliament, Emma Khudabashian, even used to say
that people should throw stones at homosexuals.
Armen Avetisian, head of Armenian Arian Union, an ultra-nationalist
grouping, issued a bizarre attack on homosexuals – and on Europe – in
July 2006, which was published in three newspapers.
"We should form a community for them, called Hamaserashen (literally,
‘Homosex-burg’)," he said.
"Of course, it should be located in Europe, as homosexuality is a part
of the European values, so let them gather there."
The church is another conservative factor. The Armenian Apostolic
Church – like most traditional Christian churches in the world – views
homosexuality as a grave sin.
Galstian says homophobia is harmful to society, depriving it of
potential talent.
"We lost a talented singer, a computer programmer and an excellent
student who could have become a chemist," he said, mulling past
suicides. Others have simply left the country.
Yet, on December 9, 2008, the Armenian government endorsed a United
Nations convention outlawing discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation and gender identity.
That only prompted a greater outcry from homophobic elements in
Armenia, however.
"This is a global plan worked out by masonic structures to destroy the
world," Khachik Stambolcian, a well known figure said in one public
discussion.
The right-wing Iskakan Iravunk newspaper accused the UN document of
glorifying what it termed "human driftwood – those sodomites and
lesbians".
Hrair, a 26-year-old activist, (name is changed for the sake of
security) says the government’s endorsement of the UN statement may
not have helped gays much in Armenia in the short term.
"Before that, we just lived our lives and worked but then they made a
fuss, and it became tense," he noted.
Avetik Ishkhanyan, chair of the Helsinki Rights Committee of Armenia,
and member of Independent Observers’ Group of Penitentiary
departments, says homosexuals experience the worst troubles within
closed spaces like prisons and barracks.
"In prison, they have a separate cell and it’s a taboo to shake their
hands, take cigarettes from them or even touch their stuff," he said.
"If a detainee uses homosexual’s plates, even by accident, the
criminals consider him Á ‘pervert’ too.
"They are given the most humiliating work to do, like cleaning toilets
and drains."
According to Ishkhanian, it is hard to defend homosexuals, as few are
willing to publicly complain about their lack of status.
Arsen Babayan, of the justice ministry’s penitentiary service, denies
gay detainees in prison are singled out for the most humiliating
tasks. Every prisoner, he says, chooses his own type of work.
"The fact that gays live separately in penitentiary departments is due
to their wish. It’s the same with Jehovah’s witnesses, who also live
separate lives," he said.
Meanwhile, Galstian says things may be starting to change – albeit slowly.
Since Armenia became a member of the Council of Europe in 2001, people
generally have started to more actively defend their rights, and more
and more homosexuals are open about their identity.
The NGO PINK, short for Public Information and Need for Knowledge,
founded in 2007, openly advocates for gay rights, as well as
specialising in the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.
PINK member Hrair broke up with his Iranian boyfriend when the latter
wanted to leave for Europe.
"He couldn’t live in Iran, as they hang homosexuals there, but he felt
depressed here too, so he was trying to talk me into going to Europe,
but I didn’t want to," he said.
Though well aware of the climate of intolerance in Armenia, Hrair says
he is not ready to abandon his homeland now things are starting to
shift a little.
"When I was a child, I suffered, trying to understand myself and
nobody was there to help me," he recalled.
"But now we are a big team, and we are trying to help the weaker ones
to stand up.
"This is very important to me. I would feel defeated if I went to live
in a European country, hiding my head in the sand like an ostrich."
Vahan Ishkhanian is a freelance journalist and correspondent for Armenianow.
************************************* **************************************
7. FISHY CONCERNS: BUSINESSMEN ACCUSE LAW IN HINDERING THE FISH INDUSTRY
By Armine Grigoryan
Special to ArmeniaNow
Specialists involved in fish industry believe there are serious
prospects for the development of that industry in Armenia, however,
there are problems that not only hinder its further development, but
also make it impossible to conduct any activity in the sphere
whatsoever.
The problems lie in the acting laws, which, in the opinion of fish
farmers, very often become a source of bribery and create new
problems.
"Bureaucratic laws are adopted without thoroughly examining the
problems in the sphere, and the producers are forced to function
within the frame of the adopted laws, which are very often illogical.
Developed European countries went through this a long time ago, and
it’s impossible to reinvent a new wheel," says Arkadi Gevorgyan,
General Manager of "Akvatekhavtomatika" CJSC involved in fish breeding
and exporting.
Armenian fish farmers assure that they have the potential to produce
300,000 tons of Siberian sturgeon and trout. In their opinion, if the
government displays real concern for the fish industry, the latter
will be able to occupy a worthy position in the country’s economy.
The "Union of Armenian fish farmers" NGO (consisting of 74 members
involved in the industry) was formed in October 2008 to voice their
concern about the traps created by bureaucratic laws and to present
the existing problems to legislative and executive bodies.
Artur Atoyan, executive manager of the organization, said that a new
bill of law "On implementing self-monitoring" has been presented to
the National Assembly aiming to resolve the remaining problems created
by the acting laws. However, the bill may become a new burden for the
fish farmers.
"According to the bill, any company involved in fish industry must
develop a program in compliance with the nature protection legislation
and control the amount of pollution caused to nature. And again a
bureaucratic approach was displayed, as the opinion of the producers
was not taken into account," says Atoyan.
The organization has appealed to the Prime Minister, informing him
that programs continue to be developed and bills are submitted to the
National Assembly without the participation of the fish farmers.
According to them, it is necessary that fish farmers get help in
resolving more urgent issues instead, such as evening out the
legislative filed and solving the problems connected with exports.
Ashot Hovhannisyan, Head of Department of cattle- and pedigree
cattle-breeding at RA Ministry of Agriculture, informed that an
interdepartmental committee was formed at the Ministry to assist fish
farmers. The purpose of the committee is to have regular session to
find ways to solve the problems the fish farmers are facing.
"If they want fish industry in Armenia to develop and the export
volumes to increase, then they should get rid of inter-departmental
procrastination and organize fish exports in one or two days.
Otherwise we will not only lose the current export markets, but will
also be unable to think about new prospects," says Arkadi Gevorgyan,
General Manager of "Akvatekhavtomatika" CJSC.
According to national statistical service data, in 2007 Armenia
exported 5.1 tons of live fish, 41.5 tons of fresh fish, and 13 tons
of frozen fish. According to the preliminary data provided by the
service, the live fish export volumes increased in 2008. Last year’s
exports amounted to 6.1 tons of live fish, 49.5 tons of fresh fish,
and 22.2 tons of frozen fish.
In the conditions of the current financial and economic crisis, each
deal that remains unfinished because of inter-departmental
procrastination may cause serious harm to Armenia’s financial market.
This is one of the priority problems and requires an urgent solution.
However, this is not the only problem.
Many fish farmers have problems with the RA government-affiliated Real
Estate Cadastre State Committee. The thing is that many fish producers
built water reservoirs years ago, but the construction has not been
documented by the cadastre until today and is considered "illegal."
One of such enterprises is "Burnatyanyan and son" Ltd. After
independence, the general manager of the enterprise Armen Burnatyan
set up his farm – he built water reservoirs and bred fish on the
private land belonging to the enterprise.
However, the water reservoirs belonging to his farm have not been
registered by the cadastre. From time to time, inspections are carried
out and they are told to register the reservoirs.
"It is envisaged by law that farmers who have illegal construction are
obliged to correct their mistakes. What does it mean, ‘to correct’? I
either have to tear it down, or I have to make it legal. It’s hard to
make it legal, because such huge prices are fixed that it’s impossible
to pay them. If I pay those, I’ll go bankrupt immediately. And the
deadline is one month. The law says that if you don’t correct the
mistake in one month, you pay a 200,000 dram fine (about $555) the
fist time, and the second time it’s 2 million drams (about $5,550) for
each construction. This approach is not realistic, and we are talking
about such taxpayers thanks to whom money goes into the state budget,"
says Burnatyan.
The process of expropriating and privatizing state community lands
started in Armenia about 20 years ago. Armen Burnatyan founded his
farm and started his activity in accordance with the normative acts
and decisions made in those years. Years went by. New laws were
adopted, but they do not solve the problems inherited from previous
years.
"The legislative field is fully functioning to regulate the process of
expropriating and privatizing state community lands, and all relations
have been regulated by normative legal documents. The Land Code,
adopted in 2001, and the government decree about the order of
expropriating land and holding auctions are both functioning," says
Ashot Muradyan, head of the staff of the government-adjunct Real
Estate Cadastre State Committee.
In the opinion of fish farmers, a different approach is required to
solve the problems of the industry that was shaped 20 years ago. They
have been making investments for years; they made some construction,
developed a business and are real taxpayers.
"A special decision should be made for us," says Arkadi Gevorgyan,
General Manager of "Akvatekhavtomatika" CJSC. In his opinion, now it
is necessary to remit illegal construction at all the farms, and fish
farmers should be allowed to use the lands unfit for agriculture in
the future.
***************************************** ***********************************
8. DOGMATIC SOLUTION: YEREVAN CURS ARE BEING CURTAILED IN DRAMATIC FASHION
By Siranuysh Gevorgyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Street dogs on the outskirts of Yerevan are wearing red ties and going
tail-less.
Neither fashion is the dogs’ choice. It is, rather, the result of a
campaign to rid the capital of so many curs – owning the streets at
night and disturbing sleep in the wee hours.
The strays are caught, examined for disease, treated, sterilized –
and, so to speak – detailed. Why are tails cut? Proof of a job
well-done.
The de-dogging program is implemented by Unigraph-X company,
contracted after a bid by the RA Public Procurement Agency to un-do a
serious health problem that has existed in varying degree of annoyance
and danger since independence. (Among other remedies over the years,
special animal control hunters have been sent into the night to shoot
the dogs. They cut off the tails as proof of their work, for which
they were paid a dollar or so per tail.)
Lilit Grigoryan, deputy press secretary of Unigraph-X told ArmeniaNow
that they register 30-35 calls from citizens and district
administrations a day.
"Our specialists arrive to the corresponding addresses given us by our
citizens or district administrations, and they hunt those dogs. Later
the animals are taken to our company’s specialized clinic, where they
are carefully examined, and if some diseases are found, they are
cured. Dogs are being vaccinated and sterilized. Later the dogs are
set free in different outskirts of Yerevan," says Grigoryan.
The company’s operation is in Nor Artamet village, Kotayk Province and
according to the spokeswoman, no other such clinic exists in the South
Caucasus. It has about 29 staff.
Dogs that are diseased beyond cure, or that are aggressive, are
euthanized. The less harmful are "relocated" – minus their ability to
reproduce.
(A sociological survey found that 60 percent of Yerevan’s citizens are
for killing stray dogs; 40 percent are for sterilization.)
Stray dogs are a common feature around dumpsters throughout the city.
Timid by day, they run in packs at night and pose a threat to anyone
venturing onto their turf. And according to the specialist, word is
out in Canineville that the capital holds abundant doggie treats.
"Yerevan is very attractive for stray animals, since there are lots of
remnants left at the public catering places. This is the reason why a
great number of stray dogs arrive in Yerevan from the nearby
provinces," says Grigoryan.
According to Grigoryan, Unigraph-X sterilized some 16,000 strays in
2006-2008. As Grigoryan explains the number of stray dogs is still
huge because of the dogs arriving in Yerevan from nearby provinces.
In the first two months of this year 1,391 stray dogs have already
been sterilized and 2,200 – euthanized.
Grigoryan says the sharp increase in cases is due to more residents
learning of their service.
The specialists of the Company assure that it is impossible to
estimate the number of strays.
"Simply there is no such a methodology. We even do not have data about
the dogs kept as pets, because we do not have a law on animals," says
Grigoryan.
The Yerevan Municipality allots the funds due to the number of dog
tails presented by the Company. Once the bounty is determined, the
tails are buried in a city dump.
According to Grigoryan, about 2,400 drams ($7) is needed to euthanize
an animal; in case of sterilizing – 11,500 drams ($31) is assigned for
female and 8,800 drams ($24) – for male dogs.
The specialists of the company state that the results of sterilizing
stray animals will be evident only in a few years.
"As we estimate, about five years later there would be no need to
euthanize animals any more. We will be busy with sterilizing them
only. It means that our aim would be to provide our city with a
concrete optimal number of stray animals and not their entire
liquidation," says Grigoryan.
************************************** ************************************
9. MATCH MADE IN . . . VANADZOR?: ARMENIA’S "THIRD CITY" OPENS CYBER
DATING SERVICE
By Naira Bulghadaryan
ArmeniaNow reporter
For a month now, Vanadzor local press and TV have been advertising the
opening of an Internet dating agency.
Visiting , German web page residents can
look through the candidate offering friendship or marriage. The
webpage has been functioning since last November and is available in
English, German, Russian and Armenian.
The initiative of opening the meeting venue, considered an innovation
for a small town like Vanadzor, belongs to "Trichk" educational,
cultural and counseling NGO.
Hovik Nikoghosyan, the President of the NGO, saw the web page of the
agency quite by chance, got acquainted with the person in charge –
Rita Kral Makichyan, Armenian by descent, and decided to localize it.
4,000 people from Europe, the USA, Armenia, and Russia have trusted
the offer of the web page to make acquaintances in a few months and
meet their life companions.
"Love knows no boundaries, that is why it does not matter at all how
old you are, where you are from and what language you speak. Our
employees, who speak several languages, will help you with all the
issues concerning establishing and maintaining correspondence with the
person you choose," the people responsible for maintaining the site
say in the Armenian version of the website.
Cost for a cure for loneliness is $19 a year.
The online agency has two representative offices in Armenia – one in
Yerevan, and one in Vanadzor.
One may also sign up without applying to the agency’s representatives,
by paying online through credit card.
Trichk (NGO) says its role – unusual perhaps for a non governmental
organization – is to advertise the service, assist those who want to
sign up, arrange meetings and even provide counseling.
"Girls and women are mostly shy. They want to, but they don’t feel
comfortable, they feel embarrassed, we explain to them that if a man
has the right to choose, you have that right as well," explains
Nikoghosyan.
Nikoghosyan says that so far 50 people of different ages from Lori
province have signed up: 30 women or girls, and 20 young men.
A 51-year old woman was helped by a colleague to sign up, and now the
colleague is helping her to write and respond to letters.
"She doesn’t know how to use the Internet, and I help her with
pleasure," several times a week a Vanadzor employee of the agency
Stella Kocharyan helps the older woman from Lori, who is divorced and
wishes to remarry.
"She is still communicating, she is interested, she gets letters, she
writes herself," Stella says.
The youngest signed-up resident of Lori is 18 years old (the agency
accepts people of 18 and older). Nikoghosyan says that the people who
sign up here are mostly looking for a life companion, but there are
also people who are looking for friends to communicate with.
The operators of monitor the
correspondence to prevent offensive messages.
"This is, basically, a ‘matchmaker,’ a mediator to help meet and then
marry a person, that creates a more relaxed space for communication.
In Soviet times many people met through a matchmaker, and that created
interdependence between families – necessarily leading to a marriage,
in the case of the Internet it is not like that, if you don’t want to,
you don’t have to go on seeing the person," Nikoghosyan says.
He tells about a 71-year old man who signed up and stressed in his
application that he was looking for a well-groomed woman.
Although the majority of Vanadzor youth are using
, the popular Russian website, their attitude to
the existence of the Internet agency is not unambiguous.
For them, Odnoklassniki is not a way to meet the future spouse, but
only a way to meet people and a means of communicating with far-away
relatives.
"People will say – you must have been in a tight corner to have
applied here," says 25-year old Anahit Danielyan.
Although many people in her circles have got married with the help of
the Internet and she treats internet-assisted acquaintances and
marriages seriously, she will definitely not apply to avoid becoming
"the talk of the small town."
"I have even got a marriage proposal on the Internet, but I just
laughed at it, that’s all," says 23-year old Anzhela Harutyunyan.
For her, Internet-assisted marriage is unacceptable – it contradicts
the Armenian mentality.
"Such marriages are interesting for me, I know they are very happy,
but in any case it is unacceptable for me," Anzhela says.
23-year old Artur Sukiasyan will not even allow his sister or his
female relatives to look for acquaintances on the Internet.
"People using the Internet have created an unserious atmosphere
themselves," Artur says.
******************************************* *********************************
10. SOCCER: NO LUCK FOR ARMENIA IN TALLINN EITHER ON OR OFF THE PITCH
By Suren Musayelyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Under a new, caretaker manager, underperforming Armenia failed again
to impress in Tallinn as they were beaten by the home side 1-0 in a
World Cup 2010 qualifier Wednesday late afternoon.
Sander Puri scored the winner for Estonia seven minutes from time
dashing Armenia’s hopes for a positive result after a hard-achieved
draw in Yerevan four days earlier.
Armenia dominated most of the first half, with Pyunik midfielder Artur
Yedigaryan nearly scoring with a powerful shot in the 22nd minute. The
visitors kept pressing in the second half but Estonia goalkeeper
Sergei Pareiko saved his team twice in the space of two minutes early
on.
The result leaves Armenia in the bottom spot in six-nation European
Zone qualifying Group 5 with only one point earned in six games and
trailing fifth-played Estonia by four points.
Two days before the match in Tallinn, Armenia’s soccer governing body
sacked Dane Jan Poulsen as the team’s head coach after a 2-2 home draw
with Estonia on March 28. Poulsen’s assistant Vardan Minasyan has
taken over as caretaker manager. (Next Armenia plays Bosnia &
Herzegovina at home on September 5.)
Armenia’s midweek match in Estonia was marred by a row that the
country’s Football Federation says was triggered by Estonia’s football
federation chief.
Some Estonian media carried reports on April 1, only hours before the
game, quoting Aivar Pahlak as accusing the Football Federation of
Armenia (FFA) of ‘indecent behavior’.
But the Armenian body lashed back at Estonia’s chief soccer
functionary accusing him of not allowing the team to have proper
training before the match in the Estonian capital.
Some Estonian federation officials had cited heavy rains in Tallinn
the day before as a reason for Armenia not to train in the city’s A Le
Coq stadium where the match would be held the following day.
But FFA Executive Director Armen Minasyan explained that there were
good weather conditions on that afternoon and finding the pitch
perfectly suitable for exercise (despite some Estonian claims to the
opposite) Armenia players, after being given corresponding permission,
were about to start their training at A Le Coq when a person, who
later turned out to be Pahlak, began to shout at them from the stand
using abusive language.
The team, according to Minasyan, had to cut its training short and
leave the stadium.
"It is difficult to imagine that the president of the Football
Federation of Estonia can permit himself to make such statements,"
Minasyan commented, through the Armenian Federation’s official
website, on the Estonian media reports carrying Pahlak’s claims.
The FFA representative also denied as false Pahlak’s claims that
Armenians ‘threatened some kind of revenge’ [in Yerevan] if the two
teams were drawn together in the same group again.
"He [Pahlak] is not even aware that our youth and women’s teams are in
the same group and we, on the contrary, will organize an even better
reception so that he understands what real hospitality is," Minasyan
emphasized.
The FFA official added, however, that barring from that incident of
unacceptable behavior shown by the Estonian Federation chief, "all
other officials of the Estonian Federation showed a due level of
reception".
The FFA further reported that some 10 minutes before the Estonia v
Armenia match on Wednesday, in front of aboub 30 journalists in
Tallinn, Pahlak publicly offered his apologies to his Armenian
counterpart and expressed a wish for continued warm relations.
Hayrapetyan, reportedly, accepted it.
(Sources: the Armenian Football Federation’s official website —
ffa.am; the official websites of international and European football’s
governing bodies — fifa.com, uefa.com)
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
