Month: February 2012

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION TO ATTEND CONFERENCE TO MARK 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF NKR INDEPENDENCE

Panorama.am
16/02/2012

A delegation of Armenian National Assembly will attend a
Stepanakert-hosted international conference titled “20th Anniversary
of Independence of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic: Reality and Prospects”
on February 17-18, the press service of Armenian parliament reported.

The Armenian delegation, led by Deputy Speaker of parliament Eduard
Sharmazanov, includes MPs Vahe Hakobyan, Aram Safaryan, Gagik Melikyan,
Lilit Galstyan, Karine Achemyan as well as NKR’s representative in
the Armenian National Assembly Karen Topchyan.

CLOSELY CONSTRUCTED BUILDINGS CONTAIN SEISMIC RISKS – MINISTER

news.am
February 16, 2012 | 12:59

YEREVAN. – There are over 4,500 residential buildings in Armenia which
can stand only 7-point earthquake, Armenian Minister of Emergency
Situations Armen Yeritsyan told the journalists on Thursday.

Asked whether newly constructed buildings are earthquake-resistant,
Yeritsyan said that the buildings constructed too close to each other
are dangerous in case of quakes. The buildings should correspond to
the construction standards and be agreed with the Ministry of Urban
Development, he added.

According to Yeritsyan, the active seismic processes in Armenia are
not linked to last year’s 7.2 magnitude quake registered in Turkey
which was also followed by over 5,000 after-shocks.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MARIE IZMIRLIAN CHILDREN’S HOME TO BECOME SPECIALIZED

ARMENPRESS
FEBRUARY 16, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 16, ARMENPRESS: Seven children’s homes are operating
in Armenia rooming about 780 children, according to the 2011 data.

Karine Khachatryan, head of the Family, Women and Children Affairs
Department at the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry, told Armenpress
that two of the children’s homes are specialized. 415 children with
mental and physical disabilities are living there.

“About 90% of children living in “Marie Izmirlian” children’s home
have different problems. After the cabinet approves a bill it will
become the third specialized children’s home,” Khachatryan said.

She said for each child living in specialized children’s homes, the
state provides 1380 AMD daily for food and 4918 AMD for child’s care,
totally 6298 AMD. The sum allocated for non-specialized children’s
homes is less, for instance the state allocates for a child at “Yerevan
Child’s Home” 1115 AMD for food, 5061 AMD for other expenditures.

The specialist said there are few ways of discharging from children’s
homes. “It happens when the child is being handed to foster family
or when he/she is being returned to biological family. The cases when
a child is being adopted are more spread,” Khachatryan said.

WOLF POPULATION INCREASES IN ARMENIA – MINISTER

news.am
February 16, 2012 | 13:02

YEREVAN. – Wolf population has increased in Armenia due to heavy
snowfalls, Armenian Minister of Nature Protection Aram Harutyunyan
told the journalists on Thursday.

During the Thursday session the government approved the Ministry’s
decision to allocate about $50,000 to award hunters killing wolves.

The Minister claimed the decision was agreed with experts, hence,
it would hardly raise concerns of environmentalists. According to
the Minister, killing of 200 wolves will not damage the population.

From: A. Papazian

AVIATION TRANSPORT COMPETITION IS DISCUSSED IN ARMENIA WITH EU EXPERTS

news.am
February 16, 2012 | 13:41

YEREVAN. – The Armenian State Commission for the Protection of Economic
Competition (SCPEC), together with the European Union Twinning
Project on “Strengthening the Enforcement of Competition and State
Aid Legislation in Armenia,” held a roundtable discussion on Wednesday.

During the event, EU experts Fabian Pape and Hans-Helmut Schneider
delivered presentations on EU and German legislation on aviation
transport and financial services.

In his presentation, Hans-Helmut Schneider thoroughly reflected on
the European policy in the financial services sector, whereas Fabian
Pape spoke about EU and German legislation on aviation transport.

The EU experts, together with the discussants, also examined several
cases which SCPEC had studied with respect to aviation transport and
financial services.

TURKISH TRUCK RAVAGES ARMENIANS’ HOUSE IN GEORGIA

Tert.am
16.02.12

An Armenian family in Georgia’s Akhaltskhe region has been left
roof-lorn after a Turkish truck invaded their house.

According to the Georgian news website Gruzia-Online, the truck
completely ravaged the Muradyan’s house in Nuakrebi village, and the
family are now call upon the driver to repair the damages, claiming
that they have no shelter to hide from winter cold.

But the Turkish driver has reportedly said that an ice-covered roadway
had caused him to lose vehicle control.

An inquest has been launched into the circumstances of the incident.

POOR ELECTORATE
Naira Hayrumyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 12:40:37 – 16/02/2012

Poverty is becoming the most important political factor in Armenia. As
the chairman of the Armenian Pan-National Movement Aram Manukyan noted,
with the present level of poverty in Armenia, the election is turned
into trade in votes.

Nobody argues that election bribe is the key method used in the
campaign for the mayoral election in Hrazdan and will be soon applied
in the parliamentary elections. Anyway, during the parliamentary
hearing yesterday nobody questioned the statements of the ARFD and
the Armenian National Congress representatives that election bribes
were distributed to voters in Hrazdan.

It is possible, of course, to consider this issue from several angles,
saying that poor people sell their votes to those who pay more, we
can state people have no civil conscience and are not aware of the
power of their vote.

But the important thing here is to understand the level of poverty of
the society, and see how many people live beyond the poverty threshold,
when they manage to maintain their families with AMD 5 thousand. So
many people in Armenia are in debt, jobless, relying on luck to find
money for their daily bread. Who is to blame? What has the government
done to reduce the number of these people?

According to the UN, these people are over 30% of the population of
Armenia. In other words, one third of the population does not feel the
existence of the government, does not receive any kind of assistance.

On the contrary, confronts with it all the time. The level of poverty
has increased recently and the government of Armenia is responsible
for that.

The government is to blame for every step it took were aimed, as
it stated itself, at the solution of macroeconomic issues. At the
same time, the government does not hide that the society will not
taste the fruits of its steps right now. So what was the purpose of
these steps if it was not the improvement of the quality of life of
people? Was the purpose to enrich the notorious 1%?

The government which admits the existence of such a huge number of
poor people in the country but does nothing to reduce poverty does it
on purpose to have at least one third of the electorate ready to sell
their votes. If the government took up steps to improve the quality
of life, a middle class would be formed in Armenia which would acquire
civil consciousness and would ask questions to the government.

The Prime Minister does not hide that it does not do anything to
prevent emigration of people who need work. He joked once that these
people are potential revolutionaries who had better be removed in
time. As a result, the “potential revolutionaries” are sent abroad, and
those who stay are maintained at such a level of poverty for them to
die from hunger and be ready to sell everything for 5 thousand drams.

If a person condemns another person to starvation, he will be
immediately sued as a criminal. But, when the government condemns 30%
of the population to starvation, it is considered economic policy in
crisis “which makes mistakes”.

But the worst thing is that this government is trying to prove the
rightness of its policy and to hold on to power and it succeeds because
it has done its main job in 5 years – it has formed a poor electorate.

PRESIDENT ‘DIES’, LONG LIVE HIS HEIR
HAKOB BADALYAN

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 11:59:53 – 16/02/2012

The main target of the domestic processes is the presidential elections
of 2017-2018 rather than the parliamentary election of 2012, or even
the presidential election of 2013 when the president of Armenia will
change. Only a force majeure may hinder this, such as the resignation
of Serzh Sargsyan. For the time being, there is no such possibility in
sight, especially after the successful tryout of the “good election”
mechanism in Hrazdan which was approved by the West.

Apparently, this prospect has been accepted by Serzh Sargsyan’s main
opponents or rivals, the Bargavach Hayastan Party and the Armenian
National Congress, because the forces are preparing for the 2017-2018
cycle, pursuing their own position. The Congress needs to keep the
role of the leading opposition force, preventing the emergence of
an equal opponent there, while the Bargavach Hayastan Party needs
to keep the role of the second force in government which does not
care how many seats it will have in parliament but needs to keep the
resource it possesses as a force in power.

In the present economic and political situation neither the Bargavach
Hayastan Party, nor the Armenian National Congress have winner
candidates to run vs Serzh Sargsyan in 2013. Gagik Tsarukyan’s
reputation has a different structure, and he is able to defeat Serzh
Sargsyan and the Republican Party in the parliamentary elections but as
a presidential candidate he is perceived differently. The society uses
different criteria for the parliamentary and presidential elections.

As to the Armenian National Congress, Levon Ter-Petrosyan is still
there but he is no longer identical with Ter-Petrosyan in 2008 and
will not be able to produce the same effect as in 2008. Ter-Petrosyan
has lost, and the candidates who have lost in Armenia have no second
chance, even though they are defeated by way of the lack of honesty
and lawfulness. Moreover, after losing the presidential election,
Ter-Petrosyan lost several other local elections, and the latest was
in Hrazdan Town. Of these elections he was personally participating
only in the Yerevan election but the Congress is associated with
his name anyway, so the failures of the Congress are the failures of
Ter-Petrosyan’s tactics and strategy.

The Congress needs a new candidate, and this structure will not be
able to counteract to Serzh Sargsyan unless this problem is solved. In
addition, some processes in the Congress are evidence that the solution
is underway, and Ter-Petrosyan’s heir is being sought for, and even a
race might have started. In addition, the heir will be the opponent
of Serzh Sargsyan’s heir because Serzh Sargsyan will have to leave
in 2018.

For 2013, Robert Kocharyan remains but his problems are not fewer
than the Congress’. The point is that Kocharyan does not have as much
public support as the Congress, not even half of it. Kocharyan will
need to rely heavily on support from the government, and from foreign
political centers which are interested in the political situation in
Armenia in the context of regional and geopolitical developments.

These centers are few – Washington, Moscow, maybe Paris or Brussels
or Paris and Brussels. It is obvious that three of them express
their intention to continue work with Serzh Sargsyan. Moscow has
not expressed a critical dissatisfaction with Sargsyan. And without
external support Robert Kocharyan will not be able to return solely
thanks to internal support because the people in the government
of Armenia will naturally inquire whether he will incur trouble
or security.

Apparently, this is the reason why Robert Kocharyan pushes Vartan
Oskanian into the game rather than enters into it himself. It is
evidence to a long-term game. In other words, Kocharyan is preparing
his own heir, and Vartan Oskanian will be the opponent of Serzh
Sargsyan’s heir.

In this case, however, the problem for the society will be the
persistence of the main competition between 20-year-old actors, simply
by way of their heirs. That will partly mark the end of the period
of transition in Armenia. The role of the society is essential, the
capacity of the civil society to have the heirs of the three presidents
serve the society and the state rather than their presidents.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EXHIBITION REMOVES VEIL OF HISTORY OBSCURING ANATOLIAN MINORITIES

yerkir.am
18:55 – 15.02.2012

Some 200 photographs are on display at an exhibit ‘Cultural
Diversity in Old Diyarbakır,’ which relates the lives and commercial
contributions of Diyarbakır’s long-forgotten peoples.

The Birzamanlar (Once Upon a Time) Publishing House has launched a
photography exhibition in Istanbul’s Tophane neighborhood, providing
a rare glimpse into the history of non-Muslim minorities living in
the southeastern province of Diyarbakır.

“Official history teaches us that all these cities were created by
the Turks, and that all the fair deeds of the past were done by them.

Those who are not Turks or Muslims are depicted as unfavorable
figures,” Osman Köker, the owner of the Birzamanlar Publishing
House, recently told the Hurriyet Daily News. “The cultures, faiths,
traditions and genetics of the peoples of old are also part of the
reality we call the Turkish nation.”

Around 200 photographs compiled from 40 different sources are on
display at the “Cultural Diversity in Old Diyarbakır” exhibition,
which is being jointly organized by the Birzamanlar Publishing House
and the Anatolian Culture and Global Dialogue, an Istanbul based
nongovernmental organization. The exhibition at Tophane’s Tutun Deposu
began Feb. 10 and will continue until March 10.

“Eastern Anatolia was much richer at the turn of the 20th century than
it has been in the Republican period, both culturally and materially,”
Köker said, adding that the memories of old were still very much
alive in Anatolia.

The exhibition, which relates the lives and commercial contributions of
Diyarbakır’s long forgotten peoples, such as the Armenians, Syriacs,
Chaldeans, Anatolian Greeks and the Yezidis, also features explanatory
notes in Turkish, English and Kurdish.

“Armenian newspapers were published and theaters [staged plays]
not merely in Diyarbakır, but also in many other [nearby] places
like Elazıg, Erzurum, Van and Erzincan. There were many factories
[making various kinds of produce] ranging from the silk industry
to metal wares. These [factories] did not [produce] solely for the
domestic market but also for exports,” Köker said.

Turkish people are now striving to learn about the truth instead
of the bragging of official history, he said. “All of us have grown
weary of such vein boasting.”

Old shopkeepers and artisans in the region readily confide they had
learned their skills from Armenians and Syriacs, he said.

Köker said they had already taken the exhibition to many different
corners of the world, including Armenia and that Anatolian peoples
had always shown great interest in the exhibition at every stop.

“Diaspora Armenians know precious little of the things they see in
the exhibitions. They see the concrete [images] of things that seem
to them like the stuff of legends. Moreover, they are nonplussed
that this project has been undertaken by a person of Turkish-Muslim
identity from Turkey,” he said.

Köker also said they had conducted research in the Orlando Carlo
Calumeo Collection, the

Boston-based Project SAVE Armenian Photograph Archive, as well as
the Annuaire Oriental, an annual commercial almanac that has been
published since the mid-19th century, while they were preparing for
the exhibition.

VARTAN OSKANIAN ANNONCE SON RETOUR EN POLITIQUE
Laetitia

armenews.com
mercredi 15 fevrier 2012

Vartan Oskanian, l’ancien ministre des affaires etrangères, a annonce
mardi 13 fevrier 2012 qu’il avait decide de faire son retour en
politique et de rejoindre le parti du BHK de Gagik Taskurian, trois
mois avant les elections legislatives.

Oskanian a declare qu’il a officiellement demande son adhesion au
parti du BHK de Gagik Tsarukian, un homme d’affaires millionnaire,
proche de l’ancien President Kotcharian Robert.

” Je suis convaincu que le Parti Armenie prospère, avec d’autres partis
politiques, est en mesure d’assurer des elections libres et equitables,
et de permettre la constitution d’une nouvelle Assemblee nationale
avec une nouvelle configuration des forces politiques “, a-t-il dit .

” En tant que president du conseil d’administration de la Fondation
Civilitas, j’avais, a plusieurs reprises, exprime mon point de vue
sur les evenements et les developpements en Armenie. Aujourd’hui,
je crois qu’il est temps de s’impliquer plus activement dans le
processus politique “, a-t-il ajoute.

Oskanian a deja signale son envie d’atteindre le Parlement lors d’une
declaration publiee le 30 janvier. Les commentateurs ont lie cette
annonce avec celle de l’eventuel retour de Kotcharian au pouvoir. Ils
ont emis l’hypothèse que Kotcharian pourrait s’appuyer non seulement
sur le BHK, mais aussi sur les anciens membres du gouvernement comme
Oskanian, qui a ete ministre des Affaires etrangères de 1998 a 2008.

Naira Zohrabian du parti BHK, a confirme qu’elle a recu une demande
d’adhesion de Oskanian. ” Le president du parti, Gagik Tsarukian,
n’est pas ici en ce moment “, a-t-elle dit. ” Il reviendra demain et
la demande de M. Oskanian sera naturellement discutee en conformite
avec toutes les procedures. ”

” M. Tsarukian a toujours dit que les portes du parti sont ouvertes
a tous ceux qui sont prets a travailler avec nous pour construire un
monde meilleur et qui partagent nos programmes et objectifs … Lors
de ses interviews, M. Oskanian a declare que les objectifs du parti
prospère sont importants pour lui et il veut aller dans le meme sens
que nous “, a declare Zohrabian a declare a RFE / RL.

Zohrabian a convenu que la participation d’Oskanian avec le BHK
donnerait un coup de pouce avant les elections parlementaires prevues
pour mai. Elle a egalement nie que la demande d’adhesion est reliee
a un eventuel retour de Kotcharian.

Sarkissian, Tsarukian et Arthur Baghdassarian ont discute des
prochaines elections lors d’une reunion ce lundi.