Month: February 2012

VAHAKN DADRIAN: THE TRIALS OF THE PERPETRATORS OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Friday, February 10, 2012

Free admission

The post-World War I Ottoman Special Military Tribunal showed clearly,
in a legal setting, the genocidal intent of the Young Turk leaders
perpetrated against their Armenian citizens. Prof. Dadrian will
present his analysis and the significance of the trials. The new book,
Judgment at Istanbul: The Armenian Genocide Trials, the first on the
Armenian Genocide jointly written by an Armenian and a Turkish scholar,
will be on sale at a specially reduced price, and the author will be
pleased to sign copies.

Eleven years in the making, Judgment at Istanbul marks the first
time the complete known documentation of the trial proceedings is
being provided in English. The study is based on authentic Turkish
documentation, which the Ottoman government was forced to release
during the trials. It includes the personal, eyewitness testimony of
high-ranking Ottoman officials, given under oath, on the magnitude
of the crimes against the Armenians.

Zoryan Institute of Canada, Inc.

with the participation of:

Armenian Association of Toronto, Armenian Evangelical Church of
Toronto, Armenian General Benevolent Union, AGBU Young Professionals of
Toronto, Armen Karo Student Association, Armenian National Committee
of Toronto, Bolsahay Cultural Association, Canadian-Armenian Business
Council, Holy Trinity Armenian Church, Knights of Vartan Alishan Lodge
and Daughters of Vartan Artemis Chapter, St. Gregory the Illuminator
Armenian Catholic Church, St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church, Union
of Marash Armenians of Toronto

HEAVY SNOWFALL CAUSES MAYHEM IN YEREVAN’S PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEM

news.am
February 10, 2012 | 16:01

YEREVAN. – No public transport vehicle has stopped operations in
Yerevan as a result of the heavy snowfall, Yerevan City Hall Transport
Department Chief Henrik Navasardyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

In his words, the problem is not that there is no public transport,
but rather the snowfall is heavy, the layer of snow is very high on
the roads, and therefore the vehicles are moving slowly.

To note, snow is not removed from numerous Yerevan streets, at present,
and the public transport minibuses are operating very poorly, or are
not operating at all.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EXPERT: “THE WEST TRIES TO MAKE AN INNER REVOLUTION IN IRAN”

10.02.12, 18:03

Today experts on Iran Mher Baghdasaryan and Rudik Yaralyan met
journalists at “Armat” (“Roots”) press-club and spoke about the
Chinese pressure on Iran and its possible consequences on Armenia
and the region.

According to R. Yaralyan Iranian authorities will not spoil relations
with China. “And China just tries to make some pressure on Tehran to
get cheaper praise for Iranian oil”, the expert underlined.

According to the speaker official Tehran leads the propaganda according
which Western sanctions do not have any influence on Iranian economy
but it is not so.

“Iranian economy is walking by the way of annihilation. Some countries
want to overview the economical relations with Tehran. Iranian
authorities are unable now to pay for the goods bought before from
India and now it is supposed that India will suspend the export
of rice to Iran. Malaysia has also refused to provide Iran with
food oil as it considers Iran is unable to pay for the goods”, the
expert noted. R. Yaralyan also added that there are ships standing
near Iran but as Iran is unable to pay for the goods in the ships,
they are not discharged.

In his turn Mher Baghdasaryan noted that 1/3 part of Chinese oil
comes from Persian Gulf and China would not like the situation over
Iran to become worse.

According to M. Baghdasaryan the West tries to make an inner revolution
in Iran. “Presidential elections in Iran and the developments after
elections are the best proof of it. But the pressure on Iran may also
have the opposite effect, which means that Iranian nation may come
together around the authorities,” the expert considers.

Commenting on the fact that Iran has refused US dollars, the expert
said that it is not news and some Western countries also have such
experience.

“Iran tries to normalize relations between dollar and rial in order
to be free from the USA”.

Speaking about the results of the pressure on Iran and its possible
consequences in Armenia the expert noted that Iran is an important
connection for Armenia and if the situation gets worse in Iran it
will certainly have its impression also on us. “If Iran is attacked,
both Armenia and Iranian other neighbors will suffer”.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SCANDAL IN PARLIAMENT: PROSPEROUS ARMENIA MP CALLS IT A ‘SHOW’, HHK MP ADVISES NOT TO ‘DELVE DEEP’

epress.am
02.10.2012

National Assembly deputy chair and Prosperous Armenia member Samvel
Balasanyan sees nothing wrong in Prosperous Armenia (BHK) boycotting
the first meeting of the first parliamentary session this year.

“There was one important bill we didn’t vote on [referring to the bill
on banning cash transactions; anyway,] the bill wasn’t adopted. Our
parliamentary faction discussed it and we came to the conclusion
that this bill needs to become law, but it’s not the right time,
so we didn’t vote,” he said at a press briefing today.

On the matter of lawmakers voting for absent colleagues, which was
evident in Thursday’s meeting, Balasanyan was frank, saying that
basically the card system isn’t justified.

He dubbed what happened in parliament yesterday a “show,” which was
useless to cover up.

At the same time, Balasanyan tried to justify his colleagues’ behavior,
stressing that he has 13 years of experience working in parliament
and knows that it’s likely that lawmakers will be absent during an
election campaign period, since many are dealing with issues tied to
the majority ballot and many are on business trips.

Galust Sahakyan, head of the Republican Party of Armenia’s
parliamentary faction, in turn, commented on yesterday’s incident with
the following: “The closer the elections get, the more the stabbing
increases and the press get excited.”

He also ruled out the possibility that his colleagues might be voting
for others, but this was recorded by not only reporters and camera
operators covering parliamentary activities, but also the National
Assembly’s own CCTV cameras.

In response, Sahakyan said he can neither refute not confirm this news.

“Because I’m not involved in investigation work as reporters are,
I would simply advise reporters not to delve deep into these types
of matters. It’s clearer than clear that those bills which are put
to a vote are passed with the most votes in favor,” he said.

PM TIGRAN SARGSYAN MEETS THE AMBASSADOR OF KUWAIT

armradio.am
10.02.2012 18:22

Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received Bassam Mohammed Al-Qabandi,
the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Kuwait to Armenia.

Congratulating the Ambassador on appointment, the Prime Minister voiced
hope that the relations between Armenia and Kuwait would continue to
deepen and expand.

“The Armenian-Kuwaiti relations rose to a new level after the
opening of the Embassy of Armenia in Kuwait two year ago. Kuwait is a
capital-exporting country, and we must be able to suggest interesting
investment programs,” Tigran Sargsyan said.

The Ambassador noted that the govenemnt of his country was interested
in developing its relations with Armenia in different directions.

The interlocutors attached importance to the development of trade and
economic relations between the two countries through implementation
of joint programs. In this context the parties discussed the possible
participation of Kuwait in the construction of the North-South highway
and the 400 km-long railway.

Reference was made to the cooperation in the fields of agriculture,
mining, information technologies and tourism, as well as the
establishment of direct air flights between the two countries.

Bassam Mohammed Al-Qabandi conveyed the greetings of the Prime Minister
of Kuwait and invited Tigran Sargsyan to participate in the events
dedicated to the Independence Day of Kuwait.

HOVHANNES TUMANYAN HOUSE-MUSEUM’S ROOF FACES COLLAPSE DANGER

ARMENPRESS
FEBRUARY 10, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 10, ARMENPRESS: Architect of Hovhannes Tumanyan
house-museum is alarming that as a result of continuous heavy snow,
the roof of the building is endangered and the help of the rescuers
is necessary. Emergency Situations Ministry official told Armenpress
a rescue squad has departed for the site.

HUNCHAKYAN PARTY IS IN STAGE OF DISCUSSIONS

Aysor.am
Friday,February 10

It is still being discussed whether the Social Democrat Hunchakian
Party (SDHP) will take part in the upcoming elections or not, SDHP
member Vahan Shirkhanyan told today.

He also reported that they are having active discussions at present
and added that they will declare about it when they make a decision.

V. Shirkhanyan denied the rumors that they had received an offer
from the RPA to join them, “We are socialist force and believe in
ideology and not the mere purpose,” he said and mentioned that some
liberal parties have offered to cooperate, however those offers are
being discussed.

RULING COALITION MPS FALSIFY VOTING IN PARLIAMENT AND DURING ELECTION LATER – OPPOSITION

NEWS.AM
February 10, 2012 | 14:55

YEREVAN. – As ruling coalition MPs falsify voting results in the
Armenian parliament now, later they will do the same with election
results, parliamentary opposition ARF Dashnaktsutyun group MP Vahan
Hovhannisyan told the journalists on Friday commenting Thursday’s
incident in the parliament.

To note, several MPs from the ruling Republican Party of Armenia
(RPA) voted on Thursday on behalf of their party colleagues who
were at the parliament halls at the time. The RPA MPs’ conduct was
criticized by their opposition colleagues. Opposition Heritage group
MP Larisa Alaverdyan responded by whether there are MPs with two
heads on noticing the violation.

According to Hovhannisyan, the incident testifies to the fact that
ruling political power cannot be called ‘powerful’.

“If a law is passed on behalf of violating another one, what to expect
from legality of the elections?” he said adding if authorities had
one orientation – reproduction at any cost.

MINISTER: THE FIRST THOUSAND TONS OF NITROGENOUS FERTILIZERS TO BE IMPORTED ON FEBRUARY 12 TO ARMENIA

/ARKA/
FEBRUARY 10, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, February 10. /ARKA/. The first batch of nitrogenous
fertilizers of three thousand tons will be imported on February 12
to Armenia, said Armenian Agriculture Minister Sergo Karapetyan to
the journalists.

Government of Armenia on October 21, 2011 adopted decision on the
development of bio-fertilizer market, according to which Armenia
imports about 25-30 thousand tons of nitrogenous fertilizers from
Georgia, Iran and Russia annually.

“The first batch of nitrogenous fertilizers of three thousand tons
will be imported on February 12 to Armenia and we will start its
distribution”, said Karapetyan.

The fertilizer will be provided to the land users by available prices –
6 thousand drams per bag.

The State will be responsible for all shipping costs of fertilizers

ARMENIA RANKED THIRD IN CIS BY NUMBER OF REGISTERED UNEMPLOYED IN DECEMBER 2011

/ARKA/
FEBRUARY 10, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, February 10. /ARKA /. Armenia was ranked third among the CIS
countries in terms of the number of registered unemployed in December
2011, according to the CIS Statistics Committee.

According to its data, as of December 30, 2011 the overall number
of registered jobless people in Armenia dropped by 11.9% from a year
earlier to 69,400 people.

“The unemployment rate in the CIS dropped in December 2011 to 6.4% of
the economically active population (according to the criteria of the
International Labor Organization that includes the number of unemployed
job seekers who do not turn to employment centers),” it said.

Russia had the largest number of unemployed people -1,285,600, down
by 19.1% compared with December 2010. Russia was followed by Ukraine
– 482,800 (a drop by 11.4%), Kyrgyzstan -61,100 (a drop by 3.7%),
Moldova – 38,800 (4.8%), Azerbaijan – 38,300 (1.5%), Kazakhstan -36,600
(an increase of 3.5%).

The number of economically active population across the CIS (employed
and unemployed) in 2011 was estimated at 138.5 million people, roughly
half of the total population. In Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Ukraine, the proportion of economically active
population ranged between 45% to 53% of the total population, in
Armenia, Moldova and Tajikistan 40% or less.