Month: February 2012

ARMENIAN AMERICANS URGE OBAMA TO FULFILL CAMPAIGN PLEDGE

news.am
February 06, 2012 | 12:07

Members of Congress and the Armenian Assembly expressed strong
concerns regarding Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s remarks on
the Armenian Genocide at a town hall meeting last week, reported the
Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly).

In a dear colleague letter circulated today, Congressmen Adam Schiff
and Robert Dold, sponsors of the Armenian Genocide resolution,
urged Members to join them in sending a letter to Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton calling on the Secretary to “disavow her ill-considered
statement.”

Expressing surprise and dismay about Secretary Hillary Clinton’s
recent remarks on the Armenian Genocide, the Assembly sent a letter
to President Barack Obama requesting swift action.

“Secretary Clinton’s response is untenable and requires immediate
remedy. Mr. President now is the time to fulfill your campaign promise
and unequivocally affirm the Armenian Genocide,” the Assembly wrote
in its letter.

“There is no debate about the historical fact of the Armenian
Genocide,” Reps. Schiff and Dold told the Assembly.

“Raphael Lemkin, a Holocaust survivor who coined the term genocide and
worked tirelessly toward the adoption of the United Nations Convention
on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, invoked
the Armenian experience as a prime example of genocide,” continued
Schiff and Dold.

“We welcome this bi-partisan initiative to set the record straight,”
stated Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny. “We urge human
rights activists from across the country to make sure that their
Member of Congress signs this important letter to Secretary Clinton,”
added Ardouny.

26-YEAR-OLD MAN IS KILLED IN ETCHMIADZIN CITY

news.am
February 06, 2012 | 10:58

YEREVAN. – Armenia’s Police Force received a call from a hospital,
on February 4, informing that the dead body of Vagharshapat city
resident Artak Simonyan, 26, was transferred to the hospital, and
that there were gunshot wounds on the body.

It was found out that an unknown person had fired shots at Simonyan,
nearby a barber shop in Etchmiadzin city on the same day, had
killed him and subsequently escaped, Police Force informs Armenian
News-NEWS.am.

The circumstances are being ascertained, and an investigation is
launched.

YEREVAN TAXI DRIVER FOUND DEAD IN CEMETERY

news.am
February 06, 2012 | 11:13

YEREVAN. – Armenia’s Police Force received a distress call, on February
4, informing of the dead body of a man in a capital Yerevan cemetery.

The police officers, who were dispatched to the said cemetery,
discovered the body of taxi driver Mkrtich Hovhannisyan, 55, with
numerous stab wounds on his body, the Police Force informed Armenian
News-NEWS.am.

Hovhannisyan was declared missing since February 2.

A criminal case is launched on murder charges.

The circumstances are being ascertained, and an investigation is
underway.

From: A. Papazian

EAST OF BYZANTIUM – COMICS ABOUT ARMENIAN HISTORY
Marina Harutiunyan

Noyan Tapan – News from Armenia
2012-02-06

Comics depicting one of the most famous chapters of the Armenian
history have become popular among comics fans in the U.S. The idea of
comics showing the Armenian history belongs to Roger Kupelian, famous
Hollywood producer, writer and matte artist. He was making visual
effects for such films as “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”,
“The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”, “Constantine”, “Terminator
Salvation” and others. Roger agreed to answer questions of the Armenian
News-NEWS.am reporter and told about his East of Byzantium project.

Are you currently working on any film projects or you are mainly
engaged in the East of Byzantium?

I have developed other projects but put them on hold as the impetus
is to put East of Byzantium onto the fast track. People also forget I
am a very busy participant in the Hollywood Visual Effects industry. I
have to pay bills too.

How did the idea of East of Byzantium come into your head? When did
you launch the project and do you have any ideas how to present the
Armenian history through comics or other means?

The Vartan Mamigonian and Armenian Wars Mythology has always played
a part in my upbringing. You can thank my parents for that. Once the
tools presented themselves, the imagery began to flow. The point of
the Graphic Novels (online comics etc) were to serve as a foundation
for televised or cinematic projects, a kind of ‘Bible’ if you will.

But at the very least the goal is to provide an exciting and sublime
experience for young (and young at heart) readers. The secondary goal
was to reach beyond the Armenian world and make this an internationally
appreciated story (which is why I simplified the approach and focused
more on the visuals). My goal is to reinvent and reinforce a mythology
for our modern age we can draw strength from.

You have recently cooperated with Serj Tankian and prepared
illustrations for his “Glaring Through Oblivion” collection of poems.

Do you plan to launch other joint projects with Tankian or other
Armenian celebrities?

Serj and I have discussed other projects but we are both quite busy
with our current roster of upcoming releases. Who knows. There are
always ideas. Both of us serve on the advisory board for TUMO, for
example. As far as other Armenian celebrities, I am sure the future
holds the answer to that.

TIGRAN SARGSYAN GIVES LECTURE ON “ECONOMIC POLICY IN POST-CRISIS PERIOD: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES”

Noyan Tapan – News from Armenia
2012-02-06

Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan met in Tsakhkadzor with
the attendees of the Yerevan school of Political Courses January 29.

Governmental press office told that the head of the executive power
delivered a lecture on “Economic Policy in Post-Crisis Period:
Challenges and Opportunities”.

At the meeting present were Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Shavarsh
Kocharyan, U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Heffern and Finn Ambassador
to Armenia Petri Olavi Salo.

Welcoming the guests Tigran Sargsyan has noted that the goal of the
lecture is to try to understand what roots the crisis has, how it is
being manifested and what is the way out. “Today we are living in a
period full of interior controversies the outcome of which is crisis.

With this lecture I want to refer to the cracks which are the main
reasons of crisis and which describe the issues of the contemporary
world,” the PM said.

Tigran Sargsyan has noted that these cracks are four – growing
inequality between the societies, collision of democracy and
capitalism, as well as financial and trade unbalances.

The prime minister has thoroughly referred to each of them as
well as to the reforms in the economic policy, education, justice,
police systems.

From: Baghdasarian

IRAN’S AMBASSADOR TO MOSCOW: “WE ARE READY FOR EVERYTHING TO UPHOLD THE HONOR OF IRAN”

Noyan Tapan – News from Armenia
2012-02-06 13:26:33 | | Politics

Exclusive interview of Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to
Moscow Seyed Reza Sajjadi to Mediamax.

– You mentioned in one of your recent interviews that the peace in
the region will be established in the region only if all the Western
military forces leave the region. Did Iran’s official stance change
given the fact the representative of the Islamic Revolution Guards
Corps Hossein Salami made a statement on January 21 according to
which there is nothing unusual about the presence of U.S. navy in
the Persian Gulf? “American navy and military forces have been in the
Persian Gulf and Near East for already many years. There is nothing
uncommon about the fact that Pentagon sends a new warship to the
region. The step should be considered in the light of maintaining
the U.S. permanent presence in the region”, he said.

– No, our stance hasn’t changed. We believe the presence of military
forces of foreign states hinders the peace in this region. As for the
statement made by Mr. Salami, he meant the presence of warships which
is indeed a common practice given the fact that there were similar
placements of such ships in the past as well. Iran has already
got used to threats and they are not new for us. For this reason,
we don’t think the presence of warships right and we support they
should leave the region.

– Some Western states threaten to take military actions against Iran.

Is Iran ready for the possible war?

– Iran is a powerful country and the Iranian people have formerly
proved that they are ready for everything to uphold their country’s
honor. In this case, we have alternative variants. But we think if
there are intelligent politicians in the U.S., they will not take such
a step any more taking into account Americans’ defeats in Afghanistan,
Iraq and other states.

– After the EU had imposed an oil embargo against Iran, Tehran decided
to make a step in return and be the first to stop oil supplies to
Europe. Who will suffer most due to this decision?

– The Western approach to Iran was unfair and based on double-standards
in the past. Currently, only 17% of our oil is exported to
Europe. Anyways, imposing an embargo can’t exert a considerable
impact on Iran. For this reason, it’s clear that Europe deprives
itself a very important “player” in oil supplies which doesn’t take
part in the political games. And the politicization of oil will be
detrimental to Europe in the first place. If buyers start imposing
an embargo to the producers and energy resources suppliers, one day
the producer will start imposing an embargo to the buyers by stopping
selling energy resources to them.

– According to the data published by the Ministry of Petroleum of Iran,
2.5 cubic meters of Iranian gas is annually imported to Armenia.

May the embargo imposed against Iran affect the import of the Iranian
gas to Armenia?

– I am sure that the embargo will no way affect the import of the
Iranian gas to Armenia as we supply gas and not oil to Armenia. The
policy of Iran is based on the principle of creating a good image on
the gas market.

– How will Armenian-Iranian relations develop in 2012?

– Iran’s strategic policy is based on the principle of establishing
the best relations with neighbors. For this reason, as a very good
partner of ours, Armenia has successfully collaborated with Iran and
this interaction will be very positive in the future as well.

– How do you assess Iranian-Azerbaijani and Iranian-Turkish relations?

– Turkey and Azerbaijan are our neighbors. Historically, we have good
relations with these countries. Of course, some arguments occur in
some cases but it’s important to remove all these discords at the
right time.

– Russia refused to sell C-300 systems to Iran several days ago. Will
Moscow’s step have an impact on Russian-Iranian relations?

– Of course, at first Iran was offended but taking into account the
historical ties between Russia and Iran we may say that the issue
is of no importance any more. We have such strong ties in various
activity spheres that the weakening of cooperation in one sphere
won’t have a serious impact on the cooperation in other spheres.

– French President Nicolas Sarkozy stated several days ago that he
would do everything not to allow the military actions against Iran to
start which according to him will lead to a war and chaos. However,
at the same time he urged the international community to impose new
sanctions against Iran. How would you comment on this statement?

– When I speak to different diplomats here in Moscow, they mention
that Sarkozy very often changes his mind – there are many ups and
downs. That’s why one shouldn’t take his words seriously. We think the
military actions against Iran will be a great mistake. And sanctions
against Iran are also a great mistake. That’s why they should recognize
our logical rights and abstain from applying double-standards to our
country instead of speaking to Iran in the language of force.

– Baku indirectly accused Tehran of recent hacker attacks to a number
of Azerbaijani sites.

– We deny these accusations. Perhaps, it was done by particular
persons but we think the internet space should be healthy, without
any interventions. And if Azerbaijanis have authentic documents and
reasons, let them turn to us and we’ll deal with the issue.

– What do you think how much possible it is for Georgia to join NATO?

And what position will Iran hold if it takes place?

– We are convinced the West is interested in Georgia’s membership to
NATO to destabilize the situation around Russia. If it takes place,
indeed it would be no way beneficial to the Georgian people, vice
versa – it will be a great loss for them. The more independent the
country, the better both for the state itself and the people.

– Have you ever been to Armenia?

– Unfortunately, I have been to Armenia only once. It was a short-term
visit for a few hours. Besides, I didn’t leave the airport where
we were holding the negotiations. I have always been interested and
attracted by the Armenian culture which has much in common with the
Iranian one. The Armenian and Iranian people are very much alike by
the warmth and hospitability. Give my regards to the Armenian people.

Iran’s Ambassador was interviewed by Narine Daneghyan specially
for Mediamax.

THE START OF NEGOTIATIONS ON DCFTA AGREEMENT TO BE ANNOUNCED DURING ARMENIAN PRESIDENT’S VISIT TO BRUSSELS

Noyan Tapan – News from Armenia
2012-02-06 13:29:45 | | Politics

The works realized in Armenia for starting the negotiations on the
Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area agreement with the European
Union (DCFTA) will be given a final assessment on February 5.

Armenian Minister of Economy Tigran Davtyan said this during the
discussions with the Armenian Prime Minister on January 30.

“The meeting aims to discuss the course of fulfillment of our
commitments to the EU. We are preparing the Armenian President’s visit
to Brussels within which the start of negotiations on the agreement
(the undertaken commitments are the precondition to the agreement)
will be announced.

First of all, we should discuss the package of legislative amendments
in the parliament which was adopted at the first reading and concerns
the standardization and metrology. We should adopt these laws at the
second and third readings”, noted Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan.

Tigran Davtyan said that the approved measures were mostly implemented
in four areas – reforms in the sphere of eliminating technical
hindrances of trade, sanitary, rights of intellectual property and
general coordination.

HOW DO AZERBAIJANI BLOGGERS PERCEIVE ARMENIANS?-STUDIES

Tert.am
06.02.12

International Alert, a London based NGO working on conflict resolution,
has conducted a study on how people on opposite sides of the conflicts
in the South Caucasus perceived each other.

According to Balcanicaucaso.org, a group of scholars, researchers, and
specialists was selected to examine a range of sources, from history
textbooks, to the media and blogosphere, as well as speeches made by
politicians to understand better the dynamics behind the conflicts
in the South Caucasus.

The aim of the research entitled “Myths and conflict” was to identify
key words, narratives, and other innuendos that reference the concept
of “us vs. them” or “friend vs. enemy”.

A correspondent of Balcanicaucaso.org, who was part of the research,
says she looked at the Azerbaijani blogosphere in order to identify
systemically-used stereotypes and propaganda to dehumanize Armenians
and Armenia.

The expert noted that the tone used to talk about Armenians in the
online media expressed even more hatred than in traditional media.

Referring to the Azerbaijani blogosphere, she said it has become
become more popular in Azerbaijan only in the last two to three years
despite its decade old history.

“According to the most recent Freedom House report, there are in total
about 27,000 blogs operating on various blogging platforms. Topics
vary extensively with authors writing about art, movies, food,
society, tradition, politics, social issues, and more. Of course,
among the most widely-discussed themes in blogs and popular blogs
are the Karabakh conflict, relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan,
and negative perceptions of Armenians. Let us call them “hate blogs”,
she said.

The International Alert research found further that hatred is usually
accompanied with acute language.

“It was almost as if the authors were reassuring themselves and their
readers that the “other” was no longer a human and that it was ok to
humiliate them, belittle them, kill them, let them die, and get rid
of them all together,” she says, referring to the studies.

In another post, the author compared Armenia to a disease that should
be eradicated. “Yeah, almost forgot, the worst flu I am referring to
has a similar name to that of bird flu and swine flu, in our language,
we call it “Armenian flu”. The symptoms of this flu include hypocrisy,
fraud, and double standards” [Post originally written in Azerbaijani].

In an additional spin to the post, the author proudly added: “We are
sick with this Armenian trash! […] Hypocrisy they have, terror they
have it […] Now I think, will we even find a vaccine against this
dangerous flu? Let’s not forget: to find a vaccine is written only
in our destiny.”

At the end of the research, the author notes that many young people
in Azerbaijan have very strong positions regarding the conflict that
are unsupportive of the peace process to say the least. Based on the
findings, she highlights the need to do a great amount of work to
shift the existing negative attitudes and promote mutual understanding
between the two conflicting countries.

KOCHARYAN HAS TO RETURN – PUNDIT

Tert.am
06.02.12

Second President Robert Kocharyan is obliged to return to big politics,
an Armenian political analyst has said.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Levon Shirinyan said the
ex-president’s return could ensure a diversity of poles on Armenia’s
political arena.

“If three [political] forces – equal economically and politically –
develop, that would make the struggle more equal. The existence of
three forces would prevent the country from splitting apart,” he said,
adding that such format could pave the way to parliamentarism.

Shirinyan expressed hope that President Serzh Sargsyan will not follow
Russia’s example, by becoming a top candidate in the ruling political
party’s [i.e. the Republican’s] list.

He further stressed the importance of building a rule of law country.

“All the political forces, unions and NGOs have to be unanimous on this
issue. We are still complaining about the lack of laws. After creating
a rule of law state, Armenia will follow the path of development,”
he added.

Punishment Or Persecution?: Case Against Opposition Paper’s Journalist Viewed By Many As Crackdown On Free Speech
By Naira Hayrumyan

ArmeniaNow
06.02.12 | 11:45

Last Friday’s controversial arrest of a pro-opposition newspaper’s
journalist has raised questions and suspicions among the country’s
media community that it might be a retribution for his critical
reporting against the chief of the national police force.

Hayk Gevorgyan, a 45-year-old deputy editor for the Haykakan Zhamanak
daily, is accused of a hit and run and police say he has not complied
with their request to come for questioning. Meanwhile, the paper’s
chief editor and opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) activist
Nikol Pashinyan as well as most media organizations and human rights
activists describe the case as persecution connected with Gevorgyan’s
professional activities.

To prove Gevorgyan’s guilt police released a video on which a
middle-aged man, identified as Ashot Frangulyan, tells how the
journalist hit him while backing out of a parking lot on January 13,
leaving him with a broken foot and a concussion. The man says the
journalist would not even respond to his calls for help, but instead
yelled at him and threatened to call police.

On Sunday Haykakan Zhamanak chief editor Pashinyan held a press
conference during which he claimed the police video was “fabricated”.

He said that a correspondent of the newspaper talked to Frangulyan, who
said that he did not sustain any fracture nor had a brain concussion,
but that he hit his head against a rock.

Earlier, Pashinyan insisted that Gevorkyan had been arrested upon the
instruction of Armenian police chief Vladimir Gasparyan. Recently,
the paper wrote about an incident in which Gevorgyan was stopped
by a police officer and asked why he did not attach his mandatory
car insurance coupon to the windshield. Gevorgyan then said that
he kept it inside his car, but would attach to the windshield only
after Gasparyan did the same on his car. Further, at a recent press
conference Gevorgyan put some unpleasant questions to Gasparyan and
then published a story critical of the police chief.

The controversial circumstances surrounding the case led parliamentary
factions to seek explanations whether police are entitled to declare
a search for a person who did not try to escape. At least two
parliamentary factions, Heritage and Dashnaktsutyun, said they would
demand that police release the journalist while the investigation is
on. (Gevorgyan was released on Monday after the expiration of the
72-hour period for preliminary detention. He has been confined to
country limits while the investigation is on).

“The man is in jail because of his ideas and political position. The
case with a journalist is even worse because it is obstructing a
journalist’s professional activity, which is a criminal offense,”
said Heritage faction member Zaruhi Postanjyan.

Another question that some media and human rights organizations have
raised in the context of the story is why it took police so long to
“track down” a person who attended press conferences and published
stories on a daily basis and even attended a session of the government
during the period from January 23 (when police say a search for
Gevorgyan was announced in connection with the January 13 incident).

President Serzh Sargsyan refused to speak on the case of Gevorgyan
before a court decision, which he said he hoped would be made soon.

Meanwhile, the country’s journalistic community is also waiting
for further developments in the case. In the meantime, opinion are
voiced on different online social networking sites that another wave
of arrests of journalists not liked by the government may start in
Armenia in the run-up to the May parliamentary elections and that
this will be done through “trumped-up” cases. Online chat rooms have
also described the case with Gevorgyan as the demonstration of force
by the police chief who does not like being told what to do.

Whether a matter of law or freedom of speech, the case against
journalist Gevorgyan is likely to become a political matter as well,
since the main opposition ANC is likely to incorporate it in its
future parliamentary campaign. The opposition is likely to address
the issue also at its next rally in Yerevan scheduled on February 17.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress