Month: February 2012

PAPER: ARFD MEMBER ARTUR AGHABEKIAN OUT OF PARLIAMENTARY RACE

PanARMENIAN.Net
February 28, 2012 – 10:47 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – ARF Dashnaktsutyun (ARFD) member, former Deputy
Defense Minister Artur Aghabekian has resolved not to run for
parliament.

“Armenian public notices only personal benefit in interlocutor’s
speech. I will henceforth address people without a mandate and its
expectation. Our nation must attach great importance to ARFD role,
securing at least 20 percent of its political presence in the National
Assembly,” the official said in an interview with Zhoghovurd paper.

Asked whether ARFD simply might have excluded him from its electoral
list, Mr. Aghabekian answered, “There is no such a problem.”

ARMENIAN PUBLIC COUNCIL CHAIRMAN CRITICAL OF JUDICIAL SYSTEM

Tert.am
28.02.12

There is a severe lack of confidence in Armenia’s judicial system,
Vazgen Manukyan, Chairman of the Public Council of Armenia, said on
Tuesday as he presented the Council’s report.

“A lack of confidence in courts is too bad. Numerous complaints,
violations of citizens’ right to property, which is the resuilt of
unjust court rulings,” Manukyan said.

The Public Council has also focused its attention on problems of
Armenia’s science. The government should revise its financial policy
in the country’s science.

Last year, the Public Council also closely cooperated with
Armenia’s Ministry of Agriculture. Despite the problems in the
country’s agricultural sector, the Council intends to propose that
the government take measures to develop local home production of
agricultural equipment.

The Public Council is also concerned over TV-broadcasts, daily
violations of Armenian language standards and “shows that are of no
cultural value.”

GEORGIA DENIES AZERBAIJANI MEDIA REGARDING PARTICIPATION IN ANTI-ARMENIAN EVENTS

Panorama.am
28/02/2012

Azerbaijani mass media reported events commemorating the 20th
anniversary of Aghdam events were held on February 23-24 in Georgia.

The initiative was supported by Azerbaijan’s Embassy in Georgia and
Kvemo Kartli governor’s office David Kirkitadze.

However, diplomatic sources don’t confirm the information. Kvemo
Kartli governor’s office doesn’t have any connection with that event.

Even more governor David Kirkitadze was at that time abroad. Deputy
governor Hussein Yusubov was present at the meeting as a head of
Congress of Azerbaijanis in Georgia.

It was also denied that Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Academy of
Sciences of Georgia were engaged in those events.

CUMHURIYET: CONSTITUTIONAL COURT TO RATIFY ARMENIAN BILL

Panorama.am
28/02/2012

The French Constitutional Council is expected to pass a decision on
the bill criminalizing the denial of Armenian Genocide late Tuesday
evening, Cumhuriyet reports in an article titled “Constitutional
Court to Ratify Armenian Bill.”

The French Senate passed the Armenian Genocide bill on January 23. The
bill envisages one year prison term and a fine of 45,000 euros for
anyone who denies the fact of Armenian Genocide. Later a group of
French senators appealed to the Constitutional Council against the
bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial.

TAKSIM NEFRET SOYLEMINE DAR GELDI

27/02/2012 2:00

Hocalý katliamýný protesto, Ermenilere nefret gosterisine dondu.

Taksim “Bozkurtlar burada Hrantlar nerede?” sloganýyla inledi.

Gunlerdir billboard’larda, metro istasyonlarýnda ‘Ermeni Yalaný’
baþlýðýyla duyurulan, Hocalý katliamýnýn 20. yýlýný anmak icin
duzenlenen eylem dun Taksim’de gercekleþti. Mitingde “Ermenistan yok
olsun”, “Diþe diþ, kana kan, intikam intikam”, “Bozkurtlar burada,
Hrantlar nerede?’, “Hepiniz Ermenisiniz, hepiniz picsiniz” sloganlarý
atýldý.

Mitinge Ýciþleri Bakaný Ýdris Naim Þahin ve Ýstanbul Valisi
Huseyin Avni Mutlu da katýldý. Cevik kuvvet Yunanistan ile Fransa
konsolosluklarý onunde ve Agos gazetesine giden yollarda yoðun onlem
aldý. Binlerce kiþinin katýldýðý eylemde “Kuzey guney bir olsun,
Ermenistan yok olsun”, “Karabað’ýn gonullu askerleriyiz”, “Diþe
diþ, kana kan, intikam intikam’, Þehitler olmez vatan bolunmez”,
“Bozkurtlar burada, Hrantlar nerede?” gibi nefret iceren sloganlar
atýlýrken bazý gostericiler tekbir getirdi.

Milliyetci Turkiye Partisi, mehter takýmýyla, ‘Ýþgalcisiniz,
katilsiniz, hepiniz Ermenisiniz’ ve ‘Bugun Taksim, yarýn Erivan, bir
gece ansýzýn gelebiliriz’ yazýlý afiþlerle yurudu. Eylemde ‘Azerbaycan
Diyalog ve Kardeþlik Derneði’ pankartlarý taþýndý. Diðer gruplar
arasýnda Turk Sanayici ve Ýþadamlarý Birliði, Ýstanbul Universitesi
Asenalarý, Turkiye KAMU-SEN, Gokkurtlar ve HAK-ÝÞ vardý.

Þahin: Hesabý sorulacak Ýciþleri Bakaný Þahin mitingde yaptýðý
konuþmada Turk milletinin yeryuzunde barýþýn, sevginin ve insani
deðerlerin sadece sigortasý olduðunu soyledi. Þahin “Turk milleti
olarak dunyanýn hicbir yerinde insanlýk adýna utanýlacak bir tarihimiz,
bir gecmiþimiz yoktur” dedi.

Þahin Hocalý icinse þu sozleri sarf etti: “20 yýl once bugun kan
iciciler, katiller, acýmasýzlar ve merhametsizler, yureksizler,
korkaklar Hocalý’da 613 insanýn kanýný icti. Bu kan o gunden bu yana
yerde kalmadý ve yerde kalmayacak. O kan o gun akmýþtýr, ama hesabý
bitmemiþtir. Turk milleti yaþadýkca, o kanýn hesabý yapýlacaktýr ve
sorulacaktýr adaletle, hukukla bu kanýn mucadelesini yeryuzunde hak
ve adalet davasýna kim inanýyorsa hep birlikte takip edeceðiz. Bu
yuzyýl adaletin, insani deðerlerin ve hukukun ustunluðunun yuzyýlý
olacak. Bu deðerlerin de takipcisi topyekûn Turk milleti olacak.”

‘Derin devlet organizasyonu gibi’ HAS Parti Genel Baþkan
Yardýmcýsý Mehmet Bekaroðlu: “Sýkýntýlý bir miting… Kim yaptý
bilinmiyor. Birtakým gruplar onlerde sert sloganlar atýyor. Katliam
unutulmasýn diye gittik. Yapanlarý elbette kýnýyoruz.

Fakat duþmanlýðý geniþleterek yapýlmaz. Bu tur tavýrlar katliamý
protesto esprisini bozuyor. Burada 2015’te Ermenilerin soykýrým
atýlýmýna cevap tarzýnda, bindirilmiþ devlet veya derin organizasyon
tarzýnda miting havasý gordum. “Ulkuculer burada hainler nerede?”

sloganý beni rahatsýz etti. Bu yuzden ayrýldým.”

‘Milliyetcilik ve ýrkcýlýkla yuzleþme’ Orhan Kemal Cengiz: “Faþist
reaksiyonlarla acýyý rehin aldýlar.

Dunyanýn her yerindeki milliyetciler icin bu boyledir. Katliamlarý
kullanýþ bicimi budur. Bu tur gosterilerde maðdurlar icin acý
duymaktan daha cok diðer halklara duyduklarý nefreti kusarlar. Ermeni,
Yunan milliyetcileri de ayný þeyi yaparlar. Belki de bizim tekrar
milliyetcilik ve ýrkcýlýkla yuzleþmemiz ve hesaplaþmamýz icin vesile
olmalý Hocalý katliamýný kýnayanlarýn bu goruntusu. Hicbir þekilde
katliamlarýn, acýlarýn yarýþtýrýlmasý soz konusu olmamalý. Biz 1915’te
oldurulen Ermeni kardeþlerimiz icin de, 1992’de oldurulen Azeri
kardeþlerimiz icin de ayný acýyý duyuyoruz. Bunlarýn katillerini de
ayný þekilde kýnýyoruz. Bu ancak boyle olursa deðerli bir þey. Aksi
takdirde sadece yeni nefret ve yeni katliamlarýn ekilmesinden baþka
bir þeye yaramýyor bu gosteriler.”

From: Baghdasarian

AZERBAIJAN’S COOPERATION WITH ISRAEL ‘NOT DIRECTED AGAINST IRAN’

News.Az
Tue 28 February 2012 11:30 GMT | 11:30 Local Time

News.Az interviews Aydin Mirzazade, an MP for the ruling New
Azerbaijan Party, member of the defence and security committee and
Azerbaijan-Israel parliamentary friendship group.

How significant is cooperation with Israel for Azerbaijan, including
in the military sphere, the development of which has recently been
reported by the world media?

Israel is one of the states in the region that supports the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan. It cooperates with Azerbaijan in a number of
areas. Therefore, Azerbaijan can benefit from the experience of Israel,
not only in arms purchases, but also in creating new production
capacity and building infrastructure. Israel is currently known
to the world as a country with new technology and, in this regard,
Azerbaijan will never hide the fact that it is cooperating with this
country. I would not say that there is a special friendship between
Azerbaijan and Israel, because Azerbaijan does not have any special
relationship with any country.

Is Azerbaijan’s cooperation with Israel directed against Iran, as
some Iranian leaders claim?

Azerbaijan’s cooperation with any state, including Israel, is
not directed against third countries. All countries can see that
Azerbaijan’s policy over the past 18 years has not been directed
against any country. Azerbaijan does not have any problem with Iran.

Besides, Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated that it will not allow
other countries to use its territories against Iran.

Iran has repeatedly stated that in the event of war against it by the
West, it will strike back at neighbouring countries that are within
the sphere of interest of the United States and Israel. Could the
Azerbaijani-Israeli cooperation prompt an Iranian military attack on
the territory of Azerbaijan?

If Iranian military circles are considering this, it would be nothing
but a heavy strike against Iran’s own interests, i.e. it would have
a boomerang effect. Azerbaijan does not pose any threat to Iran.

Azerbaijan believes that the problems of the brotherly and friendly
Iran should be resolved through negotiations. In addition, its problems
with the West, above all, are the problems of Iran itself.

And it would be a big mistake for Iran to look for these problems
outside, i.e. in third countries.

Armenia also sees Azerbaijan’s cooperation with Israel as a threat.

What has prompted this allegation from the Armenian side?

With the exception of Armenia, Azerbaijan has normal relations with
all countries of the world. At the same time, these relations are
based on mutual interests.

As for Armenia, Azerbaijan today uses all means to put pressure on the
country. This pressure aims to force Armenia to withdraw its forces
from the occupied Azerbaijani lands. At the same time, Azerbaijan
does it without the assistance of third countries and relying only
on its own capacity. Therefore, any hint from Armenia over Israel
is unfounded.

Is the Armenian accusation justified that the military cooperation
between Israel and Azerbaijan serves the militarization of the latter?

It’s not Azerbaijan but Armenia that is conducting a militaristic
policy, since Armenia directs over $400m to military spending, which
is 25% of the state budget, the total size of which is $2.5bn. There
is no country in the world except Armenia that spends one-quarter of
its budget on the military.

As for Azerbaijan, which Armenia accuses of militarism, Baku spends
only 11-12% of the state budget on military purposes. This amounts
to about $3bn in total out of a state budget of $22bn.

Comparing these figures, it should be borne in mind that part of
Azerbaijani territory is occupied by Armenia. And if Azerbaijan did
not face military aggression, the country’s military budget today
would be miserly. Therefore, Azerbaijan, taking into account the
occupation of its lands, is constantly conducting preparatory work
to ensure the territorial integrity of the country.

Azerbaijan has more than once stated that it is considering both
diplomatic and military ways to liberate its lands. Azerbaijan
will start to reduce military spending once the Armenian-occupied
territories have been liberated. If Armenia is afraid of the volume
of Azerbaijan’s military expenditure, first and foremost it has to
liberate the occupied lands and renounce its territorial claims. At the
same time, Armenia should be interested in this, since today it does
not have enough resources to maintain the expeditionary force abroad.

From: A. Papazian

TBILISI HOSTS EVENTS COMMEMORATING SUMGAIT POGROMS

PanARMENIAN.Net
February 28, 2012 – 14:34 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The embassy of Armenia in Georgia organized a series
of events to honor the memory of victims of Armenian massacres in
Sumgait, Baku and Maragha.

The Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church held service
in memory of those killed.

Hayartun cultural center hosted then an event dedicated to the victims
with participation of NGO representatives and public figures.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Armenian
Ambassador to Georgia Hovhannes Manukyan also attended the event.

Speaking in the center, Ambassador emphasized that Artsakh has
the right for self-determination. Ambassador also touched upon the
destructive policy of Azerbaijani authorities with regard to Nagorno
Karabakh conflict.

Head of the local diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Vazgen
Mirzakhanyan also spoke at the event. In particular, he called for
tolerance in relations between the people voicing hope that Caucasus
will live in peace.

Later documentaries on Sumgait massacre were demonstrated, followed
by a speech of well-known Georgian public figure Givi Shahnazari.

TO NAME AND SHAME?: GREEN ACTIVISTS DEMAND IDENTITIES OF MASHOTS PARK KIOSK OWNERS BE REVEALED

28.02.12 | 15:06

The young environmental activists fighting against the installment of
kiosks in Mashtots Park demand that the Yerevan municipality publish
the names of the developers.

Yerevan city authorities gave the owners of the kiosks dismantled from
Abovyan Street permission to relocate their property to the park near
Yerevan’s main thoroughfare, Mashtots Boulevard, as compensation. They
say the measure is temporary and the kiosks will later be dismantled
when reconstruction projects for this zone are realized.

The environmentalists have sent an open letter to Yerevan Mayor
Taron Margaryan, demanding that the municipality not only publish
the names of the kiosk owners, but also all the decisions made by
Yerevan authorities related to the pavilions installed in Abovyan
Street before, as well as all the decisions related to the relocation
of the pavilions from Abovyan Street to Mashtots Park and all the
contracts signed with the owners of the kiosks.

Member of “We are the Owners of Our City” initiative Gor Hakobyan says:
“It is not clear why these contracts and decisions are not provided. Is
there anything to hide? What is the problem? Are there more things
that must be done secretly?”

Shushan Sardaryan, the spokeswoman for the Yerevan mayor, told
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that the names will be published when the
open letter is answered within the time frame defined by the law. And
as for providing the documents, Sardaryan said that the municipality
has already provided all documents and reported all the details
connected with the decision of the construction.

As of now, 2,500 people have joined the signature collection initiative
against the construction in Mashtots Park.

WOUNDS OF THE PAST: EXPERTS IN YEREVAN SAY AZERI CAMPAIGN ON KHOJALU DESIGNED TO OVERSHADOW MASSACRES OF ARMENIANS
By Gayane Abrahamyan

ArmeniaNow
28.02.12 | 11:50

A monument in Yerevan commemorating the victims of Sumgait massacres

Armenia is losing in the information war with Azerbaijan, experts
warn, pointing to the Azeri-organized festival of films on the Khojalu
events recently shown in more than 50 countries, as well anti-Armenian
protests and conferences on the same subject in Istanbul, Paris and
Washington prior to the festival.

“The Azeri propaganda machine has been leading in an information
war and succeeding because there is no adequate counterattack,”
says Bakur Karapetyan, head of the Shoushi foundation.

Karapetyan believes that the “myth of Khojalu” was made up by the Azeri
authorities to veil and cast shadow to conceal the February 27 events
of 24 years ago, when Armenians suffered three days of pogroms in the
town of Sumgait (20 km from Baku) and the massacre in the village of
Maragha, a village in Nagorno-Karabakh that is now under Azeri control.

Fifty-three people were brutally murdered in Sumgait, hundreds were
wounded and narrowly escaped death, the death-toll in Maragha reached
80-100 and 64 were taken hostage.

The Shoushi Foundation is planning to turn to the International
Criminal Court in the Hague regarding the Khojalu case, because it
says there are numerous documented facts proving that in 1992 the
Armenian troops had opened a humanitarian corridor for the civilians
of Khojalu before the attack, but they were later killed by their
own compatriots far from the Armenian positions.

Even Ayaz Mutallibov, who was the president of Azerbaijan in the
1990s, confirmed that the humanitarian corridor had really been
provided, and it is for voicing that very truth as well as the fact
that innocent people of Khojalu were massacred by Azeri soldiers that
Realny Azerbaijan newspaper chief editor Eylnulla Fatullayev was sent
to prison in Azerbaijan.

In an article titled “Karabakh Diary” published in 2005 Fatullayev
wrote: “Several days before the attack Armenians were repeatedly
announcing through loudspeakers a warning message about the planned
mission, and were asking to leave the place and exit the blockade
through the humanitarian corridor opened for them along the Karkar
river. People of Khojalu themselves say that they did use the corridor
and that the Armenian soldiers positioned there did not open fire
on them.”

President Mutalibov whose successor was Heydar Aliyev, said in an
interview a decade after his tenure: “It is obvious that the execution
of Khojalu residents was organized by someone to achieve a coup d’etat
in Azerbaijan.”

Another Azeri journalist and political analyst Elmar Huseynov was shot
dead in front of his house in Baku in 2005; he had repeatedly written
that people of Khojalu who were mostly re-settled Meskhetian Turks,
became victims of Azeri domestic political issues.

The Monitor journal founded by Huseynov wrote on the 6th anniversary
of Heydar Aliyev’s death: “They say one should either speak positively
of a deceased person or not speak at all. As even if granted a huge
desire to do so it’s impossible to say anything positive about Heydar
Aliyev, we’d better follow the tradition and keep silence… hence we
will not tell about the massacre of Khojalu he had arranged neither
of the military revolution”.

While in Baku people presenting facts and opinions breaching the state
propaganda are silenced, there are solid concerns in Armenia that it
is going to be harder and harder by each passing day to prove what
really happened there.

“We are terribly late; of course there functions the president-adjacent
Public Relations and Information Center which has produced a fair
amount of documentaries accurately stating the events of Sumgait,
Maragha and Khojalu, but it’s too late considering the preceding 15
years of inertness. It’s going to take double efforts, otherwise if
parliaments of other countries following Pakistan’s and Mexico’s
examples recognized “Khojalu genocide”, we will lose not only the
information war, but Karabakh as well,” says political analyst
Alexander Manaseryan.

VILLAGE MAYOR DENIES PEDOPHILIA ACCUSATION, SAYS HE IS BEING ‘BLACKMAILED’
Azat Ghukasyan

Society | 28.02.12 | 15:25

Photo: syunik.gov.am

The news of another pedophilia case in Armenia’s southern Syunkik
province is making headlines in the local media, meanwhile the Police
in the province have opened a case against Hartashen village mayor
and teacher of gymnastics at the village school Azat Ghukasyan,
under Article of the Criminal Code of Armenia (lecherous acts with
a person obviously under 16).

According to an article published in the online daily Hetq, recently at
the lesson of gymnastics Ghukasyan told students of the eighth form to
“play quietly” and ordered one of the female students, who is mentally
retarded, to follow him and, as the relatives of the young woman claim,
raped her.

The Police report no other information about the case, reasoning that
it is necessary for the sake secrecy of the preliminary investigation.

On Tuesday, Ghukasyan, who, is not arrested yet, told ArmeniaNow that
he was at the Police office, and that he was preparing to testify. He
denied all the accusations brought against him, saying that he was
being blackmailed. The 50-year-old head of the village answered the
questions evasively and did not provide more details as to who and why
is blackmailing him. Ghukasyan has been mayor of Hartashen since 2002,
and in 1995-2002 he was the headmaster of the village school.

Ghukasyan is married and has four children.

Two years ago, Levon Avagyan, a former Armenian language teacher
at a boarding school for children with special needs in Nubarashen,
was charged with a similar offense, and was sentenced to two years in
prison. And last year U.S.-Armenian businessman Serop Der-Boghossian
was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in jail for sexual abuse of ten
10-16-year-old boys. Currently lawmakers and NGOs are discussing the
issue of applying voluntary or compulsory chemical castration against
people who have committed crimes of sexual nature against children.