Month: February 2012

FRENCH SENATOR: CANCELLATION OF GENOCIDE BILL IS SARKOZY’S DEFEAT

PanARMENIAN.Net
February 29, 2012 – 10:46 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The French Constitutional Council supported the
arguments of parliamentarians who signed a petition saying the bill
on the Armenian Genocide verges on censorship, said member of the
Senate commission for international affairs, deputy chairman of
France-Caucasus friendship group Natalie Goulet .

“Cancellation of the bill by the French Constitutional Council on
February 28 is the defeat of President Nicolas Sarkozy who did not
follow the advice of experienced lawyers and wished to turn the
parliament into his instrument,” Goulet declared. She said deputies
honourably withstood the “pressure” and appeared strong enough to
oppose it.

On January 23, the French Senate passed the bill criminalizing the
Armenian Genocide denial with 127 votes for and 86 against. If signed
into law by the President, the bill would impose a 45,000 euro fine
and a year in prison for anyone in France who denies this crime
against humanity committed by the Ottoman Empire.

Turkey reacted furiously when the Senate approved the law. Ankara
halted political and military cooperation with France and was
threatening to cut off economic and cultural ties if the law took
effect.

On February 28, the French Constitutional Council ruled the bill
criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial adopted earlier by the
Senate of France as unconstitutional. The Council justified it by
the fact that the law “contradicts Article 33 of the Constitution of
France and the freedom of speech”.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ANCA: WE REAFFIRM OUR COMMITMENT TO CHALLENGING AZERBAIJAN’S AGGRESSION

PanARMENIAN.Net
February 29, 2012 – 10:24 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – U.S. Representatives Gary Peters (D-MI), Howard
Berman (D-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and have offered
U.S. House floor statements over the past week marking Azerbaijan’s
pogroms and massacres against ethnic Armenian civilians in Sumgait,
Kirovabad, and Baku, reported the Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA).

These four legislators join with Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), the
Co-Chairman of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, and Judy Chu
(D-CA), who made Congressional statements regarding these massacres
earlier this month, and with Congressman David Cicilline (D-RI),
who issued a public statement this week marking these human rights
atrocities.

“We join with friends of Armenia and advocates of human rights from
California, Michigan, Rhode Island, Virginia and across America in
thanking each of Members of Congress who has joined with Armenians
worldwide in marking the Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku pogroms,”
said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “In pausing to remember
these atrocities we reaffirm our commitment to challenging Azerbaijan’s
aggression and threats of renewed war, and, more broadly, to protecting
the innocent and promoting peace for all the peoples of the Caucasus
region.”

From: Baghdasarian

CAFESJIAN CENTER FOR THE ARTS TO HOST RUSSIAN ART MUSEUM COLLECTION

PanARMENIAN.Net
February 29, 2012 – 09:22 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Spring Motifs: A Selection from the Collection of
the Museum of Russian Art exhibition opens at Sasuntsi Davit Garden
Gallery of the Cafesjian Center for the Arts on March 1.

The exhibition presents 24 paintings from the reserves of the Museum
of Russian Art of Armenia (the Collection of Aram Abrahamyan), united
by the theme of women portraits and flowers, conveying the spirit
of spring.

The exhibition is a joint undertaking of the Cafesjian Center for
the Arts and the Museum of Russian Art of Armenia.

OSKANIAN’S JOINING PROSPEROUS ARMENIA HIT RULERS – PAPER

PanARMENIAN.Net
February 29, 2012 – 09:32 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenian former Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian’s
involvement in the Prosperous Armenia party hit hard the presidential
administration, Chorord Ishkhanutyun paper reports.

In particular, the criticism he voiced against the Republican Party
of Armenia speaking on Yerkir Media TV channel, and the courtesy
addressed to the Armenian National Congress made the ruling elite
particularly mad.

Presidential administration tends to blame Prosperous Armenia spokesman
Khachik Galstyan for it; Galstyan, believed to be Serzh Sargsyan’s
“insider” within the Prosperous Armenia, was supposed to prevent
Vartan Oskanian from joining the party.

FRENCH HAY DAT CHIEF: CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL REPS IN BUSINESS TIES WITH TURKEY

PanARMENIAN.Net
February 28, 2012 – 21:40 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The head of Hay Dat French office cited Turkish
pressure and underhand intrigues behind the French Constitutional
Council’s ruling that the bill punishing Armenian Genocide denial
is unconstitutional.

As Hrach Varzhapetian told a PanARMENIAN.Net a number of Turkish and
Azeri media reported that the bill was ruled as unconstitutional
before the official announcement, which proves the decision was
pre-planned. According to the politician, some French media outlets
raised the issue, questioning the impartiality of some of the Council
members.

“Some of the members of the Council are known to have business and
other ties with Turkish circles,” the politician said.

Varzhapetian further pledged to raise the issue during the meetings
with the Armenian community. “It’s time to call a spade a spade,”
he said.

The French Constitutional Council ruled that a bill recently adopted
by the French Senate making it a crime to deny the Armenian Genocide
was anti-constitutional.

In a statement the Council said the bill adopted by parliament on
January 23 represented an “unconstitutional breach of the practice
of freedom of expression and communication.”

Turkey reacted furiously when the Senate approved the law. Ankara
halted political and military cooperation with France and was
threatening to cut off economic and cultural ties if the law took
effect.

‘PUTIN’S ELECTION TO DO GOOD TO KARABAKH SETTLEMENT’

News.Az
Wed 29 February 2012 11:19 GMT | 11:19 Local Time

News.Az interviews member of the Russian Academy of Political Science,
doctor of political science, professor Andrei Baranov.

Do you think that Vladimir Putin will continue the active mediation
role in Karabakh settlement, which was played by Dmitriy Medvedev,
in case he returns to presidency in Russia?

I suppose that the newly elected president of Russia, whoever is
elected, will continue and intensify the mediation of our country in
Karabakh settlement. Russia is strategically interested in overcoming
forced conflicts-the heritage of the USSR collapse, in stability on
its southern borders, cardinal intensification of economic, transport
and cultural ties with the South Caucasus countries. The candidate
to Russian president Vladimir Putin has a stable popularity among
voters, judging from sociological data. If he wins the elections,
the personal experience of foreign policy activity gained in the
2000’s will help settle the conflict.

What role did Dmitriy Medvedev play as a Russian president in terms
of making achievements in the resolution of the Karabakh conflict?

As is known, Dmitriy Medvedev organized the tenth meeting of the heads
of Azerbaijan and Armenia in January of this year. This meeting can
be rated as moderate positive. In their joint statement of 23 January
of this year, the heads of all the three states, voiced readiness to
accelerate the agreement on main principles of the Karabakh conflict.

All participants to the negotiations admitted that an achievement has
been made in coordination of these main principles. The mediation of
Russia, United States and France, as the Minsk Group co-chairs was
assessed positively.

All the same, the political scientists and journalists of the
countries involved in the conflict give skeptical assessments to the
proposed measures of settlement. The potential of public diplomacy
in accelerating the fair resolution of the conflict is also assessed
skeptically in both Azerbaijan and Armenia. In addition, Medvedev’s
term is close to completion and the reduced activeness of diplomatic
efforts before inauguration of the new head of the Russian state is
quite natural.

In a declaration passed by results of the meeting in Sochi, the sides
fixed common understanding that further progress requires renouncing
of maximalist positions. Will Azerbaijan and Armenia further be able
to renounce their maximalist positions to achieve progress in the
conflict settlement?

Azerbaijan and Armenia are not ready today to soften their maximalist
positions to achieve serious breakthrough in the conflict settlement.

I would risk to suppose that the main motive of the obstinacy of
the sides is equal: the fear that the opponent will get guaranteed
advantage for its success: military, diplomatic, demographic and
others, which means it will apply force in a unilateral way. That
is the solution depends on the guarantees of the observance of the
contradictory interests of the parties, while no such guarantees have
been created.

It is necessary to have the rational approach the gross weight of the
Karabakh conflict in the overall geopolitics of the Greater Middle
East. A number of region, interconnected in the logic of communicating
vessels appear in the macroregion. Azerbaijan and Armenia are seemingly
waiting for the outcome of the escalation of military preparations
against Iran, the result of the November presidential elections in
the United States. If the United States and NATO establish their
geopolitical domination in the South Caucasus, Azerbaijan and Armenia
will have to make their positions closer though the example of Cyprus
shows that even EU membership did not result in the fair resolution
of the conflict.

What can be the implications and threats of the new war around Karabakh
conflict primarily for Russia, which is a direct neighbor?

Possible escalation of the Karabakh conflict and its return to
military actions would have sharp negative implications for Russia. In
particular, migration to Russia, including illegal, from the conflict
area may rise. The confrontation line would attract mercenaries and
terrorists, while turning into a ‘black hole’ of spreading violence.

The peacekeeping efforts of the OSCE and mediating countries would
be discredited. Frozen secessionist conflicts in the post-Soviet
space would be reanimated under the influence of the Karabakh ‘case’,
probably in Transdniestria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Crimea, western
part of Macedonia and Northern Kosovo.

Thus, the multipartite negotiation process with unbiased international
arbitrage remains the best method of solving the Karabakh conflict.

FRENCH JUSTICE MINISTRY TO ELABORATE NEW BILL ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

NEWS.AM
February 29, 2012 | 14:21

France’s Justice Ministry was instructed to elaborate a new text of
the genocide bill taking into account the decision of Constitutional
Council, AFP reports.

The Ministry will study the text and elaborate a new one in accordance
with the constitutional and European standards, representative of
the Ministry Bruno Badre said.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, the Constitutional Council
of France recognized the genocide law as unconstitutional, as it
violates freedom of speech and expression.

The bill on criminalizing denial of genocides was accepted by the
French parliament on December 22, 2011, than was turned into law on
January 23, 2012, by the French Senate.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT WILL PAY STATE VISIT TO SINGAPORE

news.am
February 29, 2012 | 12:37

YEREVAN. – Armenia’s FM Edward Nalbandian, who was in Singapore on
an official visit, was received Tuesday by Singapore’s President,
Tony Tan Keng Yam.

During the meeting Singaporean Head of State noted: “The Armenians
have left a deep trace in the history of our country and have a great
contribution in the country’s development,” MFA informed Armenian
News-NEWS.am.

In his turn, Edward Nalbandian said that Singaporean Senior Minister
Lee Kuan Yew’s visit to Armenia in 2009 opened a new chapter in
relations between the two countries, and he expressed confidence that
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s state visit to Singapore will
give new impetus to developing collaboration between both countries.

On the same day, Armenia’s FM met with his Singaporean colleague,
Kasiviswanathan (K.) Shanmugam, during which they reflected on
consolidating the legal and contractual domain.

Singapore’s FM likewise underscored the Singaporean Armenian
community’s role in his country’s development.

The interlocutors also exchanged views on several top international
matters.

Also, Edward Nalbandian presented his Singaporean counterpart Armenia’s
steps being taken toward establishing security and cooperation in
the Caucasus, and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement process.

The discussions continued during the official dinner which Singapore’s
FM had organized in Armenian FM’s honor.

While in Singapore, Edward Nalbandian also paid a visit to the Saint
Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Church, which was founded in 1835,
where he met with representatives of the country’s Armenian community.

Ending his visit to Singapore, Edward Nalbandian headed back to
Armenia on the same day.

From: A. Papazian

GARIK KERYAN: THE CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL’S DECISION WAS PREDICTABLE
Nvard Davtyan

“Radiolur”
29.02.2012 15:14

The decision of the French Constitutional Council on the bill
criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide was predictable,
Doctor of Political Science, Professor Garik Keryan told a press
conference today.

According to him, we deal with Turkey – a country, which plays a
great role in the world; its economic and military potential is often
decisive on many issues inside NATO, Turkey’s geopolitical place
and role cannot be ignored, either. “Naturally, Turkey uses and will
use this privilege every time the genocide issue is on the agenda,”
he said.

“France has serious economic interests in Turkey, the two countries
are members of the same military political organization. Turkey’s
pressures on Turkey do not mean that a powerful country like France
is afraid of Turkey. France made a humanistic, a moral step, trying
to adopt a law criminalizing the denial of the Armenian genocide, but
the French have their state interests, and France could not but take
into account Turkey’s position here,” the political scientist said.

According to Keryan, either Sarkozy was not far-sighted enough to
predict such developments, or tried to exert pressure on Turkey, well
aware that the Constitutional Council would turn down the law. The
political scientist considers that the second option is more probable.

From: Baghdasarian

BABY SARKOZY’S PARENTS’ REACTION TO FRENCH CONSTITUTIONAL COURT’S DECISION ON GENOCIDE BILL

news.am
February 29, 2012 | 15:14

Armenian News-NEWS.am wished to hear the reaction of the parents of
little Sarkozy, with respect to the French Constitutional Council’s
deeming unconstitutional the bill that criminalizes the denial of
genocides-including the Armenian Genocide.

In response to our reporter’s question as to whether now they have
regretted calling their newborn after the French President, little
Sarkozy’s grandfather, Petros Avetisyan, said: “Not at all, it [the
name] will remain as it is! We have not regretted it at all. Everyone
greatly adores our decision.”

He noted that they affectionately call the little one “Sarkozik.”

In her turn, the baby’s mother, Nara Avetisyan, added that they have
gotten used to this name and it sounds very good, and therefore they
have not regretted their decision. She also informed that they were
motivated by patriotism when they named the baby as such.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, a baby boy was born on
January 25 at the maternity hospital of Armenia’s Gyumri city. And in
honor of the French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the newborn was named
Sarkozy, Gyumri Maternity Hospital’s Director Armen Isahakyan told. He
also informed that the parents themselves had decided to name the child
Sarkozy, since they were very moved by the French Senate’s passing
of the bill that criminalizes the denial of genocides-including the
Armenian Genocide-and therefore the parents wanted to express their
gratitude in this way. The three-kilogram Sarkozy is from Akhurik
village. He is his parents’ firstborn.

From: Baghdasarian