Month: September 2013

RUSSIA, FRANCE DIFFER ON SYRIA CHEMICAL ATTACK PERPETRATORS

September 17, 2013 – 15:39 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Russia said on Tuesday, September 17 it still
suspected an August 21 chemical weapons attack in Syria was carried
out by rebel forces, despite a report by UN investigators which France
said showed the government was behind the attack, according to Reuters.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and French Foreign Minister
Laurent Fabius set out their countries’ opposing views following talks
in Moscow, one day after the investigators confirmed the deadly nerve
agent sarin was used in the attack.

“We have very serious grounds to believe that this was a provocation,”
Lavrov said of the attack, which the United States has said killed
more than 1,400 people in rebel-held areas.

Lavrov, whose country has been the Syrian government’s most important
ally in the civil war, said there had been “many provocations” by
the rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad’s government and added:
“They were all aimed, over the last two years, at provoking foreign
intervention.”

He said the UN investigators’ report proved that chemical weapons had
been used but that “there is no answer to a number of questions we
have asked,” including whether the weapons were produced in a factory
or home-made.

Speaking alongside Lavrov at a joint news conference after their talks,
Fabius said the report was convincing.

“When you look at the amount of sarin gas used, the vectors, the
techniques behind such an attack, as well as other aspects, it seems
to leave no doubt that the (Assad) regime is behind it,” Fabius said.

According to The Associated Press, United Nations Secretary General
Ban Ki-Moon said Monday that results of a report by UN inspectors
confirming the use of chemical weapons in Syria are “overwhelming
and indisputable.”

“This is a grave crime. Those responsible must be brought to justice
and soon as possible.” Ban told reporters at UN headquarters in New
York. He also emphasized that this is the largest chemical attack in
many years.

UN inspectors said Monday that there is “clear and convincing evidence”
that chemical weapons were used on a relatively large scale in an
attack last month in Syria that killed hundreds of people, including
civilians. Ban presented their report to a closed meeting of the UN
Security Council in New York Monday morning.

The findings represent the first official confirmation by scientific
experts that chemical weapons were used in Syria’s civil war, but
the report left the key question of who launched the attack unanswered.

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE INDEX IN ARMENIA WAS DOWN 0.7 P.P. IN SECOND QUARTER TO 43.3

YEREVAN, June 23, /ARKA/. Consumer confidence index in Armenia was
down 0.7 p.p. in the second quarter of 2013 from the first quarter
to 43.3, the Central Bank of Armenia told ARKA.

Compared to the second quarter of 2012 it was down 3.9.%. The index
of current conditions in the second quarter of 2013 fell by 0.9%
from the first quarter of to 34.4.

The 0.7 percent growth was recorded only in sub-index used to assess
large purchases.

The sub-index that assesses income changes dropped by 1.8 from the
first quarter to 30.7, and the sub-index that assesses current economic
conditions dropped by 1.7 points to 21.9.

According to the Central bank, the index of future conditions fell in
the second quarter of this year compared to the first quarter by 0.4%
to 52.2. Two sub-indexes, evaluating expectations in income changes
fell by 1.3% and the sub-index assessing expectations in family
employment fell by 2.4 points. The sub-index assessing expectations
in large household purchases grew by 2.4 points from the first quarter
to 57.8 points.

The Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) is an indicator designed to measure
consumer confidence, which is defined as the degree of optimism on
the state of the economy that consumers are expressing through their
activities of savings and spending. Since early 2005 the Central Bank
of Armenia has been conducting quarterly surveys of non-financial,
financial institutions and households to assess changes in current
economic conditions compared to the previous period, to assess the
economic expectations of the subjects under study and based on survey
data to calculate and publish composite economic indexes.

The surveys are conducted over the Internet, telephone, letter and
fax. Based on the survey results indices of business environment,
economic activity and consumer confidence are calculated on a
100-point scale. The score above 50 shows high activity and below 50
a low activity, and 50 a steady-state condition. -0- – See more at:

From: Baghdasarian

WE MUST HAVE AUTHORITIES ELECTED BY THE PEOPLE, SO DECISIONS SUCH AS THIS ARE NOT TAKEN, SAYS MANOYAN

September 6, 2013

“The decision to join the Customs Union doesn’t mean that we have
abandoned the European vector and that we have returned to the Soviet
Union” stated Giro Manoyan, Head of the ARF-D International Secretariat
during a press conference held on September 6, at “Noyan Tapan” press
club. According to Manoyan the problem is that, it seems as if the
decision was taken right there, in Moscow. “Even President Sargsyan’s
comments slightly differ from the official statements. At the press
conference following the meeting, the President said “I expressed
Armenia’s desire” while at the statement of the two Presidents there is
a reference to Armenia’s decision. Nothing is said about who and where
took this decision. What is wrong here is the way it was taken and
not necessarily the decision itself, which in reality cannot deliver
substantial results at this point. That is also the case with both
EU’s Association, and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA)
Agreements which wouldn’t immediately produce concrete results”. The
ARF-D member said that taking this decision doesn’t mean that Armenia
will be part of the Customs Union tomorrow or in a two-month time,
news.am reports.

Manoyan expressed his dissatisfaction about the fact that Armenia’s
authorities didn’t prepare neither the political parties nor the
European Union, for the decision they made and that this may cause
discontent from the latter’s side. He stressed that had the authorities
taken appropriate steps to inform, the public’s wave of disappointment
would have been lower.

The decision to join the Customs Union must not stand on the way
of the reforms that are necessary for the country as well as of the
political and social integration with the European Union.

Asked about whether he believes that entering the Customs Union would
bring a change to the price of natural gas Manoyan said that he cannot
comment on that since there is no such reference in the statement.

Commenting on the view that wants Armenia’s authorities to have taken
the decision to join the CU merely to keep the power, Manoyan said
that there is such a view and that there was a similar negotiation
with the EU which concluded that the elections conducted in the
country were good. “On this subject, the authorities’ fault is that
they do this on the account of the state and of the people” he added.

In his opinion the important thing is not what the Russians, Kazakhs
or the EU have to say but to have authorities elected by the people,
so that decisions are not taken this way.

There is an issue of maintaining the region’s stability because any
kind of attack by the USA would have unpredictable consequences,
not only in Syria’s case but for the entire region, said Manoyan in
reference to the developments around Syria. “That instability should
concern us. As for the Syrian Armenian community, it is clear that
such operations would increase the dangers threatening its security”.

In regards to Arman Navasartyan’s recent statement about calls
to Syrian Armenians by a number of civic-political organizations,
including the ARF-D, not to flee the country and risk the existence of
the centuries-old community, Manoyan pointed out that ARF-D has never
made that sort of calls and no-one has forced the Syrian Armenians
to leave Syria, but the ARF-D has always stood on the side of the
Syrian Armenians that wanted to settle in Armenia and has supported
them in their efforts, in every possible way. Manoyan also reminded
that the party has periodically sent financial aid to those caught
in the fighting.

Finally, Manoyan replied to questions in connection to offers made
to ARF-D members to head diplomatic missions abroad. He repeated
that Vahan Hovhannesyan has accepted the proposal to undertake the
ambassadorship in a European country. “Many called this a step of
denying own positions, and others rushed to judgments saying that ARF-D
has been sold” said Manoyan and added that “it isn’t normal passing
early criticism” since many are only assuming that Vahan Hovhannesyan
will implement Armenia’s foreign policy. “If pressure is put on then it
is never too late for one to pick up his things and leave the country,
resigning from the Ambassador’s office” concluded Manoyan.

YEREVAN IN THE GRIP OF GEOPOLITICAL POLES (THE FIRST ROUND OF THE FIGHT)

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Sept 17 2013

17 September 2013 – 12:35pm

Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza

Serge Sargsyan’s statement on Armenia’s intention to join the Customs
Union (CU) didn’t halt the geopolitical process over Armenia.

Discussions on the course of development continue there.

According to the head of the Institute of the Caucasus, Alexander
Iskandaryan, Armenia cannot really join the Customs Union and the
absence of borders is not the main problem: “The CU was established
for Kazakhstan and Russia, and their interests and demands contradict
Armenia’s needs. For example, Kazakhstan and Russia produce and export
energy products; Armenia imports them. Moreover, the countries of the
CU and Armenia not only have no common borders, but also between us
there is Georgia, which is a very specific country for Russia.

Furthermore, these are thousands of pages of texts which have been
developing for years. All these norms cannot be simply applied to
Armenia.”

The question of the possibility of combining membership of Armenia
in the CU and initialling of the association agreement within the EU
program of the Eastern Partnership is in the focus of attention. The
European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood
Policy, Stefan Fule, has already stated that in the context of
Armenia’s statement on joining the CU, it is difficult to imagine the
association agreement with the EU being initialled on November 29th
in Vilnius. According to him, there is a problem of compatibility
between obligations to the CU and the free trade area with the
EU. “For example, you cannot simultaneously reduce customs rates, as is
required by the Agreement on a deep and comprehensive free trade area,
and increase them as a lresult of membership in the Customs Union,”
Fule thinks. The possibility of the other document – the Association
Agreement – being initialled by Armenia is also excluded.

However, considering the fact that the geopolitical competition
between Russia and the West for the post-Soviet space won’t stop
due to the decision of Yerevan to join the CU, and Armenia wasn’t
included in the program of “Eastern Partnership” accidentally,
it could be predicted that the Europeans will try to find another
option for settlement of the problem that has occurred. For example,
in the future a new document for Armenia can be developed.

A small country with numerous problems in the economic sphere,
constant migration, having a conflict with Azerbaijan and difficult
relations with Turkey is involved in an argument between two leading
centers of political force – Russia and the West. In the first round
of the fight Moscow won, which has such trump cards as providing the
security of Armenia, exporting gas to Armenia and the presence of a
million Armenian migrants in Russia. The EU, and the West in general,
has never been interested in the security problems of Armenia.

To be continued.

UNIVERSITIES OF BELARUS, ARMENIA MIGHT AWARD DOUBLE DIPLOMAS

Belarusian Telegraph Agency, Belarus
Sept 17 2013

17.09.2013 18:16

NESVIZH, 17 September (BelTA) – The education ministers of Belarus
and Armenia discussed a possibility to introduce university courses
which graduates will be awarded double diplomas, Armenian Education
and Science Minister Armen Ashotyan told a press conference in Nesvizh
on 17 September, BelTA has learnt.

“While visiting the Belarusian State University of Informatics and
Radioelectronics and the Belarusian State University we had a meeting
with Education Minister Sergei Maskevich and the administration of
the Belarusian universities. We discussed a possibility of awarding
double diplomas to Belarusian and Armenian students who opt for
certain training courses,” Armen Ashotyan said. Such courses are
already available in Armenia with double diplomas awarded by Armenian
and German universities. Sergei Maskevich added that several leading
universities of Belarus have also offered this opportunity. “It is
quite possible that next year we will offer a training course which
graduates will get a double diploma,” Sergei Maskevich noted.

The Education and Science Minister of Armenia noted that Armenia is
constantly reforming its education system. “Education is among the
unique social institutions that needs a constant upgrade, otherwise
there will hardly be any economic effect,” Armen Ashotyan said. In
his words, Armenia has gained some experience in integrating into
European education space and Armenia will be glad to share these
practices with Belarusian educators. “We are ready to materialize
various joint projects in education and science,” he concluded.

The delegation of the Education and Science Ministry of Armenia is
on an official visit to Belarus. The Armenian delegation has already
visited Belarusian universities, pre-school institution No. 4 in
Nesvizh and the Nesvizh Gymnasium.

MEET SYRIA’S CHRISTIANS – AND LEARN WHAT THE WEST GETS WRONG ABOUT THEM

PolicyMic
Sept 17 2013

Brendan Behrmann

For years there has been a discussion at the highest and the lowest
levels of Western society about “saving Middle Eastern Christians.”

This discussion has left out the actual Christians of the region,
who are busy charting their own political future. Particularly in
the northern Middle Eastern nations of Syria, Lebanon, and Armenia,
there appears to be an increasing conflict of interest brewing between
Western interests and local Christian communities.

In the ancient Syrian Christian village of Maaloula, Syrian army
soldiers kiss their crucifixes and spout anti-Western rhetoric as
they battle opposition fighters for control. Pro-government Christian
militiamen have been battling the Free Syrian Army in Aleppo for a
full year. In Lebanon, the largest Christian party’s alliance with
Hezbollah has been intact since 2006. And Armenia’s long relationship
with Iran has been deepening lately.

The clearly paternalistic views of both former French Foreign Minister
Alain Juppe and the infamous Islamophobe Pamela Geller, linked at the
beginning of the article, blind them (and like-minded individuals)
to the course of action taken by Christians in these countries. In an
increasingly polarized region, Middle Eastern Christians are shifting
their view to the east, where fellow regional minorities rule in Iran
and Iraq; and to the north, where a newly assertive and increasingly
Orthodox Russian voice rolls over the Caucasus mountains.

These shifts are largely due to the changing nature of the Syrian
opposition, the growth of Sunni Islamism in the wake of the Arab
Spring, and in the case of Armenia, oil pipelines. Armenia is still
smarting from its exclusion in the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which
deepened “its political and economic isolation.” This exclusion
occurred due to the Nagaro-Karabakh conflict with neighboring
Turkish-supported Azerbaijan and a joint Turkish-Azeri blockade
of Armenia.

Pipelines are a backdrop to the Syrian Civil War as well. A gasline
from the South Pars/Northfield on the Iran/Qatar maritime border
will be built. The proposed lines are Iran-Iraq-Syria and Qatar-Saudi
Arabia-Jordan-Syria-Turkey. The Assad government chose the Iran-Iraq
route, perhaps explaining the particularly high levels of support
Turkey and Qatar are giving the Syrian opposition. Yerevan is looking
to prevent further Turkish gains by supporting the Syrian government’s
attempt to block the Qatar-Turkey route.

However, one cannot talk in absolutes when discussing entire groups
of people. Of course there are Christians in these countries who take
a different view. George Sabra, from a Christian family, was president
of the opposition Syrian National Committee until recently. The smaller
Phalangist Kataeb and Lebanese Forces parties both hold anti-Hezbollah
and pro-Syrian opposition positions.

These are not signs of a slowly dying, apolitical group with little
power sitting on the sidelines – the caricature often trotted out by
the mainstream media. These are the ways of a community determined
to protect itself, its future, and its interests at any cost. The
idea of a regional Christian decline is true only in proportional
terms. But even proportionally, the Christian communities are still
large – the percentages of Christians in Syria and African-Americans
in the United States are roughly equal. As respected Middle East
historian Juan Cole points out, “they [Mideastern Christians] are
arguably more numerous in absolute terms than ever before.” And this
important community is looking to save itself.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NEW ARMENIAN CATHEDRAL OPENS IN MOSCOW

The Moscow Times, Russia
Sept 17 2013

17 September 2013 | Issue 5215
By Ashley Perezluha

On Tuesday, a new cathedral and church complex of the Armenian
Apostolic Church was opened in Moscow on Trifonovskaya Ulitsa near
Marina Roshcha metro station. The church is the largest branch of
the Armenian Apostolic Church outside of Armenia.

The opening ceremony was attended by guests from diverse religious
communities such as Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church
and representatives of the board of Muftis of Russia, the Buddhist
Sangha and the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia.

“Rising from the heart of Russia, the church complex will be the
spiritual and cultural center in the lives of those who – regardless
of nationality – considers themselves a bearer of Christian and human
values,” said Bishop Yezras Nersisyan, head of the New Nakhichevan
and Russian Diocese, said in a press release

The Armenian church complex was created from a community effort
that relied entirely on donations from benefactors, including
Samvel Karapetyan, the president of the Tashir group of companies;
Ruben Vardanyan, chairman of the managing board of Sberbank; Ruben
Grigoryan, president of Rutsog-Invest; and Vitaly Grigoryants,
president of Arch Limited.

“I believe in basic human values and the fact that projects like this
one bring together a large number of people from different spheres,
nationalities, cultures and ages,” Ruben Vardanyan said. Samvel
Karapetyan, another benefactor of the church, commented: “We are
delighted that today we have the opportunity to promote the spiritual
education and the preservation of cultural values [in the Armenian
community].”

The new church is intended to serve Moscow’s sizeable Armenian
community. While the official 2010 census recorded only slightly more
than 100,000 Armenians living in the capital, community members say
there may in fact be as many as half a million Armenians in the city.

The cathedral complex is only the fourth functioning Armenian
Apostolic church in the city of Moscow, though a number of churches
were destroyed or confiscated during the Soviet period.

The church complex has been under construction for eight years. In
2004, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexei II attended the laying of the
foundation of the church complex, which was blessed by the Catholicos
of All Armenians, Karekin II.

The church complex includes a main cathedral, a chapel of the Holy
Cross, an educational complex and a residential building for the head
of the Armenian church complex, as well as an underground church
museum and exhibition hall, a symbolic friendship spring monument
and memorial plates.

The main cathedral can hold more than a thousand people and has an
underground and aboveground parking area for up to 300 cars. The total
land area of the complex takes up 1.3 hectares, and the building area
encompasses 25 thousand square meters.

The first divine liturgy in the church complex will be held Sept. 22
in the cathedral at 24 Trifonovskaya Ulitsa. For more information,
see the website of the Russian and New Nakhichevan Diocese of the
Armenian Apostolic Church at armenianchurch.ru.

From: A. Papazian

BELARUS, ARMENIA HOLDING CONTEST FOR BEST PROJECT IN UNIVERSITY SCIENCE

Belarusian Telegraph Agency, Belarus
Sept 17 2013

17.09.2013 17:03

NESVIZH, 17 September (BelTA) – Belarus and Armenia are holding a
contest for the best project in university science, Education Minister
of Belarus Sergei Maskevich told a press conference in Nesvizh.

According to the minister, establishments of higher education of
Belarus and Armenia can submit their works to the Education Ministry
until 25 October. Implementation of the best projects will be financed
by the Education Ministries of the two countries. Sergei Maskevich
stressed that the arrival of the official delegation of the Ministry
of Education and Science of Armenia [is in Belarus on an official
visit on 16-18 September – BelTA’s note] is an important event for
the Belarusian education system. “The Armenian-Belarusian relations
in education have great prospects,” Sergei Maskevich believes. He
also expressed hope that the universities will present interesting,
modern and economically important projects.

The Education Minister told BelTA that projects can be of various
focus. “The main thing is that they should find their use in companies
of Belarus and Armenia, should have an economic component and be of
scientific interest,” he said.

Minister of Education and Science of Armenia Armen Ashotyan stressed
that, while visiting the educational establishments of Belarus,
he saw a high pedagogical component in the educational process. “I
was pleasantly surprised that Belarus pays great attention to the
process of educating the younger generation. Patriotic upbringing,
pioneer teams, discussion and implementation of business projects,
work with cadets is not only interesting but also have a profound
meaning as education, continuous and profound, helps ordinary school
students become citizens of their country who love their Motherland,
defend their interests,” Armen Ashotyan said.

The guests from Armenia have already got familiar with several
establishments of higher education of Belarus, paid visits to preschool
facility No.4 in Nesvizh and Nesvizh Gymnasium.

From: A. Papazian

TRIAL OVER ARMENIAN JOURNALIST’S MURDER SHINES LIGHT ON TURKEY’S DEEP STATE

Blouin News Blogs
Sept 17 2013

September 17, 2013 by Lora Moftah

Years before the Gezi Park sit-in began in Istanbul, another set of
mass protests broke out in Turkey following the murder of prominent
Armenian-Turkish journalist Hram Dink in 2007. The case has been held
up as an example of the lingering power of the Turkish deep state and
now, with an already unpromising retrial of the principal suspects
underway, the issue of impunity is back in the spotlight in the midst
of an already tense political landscape.

Protesters lined up on Tuesday in front of the Istanbul courthouse
in which eight suspects were being retried, accusing authorities
of covering up a conspiracy by nationalists. As a vocal critic of
Ankara’s policies towards Armenians, Dink had made enemies among
Turkish nationalists and had received threats prior to his murder
outside the offices of his bilingual weekly newspaper. A major outcry
resulted after it emerged that state authorities had disregarded prior
warning of the murder plot though the campaign for justice has been,
for the most part, fruitless. In 2012, a Turkish high court acquitted
18 defendants of the murder and ruled out a conspiracy. The current
retrial of these suspects, however, brings little hope for those
hoping that the case would target nationalist elements in the state’s
institutional structure.

The scope of his case should serve as a glaring reminder of the limits
of Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s efforts at dismantling
the Turkish deep state – and how self-serving such efforts have been,
at that. It should be noted that the high-profile “Ergenekon” case,
which was touted as a major victory by Erdogan over these deep-state
elements in the military, targeted opponents of the prime minister’s
AKP government. Authorities have refused requests by Dink’s family
and supporters to investigate links between his murderers and the
Ergenekon plotters and have maintained, despite some eyebrow raising
circumstances, that the Dink case is an entirely isolated matter.

Whether this sort of asymmetrical justice is testament to Erdogan’s
self-serving agenda or a pragmatic choose-your-battles strategy can
be debated but, either way, it should undermine one of the prime
minister’s major bragging points on his domestic record. Given the
increasingly sectarian nature of Turkey’s recent protests and the
coalition of minority ethnic groups (including Kurds) that have rallied
around the Dink case, the appearance of impunity here should not be
taken for granted by the leader. Not only does the issue transcend
ethnic lines and resonate among his various political opposition
groups – it also places him in the company of the establishment he
has made fighting against so central to his political brand.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FIKRET SADYKHOV AND ALEXANDER ISKANDERYAN BELIEVE AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA WON’T EXCHANGE KARABAKH

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Sept 17 2013

17 September 2013 – 8:14pm

While OSCE Minsk Group co-chair James Warlick is paying an official
visit to the region, several officials from the State of California
decided to visit the unrecognized republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The US administration immediately issued a statement, saying that the
federal authorities have nothing to do with this initiative. In spite
of that the case immediately drew public attention, along with the
recent visit to Karabakh by a German lawmaker that was also condemned
by the Bundestag.

Vestnik Kavkaza discussed the situation surrounding the Karabkh
conflict with Professor of the Western University Fikret Sadykhov
and Director of the Caucasus Institute Alexander Iskanderyan.

Both experts told the news agency that the so-called Meghri plan
is impossible to implement nowadays. According to the initiative
suggested in the 90s, Nagorno-Karabakh was expected to be exchanged
for the Meghri region.

“This is impossible. This idea was suggested by American political
scholar Paul Goble and other experts, but it’s unwise to exchange your
territory for another territory of yours. It’s not in Azerbaijan’s
interests,” Sadykhov said.

“Nagorno-Karabkh is not a toy that a child can exchange for something.

Karabakh is not an object, it’s a participant in the political
process. It may be unrecognized from the point of view of the law,
but it is truly independent,” Iskanderyan said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress