Month: September 2013

IRAN IS READY TO EXCHANGE NATURAL GAS WITH ARMENIAN RUBBER

19:30, 12 September, 2013

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS: Islamic Republic of Iran is ready
to exchange its natural gas with rubber produced in “Nairit” chemical
factory. About this mentioned chairman of the Union of Domestic
Commodity Producers Vazgen Safaryan during press conference on
September 12. “I had a conversation with Iranian ambassador and they
are ready to receive rubber from “Nairit” in exchange with natural
gas. He added that the price for 1 tone of rubber is 6000 USD. He
considered impermissible inaction of the enterprise which produces
such valuable product.

Reminding that with such a scheme from Iran is imported gas to Armenia
and exported electricity to that country he mentioned that if “Nairit”
in past was able to pridcue annually 15000 – 20000 tones of chloroprene
rubber on acetylenic basis than now will be able to produce 30000 –
35000 tones. In Safaryan’s words 10000 tones can be provided to Iran
and the rest exported to other countries.

Besides, export of rubber to Iran can be one of elements securing
profitability of Iran-Armenia railway.

Nairit Plant CJSC is one of the leading chemical?nterprises in
Republic of Armenia that specializes in chloroprene rubbers and
latexes production.

Since 1940 the enterprise has been producing chloroprene rubber
under Nairit trade – name and at present it is well-known on the
world market .

Along with polychloroprene production the company has capacities for
the production of various chemical products: carboxylic acids, caustic
soda, sodium hypochlorite, carbinol syrup, lacquer- ethynol etc.

Due to the variety of produced polychlroprene grades Nairit CJSC
is the partner of different enterprises in industrial rubber goods,
cable ,light and other industries in many countries over the world.

In 2005 Nairit Plant manufactured 7,676 tons of rubber and 6,000 tons
of caustic sodium.

In 2006 Rhinoville Property Limited international company bought 90
percent of share capital of the plant: The rest 10 percent belongs
to Armenian government.

SUZANNE KHARDALIAN ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS – INTERVIEW WITH NEWS.AM STYLE

SEPTEMBER 12, 19:21

By Lilit Petrosyan

Last year Lebanese-Armenian journalist and filmmaker Suzanne
Khardalian, who now lives in Sweden, presented a film telling about
Armenian Genocide survivors titled “Grandma’s Ttattoos”. The film
made a fuss all over the world. Suzanne Khardalian, has directed
over 20 documentaries, the major part of which is dedicated to the
Armenian Genocide. In an interview withNEWS.am STYLE, Suzanne told
about women’s rights, Armenian Genocide and collective memory.

You have directed several films telling about the Armenian Genocide.

When and how did you decide to raise this issue through documentaries?

I have been focused on this theme since 1985. Although, I have not
shoot films telling about the Armenian Genocide, I always touched upon
this problem. It was always in my thoughts. My first film was called
“Back to Ararat”. It was my first documentary which raised the issue
of the Armenian Genocide and the situation in the Armenian Diaspora.

I think whenever an Armenian person is, wherever he works, the Armenian
Genocide is a part of his history. For example, the 1918 May victory,
the liberation of Shushi in 1992, the Battle of Avarayr are a part
of our collective memory which was acknowledged, while Armenian
Genocide is a recollection that will be never forgotten. Memory has a
specific structure: it usually finds its place, gives a certain life
experiences, which can be used in the future. But the memory of the
Genocide is impossible to master. This story resembles an open wound
that needs to be healed, but signs of improvement are not seen.

Do you intend to continue the series of films raising the topic
of Genocide?

Each of us, whether it is a man or a woman, an artist, or a
representative of other professions has this recollection, the
shoulders of each of us still carry the weight of the collective
memory. For me, as an artist, it is important to somehow turn this
burden into a capital from the point of view of art, to make this
topic a source of inspiration. I think that there is nothing wrong
with this inspiration. Of course, at first glance, how can death and
mass murder inspire? But I think that today the Armenians should be
able to capitalize imperfection of their memory. Of course, it is our
problem, but I wish to make it universal so that others could to some
extent understand the pain.

I can not say that every year I will make a film about the genocide,
but the most important thing for me, is a new approach to this
subject. For example, “Grandma’s Tattoos” is studying the gender
aspect of Genocide. I know that in Armenia the word “gender” is not
a pleasant expression and not accepted by society, but I believe that
this expression is misunderstood. For me it was very interesting when
after the Rwandan genocide, for the first time the issue of sexual
harassment as a military strategy was raised in international courts.

Whereas sexual violence against women is directly related to children,
as victims of mass rape often become pregnant. And where are the
stories about our women? Why are not we talking about this? At the
same time, the stories that we know about women who are victims of
genocide are “embellished” to some extent. For example, there are
stories of women who preferred to jump off cliffs and die than be
raped. As a result, a deeper study revealed that, yes, there were
many such cases, but many of the women wished to continue to live. Of
course, this was possible only in return for a very high price,
and we do not want to talk about it and do not want to open that
page in history. We are ashamed, but this page is very important
because today many Armenians, who were hiding their nationality or
our compatriots who were born in mixed families, suddenly open for
themselves the history of their ancestors.

Last year you presented “Grandma’s Tattoos”, a film that made a
sensation. Can you say that after screening the film in several
countries, people are now more informed about the terrible reality
of the Armenian Genocide?

I can not imagine any specific statistics, but I can tell you one
thing: there is no other film about the genocide that was watched by
so many people. The film was eight times aired on Al-Jazeera, and the
audience reached 300 million people. I am getting very impressive
letters. I think that the film should not be treated as a means of
propaganda. You cannot touch people’s feelings with artificial means.

That’s why the most important thing for me is that after watching the
film people linked it to their problems. For example, the Japanese also
have such a page in history when they used sexual violence against
Chinese women. Argentineans actively responded to the film because
they had difficult times during the military junta when soldiers were
separating children from their parents.

The heroes of your films are genocide survivors. Do you continue to
communicate with them after shooting the film?

There is always a pain in my heart, and, probably, it the first time
that I can tell. Each time after shooting the Genocide survivors,
I have an impression that these people are waiting to see me, to make
me collect their memories and then say: “Now I can die in peace!” It
happened to all genocide survivors, characters in the film “Back
to Ararat”. The same thing also happened to the hero of the film
“I Hate Dogs” Garbis who was 101 years old, as well as one of the
characters of “Grandma’s Tattoos” Maria Vardanyan.

My communication with the characters never lasted for an hour or
half an hour. I regularly communicate with them. It is a story of
long relationship. They are my relatives. For example, I lived for
about a week in Gabris’ house, and he told me the things that he had
never told before.

Are you following the approach of the Turkish society to this painful
chapter of history? Have you noticed any positive changes in terms
of Armenian Genocide recognition?

The Turkish authorities will definitely stick to their policy on
the matter, and talking about it is senseless. As for society,
there are people among us who are enthusiastic about the likely
recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey. There are people
who believe that society can more boldly express its position on the
matter. In different parts of the world there are brilliant Turkish
intellectuals, scholars, who are my friends. I am in good relations
with all of them. In a sense, they are aware of the problem. But there
is an important point: they will never give me what I am expecting to
get, because for them the problem is just a matter of demographics,
not justice. And enthusiasm about likelihood of Armenian Genocide
recognition by Turkey is very far from reality.

Please tell us about your plans.

I have been working on a new film about the Middle East for a year.

The working title of the movie is “Camel”. I was shooting in Egypt and
Lebanon. The film will tell about some of the events in the context
of the Arab Spring. Of course, I can not completely reflect the entire
Arab Spring. I am studying the rights of women in these countries.

NEWS.am STYLE

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA’S ACCESSION TO CUSTOMS UNION MUST BE PRECEDED BY WORKING OUT ROAD MAP, EXPERT SAYS

YEREVAN, September 12. / ARKA /. Armenia’s accession to the Customs
Union must be preceded by drawing up a roadmap that will take into
account its political and economic realities and will give also an
answer to a question what it will gain from its membership, Alexander
Markarov, director of the Armenian branch of the CIS Institute,
said today during a Yerevan-Moscow video conference.

“Armenia’s decision to join the Customs Union has caused positive
emotions and the need for critical reflection on this issue by
taking into account the objective political and economic situation
in Armenia,” said Makarov.

According to him, one should take into account such factors as lack of
common borders between Armenia and a Customs Union member country,
energy policies and also the fact that Armenia had sought close
integration with EU.

Makarov added that the decision to join the Customs Union is political
adopted in view of a hierarchy of priorities that include also elements
of economic cooperation.

This view was shared by the director of the Caucasus Institute,
political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan, who said not everything
is so simple with the Customs Union as it may seem.

“The decisions taken in Moscow are political and I’m afraid they have
no alternatives. To ensure that they crystallize into a specific
interaction between Armenia and Russia within the framework of
the Customs Union there should be a process of harmonization,”
Iskandaryan said.

He said the Customs Union is a fairly large number of agreements on
tariff regulations, borders, movement of goods, with a pretty large
number of different exceptions. The Customs Union, in his opinion,
was designed for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, which all are quite
different from Armenia : with Russia and Kazakhstan being oil-producing
and exporting countries, while Armenia imports energy resources.

“The union must develop agreements that would be acceptable for
Armenia. It is of course a technical or bureaucratic way, as the
political decision was made and announced by presidents, and as
I understand it, Armenia will soon be formally invited to join the
Customs Union , however, it will take some time and some reconciliation
work,” he stressed.

Alexander Skalkov from the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian
Academy of Sciences emphasized that there is no roadmap yet and it
is not clear when it may be worked out. He argued that no road map
was worked out for Armenia either to sign the association agreement
with EU.

“I can only express hope that this roadmap will appear after all
and that it will take into account the interests of all the members
of the Customs Union and Armenia and that in future the focus
will shift from politics to economy,” he said. -0- – See more at:

DEFENSE MINISTRY OFFICIAL DETAINED FOR ACCEPTING BRIBE

Thursday,
September
12

Colonel David Davtian, deputy head of the Servicemen’s Social
Protection Department of Armenian Defense Ministry, was detained
today while accepting a bribe.

The press service of Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) said
that Davtian demanded and accepted a bribe of $1,000, allegedly for
accelerating the process of providing pecuniary aid to the socially
vulnerable family of a serviceman who died while on duty.

A criminal case was opened. The Investigation Service of NSS is
conducting an investigation.

10.09.2013, 21:12

Aysor.am

YEGHIAZARIAN: AUTHORITIES CREATE CONDITIONS IN WHICH PEOPLE LEAVE COUNTRY

Thursday,
September
12

“After gaining independence, Armenia became a sovereign state.

Everything should be done to keep that sovereignty, whereas the
current authorities are doing everything so that the people will lose
independence”. Member of the Armenian National Congress (HAK) Gurgen
Yeghiazarian expressed that opinion at a meeting with reporters today.

In his words, the authorities create conditions, in which people have
to leave the country. “At the same time, thanks to some puppets an
impression is being created that we live in a country where life is
full of color,” Yeghiazarain noted.

Another participant of the press conference, member of the Republican
Party of Armenia (HHK) Lernik Aleksanian said that naturally every
authority has its shortcomings. In his opinion, the reason is that the
idea of independence was initially interpreted wrongly. “Independence
is an absolute value, and not symbolism,” he stated.

TODAY, 18:38

Aysor.am

From: Baghdasarian

ARTUSH MARGARIAN’S HEALTH IMPROVES

Thursday,
September
12

The health condition of Artush Margarian – the father of Lieutenant
Gurgen Margarian who was brutally killed by Azerbaijani Ramil Safarov
in Budapest in 2004 – has improved considerably.

“His health condition will stabilize soon,” surgeon Ara Voskanian
told Aysor.am.

Let us remind you that according to the RA Prosecutor General’s Office,
around 8:00 am on September 5, 2013, the Malatia police unit of Yerevan
was informed by Malatia Medical Center that at 07:50 am on the same
day Artush Margarian was admitted to their center with a stab wound
of the abdomen. He immediately underwent surgery.

A surgeon said following the operation, Margarian had four abdominal
stab wounds and two non-penetrating cuts near the vein of his left
hand.

According to preliminary information, Artush. Margarian attempted
suicide.

TODAY, 17:36

Aysor.am

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

INDEPENDENCE IS AN INNER CHARACTERISTICS

September 12 2013

The fact that Vladimir Putin is well aware of our Statistical Services
as to how many people live in Armenia, is natural. More precisely,
the Statistic Services is also aware of it, but it has reasons to
hide the truth, but not Putin. I do not see anything particularly
humiliating here, maybe RF President needs to be slightly scolded for
not being tactful. Humiliation was in another place. Where did this
whole conversation come from? The Russian businessman Ara Abrahamyan
assures the President of his country that all Armenians in the RF
are on your side. I do not know whether he had reasons to say such
a thing or not, it’s up to them. Putin half-jokingly is asking, –
“And what about Armenia’s?” The Armenian businessman was supposed to
give a serious answer to it,- “The Armenians of Armenia have no problem
of supporting or not supporting you, we have nothing to do with those
people, because they are citizens of another country.” I think the RF
President would not hang the businessman for such an answer, he would
not even take his business. Everything is clear. Karabakh, military
base, “Smerch”, “Iskander”, gas, and so on. It is also clear that in
this situation the Russian officials, kurghinyan kind of political
scientists, maybe also a part of ordinary citizens would call us, which
very precisely in their language is called ”хамвÑ~AÑ~Bво”
(Translator’s note, boorishness). (Although, in this case, overshooting
gives the effect of a boomerang, but it is still up to them). But,
even in this case it is possible to maintain the dignity, and it is
also possible to grovel when it is not required from you. It was even
in the Soviet times, and to this respect one of the best examples
for me was Karen Demirchyan, which, naturally, was not opposing the
Center, but on the other hand, he did not cringe before them. The
same can be said about numerous intellectuals living in the Soviet
Armenia in 60-70â~@²s. I do not know whether Putin wants to create
something good or bad than the Soviet Union, at least the members
of this new union would be formally called independent. But in all
circumstances, the independence is based on the inner consciousness of
given nation. For example, the residents of the Baltic Republics, in
their heart, mostly did not feel like a citizen of this great country
during 40 years of the Soviet Union. Can the same be said about the
Armenians? To what extent is this inner feeling conditioned by the
EU, CU, Eurasia or Russia? It is the same on the individual level,
ultimately, all major religious teachings show their way to achieve
inner freedom. ARAM ABRAHAMYAN

Read more at:

© 1998 – 2013 Aravot – News from Armenia

ARMENIA’S DECISION TO JOIN THE CUSTOMS UNION BRINGS FOURTH NUMEROUS QUESTIONS ABOUT PROSPECTS OF ARMENIA’S DEVELOPMENT AND SOVEREIGNTY, KAS DIRECTOR IN SOUTH CAUCASUS THINKS

by Ashot Safaryan

Thursday, September 12, 21:44

Armenia’s decision to join the Customs Union has brought
fourth numerous questions about the prospects of Armenia’s
development and sovereignty, Dr. Canan Atilgan, Director of the
Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (Foundation) (KAS) in the South Caucasus,
said at a roundtable in Yerevan.

Canan Atilgan expressed the Foundation’s amazement at Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan’s decision to join the Customs Union. This
was unexpected, because not a single circumstance had foretold such
a U- turn. Moreover, initialing of the Association Agreement with
the European Union in Vilnius should have been the logical end of
the negotiations.

In the meantime, Atilgan said that the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung,
like other European organizations, would continue making its own
contribution to the Armenia-EU rapprochement. She stressed that the
priorities of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung are to ensure transparency
in the governance system, to establish a strong civil society in
Armenia, as well as to stimulate the EU’s dialogue with the Armenian
public and authorities.

To note, the roundtable was organized by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung
(KAS). The Armenian Office of the Foundation was launched in 2008. It
advocates strengthening of democracy and European integration.

From: A. Papazian

POLITICAL EXPERT: ARMENIA WOULD BE A SIXTH RATE COUNTRY IN THE EU
by David Stepanyan

ARMINFO
Thursday, September 12, 21:43

Armenia would be a sixth rate country in the harsh empire called the
European Union, Hmayak Hovhannisyan, Chairman of the Association of
Armenian Political Experts, told journalists in Yerevan on Thursday.

“Europe is in a deep economic crisis, and Armenian products have no
chance to enter the European markets. The EU itself needs new sales
markets today and Europeans do not care for Armenian products. The
situation in the Eurasian integration project is quite the opposite.

Here Armenia will be able to act on equal terms”, stressed
Hovhannisyan.

To recall, on September 3, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan confirmed
Armenia’s intention to join the Customs Union and contribute to the
process of formation of the Eurasian Union. Vladimir Putin supported
Sargsyan’s decision and promised to contribute to Yerevan’s accession
to the Customs Union in every possible way. Since 2010 Yerevan has been
negotiating on Association Agreement (AA) and Deep and Comprehensive
Free Trade Area (DCFTA) with the EU. Armenia was expected to initial
the AA/DCFTA during the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius.

The Customs Union has been created within the Eurasian economic space
for trade and economic integration of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia
on the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

OPPOSITIONIST: IT IS VENGEANCE, NOT JUSTICE THAT WILL WIN IN ARMENIA

[ Part 2.2: “Attached Text” ]

*

by Alexandr Avanesov

* Thursday, September 12, 21:41
[gurgen_eg1.jpg]

“My friends and I were imprisoned in 2008 without any proof, and the
murderer has recently been released”, Gourgen Yeghiazaryan, member
of the opposition Armenian National Congress, told journalists on
Thursday. 

“Today the murderer who put a bullet in a man’s back is set free.

No one says a word though there may be bloodshed again. But those
who have released the murderer will be accountable. As a rule,
vengeance helps when justice is helpless. If there is bloodshed
tomorrow, the responsibility will lie on those who have set
the criminals free. The responsibility will also lie on their
children”, said Yeghiazaryan when commenting on the release of
Tigran Khachatryan, the son of the ex-governor of Syunik region, and
the bodyguard Zarzand Nikoghosyan, as well as on suspension of the
criminal prosecution. Yeghiazaryan added that the military prosecutor,
who has dared to state that there had been an armed attack on the
ex-governor’s house must be accountable for what has happened.    

By the instruction of Armenian Military Prosecutor Gevorg
Kostanyan, the Investigation Service of the Armenian Defense
Ministry is preparing materials on “the fact of giving a bribe to the
military prosecutor”, Armen Haroutyunyan, Head of the Investigation
Service of the Armenian Defense Ministry, said at a press conference
on Sept 11. According to the recent media reports, the ex-governor
of Syunik region Suren Khachatryan “gave a 4 mln USD bribe to the
military prosecutor allegedly to stop the criminal prosecution against
his son Tigran Khachatryan and bodyguard Zarzand Nikoghosyan”.      

To recall, shootouts in front of Syunik Governor Suren
Khachatryan’s house at 00:10am on June 2 killed former candidate for
Goris mayor Avo Budaghyan and wounded his brother Artak Budaghyan,
a commander at a military unit in the NKR.  There was another
wounded, Nikolay Abrahamyan, a relative and bodyguard of Governor
Suren Khachartyan.  A criminal case has been initiated on the basis
of Article 103.1 (murder) and Article 235 (illegal use, storage and
bearing weapons) of the Criminal Code of Armenia. Syunik Governor
Suren Khachatryan’s son, Tigran Khachatryan, has been arrested over
latest shootouts in Syunik.

Earlier, the governor’s bodyguard Zarzand Nikoghosyan was arrested
over the case.  On June 3 Suren Khachatryan sent in his resignation
declaring that everyone must answer for their mistakes.  He regretted
for failing to prevent the tragic incident near his house.  On July
9, the brother of Avetik Budaghyan was charged with Article 137.1 of
the Criminal Code.  Budaghyan denies the accusations against him. He
was released on the recognizance not to leave.  Later on September 7,
Department for Major Cases, Investigation Service, Defense Ministry
of Armenia, set free the son and bodyguard of Surik Khachatryan. The
Investigation adopted a resolution saying that Tigran Khachatryan
and Zarzand Nikoghosyan acted in self-defense.