Month: September 2013

CHINA, ARMENIA VOW TO FURTHER TIES

CCTV China
Sept 11 2013

Special Report:2013 Summer Davos |

DALIAN, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) — Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Armenian
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan on Tuesday vowed to further promote
the bilateral relationship and cooperation between the two nations.

The pledge came after a meeting between the two in Dalian in northeast
China’s Liaoning Province.

Hailing the development of China-Armenia ties since the two countries
established diplomatic relations 21 years ago, Li said China supports
the Armenian people to choose their way of development, and will work
with the country to expand reciprocal cooperation, on the basis of
solid mutual political trust.

The premier called on the two countries to expand trade and economic
cooperation, increase cultural and people-to-people exchanges,
and explore new areas of cooperation, so as to lift the bilateral
relationship to a new high.

Sargsyan said Armenia attached high importance to relations with
China. He appreciated China’s fair and justice stance on international
and regional issues, and called for more exchanges and cooperation
between the two countries.

After the meeting, the two also witnessed the signing of agreements
between the two countries on economic, trade and technological
cooperation.

Sargsyan is in Dalian to attend the Summer Davos Forum, which is
scheduled to open on Sept. 11. Li will attend the opening ceremony
and deliver a speech.

Summer Davos, also known as the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting
of the New Champions, is an annual gathering of business leaders,
government officials and scholars from around the world. China has
played host to Summer Davos, alternately in Tianjin and Dalian,
since its inception in 2007.

IN ARMENIA, LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

EurasiaNet.org
Sept 11 2013

September 11, 2013 – 10:58am, by Giorgi Lomsadze

The many benefits of being a high-profile public official or his scion
in Armenia apparently include getting away with violence and murder.

At least that is how human rights defenders have reacted to the
September 8 decision to drop all murder charges against the son of
former strongman governor, Suren Khachatrian.

In a Quentin-Tarantino-esque shootout near the ex-governor’s mansion
in the southeastern town of Goris, Khachatrian fils this June shot
dead local businessman Avetik Budaghian. Budaghian’s brother Artak,
a military officer, was wounded in the clash with Kachatrian’s son,
Tigran, and his bodyguards.

Tigran Khachatrian and one of the bodyguards were arrested on murder
and illegal weapons possession charges, but were released after the
military police, which are handling the case, decided that all the
shots fired by Khachatrian were made in self-defense. Human rights
activists, the victims’ family and the family’s lawyer all have
condemned the ruling. A local representative of Human Rights Watch
alleged in a conversation with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, a former defense minister, may
personally have pushed for the ex-gubernatorial son.

Suren Khachatrian, who used to run the province as his personal
fiefdom, is believed to have been a vote hoarder for President Sargsyan
and the ruling Republican Party of Armenia.Voter support for the duo
reportedly ran stronger in Syunik than anywhere else in Armenia.

It has been widely suggested that this quid-pro-quo relationship
kept Kachatrian in office despite his long alleged record of
violent behavior. Allegations like assaulting a journalist and
a businesswoman had been piling up against Kachatrian, but never
resulted in indictments or dismissal.

Khachatrian père tendered his resignation after the shooting incident,
but, critics say, he can still call in favors with the establishment.

ARMENIA: DOES GAS EXPLAIN DECISION TO JOIN CUSTOMS UNION?

EurasiaNet.org
Sept 11 2013

September 11, 2013 – 10:27am, by Gayane Abrahamyan

Some Armenian officials would have you believe that Yerevan’s surprise
decision to join the Russia-led Customs Union all came down to economic
moxie. And, in a way, perhaps it did. But in gaseous form.

Armenian Energy and Natural Resources Minister Armen Movsisian told
parliament on September 11 that the question of how to grapple with
the higher prices Russia’s state-owned Gazprom is now charging for
natural gas would be decided within the framework of the Customs Union.

“The decision already has been found, and soon [everything] will be
resolved,” Movsisian said, expressing his support for the trade deal,
Lragir.am reported.

Announced this summer, the 18-percent price hike by Gazprom, Armenia’s
chief provider of natural gas, had fueled not only further worries
for the country’s hard-pressed economy, but, also, predictions of
widespread opposition to the government.

President Serzh Sargsyan had made no mention of gas when announcing on
September 3 the plan to form a trade pact with Russia, Kazakhstan and
Belarus — an unexpected decision that has ruined (at least for now)
Armenia’s chances of an Association Agreement with the European Union.

Officials since have scrambled to make it seem that the Customs Union
was the only choice going.

“The decision is exclusively in our best interests,” National
Security Council Secretary Artur Baghdasarian asserted at a recent
press conference. “We took a long time to research and finally
concluded that Armenia’s economy is not compatible with that of the EU
countries. The major part of our exports are to the CU member-countries
[Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia — ed] and we couldn’t have shut a
300-million-person market.”

But the official data tells a different story. In 2012, Armenian
exports to the European Union ($560.3 million) were nearly double the
value of exports to Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus ($290.7 million).

Trade in the first six months of 2013 shows a similar pattern,
according to the National Statistical Service — $250.6 million
worth of goods went to the EU versus $149.6 million to the Customs
Union troika.

Russia, whose companies hold critical stakes in Armenia’s
telecommunications, transportation, mining and energy sectors, edged
out the European Union for direct investment in 2012, but just barely
— $393.8 million versus $334.9 million.

Economist Bagrat Asatrian, a former president of the Central Bank
of Armenia, predicted that the state budget will suffer a 15-20
percent loss in revenue from the customs duties on imports from
CU member-countries that Armenia now will forgo. At the same time,
goods from the EU, which outnumber the in-take from Russia, will have
higher duties imposed, leading to price increases.

To many Armenians, the speed with which the decision was made had
suggested strong pressure from Moscow.”The biggest levers were
national security and the Karabakh issues,” believed political
analyst Sergei Minasian, deputy director of the Caucasus Institute,
a Yerevan think-tank.

“We couldn’t have expected anything else under the circumstances,”
he said. “Here it was about political concerns, rather than economic
benefits.”

Politics and gas, though, are intrinsically linked for Armenia. Having
tangoed with protesters already this year over transportation fares
and the presidential election, the government has no desire for the
protest momentum to keep on going.

The decision to join the CU was unexpected, though, even for some
high-ranking officials and powerful politicians.

Hours before President Serzh Sargsyan’s September 3 announcement,
Galust Sahakian, head of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia’s
parliamentary faction, excluded any decision on the Customs Union,
telling RFE/RL in an interview that “discussions are not at a stage to
allow us stating our position, especially that Armenia has no common
customs border with Russia.”

Thirteen days earlier, in an interview with ArmNews TV, Deputy Foreign
Minister Shavarsh Kocharian had gone still further, stating that
joining the CU would mean “losing [Armenian] sovereignty.”

Amidst a recent surge in anti-Russian sentiments, popular opposition
to the CU decision continues along.

At latest count, 4,000 supporters had signed on to the Facebook
group “Against the Customs Union with Russia,” which has been staging
protests outside of the presidential residence, the RPA headquarters,
and the European Union’s mission office.

“By a decision made in four days, Armenia has lost four years of
achievements” in establishing closer ties with the European Union,
and a reputation with its largest trading partner for reliability,
commented Richard Giragosian, head of Yerevan’s Regional Studies
Center. “This is a loss that Armenia has to try to restore.”

From: A. Papazian

BUSINESSMEN FROM RUSSIA’S TOMSK REGION TO SELL HIGH-TECH PRODUCTS IN ARMENIA

HispanicBusiness.com
Sept 11 2013

September 11, 2013
Advertisement

Yerevan. Telecommunications, medicine, biotechnologies,
nanotechnologies and tourism – such are the prior fields of
cooperation for businessmen of Armenia and Tomsk region, Russia,
said Alexander Gumilevskiy, Head of the Business Development Center
at the Tomsk Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI), at the meeting
of Armenian-Russian businessmen in Yerevan on Tuesday. The meeting
was organized jointly with the CCI of Yerevan.

Gumilevskiy said that Tomsk region with a population of nearly 1
million people has a traditionally developed fuel and energy complex,
very developed education and science- consuming industry. Gumilevskiy
told ArmInfo that Tomsk businessmen are for the first time in
Armenia and very interested in importing electric machinery, devices,
manometers, and other products in the country. They would like to
develop business relations with Armenia in the field of tourism. He
said that the Russian delegation comprised representatives of 10 small
and medium-sized enterprises. He said that there is a technology
development area in Tomsk and a facility where science-consuming
innovative industry is concentrated. “This is a type of free trade
area and we hope to establish cooperation with Armenia here,”
Gumilevskiy said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EIGHT PLEAD GUILTY TO INVOLVEMENT WITH ARMENIAN CRIME RING

Glendale News Press, CA
Sept 11 2013

September 11, 2013 | 5:54 p.m.

Eight people, including four who live in Burbank, Glendale and
Montrose, pleaded guilty Monday to various charges, including
racketeering conspiracy, bank fraud and identity theft, centered around
the activities of an Armenian organized crime ring, authorities said.

The eight are among the 70 people charged two years ago during a
massive regional crackdown against the gang called Armenian Power.

Fifty-one other defendants have pleaded guilty, according to a U.S.

attorney’s office news release.

Two of the defendants who pleaded guilty Monday – identified by
authorities as Khachatur “Khecho” Arakelyan, 39, and Adam Davoodian,
32 – lived in Glendale, while two others lived in Burbank and Montrose,
respectively, the document states.

Arakelyan pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft for his
involvement in secretly planting credit card skimming devices at 99
Cents Only stores across Southern California.

The scheme caused hundreds of victims to lose more than $2 million.

Arakelyan faces up to two years in prison.

Davoodian pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana for distribution
and faces up to 20 years in prison.

Montrose resident Raymond “Rye” Tarverdyan, 35, who was also reportedly
involved in the skimming scheme, pleaded guilty to racketeering
conspiracy and bank fraud and faces up to 50 years in prison.

Burbank resident Artur “Cham” Pembejian, 36, pleaded guilty to
racketeering conspiracy after abetting the illegal possession of a
firearm by a gang leader, according to the document. Pembejian faces
up to 20 years in prison.

The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced in November.

Armenian Power, which formed in East Hollywood in the 1980s, is
believed to have more than 250 documented members and hundreds of
associates, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

— Alene Tchekmedyian

,0,4547509.story

ARMENIA: SPATE OF ATTACKS AGAINST PROTESTERS

Reuters
Sept 11 2013

Source: Human Rights Watch – Thu, 12 Sep 2013 02:00 AM

A spate of violent attacks against peaceful protesters appears to be
a concerted effort to intimidate activists and should be effectively
investigated, Human Rights Watch said in a September 11, 2013 letter to
the Armenia police chief and to the head of the Special Investigative
Service. Officials should swiftly bring the attackers to justice
and make clear that any violence against people for exercising their
right to peaceful protest will be neither tolerated nor condoned.

(Berlin) – A spate of violent attacks against peaceful protesters
appears to be a concerted effort to intimidate activists and should
be effectively investigated, Human Rights Watch said in a September
11, 2013 letter to the Armenia police chief and to the head of the
Special Investigative Service. Officials should swiftly bring the
attackers to justice and make clear that any violence against people
for exercising their right to peaceful protest will be neither
tolerated nor condoned. Human Rights Watch documented attacks
against five activists in three separate incidents in the past three
weeks. In each case, unidentified men in civilian clothes set upon
individual demonstrators late at night after they left protest sites
in Yerevan, either in front of the city government building or the
ruling Republican Party headquarters. The victims were cut and bruised,
and some had concussions or broken bones, including one whose nose was
broken. “If thugs keep jumping on protesters and beating them up as
they leave for home, that’s hardly a coincidence,” said Giorgi Gogia,
senior South Caucasus researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The police
and other Armenian authorities need to be prepared to make clear
that they are going to put a stop to these attacks, starting with
effective investigations that lead to arrests and prosecutions.” In
all cases Human Rights Watch documented, the police took reports
from the victims, and in one case police went with the victim to the
crime scene. However, the victims told Human Rights Watch that the
investigative authorities did not follow up, even when one of the
victims was able to identify his suspected attackers. On September
5, about six unidentified assailants attacked Haykak Arshamyan
and Suren Saghatelyan, well-known civil society activists, as they
were returning from a peaceful demonstration in front of the ruling
Republican Party headquarters to protest President Serzh Sargisyan’s
September 3 announcement that Armenia would join the Russia-led
customs union. The men attacked Arshamyan as he tried to open the
garage door in his courtyard, kicking and beating him. “They did not
say anything, not even cursing, just beating without saying a word,”
he said. “I shouted and tried to understand why they were beating me,
but nothing.” When Saghatelyan tried to get out of the car to help
his friend, the assailants also attacked him: “They hit me with
the car door as I tried to leave, and broke my nose and a finger,
my head was also cut.” Saghatelyan was hospitalized for several
days for emergency surgery on his broken nose, and Arshamyan was
treated for multiple bruises that night and discharged. Police took
statements from both men that night, but they have not informed the
men of any further investigatory steps. On the night of September 4,
unidentified assailants attacked Arman Alexanyan, a 21-year-old Yerevan
State University Information Technology student and civic activist,
after he left a sit-in at the Yerevan municipal building. Several
dozen activists have been engaged in round-the-clock protests after a
temporary price increase for municipal transportation in late July. As
Alexanyan was returning home around midnight, about 10 young men in
civilian clothes attacked him, punching and kicking him and berating
him for taking part in protests. His friends called an ambulance and
he was hospitalized briefly for bruises and bumps on his head. Police
took a statement from him at the hospital, and two days later police
asked him to meet them at the scene for investigation purposes. He
identified several of his suspected attackers to the police, but to
the best of his knowledge, police did not take appropriate steps to
apprehend them. At about 1 a.m. on August 25, about six unidentified
assailants attacked two youth activists, Babken Der Grigoryan and
Mihran Margaryan, in the city center shortly after they left the
municipal building protest. Grigoryan told Human Rights Watch,
“They told us, ‘We know you are coming from the protests’ and
started punching us… They punched me in the chest and body and
I fell on the ground as they continued to kick me.” The activists’
friends took them to a police station to file an assault report. More
than two weeks later, as far as they have been able to find out, no
criminal case has been opened. The investigative authorities should
take all appropriate measures to investigate these attacks promptly,
thoroughly, and effectively, Human Rights Watch said. Investigations
should involve participation of the victims and should be conclusive,
public, and capable of leading to the identification and prosecution
of the attackers. “The Armenian authorities need to show that they
intend to stop attacks on peaceful protesters,” Gogia said. “Finding
and prosecuting the attackers in this spate of cases would be a step
toward making it clear that the authorities don’t condone and won’t
tolerate this kind of violence.”

Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not
of Thomson Reuters Foundation.

ARMENIA ASKS FOR OBSERVER STATUS IN SCO

EurasiaNet.org
Sept 11 2013

September 11, 2013 – 9:18pm, by Joshua Kucera

Armenia is seeking to become an observer in the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization, as Yerevan seems to be establishing its own unique
brand of multivector diplomacy.

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan made the announcement on a
visit to China, and Chinese PM Li Keqiang said he would bring the
issue up with other SCO members.

The SCO is a China-dominated political-military bloc that also includes
Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

The SCO has been expanding west, though, recently: Turkey became a
“dialogue partner” earlier this year, a status Belarus also holds.

Sargsyan offered no explanation of what Armenia might be looking
for with the SCO, so it’s up to us to speculate. Armenia, of course,
raised eyebrows when it came out that it had gotten multiple-launch
rocket systems from China, and Armenia could be casting around for new
partners, Emil Sanamyan, editor of the newspaper Armenian Reporter,
told The Bug Pit. “My sense of this is an extension of the outreach
to China that is made relevant by the recent diplomatic setbacks with
both Europe and Russia. The recent leak re fresh weapons purchase
from China seems to also be part of that,” Sanamyan said. “With
the EU accession document killed by Russian pressure, there will be
some new entity to fill the airwaves with.” (Sanamyan also noted that
Armenia is an observer in the Arab League, another organization whose
connection to Armenia looks somewhat tenuous.)

Another analyst, Sergey Minasyan of the Caucasus Institute in Yerevan,
downplayed Sargsyan’s statement, telling The Bug Pit that it was
likely a “formality” and that nothing would come of it, either for
the SCO or for Armenia. That seems a safe prediction. The SCO’s summit
is Friday in Bishkek; let’s see if the issue of Armenia comes up.

From: A. Papazian

APPEAL FROM THE PATRIARCHS AND HEADS OF CHURCHES IN JERUSALEM

Eturbo News
September 10, 2013 Tuesday

U.S., Sept. 10 — We, the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, have been
prayerfully following the ongoing violence, bloodshed, and conflict
in Syria, which started in March 2011. Everyday tens or sometimes
hundreds of people are killed because of the current conflict, and
thousands are left without homes or shelters as they keep moving
aimlessly in search of security, food and treatment.

A couple of weeks ago, two of our own Metropolitan bishops of Aleppo,
Mar Gregorios Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Church and Paul Yazigi of
the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch were kidnapped, and their driver
was murdered, while they were delivering some humanitarian aid to some
displaced families in the region. This horrific act of kidnapping two
senior clergymen is yet another sign of the tragic situation in Syria,
and an extremely dangerous and new phenomenon in our region.

Our hearts and minds go out to all the people of Syria, particularly
our Christian communities and their spiritual leaders, who undergo
suffering and violence and ill-treatment. And we call upon all people
who are involved in the conflict to seek after peace and stability
for the sake of all Syrians, and to end this cycle of violence and
bloodshed. We also urge for the immediate release of Bishops Ibrahim
and Yazigi and their safe return to their Churches and their faithful
people.

We also join our voices with our sister Churches in Syria and call
upon our ancient Christian communities to remain steadfast in their
faith and hope, and we pray with them and for them at this time
of turmoil and chaos for their safety and continuous presence and
witness. As St. Paul writes to the Romans: “For I am convinced that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything
else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of
God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

The Heads of Churches of Jerusalem

+Patriarch Theophilos III, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate

+Patriarch Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarchate

+Patriarch Norhan Manougian, Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Patriarchate

+Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, ofm, Custos of the Holy Land

+Archbishop Anba Abraham, Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate, Jerusalem

+Archbishop Swerios Malki Murad, Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate

+Aba Fissiha Tsion, Locum Tenens of the Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarchate

+Archbishop Joseph-Jules Zerey, Greek-Melkite-Catholic Patriarchate

+Archbishop Moussa El-Hage, Maronite Patriarchal Exarchate

+Bishop Suheil Dawani, Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle
East

+Bishop Munib Younan, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the
Holy Land

+Bishop Pierre Melki, Syrian Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate

+Msgr. Joseph Antoine Kelekian, Armenian Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate

THE SITUATION OF CHRISTIANS IN THE MIDDLE EAST — A DECLARATION OF CONCERN

Huffington Post
Sept 10 2013

by Wolfgang Danspeckgruber, Founding Director of the Liechtenstein
Institute on Self-Determination at Princeton University

The Metropolitans of Aleppo in Syria, Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim
and Boulos (Paul) Yazigi were abducted April 22nd, 2013 by ‘unknown
persons’ and their fate is still in question.

This repulsive event is just one of many serious examples of the
increasing persecution that Christians are now experiencing in the
Middle East.

Over the past year I have been working with Cardinal Christoph
Schonborn, Archbishop of Vienna, and “Pro Oriente” in Vienna, Austria.

Today Cardinal Christoph Schonborn in his capacity as chairman of
the “Pro Oriente” Foundation’s board of trustees together with the
Patriarchs Youhanna X (Antiochan Orthodox), Ignatius Zakka I Iwas
(Syriac Orthodox), Gregorios III Laham (Melkite greek Catholic),
Louis Raphael I Sako (Chaldean Catholic), Mar Dinkha IV (Assyrian),
Nerses Bedros XIX (Armenian Catholic) published a joint declaration
on the situation of Christians in the Middle East.

The unprecedented nature of this collective statement of Patriarchs
and Cardinal is testimony to the extreme situations in which Christians
in the Middle East now find themselves.

The precise wording of the declaration is as follows:

In deep concern regarding the situation of the Christians – and of
all the people in the Middle Eastern countries where Christianity
originated – we turn to the governments of those countries, to the
leaders of religious communities, to international and regional
organisations, and to representatives of civil society, that they
may undertake everything in their power :

~ to obtain the immediate release of the kidnapped Metropolitans of
Aleppo – and beyond this of all those who have been kidnapped in Syria,

~ to refuse the logic of violence and adopt the logic of dialogue,

~ to respect the sovereignty and unity of the States and to reject
any illegal external military intervention,

~ to make it possible to return for all those who have been driven
out of their homes or have had to flee,

~ to bring the suffering of the peoples and the conflict in Syria –
which is also endangering the security and stability of the neighboring
countries – to an end as quickly as possible through negotiations
between all those involved,

~ to establish a political order in the Middle East which guarantees
full respect of all human rights and thereby also religious liberty
and freedom of conscience, but also full civil rights and equality
for all the inhabitants of these countries.

The Christians in the Middle East are an essential and indispensable
element of society. We are certain that in the future, too, they
will contribute to building up a society characterised by peace,
mutual respect and respect of human rights together with their fellow
citizens who belong to other religious communities or have different
political alignments.

With this in mind, we are united in prayer and in our efforts for
a humane and dignified future with all Christians and people of
good will.

I hope you will help me share this message with your friends and
colleagues around the world.

SPEECH OF HON. JIM COSTA OF CA IN HOUSE OF REPS ON 100TH BLESSING OF GRAPES CEREMONY

US Official News
September 10, 2013 Tuesday

Washington: SPEECH OF HON. JIM COSTA OF CALIFORNIA IN THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

Washington

The Library of Congress, The Government of USA has issued the
following Speech:

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Holy Trinity
Armenian Church during their celebration of the 100th Blessing of
the Grapes ceremony. This is a very special time for the Armenian
community as they gather on this holy day.

The blessing of grapes is a special tradition within the Armenian
Church. The ceremony takes place on a major feast day, “Assumption
of St. Mary” which is a celebration of St. Mary being assumed into
Heaven. Grapes have a symbolic significance in the Christian faith,
and on this day they are considered to be forbidden fruit before
being blessed by the Priest at the closing of the ceremony.

Holy Trinity Armenian Church is an historical landmark in Fresno,
California. The first Armenian Church was destroyed in a fire in
1913, and the Holy Trinity Armenian Church was built at an alternate
location. Armenian architect, Lawrence Cone, created the magnificent
church as a sacred place for the Armenian community. It was the first
traditional Armenian Church in the United States.

The Central Valley is home to thousands of Armenians, and as a
community we must also celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the Holy
Trinity Armenian Church. They have made everlasting contributions to
the City of Fresno, and our entire country.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the 100th
Year Anniversary of the Blessing of the Grapes Ceremony at the Holy
Trinity Armenian Church. Their mission to provide an infinite amount
of faith, hope, and love to the public is highly respected and praised.