Month: September 2013

ARMENIA READY TO DISCUSS THE ISSUE OF POWS WITH AZERBAIJAN WITHOUT MEDIATORS

18:34 19.09.2013

On September 19, Mr. Davit Tonoyan, First Deputy Minister of Defense
of RA had a meeting with Mr. Christoph Bierwirth, UNHCR Representative
in Armenia and discussed prospects of general cooperation in relevant
spheres of mutual interest, Press Service of the Ministry of Defense
reports.

During the meeting Mr.Tonoyan inter alia touched upon the situation
concerning the Armenian POW Hakob Injighulyan held in Azerbaijani
captivity. He referred to a recent press release on an Azerbaijani
media outlet quoting Mr.Shahin Sailov, Secretary of State Commission
of Azerbaijan on POW, Detainees and Missing in Action who said that the
Armenian POW Hakob Injighulyan reportedly made a request to be sent to
a 3rdcountry. If this information is not yet another propaganda trick
on part of the Azerbaijani authorities, the logical follow-up would
suggest engagement of the UNHCR office in Baku according to its mandate
to proceed with determination of a refugee status for H. Injighulyan.

He also informed that the Armenian side has reiterated its pledge for
several times that Injighulyan will not be subject to any criminal
prosecution thus eliminating any possibility of “well-founded fear of
being persecuted”, especially when no other grounds exist to confirm
this fear based on race, nationality, religion, political opinion, etc.

Emphasizing the above-mentioned facts he called upon UNHCR and other
stake holders to consider these facts in their approach when addressing
such cases.

The First Deputy Minister noted that granting Injighulyan a “refugee
status” could be understood as a chance for him to escape inevitable
physical abuse, torture or other tragic consequences as experienced
before in similar cases such as Manvel Saribekyan’s- a shepherd who
was brutally killed while being captive under Azerbaijani protection.

However, it was emphasized that negative precedents should be avoided
thus the course of action should be considered extremely carefully
given the complex pattern.

Mr. Bierwirth took note of the position expressed by the First
Deputy Minister and promised to share it with his headquarters in
Geneva. He emphasized, however, the independence of UNHCR in conducting
mandate status determination procedures and the purely humanitarian,
non-political mandate of UNHCR.

In addition it was stated that Armenia is ready to discuss such cases
on a bilateral level with Azerbaijan without mediation efforts in
existing international or any other frameworks and formats.

From: A. Papazian

YEREVAN TO HOST 1ST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON IMPACT OF GENOCIDES AND WARS ON GENETIC CHANGES

September 19, 2013 | 12:12

The first international conference on the impact of genocides and wars
on the genetic changes in the human body will kick off in Yerevan on
September 20.

The event will bring together prominent scientists from the U.S.,
Egypt, Romania, the Netherlands, Moldova, Switzerland, Germany,
Russia and Armenia.

The main topic of the conference is Stress and Related Behavioral
Disorder with a focus on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and
the impact of genocides and wars.

The recent studies show that there is a genetic predisposition to
PTSD and that this predisposition may occur due to genetic mutations
caused by high stress. This means that the genocide and war affect
the lives of not only those who directly experienced the events,
but also future generations.

The two-day conference that will be held in Orbeli Institute of
Physiology is organized by International Stress and Behavior Society,
the Dutch Metris B.V. company, Institute of Experimental Medicine
at the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Physiology
of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, with the support of
the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute.

ARMENIA BANS IMPORTS OF COUNTERFEIT MEDICINE

September 19, 2013 | 18:15

YEREVAN. – The center of drug expertise revealed counterfeit medicine.

Violation was discovered at the border.

Counterfeit drug was imported by Georgian “Vitaflex” company.

“Sandostatin 0.1 mg/ml” did not match the registration pattern. The
import of the medicine has been banned.

Center of drug expertise presented comparative characteristics of the
original and fake medicines. The fake drug does not contain data on
manufacturer, whereas in the original registered in Armenia contains
the name and address of the manufacturer.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

HERITAGE PARTY LEADER INVITES ARMENIANS TO PAN-NATIONAL PROTEST (VIDEO)

22:24 19.09.13

In a speech delivered at the Karabakh war veterans’ weekly rally in
Yerevan, the opposition Heritage party’s leader called upon the crowd
to attend a pan-national protest on Friday.

“Our flag will not lose its value in foreign capitals; it will be the
glory and honor of the war heroes,” he said. “You have put your lives
on the altar for freedom. It is now time for all of us to unitedly
bow to the national state flag. And the one who is brave must stand
by the freedom fighters, following suit. That’s our duty,” Raffi
Hovhannisian said.

The politician said the coming days’ campaign to be held ahead of
the independence anniversary is not something to be confused with
the struggle between the East and West [the conflicting processes
between Armenia’s accession to the Customs Union and the EU Association
Agreement].

“We are obliged to bring the flag to the United Armenia, by holding
it up together. At six o’clock tomorrow, [we’ll be here for] a
pan-national protest, because that sovereignty is at stake today,”
he told the crowd.

From: Baghdasarian

DEFENSE MINISTER WELCOMES NEWLY APPOINTED UK MILITARY ATTACHE

September 19, 2013 | 19:07

YEREVAN. – Armenian Defense Minister Seyrabn Ohanyan on Thursday
received UK Ambassador to Armenia Jonathan Aves and outgoing military
attache Steve Phillips.

During the meeting, Ambassador Aves introduced newly appointed UK
military attache Nick Wilkes.

Minister Ohanyan hailed Steve Phillips’ contribution to development
of Armenia-UK cooperation in defense sector, wishing newly appointed
attache success in his mission.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BAKU REPEATING MISTAKES: YET ANOTHER RESOLUTION TO BE SHELVED

September 19, 2013 – 17:30 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Azerbaijan has, yet again, submitted draft
resolutions ‘Situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan’ and
‘Ongoing conflicts in the GUAM area and their impact on international
peace, security and development’ to be discussed at the 68th session
of the UN General Assembly, the country’s Foreign Ministry said.

In reality, it’s mush simpler: the resolutions that haven’t been passed
at previous UN sessions are automatically included into the agenda of
the next session, and so on. Especially resolutions that are likely
to be supported by Muslim countries only. To remind, Azerbaijan is a
non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, though the country
hasn’t distinguished itself in the least on this post, except with
empty words and absence of clear policy on Israeli-Palestinian issue
and Syria crisis.

It must be for this very reason that Baku believes it can submit any
resolutions, even the most absurd ones to the UN General Assembly. At
times it seems like Karabakh conflict is the only issue on Baku’s
foreign policy agenda. Yes, sometimes Azeri delegation does vote for
some resolution, with the decision dictated by the representatives of
the Islamic world. Here, the example with backing Palestine is quite
notable. Surely, one can buy weaponry from Israel but supporting it
at UN would be out of question.

But back to the resolutions. In themselves, they cannot decide
anything, nor do they gratify the pride of Azeri Foreign Ministry,
which finds more pleasure in blacklisting people and declaring
Azerbaijan the country of a victorious democracy. Same as the USSR –
the country of victorious socialism. UN, however, is turning into
an increasingly amorphous and non-constructive organization, with no
one to benefit from its resolutions.

The destiny of resolutions proudly mentioned by Baku is unenviable –
they’ll again be shelved till the next year. But even if the actual
vote takes place, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs – U.S., France and
Russia will vote against it, as they did in 2008. Back then, the
co-chairs thought the Azeri-submitted resolution to be ‘unilateral’
and detrimental to peaceful settlement of Karabakh conflict.

Baku would do well to recall the events that occurred five years ago
and not submit the already failed resolution. However, as proved by
recent events, common sense is turning into an unaffordable luxury
for Azeri Foreign Ministry.

Karine Ter-Sahakian / PanARMENIAN.Net

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DEPUTY DEFENSE MINISTER AND UNHCR REP. IN ARMENIA DISCUSS SITUATION OVER HAKOB INJIGHULYAN

September 19, 2013 | 21:08

YEREVAN. – Armenian Deputy Defense Minister Davit Tonoyanon Thursday
had a meeting with Christoph Bierwirth, UNHCR Representative in
Armenia and discussed prospects of general cooperation in relevant
spheres of mutual interest.

During the meeting Tonoyan inter alia touched upon the situation
concerning the Armenian POW Hakob Injighulyan held in Azerbaijani
captivity. He referred to a recent press release on an Azerbaijani
media outlet quoting Mr.Shahin Sailov, Secretary of State Commission
of Azerbaijan on POW, Detainees and Missing in Action who said that
the Armenian POW Hakob Injighulyan reportedly made a request to be
sent to a third country.

If this information is not yet another propaganda trick on part of
the Azerbaijani authorities, the logical follow-up would suggest
engagement of the UNHCR office in Baku according to its mandate to
proceed with determination of a refugee status for H. Injighulyan,
Defense Ministry said in a statement.

He also informed that the Armenian side has reiterated its pledge for
several times that Injighulyan will not be subject to any criminal
prosecution thus eliminating any possibility of “well-founded fear of
being persecuted”, especially when no other grounds exist to confirm
this fear based on race, nationality, religion, political opinion.

Emphasizing the above-mentioned facts he called upon UNHCR and other
stake holders to consider these facts in their approach when addressing
such cases.

The Deputy Minister noted that granting Injighulyan a “refugee status”
could be understood as a chance for him to escape inevitable physical
abuse, torture or other tragic consequences as experienced before in
similar cases such as Manvel Saribekyan’s- a shepherd who was brutally
killed while being captive under Azerbaijani protection. However,
it was emphasized that negative precedents should be avoided thus
the course of action should be considered extremely carefully given
the complex pattern.

Mr. Bierwirth took note of the position expressed by the First
Deputy Minister and promised to share it with his headquarters in
Geneva. He emphasized, however, the independence of UNHCR in conducting
mandate status determination procedures and the purely humanitarian,
non-political mandate of UNHCR.

In addition it was stated that Armenia is ready to discuss such cases
on a bilateral level with Azerbaijan without mediation efforts in
existing international or any other frameworks and formats.

WE NEED EXTRA EFFORTS TO STIMULATE ARMENIAN-INDIAN ECONOMIC COOPERATION: DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER

18:49, 18 September, 2013

September 18, 2013 YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS: Deputy Foreign
Affairs Minister of the Republic of Armenia Sergey Manasaryan’s
interview to “Armenpress” news agency.

– We have been informed that the next 6th session of Armenian-Indian
inter-governmental committee will be held in Delhi. What is your
assessment of the current level of Armenian-Indian relations?

– When describing Armenian-Indian relations it is necessary to mention
first that these relations have rich historical past. Much has been
said and written about historical and cultural links between our
two nations , however in my view these subject needs to be further
studied. One thing is obvious: these links set the favorable ground,
upon which the relations between newly independent Armenia and the
Republic of India started to grow and develop.

During the past period several high-level visits and meetings took
place, the foreign ministries of two countries established close
cooperation with diplomatic representations of Armenia and India
functioning actively in Delhi and Yerevan. By the way, during our
visit to Delhi policy consultations between foreign ministries will
take take place concurrently , where we will summarize the results of
political contacts and outline the future joint steps. I would like
to mention that visits of the President of the RA National Assembly
and the Minister of Education and Science to India in the course of
this year are already planned.

As it is known, several leading Armenian universities host students
from India, and contacts of relevant responsible officials contribute
greatly to the increased efficiency of these exchanges. In framework
of Indian Technical & Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC) public
servants and specialists from Armenia’s various ministries and
organizations passed trainings in India.

-Which spheres receive Indian technical support primarily? It is
known that in 2011 with support of the Indian side Armenian-Indian
center for Excellence in Information and Communication Technologies
was opened in Yerevan.

– During past years India provided various humanitarian and technical
support to our country, among which the agricultural techniques
provided to Armenian agricultural sphere in 2005-2006, as well as the
program of creation of computer classes in Armenian regions implemented
under joint efforts of Indian embassy in Armenia and “Hayastan” All
Armenian Fund . By the end of 2012 such halls have been opened in 72
schools of Tavush region should be specially mentioned.

At present a similar program is being worked out for Lori marz. Of
course the implementation of these programs was greatly facilitated by
Armenian-Indian center for Excellence in Information and Communication
Technologies which opened in November 2011 during the visit of India’s
Minister of Communication and Information Technology Sachin Pilot
to Armenia.

I would like to note with satisfaction that during this short period
the Center has implemented large-scale work. Among its functions are
the development of high-speed computer technologies, implementation
of joint research programs, organization of educational lessons and
exchange of specialists, business meetings, seminars and contests. It
is the only organization in the region which has the”Param”
super-computer produced in India. More than 15 scientific-research
projects have been conducted on this computer, with the help of 8
Armenian specialists trained in India , and around 300 seminars have
been organized. An arrangement was made to organize simlar visits of
Armenian specialists from Gyumri Technopark to India. Naturally, the
support of the Indian side is highly appreciated, it is favourable
for development of the mentioned spheres and we are grateful to our
Indian friends for that.

– What prospects Armenian-Indian cooperation has in other practical
fields?

– Before moving on to practical interaction, let me briefly touch
upon the contacts in humanitarian fields, where our countries closely
cooperate. Recently a Boliwood “Sugar and Spice” dance troupe performed
in Armenia. Cultural events deepen the mutual understading between our
nations both by introducing modern folk arts and creating friendship
ties between our youth. I would also like to mention another episode -,
that happened this August. The Ministry of Healthcare of the Republic
of Armenia applied to the Embassy of India in Yerevan, requesting
its help in securing medicine for a Armenian children who suffer from
Thalassemia and due to the active support of the Embassy the medicine
was brought to Armenia in a short period.

Speaking about prospects of trade and economic cooperation I should
mention that much is to be done yet. During last years the volume
of turnover between Armenia and India stayed around 70 million USD,
with imports from India making its major part. We need extra efforts
to attract investments from India to Armenia and stimulate the exports
of Armenian goods to India. At present, with the participation of the
relevant ministries and agencies wea are wroking to make the coming
session of inter-governmental committee more practical and efficient.

© 2009 ARMENPRESS.am

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA’S GOVERNMENT SHOULD HAVE EURASIAN INTEGRATION COMMITTEE – POLITICAL SCIENTIST

September 19, 2013 | 16:55

YEREVAN. – A Eurasian Integration Committee should be set up within
the Government of Armenia, stated chairman Hmayak Hovhannisyan of
the Politologists’ Union of Armenia, on Thursday.

In his view, without this committee the National Assembly (NA) will be
unable to examine the entire package of the bills that are necessary
to make Armenia’s legislation comply with that of the Customs Union.

Hovhannisyan noted that the complementarity in foreign relations can
be restored if a standing committee on Eurasian integration is formed
in the Armenian parliament, since a Standing Committee on European
Integration already exists.

As per the political scientist, the NA Standing Committee on Foreign
Relations should work on this legislation; but it cannot work on this
matter on its own. And if it receives assistance from the Standing
Committee on State and Legal Affairs, an ambiguous situation will be
created, since this process refers to Armenia’s foreign policy.

To note, following the talks that were held on September 3 in Moscow
between Armenian and Russian Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Vladimir
Putin, Sargsyan had announced that Armenia plans to join the Customs
Union and subsequently engage in the formation of the Eurasian
Economic Union.

DEPUTY ECONOMY MINISTER: ARMENIA HAS NO INTENTION TO RENOUNCE IDEA OF JOINING CUSTOMS UNION

YEREVAN, September 19. /ARKA/. Armenia has no intention to renounce
its decision to join the Customs Union, Deputy Economy Minister Karine
Minasyan said on Thursday.

Armenian and Russian presidents, Serzh Sargsyan and Vladimir Putin,
made a joint statement on September 3, after they met in Moscow. It
has become known from the statement that Armenia has decided to join
the Customs Union and it intends to take part in formation of Eurasian
Economic Union in the future.

The announcement came as Armenia was poised to sign the Association
Agreement with the European Union.

“The decision has been made and seven working groups are already set
up for composing an agenda for negotiations'”

Minasyan said that the groups will discuss issues related to laying
legal groundwork for the agreement, cost and technical regulation as
well as customs infrastructures.

Latest developments show, she said, that there is room for continuing
close relations with the European Union – this has been heard from
highest-ranking officials.

At its routine Thursday meeting, the Cabinet upheld a program of the
steps to be taken for joining the Customs Union. The document implies
correlation between the Customs Union and Armenia’s legal grounds.

–0–

17:49 19.09.2013