Month: February 2015

TURKISH STATE AFRAID OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION BECAUSE OF DAY OF RECKONING

09:49, 11 February, 2015

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 11, ARMENPRESS. Turkey’s decision to declare the
day of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide as the day of
commemoration of the Battle of Gallipoli, which aims to change the
topic of international discussion, is nothing else, but a tool of
denialist policy. Turkish young historian Mehmet Polatel stated this
in a conversation with “Armenpress”. Also, the young historian noted
that this policy of the Turkish government is “unacceptable for him
and other Turkish intellectuals”.

The Turkish scientist arrived in Armenia to deliver a lecture titled
“The Confiscation of the Armenians’ Property during the Genocide and
after It”.

Among other things, Mehmet Polatel underscored: “One of the reasons
of the Genocide denial is the issue of returning the confiscated
properties. It’s characteristic not only for the state thinking, but
the common people, who possess the Armenians’ properties, also think
that if the state recognizes the Armenian Genocide, the Armenians
will come and take their belongings away. That’s why the Turkish
society is also against the recognition.”

NKR DEFENSE ARMY OFFICER KILLED BY A FELLOW SOLDIER

02.11.2015 12:26 epress.am

At approximately 7:55 PM on February 10, 25-year old officer Tigran
Simonyan died from a bullet wound in one of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Defense Army’s northern military bases, reported the NKR Ministry of
Defense without any further details.

According to Armtimes.com, Simonyan died from a fellow’s shooting.

Both the victim and the shooter were senior lieutenants by rank. The
shooter’s name is not mentioned. The site stated that Simonyan was
a Vanadzor resident.

The Investigative Committee released a statement which notes that
Simonyan was killed from a shot as a result of a violation of military
patrol rules. The individual’s name responsible for the violation
was not revealed. A criminal case was initiated based on article 365
of the RA Criminal Code, “violation of combat duty regulations as a
result of negligence or bad faith that caused grave consequences.”

From: A. Papazian

FARMER CLAIMS GAZPROM ARMENIA WON CASE WITH FABRICATED DOCUMENT: TAKES CASE TO ECTHR

02.11.2015 12:13 epress.am

The European Court of Human Rights has accepted a suit against
the Gazprom Armenia corporation by Armavir province resident,
agriculturist Samvel Harutyunyan. Simultaneously, Harutyunyan also
applied to the Armenian courts; he claims in his suit that the company
used an official fabrication, which resulted in the Court of Appeals
handing a verdict in their favor.

The Court of General Jurisdiction of First Instance of Arabkir and
Kanaker-Zeytun Administrative Districts handed down a verdict in favor
of Harutyunyan, considering his claim to be legal in which Gazprom
Armenia had illegally suspended his gas supply, which resulted in
his harvest to freeze in the greenhouse, costing him 4,400,000 AMD
($9,000+/-) worth of damages.

“I won the case in the Court of First Instance. Gazprom Armenia
appealed to the Court of Appeals, presenting a fabricated contract
between us based on a false copy. The Court of Appeals considered
their complaint sufficient. I presented to the Court of Cassation the
conclusion of the Expert Center of Ministry of Justice, which proves
that the document was fabricated. The Court of Cassation didn’t even
accept my suit, while the ECtHR has,” said Samvel Harutyunyan when
speaking to Epress.am.

The farmer also applied to the police, in order to initiate a criminal
case against Gazprom Armenia for fabricating a document. “Instead
of receiving a response in 10 days, it was delayed for 11 months,
later the prosecutor suspended the case. The prosecutor didn’t even
provide the reasons behind the decision. I applied to the Court of
First Instance. 5 hearings have already been held, at least I get
the reasoning behind the prosecutor’s decision through the court,
so I can continue my case,” said Samvel Harutyunyan.

LEVON TER-PETROSYAN CRITICIZES PAN-ARMENIAN DECLARATION

February 11, 2015 09:33

Levon Ter-Petrosyan

Yerevan /Mediamax/. First President of Armenia, Leader of Armenian
National Congress (ANC) Levon Ter-Petrosyan has rebuked the
Pan-Armenian Declaration.

Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s article on “Reflections on the Promulgation
of the “Pan-Armenian Declaration on the Centennial of the Armenian
Genocide” was published in “Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” newspaper today.

The ANC leader noted that no matter how representative the committee
coordinating Armenian Genocide Centennial events is it cannot reflect
the united will of the Armenian people.

“Fortunately or unfortunately, no body or structure can speak on behalf
of all Armenians”, writes Levon Ter-Petrosyan. He stated that only the
Pan-Armenian referendum can express the united will of the Armenians,
however, “the referendum is impossible due to overt reasons”.

The first President said that the Declaration would have ponderous
significance and would have a value of a strong legal and political
document had it been promulgated with the signatures of the Armenian
and NKR Presidents, Catholicos of All Armenians, Catholicos of the
Great House of Cilicia as well as the leaders of the Armenian Catholic
Church and Armenian Evangelical Church.

Levon Ter-Petrosyan rebuked Point 3 of the Declaration, where the
Committee thanks the countries and organizations that have recognized
the Armenian Genocide.

“It’s but a rustic statement putting Armenian people in a degrading
situation”, writes Levon Ter-Petrosyan.

“The recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide does not
require courage from any state or international organization inasmuch
as it’s their commitment fixed by international conventions and being
thanked for doing it should be even insulting to them”, writes the
ANC leader.

Levon Ter-Petrosyan notes that the Declaration contains “the entire
repertoire of the current perception of the Armenian Question –
recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey,
compensation for moral and material harm to the descendants of
Armenians who used to live in Western Armenia and in other places in
the Ottoman Empire, recovery of possession of individual and community
properties, mass resettlement of Armenians in the houses of their
ancestors, and finally, enlargement of the Armenian territory in
conformity with the borders drawn by the Treaty of Sevres and U.S.

President Woodrow Wilson”.

“If since 1998 the recognition of the Armenian Genocide was placed
in the basis of the Armenian foreign policy which resulted in being
obliged to set up a committee of Armenian and Turkish historians,
then the Pan-Armenian Declaration of the Armenian Genocide Centennial
places the issue of claims in the core of the Armenian foreign policy.

Only God knows what this sharp turn will result in. At this moment
it’s simply clear that it will greatly complicate and for quite a
long time freeze the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations,
which is a highly important process for the future of Armenia”,
writes Levon Ter-Petrosyan.

25 YEARS LATER: THE REFUGEES OF HAKHTANAK VILLAGE IN ARMENIA’S TAVOUSH PROVINCE

Mаry Mamyan

17:58, February 10, 2015

Out of the 160 families residing in the Hakhtanak village of Tavoush
Province, 45 moved here in the late 1980s and early 1990s as refugees
from Georgia and Azerbaijan.

Like native residents, members of these families either work the land
or go abroad in search of seasonal work.

A few families still live in the village pension building, which
belongs to the community, where they all were housed when they first
arrived. They’ve been allocated the rooms free of charge.

Those who’ve remained in the pension never received housing under an
earlier program for refugees and haven’t been able to move elsewhere.

The Ayvazyan family was the first to be resettled in the pension that
still lives there. They arrived in Hakhtanak from the Tzalka region
of Javakhk in 1990.

The head of the household, Grigor Ayvazyan, leaves for Russia every
year for work. His eldest son has accompanied him these past few
years. His other two sons work in the village.

The family has converted their living space into a three room
apartment. Mr. Ayvazyan says he wants to repair the roof of the
building, change the windows and doors, but since the property doesn’t
belong to him he can’t.

“One day, they can tell us to leave. We’re in the air. You don’t know
whether to fix things or just leave them,” says Grigor’s wife Maro.

74 year-old Rima Hakobyan lives a few doors away. Neighbors call her
‘our Karabakh grandma’. She and her husband resettled in Armenia but
since he died, Rima lives alone. Sometimes her daughter and grandson
come to visit. Rima’s only complaint is that her pension barely is
enough to buy essentials and her medicine.

The woman would also like her 10,000 rubles in savings that turned
to dust with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The family of Rayik Miskaryan also lives in the pension. She and her
husband are engaged in agriculture. When we arrived, the husband,
as per the norm, was out working in the fields.

“This year we got three sacks of flour from the one hectare of land
we cultivated,” Rayik complained.

Rayik and her husband share the living space with their son, his wife,
and the two grandchildren. Their son Artour served in the army as
a contract soldier and then left for work overseas. He’s currently
unemployed.

She doesn’t want her son to sign up with the army again since she’s
fearful of a flare-up on the border. Anyway, the mother believes that
she already has a permanent soldier in the person of her daughter
who lives in the Tavoush village of Baghanis.

“We finished with that one (pointing to her son) but my girl is still
there. She also has a young child and is expecting another. There is
firing all the time there. They come here when they get afraid and
then go back,” says Rayik.

Unlike his neighbors, Armen Shahverdyan came to Hakhtanak from
the town of Vanadzor in Armenia. He says that at the time the
Bagratashen-Sadakhlu market was bustling and that they had work.

That’s no longer the case. He lives in the pension with his wife,
his son and daughter-in-law, and the grandchild.

“We get by. We have no side income, just the one cow. We’ve been here
for twenty years,” says Armen’s wife Elmira. “They allocated houses
to the refugees but left us dangling.”

In 2001, some of the Hakhtanak refugees were resettled in the fourteen
houses built with financing from the Norwegian government.

Karo Harutyunyan’s family now lives in one of these houses located
in a neighborhood appropriately called ‘Norway’.

The family resettled in Armenia from the Vardashen region of
Azerbaijan. What matters to Karo and his wife Knarik above all else
is that they and the families of their three sons all live in Armenia.

Most of Karo’s relatives live overseas. He’s been invited to join
them on many occasions and to work alongside them, but Karo and Knarik
have so far refused.

“I told them no. Armenia is under threat. If I go and the others go,
who will stay?” Karo says.

“This is our country. Here, we can walk freely,” adds Knarik.

CENTRAL BANK’S HIGHER REFINANCING RATE TO RAISE PRICE OF MONEY – ARMENIAN ECONOMISTS

11:15 * 11.02.15

The Central Bank of Armenia’s (CBA) decision to raise its finance
interest rate by 1% is like to raise the price of money, says Hayk
Gevorgyan, a economic commentator for the Armenian daily Haykakan
Zhamanak.

“What the banks do now is they borrow money from the Central Bank
to sell it to clients as loan-takers. And the bank isn’t able to
give that money at a low interest rate, as the rate at which it has
borrowed it was high,” he told our correspondent.

Over the past month, the CBA has twice raised its inteerest rate by
1%, increasing the total refinancing level to 10.5% instead of the
former 8.5%.

It’s an open secret that Armenia’s population widely relies on consumer
loans to buy electronic equipment, and their interest rate, which is
24%, is thought to be considerably high.

Asked whether that loan too is expected to rise, the economist he
thinks that all depends on the general trends on the market. He said
an increase of up to 50% would be possible in case consumers turn
out to be ready ready to afford the sum.

But the consumer loans, according to him, have a very small share –
around $50-$60 billion – in the total crediting.

In a statement on Tuesday, the CBA reported 2.5% price surge
against the backdrop of a 4.3% annual inflation rate (recorded in
late-January).

“The macro-economic records do not imply that the Central Bank was
supposed to raise refinancing interest rate. It isn’t easy to say at
the moment what the underlying factor is, but because the inflation
is within the norm, the economic activity is low too. Hence it would
have been logical of the Central Bank to pursue the contrary trend
to contribute to an economic growth at the expense of inflation,”
Gevorgyan said.

The expert said he feels that the bank made the decision in an attempt
to prevent a possible hike in prices.

Commenting on the CBA’s move, Doctor of Mathematical Economics,
Professor Ashot Tavadyan said he thinks that the high interest rate
may restrain inflation only in the short-term perspective.

“But in case it is long-term, the impact may be negative, causing a
hike, especially in case of a high money shortage. The money volume
in our country is contingent on the GDP – below 40%,” he noted.

Tavadyan said he doesn’t think that a high refinancing rate is always
an efficient tool in terms of suppressing inflation or vice versa. He
also ruled out its direct impact on the inflation rate, especially
in countries like Armenia where the import volumes several times tops
the exports.

“If the international prices change, the higher refinancing interest
rate may have a produce a contrary effect,” he warned.

From: Baghdasarian

HRAPARAK: PROSPEROUS ARMENIA LEADER VISITS KOCHARYAN IN MOSCOW

09:10 * 11.02.15

The paper says it has learned from sources that the Prosperous Armenia
party’s leader left on Tuesday for Moscow to have meetings with very
important persons, including second President Robert Kocharyan.

Gagik Tsarukyan reportedly stayed at Ararat Hayat, the hotel where
Mr Kocharyan usually stops in whenever he visits Moscow, and where he
was recently reported to have met with Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan.

The paper says, citing its sources, that the premier himself told the
former president about plans to realize the proposed constitutional
reforms. It claims further that the PAP leader was also scheduled to
meet with State Duma Speaker Sergey Narishkin who is known to be on
quite good terms with Samvel Karapetyan, a prominent Russian-Armenian
businessman (owner of Tashir Group).

Speaking to the paper, a source from PAP said it is their leader’s
common habit to visit “geo-political centers” before big events. The
source reportedly referred to Tsarukyan’s trip to Brussels ahead of the
2013 presidential election, noting that European officials then voiced
their serious complaints about the level of corruption in Armenia.

ARMENIAN ARTIST TO REPRESENT TURKEY AT 2015 VENICE BIENNALE

10:21, 11 Feb 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Turkish-Armenian artist Sarkis, a globally prominent figure in
conceptual art, will be presenting a new installation that delves
into the genealogies of cultures, beliefs and histories at this
year’s Venice Biennale, the curator of the exhibition, Defne Ayas,
announced Tuesday, Today’s Zaman reports.

Titled “Respiro,” the installation will be the sole work at the
Pavilion of Turkey at the 56th International Art Exhibition, la
Biennale di Venezia, curated by Okwui Enwezor and scheduled for May
9 through Nov. 22.

Emphasizing the importance of 2015 at a news conference on Tuesday in
Istanbul, Ayas stated that it is a great pleasure to work with Sarkis.

“He is designing the pavilion like a theater stage: objects, images,
ideas and codes are coming together. We will be seeing how his
perfectionist talisman is taking us through the intuition, irrational,
supraliminal and post-logic in the architectural design as well,”
Ayas, who is the director and curator at the Witte de With Center
for contemporary art in Rotterdam, said.

“Few artists have combined artistic ingenuity with such a subtle
critique of history as deftly as Sarkis. This undertaking opens up a
space in which the potential of art will be reanimated. Against the
current landscape of deep uncertainties, it is our intention to unfurl
a proposition that reveals Sarkis’s profound concern for humanity.

With and through his intense and perfectionist oeuvre — especially
with his magnum opus in the making — and thanks to his rich arsenal
of visual, architectural, and musical apparatus, we will be able to
tune into hidden signals and frames encrypted in mediated images and
visions; dig deeper into our contemporary lived experience; most likely
hurt but also hopefully heal. The focus is the transformative power
of art, as well as timelessness and the timeliness of his oeuvre,”
Ayas added.

The exhibition’s title means “to breathe” in Italian and the artist
gave a detailed account of his initial impulses to create it after his
visit to the historic building in which the pavilion is located. He
spoke about the installation of mirrors, stained glass panes, and two
rainbows made out of neon lights -which he describes as a “moment of
insanity” — the planets that will be created by seven children’s
fingerprints and the musical piece specifically composed by Jacopo
Baboni Schilingi with meticulous direction by Sarkis.

It is quite significant that the Istanbul Foundation for Culture
and Arts (Ä°KSV) chose Sarkis to represent Turkey in Venice in 2015,
the 100th anniversary of the atrocities committed against Armenians
during the Ottoman Empire. “While asking myself with whom I can
swim across the cultures, beliefs and histories best, I thought
about Defne, who also has a similar relationship with Turkey; she
lives abroad but is very connected to here [Turkey]. I’m like that
too. I never considered myself in diaspora. Hrank Dink once said,
‘diaspora is a big town in Anatolia’ and I live in it too,” Sarkis
said. Sarkis will also be joining artists at the Pavilion of Armenia at
the Biennale to commemorate the centennial. He insists that “Respiro”
is not about that topic, “it is something beyond history.”

The 56th Venice Biennale will take place between May 9-Nov. 22 and
two simultaneous installations by Sarkis will also take place both
in Istanbul and Genoa.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RIGHT TO WATER VIOLATED IN ARMENIA

14:45 February 10, 2015

Nelli Babayan, Aravot

The right to water is violated in Armenia in 2015. A group of NGOs has
studies and prepared a report on the violations of human rights in
a number of fields in our life with the support of the Open Society
Foundations Armenia. The report has been submitted to the UN Human
Rights Council. “Right to water” section records that the expansion
of mining activities, irresponsible construction of SHPPs and the
increase in fish farms endanger the quality and accessibility of water
in Armenia. Mining pollutes rivers, particularly, transboundary Debed,
Voghji and Aras rivers. These rivers are polluted by those mining
companies, the activities of which are related with these rivers in the
region: particularly, mining activities are carried out by Zangezour
Copper and Molybdenum Combine owned 60% by “Cronimet mining Gmbh”
Company, Kapan Ore Dressing Combine owned by “Dundee Precious Metals
Kapan”, Agarak Copper and Molybdenum Combine owned by “Geopromining
Gold”, Alaverdi copper smelting facility owned by “Armenian Copper
Program” and Akhtala Ore Dressing Combine – owned by “Metal Prince”.

Then referring to Lake Sevan, the report says that despite the ban of
any processing activities in the basin of Lake Sevan – a requirement
prescribed in RA Law “On Lake Sevan”, the lake is polluted because
of the activities of Sotq gold mine developed by “Geopromining Gold”
Company, which established a crushing complex in the lake basin.

“Under the information possessed by the civil society, two rivers
of Lake Sevan basin already have high concentration of arsenic,
antimony and other extremely toxic metals because of the mine
wastes,” the report says. Amulsar gold mine is another potential
source of danger, and, under the report, it’s an open pit mining,
where ore will be dressed on the spot. The report says that the Nature
Protection Ministry has approved the environmental component of the
mine development despite the negative opinion of the Scientific-Expert
Committee on Lake Sevan Preservation. As Inga Zarafyan noted, nothing
has changed in environmental section, as nothing has changed in regard
with Amulsar mine.

“What will change, if it’s an illegal project? The Scientific-Expert
Committee on Lake Sevan Preservation, which issued a negative
opinion to Amulsar project in 2012, refused to provide us the text
of the positive opinion this year. That is, the Nature Protection
Minister had to issue a positive opinion under the press, as its
concerns are reflected in its four requirements. That is, if there
are any requirements to change something negative in the project, the
Ministry must have rejected the project at once. The Amulsar project
says nothing about these requirements. The law doesn’t contain any
provision, which says requirements can be posed to a company, in case
its project doesn’t comply with the law, a negative opinion must have
been issued at once.

Another serious hazard for water resources is SHPPs. Under the report,
there are currently over 150 SHPPs, out of which 100 are located on
the rivers, and currently 16 rivers are in disastrous and 3 are in
critical situation. In this regard Inga Zarafyan said that the public
sector together with the Nature Protection Ministry will conduct a
monitoring of the SHPPs constructed on the rivers and will create a
database in the form of “green passports” to regulate this problem.

CLIMATE CHANGES CAN ADVERSELY AFFECT ON WATER BALANCE OF LAKE SEVAN: SPECIALIST

16:23 February 10, 2015

EcoLur

Evelina Ghukasyan, Director of Hydroecology and Ichthyology Institute
of NAS RA, forecasts no increase in Lake Sevan level for 2015 due to
climate changes. “Climate changes can extremely adversely affect on
the water balance of Lake Sevan. The thickness of snow cover is very
low in Gegharkounik region, the flow of rivers can’t be sufficient to
increase the level of Lake Sevan in case of relevant water outlets,”
Evelina Ghukasyan said in her interview with EcoLur.

Reminder: in 2014 negative balance of Lake Sevan level was recorded
in 2014. As of 21.12.2014, the lake level made up 1900.13 m, which
is lower by 4 cm as compared with the last year (1900.17 m). The
officials don’t exclude additional water outlets from Lake Sevan for
2015 in case of water lack. The Armenian Government already hinted
about the lack of water at its meeting on 5 February.