Month: February 2015

KARABAKH IS THE LAST SOURCE OF SERZH SARGSYAN’S NONEXISTENT LEGITIMACY: DISCUSSION ON LACHIN ATTACK

02.09.2015 17:21 epress.am

The attack on members of the Founding Parliament movement on the NKR
border was the result of a direct command, said NKR National Assembly
MP Vahan Badasyan about the incident during a discussion.

“Let’s assume, they are adventurers, suppose they are criminals. You
said turn back. They turned back. Why are you smashing (the cars)?

[They say] that it was immoral to not listen to the President. We’re
speaking about morality here, but no one speaks about the law, of the
constitution, which was violated. Our society’s most criminal group
is responsible here. They’re thinking of how to cover it up. Only the
resignation of the president [NKR president Bako Sahakyan[ would solve
[the issue], only that would put things in order,” said the MP.

He stated that the incident destroyed Artsakh’s (Karabakh) domestic
security, national dignity, and statehood by exactly those people
who represent the state.

Political analyst Tigran Grigoryan (pictured) believed that the
incident proved that state institutions, including the media, do not
function in Artsakh.

“For Serzh Sargsyan Artsakh is a power center, it is the last source
of his nonexistent legitimacy, basically his authority also influences
the authorities in Artaskh. What’s the purpose [of the incident in
Lachin (Berdzor)]? Of course, it’s possible to call it vandalism,
but a more correct term is terrorism. The whole objective was to
terrorise,” said Grigoryan.

According to him, there is a silent consensus within Armenia’s internal
political life that Nagorno-Karabakh is not associated with internal
affairs. He noted that Armenia’s opposition speaks of Armenia’s
criminal regime, but they come to Artsakh and “fraternize” with Bako
Sahakyan. According to the analyst, that is an unacceptable approach.

“Who knew about Bako Sahakyan until 2007? He was not a political
figure. He held positions in the defense sector. Bako Sahakyan is
that man who in a very obedient manner implements Serzh Sargsyan’s
commands,” said Tigran Grigoryan.

National Radio and Television station, a private news station, (which
was banned from opening last December) founder Varujan Gabrielyan
stressed that Nagorno-Karabakh’s society has once again found itself
in a hostage situation, because somehow everyone has participated in
that incident. In Gabrielyan’s words, while one group is constrained,
another group doesn’t have a podium to express themselves from. “The
finale has to be on the legal field. Society has to participate in
all that. Society has to be held responsible for their deeds: some
for what they’ve done, others for their silence,” said Gabrielyan.

TSARUKYAN’S PRESS-SECRETARY REPLIES TO ARMENIA’S PRIME MINISTER: ALL THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE SITUATION IN THE COUNTRY WILL REST THE AUTHORITIES OF ARMENIA

by Tatevik Shahunyan

Monday, February 9, 18:10

The authorities of Armenia are responsible not only for the incident
on beating up of a member of the Prosperous Armenia Party, activist
Artak Khachatryan, but also for the whole situation created in the
country, press-secretary of the PAP Gagik Tsarukyan, Iveta Tonoyan,
told Arminfo correspondent when commenting on Prime Minister Hovik
Abrahamyan’s statement, according to which the possible escalation
of the domestic political situation in Armenia will rest with the
PAP leader Gagik Tsarukyan.

‘The atmosphere of injustice and indefiniteness has been reigning
in Armenia. The migration level has again grown. The economy is
depressed. And the authorities of Armenia are responsible for all
that. Actually, if one wants to learn, who is responsible and for
what, he should ask the community about it. I think that the answer
will be unequivocal”, – Tonoyan concluded.

To note, the responsibility for possible escalation of the domestic
political situation in Armenia, as a result of the emotional and
irresponsible statements of members of the Prosperous Armenia Party,
will rest with the PAP leader Gagik Tsarukyan, Armenia’s Prime Minister
Hovik Abrahamyan said today when commenting on beating up of a member
of the PAP political council, Artak Khachatryan, and the ultimatum
statements of the PAP members after the incident.

Having recalled that Republican Party of Armenia has already condemned
the violence upon Artak Khachatryan, Abrahamyan emphasized that the
statements made by the PAP members after the incident are hasty, harsh
and unacceptable. “I expect that Gagik Tsarukyan should personally
watch the statements made by his party members and their emotional
nonsense, otherwise, we shall be forced to watch these statements as
Tsarukyan’s personal position. In this case, the responsibility for
possible escalation of the domestic political situation in Armenia
will rest with Gagik Tsarukyan”, – Abrahanyan said.

To note, members of the parliament from the PAP made ultimatum
statements during today’s protest actions in front of the government
building and gave a term to the authorities to solve the incident on
beating up of Khachatryan for several days, otherwise the PAP will
demand resignation of several high rank officials.

According to the PAP representatives, Artak Khachatryan, a member of
the PAP Political Council, was abducted by the three unknown in masks
on February 7 in the evening. Several hours later, he was found near
his apartment severely beaten up. PAP has disseminated a statement
over the incident, wherein it strongly condemned the violence against
Khachatryan. The Party blames the political leadership of Armenia for
the incident that happened shortly after Khachatryan took an active
part in the protests against the Law on Turnover Tax.

From: Baghdasarian

A STORY OF A PHOTO. HOW WE MET WITH ARA GULER

February 9 2015

This photo was taken in September 2010. The photo depicts the world
famous Armenian photographer Ara Guler. He is sitting at the Guler
cafe on Yeni Packman (New Market) Street in Istanbul. At that time, the
master was 82 years old. It was a great enjoyment for us, the Armenian
journalists to accidentally meet with the master nicknamed “the eye of
Istanbul” at the cafe named after him. He was taciturn and shared just
a few sentences with us. We did not want to disturb his state of being
calm and simply took seats in the same cafe, at the tables next to
Guler to enjoy his presence. Tea and coffee seemed uniquely delicious
that day. Ara Guler is one of the seven most popular photographers
in the world, he has won many prestigious awards, particularly in
2009, he was awarded the prize, which is the “Oscar” in
the industry of photography. In 2000, the master was recognized as a
“Photographer of the Century” in Turkey. Ara Guler has photographed
such figures in politics, culture and other fields, including Winston
Churchill, Maria Callas, John Berger, Bernard Russell, Salvador Dali,
Pablo Picasso, Indira Gandhi, Sophia Loren and William Saroyan.

Gohar HAKOBYAN

Read more at:

From: A. Papazian

MOTION ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE SUBMITTED TO EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

18:30 09/02/2015 >> POLITICS

Belgian MEP Gerolf Annemans, chairman of Vlaams Belang party, submitted
to European Parliament a motion calling on Turkey to recognize the
Armenian Genocide.

The document says:

– having regard to Rule 133 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the many studies and historical data on the
situation of the Armenian population in Turkey at the beginning of
the twentieth century,

– having regard to the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment
of the Crime of Genocide which defines genocide,

– having regard to the European Parliament resolution of 18 June 1987
on a political solution to the Armenian question,

– having regard to subsequent Parliament resolutions in which it has
argued to a greater or lesser extent in favour of recognising the
Armenian genocide of 1915,

A. whereas these resolutions have not yet induced the Turkish
government to recognise the genocide;

B. whereas a century after the events, the time has come to initiate
reconciliation;

1. Calls on the Turkish government officially to recognise the 1915
genocide of the Armenians living in Turkey perpetrated by the last
government of the Ottoman Empire;

2. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Turkish
government, the Armenian government, the Commission, the Council and
the Presidents of the Parliament of the Republic of Turkey and the
Parliament of the Republic of Armenia.

The motion was signed by Marine Le Pen, Louis Aliot, Marie-Christine
Arnautu, Nicolas Bay, Dominique Bilde, Marie-Christine Boutonnet,
Steeve Briois, Mireille D’Ornano, Edouard Ferrand, Sylvie Goddyn,
Jean-Francois Jalkh, Gilles Lebreton, Philippe Loiseau, Dominique
Martin, Joelle Melin, Bernard Monot, Sophie Montel, Florian Philippot,
Jean-Luc Schaffhauser, Mylene Troszczynski, Matteo Salvini, Mara
Bizzotto, Mario Borghezio, Gianluca Buonanno, Lorenzo Fontana, Marcel
de Graaff, Hans Jansen, Olaf Stuger, Harald Vilimsky, Barbara Kappel.

TRIPLETS BORN IN YEREVAN’S EREBOUNI MEDICAL CENTER

by Tatevik Shahunyan

Monday, February 9, 16:51

Yerevan’s Erebouni Medical Center has registered a rare case:
25-year-old Angela Mnatsakanyan has given birth to triplets.

Obstetric officer Anaida Ananyan told ArmInfo that this is a rare
phenomenon as triplets are more often born in cases of artificial
insemination.

The triplets were delivered by caesarean section on Feb 5 and now
four days after Angela is ready to take them home.

She is grateful to the doctors of the center and, particularly,
to the head of the hospital’s pathology unit Andranik Poghosyan.

Now Angela has four boys: five-year-old Ararat and his newly born
brothers Arame (2.6 kg), Vahe (2.5 kg) and Vache (1.7 kg).

Angela is a Russian language teacher in the borderline village
of Voskevan, Tavush region. Her husband, Armen Bvarseghyan, is
a policeman.

When asked if it won’t be hard to raise four boys in a borderline
village, Angela said, “The Lord gave them, so, I hope the Lord will
help us to raise them. We need boys in borderline regions. Who else
will defend us if not they?”

ARMENIAN EXPERTS CRITICIZE GOVERNMENT BILL ON FORTIFICATION OF WHEAT FLOUR; HEALTH MINISTRY SUPPORTS IT

YEREVAN, February 9. / ARKA /. Several Armenian experts have criticized
today a government-drafted bill on the fortification of wheat flour,
approved in 2014. According to the health ministry, the bill, if
passed by the parliament, will help overcome a string of diseases
such as anemia, neural tube defects (Spina bifida – hydrocephalus),
which cause permanent disability in children and also cardiovascular
diseases due to lack of folic acid and iron.

“Plans to enrich wheat flour would make sense if the percentage
of anemia in the population was at least 25%. We know that this
disease is found only in certain groups of population: in women of
childbearing age and children,” a biochemist Ashot Karapetyan told
a news conference today.

According to him, in 2010, anemia was diagnosed in only 12.8% of
women who gave birth to babies; in 2013 the figure was 12.7%. In his
opinion, the fortification of flour with synthetic substances, such
as folic acid, is completely inappropriate and can lead to additional
health risks.

Babken Pipoyan, head of a consumer watchdog, argued that fortification
of about 80-85% of the flour would violate consumers’ right to
free choice.

“There is also the danger that the fortified flour would be presented
as not-fortified. The mandatory fortification of flour must be
preceded by a serious study and considered as an option for solving
health related problems,” said Pipoyan.

But Karine Saribekyan, head of a health ministry department overseeing
mother and child issues, countered that the deficit of zinc, iron
and folic acid is the cause of a number of diseases, whose number
has been on the rise over the last years.

“A new study of the Armenian population’s health will be conducted in
2015 autumn. About 90 countries are fortifying their flour, including
the UK, Canada and Australia,” she said.

According to her, fortification restores the balance of microelements
in the final product which are lost in the processing. She cited
the international experience that shows that flour fortification has
helped to improve health indicators.

“To ensure that the program has an overall effect, it must embrace
the entire population and not separate categories,” she said.

According to the health ministry, in 2013 some 7,026 cases of anemia
among adults were reported and 8,148 cases among children under 14,
of whom 2,633 were children under one year; 897 cases were reported
among adolescents aged 15-17. 0-

DEVELOPMENT OF CULINARY TOURISM IN ARMENIA NEEDS SERIOUS APPROACH

YEREVAN, February 9. /ARKA/. Sedrak Mamulyan, head of the Development
and Preservation of Armenian Culinary Traditions, thinks development
of culinary tourism in Armenia needs a serious approach.

Speaking Monday at a news conference, he said that the policy of
drift will produce no results in this area.

He said that tourism in Armenia is just a way to earn money,
while tourism’s real mission is to present the country’s culture
to foreigners.

Mamulyan said national cuisine of any country is an important component
of tourism, since this is one of the most remarkable and unforgettable
elements of trips.

The expert voiced regret at the fact that 80% of the people working
in tourism industry don’t consider national cuisine as cultural value
or tourism product.

“They say tourists, tired of long hikes, treat meals only as a method
to appease hunger, but the thing is that the tour continues also in
the restaurant’s territory,” he said. “Our tour guides, unfortunately,
don’t understand this and therefore they make absolutely no efforts
to introduce national dishes to tourists.”

In his words, many Armenian restaurants make no attempts to boost
our cuisine, since they are not interested in doing it.

“I have repeatedly offered our travel agencies to take part in the
free trainings our organization has conducted to introduce traditions
of Armenian national cuisine,” Mamulyan said. –0——

ARMENIAN DEPUTY DEFENSE MINISTER TO TRAVEL TO BRUSSELS FOR INCEPTION VISIT TO NATO HEADQUARTERS

YEREVAN, February 9. /ARKA/. Armenian Deputy Defense Minister Ara
Nazaryan will fly to Brussels today for a two-day inception visit
to the NATO headquarters, the press office of the Armenian defense
ministry reported on Monday.

The NATO’s approaches to international and regional development will
be presented to Nazaryan in Brussels and prospects for NATO-Armenia
cooperation will be outlined as part of the visit. —0—-

EU ACCEPTS OSCE MINSK GROUP’S LEADING ROLE IN KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS – HERBERT SALBER

17:54 09/02/2015 >> POLITICS

Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan on Monday received a
delegation led by Herbert Salber, the EU Special Representative for
the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, the press service of
the Armenian Defense Ministry reported.

Ohanyan briefed Salber on the situation on the Line of Contact
between Karabakh and Azerbaijani troops, drawing his attention to
the sharp increase of tensions since the beginning of the year. He
also stressed the need for the international community to curb the
aggressive actions of the Azerbaijani forces.

The Armenian Minister reaffirmed the importance of implementing
measures to build confidence between the conflicting parties.

Ambassador Salber expressed concern over the border incidents,
noting that the EU accepts the OSCE Minsk Group’s leading role in
the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, and is willing to contribute to
the negotiation process.

TURKISH INTELLECTUALS WHO HAVE RECOGNIZED THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: DILEK KURBAN

By MassisPost
Updated: February 8, 2015

By Hambersom Aghbashian

Dr. Dilek Kurban received her bachelor’s degree in political science
and international relations from Bogazici University, Istanbul. She
received her master’s in international affairs in human rights from
Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs,
and her Jurist Doctor degree from Columbia Law School. Between 1999
and 2001, she worked as an associate political affairs officer at
the Security Council Affairs Division of the UN Dept. of Political
Affairs in NY. Currently, she is the program officer for the (TESEV)*,
and an adjunct professor of law at the Political Science Department
of Bogazici University. She is an editor for Agos, a Turkish-Armenian
bilingual weekly and a founding member of the Diyarbakir Institute
for Political and Social Research. She has published in the areas of
minority and human rights in Turkey, international displacement in
Turkey, and on European minority and human rights law.(1)

According to “aghet1915.wordpress.com”, Dilek Kurban is one of the
Turkish intellectuals who have recognized the Armenian genocide.(2)

Dilek Kurban was criticized by “” an
Anti-Genocide recognition source, which categorized her as one of the
most prominent turncoats, because of her recognition of the Armenian
Genocide.(3)

Talia Jebejian wrote on April 25, 2001, “Approximately 140 people,
primarily of Armenian and Turkish descent, gathered to participate in A
Psycho-spiritual and Educational Dialogue Between People of Armenian
and Turkish Descent, sponsored by the Armenian American Society
for Studies on Stress and Genocide (AASSSG) and co-sponsored by the
International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) NY Chapter,
The World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) and Fordham University.

This open dialogue was held in commemoration of the 86th Anniversary
of the Ottoman Turkish Genocide of the Armenians and was met with
overwhelming success. Rational and intellectual dialogue was presented
and exchanged between the panelists and audience members, resulting
in a positive step toward reconciliation between Turkish citizens
and Armenians.” She added a list of The facilitators of the program
and The panelists participating in it. Dilek Kurban was mentioned as
one of the participants.(4)

“hakikatadalethafiza.org.”, wrote under “Background, Situation
Analysis”: Turkey and its historic and legal predecessors have a
longstanding track record of human rights violations…, Just in
the last 100 years, widespread violations were committed in several
different periods… The most notable ones were the Armenian genocide
of 1915. An estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed or deported
from the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1917. The Republic of Turkey,
even though it is a legal successor of the Ottoman Empire, never
acknowledged the campaign of persecution of Armenians as genocide. In
Dilek Kurban’s book “Reparations and Displacement in Turkey, Lessons
Learned from the Compensation Law, Int. Center for Transitional Justice
and LSE – Brookings, July 2012”, it is stated that “Although it can be
noted that countries that have the responsibility for massive abuses
effectively take on a huge financial and administrative burden by
a formal recognition, this cannot be used as an argument to avoid
such responsibility.”(5)

Under the title “JUDICIARY AND STATE BEHIND ALIENATION OF NON-MUSLIMS”,
Today’s Zaman wrote on March 16 2009, “Turkey’s non-Muslim communities
have been alienated, and it was done by the state and judiciary,
said the writers of a new report revealing the facts behind the real
estate ownership problems of non-Muslim foundations dating from the
Ottoman period.” Zaman quoted Kezban Hatemi, the co-author of the
report, titled “The Story of an Alien(ation): Real Estate Ownership
Problems of Non-Muslim Foundations and Communities in Turkey,” saying
“In the 1930s, it became evident that pushing or directly forcing
the few non-Muslims left in Turkey to abandon the country was an
explicit state policy,” the report was released as part of the
(TESEV)*program. Dilek Kurban, co-author of the report, said that
when Turkey became a candidate for European Union membership, it
became evident that it was not possible to sustain this state policy
toward non-Muslim communities. Kurban started filing lawsuits with
the European Court of Human Rights after exhausting avenues within
the Turkish legal system.”It was no longer easy for the bureaucracy
to take over the assets of non-Muslim foundations, and the government
was expected to take legal action to return or pay indemnity for
seized assets,” Kurban said.(6)

————–

*TESEV : Democratization Program of the Turkish Economic and Social
Studies Foundation 1-
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From: Baghdasarian