Month: February 2015

FATHER FORCED TO CHOOSE BETWEEN HIS WIFE AND HIS DOWN SYNDROME NEWBORN BECAUSE HER FAMILY ARE ‘TOO ASHAMED’ OF THE BABY’S CONDITION TO RAISE IT AS THEIR OWN

The Daily Mail, UK
Feb 6 2015

Samuel Forrest’s wife Ruzan Badalyan gave birth to their first child
Leo on January 21 in an Armenian hospital His mother quickly abandoned
him after learning he had Down syndrome The young mother feared his
condition would bring shame on her family She made Samuel choose
between her and their newborn son Samuel was handed divorce papers
a week after Leo was born First-time father is trying to crowd fund
money so he can raise Leo in his native New Zealand Fundraising page
has raised more than $100,000 in less than 24 hours

By Emily Crane for Daily Mail Australia

A heartbroken father has been made to choose between his wife and
his Down syndrome son because her family are too ashamed of the
newborn’s condition.

Samuel Forrest’s wife Ruzan Badalyan gave birth to their first child
Leo on January 21 in an Armenian hospital.

But just hours after the birth, Leo’s New Zealand born father was
given an ultimatum by his wife of 18 months – the woman he loved or
his newborn son.

Leo’s mother and her family abandoned him soon after he was born due
to his Down syndrome.

She refused to look at or even touch her son because Armenian culture
believes a child with a condition like Leo’s brings shame on the
entire family, according to Samuel.

When Leo was born, Samuel said he wasn’t immediately allowed to see
his son or wife.

‘This paediatrician walks out of the room with a little bundle… She
had his face covered up and hospital authorities wouldn’t let me see
him or my wife,’ he told ABC News.

‘When the doctor came out, he said “there’s a real problem with
your son”.’

When he carried Leo in to meet his wife, she threatened to leave him
if he kept his son.

‘What happens when a baby like this is born here, they will tell you
that you don’t have to keep them,’ he told ABC News.

‘My wife had already decided, so all of this was done behind my back.’

Samuel’s wife filed for divorce a week later.

The first-time father is now desperately trying to crowd fund to flee
the eastern European country so he can raise Leo back in his native
New Zealand.

The fundraising page, titled Bring Leo Home, has already raised more
than $100,000 in less than 24 hours.

Samuel has been left stunned by the outpouring of support.

‘Leo and I found out in the wee hours of the morning that we had
crossed our target. He is a lucky guy to have the support of thousands
of friends around the world,’ he said.

The money will be used find a house in Auckland and to give Leo
education opportunities.

Samuel also plans to use some of the funds to support parents in
Armenia who are raising children with disabilities.

‘We’d also like to share the surplus funds with the only orphanage
in Armenia that regularly takes abandoned Down syndrome babies as
well as other organisations that can help these children,’ he said.

The initial goal for Samuel and Leo was to raise enough for a year
so he could get part-time work and care for his son.

To make a donation to Leo’s cause, visit:

THE REPRODUCTION OF AUTHORITARIAN POLITICS IN THE AKP ERA

Open Democracy
Feb 6 2015

Umit Kurt and Oguz Dilek 6 February 2015

Turkey has passed the blurred threshold that demarcates democratic
politics from an authoritarian system. The Schmittian language that the
AKP leadership has assumed moves Turkey beyond the militant-Baathist
mode of authoritarian rule.

Authoritarianism is an illusionist practise insofaras it presents an
incomplete picture of reality while leaving the audience with the
perception that they are seeing all of it. It becomes possible to
conceal the tricky part of the show from the audience who is fully
convinced that the whole show is laid bare before their eyes. As a
result, they no longer push the boundaries.

Authoritarianism emerges out of that ambiguous domain which is located
firmly in between democratic pluralism and totalitarian monism.

Differing from totalitarian systems by a handsome margin, the distance
from democratic forms of politics, as opposed to conventional belief,
is rather more intricate.

An authoritarian political frame may perfectly satisfy the minimum and
common denominators of democracy. Totalitarian regimes, in comparison,
easily wither away for there is no legal framework to make a case
for the idea of representation.

Political sovereignty in most of the exemplars of authoritarian models
rests upon the backing of (some of) the citizens. ‘Statist’ ideologies
are almost completely absent from the scene, however. Authoritarian
orders are seldom to be found embroiled within a cycle of violence. It
is mostly the case that authoritarian leaders are ‘benevolent tutors’
whose polity combines elements of both persuasion and coercion.

All the democratic institutions, on the other hand, such as political
parties, parliament or the judicial body convey a mere nominal value.

These, and other similar institutions, actually provide little clue
about the way political power is obtained or exercised within this
type of politics.

This is so because the principal mechanisms for distributing political
power are structured into informal social processes. The latent power
structures are what determine social discourse within all the known
breeds of authoritarian settings. Thanks to this esoteric character
of the system, authoritarian ways of ruling can successfully hide
themselves in plain sight, precisely inasmuch as that the idea of
democracy remains a potentiality, but not an actuality.

Caglay Keyder, in his monumental piece, State and Classes in Turkey,
asks a deadly question: ‘Why didn’t a liberal ideology arise in
Turkey?’ To this his response is equally deadly: a social class
(a.k.a. a bourgeoisie) that has fundamental interests in establishing
solid boundaries between power and those who hold that power never
existed in Turkey.

The AKP’s loud advocacy for civic conservatism, Ottoman cosmopolitanism
and/or Islamic economic puritanism seemed to raise the flag of
liberties–at least for a brief period of time. Now many concur that
such a marriage between the AKP and a democratic ideal that also
entails liberal principles has come to an end.

Especially among left-liberal intellectuals, the AKP invoked the
sense that the Party would radically transform the fundamentals of the
ancién regime without disowning Turkey’s age-old political agenda:
catching up with the ‘west.’

It was therefore promoted by those intellectuals as a progressive
political current that, first, would discontinue with their Islamically
oriented predecessors and, second, was intent on skirmishing with ‘the
establishment’ for the sake of expanding the domain of liberties. All
the ideological instruments and resources in the liberal arsenal were
weaponized at the birth of the party to prove that the AKP was the
spearhead of new democratic advances – but to no avail.

The AKP’s posture of confomrity and appeasement towards the
nationalist/state-centred bloc has been quick to reveal itself,
again and again, in the following instances–the Ã…~^emdinli incident,
headscarf and constitutional debates, and the e-coup of 27 April
2007. In each and every one of these incidents, their ears were attuned
to any possibility of reconciling with what they were supposed to
stamp out in the first place: a tutelary regime.

One of the vanguards of the party recently swore off any connection
between the AKP and the Ergenekon Trials by referring to the latter
as an ‘ambush’ and ‘plot.’ This is only one example from an exhaustive
list of remarks all of which can be taken as evidence of the following
point. That it has never been an absolute must for the AKP to put an
end to what was oppressing them previously: that is, the classical
foundations of the republic based around a strict sense of secularism,
an exclusionary state and an official ideology of nationalism.

The AKP, until 2013, oppressed the defenders of this order, thus
becoming the oppressor of their oppressors. And, when it became
possible and convenient, joined in the ranks of those guardians–i.e.

dominant classes with powerful economic/political stakes to act in
defence of ‘old’ Turkey.

A liberal-leftist intelligentsia is said to be disillusioned with
the recent turn of events in Turkish politics, for it increasingly
resembles present-day Russia under Putin’s leadership. Both of these
leaders frame their nation’s self in contrast to Europe, devise
ways to legitimize repressive measures and, among many other things,
demonstrate their one-man rule as the sole way for securing national
sovereignty.

Even though there is little recourse to the crudest violence of
authoritarian systems in Turkey, they do unsparingly employ the
language required for legitimizing violence. One side of this rhetoric
breeds a large inventory of conspiracy theories. Any explanation that
sounds plausible is readily accepted, without actually testing its
accuracy, to such an extent that conspiracy theories completely take
over critical thinking in public debates.

Another side of this rhetoric is the typically authoritarian enemy
image: a continual fabrication of demonic others–both inside and
outside the country. It is a constant in any authoritarian order to
construct exclusive borderlines to first decide on who ‘we’ are and
then deny the political opposition a legitimate place in this imagined
domain of the national self, which never fully includes the existing
cultural/social diversities. Projected ‘others’ and accompanying
conspiracies are essential to authoritarian politics.

This orientation (re-)entered on the Turkish political stage suddenly
during the Gezi Park protests. It continued with the moral castigation
of extra-marital lifestyles and ‘boys-girls mixed houses.’ And,
it was updated by reframing Gulenists as Trojan horses serving a
massive global conspiracy by bringing together all sorts of diverse
forces such as the Papacy, the CIA, Jewish capital, and even the
Templars/Illuminati.

Another concept that marks the benchmark of authoritarian politics is
what Foucault called ‘discipline’. Citizens are subject to perpetual
monitoring by the state’s intelligence services.

Evolutionary biology suggests that individuals who perceive themselves
to be targets of a ‘big brother’, upon detecting it, will try to erase
all the differences that separate them from socially/politically
acceptable norms. Taking self-censure as a survival strategy, they
cast aside all faculties for critical thinking and social agency and
awareness. In the AKP era, the state’s profiling and keeping track
of individuals on the basiss of whether they conform to the AKP’s
rule seems now to have made a glorious return.

A third feature is the way ruling parties/governments act out some
sort of superintendent role to enable wealth transfer to those who
are favoured. This suggests that the tie, which bonds the government
with its domestic constituency, is one of a clientelist relationship.

Into this network providing selective access to economic means and/or
political clout, those who assume an opposing posture have limited
permission to enter. When the allocation of state contracts is under
the purview of non-market forces, state elites are able to forge an
extensive alignment matrix. Economic players who would otherwise be
rivals come to meet under the common umbrella of, and become attached
to, the regime as clients.

Elites can thereby achieve two ends at one time: limiting the
democratic opposition while enlarging that of your allies. In Turkey’s
case, the legal basis of state contracts has seen more than 160 changes
within the last decade. This says that, policy-makers don’t manage
resource distribution according to a preceding law, but according
to that of a self-serving mentality mirroring the ever-shifting
composition of political alignment at any given time.

Finally, authoritarian regimes in different magnitudes create a
leadership cult. By this means it becomes possible to squeeze the
notion of voter support–based on ‘conditionality’ and ‘changeability’,
away from the essence of democratic legitimacy. The profile of a
citizen who chooses among various political agendas according to
his/her best interest disappears, to be replaced by a new one who is
fiercely loyal to a leadership fetish.

This unquestioned culture of submission breeds the delusion of a
leader that possesses some sort of superhuman qualities; that he is
eschatologically chosen; or that he is all that stands in between
his people and those demonic forces both inside and outside the nation.

This conserves the power base of the leader amidst even periodical
economic or political disruptions. The image of the ‘grand master’,
specifically constructed for Erdogan, must be one of the most
convincing exemples to hand.

The present state of affairs within the Turkish political arena is
a conundrum that pushes the boundaries of what is acceptable within
a healthy operating democratic order.

It seems that the country has already passed that threshold that
demarcates democratic politics from an authoritarian system. The
Schmittian language that the AKP leadership has assumed, is hurling
Turkey from a militant-Baathist mode of authoritarian rule to a wholly
different one–one that takes on a rather civilian-Baathist character.

This has already changed everything in Turkey.

—- About the authors

Umit Kurt is a Ph.D. candidate in the department of history at Clark
University and a lecturer at Sabanci University. His research focuses
on Aintab Armenians and the confiscation and appropriation of Armenian
properties during 1915-1921.

Oguz Dilek has a Ph.D. from Keele University and is now an Associate
Professor of International Relations at Zirve University.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CONCERT COMMEMORATES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Dearborn Press & Guide, MI
Feb 6 2015

Published: Friday, February 06, 2015

The Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee presents Grammy
Award-nominated Armenian Canadian soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian in
concert with her husband, pianist Serouj Kradjian, and the Henrik
Karapetyan String Quartet in My Songs, My Heritage at 7 p.m. March
7 at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center, 15801 Michigan Ave.

Tickets are $50, $35 and $25, and are available through the theater
box office at 313-943-2354, online at dearborntheater.com, or from
them, by contacting Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee members
Leslie Balian at 248-303-4690 or Shakeh Basmajian at 248-981-6825.

Concert selections include Armenian sacred hymns, folk songs, chamber
music and 20th century songs, with English surtitles.

Bayrakdarian, a Canadian of Armenian heritage, immigrated to Canada as
a teen. She graduated from the University of Toronto cum laude with
a degree in biomedical engineering science in 1997, the same year
she was a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions.

Her opera career, now in its second decade, makes her an eagerly
anticipated artist at opera houses and concert halls worldwide.

Celebrated for her multi-hued voice as well as her beauty, presence
and style, Bayrakdarian’s career expands beyond opera.

She is a featured vocalist on the Grammy-award winning soundtrack of
Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers, and topped Billboard charts as a
guest soloist with the Canadian band Delerium on their 2007 Grammy
nominated dance remix Angelicus.

Bayrakdarian won four consecutive Juno Awards, presented to
Canadian musical artists for outstanding achievement in the recording
industry, from 2004 to 2007, for classical album of the year, vocal or
instrumental, for Azulao, Cleopatra, Viardot-Garcia: Lieder Chansons
Canzone Mazurkas, and Mozart: Arie e Duetti.

Bayrakdarian received a Grammy nomination for the BBC-produced short
film HOLOCAUST – A Music Memorial Film from Auschwitz. She was also
the focus of a Canadian television Gemini-nominated film, A Long
Journey Home, documenting her first trip to Armenia.

A century ago, the Armenian Genocide, planned by the leaders of the
Ottoman Empire, systematically exterminated 1.5 million Armenians
in what is now Turkey. The genocide had two phases: the wholesale
killing of able-bodied men through massacre and forced army labor,
followed by the deportation of women, children, the elderly, and
the infirm on death marches to the Syrian Desert. Military escorts,
driving the deportees forward, deprived them of food and water,
and subjected them to periodic robbery, rape and massacre.

In Michigan, the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee of Metro
Detroit, comprised of 15 of the area’s leading Armenian-American
organizations, has organized commemorative events throughout 2015
to honor the genocide victims, demand recognition and reparations,
and increase public awareness of all genocides. For more information,
go to armeniangenocidecentennialmi.com.

ARMENIA WILL BE AMONG 50 COUNTRIES COMPETING AT EUROPEAN GAMES, HICKEY PROMISES AGAIN

Insidethegames.biz
Feb 6 2015

Friday, 06 February 2015
by Duncan Mackay at the Fairmont Hotel in Baku

Armenia will compete in the first-ever European Games here later this
year, despite the continuing conflict between them and Azerbaijan,
it was claimed here today.

Patrick Hickey, President of the European Olympic Committees (EOC),
revealed that he expected all the countries eligible to compete in
the Games, due to take place between June 12 and 28, would travel to
the Azerbaijani capital.

“We will have 50 NOCs (National Olympic Committees) competing in
the European Games,” he said at the end of the fifth and final EOC
Coordination Commission.

“No-one will be excluded and we are very happy with that situation.”

Hickey has always claimed he is confident Armenia will take part
in the Games but once again had to offer reassurances against the
backdrop of the on-going conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over
the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which both countries claim ownership over.

The mountainous region is inhabited almost mainly by ethnic Armenians
but is located within Azerbaijan’s internationally recognised borders.

Armenian armed forces have broken the ceasefire with Azerbaijan 85
times in numerous positions in the last 24 hours, the Azerbaijani
Defence Ministry claimed yesterday, leading to the Russian Government
to urge both countries to find a solution to the problem.

A dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh had left Armenia’s participation
at the first-ever European Games in doubt but both they and the EOC
claim they will take part ©Getty Images

Last week it was announced that Azerbaijan planned to stay away from
the World Chess Team Championships due to be held in Armenian city
Tsakhkadzor in April.

But Armenia does not have any plans to retaliate by staying away from
the European Games after the safety of its athletes was guaranteed,
the country’s Sports Minister Gabriel Ghazaryan has claimed.

Azad Rahimov, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Youth and Sport and chief
executive of Baku 2015, is also keen for the event not to be
overshadowed by any disputes.

“We will spare no effort in ensuring that the first European Games are
an inspirational celebration and friendship for the whole continent,”
he said.

There was praise for the Baku 2015 preparations from the EOC
Coordination Commission at the end of its fifth and final visit
©Baku 2015

The Armenia question is seemingly the only thing overshadowing final
preparations for an event due to feature more than 6,000 athletes
competing in 31 disciplines in 20 sports.

“This EOC visit to Baku ahead of the first European Games has confirmed
that the city is fully prepared to host an unforgettable event,”
said Hickey.

“To have achieved so much in two years is a testament to Azerbaijan’s
dedication to hosting the Games, and Europe’s athletes and sports
fans will be delighted with the high-standard of venues and facilities
which await them.

“We are very happy with all the facilities that we have seen, and I
know it well, because I have been here regularly.

“But for my colleagues who have not been here in two-three months –
they were quite astounded.”

“Baku 2015 will be the perfect launch-pad for the European Games.

“The baby is doing well and waiting to be baptized on June 12.”

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH CANONIZES VICTIMS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Ecumenical News
Feb 6 2015

Miko Morelos
Friday, February 06 2015

The Armenian Apostolic Church is set to canonize the victims of the
Armenian Genocide as the country prepares to mark the centenary of
the horrific incident which saw over a million people killed.

The church, which follows Eastern Orthodox traditions, will hold
a solemn liturgy at the Patriarchal See of the Catholicosate in
Echmiadzin on April 23, a church official said at a press conference
on February 3.

On the canonization, Bishop Bagrat Galstanyan said the process took
nearly two years before church leaders decreed sainthood for the
victims in the genocide.

In a statement, the head of the Patriarchal See of Echmiadzin explained
the implication of the canonization on the victims of the genocide,
which happened towards the end of World War I.

“The Armenian Church does not sanctify. It recognizes the sanctity of
saints or of those people that is already common among people or has
been shown with evidence,” said Catholicos Karekin in a statement to
the Roman Catholic news agency Fides.

“The Church recognizes only what happened, that is, the Genocide.”

—— Follow us

—— Discussions on bestowing the honor on the genocide victims
began in September 2013 at a meeting in Echmiadzin. the mother church
of the Armenian Apostolic Church, located in the city of Vagharshapat,
Armenia.

The gathering was a milestone in the church, bringing together all
Armenian Apostolic bishops from the Patriarchal See of Echmiadzin,
based in Armenia and headed by Catholicos Karekin II, and the
Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia, based in Lebanon and
led by Catholicos Aram I.

During the liturgy, the church will read “Martyrs of April,” a psalm
composed by the late Bishop Zareh Aznavourian, which will be used
for the canonization rite, according to Galstanyan.

The bishop added that invitations to heads of sister oriental churches
and other churches have been sent.

The genocide had been carried out by the Ottoman government, which
targeted minority Armenians who lived in their historic homeland at
a territory now part of present-day Turkey. At least 1.5 million
Armenians died in the systematic execution, also called as the
Armenian Holocaust.

Turkey denies the word genocide is an accurate term for the mass
killings of Armenians that began under Ottoman rule in 1915.

GYUMRI MASSACRE AND ARMENIA’S INDISPENSABLE ALLIANCE

New Eastern Europe
Feb 6 2015

After the bloody murder of the Avetisyan family committed by a Russian
soldier in Gyumri and subsequent mass protests, questions about the
sense of the indispensable Armenian alliance with the North Bear have
returned with doubled intensity.

Photo by Shutterstock

In the early morning of January 12th, six members of the Avetisyan
family were found dead in the second largest Armenian city of Gyumri.

Wounded 6-month-old infant Seryozha was taken to the hospital in the
capital Yerevan where, he/she died on January 19th. The main suspect
of the crime is an 18 year-old soldier stationed at the Russian 102nd
military base in Gyumri, Valery Permyakov. He was captured the same
day the crime happened by the Russian military service in Bayandur,
a village close to the Turkish border. Permyakov confessed to having
committed the murder, but the motives of his killing spree are still
unknown.

Offended dignity

Shortly after the Gyumri murder, Armenia faced the biggest rallies
since 2013 protests after rigged presidential elections. Although
Sarkisyan’s government has been confronting mass protests almost every
year, January’s demonstrations seemed to be unusual because of the
recipient of the anger. For an outbreak of the anti-government and
anti-Russian mass protests Armenian authorities should blame mainly
themselves. The usually warm feelings of Gyumri inhabitants towards
the Russian base presence have been impaired in effect for a lack
of a sincere reaction in Yerevan and Moscow, and among the military
base leadership. The first key factor which irritated citizens has
been lying in circumstances of crime. Armenians were shocked after it
was disclosed that Permyakov had left the base in the middle of the
night fully-armed. No reaction of Armenian law enforcement or Russian
soldiers had been noticed. After the capture, Armenian authorities
released a statement which has been viewed with suspicion. It says
that the suspect entered the house of the Avetisyan family just to
ask for a glass of water, and, after being refused, he shot everyone.

Russia was briefly informed that Permyakov will be judged in front of
a military jury, which increased the anger of the Armenians who were
expecting that for a civil crime he shall be judged by the Armenian
justice service. Along with the silence of the state-controlled first
TV channel shortly after tragedy, impatience of the inhabitants of
Gyumri led to mass anti-Russian rallies in which dozens of citizens
and at least two policemen were wounded. The nature of the protests
revealed the lack of respect to Armenian sovereignty repeatedly
expressed by the Russian protectors. Activity of the Armenian
government seemed to be just a strained reaction for the events from
January 15th, when the funeral of the Avetisyans turned into a regular
anti-Russian rally with attempts to burn the Russian flag. Additional
tensions appeared in Yerevan and Gyumri after the death of the youngest
victim, 6-month-old Seryozha, in Yerevan hospital on January19th.

Ambiguous presence

The presence of the Russian military base in Gyumri has had an
ambiguous character from the beginning. In the city, which is still
suffering from the effects of a terrible earthquake in 1988, the 102nd
base is one of the biggest employers, which helps give at least the
impression of development. On the other hand, this murder was not
the first act of violence committed by Russian soldiers. In 1999 two
drunk officers opened fire killing two and wounding twelve people. In
2013 two boys died from the explosion of devises left outside the base.

Military and economic ties with Moscow since the coup d’état in 1998
have continued to be controversial in Armenian politics and society,
but has yet remained an indisputable fact of life and the sole choice
faced by Armenians, regardless of one’s political affiliation and
views. Mass assemblies after the crime reveal a larger degree of
complexity of the indispensable alliance with Russia. As Richard
Giragosian, the founding director of the Regional Studies Centre,
an independent think tank in Yerevan, mentioned this in his special
contribution for Al-Jazeera: “For small, landlocked Armenia, a
strategic alliance with Russia is generally accepted as essential
in the face of such inherent insecurity. And beyond an imperative
of security, Armenia also depends on Russia as a crucial source of
remittances, or money sent home by large numbers of Armenians living
and working in Russia.”

Girogasian underlined the surprising debate over the strategic
alliance and its probable outcomes in the future not only for bilateral
relations, but also for general security in the Caucasus region. In
his point of view the alliance is under threat and “Armenia can’t
count on Russia any more”. The possibility of a more serious outcome
caused by social dissatisfaction was noticed also in Moscow.

Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov, a few days after the crime
and protests, along with condolences to relatives of those killed
in the tragedy, emphasized that usage of the tragedy to achieve
geopolitical goals is “disgusting” and “unacceptable”. Even though the
current situation is the first real challenge for mutual relations,
the possibility that events might disturb them and in consequence
change the geopolitical course of Sarkisyan’s government is doubtful.

Speaking from the perspective of the geopolitical position of Armenia,
and being in a “permanent state of exception” since 1994, Armenia
does not have any choice other than close cooperation with Russia.

Three the reasons for the protests

Even though the protests laid bare the weaknesses of the strategic
political, economic, and military alliance between Armenia and
Russia, at least three important elements seem to be simultaneously
the reasons for the protests and also noticeable obstacles to change
for Armenian’s political course.

The first element is connected with the current intensification of
diplomatic and economic activity between Moscow and Baku in 2014. In
November and December both sides announced that in 2015 a new gas
pipeline would be opened that would significantly increase gas supplies
exported from Caspian republic and tie both countries closer.

In Yerevan this energetic partnership of the biggest enemy and the
closest friend caused understandable anxiety. Armenia, landlocked from
both the east (Turkey) and west (Azerbaijan), has been almost fully
dependent for its energy security on resources from Russia and Iran.

Transit from Russia is frequently in danger because of the unstable
relations between Tbilisi and Moscow, which worsened after the November
Russian-driven alliance treaty with separatist Abkhazia.

Cooperation with Azerbaijan in these circumstances seems to be
the pragmatic choice of the Kremlin to maintain a presence in
the Caucasus. The second element which threatened authoritarian
authorities in Yerevan lies in military contracts between Aliev and
Putin. In previous months Armenian politicians had been repeatedly
accusing Moscow of covert weaponry deliveries for the Azerbaijani
army. From the perspective of Yerevan this policy is clear evidence
of betrayal of the alliance. However the armour supplies deliveries
seem to be a long-lasting strategy of Moscow whose purpose is
the creation of an artificial balance of power between the two
conflicting republics. “Unstable stability” and a lack of progress
in Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict resolution remains the best scenario
for the Kremlin and an ideal explanation for Russian presence in the
South Caucasus. Russia is playing its bargaining card on two fronts
and nothing indicates that significant changes in alliances may happen
in the near future.

The second factor lies in dramatic economic situation of Armenia.

Sarkisyan’s decision last year to withdraw from advanced negotiations
with the European Union was met with a great deal of misunderstanding.

Nonetheless after a few incidents Armenian citizens mainly agreed
on the government’s chosen course and started to expect closer
cooperation with Russian help for the failing economy. Due to Western
embargos connected with the Ukrainian conflict, Russia is unable to
deliver observable support for Armenia. This fact, broadly discussed
in Yerevan, aroused considerable frustration and civil society
opposition. After great expectations it was not immediately clear
whether any results were visible. Nevertheless, Sarkisyan’s Republic
Party has its hands tied. Familiar with the Georgian example, Armenian
authorities know that in case of an extreme worsening of the situation
they cannot count on Western support in the context of the economy and
possible outbreak of conflict. As a result, despite its weaknesses,
the strategic alliance with Russia seems to be indispensable for both
parties. This dependence is extremely visible especially in the last
element of the complex jigsaw puzzle.

The most fragile and important factor which is increasing the role of
Armenia as Russia’s protégé and vassal is obviously the “frozen”
conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh republic. Armenian politics is
dominated by the discourse in which Armenia exists in a “permanent
state of exception”. The August 2014 border clashes have increased,
resulting in the deaths of dozens of soldiers on both sides. The
conflict, which is traditionally called “Post-Soviet” and “frozen”
cannot be defined with the usage of these categories. Along with
tensions over Armenian Genocide recognition, blockade from Turkey
and economic and military advantage of Azerbaijan, Armenia is
constantly under the pressure of external threat (both subjectively
in the perspective of Yerevan and objectively in the perspective of
neutral observers). This state of affairs is narrowing the choices
of the Armenian ruling party. Russia seems to be the only guarantee
for artificial and wobbly stability, even though this steadiness is
far from the generally-approved definition of regional stability. On
January 29th President Aliev tweeted that “Armenia is not even a
colony, it is not even worthy of being servant”. This statement is
another instance of aggressive narration of Azerbaijani authorities
which have appeared in previous months. Knowing the advantages of
the Caspian republic in comparison to Armenia, Yerevan has no other
choice but the continuation of military dependency on Moscow. The
unpredictability of the Kremlin’s reaction is obvious after the 2008
war in Georgia and the conflict in Eastern Ukraine seem to be the
only obstacle, which inhibits the authoritarian regime of Aliev to
hold military operations for the purpose of retaking the occupied
territories and Nagorno-Karabakh.

In light of all of these factors, any radical changes in Armenian
politics seem to be not possible in the near future. However, general
public opinion about strategic association with Russia after the
murder in Gyumri has been tested, and geopolitics and pragmatism
are blocking any opportunity for a rearrangement of alliances of the
smallest South Caucasian republic. The most conceivable scenario for
Yerevan is increasing on dependency on Russia with repeated violations
of Armenian sovereignty. Armenia has no other choice and will most
probably continue to be the subject of Moscow “vassalisation”.

BartÃ…~Bomiej Krzysztan is a PhD candidate at the University of
WrocÃ…~Baw currently based in Tbilisi. His research interests include
cultural memory and identity in the Post-Soviet space and the politics
in the South Caucasus.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EXCLUSIVE: KEEPING UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS CIRCA 1900! HOW KIM’S ANCESTORS HEEDED PROPHET’S WARNING OF LOOMING SLAUGHTER TO ESCAPE RURAL ARMENIA FOR A NEW LIFE IN THE U.S

The Daily Mail, UK
Feb 6 2015

Kim Kardashian’s ancestors escaped before Armenian Genocide of
1915 A prophet warned them ‘terrible times’ and war was coming –
and both did More than one million people eventually died in the
invasion that followed But Kim’s great, great grandfather Saghatel
Kardashian heeded prophecy So did Hovhannes Miroyan on the other side
of her incredible family tree A hundred years after the atrocity,
their distant relatives became TV stars after ancestor left for the
U.S. and became a garbage truck driver Kim now planning to visit
Armenia on the tragedy’s hundredth anniversary MailOnline discovered
a treasure trove of pictures of the Kardashian family

By Will Stewart for MailOnline

The extraordinary escape from the ‘Armenian Genocide’ of Kim
Kardashian’s ancestors – thanks to a ‘prophet’ who urged them to
uproot to America – can be revealed today for the first time.

MailOnline has unearthed a treasure trove of images showing the reality
TV star’s ethnic Armenian forebears who fled the tsarist Russian empire
in the early 20th century, many of whom obeyed the advice of the sage.

Known at the time as the Kardaschoffs, in Russian style, the family
made their way from their home village of Karakale in the late 19th
Century to German ports. From there, they travelled to a new life in
America on the passenger vessels SS Brandenberg and SS Koln.

By doing so, they escaped the triple horror of the First World War
from 1914-18, the ‘Armenian Genocide’ starting in 1915 – exactly a
century ago this year – and the Russian Revolution in 1917.

One hundred years after the deadly holocaust decimated their ancestral
home, the Kardashians have become one of the most influential families
in America.

The most famous of which is Kim who has chosen this year, on the
hundredth anniversary of the atrocity, to visit Armenia for the
first time.

But her lavish lifestyle, the expensive houses, an army of followers
who hang on her every tweet, the marriage to a musical superstar
would not exist if her ancestors had ignored the warning of a child
‘prophet’.

Among those fleeing Erzurum – then in Armenia, and ruled by last
Russian Tsar Nicholas II was family patriarch Hovhannes Miroyan and
Kim’s great great grandfather, born in 1844. He married the doughty
Luciag Chorbajian, born in 1853.

The couple wed in Erzurum, which is now in Turkey, in 1867 but escaped
along with their daughter Vartanoosh Mironyan, born in 1886, in the
early 20th century.

Vartanoosh’s distinctly blonde daughter Haigoohi Arakelian – known
as Helen, born in America in 1917, the year the Bolshevik Revolution
rocked the Russian Empire – was Kim’s grandmother, who later married
into the Kardashian clan.

The glamorous and ‘dynamic’ Helen wed Arthur who ran the largest
meat-packing business in southern California.

Helen’s son Robert, a celebrity lawyer who died of oesophageal cancer
in 2003, married Kris Houghton and fathered the 21st Century’s biggest
reality TV stars Kourtney, Khloe, Robert Jr and most famous of all
– Kim.

Their mother Kris eventually married Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner
and together they raised two more TV personalities, Kendall and Kylie.

The flight to freedom of Arthur’s parents and grandparents from
the village of Karakale – today a snow-covered and entirely Muslim
outpost in eastern Turkey where the stone ruins of the old Armenian
homes still stand – came later than many in this community.

It was as if they had sought to cling on against the rising ethnic
violence and persecution.

The Kardashians – or Kardaschoffs – like other branches of Kim’s
paternal kith and kin were ethnic Armenian, but they were also
religious rebels, at odds with the orthodox faith in their homeland.

They had already fled persecution once before, from another location
deeper in Armenia.

‘The village bullies harassed and insulted them, dug into their tombs
and (violated) the corpses of the deceased – hanging them on trees,’
explained Joyce Keosababian-Bivin, whose ancestors also came from
Karalala, and whose family is linked by marriage to the Kardashians.

‘Because of that they wrote a letter of complaint to Nicholas II.’

The tsar decreed that they could move to Karakale, close to the
Russian military settlement, where initially they were safe in what
was ‘a modern village, with beautiful buildings and wide streets’.

Here, they became close to incoming Russian protestants against the
Russian Orthodox Church.

They were a sect called the Molokans, literally translated as
‘milk-lovers’, so-called because they drank milk, and other banned
foods, on fast days.

Some were known as Jumpers, who leapt in the air, raising their hands
high, during church services. They were pacifists and, crucially,
adhered to the power of prophecy.

The legend has it that in the 1850s, an 11-year-old Efil Klubnikin
penned an apocalyptic forecast despite being apparently illiterate.

‘Those who believe in this will go on a journey to a far land, while
the unbelievers will remain in place,’ the boy prophesied. ‘Our people
will go on a long journey over the great and deep waters…people
from all countries will go there.

‘There will be a great war. All kings will shed blood like great
rivers. Two steamships will leave to cross the impassable ocean.’

In the first years of the 20th century, Efim renewed the warning
that he made to stunned believers in Karakale as a child, saying his
premonition was now coming to pass.

‘Efim called a meeting, he invited the elders from all the Molokan
villages including the two elders of the Armenian Molokan church. He
prophesied this was the time for them to leave Russia as there
were terrible times coming, especially for the Armenians,’ said Ms
Keosababian-Bivin.

Images he scrawled led locals to believe they should cross the
Atlantic to the United States, but this young diviner also indicated
they should not stop there, but trek to the west coast. He pointed
them towards Los Angeles.

America was, he said, ‘a land of the living’ while mass slaughter
would engulf their homeland.

Presciently, he urged them to go quickly – as he himself would do –
and cautioned: ‘The doors will close, and leaving Russia will be
impossible.’

Many families sold up their homes and land at knockdown prices,
or simply fled, to escape the coming horrors.

It is substantially due to the prophecy that many of Kim’s forebears
came to Los Angeles, a city where the clan thrived and made their name.

But many were jeered as they left Karakale, now known as Merkez
Karakale, and mocked for their belief in the prophesy of coming doom.

Poignantly, the village is almost in the shadow of the magnificent
volcanic Mount Ararat, supposedly the resting place of Noah’s Ark
when the world faced an earlier catastrophe, a fact which led some
of the Armenians to believe they would be safe here.

Yet all those who stayed in Karakale would pay with their lives.

Records show that Arthur Kardashian’s father and Kim’s great
grandfather, Tatos, was born in Karakale and later became known as Tom.

Tatos heeded the warning and in September 1913, at the age of 17,
found himself boarding the SS Koln from Bremen, Germany to Boston.

He opened a rubbish collection business in Los Angeles and wed another
Karakale Jumper immigrant, Hamas Shakarian, who travelled with him
on the cramped passenger steamer from Germany.

A few weeks earlier, Tatos’ parents Saghatel ‘Sam’ Kardashian, then
49, and Hrepsema ‘Horom’ Yuzbashian, then 43, had travelled on the
SS Brandenburg from Bremen to Philadelphia, arriving on 2 August 1913.

‘Steerage passengers were jammed together much like cargo down below,’
said researcher Margaret Odrowaz-Sypniewska.

Their escape would undoubtedly save their lives. With the world
engulfed in war, and Russia beset by revolution, the forces of the
Ottoman empire moved in on the region.

It became embroiled in what is variously known as the Armenia Genocide,
the Armenian Massacres, and the Armenian Holocaust.

Estimates vary but it is claimed around one million to 1.5m people
perished in mass killings between 1915 and 1923.

Significantly, perhaps, Kim has chosen this year to travel to Armenia,
the land of her forefathers, for the first time.

The Turkish government refuses to accept the label ‘genocide’, though
many historians, international organisations and almost two dozen
countries recognise it as such.

Britain and the US have not done so, arguably to avoid upsetting key
NATO ally Turkey.

‘When the Turkish army marched through the area in 1917, they committed
unspeakable atrocities against the Armenian people in all the villages,
including Karakale’, said Ms Keosababian-Bivin.

‘The Armenia Genocide began and every inhabitant of Karakala perished,’
wrote Matthew W Tallman, citing another Kim relative, Demos Shakarian,
whose grandfather of the same name became a prominent Pentecostalist
preacher in Los Angeles and was also Kim’s great great grandfather.

‘Efim’s prophetic words saved many lives in Karakale.’

Another account recorded: ‘The great World War One broke out, and in
the terrible onslaught, when Turkey overran Armenia, every soul in
Karakala was wiped out.’

Kim went on the record in 2012 to call for a wider understanding of
the tragedy that befell the Armenian people.

‘It’s time to recognise the Armenian Genocide,’ she said. ‘Until
this crime is resolved, the Armenian people will live with the pain
of what happened to their families.’

In midwinter, the tiny village is deserted. It retains a 19th century
feel, with horses still used by local farmers, as in the time of old
Sam Kardashian’s time.

The scars of the past run deep, and now even professing links to Kim
seems a matter of controversy here.

A diplomatic source said: ‘You must understand that with centenary
of the genocide coming in April, and the Turks are deeply sensitive
about anything that can act as a focus to the slaughter of the past.’

There is also deep tension between the Turks and Kurds in the east
of the country.

One resident of Karakala, Muhammer Copur, 30, claimed two years
ago that he was distantly related to Kim, because their great great
grandmothers were sisters.

Then a village shopkeeper, he found the linked after scouring the
web on the village’s only computer, it was claimed.

‘It’s amazing – everyone is jealous,’ he said at the time, though
the name of the ancestor was not disclosed. ‘All the villagers now
want to know if they are related to famous sexy millionaires too. I’m
hoping Kim will invite me to the US’.

He added that his dream was: ‘All I want is a cup of tea with her.’

Two years on, and he pours cold water on the story, now denying there
is any truth in it.

‘I don’t want to speak about Kim Kardashian because she is so famous,’
he said. ‘If I say something, I can have problems.’

Now working at a university in the nearby city of Kars, he said:
‘I don’t want to speak about those topics because I’m under pressure
from other villagers, and from the Turkish press.’

He said that his family only moved to the village ‘some time between
maybe 1920 and 1930’ – long after Kim’s ancestors had left.

His family are Terekeme, also known as Qarapapaq, he said, a Muslim
group traditionally speaking a dialect of Azerbaijani.

If – somehow – there is truth that one of Kim’s former ancestors in
Karakale remained behind, survived the ‘genocide’, and wed into the
Copur clan – which would have required her converting to Islam – it
would mean dozens of the settlement’s present residents would also
be related.

Almost half the homes in the village today are occupied by his extended
family members.

His cousin Atilla Copur, head of the village administration, went on
local TV to discount the links to Kim, however.

‘They said that Kim Kardashian’s family was living in the village. But
we don’t know if it’s true,’ he said.

There are no documents which prove a family connection between the
Kardashians and the Copur’s, he insisted, saying that archive searches
had been conducted in Turkey.

Yet there is no doubt the family did live here in his village, before
being forced away by the real threat of barbarism.

And existing Armenian gravestones in the local cemetery – though not
visibly connected to the Kardashians – are evidence of this link.

For old family photos of Kim’s ancestors and videos go to

ABN NETWORKING EVENT WITH GREG NANIGIAN DRAWS HUGE CROWD

IT Business Net
Feb 6 2015

February 05, 2015 —

BOSTON, Feb. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire-iReach/ — The recent Armenian
Business Network (ABN) event with Greg Nanigian drew a huge crowd
with over 160 attendees representing more than 50 different industries.

Photo –

Nanigian’s presentation to the ABN was well received, providing
valuable insight, tips and strategies into the latest sales selling
process. Ruth Thomasian, Executive Director of Project SAVE Armenian
Photograph Archives, remarked, “Greg Nanigian went over the top with
his sales leadership intro at the Armenian Business Network’s recent
gathering. With more than 160 guests attending, Greg demonstrated his
mastery of leadership with a breakout session of 16 groups assigned
to discover what motivates a prospect to have a change of mind in a
sales situation.”

Today’s vast business landscape offers many challenges for business
executives and professionals. Whether it’s reaching out to customers
or selling their product and services, having the keen ability to
determine customers’ true needs, and offer a solution to serve this
need, is the key for success.

“Greg Nanigian’s 7 Step Selling Process presented at the Armenian
Business Network Business Networking event was very enlightening and
practical. Greg impressed the audience and provided them the means
to be effective and succeed in sales.” said Jack Antounian, Founder
of Armenian Business Network.

About Greg Nanigian

Greg Nanigian is a professional sales and sales management trainer and
writer. He’s operated Greg Nanigian and Associates in Massachusetts
since 1987, providing sales training using the Sandler Sales Training
method.

About the Armenian Business Network

The Armenian Business Network (ABN) was launched in 2010 with the
simple idea of connecting the very diverse Armenian professional
community through quality online and offline networking. For years,
it appeared that people preferred to socialize and do business in
their sub-communities based on where they came from, their church
or political party affiliations.It was overdue to create a stable
platform where Armenians of all backgrounds and affiliations could
meet and bond with their professional and personal connections.

ABN’s goal is to inspire and encourage Armenians to support each
other through shared learning and networking to achieve excellence
in their professional, commercial, and community efforts, and has
quickly grown from a few hundred local Boston professionals to an
international business community of over 7000 members.

Media Contact: Greg Nanigian, Greg Nanigian and Associates, Inc.,
781-848-0993, [email protected]

News distributed by PR Newswire iReach:

SOURCE Greg Nanigian and Associates

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

LEBANON, KAZAKHSTAN ENJOY STRONG MUTUAL BONDS, AMBASSADOR SAYS

Astana Times, Kazakhstan
Feb 6 2015

By Dmitry Lee in Eurasia & World on 6 February

ASTANA – Lebanon is one of the first Arab countries to establish
diplomatic relations with Kazakhstan. The two countries forged
ties back in April of 1993. According to Ambassador of Lebanon
to Kazakhstan Vazken Kavlakian,”the reason the country decided to
establish diplomatic relations with Kazakhstan is because our then
Acting Prime Minister Sheikh Rafic Hariri foresaw Kazakhstan becoming
the most prominent Central Asian nation.”

Hariri later paid a visit to Kazakhstan in August 2003, during which
he met with Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov. The parties discussed
ways of improving political, economic and trade relations and signed
a memorandum of understanding forming a joint ministerial committee.

“In 2004, a Kazakhstan parliamentary delegation traveled to Lebanon
and met with the president and other high officials and in April 2010,
Kazakhstan Prime Minister Karim Massimov paid an official visit to
Lebanon, he also met with current President Michel Suleiman and signed
a memorandum of understanding on mutual cooperation and political
consultation,” Kavlakian continued.

Current bilateral trade exceeds $1 billion and mostly pertains
to wheat, sulfur and pharmaceuticals. Lebanon-based engineering
company Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) has opened a large
construction site in a joint operation with Arabtec. The result
will be the tallest skyscraper in Central Asia; the 320-metre high,
75-floor Abu Dhabi Plaza.

“There is also a number of small Lebanese enterprises in Kazakhstan,
including pharmaceutical and medical ones and franchises like
confectionaries. By the end of this month, provided that the
prospective investors and staff obtain Kazakhstan visas, Lebanese
investors will be traveling to Kazakhstan for market and economic zone
research for potentially building and operating a new paint factory.”

The ambassador also mentioned some challenges regarding distance
and logistics that those involved in trade between Kazakhstan and
Lebanon face.

“Another challenge for Lebanese citizens is obtaining Kazakhstan
visas; Kazakhstan is strict in issuing visas [to people from our
region]. Conversely, Kazakhstan citizens may obtain visas at the
Lebanese border upon arrival,” he said.

The recent launch of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) could be of
benefit to Lebanon; however, the ambassador foresees obstacles that
would be hard to overcome at the moment.

“For a small country like Lebanon, it is always beneficial to
be included in big markets, such as the EAEU. Lebanon is good at
light industry, as we don’t have heavy industry like automobile,
aeronautical or defense manufacturing. Our strength lies in the apparel
industry, clothes, shoes, etc. Joining the EAEU would of course be
very beneficial, but as I mentioned, logistics are a challenge with
the situation in Syria, which forces us to use sea routes. Logistics
prices have increased considerably. Once the situation in the region
eases a little, the country will of course consider joining the EAEU.”

Lebanon has supported Kazakhstan in its EXPO 2017 bid, the UN
Human Rights Council and now the country backs Kazakhstan for the
non-permanent membership in the UN Security Council for 2017-2018.

Positive relations have been mutual and are well established.

Currently, there are about 400 Lebanese nationals living in Astana,
some 200 living in Almaty and some in Atyrau, Aktau and Baikonur. They
are all engaged in various business activities.

Lebanon in a nutshell

“Lebanon is a country with a 6,000-year history. The predecessors of
the modern Lebanese, the Phoenicians, who created the Arabic alphabet
and Arabic numbers and were master shipbuilders, put the country on
the map. Since cedar was almost always used in shipbuilding and is
known for being light and strong, it is the country’s symbol and is
depicted on the Lebanese flag,” the Lebanese ambassador explained.

“The country has endured [and withstood] invaders such as Alexander the
Great and suffered through the Arab and Assyrian invasions, endured
Roman rule and later [outlasted] empires such as the Ottoman Empire
of which Lebanon was a part for 400 years and the French Empire from
1920 to 1943. Being a very small country with a population of four
million people, Lebanon has managed to develop its tourism industry.”

Tourism accounted for about 10 percent of country’s GDP before the
conflict in neighbouring Syria began. The country attracted some
1.3 million tourists in 2008 and in 2009 during the global financial
crisis, Beirut was ranked the number one travel destination by the New
York Times thanks to its nightlife, hospitality and pleasant climate.

In January 2010, the Ministry of Tourism announced a 39 percent
increase from 2008, the number of tourists reached two million in 2010,
but fell by 37 percent in 2012 as a result of the war in Syria.

“The majority of tourists come from the neighbouring Arab states. What
is great about vacationing in Lebanon is its location, as it’s situated
on the Mediterranean. In April for instance, you can go swimming and
then go to the mountains and ski. Life is very easy in Lebanon; we
are a service-oriented country and are famed for our cuisine,” he said.

Another niche the country has been well-recognised for lately is its
banking system, the ambassador noted.

“Proof of that would be the growth of the internal economy during
the financial crisis [in 2008-2009]. Not only did our banking system
withstand [the challenges] it actually grew during the [crisis] years.

Our foreign [monetary] holdings increased.”

Lebanon also boasts well-recognised universities like the American
University of Beirut for instance and the country has a good
educational system. According to the ambassador, with its low
tuition costs which are almost half of London for instance, the
country could have great potential in education, but the security
situation prevents Lebanon from establishing strong international
student exchange with Kazakhstan.

Life in Astana through the Eyes of a Lebanese Ambassador

The ambassador, who is of Armenian descent and is fluent in English,
French and Arabic and speaks some Russian and, of course, his native
Armenian, assumed office in November 2007 and has been serving
ever since.

“When I first arrived in 2007 at night, I was met at the airport by
people from the protocol department and taken to the hotel. Although
it was [dark] I managed to notice many construction cranes. In the
morning as I was sitting in my hotel room, I remember counting 32
cranes [while looking out my window],” he recounted.

“Back then there were only the TSUM and Mega shopping malls and no
others, there were very few restaurants and very few people who could
communicate in English. I couldn’t speak Russian, so communication
and language was my biggest challenge. I then took Russian lessons
to at least be able to communicate on the streets and in everyday
life. But today, people speak English in the streets and in the stores
and supermarkets [in Astana]. I can say Astana became a very beautiful
city after its construction boom,” Kavlakian said.

“Back when I arrived, the Media Centre had not been built and the
Kazakhstan Temir Zholy building was not there, only the Northern
Lights apartment complex was under construction. For me, it was
[unusual] to spend hours traveling from one part of the country to
another. In Lebanon, it takes minutes,” he said smiling.

“Another challenge besides the language was the weather. When I arrive
in Beirut, the temperatures are over 20 Celsius, but when I arrive
in Astana, its negative 20 Celsius, the difference is 40 degrees. But
as time passes, the winter is becoming milder and milder. This year,
it was only negative 30 for several days,” he noted.

In concluding, the ambassador admitted that he had not been too excited
about his appointment as ambassador initially due to his lack of
previous experience, but after some time, he came to enjoy his posting.

ARMENIAN SMALL BUSINESS DOESN’T LIKE TAX LAW

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Feb 6 2015

6 February 2015 – 1:04pm

By Vestnik Kavkaza

Protests by several hundred merchants of flea markets took place
in Yerevan. They demanded cancellation of the Law on Turnover Tax
from the government. The authorities didn’t give a clear response,
and the protesters stated that they intend to ignore the new law.

According to amendments which were made in summer 2014, the turnover
tax is decreased for small to medium-sized business (to 58 million
drams, i.e. $110 thousand) from 3.5% to 1%. At the same time,
merchants should present documents on turnover to tax services,
including information on remaining products and commercial invoices.

Otherwise, the law requires fees and a 5% tax to be applied for
abusers.

The law was due to begin its operation on October 1st 2014. However,
because of mass protests, its launch was delayed till February
1st 2015, so that economic entities could be ready to work under
the new conditions. However, the day before February 1st new mass
protests began. Representatives of small and medium-sized business
(SMB) expressed their concern about the prospects of regular checks
by tax services. Businessmen are sure that the new order will lead
to extra expenditures and negatively influence their small incomes;
and the main thing is, it would encourage tax pressure. According to
Mikael Melkumyan, an MP from Prosperous Armenia, following bureaucratic
procedures and regular tax checks will destroy SMB.

Another problem is presenting commercial invoices on supply goods,
i.e. information on major businessmen.

Representatives of the ruling Republican Party say that flea market
merchants are not interesting to the government as tax payers, and
the law is aimed at revealing (by documents on supply goods) major
businessmen who hide their revenues. According to flea market workers,
if the authorities want to take major taxpayers to the tax space,
they shouldn’t do it at the expense of SMB.

Thus, the new law requires a mechanism of taking major businessmen
who don’t pay taxes from the “shadows”. The government believes that
presenting the necessary documents by small business will encourage
legalization of the revenues of major entrepreneurs. At the same time,
the mechanism is unlikely to work under the current management system
in Armenia.

Firstly, major businessmen often present no documents to
representatives of SMB; and after launching the new law, they will
stop doing it at all, as commercial invoices contain information on
their indirect revenues. Secondly, the current authorities of Armenia
support big business and act according to its interests. From this
point of view, their desire to reveal major taxpayers who stay in
the shadows by putting pressure on SMB looks strange.

“Today Armenia has a classic model of the shadow economy: big business
which stays in the shadows uses the patronage of the government. The
authorities are well aware about major businessmen who hide their
revenues, but instead of taking them into the tax space, they suppress
SMB,” said Vaagan Khachatryan, an expert on economic issues.

Moreover, strengthening of pressure on SMB by the tax services
objectively leads to a worsening of SMB working conditions; it may
result in the losses of thousands of jobs.

According to Gagik Makaryan, the head of the Union of Employers
of Armenia, the new law makes representatives of SMB change their
activities; but they will have nothing to do, as the government
doesn’t provide opportunities for this.

Many experts are sure that under the current crisis situation the
government shouldn’t make amendments to the Tax Code, even if the
amendments are aimed at taking business from the shadows. The new law
is unacceptable, as SMB solves the problem of job creation rather than
dealing with budget problems. Moreover, to legalize the revenues of
big business, simpler mechanisms can be used.

On February 2nd at a meeting with Premier Ovik Abramyan,
representatives of the parliamentary opposition presented a package
of corrections to the law. It is based on a free-will principle which
requires business activity either within 3.5% of turnover tax or 1%
of turnover tax. The government intends to consider the opposition’s
proposals. What the result of the process will be is not clear, but
it is obvious that the problem needs to be solved finally rather than
postponed for a while.

From: A. Papazian