Month: February 2015

NOT MOURNING, BUT DEMAND

Wednesday, 04 February 2015 10:57

Action for the Remembrance of the Holocaust Victims

Events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
have started at the Artsakh State University On January 27, the
International Day of Remembering the Holocaust Victims, the ArSU
students and lecturers organized a protest action against the crimes
against humanity, gathering in the University courtyard with slogans
condemning Genocides.

The speakers expressed confidence that if the Armenian Genocide of
1915 had been recognized and condemned in due time, further Genocides
wouldn’t have taken place.

, said the ArSU Prorector on the activities with students
Vitya Yaramishyan.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA AND SWEDEN PLAN TO OPEN EMBASSIES

Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan and Martin Ehnberg, Sweden’s
Charge D’Affaires to Armenia, have discussed establishing embassies
in one another’s countries, according to the press office of the
government.

Hovik Abrahamyan stressed that the existence of these diplomatic
missions and fruitful work will give renewed impetus to bilateral
cooperation.

The sides also discussed a number of issues related to the
implementation of joint programs.

04.02.15, 13:32

From: Baghdasarian

GEGHAM HARUTYUNYAN: AZERBAIJAN PURSUES POLICY OF POWER BLACKMAIL

The response actions of the Armenian side are much more effective,
and the Azerbaijani side has suffered more casualties, but this does
not change Azerbaijan’s political line, an advisor to Armenian defense
minister, Gegham Harutyunyan, told journalists today.

“Azerbaijan is currently pursuing a policy of power blackmail,”
he noted.

“There was an unprecedentedly large number of ceasefire violations
in 2014. Despite it, the Azerbaijani authorities failed to achieve
their goal. To amend the situation, Azerbaijan continued the same
policy in January 2015,” G. Harutyunyan said.

According to him, the tension remains. “As always, the Armenian side
will continue its punitive actions in response to ceasefire violations
by Azerbaijan,” he said.

04.02.15, 18:31

NEW ‘THEMATIC’ SEWER MANHOLES MAY APPEAR ON YEREVAN STREETS

YEREVAN, February 4. / ARKA /. New ‘thematic’ sewer manholes may appear
on the streets of Yerevan, Yerevan Productions company’s development
director Gayane Manukyan said today.

Last April this company unveiled a project called “1000 and one sewer
manholes.’ The idea is to install new sewer manholes with unique
thematic designs.

Speaking at a news conference she said 26 sewer manholes can be
installed in the main Republican Square in downtown Yerevan. She said
designers suggested that manholes be decorated as ancient Armenian
coins. Such manholes could be installed in front of Converse Bank,
located in the main square.

“We offer two solutions: the first is to paint the already installed
sewer manholes in special colors and the second is to manufacture
new iron manholes,” Manukyan said.

She said decorated sewer manholes can be found in many countries,
where they became ‘ a perfect complement of urban environment.’

She also said there is a proposal to create special designs for
electricity and water distributors, telecommunications and other
companies.

She said this project is still in the initial stage of discussion,
although it was already approved by the municipality. She said the
project can not be started due to lack of financing.

The “1000 and one sewer manholes’ is developed as part of a larger
project known as ‘Yerevan 2.0.” Its goal is to change Yerevan and show
the difference between what is there today and what should be there.-0-

DEFENSE MINISTRY TRYING TO COVER UP MURDER CASE TO SAVE FACE OF MILITARY OFFICIAL – HRAPARAK

02.04.2015 12:32 epress.am

Six days have passed since the murder of a trainee at the Military
Institute after Vazgen Sargsyan, however the Ministry of Defense is
still not releasing the information that one of the arrested suspects’
father is the Deputy Chief of the Institute’s Armaments department,
Colonel Zarmik Markosyan, writes journalist Syuzan Simonyan for
Hraparak daily.

The journalist notes that Markosyan’s son, Gnel Tevosyan, is one of
the four trainees arrested for the murder of trainee Haykaz Barseghyan.

“According to our source, the monstrous crime’s main culprit
was Tevosyan who ruled others with his “authority” of being a
colonel’s son. The father and son, in fact, have different last
names. The informant revealed that Gnel had changed his last name,
in order to superficially change the connection between him and his
colonel father. Yesterday, Ministry of Defense Spokesperson Artsrun
Hovhannisyan was only given one question – what is the name of Military
Institute’s Deputy Head Markosyan? “I don’t know anyone by that name,”
answered Hovhannisyan, which is, obviously, unlikely.

This simply means that the Ministry of Defense is attempting to cover
up the incident, save the criminal from disgrace, defend his father’s
“good reputation,” although colonel Zarmik Markosyan, as well as the
Institute’s other Deputy head, Armen Mzikyan, have been relieved from
their positions,” writes Syuzan Simonyan.

The article notes that the Ministry of Defense does not officially
explain why people are being fired, which allows the public to assume,
for example, that the deputies, as well as Lieutenant General Martin
Karapetyan, Head of the Military Institute after Vazgen Sargsyan,
were fired for this shameful incident last week.

“It is Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan’s style to punish his
subordinates, but to do it in such a way that no one knows why. Maybe
this is the reason that torture against soldiers and cases of murders
in the army have a tendency to repeat,” noted Simonyan.

While the Investigatory Committee is dealing with the murder case,
details are spreading throughout the media that Haykaz’s classmates
tried to subdue him, he defended himself, it led to a late night fight,
which led to the young man being suffocated with a pillow.

Haykaz’s body showed signs of beating, there were cuts on his veins.

Analysis | 04.02.15 | 09:50

RESERVOIRS CAN BE HALF EMPTY NOT BECAUSE OF WEATHER BUT SHPPS: SPECIALISTS

14:56 February 03, 2015

Tert.am

At the press conference held several days ago Deputy Director of MES
Meteorological Center Gagik Surenyan said this winter was the warmest
after the winter in 1966. Under him, the thickest snow cover is in
Ashotsq – 52 cm, when the snow cover in the country usually makes up
90 cm. He also advised that February will also be a warm month.

Hrach Berberyan, Chairman of “Agrarian and Rural Union” NGO, also
thinks that the situation is very worrying, as the precipitation is
low, but he thinks it’s too early to worry.

Anyway, he claimed that the Government shall pay attention to this
problem, and not to present the lack of water as cause, but to solve
“problems with SHPPs on each river and brooklet”, which cause the
reservoirs to be half empty.

Environmentalist Inga Zarayan claims it’s too early to speak about lack
of water. “Certainly there are worrying signals, but the situation will
get clearer in February and March. The main problem we experience is
with losses, out losses account for 70-80% in the irrigation system,
and if this year is a dry year, we won’t be able to supply water once
again,” she said and added focus should be on minimizing the losses.

ENQUIRY TO VILLAGE HEAD: HOW MUCH FOREST AND AGRICULTURAL LAND AREAS WERE ALLOTTED FOR SHPPS AND “ZANGEZOUR BIOSPHERIC COMPLEX”

13:43 February 03, 2015

EcoLur

Arthur Ghazaryan, Chairman of Kapan-based “Union of Employees’ Rights
Protection” NGO has addressed an open letter to Agriculture Minister
Sergo Karapetyan, which says, “As you know, in the frames of KfW
funded “Support to Specially Protected Areas of Caucasus” program
“Zangezour” Biospheric complex was established in Syunik Region,
while in the frames of “Support to Renewable Energy” program KfW bank
makes investments in the construction of SHPPs and in 2012 KfW bank
allotted US $ 40 million loan.

I would like to ask information on whether or not

* forest and agricultural fertile land areas were allotted to Zangezour
biospheric complex in Syunik Region,

* in the frames of “Support to Renewable Energy” program forest and
agricultural fertile land areas were allotted to constructed SHPPs,
as well as SHPPs to be constructed,

* How Agriculture Ministry controls the damage caused by the SHPP
construction in the frames of “Support to Renewable Energy” program.

RUSSIA BUILDS UP GOLD RESERVES TO CREATE SAFETY NET FOR ECONOMY – ANALYSTS

[ Part 2.2: “Attached Text” ]

195
February 04, 15:26 UTC+3
(C) Donat Sorokin/TASS
AUTHOR
TamaraZAMYATINA
Author profile

MOSCOW, February 4. /TASS/. Financial analysts polled by TASS attribute
Russia’s efforts to build up gold production and the CBR’s
(Central Bank of Russia) growing gold purchases to dwindling confidence
in the US dollar and a wish to establish a safety net for the national
economy.

On Tuesday, Natural Resources Minister Sergey Donskoy said:
“Russia’s gold production is soaring to new highs. According to
my estimates, the annual gold output will be up to above 300 tons in
2015. This will happen mostly with the involvement of gold deposits
in the Far East and in southern Siberia into production.”

At the moment, Russia’s gold reserves stand at 1,200 tons.

The Bank of Russia last year stepped up gold purchases considerably.

According to the WorldGoldCouncil (WGC), Russia since the beginning of
2014 built up its gold reserves by 115 tons. In contrast to this, in
2013, according to the CBR’s annual report, its gold assets went
up by 80 tons. As a result, according to CBR statistics, on January 1,
2015 monetary gold (rated according to the current CBR quotations)
stood at 39,989.9 troy ounces, or 10% of the country’s gold
and foreign exchange reserves.

“To say whether this amount – 1,200 tons – is big or small, one should
remember that various countries around the world have accumulated
approximately 22,000 tons of gold. The United States has the largest
gold reserve of all – 8,000 tons. Germany keeps 3.4 tons, France and
Italy, 2.4 tons each, and China and Russia, 1,200 tons each. In other
words, the wish to diversify the gold and foreign exchange reserves
is a general trend on the world financial markets, and Russia follows
it,” the head of Vneshtorgbank’s observer council, former CBR
governor Sergey Dubinin, told TASS.

“Growing gold production in Russia and build-up of the CBR’s
gold reserves is a sure sign the government’s financial segment
is keen to protect the available reserves from devaluation and other
negative phenomena stemming from the economic crisis and anti-Russian
sanctions,” Dubinin said.

“The dollar, just as the ruble, is credit money, with no gold
equivalent to rely on. The US authorities in 1976 abandoned the US
dollar’s pegging against gold, so certain distrust towards
the American currency remains. Gold is a highly liquid item taking
very little space to store. It is sold through electronic trading
and on finance markets, although its price is vulnerable to great
volatility. Nevertheless, respect for this precious metal, just as
to platinum, remains high. It is an investment instrument that has
stood the test of centuries,” Dubinin said.

“The gold has its weaknesses, though. It is not an alternative to
convertible currencies – the dollar, the pound sterling, the euro, the
yen and the Swiss franc. It is rather a safety net for the economy. It
is not accidental that China, while building up the production and
the amount of gold in its state vault, keeps $3.7 trillion in US
treasuries,” Dubinin said.

“The Central Bank is determined to strengthen the structure of its
international reserves by increasing the gold component. Gold as an
asset is rather stable during crises. Naturally, the CBR seeks to
increase its share by all means. The Central Bank’s intention
to ease Russia’s dependence on the dollar and the euro within
the framework of the gold and foreign exchange reserves is quite
reasonable in the current situation,” Deutsche Bank’s chief
economist in Russia, Yaroslav Lissovolik, told TASS.

“Russia today is one of the world’s leaders in terms of gold
reserves and judging by the CBR’s current policies, it has no
intention to quit its position,” he said.

“The Central Bank demonstrates its intention to increase the share of
gold in its reserves to the maximum extent and to minimize dependence
on foreign currencies, in particular, the mono-currency, the dollar.

The CBR has achieved a great deal in this respect: the dollar and euro
shares in its reserves are approximately equal. Also, considerable
assets in other currencies have been accumulated,” the president of
the Association of Russian Banks, Garegin Tosunian, told TASS.

“The intention to store more gold is reasonable not only for the
state, but also for the individual, because it is a reliable asset
“immune to corrosion”. Also, money emission and the stability of
the entire financial system depend on the size of gold and foreign
exchange reserves,” Tosunian concluded.

AZERBAIJAN LAUNCHES LARGE-SCALE MILITARY DRILLS

15:37, 03 Feb 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Azerbaijani armed forces have launched large-scale operational and
tactical exercises attended by all types of troops on February 2,
the country’s Defense Ministry said.

Nearly 15,000 personnel, up to 300 armored vehicles, as well as over
200 means of missile and artillery troops and about 20 aircrafts of
the air forces, air defense units and sophisticated anti-aircraft
missile complexes are involved in the exercises.

About 5,000 reservists and 300 automotive vehicles are also engaged
in the exercises to check the implementation level of the mobilization
tasks of the formations and units during the exercises.

AMERICAN EXPERT: STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF AZERBAIJAN FOR UNITED STATES IS REDUCED

18:41 03/02/2015 >> POLITICS

The strategic importance of Azerbaijan for the United States
is reduced, and the official Baku does not show much interest in
strengthening relations with the United States, Wayne Merry, the Senior
Fellow for Europe and Eurasia at the American Foreign Policy Council,
stated during an interview with the “Voice of America,” Azerbaijani
information agency “Turan” reports.

“From the side it is difficult to characterize the motives of those
who determine the policy in Baku. But the fact is that in recent
months Azerbaijan has more and more refused to show even minimal
respect for the feelings of America and has resorted to such steps
that irritate not only the US government and President Obama, but
also important people in Congress. Maybe in Baku they do not attach
importance to this, because they are always talking about how important
Azerbaijan is, etc. But for such power as the United States discontent
accumulates, and at some point it’s time to “off the account.” The
United States attaches great importance to Azerbaijan as a transit
point in the northern transportation network to Afghanistan.

However, due to the reduction of America’s role in Afghanistan the
role of Azerbaijan is also reducing. Amid growing tensions in the US
relations with Russia, the value of what is happening in the regions
of the Black Sea, the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea is moving to the
background for Washington.

In my opinion, the day will come when the US will see less importance
of Azerbaijan for Washington than it now seems,” the expert noted
answering the question whether there was a link between the crackdowns
on the civil society activists in Azerbaijan and the US-funded
offices in Baku, and the possible reorientation of Baku’s foreign
policy towards rapprochement with Russia.

As a response to the question about the importance of the West for
Azerbaijan, Merry said that the growing oil revenues in Azerbaijan
in recent years have opened the way for large-scale corruption and
corrosion, the article states. On the other hand, Azerbaijan’s
President Ilham Aliyev and his entourage deal with the internal
situation and increasingly lose their view of the outside world.

“Finally, at the global level Azerbaijan considers itself an extremely
important player, though, in the priorities of the West and the US,
it has no such significance. US should clarify to Azerbaijan that,
in comparison with what was 5-10 years ago, the role of Azerbaijan
in the priorities of America is not so great. The changing energy
market and reduction of America’s military presence in Afghanistan
belittle its role. This trend will probably continue to fall and the
importance of Azerbaijan will fall, too,” he stressed.

The expert also noted that if Azerbaijan wants to withdraw from
a course on authoritarianism based on the power of oil, then yes,
it needs the West. It is for this reason that the West reached out
to Azerbaijan after the collapse of the USSR. But if the political
leaders of Azerbaijan believe that they are so rich and independent
and there is no need to consider the interests of the West and America,
then they can go their own way.

“However, this is a relatively small country caught in the midst
between Iran and Russia, and there may come a time when it will have
a need for strong friends. And then it will turn out that it does
not have such friends,” concluded Merry.