Author: Andres-Papazian

CANADIAN SOCCER TEAM TO MEET ARMENIA IN CYPRUS

Tert.am
18.01.12

The Canadian men’s national team will play Armenia in an international
friendly on Feb. 29 in Cyprus.

The match, announced by the Canadian Soccer Association on Tuesday,
takes place on the first FIFA International Date of the 2012 calendar
year. The neutral site match will be the first meeting between the
two nations, Sportsnet.ca reported.

Canada coach Stephen Hart revealed the Armenia game was arranged
after plans to play New Zealand in London, England fell through.

“Armenia (was) an option presented to us. I did some quick homework
on them (and) saw that they were a very effective attacking team,
and I thought they would be a really good (opponent) for us,” Hart
told reporters during a conference call.

Although it failed to earn a tournament berth, Armenia posted an
impressive 5-2-3 record in Euro 2012 qualifying, finishing third in
its group behind Russia and Ireland. Armenia currently sits 46th in
the FIFA world rankings, compared to 72nd-place Canada.

Hart believes Armenia presents a stiff challenge for Canada in terms
of its preparation ahead of the next round of World Cup qualifiers
in June.

“If you look at their individual players, they have a lot of
attack-minded players that are at top clubs who have Champions League
and Europa League experience,” Hart stated. “Those players are very
tricky, very dynamic, and I thought it would be healthy for our
players to get some one-on-one match-ups against them.”

Because MLS teams will be in pre-season training camps in February,
Hart expects to rely heavily on European-based players for the match in
Cyprus. Some European-based national team members may not be available,
so Hart didn’t rule out calling up MLS players.

One player who likely won’t be in Cyprus is Atiba Hutchinson, Canada’s
star midfielder with Dutch club PSV Eindhoven. Hutchinson aggravated
a knee injury while playing for Canada during a World Cup qualifier
against St. Lucia last September, and has only recently returned to
training with PSV.

“He played about 10 minutes in a reserve game (so) I don’t think
he’ll be ready for this game,” Hart admitted.

The Canadian coach revealed there are maybe one or two players who
have not appeared for the national before that he is considering for
this match, but the Canadian coach declined to offer any names.

Canada has made it through to third round of the CONCACAF qualifiers
for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The Reds will compete in a
round-robin group with Cuba, Honduras and Panama where the top two
teams will advance to the final round of CONCACAF qualification.

The Reds’ first match is on the road against Cuba on June 8, followed
by a home game (at an as-of-yet to be determined host city) against
Honduras on June 12.

Hart said he hopes to gather his squad together in a training camp
once the European club season is over and organize another exhibition
match in late May or early June as a tune-up for the Cuba match.

Canada’s only previous World Cup appearance came in 1986 in Mexico
where it bowed out if the first round after suffering three shutout
losses.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN, RUSSIA FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET IN MOSCOW

armradio.am
18.01.2012 12:36

Armenian and Russian Foreign Ministers Edward Nalbandian and Sergey
Lavrov held a working meeting in Moscow on January 17.

A wide range of issues on bilateral agenda were discussed.

The interlocutors exchanged views on the forthcoming trilateral
meeting of the Presidents of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan.

From: A. Papazian

DAVID JAMALYAN : L’ARMENIE A ACQUIT UN AVANTAGE MILITAIRE
Stephane

armenews.com
mercredi 18 janvier 2012

L’Armenie a enrichi son arsenal de systèmes de defense anti-aerien
et d’autres armements, neutralisant ainsi deux privilèges importants
de l’Azerbaïdjan – la technologie des fusees et de l’armee de l’air a
declare le psychologue militaire David Jamalyan lors d’une conference
de presse. Selon ce dernier l’Azerbaïdjan n’est pas prete pour des
actions militaires a grande echelle.

Donc, les declarations belliqueuses, qui sont deja devenues
traditionnelles, sont de nature politique et poursuivent le but de
manifester une pression sur le processus de negociation a dit David
Jamalyan. Selon lui, en neutralisant les armements de son rival,
l’Armenie a en realite acquit un avantage militaire.

L’expert Artsrun Hovhannisyan a assure que dans sa course aux armements
l’Azerbaïdjan au cours des 15 dernières annees a achete des armes
pour une valeur de 10 milliards de $ qui ne seront plus utilisables
dans dix ans. Tandis que l’Armenie n’a pas seulement assure la suite
d’un accord militaire mais garde en tete la question de developper
la un production militaire dans le pays.

From: A. Papazian

RUSSIAN, ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS DISCUSS NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT

Trend
Jan 17 2012
Azerbaijan

Foreign ministers Sergey Lavrov of Russia and Edvard Nalbandian of
Armenia held a working meeting Tuesday in Moscow, Russian Foreign
Ministry’s press service reported.

According to the report, during the meeting they discussed a number
of topical bilateral issues and preparations for a forthcoming meeting
of the presidents of Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia on the settlement
of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. –
are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

From: A. Papazian

RUSSIAN POLITICAL ANALYST: “ARMENIA WILL RETURN NAGORNO KARABAKH TO AZERBAIJAN IF US OCCUPIES IRAN”

MilAz.info
Jan 17 2012
Azerbaijan

“US invasion of Iran will lead to collapse of Russia”, Director General
of Russian Center for Studying Modern Iran, political analyst Rajab
Safarov told APA’s Moscow correspondent.

According to him, if Iran comes to European Union’s hand, the US will
automatically dominate in the Central Asia: “US will also dominate
in the Caspian Sea region. It means that Russia will lose its partners.

Azerbaijan, a South Caucasian country, will also set its sights on
the West and will join NATO. Armenia will return the occupied Nagorno
Karabakh to Azerbaijan and also become NATO member”.

The political analyst said that Russia shouldn’t be silent to the
processes around Iran: “The US’ goal is to capture Iran’s energy
resources. It is also a threat against Russia. That’s why Russia
must immediately render military assistance to Iran and give S-300
and S-400 missiles to this country. Only joint position of Russia
and China will settle the processes around Iran, which is not able
to overcome this problem alone”.

From: A. Papazian

JERUSALEM POST: ISRAEL IS FREE TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

PanARMENIAN.Net
January 17, 2012 – 12:26 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – To argue that Israel did in fact keep silent on
Armenian Genocide issue for the sake of maintaining political ties
with Turkey is tantamount to declaring Israel’s moral bankruptcy,
Utah university professor Hakan Yavuz and graduate student Tal Buenos
said in “Armenian Genocide: Israel must maintain its moral compass”
article published by The Jerusalem Post.

According to the professor Yavuz, public discussion on Armenian
Genocide recognition at Israeli Knesset (December 26, 2011) was
initiated amid political and diplomatic considerations, and not
moral ones.

“Now that Israel is free from its political commitments to Turkey,
Israel may officially declare that what happened to the Armenians
during WWI was Genocide,” the article reads.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN AMBASSADOR MEETS THE MAYOR OF OTTAWA

armradio.am
17.01.2012 14:37

Armenian Ambassador to Canada Armen Yeganyan had a meeting with the
Mayor of Ottawa, Jim Watson.

The Ambassador presented the Armenian-Canadian cooperation in
the political, trade-economic and cultural fields, as well as the
perspectives of development of ties.

The Mayor, in turn, briefed Armen Yeganyan on the activity of the
City Hall, particularly in the cultural field, and the programs of
promoting the young artists.

The parties stressed the importance of intensification and expansion
of cooperation in the spheres of trade and economy and culture.

From: A. Papazian

ALGER DEMANDE A LA TURQUIE DE CESSER D’UTILISER LA PERIODE COLONIALE A DES FINS POLITIQUES
Stephane

armenews.com
mardi 17 janvier 2012

” Melez-vous de vos affaires ! ” C’est en substance et en termes
nettement plus diplomatiques le message qu’a adresse le premier
ministre algerien Ahmed Ouyahia le 7 janvier dernier a la Turquie,
qu’il a appelee a ne plus chercher a retirer des dividendes politiques
des milliers d’Algeriens morts durant la periode coloniale francaise.

Si dans un premier temps, l’Algerie avait semble accorder certain
credit aux declarations tonitruantes de la Turquie, rappelant le sort
des Algeriens victimes du colonialisme francais, elle ne supporte plus
manifestement qu’Ankara veuille instrumentaliser cette tragedie dans
le differend qui l’oppose a la France au sujet de la reconnaissance
du genocide des Armeniens. Au lendemain du vote du 22 decembre
par l’Assemblee nationale francaise d’un texte de loi penalisant
le negationnisme des genocides, dont le genocide des Armeniens, le
gouvernement islamiste modere au pouvoir en Turquie avait renvoye
la France a sa proper histoire, estimant qu’elle s’etait rendue
coupable d’un genocide en Algerie. Alors que la Turquie reprend
avec vigueur ses attaques contre la France au moment où le Senat
francais s’apprete a voter, le 23 decembre, la loi controversee, les
Algeriens n’ont pas voulus se laisser entraîner dans la polemique par
la Turquie, dont les bonnes intentions affichees n’ont pas convaincu
les dirigeants algeriens. Ceux-ci estiment en effet pouvoir se passer
de ces man~uvres d’Ankara pour presenter leurs exigences a la France,
exigences dont le premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan affirme
se faire l’echo. ” Quelque 15 % de la population algerienne ont
ete massacres par les Francais a partir de 1945 et pendant la guere
d’independance algerienne” de 1954-62, avait declare M. Erdogan, en
denoncant l’ ” hypocrisie ” de la France, qui chercherait a occulter le
” genocide ” peretre dans son ancienne colonie d’Afrique du Nord.

M. Ouyahia a indique que si chaque pays avait le droit de defendre
ses interets, “personne n’a le droit d’utiliser le sang des Algeriens
a des fins politiques”. Le sang des Algeriens continue neanmoins a
empoisonner les relations entre la France et l’Algerien. Les repentirs
exprimes par la France depuis la fin de la periode coloniale ne sont
pas suffisants aux yeux d’Alger qui appelle la France a une lecture
plus juste de son passe colonial. Pour les historiens algeriens, les
massacres de Setif, où l’armee francaise a reprime dans le sang le 8
mai 1945 une manifestation en faveur de l’independance, faisant 45
000 victimes, inaugurant une politique repressive particulièrement
cruelle, illustrent la violence du joug colonial francais. Les
historiens francais et occidentaux ont une autre evaluation du bilan
des massacres de Setif, qui auraient fait entre 8 000 et 18 000 morts
selon eux, ce qui ne leur ôte en rien d’ailleurs leur dimension de
massacres. M.Ouyahia a rappele que la Turquie, en qualite de member
de l’Otan durant la guerre d’Algerie, avait fourni du materiel a la
France, et etait donc plutôt mal placee pour s’exprimer sur cette
periode de l’histoire algerienne, pour ne pas parler d’un passe plus
lointain, la presence ottomane en Algerie et en Afrique du Nord n’ayant
pas laisse que de bons souvenirs. “Nous disons a nos amis [turcs] :
arretez de chercher a capitaliser sur la colonisation de l’Algerie”,
a martele M.Ouyahia lors de sa conference de presse.

From: A. Papazian

L’OPPOSITION SCEPTIQUE QUANT A LA LUTTE CONTRE LA CORRUPTION
Stephane

armenews.com
mardi 17 janvier 2012

Les principaux groupes de l’opposition d’Armenie ont exprime
le scepticisme face a la formation d’un nouvel organisme d’etat
anti-corruption charge de la verification des declarations des revenus
des hauts fonctionnaires de l’etat.

La Commission d’etat sur l’Ethique des Fonctionnaires de Haut rang
consiste en cinq membres nommes par le President Serge Sarkissian
sur recommandation du Premier ministre d’Armenie, du president du
Parlement, du Procureur general et des presidents de deux hautes cours.

Serge Sarkissian a dit aux membres de commission après leur première
reunion qu’ils ont un rôle important a jouer dans le combat des
autorites armeniennes contre la corruption.

” C’est Serge Sarkissian, pas la commission, qui decidera si le
fonctionnaire a contrevenu a l’ethique et si vraiment il doit etre
poursuivi ” a affirme Aram Manukian du Congrès National Armenien (HAK).

Artsvik Minasian, un depute de la Federation Revolutionnaire Armenienne
(Dashnaktsutyun), a dit de meme precisant que la commission ne peut
pas etre independante parce que tous ses membres ont ete nommes
par les trois branches du gouvernement qui sont loyals envers Serge
Sarkissian. L’organisme aurait dû comprendre des representants de
l’opposition, a-t-il dit.

” Les autorites ne peuvent pas se surveiller. Et la corruption n’est
certainement pas dans le champ de l’opposition, la corruption est
dans le champ du gouvernement ” a toutefois affirme Artsvik Minasian
au service armenien de RFE/RL (Azatutyun.am).

Stepan Safarian, un des leaders du parti Zharangutyun a consenti disant
que la commission sera la cible de ” ceux qui trahissent les autorites
“. ” Que la commission servira de matraque pour les deputes et autres
fonctionnaires ” a-t-il revendique.

Naira Zohrabian, du parti Armenie Prospère (BHK), a exprime sa
confiance que que le travail produira des resultats concrets bientôt.

” Je ne peux pas prejuger d’une commission qui n’a pas encore
travaille et je pense que nous devons attendre et voir ce travail ”
a-t-ell dit au service armenien de RFE/RL.

From: A. Papazian

PROTEST ACTION AGAINST PUBLICATION OF MADE-UP “ARMENIAN GENOCIDE” BOOK IN SWEDEN

APA
Jan 16 2012
Azerbaijan

Baku – APA. The Congress of Azerbaijani in Sweden together with
Turkish Diaspora will hold a protest action in Uppsala against the
publication of the book dedicated to made-up “Armenian genocide”. APA
reports that Goran Gunner’s book “Swedish view to Armenian genocide”
was published with the Swedish church’s support. The book presentation
will be held tomorrow with the participation of Armenian community
in Sweden, politicians who supported recognition of made-up “Armenian
genocide” and public and political figures. On Saturday, the Congress
and Turkish Diaspora decided to hold protest action outside the
building where presentation of the book will be held.

From: A. Papazian