Author: Andres-Papazian

ARMENIA, RUSSIA SIGN LIGHT INDUSTRY COOPERATION AGREEMENT

Tert.am
16.12.11

The Rossotrodnichestvo office in Armenia and the UNIDO Centre for
International Industrial Cooperation (CIIC) in the Russian Federation
signed an agreement on development of small and medium businesses.

The agreement is focused on creation of jobs in Armenia’s light
industry.

The agreement envisages close cooperation between Armenian and
Russian industrial enterprises, particularly cooperation in textile
and clothing industry.

“We must combine our efforts to develop light industry, which will
promote Armenian-Russian relations,” said Victor Krivopuskov, Head
of the Rossotrudnichestvo office in Armenia.

Sergey Korotkov, Director, UNIDO Centre for International Industrial
Cooperation (CIIC) in the Russian Federation, said: “We are not a
large organization, but we have sufficient experience in cooperating
with transitional economies. It is an excellent opportunity for
implementing this agreement,” he said.

From: A. Papazian

PILE OF MANURE
Naira Hayrumyan

Lragir.am
16:35:04 – 16/12/2011

As it was found out the arrest of the Armenian from Diaspora Nareg
Hartunyan was connected with a banal try to seize the property of
his family.

While Serzh Sargsyan was calling on the Armenian investors of
Marseilles and Venice to invest in the economy of Armenia, the law
enforcers of the country were ordered to frighten Hartunyan with the
aim to force his brother sell the assets of their watch factory.

Hartunyan yesterday stated at a press conference.

Perhaps, no one would expect such a public reaction, and the whole
civil sector and press supported Hartunyan. Nobody expected that Nareg
would say about the true reasons of persecutions either. Most likely,
the customers of this arrest thought the benefactor would be offended,
as the tradition goes, and would sell his property and leave Armenia.

Many Armenian businessmen did like this, who tried to invest in their
motherland. Clashed with the barbed wire of the Armenian economy, many
simply left, someone tried to fight through the courts, but in vain.

On these days, a press conference of lawyers representing the
interests of Diaspora businessmen, who bunked, took place. The
authorities reacted in no way to this press conference, neither to
Hartunyan’s case.

Delivering a speech in Venice, Serzh Sargsyan suddenly described the
Armenian identity. He said that Armenians have the rare feature to
catch and develop all the progressive in the world. Actually, the
President of Armenia thinks Armenians are unable to give something
new to the world, and their historic mission consists in developing
other’s creations.

But even this mission is not fulfilled properly. Ephraim Sevella
made a sad comparison of his people, Jews, with manure: when it is
spread all over the world, it is a fertilizer, when it is gathered,
it is just a pile of manure.

From: A. Papazian

OFFICER DETAINED FOR HITTING NKR DEFENSE ARMY SOLDIER

PanARMENIAN.Net
December 17, 2011 – 15:51 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Warrant officer of one of NKR defense army units
Armen Tovmasyan has been detained for beating up conscript Narek
Avetisyan, 18.

On Decmber 14, 07:20 local time, officer Armen Tovmasyan hit soldier
Narek Avetisyan first by hand, then a metal chain for refusing to
obey him. As a result of the injury, soldier’s eye was removed.

The case was instigated in compliance with article 375 of the RA
Criminal Code. Investigation is under way.

From: A. Papazian

TURKEY WARNS FRANCE OVER ARMENIAN ‘GENOCIDE LAW’
By Jon Hemming

Cyprus Mail

Dec 16 2011

TURKEY warned France todayr political and economic relations would
suffer grave consequences if the French parliament passed a draft
law making it illegal to deny the 1915 mass killing of Armenians in
the Ottoman Empire was genocide.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a vocal critic of Turkey’s
long-standing, but slow-moving bid to join the European Union, told
Turkey in October that unless it recognised the killings as genocide,
France would consider making denial a crime.

The draft law, put forward by a deputy from Sarkozy’s party, is due
to go before parliament next Thursday and proposes a one-year prison
sentence and 45,000 euro fine for denying the killings constitute
genocide.

“This proposed law targets and is hostile to the Republic of Turkey,
the Turkish nation and the Turkish community living in France,”
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan wrote in a letter to Sarkozy.

“I want to state clearly that such steps will have grave consequences
for future relations between Turkey and France in political, economic,
cultural and all areas and the responsibility will rest with those
behind this initiative,” said the letter quoted by the state-run
Anatolian news agency.

France is Turkey’s fifth biggest export market and sixth biggest
country from which it imports goods and services.

Armenia, backed by many historians and parliaments, says some 1.5
million Christian Armenians were killed in what is now eastern Turkey
during World War One in a deliberate policy of genocide ordered by
the Ottoman government.

Ankara denies the killings constitute genocide and says many Muslim
Turks and Kurds were also put to death as Russian troops invaded
eastern Anatolia, often aided by Armenian militias.

The French Foreign Ministry stressed the draft law was not a government
initiative.

“Turkey is a key ally and partner for France. We attach the highest
value to our relations with Ankara, particularly on international
and regional affairs,” said ministry spokesman Bernard Valero.

Erdogan said common sense should prevail over political calculations,
a hint the draft law was aimed at securing the support of 500,000
French voters of Armenian descent in elections due in five months time.

“Turkish-French relations should not be held captive by the demands of
third parties,” Erdogan said. “This is a sensitive, serious subject.”

Turkey and Armenia signed a peace accord in 2009, agreeing to set up
a commission of international experts to examine the events of 1915,
restore diplomatic ties and open their border to trade, but neither
side has ratified the deal.

Turkey shut its border with Armenia in 1993 over Yerevan’s backing for
Armenian separatists fighting Turkic-speaking Azerbaijan for control of
Nagorno-Karabakh. Erdogan said at the time the deal with Armenia would
only go ahead if the frozen Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was resolved.

Turkey has increasingly flexed its rising economic and political muscle
on the world stage and in the Middle East as its economy continues
to show strong growth while Western Europe suffers a financial crisis.

From: A. Papazian

ARTHUR BAGHDASARYAN TO PARTAKE IN THE SITTING OF SCTO SECURITY COUNCIL SECRETARIES IN MOSCOW

armradio.am
17.12.2011 13:21

The delegation headed by Secretary of the National Security Council
of Armenia Arthur Baghdasaryan will leave for the Russian Federation
on December 19.

The delegation will participate in the sitting of the Committee
of National Security Secretaries of the Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO).

Within the framework of the visit Arthur Baghdasarayn will have a
meeting with the Secretary of the Russian National Security Council,
Nikolay Patrushev.

From: A. Papazian

Terror Charge Dropped For Dink’S Murderer

Hurriyet
Dec 17 2011
Turkey

Ogun Samast, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison for the murder
was released from the charge of “membership of a terror organization”.

An Istanbul court issued a verdict for the release of Ogun Samast,
the hitman who assassinated the Turkish – Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink in 2007, from the charge of “membership in a terror organization”
Dec. 16.

Chief Prosecutor Ali Demir requested Samast’s state of arrest be upheld
in light of the quality and nature of the charge, the existence of
strong criminal doubt and current evidence.

The defendant’s lawyer Levent Yýldýrým, however, requested an end
to his client’s continued state of arrest, arguing even if he were
to be convicted of the charge, the resulting sentence would still be
shorter than four years and 11 months; the length of time Samast has
already spent in prison, he said.

The court delegation ruled in the defendant’s favor and decided to
release him from the charge of “membership in a terror organization,”
citing a legal amendment regarding children and the amount of time
he had already spent behind bars.

Nevertheless, Samast will continue serving prison time as he has
already been formally convicted of premeditated murder.

Fethiye Cetin, one of the Dink family’s lawyers, said they requested
the court take measures to prevent the deletion of phone records
pertaining to the case after a lapse of five years. Upon the Dink
family’s lawyers’ request, the court had demanded phone records from
the vicinity of the crime scene from the Telecommunications Authority
(TÝB), but the TÝB had delayed for months before it delivered the
records in question.

Dink, a Turkish journalist of Armenian origin was shot in front of
his office in January 2007. The killer Ogun Samast was sentenced to
22 years in prison for the murder.

From: A. Papazian

BETWEEN SARKOZY AND ERDOGAN
HALA ELKHOLY

Hurriyet
Dec 17 2011
Turkey

Europe’s financial crisis remains to be solved. The continent is moving
towards a fiscal union, with mechanisms for short-term liquidity
provision taking shape. But there is still the issue of reigniting
the engines of growth in Europe’s economies.

This is a herculean task, directly related to changing the social
contract between Europe’s people and its governments.

It is not about French and the others being lazy, but about
dysfunctional laws on labor, retail and other outdated legislation on
industry. Sarkozy was elected to change the course of France. Remember
how enthusiastic the French business community was when he was
elected? Look where we are now: a global economic crisis, mounting
debts of French banks and no prospect of sustainable growth in Europe.

A couple of French banks were even downgraded recently, and the
country is about to lose its AAA plus sovereign debt rating.

While all this is going on, France’s president is focused on a bill
that would criminalize contesting the claims of Armenian Genocide.

Note France already legally declared the atrocities of 1915 as
genocide; they just thought they really needed another law banning the
criticism of this previous one. This explains why Sarkozy was warning
Turkey to accept the genocide claims by the year’s end when he was
in Armenia this October; he planned to bring this up again around
election time. So a new problem is looming between France and Turkey.

Its origin, however, does not lie in Anatolia, but in France’s
domestic politics.

France is due to hold a presidential election in 2012. Sarkozy is
trailing behind his socialist rival Hollande in opinion polls and
already has nothing to sell to the public. So he reached for his stash
of political tricks, found the genocide bill and automatically got a
boost of support from French Armenians. He knew of course, the first
day of voting is April 22, 2012, just two days before the memorial
day for Ottoman Armenians who lost their lives in the tragic events of
1915. This is classic provincial politics. Nicolas Sarkozy is acting
like any other center-right populist politician. It is not about the
Armenian identity, it is about winning the elections in 2012. Good
for him.

A few years back, Turkey’s consul general in Paris was taken to court
for text on the consulate website explaining Turkey’s version of 1915
atrocities. The court, however, did not pursue the matter, saying as
there is no law against the denial of an historical event deemed as
genocide by the French Parliament. Now they made the law. It makes
“denial of legally defined genocide” punishable, both by prison terms
and fines. Regardless of whether this is right or wrong, it will
most certainly impair Turkish-French relations. The French press is
currently not reporting on this, but they will surely react on Dec.

23, the day after the bill is due to pass against strong Turkish
opposition.

I can already feel the storm clouds gathering in Ankara. We all
know how it will play out. Prime Minister Erdogan will take the
opportunity to thunder on about the “decaying powers of Europe” and
their right-wing bigotry. It will be his comeback from the recent
calm days following his serious surgery. Did I say that Mr. Sarkozy
is the only center-right populist here? I must have forgotten about
Mr. Erdogan.

There are currently about a thousand French companies operating in
Turkey and about three hundred Turkish companies in France. They will
be the ones to suffer the center-right populism. Bad for globalization,
good for provincial politics.

From: A. Papazian

TURKISH BUSINESS ASSOCIATION SAYS BILL DOES NOT COMPLY WITH EUROPEAN VALUES

Anadolu Agency
Dec 16 2011
Turkey

Istanbul, 16 December: Turkish business association’s chairperson
has said that a French resolution criminalizing rejection of Armenian
allegations pertaining to the 1915 incidents did not comply with the
European values.

Speaking to AA correspondent on Friday, Turkish Industrialists’
and Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD) Chairperson Umit Boyner said
that the French parliament brought up the bill restricting freedom
of thought ahead of the presidential election in France.

Boyner said TUSIAD believed that parliaments could not replace the
judiciary in democratic states.

Meanwhile representatives from TUSIAD and the Union of Chambers
and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) will hold a series of
talks in France on 19 December regarding bill’s negative impacts on
Turkish-French business.

A French parliamentary commission adopted a resolution on Armenian
allegations regarding the 1915 incidents last week. The resolution
will be voted at the general assembly on 19 December.

The resolution envisages “one-year prison term and 45,000-euro fine
for those who deny genocide recognized by French laws”.

The French parliament ratified a resolution saying that “France
recognizes the Armenian genocide of 1915” on 29 January 2011.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN CROSS STONE PLACED IN RUSSIAN TOMSK CITY CENTRAL SQUARE

news.am
Dec 16 2011
Armenia

TOMSK. – In the square of the Epiphany Cathedral near the Central
Square in Russian Tomsk city an Armenian cross stone has been placed.

The monument consists of two stone crosses.

“We dedicate this monument to the centuries-old friendship of Armenia
and Russia. The Tomsk Duma approved the installation of the cross
stone,” Ruben Manukyan announced whose speech is quoted by Interfax
agency.

According to his words, the monument consists of two stone crosses.

Its height is 3 meters, and it weighs 150 kilograms.

According to official data, 2 thousand Armenians live in the region.

From: A. Papazian

EGYPT CULTURE DAYS IN YEREVAN

news.am
Dec 16 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – Armenia’s PM Tigran Sargsyan received the Egyptian
newly-appointed Ambassador to Armenia Mohammed Ala Eldin Saad el Leis.

“I am sure your actions will strengthen Armenian Egyptian relations,”
said the Armenian PM.

PM Sargsyan and the Egyptian Ambassador expressed their satisfaction
about cultural cooperation between Armenia and Egypt. Tigran Sargsyan
welcomed the idea to organize Egyptian days in Yerevan. In the
framework of Egypt days in Yerevan 2 ballet performances of Egypt’s
Opera and Ballet Theatre performed, many Egyptian films presented.

Also an art exhibition presenting works of Egyptian artists has
been organized.

From: A. Papazian