Author: Andres-Papazian

RAFIK PETROSYAN: RPA WILL NOT BE DEFEATED TO ANY OTHER PARTY

ARMENPRESS
NOVEMBER 3, 2011
YEREVAN

Each member of the Republican Party of Armenia faction may become head
of the RPA headquarter, representative of the RPA Rafik Petrosyan
said at the meeting with the reporters today. Hovik Abrahamyan
showed that he heads these works at his best, he said. “Talks are
being circulating about resignations of different peoples but there
are no such things inside the party,” the RPA representative said,
adding that the shifts of offices are not excluded.

Referring to the possible return of Gagik Beglaryan, he noted that
more than anyone else he may intensify the works. “One must not get an
office to serve for the party, it is necessary to serve without it,”
he said.

The RPA representative said the RPA did not have concerns in any kind
of elections and will not have, it will win. Petrosyan concluded that
the RPA will not be defeated to any other party.

From: A. Papazian

EDWARD NALBANDIAN SAYS NO EMOTIONS NEEDED CONNECTED WITH AZERBAIJAN’S BECOMING NON- PERMANENT MEMBER OF THE UN SC

ARMENPRESS
NOVEMBER 3, 2011
YEREVAN

Recently quite sensitive statements have been voiced connected with
Azerbaijan’s becoming non-permanent member of the UN Security Council,
Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian stated at the National
Assembly today, adding that there is no need to treat it with such
emotions.

As to the transfer of the NK issue to the Security Council, Nalbandian
said the co-chairing countries are permanent members of the Security
Council and have many times stated that the issue must be solved within
the framework of the OSCE Minsk group and not be transferred to other
platforms. “I think the clear response has been given and there is
no need to fall into senses because of statements of Azerbaijan,”
the minister stressed.

To say that becoming of the member of the Security Council witnesses
that the international community assists the decision of Azerbaijan
is not right, Nalbandian stressed. “Today Azerbaijan has put itself
in a deadlock as the international community has already expressed its
decision that corresponds to the one of Armenia and not Azerbaijan’s,”
the minister stressed.

He said these opinions have been expressed on the highest levels in
L’Aquila, Muskoka, Deauville as well as within the framework of the
OSCE – in Athens, Helsinki, Almaty and Astana. “And during the Kazan
meeting Baku rejected the presented documents,” the minister reminded,
stressing that Armenia’s positions coincide with the statements and
documents and on their basis our country is ready to continue the
talks and solve the issue.

“Armenia will continue the balanced policy connected with the NK
conflict settlement, establishment of stability in the region and
good-neighborly relations,” Nalbandian pointed out.

From: A. Papazian

NEO-CONS PUSHING WORLD WAR III VIA SYRIA REGIME-CHANGE FANTASIES

November 3, 2011

EIR – This release was issued today by the Lyndon LaRouche Political
Action Committee (LaRouche PAC).

The usual neo-con suspects are craving regime change in Syria,
totally ignoring the prospect that such an action could trigger an
out-of-control series of events leading to general war. In the past
72 hours, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP),
the think tank spawn of AIPAC, published a blunt call for a public
debate on how to conduct regime change in Syria.

The WINEP paper, “Implications of Military Intervention in Syria,”
was written by Jeffrey White, the resident warrior at WINEP, who was a
Defense Intelligence Agency Middle East officer, after an active duty
military career. White’s three-page memo reviewed the pros and cons
of NATO or U.S. military intervention, proposed the idea of no-fly
zones or liberated areas, covert arming of domestic opposition forces,
and other means of foreign-assisted regime change. The concluding
paragraph adequately summarized his recommendations:

“Unquestionably, military intervention in Syria on any significant
scale would be a complicated and arduous course of action with some
risks. But not intervening in the face of the regime’s now fully
revealed violent and repressive nature carries its own dangers and,
likely, adverse consequences. Either way, the United States and its
allies should begin discussing the issue publicly now-a vigorous
debate would itself serve as an important signal to the regime.”

Two days later, The Atlantic reprinted a similar call for regime
change from Elliott Abrams, that originally appeared last week on the
website of the Council on Foreign Relations. Abrams’ screed lacked any
of the pretensions of military expertise of White’s paper, and peddled
a much more aggressive mandate for immediate regime change in Syria.

“The goal of U.S. policy,” he wrote, “should be to end the violence,
bring down the Assad regime, and lay the bases for a stable democratic
system with protection for the Alawite, Kurdish, and Christian
minorities.” Abrams’ recipe for regime change was reminiscent of the
neo-con fantasies about Iraq prior to the March 2003 invasion-isolate
Assad, win the Syrian business community over by imposing strict
European and Turkish sanctions, recruit the generals to bring down
Assad, and even consider the option of an Alawite coup d’etat against
the Assad family.

The folly of these regime-change-in-a-box schemes is that they bear no
resemblance to the actual situation on the ground, or the potential
consequences of another NATO or U.S. military intervention into the
Arab and Islamic world. Sane military sources have warned that another
action like Libya, would bring the entire Islamic world out against
the United States in particular, and would cause incalculable chaos
on the global economic front. The entire region from the Eastern
Mediterranean to South Asia could wind up in flames.

From: A. Papazian

KARABAKH TELECOM INTERNET SUBSCRIBERS’ NUMBER HIT 5000

PanARMENIAN.Net
November 4, 2011 – 19:18 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – With the number of Karabakh Telecom internet
subscribers increasing each day, Deputy General Georges Terterian
met the 5000th subscriber, Stepanakert resident Arevhat Hakobyan to
award her with HP Mini netbook.

As Mr. Terterian further noted, the main goal of Karabakh Telecom was
to improve the customer service quality and provide more affordable
tariffs.

Starting November 2010 through 2011, Karabakh Telecom decreased its
internet tariffs by 40 times, also organising successful promotion
campaigns resulting in growth of the number of subscribers from 486
to 5000 within 6 months.

From: A. Papazian

OVER THE OSCE MONITORING AZERBAIJAN DID NOT LEAD A GROUP OF OBSERVERS TO THE FRONT LINE

arminfo
Friday, November 4, 18:26

On November 4, according the agreement reached with the authorities
of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic earlier, the OSCE Mission held a
scheduled monitoring at the line of contact between NKR and Azerbaijani
armed forces in the Askeran direction.

On the side of the NKR Defense Army, the monitoring was held
by the Coordinator of the OSCE Office Imre Palatinus (Hungary)
and Field Assistants to the Personal Representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office Christo Christov (Bulgaria) and Marius Puodziunas
(Lithuania).

On the opposite side, the monitoring group included Field Assistants
of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Antal
Herdich (Hungary) and William Prior (Great Britain).

During the monitoring, no violations of the ceasefire were reported.

The Azerbaijani party did not lead the OSCE Mission to the earlier
agreed point line, as a result of which the OSCE monitoring groups
had to conduct the monitoring from a more distant site.

On the side of Karabakh, the monitoring mission was accompanied by
representatives of the NKR Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense.

From: A. Papazian

STEPANAKERT AIRPORT’S RUNWAY AND LIGHTING PASS TESTING

Tert
18:35 ~U 04.11.11

The runway and the lighting system of the newly-built airport in
Nagorno Karabakh’s capital of Stepanakert have already been tested.

Now the airport’s new runway is relatively larger than initially
built so that that airport will be able to receive bigger aircrafts.

For the time being the airport will organize flight from Stepanakert
to Yerevan and vice versa.

The construction of the Stepanakert Airport started in 2008 and the
airport was initially planned to start operation on May 9, but was,
however, delayed for some technical reasons.

Following the news about the operation of the airport Azerbaijan warned
that it would be an illegitimate use of “Azerbaijan’s air space”.

Azerbaijani aviation authorities also warned that the country would
have to take measures to prevent it.

Armenia retaliated with President Serzh Sargsyan said he would be
the first passenger of the first Yerevan-Stepanakert flight.

From: A. Papazian

JUDGE REFUSES TO TOSS ARMENIAN CHURCH BIBLE SUIT

(AP)
4 Nov 2011

LOS ANGELES (AP) – A Los Angeles judge has refused to dismiss an
Armenian church lawsuit demanding that the J. Paul Getty Museum return
pages ripped from a sacred Armenian Bible dating back to 1256.

Superior Court Judge Abraham Khan on Thursday denied Getty’s motion to
dismiss the claim and ordered four months of mediation involving Getty
and the Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America,
which sued in June 2010.

The lawsuit says the church had the Bible authenticated in 1947 or
1948 and it was returned with more than a half-dozen pages missing.

Getty officials say the pages were legally acquired in 1994 from an
anonymous private collector.

The Los Angeles Times ( ) reports museum attorneys
argued the lawsuit filing deadline expired decades ago.

The judge ordered mediation and another hearing on March 2 if the case
isn’t settled, saying he’s unclear on the statute of limitations issue.

From: A. Papazian

TURKEY IS AZERBAIJAN’S HOSTAGE

yerkir.am
17:28 – 04.11.2011

“There’s no movement in Armenian-Turkish relationships and is not
expected to happen in near future”, said turkologist Hakob Chaqryan
during his press conference.

He believes that the Armenian-Turkish protocols wouldn’t be at all if
Serzh Sargsyan hadn’t invited Abdullah Gul within frameworks of the
“Football diplomacy”. Public tension would also not exist.

Chaqryan believes that that Turkish Parliament wouldn’t even come
close to the protocols.

“They agenda are all booked up with the new Constitutional bills”,
said turcologist and added that Turkey is Azerbaijan’s hostage.

“Although Karabakh main issue has a huge role in the Armenian-Turkish
relationships, in the mean time it is obvious that Turkey doesn’t
want Armenia to prosper”, said he.

The international excitement on this issue won’t do any good to
this process.

“Turkey has a lot to haggle as if the international society demands
from Turkey the regulations with Armenia then Turkey will demand
something else from Syria”, he said.

From: A. Papazian

REGIME DEVOURS ITSELF
ARMAN GALOYAN

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 17:36:10 – 04/11/2011

Interview with Levon Zurabyan, coordinator of the Armenian National
Congress, on recent government reshuffle and Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s
speech in the latest rally

What are your thoughts on the government reshuffle? The impression
is that Serzh Sargsyan is strengthening himself before the national
elections.

He is trying to strengthen himself because his position is seriously
endangered by the deep internal crisis. Although the oligarchy itself
has inaugurated Serzh Sargsyan as a president who would serve their
interests, the regime is gradually losing confidence in his ability
to hold power. Some lords and oligarchs are worried that Serzh
Sargsyan’s government has failed, and it was never able to repress
the popular movement in the past four years, and he will finally give
power to the opposition. They worry about their wealth, property, the
continuity of the cleptocracy. As a result, an oligarchic “opposition”
to Serzh Sargsyan has emerged inside the regime, and this opposition
has worked out the plan to replace him by someone who is more capable,
who would hold the stirring wheel of the government more firmly.

Do you mean Robert Kocharyan?

Not necessarily though most authors of the conspiracy think so.

However, the government, the oligarchy are overwhelmed by lack of
confidence. Every now and then we learn different oligarchs say in
private talks not to trust Serzh Sargsyan. As a result, he is now
weaker, and is trying to prevent the conspiracy through reshuffle,
create a platform of loyal persons and move towards the elections with
all the leverages in the hands of people who are loyal to him. This is
what he is trying to do. In addition, it means that the conflict with
the conspirators will be tough, even if there is a temporary ceasefire,
the confrontation will continue until the rival is annihilated. Now
everyone who could be involved in the conspiracy is removed.

In fact, the regime has started devouring itself. I think it only
strengthens people’s confidence in the strategy chosen by the Armenian
National Congress, the popular movement. It shows that the strategy
of flexible policy was right.

Why did Serzh Sargsyan’s son-in-law Michael Minasyan resign then and
appointed as deputy head of the election staff of the Republican Party?

On the one hand, Serzh Sargsyan needs to render harmless his rivals.

On the other hand, he cannot allow the society think that the
coalition is collapsing. Therefore, those dismissed are appointed to
some positions to make the impression that the team is intact. Hovik
Abrahamyan’s appointment as head of election staff is intended to
prove that everything is fine with the team but everyone understands
that there is no need to resign from the post of speaker, especially
that there is a lot of time to go till the next elections. Michael
Minasyan’s resignation and appointment as Hovik Abrahamyan’s deputy
has two purposes: a) relieve the impression that non-loyal elements
are removed, b) take under control the activities of the election
staff because there is no confidence in Hovik Abrahamyan.

Will the situation in the government influence the tactics of the
opposition?

Certainly it will influence our tactics. Any serious political force
must follow and react to the internal processes. We foresaw this
process a long time ago and now it has started. And it means that
the popular movement stands growing chances to win. We must follow
these developments without weakening our pressure.

The Armenian National Congress also demanded the resignation of those
who resigned on these days. Will your attitude to Serzh Sargsyan
change if your demand is met?

Let us not forget that all these changes take place under the
pressure of the movement. Without our movement, without constant
pressure lasting for four years running, which worries the oligarchy,
the regime would not lose its confidence in Serzh Sargsyan. And no
conspiracy would occur against him. It means that in reality the
movement dictates all the processes. So, all these processes take
place, and the resignations we demanded happen under the pressure of
the movement.

From: A. Papazian

KOCHARYAN IN FREEDOM SQUARE
HAKOB BADALYAN

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 13:17:23 – 04/11/2011

If the second president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan intends to return
to politics, then Serzh Sargsyan seems to leave no other way to him
but the Freedom Square.

The point is that Serzh Sargsyan seems to have effectively closed the
internal-governmental “landslides”. Perhaps, it will be impossible
for Robert Kocharyan to come to power the way he did in 1998.

The point is that in 1998 he came to power with Serzh Sargsyan. In
other words, not only Kocharyan but also Sargsyan knows this way
pretty well. Consequently, Sargsyan knows how to ensure its safety.

It remains to Robert Kocharyan to go to the Freedom Square and
voice about his intention to destroy the “state of bandits”. But,
as we know, the square is already occupied by Levon Ter-Petrosyan,
who would hardly cede it to Robert Kocharyan.

It can happen whenever Serzh Sargsyan will want to see in the square
not Ter-Petrosyan but Kocharyan. Sargsyan could solve serious political
issues by cooperating with Ter-Petrosyan because Ter-Petrosyan
possesses political resources.

Kocharyan does not have this resource. Kocharyan’s resource is within
the government and the government cannot cooperate with the government.

The vivid example is Russia – the Putin-Medvedev issues had to be
resolved in favor of any of them because if this issue remained
on the agenda for another four years, it could have destroyed the
“governmental vertical”.

In totalitarian governments, the authorities do not tolerate
counterbalance to the government and prefer the pyramid – the
“vertical” line.

However, after leaving the office of president, Robert Kocharyan used
all the possible occasions to hint that he will not accept this logic.

For instance, when Kocharyan was at the top of the pyramid, Sargsyan
waited patiently for his turn, and he started to show signs of
disobedience to Kocharyan when intentions to break the “order” were
noticed, and the Bargavach Hayastan party and Vardan Oskanyan became
more active in the political field.

“If you want others to obey you, you need to obey too,” said Serzh
Sargsyan in 2006, when he was elected President of the Republican
Board, dwelling on his relations with Kocharyan.

Kocharyan has different ideas on obedience, and here he does not accept
the principle of “barter”- “a hand washes a hand” – but the rule of
“power” – don’t obey me if you can.

Robert Kocharyan is evidently trying not to obey Serzh Sargsyan which
naturally should push Sargsyan for responsive steps trying to cut
the knots inside government which would enable Kocharyan to manage
the system like a marionette.

Many have the false impression that Serzh Sargsyan-Robert Kocharyan
contradiction, competition or the clash of interests, if any, would
have been expressed through visible confrontation and clashes, if
these lack, there is no conflict or clash of interests.

In reality, this is the superficial vision of the situation. Surely,
Serzh Sargsyan and Robert Kocharyan have common interests too which
are no less important than contrary interests. Consequently, issues
between them could not be expressed in an evident manner, at least now.

Here, the ideas, abilities and experience of Kocharyan are almost
equal, which gives the advantage to the side which has more de jure
leverage, such as international support.

Here, for Kocharyan, the only way is public support in terms of public
policy application. The Freedom Square is occupied, while it will be
difficult to conduct a public policy in elite buildings.

The most optimal version for Kocharyan is the silence and the
expectation of a mistake or pause by Serzh Sargsyan.

From: A. Papazian