Author: Andres-Papazian

NOUVEL APPEL DE MOURAD PAPAZIAN A VOTER POUR FRANCOIS HOLLANDE
Ara ©armenews.com

armenews.com
vendredi 14 octobre 2011

INTERVIEW

Dans cette interview pour armenews.com le copresident de la FRA-Europe
justifie et reitère le soutien de son parti a Francois Hollande :
Armenews : Sur quels arguments fondez vous votre soutien a Francois
Hollande.

Mourad Papazian : Jamais aucun chef de parti dans le monde ne
s’est autant mobilise que Francois Hollande en faveur de la cause
armenienne. En tant que 1er secretaire du PS, Francois Hollande a eu
un rôle determinant dans le cadre de l’action pour la reconnaissance
du genocide armenien par la France. En 1998, alors que Lionel Jospin
est 1er Ministre, Francois Hollande reussit a le convaincre de la
necessite de laisser le Parlement legiferer, en depit des menaces
de la Turquie. Il a use de toute son influence auprès du chef du
gouvernement et le genocide a pu etre reconnu par la France. Lorsqu’il
a fallu combattre le negationnisme du genocide armenien, il s’est
personnellement implique, alors que le groupe socialiste etait divise
sur la question, pour tenir la promesse qu’il avait faite a la FRA. Et
le groupe socialiste deposa la proposition de loi anti-negationniste
dans une niche socialiste. Et la proposition de loi fut votee a
l’Assemblee nationale en 2006. Sur la question de l’adhesion de la
Turquie a l’union europeenne, nous avons eu de longs debats et Francois
Hollande a reussi a imposer l’idee qu’il ne peut y avoir de Turquie
dans l’Europe sans reconnaissance prealable du genocide armenien.

Sur la question du Karabagh, il a exprime la necessite de regler la
question en respectant le principe de l’autodetermination du Karabagh.

Il est alle en Armenie en 2007, a l’invitation du Bureau mondial
de la FRA. Nous avons avec Francois Hollande des relations de
proximite et d’intimite politiques exceptionnelles. Nos contacts
sont quasi-quotidiens. Si Francois Hollande devenait President de
la Republique, les Francais d’origine armenienne auraient un ami a
l’Elysee. C’est la raison pour laquelle, nous avons decide de mettre
toute notre energie pour aider Francois Hollande a gagner les primaires
socialistes avant d’etre elu President de la Republique.

C’est la raison pour laquelle nous appelons les Francais d’origine
armenienne a se mobiliser en masse dimanche 16 octobre en faveur de
Francois Hollande.

Armenews :Comment reagissez-vous aux declarations de Nicolas Sarkozy
a Erevan.

Mourad Papazian : Nous saluons la posture du President de la
Republique francaise. Appeler la Turquie a reconnaître la realite du
genocide armenien est un acte fort. Il a rappele que si la Turquie ne
reconnaissait pas le genocide armenien avant la fin de son mandat,
il conviendrait alors de tout mettre en oeuvre pour faire voter la
loi penalisant la negation du genocide armenien. Il est necessaire de
preciser au President de la Republique que nous ne nous contenterons
pas d’une nouvelle promesse electorale. Rappelons qu’en avril 2007,
le candidat Sarkozy, alors en campagne presidentielle, avait pris
l’engagement, par ecrit, dans une lettre au CCAF, de tout mettre
en oeuvre pour que la France vote la loi penalisant la negation
du genocide armenien. Quelques semaines plus tard, il depechait
Jean-David Levitte a Ankara pour rassurer le gouvernement turc et
prendre l’engagement que la loi serait enterree au Senat. Rappelons
qu’au moment où Nicolas Sarkozy etait en Armenie, Claude Gueant
avait fait le voyage a Ankara. Pourquoi ? Alors nous attendons
des actes desormais de la part de Nicolas Sarkozy. Faire de belles
declarations en Armenie ne suffit pas. Nous voulons des actes. Nous
sommes d’accord avec Patrick Devedjian qui, hier matin a l’antenne de
Ayp Fm a declare que les reactions du gouvernement turc aux propos de
Nicolas Sarkozy suffisaient a demontrer que l’Etat turc n’avait pas
du tout l’intention de reconnaître le genocide armenien. Il appelait
ainsi le President de la Republique a legiferer très rapidement. Nous
rejoignons Patrick Devedjian. Ne soyons pas naïfs, ce gouvernement
organise, orchestre, finance le negationnisme du genocide armenien
depuis près de 10 ans. Il ne va pas, subitement, reconnaître le
genocide armenien en quelques mois. Soyons clairs : le President
Sarkozy devra prendre l’initiative de faire voter cette loi avant
les vacances parlementaires, soit avant le 21 fevrier 2012. Il aura
ainsi respecte son engagement de Erevan. Dans l’hypothèse inverse,
il aura, de nouveau, menti a la communaute armenienne.

Armenews : L’implication directe de la communaute armenienne dans
les jeux politiques electoraux ne comporte-t-elle pas un risque de
manipulation et de division ?

Mourad Papazian : Je pense, au contraire, que nous ne sommes pas
assez present dans la vie politique francaise. Nous avons joue un rôle
decisif auprès du Parti socialiste. Et c’est grâce a cette presence qui
est reelle amis insuffisante que nous avons engrange les victoires en
faveur de la cause armenienne. J’ai evoque la mobilisation de Francois
Hollande a nos côtes, mais je peux egalement rappeler la presence
de Francois Mitterrand qui, en tant que President, avait reconnu
le genocide armenien le 7 janvier 1984. Nous avons eu de nombreux
ministres, dans les gouvernements socialistes qui ont temoigne de
leur soutien a la cause armenienne. C’est grâce a notre action dans
le monde politique en France. Mais nous ne sommes pas suffisamment
nombreux a nous impliquer sur le plan politique. Nous devons nous
engager de plus en plus dans la vie publique.

Armenews : La presence de Pierre Moscovici, membre du groupe d’amitie
France-Turquie a l’Assemblee nationale, ou encore le ralliement de
Jack Lang a Francois Hollande ne vous posent-ils pas problème ?

Mourad Papazian : Nous faisons partie des premiers soutiens de Francois
Hollande alors que sa position dans les sondages ne provoquait ni
l’envie ni la jalousie de ses concurrents. Francois Hollande le
sait parfaitement et sa participation au meeting d’Alfortville le
26 septembre dernier aux côtes de la FRA Dachnaktsoutioun est un
geste fort qui temoigne de son attachement a la cause armenienne. Un
attachement qui n’est pas recent et qui est profond. Tous les amis
de Francois Hollande en sont conscients. Y compris Pierre Moscovici
avec qui nous avons des contacts reguliers.

Il nous connait parfaitement. Il etait secretaire aux relations
internationales au PS lorsque Francois Hollande etait 1er secretaire.

Et cela n’a pas empeche Francois Hollande de prendre, a cette epoque,
les engagements les plus forts, les plus porteurs, ceux qui ont permis
a la cause armenienne d’avancer en France. Nous avons eu de longs
debats avec Pierre Moscovici et j’ai le sentiment que nous en aurons
de nouveaux. Cela fait partie de la demarche politique que d’accepter
le debat. C’est en debattant que nous nous ferons entendre et que nous
aurons une chance de convaincre. Mais Pierre Moscovici ne met pas en
cause la realite du genocide armenien. Il a regulièrement ecrit sur le
sujet. Quant a Jack Lang son ralliement est vraiment trop recent pour
le commenter, mais nous aurons aussi l’occasion de debattre avec lui.

Et je voudrais ajouter que la grande majorite des amis socialistes
de la cause armenienne en France soutiennent Francois Hollande. Nous,
c’est Francois Hollande que nous soutenons. Et je peux vous le dire :
l’interet de la cause armenienne est que Francois Hollande devienne
President de la Republique.

From: A. Papazian

FIRST MCDONALD’S TO OPEN IN ARMENIA SOON

Mediamax, Armenia
Oct 13 2011

Yerevan/Mediamax/. The first McDonald’s fast food restaurant will open
in Armenia in the nearest future, the Director of “Dalma Garden Mall”
Edgar Khachatryan told Mediamax today.

“Tashir Group is currently holding negotiations with McDonald’s
representatives in Russia but they haven’t reached the phase for the
American representatives to visit Armenia yet”, he said.

Edgar Khachatryan said that Tashir Group will bring McDonald’s to
Armenia based on a franchise contract and assured that it will soon
be available.

McDonald’s restaurant will open in “Dalma” trade and entertainment
center.

From: A. Papazian

KIM KARDASHIAN FINDS DUBAI WOMEN “GORGEOUS”

Emirates 24/7
Oct 13 2011

Starlet is in town with mother to launch UAE’s first branch of
‘Millions of Milkshakes’

Kim Kardashian, the Armenian-American businesswoman, socialite,
television personality, model, and actress, who has herself wowed
crowds across the world with her beauty, finds Dubai women “gorgeous”.

“Seriously the woman in Dubai are sooo gorgeous!!! I’m sure
@RobKardashian is so jealous he didn’t come w me! WOW these woman
are beautiful!” Kim tweeted at 11.50am UAE time as she spoke to the
media about the Dubai launch of her “Millions of Milkshakes” venture.

Kim arrived in Dubai yesterday and said she is in awe of the place as
she checked into the Atlantis Hotel on the Palm Jumeirah islands. “Wow
I’m in such awe over Dubai! My hotel is so insane, can’t wait to do
some blogs & show u guys! Too much to tweet! I’m obsessed with Dubai!”

she tweeted yesterday.

“View from my room is insane! Dubai is simply beautiful!” she said,
adding a twitpic of the view this morning.

Kim arrived at Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai on Wednesday morning on
her first-ever visit to the Middle East.

She is in the UAE with her mother Kris Jenner. Mother and daughter
are set to open the UAE’s first branch of ‘Millions of Milkshakes’,
on October 14th at The Dubai Mall in partnership with UAE exclusive
franchise holder Emirates Hospitality Group.

Kim and Kris will remain in the UAE until Sunday 16th October.

Following the opening, fans are invited to ‘An Audience with Kim
Kardashian’ live at The Dubai Mall, where mother and daughter will
appear at a live interview.

From: A. Papazian

FOUR DAYS, THREE GAMES
by Brian de Salvo

ExtraTime.ie, Ireland
Oct 13 2011

Brian de Salvo has been watching the drama unfold, from Shamrock
Rovers playing fast and loose with the Airtricity title to Ireland
getting their hands on a European play off place.

What’re you doing here?” grinned Pat Devlin. Since it was Mr Devlin
who rekindled my interest in Irish soccer a decade ago you might
argue he was implicated in my promotion from the press area.

“Here” was the President’s Box at the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday and
I was present on “diplomatic” business. In researching my Sweeper
column for the programme I had contacted Ohan Yergainharson the
Honorary Consul for Armenia only to discover he didn’t have a ticket
for the European Qualifier. With a disregard for protocol that Mick
Wallace would have admired I immediately appointed myself “honorary”
FAI liaison officer, obtained tickets for the Consul and his admirable
Irish wife Yvonne and, while I was at it, procured one for myself.

At the match I was soon an “honorary” member of the Armenian contingent
headed by H. E. Ambassador Karine Kazimian, a lady whose diminutive
size is complemented by an effervescent personality. The Armenians
were in remarkably good spirits considering that the turning point
of the match was the sending off of their goalkeeper for a handling
offence he may not have committed.

The on pitch drama aside, a visit to the impressive Aviva stadium
on a vibrant match day is a memorable event. I thought back to old
internationals in Dalymount with kids risking life and limb jumping
up and down on the corrugated iron roof at the shed end. I was in
Phibsborough last Saturday, housed in the comfort of the modern
Jody stand to watch Bohemians coast to victory against a UCD team
that had won their last three games on the trot, the first against
Bohs. This time their collective inexperience betrayed them; they had
no inspirational presence to match Bohs skipper Owen Heary although
it was youngsters Keith Buckley, Ryan McEvoy and Chris Forrester who
captured the limelight usually the preserve of the Students. With
everything that has gone on at Dalymount in recent times you have to
admire Pat Fenlon who has proved successful in hard times as well as
good and, incidentally, contributed an excellent assessment of the
international side’s performance in the Irish Times. By which I mean
his opinions matched my own, of course, but if he penned the piece
himself his writing skills are also impressive!

On Sunday afternoon I was at Bray where a packed house saw an
interesting encounter. I love the atmosphere at domestic football.

Prior to the game I encounter Damian Richardson and we engage in a
mutual admiration society in praise of the Pats keeper Gary Rogers.

Such a commanding figure, I say, and now so agile for a big man.

Credit to his goalkeeping coach Brian O’Shea, whose talents we have
recently lost to the USA I believe. Rogers brings no baggage into the
dressing room, adds Damian. True. I once called him Pat by mistake
immediately after Pats had lost 2-0 and he still spoke to me!

Time for a quick word with Jim Magilton, who is politeness personified
considering it’s close to kick off. Shamrock Rovers start as though
they know they are the best club in the country but Wanderers rally
in the second half to equalise and you begin to wonder from the Hoops
response whether they realise that the title is up for grabs here.

Eventually Sheppard rounds off a performance to match his lime green
dayglo boots with a last gasp winner and Sligo’s Paul Cook makes for
the car park. It’s frustrating for Bray too but the whole thing is
put into perspective when a small child runs on to greet home keeper
Darren Quigley as he leaves the arena. The experience of Irish football
is more enriching than the game itself but what is often not credited
is the excellence of the match entertainment at its core.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA AIR GRIEVANCES

Soccerway
Oct 13 2011

Armenia have formally complained to UEFA over refereeing decisions in
their Euro 2012 qualifying defeat to the Republic of Ireland. Armenia
have formally complained to UEFA over refereeing decisions in their
Euro 2012 qualifying defeat to the Republic of Ireland.

Needing to beat Ireland if they were to finish second in Group B and
reach the qualifying play-offs, Armenia instead lost 2-1 in Dublin
on Tuesday.

They lost Roman Berezovsky to a harsh red card in the 26th minute after
the goalkeeper was deemed to have handled the ball outside the box,
when he appeared to have used his chest.

Ireland striker Simon Cox also went unpunished after handling the
ball in the build-up to Berezovsky’s sending off.

The Armenian Football Association (FFA) have since confirmed they
will be lodging an official protest with European football’s governing
body, UEFA.

The incident has drawn parallels with Ireland’s FIFA World Cup play-off
defeat to France in November 2009.

Striker Thierry Henry visibly handled the ball in the build-up to
France’s winning goal in the second leg of their play-off at the
Stade de France, a result that saw Ireland miss out on last year’s
tournament in South Africa.

A somewhat outlandish conspiracy theory suggests UEFA may have been
attempting to atone for the injustice suffered by Ireland by favouring
the team on Tuesday.

But FFA chief Ruben Airapetyan has dismissed the theory out of hand.

“Trust me, I would never think or believe that it would be possible
for UEFA to give such instructions to the referee,” Airapetyan said.

Ireland have been drawn against Estonia in a two-leg play-off to reach
next year’s European Championship finals in Poland and the Ukraine.

From: A. Papazian

THE BATTLE FOR FRENCH, TURKISH CITIZENS’ MINDS

Hurriyet, Turkey
Oct 13 2011

With low approval ratings and the French welfare state model in
crisis, President Nicolas Sarkozy is a busy and desperate man. The
Yerevan declaration warning Turkey to read Ottoman history the way
France officially does was not only a shameful display of electoral
opportunism. It also highlighted the threat posed by politicians to
the principles of freedom of speech and thought even in so-called
advanced democracies.

The perfect “statist” storm is brewing in France. The spiraling debt
crisis, deepening global recession and upcoming national elections
are combining to consolidate a deeply rooted tradition of state
interventionism at the expense of individual and economic freedoms.

Not content with l’Etat controversially dictating thoughts on
sensitive points of French history to its citizens with memory laws,
the president took the opportunity of a foreign stage to threaten
intervention in Turkish minds too.

A few inconvenient facts: The 2001 law whereby “France recognizes
the Armenian genocide” was passed in the National Assembly with 28
deputies casting a ballot out of 577. That a parliament would write
the history of other nations is contentious enough. But as the latest
episode of presidential diplomatic buzz made painfully obvious once
again, legislating on the Armenian tragedy has little to do with
history. Rather it is about the search for votes among the small but
well-organized Armenian community.

The president’s threat to revive the bill criminalizing the denial
of the “genocide” – incidentally buried by the Senat last May –
was also meant to upset the Turks. It did. Given that the Socialist
Party motion was defeated by the ruling UMP, the situation now verges
on the politically absurd. Worryingly for democracy, it reveals that
in the current “hyper presidential” system the executive can ignore
recommendations by the legislature.

The National Assembly report (2008) cannot have escaped the
attention of the government’s Armenia “adviser,” the staunchly
Armenian nationalist Patrick Devedjian. In short, “memory laws”
and the criminalization proposal pose risks of un-constitutionality,
abridgement of fundamental freedoms, disguised censorship through the
threat of legal action, creation of a precedent for thought crime,
restriction of the fundamental principle of freedom of scholarship.

The report’s conclusion is unambiguous: “It is not the role of
Parliament to write history.”

Legal scholars appealed for their annulment. Historians have
united in the battle against state-edicted truths. Professor
Pierre Nora, president of the association Liberte pour l’histoire
(), does not mince his words. “Legal truth is a
practice of totalitarian regimes.” France is not the Soviet Union but
like Russia its politicians write history. One has to wonder what the
“hyper” leader has in mind for thought-crime offenders? Throwing
thousands of Turks in overcrowded French prisons to purge the one
year sentence? Labor camps to pay for the 45,000 euros fine and plug
the budget deficit?

Unfortunately this is no storm in a cup of tea. With all candidates
having hit the campaign trail, there is a real danger that the
proposal will resurface. Clearly the Armenian tragedy is too serious
and sensitive a subject to be left to politicians. However some rose
to the occasion by standing for liberty. Senator Josselin de Rohan
(UMP) deserves praise for his integrity. “The proposal,” he stated,
“undermines liberty. It is inquisitorial and obscurantist.” Where do
we go from here?

* Sophie Quintin Adali is an analyst for the French classical liberal
think tank UnMondeLibre.org. The opinions expressed are those of the
author only.

From: A. Papazian

AZERBAIJAN, TURKEY DISCUSS MILITARY COOPERATION

Trend, Azerbaijan
Oct 13 2011

The delegation led by Turkish Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz, who is on
an official visit to Azerbaijan, met with Azerbaijani Defense Minister,
Colonel General Safar Abiyev on Oct. 13, Azerbaijani Defense Ministry
press service reported.

At the enlarged meeting, Abiyev congratulated Yilmaz on his appointment
as minister and wished successes in his activities.

The ministers exchanged view on the prospects of military cooperation
between the two countries.

Discussing the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
the ministers especially stated that the time has come to withdraw
Armenian occupation army from the Azerbaijani lands and restore the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

Abiyev said that although negotiations continue for peaceful settlement
of the conflict, there is no concrete result yet and Armenia continues
its aggressive policy. He said, in such situation, there is no other
way for Azerbaijan except preparing its armed forces seriously.

Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan Hulusi Kilic also attended the
meeting.

From: A. Papazian

GEORGIA AND ARMENIA UNITE CUSTOMS SYSTEMS

Azerbaijan Business Center
Oct 13 2011

Baku, Fineko/abc.az. Georgia and Armenia unite customs systems unite
national customs systems under support of European Union.

The statement from Georgian media says that at the working session on
customs reforms implementation issues in Armenia Chairman of Armenian
Committee on State revenues Gagik Khachatryan said that creation of
single customs control will enable to simplify work of checkpoints on
the border between Armenia and Georgia as well as facilitate custom
processing procedure.

” To facilitate customs procedure Armenia under support of EU is
planning to hold reconstruction and upgrade of customs checkpoints
on Armenian-Georgian border”,- Gagik Khachatryan stressed.

Design estimate documentation gas already been worked out and soon
a tender will be announced on upgrade of existing checkpoints.

From: A. Papazian

SUKHOI SUPERJET 100 OF ARMAVIA: 1000 HOURS IN THE AIR

ENP Newswire
October 12, 2011 Wednesday

Moscow – The Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) of Armavia scored 1,000
flight hours in revenue flights.

The milestone was reached during the SSJ100 flight U8-151 performed
on route Yerevan – Amsterdam on October 9 2011.

Since entering commercial service on April 21, 2011 the SSJ100 of
Armavia carried more than 21,000 passengers and covered distance
more than 650,000 kilometers. SSJ100 of Armavia performs flights from
Yerevan to 27 airports in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Western and South
Europe and Middle East. Most flights were performed at 35000 – 39000ft
altitude, at the speed of 0.78-0.8 M. The highest daily utilization
reached 16.5 flight hours while the biggest distance exceeded 4,000
kilometers on route Yerevan – Madrid.

Such perfect result of the initial phase of the commercial operation
of the brand new Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft was achieved due to
the efficient activity of Armavia’s flight and technician staff and
proper support from Sukhoi Civil Aircraft and SuperJet International.

‘This stage showed that the SSJ100 is competitive and has a great
resource for excellence. It can make the aircraft very attractive for
customers and operators’, said the owner of Armavia Mikhail Bagdasarov.

‘We sincerely thank Armavia for great and efficient efforts on the
entry of our first production aircraft in commercial operation. The
SSJ100 confirmed to be suitable both to regional and to short-haul
routes. We are very pleased that crews and passengers of Armavia like
our aircraft. We believe that our fruitful relations with Armavia
will be successfully strengthened and will continue to provide the
airline with comprehensive support jointly with our partner company
SuperJet International’, noted Vladimir Prisyazhnyuk, President of JSC
‘Sukhoi Civil Aircraft’.

Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) is a 100 seat regional jet designed,
developed and built by Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC),
in partnership with Alenia Aeronautica. On May 19th 2008 SSJ100
successfully accomplished its first flight. The Sukhoi Superjet 100
cruises at a Maximum Operating Speed of Mach 0.81 and 40.000 feet. It
takes off from a 1.731 meters runway in the basic range and 2.052
meters in the long range. The operating range for the basic version
is 3.048 km and 4.578 km for the long range version. In February 2011,
the SSJ100 obtained the Type Certificate by the Russian Certification
Authority IAC AR. The EASA certification is expected to follow in
2011. On April 19th 2011 first production SSJ100 was delivered to
Armavia airlines (Armenia). There are currently three SSJ100s in
service with Armavia and Aeroflot.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA TO DEEPEN RELATIONS WITH INTERPOL – PRESIDENT

news.am, Armenia
Oct 13 2011

YEREVAN. – Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan received Secretary
General of International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL)
Ronald Kenneth Noble on Thursday.

The President welcomed the guest and praised high the world mission
of INTERPOL, presidential press service informs Armenian News-NEWS.am.

“We consider the role of INTERPOL as a key one and desire to deepen
our relations with the organization,” Sargsyan said. “Cooperation with
the Organization is also an opportunity for the Armenian specialists
to raise their professionalism.”

The Secretary General stated that National Central Bureau, linking
INTERPOL and Armenia, is of great authority in the Organization.

The President thanked Noble for the support of the Bureau and stressed
that the cooperation is a requirement in the struggle against the
crime.

From: A. Papazian