Author: Andres-Papazian

TURKEY MIGHT INCREASE ITS INFLUENCE IN THE REGION – SAYS ORIENTALIST (VIDEO)

14:22 | December 24,2014 | Politics

The influence of Islam is so great in the East that it will become
difficult and uncomfortable for Christians and other religious
minorities to live there,” says Sevak Gomtsyan, a specialist in
Oriental Studies.

He sees no menace threatening Armenia. “However, it is not excluded
that Kurds might become active in our region. Similarly, Turkey might
increase its influence in the region,” he said.

Orientalist Naira Lazarian calls attention to China’s plans for ‘a
new silk road.’ “In 2013, China’s President announced their plans
to build the Silk Road Economic Belt. China is going to invest 40
billion dollars in the Central Asia,” said the lecturer of Yerevan
State University.

From: A. Papazian

COE COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS CALLS TO REMEMBER ABOUT AZERBAIJANI POLITICAL PRISONERS ON NEW YEAR’S EVE

21:06 24/12/2014 >> REGION

CoE Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muzhnieks again touched on
political prisoners’ issue in Azerbaijan on New Year’s Eve. “My
greetings to human rights activists in Azerbaijan, who face the
repression of the authorities,” wrote the European Commissioner in
social network Twitter and posted the link of the official page of
the Commission to Facebook. The link demonstrates the picture of
political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

“Many of us are getting ready for the holiday, but I think about the
partner – human rights activists who have dedicated their life to
the defense of human rights,” the photo annotation reads.

According to the Commissioner, this year for a number of human rights
activists in the CoE member countries was difficult and dangerous,
however the most difficult situations is observed in Azerbaijan,
where the authorities systematically use repression on human rights
activists, members of the media and civil society partners of CoE.

“The number of detainees and emigrants is growing. I welcome them,
and will continue to do everything I can in 2015, to try to help them
to achieve justice and to promote the protection of human rights,”
writes Muzhnieks.

Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muzhnieks has recently condemned
the Azerbaijani authorities for the arrest of journalist Khadija
Ismayilova. In his statement made on December 9 he said that the arrest
of Khadija Ismayilova, a well-known journalist and long-term partner
of his office, confirms his concern about human rights defenders and
other civil society activists who cooperate with the Council of Europe
in Azerbaijan.

“I strongly condemn her arrest and consider it as another manifestation
of the selective use of criminal law against those who criticize the
government,” said Nils Muzhnieks, stressing that in just a few hours
before her arrest Ismayilova had contacted the office of the Council
of Europe by the case of another journalist.

Source: Panorama.am

From: A. Papazian

UKRAINE ANGERS RUSSIA WITH LANDMARK STEP TOWARDS NATO

Russia’s foreign minister says vote to drop neutral status is
counterproductive and will only boost tensions

Agencies in Kiev and Moscow The Guardian, Tuesday 23 December 2014
11.52 GMT

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, who has described Ukraine’s
renunciation of its neutral status as a counterproductive step.

Photograph: Sergei Chirikov/EPA

The Ukrainian parliament has renounced the country’s non-aligned status
with the aim of eventually joining Nato, to the anger of Moscow, which
views the western alliance’s eastward expansion as a security threat.

Kiev first announced its intention of seeking the protection
of Nato membership in August, following what it deemed the open
participation of Russia’s military in a separatist war in Ukraine’s
eastern provinces.

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, called Ukraine’s renunciation
of its neutral military and political status a “counterproductive”
step that would only boost tensions around the crisis in the east.

“It will only escalate the confrontation and creates the illusion
that it is possible to resolve Ukraine’s deep internal crisis by
passing such laws,” Tass news agency quoted him as saying.

Addressing deputies in Kiev before the vote, the Ukrainian foreign
minister said the move underscored the country’s determination to
pivot towards Europe and the west. “This will lead to integration in
the European and the Euro-Atlantic space,” Pavlo Klimkin said.

The amendment passed easily, receiving 303 votes – 77 more than the
minimum required to pass into law.

In a Facebook post on Monday, Russia’s prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev,
warned that “in essence, an application for Nato membership will turn
Ukraine into a potential military opponent for Russia”.

Medvedev said that Ukraine’s rejection of neutrality and a new Russian
sanctions law that US President Barack Obama signed on Friday “will
both have very negative consequences”.

“And our country will have to respond to them,” he wrote.

Any accession to the western military alliance is likely to take
years, but a Nato spokesman in Brussels said: “Our door is open and
Ukraine will become a member of Nato if it so requests and fulfils
the standards and adheres to the necessary principles.”

Relations between Moscow and Kiev are at an all-time low since
Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in March
and the subsequent outbreak of the pro-Russia rebellion in the east.

Pro-western authorities in Kiev accuse Russia of orchestrating and
arming the uprising after the overthrow of a Ukrainian president
sympathetic to Moscow. The Kremlin denies it is behind the revolt.

For its part Russia completed the creation of a new economic alliance
with four other ex-Soviet nations on Tuesday, intended to bolster
their integration.

The Eurasian Economic Union, which includes Russia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, comes to existence on 1 January.

In addition to free trade, it will coordinate the members’ financial
systems and regulate their industrial and agricultural policies along
with labour markets and transportation networks.

Russian president Vladimir Putin said the new union will have a
combined economic output of $4.5tn and bring together 170 million
people.

“The Eurasian integration is based on mutual benefit and taking into
account mutual interests,” he said after the talks.

From: A. Papazian

AMD 66 BILLION LENT TO 80,000 FARMERS IN ARMENIA ON PREFERENTIAL CONDITIONS

YEREVAN, December 24. /ARKA/. Some 80,000 farms in Armenia have
received preferential loans totaling AMD 66 billion, Armenian
Agriculture Minister Sergo Karapetyan said at a news conference on
Wednesday. In his words, the government intends to continue extending
preferential loans to farmers.

From: A. Papazian

GAZ : LES CHAUFFEURS DE BUS SE PLAIGNENT DES PRIX ELEVES

ARMENIE

Les conducteurs de minibus desservant plusieurs routes a Erevan ont
eu recours a une grève pour protester contre la hausse des prix du
gaz naturel liquefie (GNL) dans les stations de remplissage.

ArmeniaNow a repere environ 15 minibus vides stationnes dans un
rond-point central du quartier sud-ouest de Malatia-Sebastia bloquant
partiellement la rue le matin, avec des conducteurs disant qu’ils
voulaient faire connaître leurs preoccupations aux autorites de la
ville et demander des rabais pour effectuer les transports publics
via l’utilisation du GNL.

Repondant a la depreciation de la monnaie nationale armenienne, le
dram, la plupart des stations de GNL en Armenie la semaine dernière
ont encore augmente le prix d’un mètre cube de gaz de 180 a 230 drams.

Les plaintes des conducteurs viennent au milieu de persistantes
turbulences sur le marche des changes où le dram continue de baisser
face aux principales devises internationales. (Un dollar americain
s’echangeait a environ 540-575 drams a Erevan dans les banques et les
bureaux de change alors qu’a la mi-novembre le billet vert s’echangeait
a environ 410 a 415 drams pour 1 $).

Les grandes fluctuations monetaires ont deja entraîne une
augmentation des prix des denrees alimentaires de base et des biens
de consommation. Certaines entreprises ont suspendu tout commerce
dans l’attente de la stabilite des marches.

Le ticket de bus a Erevan est a 100 drams. Il n’a pas change depuis
des annees. La tentative des autorites d’Erevan pour elever le prix
des transports publics de 50 pour cent en 2013 a rencontre une forte
opposition de militants civils et la decision a finalement dû etre
reconsideree.

mercredi 24 decembre 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com

From: A. Papazian

RUSSIA SAYS NATO WANTS TO TURN UKRAINE INTO ‘FRONT LINE OF CONFRONTATION

December 24, 2014 – 13:45 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Moscow said on Wednesday, Dec 24, Kiev’s decision
to give up its neutral status and seek closer ties with NATO was
a result of pressure from the Atlantic bloc, which wanted to turn
Ukraine into a “front line of confrontation”, according to Reuters.

Ukraine’s parliament this week renounced Ukraine’s “non-aligned”
status with the aim of eventually joining NATO, whose ties with Russia
have plummeted to Cold War-era lows over the crisis in Ukraine.

“NATO countries pushed Kiev to this counterproductive decision, trying
to turn Ukraine into a front line of confrontation with Russia,” Deputy
Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov told the Russian news agency Interfax.

“The decision of Ukraine’s parliament to give up its non-aligned
status will only complicate an already difficult situation,” he said.

The move has angered Moscow at a time when Russia, Ukraine and
pro-Russian forces are trying to find a political solution to the
crisis in eastern Ukraine.

NATO and the pro-Western government in Kiev say they have evidence
that Russia has orchestrated and armed a pro-Russian rebellion in
eastern Ukraine that followed the overthrow of a Ukrainian president
sympathetic to Moscow. The Kremlin denies that it is behind the revolt.

From: A. Papazian

MOSCOW SUMMITS: ARMENIA DEEPENS INTEGRATION WITH POST-SOVIET ALLIES

NEWS | 24.12.14 | 10:14

Photo:

By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
ArmeniaNow correspondent

On December 23, Moscow hosted a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian
Economic Council and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)
that Armenia is a full member of. At these summits contradictions
between some of the members of these two blocs emerged particularly
clearly, however, the decisions that were made can be described as
those primarily meeting Russia’s geopolitical interests.

Though, the presidents of both Belarus and Kazakhstan called for
finding the line between national and bloc interests.

At the meeting of the CSTO Council it was decided to establish
single aviation troops. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan voted for
this decision. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, apparently,
had been against it. He urged other partners not to create new CSTO
military elements and move more toward diplomacy and cooperation with
other blocs.

However, Russia insisted on creating unified air forces, and they
were created. Moreover, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that
the CSTO countries are already connected to the control center of
defense of Russia, which keeps track of everything in the world and
will help coordinate the defense action in all CSTO member countries.

In Armenia, it was seen as an attempt to deprive the national army
of the right to sovereign decisions, which is especially important in
an open conflict with Azerbaijan. In particular, there is information
that in implementing response or preventive actions the Armenian army
has so far often used not Russian weapons and Russian intelligence.

When connected to a single point of control it may become impossible
to do so.

At the meeting President Sargsyan thanked the presidents of the
CSTO and EEU member states for cooperation and reminded about their
commitments on ensuring collective security. He noted that a number
of incidents were registered this year at the border of Armenia and
Azerbaijan and the Karabakh-Azerbaijan line of contact. At the same
time, it is not clear whether he thanked the CSTO for non-interference
or urged the bloc to adequately respond to such incidents in future.

Still, the main decisions of the CSTO concerned the Afghan-Tajik
border. President Putin even called on the CSTO to be ready for a
preemptive strike against the Islamic State in Central Asia. After the
withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan the Central Asian members
of the CSTO found themselves under threat of Islamist terror. It is
not clear yet whether Armenia will participate in pre-emptive strikes
against Islamists if such strikes are delivered.

At the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council a number of
decisions to intensify trade and investment cooperation were made.

However, Belarus leader Lukashenko tried to point at the “non-partner
actions” of Russia, which blocks Belarus goods and does not allow free
transit through the territory of the common customs area. However,
in the end, he signed all the documents prepared by Moscow.

President Putin also said that the agreement on the accession of
Kyrgyzstan to the EEU has been signed and also confirmed Armenia’s
membership in the trade bloc from next year.

From: A. Papazian

SPECIAL DELIVERIES OF HEALTH AND HOPE GO TO ARMENIA

USC News, Univ. of Southern California
Dec 22 2014

International nonprofit co-founded by USC Dornsife student ships
much-needed medical supplies to the country’s rural regions

by Michelle Boston

wo years ago when Tomik Vertanous learned that doctors in the Artsakh
region of Armenia were severely lacking in medical supplies, he was
moved to action.

“They were still using pillows that dated back to the collapse of
the Soviet Union,” said Vertanous, a junior political science major
at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences with a
minor in health administration at the USC Price School of Public
Policy. “They didn’t have suture kits. Not even cotton balls.”

With a friend, Vertanous created the nonprofit Hyer United, which
collects expired but still usable medical equipment and supplies
donated from Los Angeles-area hospitals to send to rural areas of
Armenia. Latex gloves, gauze, antiseptic and syringes are just some of
the items that Hyer United’s volunteers box up to make the two-month
trip by ship and then by car.

Vertanous and Hyer United co-founder Meher Khechadori, a student at
Glendale Community College, wanted their work to focus on the current
economic and political situation in Armenia.

There are areas that need to be improved upon in order to make people’s
daily lives better.

Tomik Vertanous

“Because Armenia is still a developing country, there are areas that
need to be improved upon in order to make people’s daily lives better,”
Vertanous said. “I really felt that this was a great way to have a
lasting impact and an immediate impact. That’s what drives us.”

Supply and demand

The organization connected with a doctor in a rural area of Armenia
who attends to clinics in 32 villages surrounding her own in
Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed and wartorn region in the South Caucus.

This doctor determines the clinics’ supply needs and sends her
requests to Hyer United. Once she receives their care packages,
she speaks with Vertanous and Khechadori by phone or emails photos
to let them know how their donations are being used.

For instance, one child who injured his head was able to make the
journey to a faraway hospital for treatment because of the staples that
Hyer United had sent the small clinic where he was initially examined.

“As a result he thankfully didn’t bleed out by the time he got to
the hospital,” Vertanous said. “These are the impacts that drive
the charity.”

Hyer United receives funding through private donations and fundraising
activities. The organization holds an annual dinner and dance event,
and recently organized a fitness day where people could take boot
camp and yoga classes. The funds collected will go toward financing
the next medical supply shipments to Armenia.

“Shipping is really expensive,” Vertanous said. “About 99 percent
of our funds go toward shipping. Right now, we have a good amount
of inventory so once we secure donations to pay for its shipping,
we’ll send out another care package.”

The end goal: self-sustainment

Vertanous’ goal is to provide support for these rural villages until
the nonprofit’s services are eventually no longer required. He hopes
that in the future the Armenian government will become stable enough
to provide health care services in the region.

“Our motto is to build the infrastructure of these regions and better
people’s daily lives,” Vertanous said. “We’re more like a Band-Aid to
stop the bleeding in hopes that the area we’re helping will eventually
have their own medical resources, so they’re not dependent on us.”

Vertanous said that his political science education at USC Dornsife
has helped him understand the fundamental concepts of how to foster
self-sustainment when providing relief through Hyer United. In
particular, he pointed to his recent course “Politics of Resources
and Development,” taught by Eliz Sanasarian, a professor of political
science.

“We looked at the case of Africa where billions of dollars get
funneled into aid projects that don’t bring about the desired results,”
Vertanous said. “People get discouraged. It’s really helped me navigate
my way with Hyer United and avoid those situations.

Self-sustainment for the region where we’re working is our end goal.”

From: A. Papazian

AZERBAIJANI LOBBY IS MORE ACTIVE IN GERMANY – SAYS GERMAN JOURNALIST

12:37 | December 24,2014 | Politics

Barbara Oertel, Foreign Policy Editor at Tageszeitung Daily, visited
Armenian for the fourth time this year.

She has managed to get acquainted with the country’s sights and
study Armenians.

“Armenia has great potential for development but several factors
hinder that development. Those include the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
Armenian historical monuments left in Turkey and the Eurasian Economic
Union, which I doubt that will give anything good to Armenia,” says
Barbara Oertel.

The German journalist wants to learn Armenian. She already knows
Russia and often reads Russian newspapers and follows the work of
Russian TV companies.

In reply to the question whether freedom of speech and expression is
protected in Germany, the journalist said, “According to the index
of freedom of expression, Germany always takes middle positions
in the rankings of a leading company. By and large, I can say that
freedom of expression is honoured in Germany but we fight for its
protection every day. Attempts are made to undermine the right to
freedom of expression for some economic reasons. Some companies and
politicians try to pressurize journalists and newspapers if they do
not like the article written by them. No matter who is in power, our
aim is to regulate the power and become counterbalance to it. We want
to identify and show the problems in order to change something. If
there is on open wound, we point at it,” said Barbara Oertel.

She perfectly understands the political aspects of the post-Soviet
countries and says they frequently speak about the Armenian Genocide.

The German journalist stresses that some counties adopt draft
resolutions to recognize the 1915 Genocide in order to receive the
votes of Armenians living in their country. At the same time, she
notes that Azerbaijani lobby is very active in Germany and spends
large amounts of money which cannot be said about the Armenian lobby.

Barbara Oertel has never been to Azerbaijan.

From: A. Papazian

THE KARS TREATY–NEITHER FISH NOR FOWL

NCWA’s legal advisory board examines the controversial treaty

The Kars Treaty signatories were the Soviet Union, the Armenian,
Georgian Soviet Socialist republics and Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist
Republic, as well as the Turkish Assembly in Angora (Ankara), prior
to the founding of the Republic of Turkey. The treaty is a crucial
event in modern Armenian history. It’s also controversial and often
misunderstood. The legal advisory board of the National Congress of
Western Armenians explains the shortcomings of the treaty. –Editor.

The Treaty of Alexandropol was signed on Dec. 2, 1920 between Turkish
revolutionaries (before the declaration of the Republic of Turkey)
and the Government of the Republic of Armenia. Article 11 of the
treaty declared the Sèvres Treaty “null and void”. The territory of
the Republic of Armenia was reduced by more than 50%. The treaty was
supposed to have been ratified within one month by the parliament of
the Republic of Armenia. It was, however, never ratified due to the
occupation of the RoA by the armies of the Russian Soviet Federative
Socialist Republic (RSFSR). It was eventually replaced by the Kars
Treaty as stipulated in Article I of the Kars Treaty.

The Treaty of Kars was signed on Oct. 23, 1921 and ratified in Yerevan
on Sept. 11, 1922. While all signatories had the necessary powers to
negotiate and sign the treaty, doubts have always been expressed about
its validity and applicability for two main reasons: at the time only
the RSFSR was a sovereign state in accordance with international law.

The three other entities, namely the Armenian Soviet Socialist
Republic, the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, Azerbaijan Soviet
Socialist Republic were not independent sovereign states and recognized
as such by international law or the international community (the League
of Nations). Furthermore, the Turkish delegation represented the Grand
National Assembly of Turkey (GNAT) founded in Ankara on April 23,
1920 and not the government of Turkey. The GNAT declared the Turkish
Republic in 1923, two years after the signing the Kars Treaty.

A treaty is valid if all of its provisions are put into effect and
implemented. Articles XIII, XIV, XV XVII XVIII and XIX , concerning
the relations between the Soviet Republic of Armenia and Turkey,
have never been implemented. Signatories cannot pick and choose which
provisions of a signed treaty will be implemented and which will not.

Hence the reference only to the borders provided for in the treaty
and not applying the remaining provisions is not in accordance with
international law.

In accordance with Article V the region of Nakhichevan constitutes
an autonomous territory under the protection of Azerbaijan and not
an integral part of Azerbaijan. All inhabitants of territory that
was part of Russia before 1918, and over which the sovereignty of
Turkey is affirmed, shall have the opportunity, if they desire to
relinquish their Turkish nationality, to leave Turkey freely, taking
with them their possessions and goods, or the proceeds of their sale
(Article XIII). In accordance with the provisions of Article XVII the
contracting parties agree to take all necessary measures necessary to
maintain and develop railway, telegraphic, and other communications,
as well as to assure free transit of persons and commodities without
any hindrance.

Consular conventions were supposed to be concluded within three
months in accordance with Article XIX. None of the foregoing was
implemented. After the Second World War the USSR attempted to annul
the Kars Treaty.

On 7 June, 1945 the Foreign Minister of the USSR, Vyacheslav Molotov
requested, on behalf of the Armenian and Georgian SSRs, from the
Turkish ambassador in Moscow that the provinces of Kars, Ardahan and
Artvin be returned to the USSR. Ultimately Churchill convinced the
United States not to accept the request of the USSR. There was no
further follow up.

To ensure the validity of the Kars Treaty it is necessary either to
implement all the provisions of the treaty or negotiate a new one. A
non-implemented treaty remains null and void.

From: A. Papazian