Author: Andres-Papazian

EXPERT: APPLYING OF C-400 DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS IN ARMENIA TO SERVE A RESTRICTING FACTOR FOR AZERBAIJANIS

ARMENPRESS
10:23, 14 September, 2011

Super-contemporary C-400 defense systems may be applied in the
Armenian Armed Forces. With their efficiency they exceed the C-300
systems which are currently located in Armenia. Earlier speaking to
reporters Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan did not exclude that C-400
systems will be placed in the territory of Armenia.

Commenting on this news, military expert Davit Jamalyan noted
that C-400 systems are super-contemporary and are more perfect as
compared with the C-300. “With the C-400 we will sharply improve the
battle-worthiness of the army and will protect the country from the
missile attack of the enemy. The engineering passing through Baku’s
square during the parade will become ineffective in front of the
C-400”, the expert said.

He welcomed the applying of the C-400 systems in the Armenian Armed
Forces and it must be viewed in the pre-context of Armenian-Russian
strategic relations. “The applying of the system will be one of the
restricting factors which will not allow the Azerbaijanis to think
about the real war”, Jamalyan said.

From: A. Papazian

ANOTHER 7 ANTI-HAIL STATIONS TO BE PLACED IN SHIRAK

ARMENPRESS
11:37, 14 September, 2011

Another 7 anti-hail stations will be added to the 29 already existing
in the Armenian province of Shirak. The stations are being placed
with the principle of co-financing: part of money are being provided
by the community and the other part by “Balasanyan’s family” charity
foundation. Bilateral agreements have already been signed with “Barva”
company producing the stations and the foundation.

The stations will be exploited in a month.

From: A. Papazian

EASY GAME: ARMENIAN CONSERVATIONISTS ALARMED BY CONTINUED POACHING OF RED BOOK SPECIES
By Siranuysh Gevorgyan

ArmeniaNow
14.09.11 | 10:23

Environmentalists in Armenia are concerned over the continuing poaching
of animals that must be protected by the State.

Meanwhile, those in charge of the sphere give assurances that poaching
cases in the country have been decreasing from year to year. They
also say that Armenia remains committed to protecting animals that
are in the Red Book of endangered species.

In an interview with ArmeniaNow, Aram Aghasyan, head of the Department
of Preserves of the Environment Ministry’s Bioresources Management
Agency, said that cases of poaching in reserves are “few and far
between”. He explained it by the fact that measures have been taken
in recent years to enhance the protection regime in such areas,
including the recruitment of more personnel, provision of vehicles,
fuel is provided, the territories are fitted out with modern guard
equipment, etc..

But environmentalists still insist that unlike in reserves in national
parks and reservations poaching cases occur more frequently. And in
areas that are not specially protected it is easier to catch animals
whose hunting is prohibited. Every month the Environment Ministry
publishes the results of the State Environmental Inspection’s checkups
that on the average record 5-6 cases of illegal hunting a month. Most
of them are connected with the poaching of fish and crab. According
to the data for the first six months of this year, 71 violations were
revealed (79 during the same period of 2010).

Quite recently, near the town of Kapan in Armenia’s southern Syunik
province two Bezoar goats (ibex) were killed. Police arrested three
persons suspected of poaching and killing the animals that are included
in the Red Book. One of the three confessed to killing the goats with
an illegally kept rifle. According to a police statement, damage of
about 6 million drams (some $16,000) had been caused to the state.

The fine for hunting the Bezoar goat and Armenian mouflon (sheep)
that are entered into the Red Data Book of Armenia is 3 million drams
(about $8,000) and for hunting the Caucasian gray bear is 1 million
drams (about $2,700). The amount of the fine is increased fivefold
if the poaching is committed in specially protected areas.

Armenia’s official hunting season begins on August 27 and ends on
February 27. Every year the Ministry of Environmental Protection
publishes a list of animals that may be hunted by hunters who
purchase state licenses. And among the allowed game are quail, pigeons,
partridges, snipes, larks, starlings, thrushes, gray crows and magpies,
swimming birds, foxes, wild boars and hares.

Environmental sector officials say poaching decreases during the
period of hunting.

Speaking about poaching, environmentalists first point out Lake Sevan’s
condition. Leading environmentalist Karine Danielyan says the lake has
become “fishless” because of years of unsparing fishing and poaching.

“And it is not only the matter of fish, the absence of fish resulted
in the decline of the quality of the lake’s water, and the lake is
swamping,” said the environmentalist. “We have the same problem with
our forests. Why do wolves attack residential areas? First because
the forest and wood areas have shrunk and secondly because their food
base has reduced. Eventually, hunger drives the beast into places
populated by man. The ecosystem’s food chain has been disturbed. This
phenomenon should be a wake-up call for us.”

Ecolur environmental organization head Inga Zarafyan stresses that
instead of ordinary poachers those who use the results of this
poaching must be punished in the first place. The environmentalist
says a number of restaurants in their menus offer meat of animals
whose hunting is forbidden.

From: A. Papazian

GLADIATOR OLIGARCHS
James Hakobyan

Lragir.am News

11:47:30 – 14/09/2011

The oligarchs Samvel Alexanyan, Ruben Hayrapetyan and Levon Sargsyan
are at the forefront of the war against the Haykakan Zhamanak Daily.

They sued the newspaper for defamation, damage to their dignity and
business reputation, and the court naturally accepted their claim and
ruled that the newspaper must pay a 6 million drams in compensation.

The newspaper appealed against the decision of the Court of General
Jurisdiction but the Court of Appeals and the Court of Cassation
were not helpful. In Armenia, it is difficult and almost impossible
to succeed in court if the cases involve oligarchs. Armenia hasn’t
had similar cases since independence. Perhaps, this is the first case
when the oligarchy unites to make the paper bankrupt.

No doubt, after a successful outcome of this case, the oligarchy will
sue other media. This is the natural and normal behavior of oligarchs
because having dominance in almost every possible sphere of life,
they should reach to the media one day, rendering their dominance in
Armenia unreachable.

The media are one of those few spheres which opposes the oligarchy,
where details of life and work of oligarchs are disclosed and
publicly evaluated. Consequently, it is logical that the media is
target number one for the oligarchy because the other targets have
already been hit by the oligarchy.

But it only seems that after hitting this target the oligarchy will
gain total invincibility in Armenia. In reality, striking the media
will be the end of the oligarchy. In other words, the oligarchy
will accelerate its end. The point is that currently, the supreme
government is trying to solve the problem of freedom of the media
through oligarchs, once this question is solved, the government will
set to the issue of the oligarchy.

They think this is exaggerated and will never happen. But a more or
less thoughtful oligarch may notice the ongoing processes and trends
in Armenia, especially in the government, which are influenced and
even determined by international trends and moods. Consequently,
instead of attacking the media, reasonable oligarchs had better try
to understand the new trends which are leading to transparency of
economic and political government.

The global crisis evidenced that the acting economic and political
systems, despite their external openness and transparency had always
been, in reality, closed, and it caused”internal bleeding”, leading to
a serious crisis. The countries which had been considered as symbols
of invulnerability appeared on the verge of bankruptcy. Consequently,
we can only imagine the level of vulnerability of countries with closed
systems, which already have serious issues related with legitimacy,
social security and rights.

Instead of meaningless fight on the media, the Armenian oligarchy had
better read papers and get acquainted with the current global moods
and processes to understand that they are not promising, even in case
it devours everything in Armenia, even the barbed wire on the border.

Meanwhile, in case of such global atmosphere and trends, being omnivore
is the least suitable thing for the oligarchy which is walking toward
a deadlock.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN WILL HAVE TO ACT TOGETHER: ANALYST

epress.am
09.14.2011 10:57

In the near future, Baku and Yerevan will have to work more
closely with Moscow, said Grigory Trofimchuk, vice-president of
the Moscow-based Center of Strategic Development Modelling (also
referred to as the Center for Modelling of Strategic Development),
in an interview with Novosti-Azerbaijan.

Trofimchuk pointed out that Syrian leader Bashar Assad did everything
so that he can undergo the same steps as with Gaddafi and when these
processes naturally get closer through Syria to the borders of the
Greater Caucasus, then all the countries of the region (primarily
Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia) will have to choose who they’re with –
Russia, Washington or Brussels.

At the same time, the Russian analyst noted that in its relations
with Europe and the West, Baku has to take into consideration the
fact that Azerbaijan is, by definition, a Muslim country and so the
West will more quickly take the side of Yerevan than Baku.

“The South Caucasus will soon break up: Georgia will go to the West,
while Armenia and Azerbaijan (forgetting about the Karabakh conflict)
will be forced to act in the same camp, if they don’t want to disappear
from the world map altogether, as is the case after all the world
wars. They now must come together with Russia in a trilateral format –
but not to think about Karabakh again. The only chance for Russia,
Armenia and Azerbaijan to get out of the rigid frame of another
script is to develop the strategy of collective action in advance,
since no one has yet touched them seriously and individually.

“The South Caucasus countries need to realize, to understand that they
are not Europe, which they strive to; at best, they are West Asia,”
he concluded.

From: A. Papazian

L’OPPOSITION ARRETE DE BOYCOTTER LES SESSIONS DU PARLEMENT
[email protected]

armenews.com
mercredi 14 septembre 2011

ARMENIE

Le parti d’opposition, Zharangutyun (Heritage), a arrete mardi de
boycotter les sessions du Parlement armenien. Il protestait contre
le President Serge Sarkissian et sa facon de gouverner.

Le chef de Zharangutyun, Raffi Hovannisian, et quatre autres deputes
ont participe a la seance d’ouverture automnale de l’Assemblee
nationale qui a debute ce matin.

A la fin du mois de fevrier, les 131 membres de l’Assemblee nationale
etaient prets a suivre la decision de Sarkissian au sujet du partage du
pouvoir. Un accord avait ete trouve avec ses partenaires de coalition,
l’Orinats Yerkir et Armenie prospère(BHK.

Cet accord engage l’Orinats Yerkir et le BHK a soutenir le president
sortant a l’election presidentielle de 2013. Il indique egalement que
les deux partis ainsi que celui du Parti republicain de Sarkissian
(HHK) auront une plus grande representation a la prochaine Assemblee
nationale de mai 2012.

Comme les autres partis d’opposition, Zharangutyun a condamne
cette disposition, affirmant qu’elle predetermine les resultats des
prochaines elections legislatives prevues en mai 2012.

Lors d’une declaration qui a ete lue au nom de la faction Zharangutyun,
sa secretaire Larisa Alaverdian a annonce que les cinq deputes ont
decide de mettre fin au boycott qui a dure six mois. ” Les Armeniens
nous ont finalement convaincu de la necessite de ” changements
systemiques ” et d’un ” changement de regime complet ” dans le
pays. L’accord de coalition est desormais sans importance.

Le president du Parlement, Hovik Abrahamian, qui est une figure
majeure du HHK, a salue la fin du boycott du parti Zharangutyun. ”
Je leur ai demande a maintes reprises de participer aux travaux de
l’Assemblee nationale et je suis heureux qu’ils soient de retour. ”

La coalition au pouvoir n’a pas fait cas des preoccupations
de l’opposition sur l’accord du mois de fevrier. Sarkissian a
personnellement promis en juin que son gouvernement assurera le bon
deroulement des prochaines elections.

From: A. Papazian

RICH ARMENIAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE TO BE EXHIBITED IN YEREVAN

news.am
Sept 13 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – The Armenian archaeological legacy-primarily household
ceramics and metal items-that was unearthed from medieval Hostun
village will be displayed at Erebuni Reserve-Museum, in Yerevan,
from September 17 to October 17. Afterwards, the artifacts will be
permanently kept at the Geological Museum of Yeghegnadzor.

The exhibition at Erebuni museum is devoted to the 20th anniversary
of Armenia’s independence and entitled “Hostun: From Archaeological
Revelations of Independence Years.” During the event, 235 items dating
between the 12th and 19th Centuries will be displayed.

Also, a new cultural and educational initiative will get underway on
the exhibition’s opening day, on September 17, as official opening of
an excavation square of the Young Archeologists’ School will be held.

The objective of this program is to emphasize the young generation’s
role in the preservation of cultural and educational heritage and to
encourage the profession of archaeology among the youth.

The “Introduction to Archaeology” curriculum adapted for schoolchildren
and the practical excavations will get started in May 2012. Until then,
however, and as is accepted in real excavation sites, the excavation
area will be filled with earth.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN LOBBY CAMPAIGN AGAINST RICCIARDONE AHEAD OF SENATE VOTE

Today’s Zaman
Sept 13 2011
Turkey

An influential Armenian diaspora organization has intensified
its campaign against nominee for US ambassador to Turkey Francis
Ricciardone ahead of a Senate confirmation vote that was scheduled
to take place on Tuesday.

“US ambassador to Turkey nominee Francis Ricciardone, through errors
of fact and bias in his responses to Senate inquiries, has proven to
be the wrong candidate to continue his posting as US ambassador to
Turkey,” the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) said in
a press release over the weekend, while launching a campaign against
Ricciardone as US ambassador to Turkey.

ANCA encouraged Armenian-Americans to contact their legislators
to express their opposition to Ricciardone’s confirmation, with an
action alert on its website titled “Call Now: Ricciardone Wrong Man
for US Ambassador to Ankara Post.”

US President Barack Obama bypassed the Senate in December 2010 to
appoint Ricciardone to Turkey. Ricciardone can serve without Senate
confirmation until the end of the current session of Congress.

Ricciardone has become a target for the US-Armenian lobby for his
remarks suggesting that most of the Christian churches in Turkey
functioning prior to 1915 are still operating as churches.

From: A. Papazian

RUSSIA AND TURKEY CAN HELP KARABAKH CONFLICT RESOLUTION – MP

news.az
Sept 13 2011
Azerbaijan

Discussing Nagorno-Karabakh at different levels shows that this is
a problem of an international level.

Territorial problems of a very few states are on agenda of
international politics. Nagorno-Karabakh problem is one of these
few matters.

The remarks came from MP Aydin Mirzazade.

Armenia wants these discussions to be held only between two countries.

But the aggressor state will fail to achieve this, Mirzazade noted.

“The fact that the Turkish and Russian presidents have discussed
Nagorno-Karabalkh conflict is very important.”

Turkey and Russia are not alien states for Azerbaijan and both of
them are nearest neighbors and friendly states, the MP added.

“So, discussions over this issue by these states can help the conflict
resolution to a certain degree. Azerbaijan has an unequivocal stance:
Armenia must withdraw from occupied lands. It is a separate issue
whether this will take place as a result of negotiations or under
the influence of big powers. Armenia needs to understand that it
grossly violates international legal norms and draw a conclusion,”
Mirzazade noted.

From: A. Papazian

URUGUAY PASSES. FOREIGN MINISTER LUIS ALMAGRO ADVOCATES RECOGNIZING NAGORNO-KARABAKH’S INDEPENDENCE
by Yuriy Roks

Nezavisimaya Gazeta
Sept 12 2011
Russia

Uruguay may recognize the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic. Luis Almagro, the country’s foreign minister, declared this 9
September at a conference in parliament devoted to Armenian-Uruguayan
relations. Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev
told journalists that the republic’s embassy in Argentina is trying to
ascertain the circumstances in which this statement can have been made.

According to Baku’s information, a Uruguayan Foreign Ministry
spokesman assured embassy employees in Argentina that Montevideo
supports Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and the OSCE’s activity
in settling the conflict. The Azerbaijani side also expressed the
opinion that the rumours about Uruguay recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh’s
independence may be an element of Armenia’s disinformation policy.

However, Mario Nalbandian, cochairman of the CIS countries’ Socialist
International Committee (Argentina), who attended the conference
in Montevideo, confirmed that Luis Almagro spoke about recognizing
Karabakh. According to him, the Uruguayan foreign minister declared
literally the following: “Nagorno-Karabakh must be independent and,
in the course of time, be joined to Armenia. This is the only way
to resolve the issue.” Nalbandian also reported that Luis Almagro
said that Karabakh is a historical part of Armenia and that Uruguay
will examine at state level the question of an agreement with the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to recognize the republic.

Armenian media were provided with the same information from Montevideo
by Vaan Ovanesyan, deputy of the Armenian parliament and head of the
Dashnaktsutyun Armenian Revolutionary Federation faction, who called
the statement unprecedented. It was made in the presence of the
country’s vice president, the chairman of parliament, and deputies,
Ovanesyan reported. At the same time he remarked that the statement
“is the result of many years’ work, which will be continued to ensure
that the decision is adopted at state level.”

Relations between Uruguay and Armenia, despite the distance and the
apparent lack of anything in common, are unique. Uruguay was the first
country in the world to recognize the genocide against Armenians in
Ottoman Turkey. Afterward its example was followed by other countries.

Despite its modest size and relatively small population, Uruguay
(particularly in the first half of the 20th century) played an
appreciable role on the political map of the world. Important
conferences were held there, and multilateral agreements were
adopted (for example, the Montevideo Convention -an international
document defining a state’s legal personality from the viewpoint of
international public law -Nezavisimaya Gazeta), and Uruguay itself was
very active on the international arena. With time the significance
of this state on a world scale gradually began to diminish, and it
found itself in the shadow of its larger neighbours and under the
strong influence of the United States. However, when Jose Mujica, a
representative of the left-wing forces, became president, Uruguay’s
desire to pursue a more independent and striking policy became
apparent. Maybe the foreign minister’s statement about the need to
recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is connected not only with
the effective activity of Uruguay’s influential Armenian community
or Montevideo’s desire to open a new page of history for Armenia for
a second time but also with this state’s political ambitions.

Luis Almagro’s statement could not go unnoticed in the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. David Babayan, chief of the Main Information
Administration in the Nagorno-Karabakh president’s apparatus, told
Nezavisimaya Gazeta: “We welcome Uruguay’s intention to recognize our
sovereignty… Almagro’s words do not signify automatic recognition of
independence but mean that the international community is serious about
the process of recognizing the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, because the
stage of recognizing new states, which began with Kosovo and continued
with recognition of South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and South Sudan, cannot
bypass Karabakh.” In Babayan’s opinion, there may be two consequences
of recognizing the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s sovereignty: Azerbaijan
and Turkey will begin a hysterical policy with regard to Uruguay;
the world community, particularly South American states, will take a
more serious approach to the problem of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

At this stage the Armenian Foreign Ministry has not commented on what
is happening in Montevideo. “Mr Almagro’s statement cannot fail to
inspire optimism, but a comment by the Armenian Foreign Ministry may
follow later,” an official spokesman for the ministry told Nezavisimaya
Gazeta. Other Armenian power structures are also keeping quiet. This
stance has been criticized by the opposition. Stepan Safaryan, head
of the Heritage parliamentary faction, said that “Yerevan attaches
greater importance to suggestions by OSCE Minsk Group member countries
than to such historic opportunities.”

Berlin political analyst Ashot Manucharyan believes that Almagro’s
statement may move to a practical plane because this country,
like other prominent Latin American countries, “is not dependent
on relations with Turkey and is not a NATO member, and there is no
strong Turkish community on the continent.” “The influence of Islamic
diasporas here is almost zero. On the other hand, from the end of
the 19th century Armenian refugees from the Ottoman Empire became
an important part of the political, cultural, and intellectual
establishment of Latin America. The communities are very active,
particularly in Argentina and Uruguay, and this activeness expresses
itself in the fact that it was from here that international recognition
of genocide began, and these countries were the first to recognize
Armenia’s independence and have now started speaking about the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s sovereignty,” Doctor Manucharyan said.

At the same time the political analyst did not rule out the possibility
that Ankara and Baku “will start bargaining with Montevideo” -that
is, Uruguay confines itself just to this statement, while Turkey
and Azerbaijan or their allies, primarily the United States, offer
some preferences in return. “Such political trading is a normal
phenomenon. In any case the continuation of history depends on
what Uruguay, which has made an interesting move, really wants,”
Manucharyan told Nezavisimaya Gazeta.

Washington has not yet revealed its position. Keith Bean, press
secretary at the US Embassy in Azerbaijan, said that the statement
(Almagro’s statement -Nezavisimaya Gazeta) is within the direct
sphere of Baku and Montevideo: “We do not comment on other countries’
bilateral relations.”

From: A. Papazian