Author: Andres-Papazian

ARMENIANS’ LOVE FOR GRANDPA AND GRANDMA

news.az
Sept 7 2011
Azerbaijan

It is well known that Armenians have appropriated some of the cultural
heritage of Azerbaijan and have “Armenized” them.

One needs to be so much shameless to appropriate culture of other
nation and popularize it as his own.

This seems to be their essence. Armenians who have sought to shape
their false culture due to other nations try to appropriate everything
they see and resort to various hypocritical means to make international
community to believe in their lies. The Eurovision Song Contest-2009
can serve as example. Back then, Armenians displayed the image of
“We and our mountains” monument located in occupied part of Karabakh
in a short footage shot by them. This was sign of open claims of
Armenia to a part of Azerbaijani land and its greedy nature.

It is no coincidence that organizing committee of the contest provided
an immediate response to protests by the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan
and removed image of the monument in the occupied lands of Azerbaijan
from the video of Armenia. The fact that Armenian singer Sirusho
displayed the image of the same monument again this time on the
reverse side of a note-book while announcing outcomes of the voting
can be described as nothing but impudence.

It is noteworthy that the monument “We and our mountains” (consists of
heads of an old man and an old woman) was erected near Khankandi in
Askaran District of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region of Azerbaijan
SSR in 1967 to show that Karabakh is a land of long-livers.

Who knows, the name “We and our monuments” was meant to indicate that
the area where it is located belongs to Armenians and that they have
been settled here since ancient times. The fact that the monument
has been erected by Azerbaijani citizen of Armenian origin Sarkis
Bagdasaryan gives a reason to think this way.

That the monument was built by a sculptor of Armenian origin does
not mean it is a cultural heritage of Armenia. It has been built by
Azerbaijani citizen through the funds from the Azerbaijani budget in
Azerbaijani territory. Monuments are considered wealth of a country
where they are located throughout the world.

Who would think Armenia will put claims to monuments created by
Azerbaijani citizens through funds of Azerbaijan in Azerbaijani
territory after some time?! The fact that it has been erected by
Armenian architect does not prevent it to be one of the masterpieces
belonging to Azerbaijani art and list it as a cultural heritage of
a state which has nothing to do with this territory and has spent no
funds to erect it.

Armenian themselves understand it very well that this monument does
not belong to them. Otherwise, they would not insult a monument which
they almost tried to present as their national symbol in a contest
which has nothing to do with politics.

To be more exact, as it can be seen from the photos taken this summer,
Armenians have spoiled the look of the monument by various writings
on it. There is nothing surprising about this.

This is because a group of people (I can not simply call Armenians a
nation) unable to create any work of art fail to appreciate cultural
heritage of by other nations.

If they insult the monument which they consider their symbol, then it
is not difficult to imagine what they do to monuments of Azerbaijan,
which they see as their enemy.

From: A. Papazian

“ARMENIA HAS NO IDEA HOW INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS FUNCTION”

Today
Sept 7 2011
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan regrets that Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian
raised issues unrelated to Azerbaijan’s non-permanent membership
in the UN Security Council, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministry Elman Abdullayev said. He was commenting on Armenian Foreign
Minister’s statements.

“We can only regret that such a person as Foreign Minister raises the
issues not related to Azerbaijan’s non-permanent membership in the
UN Security Council,” he said. “Armenian Minister’s contradictory,
illogical and unfounded statements make doubt that he has an idea
about the functioning of international organizations.”

From: A. Papazian

US ANALYST: THE SOUTH CAUCASUS REGION IS IN THE CENTER OF US-IRANIAN STRATEGIC COMPETITION

Today
Sept 6 2011
Azerbaijan

Anthony Cordsman, a well-known US national security analyst, believes
that the South Caucasus region is in the center of US-Iranian strategic
competition.

“Azerbaijan’s location on Iran’s periphery and access to Caspian and
Middle Eastern energy reserves are assets that both Iran and the US
value”, the analyst says arguing, Baku maintains close ties with the
US, serving as an extremely significant part of the US logistical
effort to sustain operations in Afghanistan. However, he says, Iran
remains a significant power in the region, and Baku can afford to
neither provoke nor ignore it.

“In Armenia, meanwhile, Iran plays a significant economic role and has
bolstered its influence by playing on a mutual wariness of Azerbaijan
and Turkey”, he mentions. “Armenian relations with Iran are focused
on trade and are of critical importance, since Armenian borders with
Turkey and Azerbaijan are closed due to historic tensions with Turkey
and the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan”, the
analyst says.

Besides that, the analyst believes that while the US has been a
strategic partner of Armenia without taking sides against Azerbaijan,
“it is clear that here Iran is the closer ally”.

“The challenge for the US will be focus on incentives and good
relations while quietly applying pressure and avoiding any open
confrontation”, he assumes.

In the meanwhile, US- Iranian competition does not have a clear,
substantive impact on the other regional states. “While Georgia and
Iran share a vibrant trade relationship, the Georgian foreign policy
preoccupation of limiting Russian meddling in its internal affairs
takes precedence and it is Washington which provides the strongest
countervailing weight against Russian influence. Policymakers in
Tbilisi are likely to continue to see ties with the United States as
the best hedge against Russian aggression, making it unlikely that
they will support Iran in any major security disputes with Washington”,
he says.

The analyst also mentioned that in sum, strategic competition is not
the primary consideration for US and Iranian policy in this region.

Both countries have specific evolving interests that are likely to
shift in the hierarchy of each country’s grand strategic objectives
in the post-Iraq and post-Afghan era.

“The manner of US withdrawal from the region, and the nature of broader
US-Iranian competition will likely affect the manner and scale of each
country’s engagement with Turkey and the South Caucasus, although the
region is likely to remain of interest due its economic importance
and energy wealth”, he added.

From: A. Papazian

GEVORGYAN SPIRITUAL LYCEUM AND SAINT PETERSBURG ORTHODOX THEOLOGICAL ACADEMY TO START COOPERATION

Mediamax
Sept 7 2011
Armenia

Yerevan/Mediamax/. Gevorgyan Spiritual Lyceum of Armenian Apostolic
Church (AAC) and Saint Petersburg Orthodox Theological Academy signed
a cooperation agreement.

The cooperation envisages student and teacher exchange, introduction
of new educational, scientific and technical methods.

Archimandrite Gevorg Saroyan, the Superintendent of Gevorgyan Spiritual
Lyceum, is to participate in the opening ceremony of the library of
the Orthodox Theological Academy in Saint Petersburg in within the
coming days.

In the nearest future, Gevorgyan Spiritual Lyceum plans to sign
a cooperation agreement with theological institutions of England,
Norway, Australia and Italy.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT DISCUSSES CRIME IN ARMED FORCES

news.am
Sept 7 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – The law should be known and applied to prevent illegal
and criminal phenomena in the Armenian Armed Forces, head of the
parliamentary Committee for defense, national security, and internal
affairs Hrayr Karapatyan said at the meeting on Wednesday.

MPs, Armenian MOD officials, OSCE Yerevan office representatives and
NGOs participated in the meeting, parliament press service informs
Armenian News-NEWS.am. Participants discussed issues concerning crime
in the army and the measures to prevent it.

Hrayr Karapetyan presented legislative amendments referring to that
sphere. MOD representatives stated that cases of murder and death were
reduced compared to last year, but they are still concerning. Measures
are taken to reveal and prevent the crimes.

Reports by NGOs referred mainly to the protection of soldiers’ rights
and the lack of information in case of emergency and accidents in
the Army. Armenian MOD stressed it is ready to actively cooperate
with the NGOs.

From: A. Papazian

WGM MARIA KURSOVA TO PRESENT ARMENIA

ARMENPRESS
20:25, 7 September, 2011

FIDE approved Russian WGM Maria Kursova’s leaving the Russian Chess
Federation and joining the Armenian Chess Federation.

Maria Kursova has recently married Armenian GM Arman Pashikian and
lives with him in Yerevan. From now on in chess tournaments Maria
Kursova will present Armenia.

From: A. Papazian

POSSIBILITY OF RECOGNITION OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AT ISRAELI KNESSET INCREASES

ARMENPRESS
10:00, 7 September, 2011

The Armenian community in Israel is looking forward to the discussions
of the resolution on recognition of the Armenian Genocide at Israeli
Knesset expected in October. Hakob Sevan head of the Armenian Cause
Office in Jerusalem told Armenpress that Knesset is in vacation
during these days. “The discussion will take place in October but we
are in touch with the members of the Education Commission which will
discuss the issue and are aware of the developments. Some members of
Knesset, political figures, intellectuals are raising the issue on
their personal initiative”, he said.

Speaking about the possibility of recognition of the Armenian Genocide,
Sevan pointed out that the chances have increased recently.

“I think today Israel will try to use the Armenian Cause for exerting
pressure on Turkey”, he said, stressing that the recent changes in the
policy of Israel relating to the Armenian cause are turning points. It
may also be seen in the appearance of Foreign Ministry of Israel which
has become more Armenian-oriented. “We believe in our final victory”,
Sevan said.

From: A. Papazian

RUSSIAN ICE-HOCKEY TEAM KILLED IN PLANE CRASH

PanARMENIAN.Net
September 7, 2011 – 18:45 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – At least 36 people died on Wednesday, September
7, when the plane carrying Russia’s Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice-hockey
team crashed during take-off near Yaroslavl, some 300km from Moscow,
emergency officials said.

Two people survived the crash, investigators said.

The Yak-42 plane was carrying the team to Minsk, the Belarusian
capital, for the start of the new Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

The plane crashed at 4:00 p.m. Moscow time (noon GMT).

The side, which includes players from Germany, Sweden, and Slovakia,
has won the Russian championship three times and took third place in
the KHL last year.

The plane fell to earth straight after take-off and burst into flames.

“Passenger body parts were found in the Volga River, where part of
the fuselage fell,” a police source said. He added that the passenger
list had not yet been confirmed, RIA Novosti reported.

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, founded in 1949 as the team of the Railways
Ministry, is one of Russia’s leading hockey teams and came runner
up in the nascent Kontinental Hockey League in 2008 and 2009. In
1997 it took the Russian Superleague title and won back-to-back
championships in 2002 and 2003. It was one of the favorites for this
year’s Kontinental Hockey League.

From: A. Papazian

AGRICULTURAL CONCERNS: FISH BREEDING IN ARMENIA SPURS ECONOMY BUT DEVASTATES ARTESIAN WATER RESOURCES
By Sara Khojoyan

ArmeniaNow
07.09.11 | 11:25

Photolure

The haul of fish has been good for business, but harmful for valley
water supply.

The government of Armenia is satisfied with the development of the
country’s fish-breeding industry, which is a good incentive for
economic growth and export.

However, the water resources of the Ararat Valley are wastefully used
and do not recover, so as a consequence drinking and irrigation water
springs in the villages of Ararat and Armavir provinces are drying up.

At the same time, fish breeding keeps developing. According to the
agriculture ministry data, in 2010 some 5,430 tons of fish were
produced, and this year that number is expected to reach 7,000 by
approximate calculation. Moreover, this growth in fish breeding
industry has contributed to the reduction of the recent years’
agricultural recession.

The 234 fish breeding entities operating in the Ararat valley siphon
800 million cubic meters of water, which has lead to the dry-up of
artesian springs in the highlands of the valley.

Simon Andreasyan, Ararat province’s Hovtashat community leader,
says that as a result of the fish farms, 110 out of Hovtashat’s 130
springs have dried up. Because of this, he says, villagers are unable
to work the 700 hectares (about 1,730 acres) of the village’s 1040
hectare hectares (about 2,570 acres) arable lands, and only 500 heads
of livestock now remain out of the initial 1,300.

“We have 1040 families, 3,500 people in our village, and nobody has
left their home, no door has been locked and abandoned. But these
people are unable to work their land, drinking and irrigation water
springs have dried up, fields have dried, there is not grass, and
they couldn’t help but slaughtering their livestock, and all that is
caused by fish breeding households,” Andreasyan told ArmeniaNow.

The problems listed by Andreasyan are not unique to his village only;
almost all the highland villages of the Ararat valley are facing the
same challenges. Last year the government called a special commission
to study the situation and find solutions.

“The water resources of the Ararat valley have significantly decreased
over the past 2-3 years and it’s a serious issue. But that water is
not only for fish breeding, it is also for drinking and irrigation,”
concluded head of the special commission, minister of territorial
administration Armen Gevorgyan, after studying the case.

The commission discovered that out of the 87 fish farms in the Ararat
valley, only 27 can safely be used to drill wells, siphon water or
build breeding reservoirs, whereas the rest are more fit for farming
or industrial utilization. And not one of the 147 entities of Armavir
province is fit for fish breeding, according to the study.

It also turned out that there are 5,424 deep-dug wells in the
country, that have no water meters installed. Hence, as part of the
solution to the issue, the government decided to place water meters
on each artesian water well, in order to oversee and regulate water
consumption.

During his August 17 visit to Armavir province minister of
environmental protection Aram Harutyunan informed fish breeders that
they each have to acquire water meters on their own.

The issue, however, cannot be solved by just placing water meters,
says Hovtashat village head Andreasyan.

“It is no proper way, that some 300-400 people owning fish breeding
households and their families enjoy themselves and become trout and
swim in water, while thousands of people suffer from that,” he says
with frustration, meaning that a few families become exclusively
better off.

From: A. Papazian

TO HAVE ITS OWN STATEHOOD IS THE RIGHT OF ANY NATION
Ruzan Ishkhanian

Tuesday, 06 September 2011 09:12

Among the guests, who had arrived in our country for participating
in the festive events dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the NKR
declaration, was Doctor of Historical Sciences Alexander Krylov who
represented the Russian World Economy and International Relations
Institute.

– Mr. Krylov, do you think that such a state as the NKR can
independently exist?

– I don’t see any reasons contradicting this. Why it cannot be as
such? It has actually existed for 20 years. From the practical point
of view, the answer is obvious. In the legal context, there are,
surely, certain problems and it is the matter of the future. We’ll
see what the near past experience of the unrecognized states show. If
the situation around Karabakh changes, the way to recognition can be
definitely easier than the current one.

– Then why doesn’t Russia recognize the independence of Karabakh?

– I think the answer is obvious. It will be strange if Russia
recognizes the independence of Karabakh like Armenia. Armenians will
not understand such interference. So, it is the issue of Armenians.

– Armenia declared on the top level that it didn’t recognize the
NKR to avoid impeding the negotiation process.

– The negotiations are conducted with the participation of Armenia,
Azerbaijan, and the mediators. It is much more difficult to explain
why Armenia doesn’t recognize than to say why Russia doesn’t do
it. It will be strange if Russia recognizes Karabakh earlier than
Armenia. In any case, the situations around Kosovo, Abkhazia, and
South Ossetia were absolutely different from that of Karabakh. And
it should be considered that Russia has quite good and developing
relations with Azerbaijan. To threaten the relations, which are
important for the RF, only for recognizing Karabakh along with South
Ossetia and Abkhazia?… They are different issues.

– The independence of Kosovo was recognized. Do you think it can
serve an example for Karabakh?

– Kosovo was recognized only by one third of the international
community. If taking into account the UN members’ number, it really
makes one third. They are the states closely connected with the USA
and European Union. And there are even four EU states, which didn’t
recognize Kosovo. In Spain, it is the issue of the Basques; Greece and
Cyprus are in the same condition. There is no common model here. The
question should be put in the following way – why hasn’t any nation
the right to its own statehood. Any nation should enjoy this right.

– And how do you imagine the future of today’s unrecognized states?

– Abkhazia and South Ossetia are partly recognized. Besides Russia,
they are also recognized by some other states. Their number could
increase if the Russian diplomacy conducted active works in this
direction. But, in fact, it considers that this isn’t the priority
direction of its activity in the international arena. It shouldn’t be
judged unilaterally. But, it is also understood that Karabakh occupies
a special place in this issue. You probably remember the discussions
around the ‘3+3′ format (3 recognized and 3 unrecognized states).In
due time, Moscow urgently insisted on creating an association of
unrecognized states, including Transdniestria in it, together with the
three unrecognized South Caucasus states. The association was created,
acting up today, but Karabakh refused to join it, because the Armenian
diplomacy didn’t want to complicate the relations with the Diaspora
and the West. So, you see that each case has its peculiarity.

– Unfortunately, to date, international law is submitted to the
superpowers’ geopolitical interests in the process of conflicts
settlement. Which of these factors do you think will finally prevail?

– It is difficult to say. First of all, the situation changes not
only around Karabakh, but also around the Caucasus region. We see
the tragic events in the Middle East, which can have their impact on
the South Caucasus. How active will Europe be in the South Caucasus
region? In the period of economic crisis, the possibilities of
Europe are decreased. What will the USA policy be? If this state
withdraws from the conflict zones and focus on its domestic issues,
which are quite numerous there, so the situation will change. But, if
the forces available under the rule of Bush the Junior again come to
power and a new cycle of the American discipline starts, aggravation
of the situation is expected. Three years ago, before the August 2008
events, the issue of Russia’s recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia
wasn’t on the agenda. But, the tragic events had their influence on
the future events. Surely, in case of Karabakh much will depend on the
situation on the Azerbaijani and Karabakh armed forces’ contact-line.

If any party resumes the military activities, the situation will
radically change. Different consequences can be expected, including
recognition of Karabakh’s independence. So, the factors are different.

Development of different scenarios is possible.

From: A. Papazian