Author: Andres-Papazian

SHIPPING COMPANIES COME UNDER ANTITRUST COMMITTEE’S SPOTLIGHT

Tert.am
18.05.11

The State Committee for Protection of Economic Competition has started
inspections in shipping companies.

Speaking at a discussion in the parliament on Wednesday, the head of
the committee, Artak Shaboyan, said the inspection results would be
made public in the near future.

He told the parliament members that the committee is also conducting
studies in highly concentrated markets.

“The committee’s activities and proceedings should be the key to
increasing our reputation. Though we have limited resources, we are
trying to direct them to the solution of problems that have received
wide publicity,” he said, referring to the committee’s studies on
the egg market earlier this year.

The statement came in response to a question by MP Vardan Bostanjyan
of Prosperous Armenia party faction in parliament who was interested
to know what measures the committee takes to increase its rating.

The committee had earlier asked sugar manufacturing and importing
companies to submit justification on increased prices. On April 20, it
made a decision to initiate an administrative procedure against Alex
Grig company, a major stakeholder on Armenia’s butter and vegetable
oil market.

On May 13, the company was fined 500,000 drams for failing to submit
the required documentation within specified timeframes. Meeting
shipping companies’ request half-way, the committee extended the
timeframes for companies importing clothes from Turkey and China. On
April 6, it had filed a proceeding against four shipping companies
which had reportedly raised import customs tariffs earlier this year.

From: A. Papazian

YEREVAN TO HOST CONFERENCE DEVOTED TO DIASPORA ISSUES

Tert.am
18.05.11

An international conference on Diaspora’s Perspectives in Globalizing
World will be held in Yerevan between May 26 and 28.

The event will bring together government officials from countries
having diasporas, as well as heads of diplomatic missions accredited
to those states.

The conference will focus on:

1. Prospects of developing state-diaspora relations

2. Collaboration between states having diasporas

3. Direct cooperation between national diasporas

4. Elaboration of a relevant international instrument

From: A. Papazian

ETHNIC ARMENIAN SOLDIER IN TURKEY KILLED BY BOZKURTLAR MEMBER

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 18, 2011 – 14:44 AMT

Outbursts of nationalism observed in Turkey during election campaign
suggest serious scandals in future, according to an expert in Turkish
studies.

As Ruben Melkonyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, “the murder of an
Armenian soldier Sevag Sahin Balikci on April 24 Genocide Commemoration
Day came as a consequence of nationalist moods. It’s been found out
that the murder was committed by Sevag’s fellow serviceman Kivanc
Agaoglu, a member of a Bozkurtlar (Grey Wolves) ultra-nationalist
youth organization. Hrant Dink murderer Ogun Samast was affiliated
with the same organisation.”

“Harassment scandals and the Kurdish issue are also likely to surface
during election campaign in Turkey,” Melkonyan noted.

Parliamentary elections in Turkey are due on June 12.

From: A. Papazian

LE JOURNAL AGOS INTERDIT DANS LES PRISONS TURQUES
Stephane

armenews.com
mercredi 18 mai 2011

Les residents dans les prisons de la Turquie, dont les journalistes
recemment arretes Ahmet Sik et Nedim Sener, n’ont pas ete autorises
a recevoir les copies du journal armenien Agos parce que les
fonctionnaires disent qu’il est publie en ” langue etrangère “.

Les deux journalistes ont depose plainte pour n’avoir pas recu des
copies du journal qui est publie en partie en Turc et en partie en
Amenien et qui leur avait ete envoye a la prison de Silivri.

Les administrateurs de la prison de haute securite ont repondu a
la plainte, expliquant que ” le journal Agos est inscrit parmi les
publications interdites par le Ministère de la Justice, ainsi il ne
peut pas etre remis dans des prisons “.

Le Ministère de la Justice a declare plus tard cependant qu’il
autorise le journal en prison desormais. Le journal, qui est publie
depuis 15 ans, a ete accepte dans la Bibliothèque du Parlement la
semaine dernière.

” Nous avons recu des plaintes depuis 2008 comme quoi Agos n’ait pas
recu par des prisonniers dans la prison de Tekirdag de type F. Nous
avons meme fait des articles sur cela ” a dit le redacteur en chef
du papier, Roper Koptas. ” Alors nous avons pense que l’interdiction
avait ete soulevee car nous ne recevions plus de plaintes desormais “.

Cette supposition a ete mis a mal quand Sik et Sener n’ont pas recu le
journal a dit Koptas ajoutant que l’interdiction dans les des prisons
n’est pas toujours certaine. ” Nous croyons que c’est une grande erreur
” a-t-il dit.

Agos entre en contact a la fois avec le directeur de la prison et le
president du comite parlementaire pour les Droits de l’homme Zafer
Uskul, mais a echoue a obtenir une reponse claire.

” Comme si le meurtre [de l’ancien redacteur en chef d’Agos] Hrant
Dink n’etait pas assez, ils interdisent meme maintenant Agos d’entrer
dans les prisons ” ont declare Sik et Sener, qui ont rencontre leurs
parents dans une declaration. ” C’est un acte ” difficile a croire
” ; l’interdiction reflète une des nombreuses injustices faites dans
ce pays chaque jour “.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN WOMEN’S GROUPS SEEK INCREASED PENALTY FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT AND RAPE

Trust Law (trust.org)

May 17 2011

Source: trustlaw // Courtney Harvey

NEW YORK (TrustLaw)–In May 2010, Levon Avagian, a teacher at
Nubarashen special needs school in Armenia, was convicted of sexually
abusing five students who were minors. Originally sentenced to two
years in prison, Avagian’s sentence was increased by the Court of
Appeals to the full three year maximum sentence allowed by Armenian
law. Armenian women’s rights advocates now seek to increase this
penalty and make other amendments to Armenia’s laws related to sexual
assault and rape.

In response to the high profile Nubarashen case, the Women’s Resource
Center Armenia organized a special working group of experts in June
2010 to draft amendments to the Armenian criminal code to ensure rape
and sexual assault are classified and punished on the same level as
other serious crimes.

‘We were supporting the victims and ensuring civil society’s
involvement and media coverage of the (Nubarashen) trial to make
sure that everything would be fair. At the end the perpetrator got
three years which was the maximum based on the law. So the problem
was also the weakness of the law, and it needed to be changed,’ Lara
Aharonian, co-founder of the Women’s Resource Center Armenia (WRCA),
told TrustLaw.

Photo talen on April 13, 2011 when the Women’s Resource Center Armenia
held a press conference in Yerevan to discuss their work to amend
the Criminal Code. By Tamar Sarkissian.

Aharonian calls Armenia’s laws on sexual assault and rape “weak”
in comparison to other countries in the region and believes they are
‘inherited from the Soviet regime.” If the amendments currently in
circulation in parliament pass, it will mark the first change in
Armenia’s laws on sexual violence.

Aharonian believes the amendments stand a high chance of succeeding
due to strong support “among civil society, particularly NGOs working
in children’s rights, trafficking and women’s rights, and among
politicians as well.”

One challenge the legislation could face concerns amendments addressing
the age of minors. The amendments divide the section dealing with
minors into two parts handling children under the age of 14 and over
the age of 14 in different ways. There already have been questions
raised about how to address cultural factors such as the age of
marriage among minority groups in light of the proposed changes.

For those advocating for the amendments, this is only the first step
in revising the Armenian criminal code. In addition to weak penalties
for sexual violence, Armenia has no laws explicitly addressing domestic
violence or even addressing gender-based discrimination.

“It’s an important step toward gender-sensitive legal reform and
a step toward greater awareness of justice and rights issues in
Armenia.” says Aharonian. While there is more to be done, she hopes the
amendments will ‘give confidence to women to report (sexual violence)
and go forward with legal procedures since sanctions will be stronger
compared to the old law where a perpetrator could end up paying just
a fine or face just a couple of years in prison.’

Key changes proposed by amendments:

– Classifies sexual violence/assault as grave crimes, enabling
sanctions envisaged in Articles 140, 141 and 142; the RA Criminal Code
(chapter 18 on sexual violence/assault) to be realised, adding up
to 15 years imprisonment depending on circumstances and making the
concealment of the crimes punishable.

-Removes “fine” as a method of punishment for rape.

– Adds aggravating conditions to offenses. For example, the old law
didn’t take into consideration the number of victims or number of
offenses on the same victim; it was all treated equally as if the
offense was against one person. These factors would be taken into
consideration along with other conditions, such as if a woman is
pregnant and if there is use of a weapon,

– Removes the term “consent” if the victim is underage. A child
cannot give consent even if there is no apparent “physical violence”
committed.

-Revokes guardianship rights immediately if the alleged perpetrator
is a parent.

Background: Women’s Resource Center Armenia

In 2003, the then 30-year-old Lara Aharonian co-founded the Women’s
Resource Center Armenia with two local friends to “create a safe
space for women in Armenia to gather and voice their concerns and
issues and collectively find solutions to obstacles faced by women
in order to advance in society and make decisions for themselves.”

The WCRA is the first resource center created in post-Soviet Armenia
for young women. Now with more than 300 members in Yerevan and a
sister branch in Shushi, the conflict zone of Nagorno-Karabakh, it
works in the areas of women’s human rights, reproductive and sexual
rights, sexual violence and women’s role in conflict resolution and
peace building in the region of the South Caucasus.

The work of the WCRA on amending Armenia’s criminal code is part of a
larger project funded by the Norwegian Foreign Ministry that gave the
WCRA three years of funding for their sexual assault crisis center,
whose needs outgrew its volunteer staff.

Beyond running a hotline for sexual assault survivors, the center
also runs a national awareness campaign that seeks to better define
sexual violence, works to establish preventive activities for different
institutions and supports vulnerable groups.

From: A. Papazian

WHY WASHINGTON MUST LOOK TO ANKARA
By Michael Shank

The Hill

May 17 2011
DC

America has yet to figure out whether Turkey is friend or foe.

With conflicts in Libya and Afghanistan, and tsunamis in Japan and
Indonesia, Turkey’s generous military and aid contribution pleases
Washington. With Armenia, Israel and Iran, however, Turkey spurns
Washington for refusing the genocide label, stalling negotiations
and opposing sanctions, respectively.

Coupled with a co-mingling of political Islam and neoliberal economic
policies, and you have Washington on alert, always angling this
ambiguous ally, edging her to go west, instead of east.

While Washington speculates that Turkey benefits from this elusiveness,
traders in Istanbul and politicos in Ankara beg to differ, citing
unreliable relations and unpredictable policymaking – which inspires
Turkic-American organizations to take members of Congress and their
staff to Turkey to fact-find. Having returned recently myself from
one such trip, it remains clear that on several fronts Turkey is
poised to please.

The world’s 16th largest economy and sixth largest economy among EU
countries, Turkey wants to be bigger, better and bolder, aiming to be a
top ten economy by 2023. Operating under free-market fundamentals, with
no trading partner exempt, it is tacking towards that goal. This need
not scare the US (and which is also why Turkey wallpapers Washington’s
billboards with western-friendly “Travel Turkey” advertisements and
why Kobe Bryant and Kevin Costner are spokesmen for Turkish Airlines).

If Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is serious about
its global aspirations, it needs to reassure skeptical westerners
that political Islam and democracy are compatible. In doing so,
Turkey will need to boost its low ranking on the Global Peace Index
(126 out of 149), in which Economist Intelligence Unit data highlights
Turkey’s organized conflict, disrespect for human rights, perceived
criminality, violent crime and ease of access to small arms.

To further this, in our meetings with AKP and the opposition Republican
People’s party and pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy party, it was
evident that while much political progress has been made in ten years,
political freedoms need extending.

And as Turkey advances its goal of economic progress, it cannot view
its workforce in such expendable terms. Among the OECD’s richest, the
U.S. and Turkey are nearly tied for the highest income inequality,
which brings with it the worst rates of life expectancy, social
mobility, violence, infant mortality, obesity, literacy, homicides,
incarceration, teenage pregnancy, mental illness, and drug and
alcohol addiction.

In our meetings, Turkish government officials boasted a workforce
that worked longer and for less than EU counterparts. This is not
necessarily something to brag about. To Turkey’s credit, while
corporate social and environmental responsibility is relatively new
to Turkish technocrats, it is hosting the U.N. Global Compact this
month, the U.N.’s agency focused on better business practices.

Social and political progress, as well as economic growth, are very
achievable – and in the interests both of Turkey and the U.S. Among
Turkey’s neighbors, the potential for Turkey to play a positive role
in diplomatic partnership with the U.S. is equally great – having
already brokered negotiations, releases and ceasefire attempts in
Yemen, Bahrain, Egypt and Libya.

Now, it’s time to go further. In the case of Iran, given that few
interlocutors are left for forthcoming negotiations, Turkey remains
uniquely positioned to keep open lines of communication, essential
for preventing rogue regimes from radicalization.

>>From Islamic politics to gas imports (Iran provides one-third of
Turkey’s total), Ankara’s contacts with Tehran should be encouraged
by the U.S., not treated as a cause for excommunication. Another
neighbour, Syria, needs Turkey’s sustained engagement, now more
than ever.

During our trip, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan reopened
talks with Damascus to encourage reform and underline discontent
with unrest. Turkey’s history and proximity with Syria, as with Iran,
affords it special envoy status; again, something to be capitalized
on, not castigated.

So, if Turkey wants to be a regional mediator, the U.S. should support
this. Few parties are so well positioned to liaise between the western
and Arab and Muslim worlds. While Qatar, Malaysia and others are keen
arbiters, Turkey has unique leverage given its role and relations in
the region.

With or without us, Turkey is moving forward – from economic
innovation , such as Erdogan’s proposed Canal Istanbul, to diplomatic
intervention, such as the proposed roadmap for Libya.

Given the continued likely rejection of its application for EU
membership, Turkey is realizing that flying solo may serve its
interests best. But that only underlines the need for Washington’s
attentive engagement.

Michael Shank is a doctoral candidate at George Mason University’s
school for conflict analysis and resolution and serves on the board
of the National Peace Academy.

From: A. Papazian

SNIPERS THE ONLY WAY TO EXERT MILITARY PRESSURE ON ARMENIA-AZERI EXPERT

news.am
May 17 2011
Armenia

Snipers and skirmishes in the line of contact are the only way to
exert military pressure. It makes the other conflicting party and
the mediators not form an illusion that Azerbaijan has resigned to
the defeat in the war and agreed to maintain Karabakh’s status quo,
Azerbaijani political analyst Rasim Musabekov told an online conference
in the Caucasus Journalists Network. He commented on Azerbaijani
leadership’s refusal to withdraw snipers from the line of contact.

According to him, however, one should not think that the Azerbaijani
authorities and society are only thinking to start a major war. “It
is not so, though patience is running out and the number of people
for decisive and pressure on the government increases. Azerbaijan
has made a major investment in strengthening its defense capability.

This year the country allocated U.S. $ 3bn for this purpose. It
exceeds not only Armenia’s state budget, but is also the largest
military expenditures in the former Soviet Union area after Russia.

However, hostilities are unlikely to resume in the near future. First,
negotiations are underway. Secondly, resumption of large-scale military
operations depends on the internal political situation in Azerbaijan
and Armenia,” he said.

From: A. Papazian

FORGOTTEN COMMUNITY SEEKS TO JOIN ELECTIONS WITH NEW PARTY

Hurriyet

May 17 2011
Turkey

Historical communities of Islamisized Armenians, who live on the
Black Sea coast in northeastern Turkey, are getting ready to found a
new political party. The party’s founder, Ä°smet Å~^ahin, is a former
deputy candidate from Istanbul’s second region who ran on the ranks
of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP, until he was
left out of the candidate list. The new party’s name will be publicly
announced following the general elections on June 12. Å~^ahin also
served in BDP’s ranks in previous elections.

“We will become a party that produces global solutions for societal
problems and protects the general interests of all oppressed people.

Our party will remain completely outside the left-right paradigm,”
Å~^ahin, who is a prominent member of the HemÅ~_in community, told
Hurriyet Daily News.

The HemÅ~_in were originally Armenians who fled to the Pontus region
along the eastern Black Sea as Arab troops occupied their homeland in
790. In 1480 the Ottomans conquered the area and in 1600 instituted the
“devÅ~_irme,” in which suitable young boys were taken from Christian
families to be educated. The Christians in the region often converted
to Islam to get rid of the “devÅ~_irme” and other taxes that were
applied to them.

“CHP and AKP are nationalists; BDP is becoming corrupt”

A total of seven Turkish-Armenians ran for seats in the parliament
with the AKP, the CHP and the BDP, but all of them were left off the
candidate list.

“It would have been naive to expect positive results. The AKP still
uses the Armenian identity as a form of curse in tete a tete debates,”
said Å~^ahin, who accused the ruling AKP and the main opposition
CHP of nationalism, and then added that the Armenian community of
Istanbul is still an inconsequential factor in Turkey’s political
and social structure.

“The presence of even a single Armenian deputy in parliament would
remind Turkey of its history; it would force Turkey to face up to
its own history. Turkey does not have the courage to face up to its
history,” said Å~^ahin.

“The BDP presents the Kurds and Turks as brothers in arms that
fought against common enemies to protect the Republic, with the aim
of gaining recognition from the state. The BDP is getting corrupt.

Instead of aligning itself with other oppressed peoples, the BDP
chose to go for an exclusively Kurdish constituency. In the past they
had announced their support for me because I was from within the
party and because I am a Hamshenite,” said Å~^ahin, adding that he
found it meaningless for other people to lay so much stress on his
Hamshenite identity.

“In recent years, more and more people have begun claiming they are
discovering their Armenian identity, and I do not find this sincere.

Hamshenites have always identified themselves as Hamshenites. If you
ask whether they are Turks, you would elicit a negative response. If
you ask whether they are Armenians, again you would elicit a negative
response. They would only tell you they are Hamshenites,” said Å~^ahin.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN LOBBY HAS BLOCKED US EXIM’S LOAN FOR FIRST TELECOMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE IN AZERBAIJAN

Azerbaijan Business Center
May 17 2011

Baku, Fineko/abc.az. The delegation of the Ministry of Communications &
Information Technology, headed by MCIT minister Ali Abbasov has left
for Washington.

The Ministry reports that the visit purpose is to clarify the
situation relating to the loan of the Export-Import Bank of the United
States (US Exim) for the project of launching the first national
telecommunications satellite Azerbaijan.

“As a result of misinformation spread by the Armenian lobby in the
U.S. regarding the launch of Azerbaijan satellite for intelligence
purposes, there appeared problems with obtaining the loan approved
this April,” a MCIT source emphasized.

The loan agreement should have been signed until the end of May.

US Exim reports that the project was reviewed by the Board of
Directors as far back as on 13 January. The applicant for funding
was BNP Paribas.

The borrower is the MCIT International Relations/Accounting Centre
and the guarantor is the Ministry of Finance. American exporter is
Orbital Sciences Corporation and suppliers Honeywell International
Inc and Moog Inc.

From: A. Papazian

VIC DARCHINYAN PLANS TO MOVE TO FORTH WEIGHT CATEGORY

news.am
May 17 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – Armenian boxer Vic Darchinyan who won IBF title in April 24
fight against Yonnhy Perez, is resentful at the Armenian TV channels
as his victory was almost neglected.

“It was a big day for the Armenian people and me personally. Two
months ahead of fight I knew I would wear a belt with an inscription
“1915” to remind the world of events which happened on that day.

However, not a single TV channel mentioned my name,” he told the
journalists in Yerevan on Tuesday.

Darchinyan also said he intends to move to the forth weight category
to set new records.

Famous boxer said he intends to meet with Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan to discuss opening of a boxing school in Armenia.

From: A. Papazian