Author: Andres-Papazian

AZERBAIJANI ‘SABOTEURS’ ON TRIAL IN KARABAKH

Transitions On Line, Czech Republic
Oct 29 2014

The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan “have agreed to continue the
dialogue” on the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region after their 26
October meeting in Paris, French President Francois Hollande’s office
announced, Reuters reports.

Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliev held the rare face to face
meeting at Hollande’s invitation. It follows a period of heightened
tension in the Armenian-controlled territory, with numerous border
clashes over the summer and allegations of Azerbaijani infiltrators
gunning down a Nagorno-Karabakh military officer and murdering a
local teenager in July.

They agreed to exchange information about missing persons, Hollande’s
office said. The announcement came with an implied caveat, however,
as the only date mentioned for another potential presidential meeting
was nearly a year from now, at the annual UN General Assembly in New
York, an event where it is not unusual for estranged statesmen to
talk on the sidelines.

Two men accused of killing the officer in July went on trial 27
October, Radio Free Europe reports. According to ArmeniaNow.com, the
men, Shahbaz Quliev and Dilham Askerov, are accused of killing the
teenage boy, while a third member of their group is said to have killed
the officer before being killed himself as he tried to resist arrest.

“Azerbaijan denies its citizens were saboteurs and demands that the
Armenian side treat them like prisoners of war. But justice officials
in Stepanakert say they possess irrefutable evidence that the men
were saboteurs,” ArmeniaNow writes.

From: A. Papazian

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE: “THE US HOPES ON INTENSIFYING OF THE NEGOTIATIONS ON THE NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT”

APA, Azerbaijan
Oct 29 2014

[ 28 October 2014 23:33 ]

Baku-APA. U.S. hopes for intensify negotiations on the settlement
of the Karabakh conflict, the spokesperson for the United States
Department of State Jen Psak told reporters, APA reports quoting RIA
Novosti .

“We urge all parties to redouble their efforts at the negotiating
table and to focus on the benefits that can bring peace to people of
the region” – said Psak.

Note that yesterday in Paris, a meeting of the Presidents of Armenia
and Azerbaijan with participation of the head of France Francois
Hollande. The meeting was also attended by the OSCE Minsk Group.

From: A. Papazian

ARS HOLDS SECOND INTER-EXECUTIVE MEETING IN LONDON

[ Part 2.2: “Attached Text” ]

By Contributor on October 29, 2014 Members of the ARS Central
Executive Board and regional chapters at-large at the Navasartian
Armenian Center in London.

On Oct. 18-19, the Armenian Relief Society’s (ARS)
Second Inter-Executive Meeting took place in London’s
“Navasartian” Armenian Center, organized jointly by
the ARS Central Executive Board (CEB) and Great Britain’s ARS
Chapter. The meeting took place with the participation of the ARS
of Great Britain, France, Stockholm, Cyprus, Bulgaria, and Lebanon
regional and membership representatives, as well as members of the
ARS Central Executive Board and representatives of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (ARF) of England.

Members of the ARS Central Executive Board and regional chapters
at-large at the Navasartian Armenian Center in London.

The two-day meeting was called to order with participants singing the
ARS anthem. The chairperson of ARS-Great Britain, Janette Mardirosian,
welcomed everyone. To start the proceedings, ARF-London Chairman,
Dr. Hratch Boghosian, delivered the ARF message to the gathering.

The ARS’s ongoing international programs and activities were
presented by the ARS Central Executive Board chairperson, Vicky
Marachelian, and CEB members Alesya Bejanyan and Liza Avakian. The
chairpersons of the ARS United Nations, Strategic Planning, and
Fundraising Committees also reported their activities via Skype. As
a priority concern, ARS Central Executive Board member Zepure E.

Reisian reported from Aleppo on the present challenges and
socio-economic hardships facing the Syrian-Armenian community and
the ARS aid programs implemented in this regard.

Following the reports, participants were given the opportunity to
ask questions and express their opinions to the CEB members and
committee chairpersons. Each ARS entity then presented a report on
the activities of their respective regions, stressing local successes,
issues, and challenges.

A primary focus of the meeting was the basic needs of Syrian refugees
presently in Europe. Participants also expressed their concerns and
presented proposals regarding the rejuvenation of the ARS ranks.

On Saturday evening, Mr. and Mrs. Atom and Sella Tenjoukian hosted
a gathering in their residence. The following day, the ARS-Great
Britain’s chapter-at-large celebrated its 32nd anniversary.

ARS-Great Britain Executive Board member Jacqueline Karanfilian
welcomed the guests and invited Mardirosian to give her remarks. On
this happy occasion, Marachelian and Archpriest Father Aren Shahinian
each congratulated the chapter members with words of praise for the
important role Armenian women play in our society. Ara Markarian,
the High Commissioner of the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia,
congratulated ARS-Great Britain on the occasion of this important
event. London’s Ealing District Representative, Stephen Pound,
also attended and offered words of praise and encouragement for
the diligent chapter members, the Armenian Relief Society, and all
community representatives.

Marachelian concluded her thoughts concerning the Inter-Executive
Meeting with the following words: “The proceedings of the
Second ARS Inter-Executive Meeting were successful. Through the
constructive input of the members of the ARS Regional and at-large
executives, it was possible to refresh the spirit of cooperation among
the entities and to come up with new ideas to enhance our ongoing,
worldwide programs. This meeting addressed with special attention the
issues facing our Syrian-Armenian community, as well as the projects
in place for the 100th Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. The
participants are returning to their regions with renewed enthusiasm
and vigor.”

g-london/

From: A. Papazian

PARIS MEETING OF PRESIDENTS OF AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA POSITIVE

Trend, Azerbaijan
Oct 28 2014

By Seba Agayeva – Trend:

Paris meeting of the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan to settle
the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can be considered
successful, professor of Western University Fikret Sadikhov told
Trend Oct.28, commenting on the meeting of the two presidents.

“In any case, the meeting is a positive factor,” Sadikhov said. “It
demonstrates the peacefulness of Azerbaijani diplomacy, official Baku
and its desire to resolve this long-running conflict peacefully. That
is an advantage and the priority of Azerbaijani diplomacy.”

Joint meeting of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group
took place in Paris October 27, the official website of the Azerbaijani
president said earlier.

The meeting took place at the initiative of French President Francois
Hollande. Then there was a meeting of President of Azerbaijan Ilham
Aliyev and President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan.

Thereafter, a joint meeting of French President Francois Hollande,
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group took place.

“As for the meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia,
I think that those pragmatically assessing and making predictions
did not expect any radical changes at this meeting,” he said.

“The problem itself is too complex. It was impossible to ensure a
variety of geopolitical interests at one meeting with anyone, given
that the efforts are made up until now to create balance between
Armenia and Azerbaijan.”

He said that an agreement on the exchange of information on missing
persons, hostages and prisoners of war was reached, which is little
progress.

“It is also important,” he said. “The main thing is to take into
account Armenia’s stubborn position, which apparently needs to be
forced to peace.”

He said that the French president expressed the desire on the need to
start working on the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between Azerbaijan
and Armenia.

The political analyst said that the primary information on the outcome
of the meeting gives reason to say that in any case the meeting was
not useless.

“The meeting created an opportunity for Azerbaijan to express its
attitude to the conflict, its position, to discuss the most sensitive
points of the conflict and to recall the occupation of Azerbaijani
territories,” he said. “In this aspect, I think that in general,
the meeting can be considered successful and positive at another
stage of searching for further ways to resolve the issue.”

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in
1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a
result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied
20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and
seven surrounding districts.

Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are
currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented
four U.N. Security Council resolutions on the liberation of the
Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.

During a visit to the South Caucasus region in May, French president
reaffirmed the commitment of France as a co-chairing country of the
Minsk Group to continue mediating to search for a peaceful solution
to this conflict, twenty years after the ceasefire agreement entered
into force.

From: A. Papazian

AZERI, FRENCH PRESIDENTS MEET IN PARIS

Cihan News Agency, Turkey
Oct 28 2014

PARIS – 28.10.2014 11:07:15

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met with French President Francois
Hollande at the Elysee Palace in Paris Oct. 27.

A guard of honor was lined up in honor of President Aliyev in front
of the palace. President Aliyev passed the guard of honor.

After welcoming, the presidents posed for photographs.

Both leaders expressed satisfaction with successful development of
bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and France in various fields.

Good prospects were emphasized for further expansion of cooperation
in power engineering, aerospace, military-technical sphere, education,
subway construction, others.

The sides exchanged the views on the implementation of the “Southern
Corridor” energy corridor.

During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the course
of negotiations on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict settlement, a just solution of the conflict on the basis
of international law in accordance with the documents signed on
this topic.

The need was stressed to change the status quo and to liberate the
occupied territories. (Cihan/Trend az)

From: A. Papazian

ACT OF TERRORISM IS 15 YEARS OLD IN ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Oct 28 2014

28 October 2014 – 10:56am

Today Armenia commemorates victims of the terrorist attack in
Parliament, which took place 15 years ago. During a regular session
of the National Assembly on 27 October 1999 five armed men led by
Nairi Unanyan rushed into a conference hall of the National Assembly
of Armenia and shot 8 people.

Chairman of the National Assembly Karen Demirchyan, Prime Minister
Vazgen Sargsyan, vice-chairmen of the National Assembly Yury Bakhshyan,
Ruben Miroyan, deputies Mikael Kotanyan, Heinrich Abramyan, Armenak
Armenakyan and the minister of operational issues Leonard Petrosyan
were killed.

From: A. Papazian

PRESS RELEASE
MEDIA CENTER in YEREVAN
30 Saryan str.
Tel: +37460 505 898
+37499 755 898
Email: [email protected]
Web:

29/10/2014

October 30, 17:00: An online debate entitled `The TV Digitalization in
Armenia’ will be held at the initiative of the Media Center and
cybercast at A1plus.am.

The speakers include:

Armen Lazarian, Member of the National Committee of the Television
and Radio,

Ashot Melikyan, Chairman of the Committee to Protect Freedom of
Expression,

Hovhannes Margaryan, Member of Parliament,

Narine Avetisyan, Lori TV,

Samvel Harutyunyan, Mig TV.

ATTENTION. The debate will be held at A1+ TV studio and will be
available for the journalists via live stream at a1plus.am
website. The online mass media can embed the broadcasting code or the
video recording of the debate on their websites.

From: A. Papazian

PARLIAMENT HEARINGS ABOUT NEW MATERNAL BENEFITS LAW; MOTHERS PROTEST (VIDEO)

10.27.2014 18:36 epress.am

Today, in the National Assembly’s Social Affairs Standing Committee
there were hearings conducted about reforms for the “Law on Temporary
Unemployment Benefits” and “On State Benefits,” while near the National
Assembly, a group of protesters gathered outside, protesting against
the passing of the draft law.

Among the protesters were pregnant women, mothers with their infant
children, fathers of new families who were worried about their family
budget diminishing due to the law.

The protesters recognized that the law allows certain women to
take corrupt measures in agreement with their employers in order to
receive larger benefits, however, according to them, the government
can not fight against the risk of corruption at the price of hurting
other women.

“Saying that there are amendments to the law to fight against
corruption, proves that they are a bunch of inadequates,” said
a protester.

The law is foreseen to take effect after January 1. In essence,
the law sees positive changes for non-working (stay-at-home) mothers.

According to the law, non-working women will receive the minimum
national salary 70 days before giving birth and 70 days after giving
birth. This sum, however, is taken away from working women, because the
law plans to decrease their pre and post-birth benefits. If in under
the current law, mothers receive the medium amount of their 12 months
of work during the 140 days, then they have to receive 40% or 80%
or more than their overall salary, if they have 3 years experience,
moreover, if they have not changed their workplace. The benefits were
made as low as possible by defining a ceiling to the benefits; if a
mother has 1-2 children, she can not receive more than 2.5 million
AMD, and if she has 3 or more chirldren, she can not receive more
than 3.5 million AMD.

From: A. Papazian

HAYASTAN FUND&RSQUO’S GALA IN CANADA RAISES OVER $500 THOUSAND FOR ARTSAKH

13:29, 28 Oct 2014 The Annual Gala Of The Hayastan All-Armenian Fund Was Held

[ Part 2.2: “Attached Text” ]

13:29, 28 Oct 2014

[Armen-Yeganian-Karen-Mirzoyan-620×300.jpg]

The annual gala of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund was held in Canada
under the auspices of the Armenian Embassy in Canada. The keynote
speaker at the event was Karen Mirzoyan, Foreign Minister of the
Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

Armenia’s Ambassador to Canada Armen Yeganian congratulated
the attendees on the 22nd anniversary of establishment of the
Toronto Affiliate of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund. He referred
to the Fund’s activity in Armenia and Artsakh and emphasized
the importance of involvement of world-spread Armenians in the
socio-economic development of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

Ambassador Yeganian briefed the guests on the steps towards the
deepening of Armenian-Canadian relations.

More than $500 thousand raised at the events will be allocated for
the implementation of a number of important programs in Artsakh.

er-500-thousand-for-artsakh/

####

Khachaturian Trio to perform in Armenian Genocide commemorative
concert at Fresno State

10:22, 28 Oct 2014 [Khachaturian-Trio-620×300.jpg]

On Friday, November 14, the Khachaturian Trio will perform a
Commemorative Concert dedicated to the victims and survivors of the
Armenian Genocide, Massis Post reports.

The event will take place at Fresno State Concert Hall located in the
University’s Music Building. The program will include works by
Rachmaninoff, Babadjanian, and Khachaturian. The event is co-sponsored
by the Fresno State Armenian Studies Program and the Philip Lorenz
Memorial Keyboard Concerts.

Named after the renowned Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian, the trio
consists of pianist Armine Grigoryan, violinist Karen Shakhgaldyan,
and cellist Karen Kocharyan. Educated at prestigious institutions
including the Yerevan State Conservatory and the Moscow Conservatory,
the three colleagues have toured extensively throughout the Central
and South America, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Germany, Austria,
China, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Australia, Moldova, Georgia,
Lithuania, Latvia, Russia and Armenia. They are widely considered
as one of Armenia’s leading chamber music ensembles and have
been praised for their virtuoso performances, subtle sense of style,
warmth, and deep musicality.

The Fresno State Armenian Studies Program (www.

fresnostate.edu/armenianstudies) offers courses on Armenian history,
Armenian language and literature, art and architecture, film,
William Saroyan, the Genocide, and contemporary issues. It supports
the Armenian Students Organization, the student and program newspaper
Hye Sharzhoom, and the Armenian Studies Program Lecture Series.

The event is one in series of activities promoted by the Armenian
Genocide Centennial-Fresno Committee, which includes representatives
from the religious, educational, social, and political organizations
of the Central Valley. The group’s goals are to commemorate
the 1.5 million martyrs who perished at the hands of the Ottoman
Turkish Government; to educate others about the Armenian Genocide
and historical injustice; and to inspire people to overcome adversity
through the story of the survivors’ of the Armenian Genocide.

n-genocide-commemorative-concert-at-fresno-state/

From: A. Papazian

FRANCE HOSTS TALKS BETWEEN ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN

Associated Press Online
October 27, 2014 Monday 9:32 PM GMT

by SYLVIE CORBET
PARIS

PARIS (AP) – The leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia restarted a
dialogue Monday during a three-way meeting in Paris with French
president Francois Hollande, in an effort to ease tensions in the
disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region of the southern Caucasus.

Armenian President Serge Sarkisian and Azerbaijan President Ilham
Aliyev agreed Monday to exchange information on the persons who
disappeared during the six-year separatist war that ended in 1994. The
process will be conducted under the auspices of the International
Committee of the Red Cross, according to a written statement released
by the French presidency.

They also agreed to continue the dialogue at new meeting in September
2015 on the sidelines of the General Assembly of the United Nations
in New York.

Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan but it and some surrounding
territory have been under the control of Armenian soldiers and local
Armenian forces since a 1994 cease-fire. Since then, there have been
sporadic clashes, but last summer tensions rose sharply as 19 soldiers
were killed in multiple confrontations.

Years of diplomatic efforts under the auspices of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe have made little visible progress
in resolving the dispute.

Earlier Monday, Hollande met separately with each leader.

During a one-to-one meeting with Aliyev, the French president evoked
the situation of the prominent human right activist Leila Yunus,
who is jailed in Azerbaijan. Yunus was arrested with her husband and
charged with spying for Armenia last July.

Aliyev “has made commitments” on that matter, said a top French
official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed
to speak publicly on the matter. He didn’t give details because of
the sensitiveness of the issue.

From: A. Papazian