Author: Andres-Papazian

Police prevents demonstrators from protesting outside municipality building

12:55 – 22.01.11

A group of street vendors from different districts of Yerevan gathered
today outside the municipality to voice their protest against Mayor
Karen Karapetyan’s decision to ban street trade.

The security officers controlling the area did not allow the
protestors to approach the building, urging them to gather on the
opposite sidewalk. Later, however, the police attempted to disperse
the crowd, saying that the day is not appropriate for a rally as the
municipality is going to receive foreign guests.

The vendors disobeyed the police orders. A few minutes later, Police
Colonel Robert Melkonyan approached the demonstrators, ordering them
to break up. He even pushed one of the demonstrators.

When asked by journalists about the reason, the policeman declined to
admit his conduct.

“They are telling a lie. It’s a blackmail. I didn’t push anyone,” he said.

At the moment, 20 protesters have gathered at the park outside the
municipality, waiting for other vendor colleagues to join them.
They are planning to organize a march to the presidential office to
protest the mayor’s decision that left them jobless.

Tert.am

From: A. Papazian

Agence France Presse
19 Janv 2011

Le président grec invoque l’histoire et les “massacres” par le “barbare” turc
(AFP) –

ATHENES – Le “barbare” turc a “massacré” Grecs et Arméniens au début
du XXe siècle, a déclaré mardi le président grec Karolos Papoulias en
accueillant son homologue arménien Serge Sarkissian, en visite à
Athènes.

“Nous avons été massacrés par le même barbare”, a déclaré le président
grec à M. Sarkissian qui a entamé mardi une visite de trois jours en
Grèce.

“Beaucoup de choses ont changé” depuis le début du XXe siècle et les
massacres d’Arméniens et de Grecs établis sur les bords de la mer
Noire, a cependant ajouté M. Papoulias, 81 ans.

“Si nous n’avions pas à supporter le fardeau de l’équilibre militaire
(avec la Turquie), nous n’aurions pas besoin du Fonds monétaire
international”, a-t-il poursuivi, en référence au plan d’aide de
l’Union européenne et du FMI à la Grèce, étranglée par une dette
publique abyssale.

La Grèce a entrepris une normalisation de ses rapports avec la
Turquie, mais les relations butent toujours sur la délimitation du
plateau continental et de l’espace aérien en mer Egée, ainsi que la
question de Chypre.

Athènes argue de cette tension persistante pour renvoyer à plus tard
une baisse radicale de son très important budget de défense, en dépit
de la grave crise financière traversée par le pays.

La Turquie et l’Arménie sont, elles, divisées par la question des
massacres d’Arméniens sous l’Empire ottoman (1915-1917), qu’Erevan
entend voir reconnaître comme un génocide. Les deux pays ont signé en
octobre 2009 deux protocoles prévoyant des relations diplomatiques et
la réouverture de leur frontière commune. Mais le processus s’est
enlisé dans des accusations mutuelles.

From: A. Papazian

ARMY INCIDENTS ADDED TO MARCH 1 CASES

Lragir.am
21 Jan 2011

CoE Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg said on January 21
in Yerevan that besides March 1 cases , the issue related with the
incidents in the army have been added to his agenda.

In this connection, Thomas Hammarberg said that several steps are
necessary and in this relation proposals will be made. According to
him, first of all, clear names are required for the incidents to be
punished.

Besides, he attached importance to the creation of such a system of
presenting complaints for people, who became a victim of illegalities,
to be able to present their complaints being sure that they will not
be harmed any more. In this connection, Hammarberg noted that both the
Minister of Defense and the Military Prosecutor responded very
positively to these approaches.

From: A. Papazian

Creative Director of Puppet Theatre discontented with Municipality’s
decision to ban ticket sale at schools

2011-01-21 17:41:00

ArmInfo. Ruben Babayan, Creative Director of the State Puppet Theatre
after H. Tumanyan, is discontented with the Yerevan Municipality’s
decision to ban ticket sale at schools.

“We have regularly faced such decisions earlier, but in 2010 that ban
was very tough. I raised that issue in meetings with statesmen trying
to explain the positive side of ticket sale at school, but useless,”
he said in a press conference on Friday.

He said that despite the given ban, Puppet Theatre suffered no
financial loss in 2010.

“We have no commercial profit from distribution of tickets at schools.
Children will suffer from the ban because parents are not used to take
their children to theatre regularly. Many children will be deprived of
the only chance to enjoy performances and become familiar with
culture,” Babayan said.

From: A. Papazian

Yerevan Puppet theatre may take part in ‘Golden Mask’ festival

2011-01-21 17:40:00

ArmInfo. Yerevan Puppet theatre may take part in the “Golden Mask”
festival, Art Director of the theatre Rouben Babayan said at a
press-conference today.

According to him, if a decision on participation is made, Narine
Grigoryan’s performance “A Flight over the City” will be included in a
special programme “Mask Plus”.

To recall, the Puppet theatre presented Zaruhi Antonyan’s staging “A
Tale Fallen from Clouds” at the festival in 2010.

Speaking about the plans for 2011, Babayan said the year will be
marked by a number of interesting performances. In particular, the
first night of Zaruhi Antonyan’s “Wingy” performance based on
Marquez’s story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” will be held on
January 26.

Moreover, “The Dog and the Cat” performance will be staged once again.
By the way, the homonymous writing by Hovhannes Toumanyan will mark
its 100th anniversary in 2011.

From: A. Papazian

First Caucasian TV channel to be launched on January 25

2011-01-21 17:42:00

ArmInfo-Turan. The First Caucasian Information TV Channel (FCI or PIK
– the Russian abbreviation) will start broadcasting via the European
satellite in Tbilisi on January 25. The channel will release
operational information about important events for the peoples of the
Caucasus. It does not intend to engage in discussions with other media
or governments or to assess events. The viewers will be able to do
this for themselves. FCI will combine operational information and
Internet journalism, which will be a
novelty for the regional media.

The channel’s correspondents work in Baku, Yerevan, Moscow, Kiev,
Makhachkala, Ankara, Brussels, Washington D.C., Vladikavkaz, and
Tehran. The channel’s management includes Robert Parsons (General
Director), who has worked with BBC and France-24, and the Deputy
General Directors David Chatter (ITN, Sky News, Al-Jazeera), Zurab
Kodalaishvili (BBC, CNN, Sky News), and international commentator
Melanie Anstey. The channel will broadcast in Russian from Tbilisi,
Georgia from 18.00 to 00.00 Moscow Time. It will broadcast to the
Southern and Northern Caucasus, Ukraine, Belarus, Eastern Europe,
Russia, Turkey and Iran. It will be transmitted through the Hot Bird
satellite and the website. The channel will be managed by a
private company, Key 1 (K-1), established by Robert Parsons and
Yekaterina Kotrikadze.

From: A. Papazian

Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic

2011-01-21 14:52

Recently, Azerbaijan has intensified its attempts to cast doubt on the
expediency of visiting the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) by foreign
citizens.

The NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs states another destructive
initiative of official Baku. The Azerbaijani leadership’s attempts to
interfere with the processes concerning the interests of the
neighboring Nagorno Karabakh Republic are groundless and must be
considered as another manifestation of hostility towards our country.

For two decades, the NKR has developed as an independent and
democratic state, which is able to defend its sovereignty and ensure
all the democratic rights and liberties for its citizens. Since the
declaration of its independence, our country has been visited by tens
of thousands of guests from many states of the civilized world.
Missions of international organizations, including NGOs, and
business-companies constantly operate in the Republic. Annually, the
NKR MFA registers average 15-percent increase of the number of
tourists, which testifies to the sincere and increasing interest of
the international community towards the Karabakh phenomenon.

Unfortunately, any testimony for the consolidation of the NKR
statehood causes inadequate reaction by Baku, as a result of which the
Azerbaijani authorities often resort to a state blackmail or other
typical actions contradicting the modern system of international legal
and moral standards.

The recent initiative is encroachment on the interests of the Karabakh
people by Baku impeding confidence-building between the AR and NKR,
which is a necessary term for an efficient settlement of the
Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict.

The Azerbaijani leadership should refuse of its destructive steps and
direct its political potential to the negotiations on the achievement
of mutually acceptable peace and stability in the South Caucasus, with
the consideration of the existing realities.

Stepanakert, January 21, 2011

From: A. Papazian

Ekho, Azerbaijan
Jan 8 2011

Iran again meddling in Azerbaijan’s internal affairs

Excerpt from B. Safarov and N. Aliyev’s report
[translated from Russian]

Comments made by representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran
following the Azerbaijani president’s New Year address can be assessed
as an open interference by the Islamic Republic of Iran in
Azerbaijan’s internal affairs.

“From the legal point of view, President Ilham Aliyev’s New Year
speech is absolutely correct. The address is in line with the
celebration of New Year and the Day of Solidarity of Azerbaijanis of
the World,” lawyer Elcin Qambarov told Ekho commenting on statements
by a number of Iranian officials and publications in some Iranian
media.

The expert noted that ethnic Azerbaijanis live in different parts of
the world. “Azerbaijan is an independent state, and all Azerbaijanis
of the world regard our country as their motherland,” Qambarov
stressed.

It must be noted that the Iranian news agency Mehr reported that Ilham
Aliyev’s New Year address, in which he, as the leader of all
Azerbaijanis of the world, congratulated the whole Azerbaijani people
on New Year and the Day of Solidarity of Azerbaijanis of the World,
had caused the outrage of the head of the Iranian parliamentary
commission for foreign relations and security, Ala’eddin Borujerdi.
Borujerdi said that Ilham Aliyev could not be the leader of ethnic
Azerbaijanis in Iran since they considered heads of the Iranian state
as their leaders.

“Ilham Aliyev is the president of Azerbaijan, and this does not give
him the right to be the leader of all Azerbaijanis,” he said.

For its part, the Iranian website presstv.ir accused the Azerbaijani
leadership of pursuing an anti-Islamic policy and of having relations
with Tel-Aviv. The website recalled a recent protest by Muslim
believers staged outside the [Azerbaijani] Education Ministry over a
ban on wearing hijab at school. Iranian experts believe that this ban
is a concession made by the country’s government to the West aimed at
the future accession to the European Union, an organization which has
not a single Muslim European country represented in it, either
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, or Turkey. At the same time,
Presstv.ir noted that over 24 per cent of Iran’s population were
ethnic Azerbaijanis and that “they have never looked for a foreign
politician to become their leader”.

Presstv.ir also advised that the Azerbaijani leadership should refrain
from statements that could “incite discord among different ethnic
groups in neighbouring countries”.

[Passage omitted: about statements made by the leader of the
Azerbaijani Islamic Party, Movsum Samadov, calling for the overthrow
of the Ilham Aliyev government that was posted on YouTube]

“Ilham Aliyev is a leader who commands the respect of all Azerbaijanis
of the world, including our compatriots in Iran and Turkey. They are
all proud that there exists a leader like Ilham Aliyev in the Muslim
world,” the head of the Centre for Political Innovations and
Technologies, Mubariz Ahmadoglu, believes. “I would advise that
Iranian officials, including the head of the Iranian parliamentary
commission for foreign relations and security, Ala’eddin Borujerdi,
carry out a survey among our compatriots in Iran to find out about the
popularity of their leaders and of Ilham Aliyev. Even if the
Azerbaijani president’s popularity rating does not exceed the rating
of Iranian leaders, then at least votes will be divided equally.
Tehran is concerned that Aliyev has influence over Iranians as a
whole, including ethnic Persians,” Ahmadoglu said.

He said that after Ilham Aliyev was elected Azerbaijani president,
Shi’is in Turkey took a radical approach to the Karabakh issue. “They
immediately react to opportunistic statements by some forces in Turkey
and support the positions of Azerbaijan led by Ilham Aliyev. This also
worries Azerbaijan’s enemies,” he said.

[Passage omitted: more on Samadov’s statement]

From: A. Papazian

Karabakh Foreign Ministery Warns Azerbaijan Over Tourism Blocakde

Friday, January 21st, 2011
by Asbarez

STEPANAKERT-The Foreign Ministry of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic on
Friday issued a statement condemning efforts by Azerbaijan to prevent
foreign citizens from traveling to the nascent republic.

`Azerbaijan has recently intensified it efforts to make travel to the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic more difficult, a destructive initiative of
Official Baku to dissuade foreign citizens from visiting the
republic,’ the statement says. `The Azerbaijani leaderships attempts
to interfere in this regard are unwarranted and must be considered as
yet another manifestation of its hostility towards our country.’

The statement explains that Karabakh has been `visited by tens of
thousands of guests from many countries in the civilized world’ since
it declared independence in 1991.

`Missions of international organizations, including NGOs, and
businesses constantly operate in the Republic,’ the statement said,
adding that despite Azerbaijan’s efforts, the Foreign Ministry
annually registers a 15% increase in the number of tourists visiting
the country. `This testifies to the sincere and increasing interest of
the international community towards the Karabakh phenomenon.’

In an effort to quell this progress, Azerbaijan’s authorities `often
resort to blackmail and other actions contrary to international legal
and moral standards,’ the statement adds. Such efforts, it continues,
are an `encroachment on the interests of the people of Karabakh and
hamper confidence-building measures necessary to settle the
Karabakh-Azerbaijani conflict.’

In an apparent warning to Azerbaijan, the statement said that over the
years, Karabakh `has developed as an independent and democratic state,
which is able to defend its sovereignty and the democratic rights and
liberties of all its citizens.’

`The Azerbaijani leadership should put an end to its destructive steps
and direct its political potential to negotiating a mutually
acceptable peace and stability in the South Caucasus, with the
consideration of the existing realities,’ it concludes.

From: A. Papazian

Le Monde, France
18 Janv 2011

Une lettre de l’ambassadeur d’Azerbaïdjan

| 18.01.11 | 15h55 – Mis à jour le 18.01.11 | 15h55

A la suite de la publication du point de vue d’Ara Toranian, “Paris
lche les Arméniens” (Le Monde du 29 décembre), M. Elchin Amirbayov,
ambassadeur d’Azerbaïdjan en France, nous écrit notamment :

“Cette tribune présente une image déformée de ce qui se passe
réellement entre l’Arménie et l’Azerbaïdjan à propos du conflit du
Haut-Karabakh. L’occupation du Haut-Karabakh et de sept autres régions
voisines de la République d’Azerbaïdjan (environ 20 % du territoire
d’Azerbaïdjan) par l’Arménie s’est en effet soldée par des milliers de
victimes azeris sans compter un million d’Azerbaïdjanais chassés de
leurs terres. Lors des négociations menées entre nos deux pays, sous
l’égide du Groupe de Minsk de l’OSCE depuis 1992, l’Arménie n’a jamais
accepté de libérer ne serait-ce qu’une parcelle de ces territoires
tout en y créant des colonies. Je tiens également à souligner que
l’Azerbaïdjan reste vigoureusement attaché à un règlement, juste et
pacifique, fondé sur les principes et normes du droit international,
se référant strictement aux dispositions des décisions et résolutions
adoptées par le Conseil de sécurité de l’ONU, l’OSCE, le Conseil de
l’Europe, le Parlement européen et les autres organismes
internationaux.”

From: A. Papazian