Author: Andres-Papazian

GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL, KARABAKH FOCUS OF SENATE HEARINGS FOR AMBASSADOR NOMINEES

10:48 18.09.2014

Strengthening Azerbaijan’s rule of law, standing in solidarity
with Armenians in marking the 2015 centennial, peacefully resolving
Nagorno-Karabakh were among key issues highlighted during the Senate
Foreign Relation Committee’s confirmation hearing earlier today for the
U.S. Ambassador-designates to Azerbaijan, Robert Cekuta, and Armenia,
Richard Mills, reported the Armenian National Committee of America.

“Today’s testimony represented a missed opportunity – on the eve of
the 2015 centennial – for the Obama Administration to finally reject
Ankara’s shameful gag-rule prohibiting American officials from speaking
honestly about the Armenian Genocide,” said ANCA Executive Director
Aram Hamparian. “The Administration also failed, very conspicuously,
to use Ambassador-designate Cekuta’s high-profile confirmation hearing
as an opportunity to challenge Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s
alarming arms build-up, escalating threats of war, and outright acts
of aggression against Armenia and Artsakh, a reckless silence that
will only encourage Baku’s belligerence.”

United States and the world will stand in solidarity with the Armenian
people next year to mark the centenary of one of the 20th century’s
worst atrocities.

Richard Mills

Similar to each of his predecessors since former Ambassador John
Evans’ historic 2006 stand in support of honest U.S. recognition
of the Armenian Genocide, Ambassador-designate Mills – in keeping
with the White House’s enforcement of the Turkish government’s
gag-rule – fell short, in his testimony, of properly characterizing
the intentional and systematic murder of 1.5 million Armenians by
the Ottoman Turkish authorities as genocide. He did, however, note
that “the United States and the world will stand in solidarity with
the Armenian people next year to mark the centenary of one of the
20th century’s worst atrocities.” Expressing support for the widely
discredited Turkey-Armenia Protocols, Mills admitted that the process
had “stalled,” citing Turkey’s refusal to ratify the document. On
the eve of Genocide centennial, Mills placed the onus on Turkey to
“engage with Armenia to achieve a full, frank, and just acknowledgement
of the facts so that both nations can begin to forge a relationship
that is peaceful, productive, and prosperous.”

On the economic front, Mills decried the Republic of Armenia decision
to join the Eurasian Customs Union but argued for greater U.S. –
Armenia efforts to expand investment, noting that the U.S. is
“considering whether to begin negotiations with Yerevan on a Trade
and Investment Framework Agreement,” an initiative long advanced by
the ANCA.

In a clear reference to Azerbaijan’s abysmal human rights record,
Ambassador-designate Cekuta told Senators, “Just as we continue our
security and energy cooperation, we must also continue our efforts
to work with Azerbaijan on advancing democratic institutions and
processes, and strengthening rule of law.” He went on to note that
“Democracies only thrive when they are bolstered by an independent
judiciary, respect for the rule of just laws, a free media, a vibrant
civil society, pluralism, competitive, democratic electoral processes,
and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, including
freedom of assembly, association, expression, movement, and religion.”

Questions by Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Senator Ron Johnson
(R-WI) to both Cekuta and Mills primarily focused on efforts to
advance the Nagorno Karabakh peace negotiations. Both ambassadorial
nominees reaffirmed U.S. support for the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group mediation efforts and
expressed intent to work closely with U.S. Co-Chair James Warlick
to bring the sides closer to a settlement. While noting that there
can be no military solution to the Nagorno Karabakh issue, neither
nominee commented on the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s repeated
attacks against Armenia and Karabakh, which have resulted in over 20
deaths at the line of contact over the past three months.

From: A. Papazian

HAYOTS ASHKHARH: LEVON HAYRAPETYAN LAWYERS TO DEMAND NEW MEDICAL PROBE

09:19 * 18.09.14

In an interview with the paper, a lawyer for Levon Hayrapetyan,
the detained Russian-Armenian businessman standing trial in Moscow,
said the defense is going to demand an independent medical probe into
the businessman’s health.

“If you closely follow the judicial processes, you are probably aware
that Levon Hayrapetyan’s attorney, Rudolf Hambardzumov, received
a medical conclusion saying that his disease needs a more serious
evaluation.

“Taking into consideration that, we will apply to the judicial body
to demand that the inquest authorities assign an independent expertise
for Hayrapetyan in accordance with a court ruling,” Igor Komarov said.

Armenian News – Tert.am

From: A. Papazian

HAYKAKAN ZHAMANAK: ARMENIA WILL NOT HOLD MILITARY PARADE ON INDEPENDENCE DAY

11:23 17/09/2014 >> DAILY PRESS

Armenia will not hold a military parade on the Independence Day,
September 21, Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan told
Haykakan Zhamanak.

“There will be no military parade this year. A parade is held only
in jubilee years,” Hovhannisyan said.

Instead, on the Independence Day, a festive event will be held at
Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex in Yerevan.

Source: Panorama.am

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION
65 Main St., #3A
Watertown, MA 02472
CONTACT: Barbara Merguerian
Tel: 617/926-0171
Email: [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected])
web:

French Parliamentarian Will Open AIWA International Conference

Boston – Valerie Boyer, Deputy in the French National Assembly, who has
spearheaded legislation to make denial of the Armenian Genocide recognized as
a criminal offense, heads the list of distinguished speakers who will
participate in the 7th International Conference of the Armenian International
Women’s Association (AIWA).

Under the general theme `Armenian Women in Action: Building Communities
Across the Globe,’the Conference will be held in Yerevan, Armenia, on October
9 to 12.

In recognition of next year’s centennial of the Armenian Genocide, the
first full day of the conference (October 10) will explore new perspectives on
the roles of Armenian women during the Genocide, as well as the lingering
effects that followed. Italian-Armenian scholar and writer Antonia Arslan,
author of the best-selling novel about the Genocide, “Skylark Farm,” is one
of several distinguished speakers on this topic. The day will end with a
visit to Tsitsernakaberd to place a wreath at the Genocide Monument and tour
the Genocide Museum with its Director, Hayk Demoyan.

Other speakers on the first day include Fethiye Ã=87etin from Istanbul, author
of the groundbreaking book “My Grandmother,” which has opened a discussion
in Turkey about Islamized women survivors of the Armenian Genocide whose
origins have been hidden. Ã=87etin, who is the lawyer for the Dink Foundation,
has been in the news recently for her criticism of the Turkish government’s
role in the investigation of the murder of journalist Hrant Dink.She will
be joined by her associate, AyÃ…=9Fe Gül Altinay, in a discussion about “Women’
s Memories: Uncovering the Silence about Islamized Armenians.”

The second full day of the conference (October 11) will focus on Armenian
Women in policy-making, entrepreneurial, social, and health issues. Among
the presenters scheduled for that day are internationally recognized
authority on women’s health, Judy Norsigian, who will moderate a panel on “Meeting
Challenges in Women’s Health.” Other presenters include Vahan Zanoyan,
author of the highly acclaimed novel about trafficking, “A Place Far Away, and
human rights activists Sarah Leah Whitson and Alexandra Pitman. Several
Non-Governmental Organizations have been invited to provide models for what
can be accomplished in a panel on “NGO’s in Action in Armenia.”

Culture will also be on the agenda that day, with a stage reading followed
by a discussion of the new play “Women of Ararat,” by Judith Boyajian.
Ottoman-Armenian author Zabel Yessayan, some of whose works have just been
published in English by AIWA in two volumes (“Gardens of Silihdar” and “My Soul
in Exile”) is one of the authors featured in a panel on Women in
Literature.

Sunday morning will open with an AIWA organizational meeting, open to the
public, designed to provide an opportunity for affiliates in different areas
to get together to discuss current programs and future plans. There will
also be an optional excursion to the Armenian Church Mother Cathedral in
Etchmiadzin. Lunch will be followed by a conference Wrap-Up, with the focus on
`Looking Ahead.’ The conference will end with a Closing Banquet on Sunday
evening.

Prior to the official beginning of the Conference, participants will be

welcomed on Friday evening (October 9) by Hranush Hakobyan, Armenia’s Minister
of Diaspora, at a Gala Opening Reception at the Kars Restaurant Complex.
The first day’s session will be held at Conference Hall of the Armenia
Government Building in Republic Square. Subsequent sessions over the next two
days will take place at Manoogian Hall of the American University of Armenia.

AIWA’s international conferences are designed to examine the evolving
status of Armenian women and develop strategies for the future in the fields of
government, the economy, business and finance, health, education,
communication, culture, and the arts. Beginning with the first AIWA conference in
London in 1994 and continuing in Paris (1994), Yerevan (2000), Geneva (2004),
Buenos Aires (2008), and San Francisco (2011), AIWA’s conferences have
become noted for their interesting presenters, stimulating discussions, and
especially for opportunities to interact with a diverse international network
of Armenian and non-Armenian women.

Details regarding the Conference program, speakers, and activities are
posted on the AIWA website (_www.aiwainternational.org_
() ). All sessions are open to the public through registration,
which can be made on the website or by contacting the AIWA office at 65 Main
St., Watertown, Mass., 617-926-0171 or [email protected]_
(mailto:[email protected]) .

From: A. Papazian

Azerbaijan violated 5 articles of convention against Mamikon Khojoyan: Pastinfo

16:38 | September 13,2014 | Politics

The children of Mamikon Khojoyan, who was captured and tortured by
Azerbaijan, dispute Human rights European Convention 5 violations in
Human rights European Court against their father by Azerbaijan
authorities. “The applicants dispute violations provided by HREC 2nd
(Right to life), 3rd (Prohibition of torture), 5th (Right to liberty
and security), 13th (Right to an effective remedy) and 14th
(Prohibition of discrimination) articles,”- Advocate Vahe Grigoryan
said to Pastinfo.

By the way, he will represent Khojoyan’s children in the HREC by
“EuropeanCenter for Human Rights Defense”.

From: A. Papazian

OpEd News
Sept 13 2014

I Am Armenian
By Declan Hayes

I am not Armenian. I am Irish, as it happens. However, in the Armenian
language, my family name means I am Armenian.

If I were Armenian, I would be very angry with my fellow-Armenians,
those in the USA in particular. They are, we hear, the second richest
minority group in the USA and they are, we hear, making big
preparations to commemorate the 24 April 2015 genocide when 1.5
million Armenians were butchered in Syria for the simple crime of
being born Armenian.

The American Armenians, we hear, remember those far-gone atrocities
and are determined the world will know about it. In France, we hear,
it is a crime to deny that genocide was perpetrated by Turkey on the
Armenians, along with the Greeks, the Assyrians and a number of other
minorities in April 1915. France, Syria, Chile, Uruguay and numerous
other countries have, from time to time, commemorated that genocide
with postage stamps, a nice initiative, instigated no doubt by
concerned Armenians who remember those far-off atrocities and are
determined the world will smugly and silently remember them.

So, why the anger, you ask. Today, 7th September, the Armenian
civilians of Jaramana in Damascus are still under constant bombardment
by the moderate rebels America’s President Peace prize winner Barack
Obama has just promised another $4 bn to, the Armenians of Aleppo have
had their homes and factories looted and their contents sold off as
booty in Turkey, they have buried their friends and relatives by the
score, and the Armenians of Kasab have likewise had their relatives
slaughtered, their community destroyed and their elderly folk taken as
hostages to Turkey where they were paraded in front of the American
ambassador and his beautiful wife for their entertainment.

Whatever about the fat cats of the Armenian Diaspora, the Armenians of
Syria are by and large simple people who got their kicks by singing
hymns in church and their living by picking apples. Those simple
pleasures and livelihoods are now denied them and the American
Armenians, no doubt too busy following Kim Kardashian on twitter or
listening to Cher’s ditties on their expensive sound systems, do
absolutely nothing to help their fellow-Armenians who remain at the
business end of the Turkish cosh.

Even though American Armenian lawyers, we hear, are great advocates,
we see none of them getting off their well-waxed posteriors to take
class actions on behalf of the elderly Kasab Armenians taken as
hostages to Turkey for the entertainment of their ambassador and his
beautiful wife. Even though American Armenian churches, we hear, are
very generous donors to all types of charities and they have the
welfare of the larger and less fortunate Armenian community very much
at heart, their fellow Armenians in Syria have yet to see one single,
solitary dime from these generous flag-bearers of atrocities committed
long ago, atrocities those in Kasab who suffered similar atrocities
this year, heard first-hand accounts about when, as little children,
they sat on their mothers’ knees almost a century ago. Not for them
the narcissistic keening by the rivers of Gotham. Their mess of
pottage has a sharper edge, the unforgiving sword of the Saudi funded
jihadists who are well on the way to exterminating them and their way
of life.

Syria’s Armenian community have been stripped of their livelihoods by
foreign gunmen who enjoy the largesse of the American government which
depends, in part, on the tax dollars of America’s Armenian community.
Syria’s Armenian community, like all the people of Syria they have
lived peaceably with for untold centuries, need the help of the
outside world, members of the Armenian Diaspora in particular.

Although simple people, Syria’s Armenians are not stupid. They know
there is a plan afoot to denude the traditional bible lands of Syria,
Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine of their Christians and other minorities.
They know they are in the line of American fire through no fault of
their own, save that of being born Armenian Christians. What they do
not know or cannot understand is why the well-heeled members of the
Armenian Diaspora in the United States and France care so little for
their fate that they will not even do the most simple, elementary and
rudimentary things in solidarity with their Syrian confreres.

Why no Armenian or Christian aid? Why no political pressure on
Washington’s warlords? Why no legal challenges against Turkey’s
Erdogan regime and why is America’s ambassador to Turkey and his
beautiful wife not behind bars? These are simple questions I would put
to America’s Armenian leaders if our paths crossed — in America or
they will hardly cross here in Syria as America’s Armenian community
are either too busy or too scared here to “come and visit” as St Paul,
himself no stranger to Damascus, put it.

I am not Armenian but, if I were, I would be angry. I would try not to
sink into the type of despair that is the ghost at the bedside of
Syria’s Armenian community. If America’s Armenian community refuse to
help, perhaps salvation for the Armenians and Syria’s other Christian
remaining communities lies where with it has traditionally lay, with
the Syrian Arab Army and its ultimate protector, Mother Russia.

I will put these issues to the nuns of Saidnaya when I meet them later
today for their great festival. In the meantime, as we say in Russian,
Dosvidan’ya.

Dr Declan Hayes is currently on his third trip to Syria this year. He
is helping organize a conference in Damascus for April 24th 2015,
tentatively called: Syria: Between Destruction and Reconstruction to
mark the murder of all Syria’s innocents and to help plot a way
forward out of the morass.

From: A. Papazian

220 ceasefire violations by Azeri side reported September 7-13

September 13, 2014 – 16:02 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – 220 ceasefire violations by Azeri side were reported
at the line of contact between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijani armed
forces from September 7-13.

Azerbaijan fired over 1300 shots from various caliber weapons towards
the positions of Karabakh defense army, which retains full control of
the situation and takes retaliatory measures only in case of
necessity.

From: A. Papazian

Minister of Defense and U.K. Ambassador Discussed New Platforms By NATO

Lragir.am
Politics – 13 September 2014, 10:49

On September 12 the RA minister of defense Seiran Ohanyan met with the
ambassador of the United Kingdom to Armenia Katherine Leach. Mrs.
Leach attended the recap meeting of consultations between the
U.S.-British advisory group and the experts of the Armenian ministry
of defense during the next stage of strategic review of RA defense.

During the meeting bilateral cooperation in the defense sphere, as
well as issues relating to NATO defense cooperation based on newly set
platforms introduced by NATO during Wales Summit, the RA MoD informed.

From: A. Papazian

Russia Will Also Give Troops To Azerbaijan Against Armenians

Hakob Badalyan, Political Commentator
Comments – 13 September 2014, 15:03

Rosoboronexport suggests Azerbaijan to modernize T72 tanks.
Apparently, Azerbaijan is dissatisfied with over 100 modern T90 tanks
bought from Russia, and now wants modernized T72 instead of modern
tanks. In addition, Russian experts say that modernized T72 is better
than T90.

Evidence that something was wrong with the Russian-Azerbaijani defense
cooperation was the cancelled meeting of the Russian deputy prime
minister and coordinator of the military industry Dmitry Rogozin to
Baku. There are problems and the sides are now trying to resolve them.

While Russia made this proposal to Baku, the Armenian minister of
defense Seiran Ohanyan announced that Armenia is likely to buy new
long-range weapons. The minister did not specify from where.

Basically, Armenia cannot affect the expanding Russian-Azerbaijani
technical cooperation. And the next thing that Russia can offer
Azerbaijan is not only weapons but also troops, like in 1991-1992,
when after the failure of the Azerbaijani armed forces the Russian
army attacked Karabakh, invaded Getashen and Shahumyan, part of
Martakert and made those territories part of Azerbaijan.

Most probably, this is the next step of Russia. After all, the
Azerbaijanis may damage the reputation of Russian weapons, like in
early August. Therefore, Moscow needed that weapon to win. This is the
marketing rule.

The Armenian arsenal also mostly comprises Russian weapons but the
current trend is the Russian-Azerbaijani defense deal so the marketing
strategy requires success in this direction.

From: A. Papazian

Armenian health official denies widespread intestinal infection

13:00 * 13.09.14

An Armenian healthcare official dispells the concerns over the spread
of an intestinal infection in the country.

At a news conference on Saturday, Lilit Avetisyan, a deputy head at
the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said the
recent cases that raised wide concerns were recorded only in the town
of Kajaran (Syunik region).

The local daily Zhoghovurd reported earlier this week that several
people, including school-age children, had been hospitalized in the
southern town. The head of the regional administration’s healthcare
department had told the paper that they still had to clarify the
causes of the disease.

Avetisyan said that the outbreak can now be considered extinguished,
with no more cases having been registered ever since.

“We do not have such an infection in the republic. There was only a
small outbreak in Kajaran, and we told the media about it. But the
outbreak is now extinguished, as we no new cases,” Avetisyan noted.

Armenian News – Tert.am

From: A. Papazian