Author: Andres-Papazian

KARABAKH CONFLICT CANNOT BE SHIFTED TO ANOTHER FORMAT, OSCE PA PRESIDENT SAYS

news.am
Oct 14 2010
Armenia

On October 13, the delegation of the Armenian National Assembly met
with President of OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Petros Efthymiou.

Abrahamyan expressed hope the close cooperation between Armenian
National Assembly and OSCE Parliamentary Assembly will develop and
become more effective. He highly appreciated the role of OSCE PA in
the development of inter-parliamentary dialogue.

Armenian Speaker stressed the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly always
had the Karabakh peace process in the limelight and stressed the
mediation of Minsk Group Co-Chairs as the only effective format for
peace process. Armenia is consistent with the peaceful settlement
of the conflict and attaches importance to creation of atmosphere of
confidence for constructive talks to be underway.

Referring to the Karabakh peace process, Petros Efthymiou emphasized
the conflict resolution has no alternative. He stressed Minsk Group is
the most effective format for conflict settlement and OSCE PA backs
its efforts. According to him, Karabakh problem cannot be shifted to
another format.

Petros Efthymiou accepted Abrahamyan’s invitation to visit Armenia.

On October 13, the delegation headed by Hovik Abrahamyan met with
representatives of Greek Armenian community. Following the meeting,
Abrahamyan participated in the reception on the 19th anniversary of
Armenia’s independence. At his request, Greek Parliament Speaker
Philippos Petsalnikos and OSCE PA President Petros Efthymiou also
attended the event.

On October 14, the official delegation headed by Hovik Abrahamyan
will leave for Cyprus from Greece.

From: A. Papazian

SITUATION ON CONTACT LINE UNDER CONTROL, NKR ARMY COMMANDER SAYS

news.am
Oct 14 2010
Armenia

The present situation in the line of contact between Nagorno-Karabakh
and Azerbaijani armed forces can be labeled as warlike, nothing more,
Commander of the NKR Defense Army Movses Hakobyan said.

Speaking at the Pan-Armenian forum of journalists “Challenges of the
21st Century: Information Security and Armenian Journalism”, he noted
that the Azerbaijani side is not committed to any provision of the
ceasefire agreement.

The present situation arouses concerns, but it is not critical as is
fully under control. “Peace in the region is mainly maintained due
to NKR Defense Army’s combat readiness. The Defense Armey compelled
Azerbaijan to sign a ceasefire agreement in 1994,”he said.

“Presently strength of the Karabakh army and armament quantity four
times exceeds the 1994 indicators and it is ready to efficiently
fulfill its tasks,” Hakobyan stressed.

From: A. Papazian

AZERBAIJAN CONCERNED OVER NAKHICHEVAN DEPOPULATION

news.am
Oct 14 2010
Armenia

The population of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic has over recent
years been shown emigration trends – people have mostly left for
Turkey or Russia. The demographic situation in the region, which is
part of Azerbaijan, has changed. The book “Nakhichevan: historical
and some present-day problems” says that the Kurdish population has
recently increased in the region due to Kurdish immigrants from eastern
Turkey. Official Baku is concerned over the problem. The book contains
detailed information on the history of Nakhichevan, ethno-political and
ethno-demographic processes, economy and socio-economic problems. The
book also addresses Iran’s growing influence in the region.

The book has been published by the Institute of Political Research,
RA Presidential Administration. The Institute also released the
analytical journal “Region and World.” The first Russian-language
issue has been published. Levon Hovsepyan, an Editorial Board member,
told NEWS.am that articles in Armenia, Russia and English will be
published in further issues.

“Political and analytical journals are in the making in Armenia,
but we hope the journal will find its readers,” Hovsepyan said. The
“Region and World” journal is intended for Armenian and foreign
experts, as well as for the general reader.

The Editorial Board members are well-known analysts and scientists
from Armenia, Russia and France. Other foreign experts will join the
Editorial Board in the future.

From: A. Papazian

PRESS RELEASE
Hayastan All-Armenian Fund
Governmental Buiding 3, Yerevan, RA
Contact: Hasmik Grigoryan
Tel: +(3741) 56 01 06 ext. 105
Fax: +(3741) 52 15 05
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

15 October, 2010

Hayastan All-Armenian Fund completes reconstruction of Noyemberyan Hospital

Major project is co-sponsored by the fund’s German,
Swiss, Lebanese, and Australian affiliates
as well as Saad Hariri, prime minister of Lebanon

Yerevan, October 15, 2010 – Following a year of large-scale renovation work,
the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund has completed the reconstruction of the
Noyemberyan Hospital, the only major healthcare center in Armenia’s Tavush
Region. The project was co-sponsored by the fund’s German, Swiss, Lebanese,
and Australian affiliates as well as Saad Hariri, prime minister of Lebanon.

Worth close to 317 million AMD (U.S. $880,000), the initiative brings fresh
testament to the effectiveness of the fund’s longstanding practice of
synergistic financing, whereby two or more supporters join forces to help
implement a given project. The reconstruction of the Noyemberyan hospital is
the second such undertaking in the Tavush Region.

Co-sponsor contributions to the project comprised money raised by the German
and Swiss affiliates during the 2009 Pan-European Phoneathon, the entirety
of proceeds from the Lebanese affiliate’s 2008 Radiothon, and a portion of
proceeds from the Australian affiliate’s 2008 Gala Dinner.

On October 10, the Noyemberyan Hospital celebrated the opening of its
renovated premises as it hosted a site visit by a large number of
dignitaries, benefactors, and affiliate delegates. Officials in attendance
included Armen Gevorgyan, deputy prime minister of Armenia; Harutyun
Kushkyan, minister of health; Ara Vardanyan, executive director of the
Hayastan All-Armenian Fund; and Armen Ghularyan, governor of the Tavush
Region.

Visiting supporters and delegates included Gilbert Momdjian, chairman of the
fund’s German affiliate; Avedis Kizirian, chairman of the Swiss affiliate;
Lorig Sabounjian, representative of the Lebanese affiliate; Ara Sisserian,
representative of Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri; Murat Akyuz,
representative of the Armenian Merchants’ Union of Germany; and benefactors
from Germany Mr. and Mrs. Martin Weidemann, Zolak Ter Harutunian, and Amini
Kamin. Also present were numerous local supporters and the entire staff of
the Noyemberyan Hospital.

As he addressed the attendees, Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan
conveyed his heartfelt congratulations to the hospital staff and the
residents of Tavush, and expressed gratitude to the Hayastan All-Armenian
Fund. “I find it extremely gratifying that the benefactors of the fund are
focused particularly on helping improve Armenia’s healthcare sector,” he
said. “I am certain that, with the reconstruction of the Noyemberyan
Hospital, the medical staff will no longer have to grapple with a host of
technical and logistical difficulties.” The deputy prime minister added that
another healthcare facility, a cardiology center being built by the fund in
the Syunik Region, will open soon.

The Noyemberyan Hospital is of vital importance to the Tavush Region, as it
serves the more than 30,000 residents of Noyemberyan City and surrounding
villages. The hospital, which has 30 patient rooms and 60 beds, houses a
general clinic with a physiotherapy wing, an emergency room, an
intensive-care unit, departments of surgery, obstetrics, gynecology, and
infectious diseases, as well as a dental clinic. In the near future, the
facility will be able to further improve its services thanks to state-of-the
art medical equipment and furniture donated by the Union of Armenian
Physicians and Healthcare Professionals of Germany.

In his speech during the opening, Health Minister Harutyun Kushkyan said, “I
have the highest regard for the work of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund. A
standard of excellence and great attention to detail are evident throughout
the renovations realized at the Noyemberyan Hospital. The premises,
including the emergency room, surgery department, and maternity ward, have
been thoroughly modernized. This facility is the only healthcare center of
its kind in Tavush, and now, with its reconstruction concluded, it is poised
to provide an unprecedented level of service.”

The Noyemberyan Hospital was established some 80 years ago. Today’s
three-story structure, built in 1961, had not undergone any major
renovations prior to the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund project. The initiative
included a complete redesign of the facility in accordance with modern
healthcare standards, the replacement of the roof, floors, windows, and
doors as well as installation of upgraded communications systems.

In addition, all patient rooms now feature bathrooms with hot and cold
water, heating for the hospital has been secured with the installation of a
boiler room, and an elevator has been built. The lack of an elevator has
long stood out as a grave issue for the facility, causing particularly
serious difficulties with regard to the transportation of patients to and
from the surgery department, located on the third floor. Finally, the
project has resulted in completely new landscaping.

In his remarks during the opening, Gilbert Momdjian, chairman of the fund’s
German affiliate, recounted the evolution of the hospital-reconstruction
project. “When I visited the facility for the first time, it was in a
dreadful state,” he said. “On my return to Germany, my colleagues and I
resolved to raise funds for a complete renovation of the hospital. Today I
can’t tell you how happy we all are that our joint efforts finally paid
off.”

“I am extremely impressed by the new look and feel of the facility,” said
Avedis Kizirian, chairman of the fund’s Swiss affiliate. “We, the diaspora,
specifically the Armenian communities of Germany, Switzerland, Lebanon, and
Australia, were able to implement this beautiful project through our close
collaboration. I hope this hospital will long serve our compatriots and
continue to facilitate numerous births. May our lambs born here grow up to
become lions and defend our borders.”

In her address to the attendees, Lorig Sabounjian, representative of the
fund’s Lebanese affiliate, recalled how her community was galvanized to help
make the hospital-reconstruction project possible. “Fortunately the results
of the 2008 Radiothon far exceeded our expectations,” she said. “That’s when
we decided to join the affiliates of Germany, Switzerland, and Australia in
carrying out this indispensable project.”

According to Dr. Ashot Gyozalyan, chief physician at the Noyemberyan
Hospital, the facility, which has a staff of 113, serves 1,400 patients and
delivers close to 400 babies annually. Dr. Gyozalyan expressed confidence
that the vastly improved conditions of the hospital will lead to a marked
rise in the number of births at the hospital.

Also delivering remarks at the opening was the fund’s Ara Vardanyan, who
stated: “It is such a joy to see that our benefactors attach great
importance to the existence of top-notch healthcare centers in Armenia’s
border communities. I wish you all glowing health.” Vardanyan informed the
attendees that medical equipment and furniture donated by the Union of
Armenian Physicians and Healthcare Professionals of Germany will reach the
Noyemberyan Hospital within the next two months. The bulk of the donated
material, comprising six sea containers, is already on its way, while the
remainder of the hospital’s furniture and equipment needs will be fulfilled
by Armenia’s Ministry of Health, Vardanyan concluded.

The city of Noyemberyan, founded in 898, is situated a few kilometers from
the Azerbaijani border. With a population of about 5,000, Noyemberyan offers
a mix of urban and rural lifestyles. While the city and nearby villages form
an agricultural zone, with core industries including farming, wine-making,
and bee-keeping, in recent years the business and service sectors have grown
to become significant factors in the area’s economic development. Today
Noyemberyan City functions as the main marketplace for the area’s
agricultural output. Among the city’s commercial establishments are those
specializing in food-processing, wood-cultivation, and stone-making.

###
Hayastan All Armenian Fund

From: A. Papazian

Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Tel: (818) 500-1918

PRESS RELEASE

October 14, 2010
Contact: Haig Hovsepian
Tel: (818) 500-1918

SCHOLARS FROM ACROSS THE WORLD TO PARTICIPATE IN GENOCIDE REPARATIONS
CONFERENCE AT UCLA

LOS ANGELES, CA—Scholars from across the world are set to discuss the
Armenian Genocide during a conference hosted by the International Human
Rights Law Association at UCLA entitled “Genocide and Then What? The Law,
Ethics, and Politics of Making Amends.” The event will take place at UCLA’s
Dodd Hall Auditorium on Saturday, October 23rd from 10:30am to 5:00pm.

“This is a ground breaking conference, the first of its kind to tackle this
issue as well as place it in the broader context of restitution for crimes
against humanity,” noted Dr. Henry Theriault, Chair of the Department of
Philosophy at Worcester State University.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE REPARATIONS REPORT TO BE FEATURED

The conference will feature a soon to be released report on the Armenian
Genocide which brings together years of research from the legal, ethical,
and political perspective. This independent study was made possible by a
grant from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.

“We look forward to discussing the report and the opportunity for critical
feedback from the scholarly community at the UCLA School of Law and beyond,”
stated Theriault.

Theriault, whose work explores the ethics of reparations for crimes against
humanity, will be joined on the first panel of the conference by Ara Papian,
former Ambassador of Armenia to Canada and treaty history and law specialist
as well as Dr. Jermaine McCalpin (University of the West Indies, Jamaica)
and Dr. Alfred De Zayas (Geneva School of Diplomacy and International
Relations).

De Zayas has served as Chief of Petitions at the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, is the retired
Secretary of the UN Human Rights Committee, and former senior counsel with
the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. He recently
authored, “The Genocide Against the Armenians 1915-1923 and the Relevance of
the Genocide Convention.”

McCalpin is a specialist in long-term as well as transitional justice. His
research interests include truth commissions and political accountability,
as well as reparations for slavery, Native American extermination, and the
Armenian Genocide.

CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY AND RESTITUTION

In addition to presenting the report, the event will feature panels
exploring Armenian Genocide reparations in the broader contexts of human
rights violation reparations, the ethical foundations, the political
implications, and real property determinations for reparations.

Key to this discussion is the participation of Professor Michael Bazyler,
Professor of Law and the “1939” Club Law Scholar in Holocaust and Human
Rights Studies at Chapman University School of Law. Bazyler is a leading
authority on the use of American and European courts to redress genocide and
other historical wrongs. His book on the subject, HOLOCAUST JUSTICE: THE
BATTLE FOR RESTITUTION IN AMERICA’S COURTS, was cited by the U.S. Supreme
Court and reviewed in the Harvard Law Review, Washington Post, Los Angeles
Times, Financial Times (London), and The Economist.

ETHICAL FOUNDATIONS, POLITICAL LANDSCAPE

Providing perspective on the ethical imperative behind justice in the case
of the Armenian Genocide and the dynamic political environment in which it
is developing will be Dr. Armen Marsoobian, Khatchig Mouradian, and Ayda
Erbal.

Marsoobian is a Professor and Chair of the Philosophy Department at Southern
Connecticut State University. His current work deals with philosophical
issues arising from genocide, including an exploration of intergenerational
moral responsibility in the aftermath of genocide.

Mouradian is completing his Ph.D. in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark
University, Massachusetts. He has lectured extensively and participated in
conferences in Armenia, Turkey, Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Austria,
Switzerland, Norway and across the United States. On April 24, 2010, he was
a featured speaker at the Armenian Genocide commemoration held in Istanbul,
Turkey, and on April 25, 2010, he presented as part of the “Reparations”
panel at the first Armenian Genocide conference held in Ankara, Turkey.

Erbal is completing her Ph.D. dissertation at New York University in the
Department of Politics. Her research focuses on the politics of changing
historiographies in Turkey and Israel and her work focuses on democratic
theory, democratic deliberation, the politics of “post-nationalist”
historiographies in transitional settings, and the politics of apology.

GENOCIDE AND REAL NUMBERS

George Aghjayan, a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, will present his
research on the demographics of the Armenian population of western Armenia
prior to the Armenian Genocide. He will be joined by Rev. Dr. George
Leylegian who will discuss his work outlining the seizure and destruction of
church properties lost during and after the Armenian Genocide as well as its
community and religious institutional impact.

The conference is free and open to the public. For more information about
the conference, individuals may contact the International Human Rights Law
Association.

The conference is organized by the International Human Rights Law
Association with the support of the Armenian National Committee of
America-Western Region.

The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the largest and
most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the
Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices,
chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated
organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the
Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.

From: A. Papazian

BYRZA IS THE WRONG MAN FOR THIS JOB, HACHIKIAN SAYS IN WSJ

Asbarez
Tuesday, October 12th, 2010

The Wall Street Journal published a Letter to the Editor this week by
ANCA chairman Ken Hachikian, in which the latter criticizes the paper
for being off the mark in its editorials on the Bryza issue and the
offensive language employed when referring to Armenians pursuing the
recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Below is the full text of the letter.

***

You are off the mark in your editorials attacking Sen. Barbara Boxer
and the Armenian-American community for opposing President Obama’s
flawed nomination of Matt Bryza as ambassador to Azerbaijan (“Barbara
Boxer (D., Armenia),” Sept. 20, and “Undiplomatic Hold-Ups,” Oct. 6).

The stakes for U.S. interests, regional stability, and international
energy security are too high for this type of political
finger-pointing.

In the last three months, at least eight soldiers have died on
the Azerbaijan-Karabakh border. The U.S. government, in a failed
exercise in artificial even-handedness, has consistently refused
to stand up to Baku’s threats of war and attacks. Mr. Bryza is the
poster child for this strategy of appeasement. His refusal to call
out Azerbaijan’s aggression, his silence in the face of Azerbaijan’s
demolition of a 1,300-year-old Armenian cemetery, and his ardent
defense of Stalin-imposed borders at the expense of democracy, have all
contributed to the instability of this pivotal region. Add conflict
of interest issues to the mix and he is clearly the wrong diplomat,
at the wrong time, for this post.

America needs a fresh start in the Caucasus, with a new ambassador who
will stand strong against Azerbaijani aggression. Sen. Boxer and Sen.

Robert Menendez have provided the president an opportunity to put U.S.

policy back on the right track.

Finally, your dismissal of the ANCA’s support for the commemoration of
the Armenian Genocide as a “tribal Caucasian obsession” is offensive.

The International Association of Genocide Scholars has unanimously
concluded that what happened to the Armenians at the hands of the
Turks was a genocide.

Kenneth V. Hachikian Chairman Armenian National Committee of America
Washington.

From: A. Papazian

AZERBAIJAN ANNOUNCES ANOTHER SURGE IN MILITARY SPENDING

Asbarez
Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
BAKU

In a move that threatens to ignite a new war in the volatile South
Caucasus, Azerbaijan has announced plans for another drastic increase
in defense spending, which has already skyrocketed over the past
decade.

The Azerbaijani government’s defense budget for next year, submitted
to parliament on Tuesday, calls for $3.1 billion in expenditures. News
reports from Baku quoted Azerbaijani Finance Minister Samir Sharifov
as saying that this represents an almost 90 percent rise from this
year’s spending level.

“Defense spending in 2011 will account for 19.7 percent compared with
10.7 percent in 2010, so the share of defense spending in the budget
will almost double,” Sharifov said, according to AFP news agency.

This contradicted Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s statements
on the subject made earlier this year. Addressing Azerbaijani troops
in June, Aliyev said that Baku’s military spending will total $2.15
billion this year.

“A goal was set forth several years ago for Azerbaijan’s military
expenses to be above all of Armenia’s spending,” he said. “This goal
has already been fulfilled.”

Armenia’s state budget for 2010 is projected at $2.6 billion. The
Armenian government plans to spend a total of $2.8 billion next year.

About $400 million of the sum is to be allocated to the Armenian
military.

The Azerbaijani defense budget was supposed to have passed the $2
billion mark in 2008. Aliyev publicly ordered his government to ensure
that in April 2008.

Over the past decade, Azerbaijan has boosted defense spending at least
tenfold as part of a military build-up financed from the country’s
soaring oil and gas revenues. Baku hopes that it will eventually force
the Armenians to make serious concessions in the unresolved conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Aliyev regularly threatens to win back Karabakh and the liberated
districts surrounding it by force. According to his finance minister,
about $1.4 billion of the planned 2011 spending will be used to
modernize the Azerbaijani military through the purchase of up-to-date
equipment and weaponry.

Armenian leaders have downplayed the widening gap between the defense
budgets of the two South Caucasus arch-foes. “We counter this with the
quality and combat-readiness of our armed forces,” Defense Minister
Seyran Ohanian told journalists last week.

Armenia is also capitalizing on its military alliance with Russia,
which enables it to acquire Russian-made weapons at cut-down prices
or free of charge. A new Russian-Armenian defense agreement signed in
August commits Moscow to supplying Yerevan with “modern and compatible
weaponry and special military hardware.”

From: A. Papazian

AIPAC, AJC, ADL: TO HELL WITH THE TURKS
By J. Rosenberg

October 13, 2010, 3:18PM

It must be fun being the American Israel Public Affairs Committee,
the Anti-Defamation League, or the American Jewish Committee. You can
switch policies on a dime and everybody understands. For decades,
these three have been unabashedly pro-Turkish. If Turkey was for it,
they were for it. No matter what the issue — even one as emotional
as the Armenian genocide — the big three Jewish organizations backed
Turkey to the hilt as did their Congressional cutouts. (Not long
ago, ADL fired an official in Boston for saying that there was an
Armenian genocide). The reason. Turkey was (and, in my opinion,
is) Israel’s most powerful friend in the Muslim world. Going back
to its first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, Israel worked hard at
maintaining a strategic friendship with the Turks. And so did Israel’s
lobby in America. By extension, the lobby did not like Greece,
Greek Cyprus, or anything the Greeks liked. The organizations loved
sending delegations to Turkey, encouraging Jewish tourism there, and
celebrated Turkey as utterly free of anti-semitism. (The Greeks were
dismissed as incorrigibly left-wing). No more. Ever since the Turks
opposed the Gaza invasion and blockade, the lobby has been furious at
Turks for their temerity. Its prime minister even publicly admonished
Shimon Peres about Gaza in Davos. And then there was the flotilla
incident (about which Turkey has infinitely more reason to be angry
about than Israel), Within the period of a few months, Israel and its
lobby turned on Turkey with a vengeance. Even the 1915 genocide that
previously wasn’t a genocide became one overnight. Now Turkey is the
country the lobby loves to hate. Assuming that the best way to stick
it to Turkey is to suck up to Greece, that it what AIPAC, AJC, and ADL
are doing. In lockstep. These guys remind me of American communists
back in the 1930’s, with their sheer dexterity at shifting policies
in about an hour! How silly can you get? Jonathan Broder writes all
about it in Congressional Quarterly (I don’t have the link because
I can’t afford a subscription) but here is a small excerpt. It is
about the new lobby position on Cyprus, a subject about which it
previously showed no interest. But the new anti-Turkish position
applies across the board. (The American Jewish Committee should be
calling for renaming Istanbul any day now. Why not Constantinople?).
Here’s Broder.

Pro-Israel powerhouses such as the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee (AIPAC), the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish
Committee, all of which had advocated effectively for Turkey before
relations between Jerusalem and Ankara began to fray, were among the
organizations that joined forces with several Greek-American groups
to lobby for passage of the Cyprus resolution. Bilirakis said Jewish
lawmakers and members of the pro-Greece caucus teamed up to get the
resolution passed. “Greece determined that closer relations with
Israel could diminish the strength of the Turkish-American lobby,”
said Ekavi Athanassopoulou,a political scientist at the University
of Athens.

And the word is getting down to the community too. “The Greek Islands
are prettier than the Turkish islands. And Greece is Israel’s friend.”
Hilarious. The islands are all beautiful. But Greece has never been
very friendly to Israel, while Turkey always has. Besides, even if it
wanted to, Greece cannot offer Israel what Turkey can: a key friend in
the Muslim word. Previous Israeli prime ministers would understand the
necessity of maintaining good solid ties with Turkey. After all, they
worked for decades to build them. But not Netanyahu and his sidekick,
Avigdor Lieberman. Their foreign policy is all about self-pity,
resentment, and spite. In this case, they are spiting themselves
and hurting Israel. And their pet lemmings — the “pro-Israel”
lobby that is anything but — are running off the cliff with them.
For Israel’s sake, these people need to grow up. Israel should be
friendly with Greece. But it needs to be friendly to Turkey. Is that
too hard to grasp?

Talking Points Memo is the flagship blog of TPM Media LLC, which
also publishes TPMmuckraker, TPMDC, TPMtv and TPMCafe. Founder and
editor Josh Marshall began publishing Talking Points Memo during
the 2000 Florida vote recount. The site specializes in original
reporting on government and politics and offers breaking news coverage,
investigative reporting, high profile guest bloggers and a book club.
TPM Media is headquartered in New York City and has a bureau in
Washington, DC.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA: DRUG ABUSE SOARS
By Mary Aleksanyan

Institute for War and Peace Reporting
IWPR No. 561
Oct 12 2010
UK

Authorities say number of intravenous drug users has doubled in last
two years.

Drug abuse in Armenia, a link in the chain of countries that transits
hard drugs from Afghanistan to Europe and Russia, has soared this
year and threatens to fuel crime and disease.

Exact details on drug use are not available, but experts say that the
country has 25,000 to 30,000 drug users of whom 5-7,000 are addicted
to heroin and opium. That may be lower than in some neighbouring
countries, but the authorities say that the number of intravenous
drug users has doubled in the last two years.

Crimes linked to drug use have risen too. Police solved 1,238 last for
the whole of last year, and registered 811 in the first six months
of this year. In the middle of the decade, they would only register
500 or so such crimes a year.

“Around 90 per cent of the opium and heroin is produced in Afghanistan,
and half of these drugs are sent to Russia and Europe through the
Islamic Republic of Iran and Turkey,” said Nazaret Mnatsakanyan, head
of the police’s Department of Combating the Illegal Trade in Drugs.

He said Armenia had only weak controls at the Meghri border post
on its border with Iran, and that 90-95 per cent of the heroin his
officers seize comes through it from Afghanistan.

“An insignificant quantity of drugs comes from Russia and Turkey.

Marijuana is mainly produced locally, and synthetic drugs are mainly
brought to the country by air from European countries.”

The country’s only dedicated drugs rehabilitation centre has noticed a
corresponding increase in admissions. In 2009, it had 1,141 registered
addicts; up from 639 the year before, and just 464 in 2005. In the
first half of this year alone, the clinic treated 629 people.

The state pays for treatment if the patient is prepared to be
registered by name. If someone wants to be treated anonymously,
they have to pay 140,000 drams (around 385 Us dollars) for a course
of treatment.

“During the treatment, internationally accepted methods are used. The
use of medicines is combined with psychological-social consultations,”
said Seda Jamalyan, head of the organisational and methodological
department of the clinic. But she said that the clinic’s success rate
was not high.

She said that in 2009, only 256 of 1,740 people admitted reached the
end of the course of treatment.

“Drug addiction is a serious illness, with chronic changes in
behaviour. Treatment takes a long time. The will of the patient plays
a significant role here. Many do not even make it to the end of the
first stage of the treatment and refuse to be treated further, and
we cannot keep them here by force,” she said.

The clinic, apart from having to deal with cases of HIV-infection,
is currently struggling to deal with the consequences of a new drug.

Addicts mix the antidepressant Coaxil and the pain-killer Sedalgin
with petrol and other substances, and the problem has become so
serious that the government is considering restricting their sale.

“The patients arrive in the most serious of conditions, completely
worn out. It is easier to treat dependence on heroin or cocaine than
dependence on these drugs,” Jamalyan said.

“There are complications at the place of injection, the wound does
not heal, gangrene sets in, and we sometimes have to amputate the
arm. A second complication is blindness.”

Armenia’s efforts to control drug use were aided by the European
Union-funded South Caucasus Anti-Drug Programme which established
modern practises before it closed in 2009. Under the programme, drug
use was decriminalised, meaning that users have to agree to undergo
treatment and pay a fine.

Mnatsakanyan said some drug users still needed punishment, although
the programme was designed to encourage treatment.

“A drug user has two ways open to them: treatment or court
proceedings. If there is a desire to be treated, then you can be
freed from serious punishment, be registered and undergo a course of
treatment. If there is no such desire, then the drug user is a criminal
who has to appear before a court. I am in favour of tough punishments
otherwise we are putting the future of the younger generation at risk,”
he said.

Karen, 29, is addicted to heroin and agreed to be treated with the
substitute drug methadone.

“I tried to give up a few times, but was never treated. I decided,
I promised to myself, my father, my mother, that I won’t do it any
more, but I could not stop,” he said.

“Giving up is a scary thing. You don’t only suffer physically,
but psychologically you fall apart. You cannot stop this feeling,
you think you are going mad a bit, you will die if you can’t inject
yourself. This treatment is a better way to go. I’m not suffering
at the moment, but let’s see what happens next. I really want to
get better. I wouldn’t wish drugs on anyone, they turn people into
animals.”

Mary Aleksanyan is a freelance journalist.

From: A. Papazian

TER-PETROSYAN WILL DWELL ON CORRUPTION

Lragir.am
12 Oct 2010

On the eve of the rally scheduled on October 15, the coordinator of
the central office of the Armenian National Congress Levon Zurabyan
presented on October 12, the situation of the Republic preceding
the rally. He noted that 2, 5 years passed after the last republican
elections, and if the situation was normal now, no one would come to
the rally, while during all 2, 5 years, thousands of people attended
all the rallies. Zurabyan says the question occurs about the reason
why all those people continue participating in rallies. According
to him, if the power did at least one positive step after the
post-electoral situation and March 1 events, people would treat the
power normal. ~SBut I would like to mention four important sectors
where the power did not give anything to the people and failed which
is the reason people still attend our rallies~T, says Zurabyan.

The first sector, according to him, is the unsolved crisis caused by
the March 1 events. The second- the worsening social-economic situation
in the country. The third- the army and the fourth ~V foreign policy.

Levon Zurabyan stated that during October 15 rally, the oppositional
leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan will dwell on corruption and has ~Sserious
things to say in this connection which will be interesting for the
society~T.

From: A. Papazian