Author: Andres-Papazian

Tengri News, Kazakhstan
July 21 2014

Ukraine risks repeating Afghanistan scenario: Kazakh analyst

by By Dinara Urazova

The protracted conflict in Ukraine may lead to the country repeating
the scenario of Balkan military confrontation in the 1990s with a
possible evolution into another Afghanistan, Tengrinews cites Kazakh
political analyst Dosym Satpayev.

Satpayev believes that the conflict in Ukraine has stirred memories of
old national and ethnic tensions that were observed in the dissolution
of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, such as the territorial dispute of
Nagorno-Karabakh between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Moldova’s breakaway
republic of Transdniester (or Transnistria) located on the border with
Ukraine and the civil war in Tajikistan.

The analyst stressed the necessity to stabilize the situation in
Ukraine because separatist moods affected not only neighboring
countries. “Most likely, even Moscow has come to understand that it
does not fully control the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. And provision
of support to the forces that are trying to split the east of Ukraine
from the rest of the country is a very serious threat. In case the
Ukrainian conflict escalates into a permanent zone of instability, the
situation will affect not only this country’s neighbors. The tragedy
with the airliner has shown that conflicts may affect citizens of
countries, which are geographically distant from the conflict zones.
If the situation is transposed to Central Asia, it would clearly
highlight quite a few potential conflict zones in our region, some of
which are connected to separatist inclinations,” he said.

Satpayev said that the conflict was on the stage of balkanisation: a
surge of separatism and proclamation of new states. The expert was
convinced that a new Afghanistan could emerge in the center of Europe
if the conflict was not resolved at the current stage. “The war has
been going on for some time already and the international community
has had to put much effort into regulating the conflict. (…)
Currently, Ukraine is entering the balkanization stage. The worst case
scenario is for this balkanization to evolve into afghanization: when
Ukraine turns into a zone of constant instability, where different
armed groups operate without control from anyone – neither the West,
nor Moscow – and power is not in the hands of politicians but in those
of warlords.”

He also said that Ukraine could repeat the fate of Chechnya. “Some
experts have rightly stated that Ukraine may come to be an analog of
Chechnya, where many representatives of radical organization had
received military training. In the future, similar individuals may
appear in other post-Soviet countries, and the question of national
security will come forward, in Kazakhstan as well,” Satpayev said.

The conflict in Ukraine has taken a new turn last week. Malaysia
Airlines passenger airplane with 298 people on board was shot down by
a surface-to-air missile over the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s
Republic. Russia, Ukraine and the separatists have all given different
versions of what happened. International investigators are trying to
get access to physical evidence, which might help to reconstruct the
crash in rebel-controlled territory.

From: A. Papazian

J-Wire Jewish Australian News Service, Australia
July 22 2014

Accusations against Israel are latest disservice to coiner of the word
‘genocide’…

writes Rafael Medoff

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims Israel is carrying
out “systematic genocide” in Gaza. South Africa’s ruling party, the
African National Congress (ANC), asserts that Israel’s actions in Gaza
“remind [us] of the atrocities of Nazi Germany.” Palestinian Authority
(PA) President Mahmoud Abbas is accusing Israel of “genocide,” and the
PA’s newspaper is calling the current war “Israel’s Holocaust.”

From: Rafael Medoff /JNS.org

It seems as if every time Israel defends itself, somebody points an
accusing finger and yells “Genocide!” Raphael Lemkin, who coined that
term 70 years ago this autumn, would have been appalled by such abuse
of his life’s work.

During the 1930s, Lemkin, a Polish Jewish attorney and expert on the
development of languages, trudged from law conference to law
conference across Europe, making the case for legal mechanisms to
define and combat mass murder.

A plaque on Kredytowa Street in Warsaw commemorating Raphael Lemkin,
the Polish Jewish attorney and expert on the development of languages
who coined the term “genocide.” Credit: Wuj Mat via Wikimedia Commons.

Lemkin was galvanized by the failure of the international community to
prosecute Turkish officials involved in the genocide of approximately
one million Armenians between 1914 and 1918.

No doubt Lemkin would have been disappointed by President Barack
Obama’s decision to refrain from recognizing the Armenian genocide.
The Obama administration has even refused to permit the public display
of an elaborate rug sent by Armenian orphans to the White House in
1925 as a gesture of appreciation for U.S. relief assistance.
Apparently, the administration fears Turkey would be offended if the
rug is exhibited, since its display will remind the world of the
Armenian genocide.

Lemkin realized that a new word was needed for the unique crime of
attempting to destroy an entire racial, ethnic, or religious group. He
took his inspiration from George Eastman, who invented the word
“Kodak” because he needed a short, unique, and easy-to-pronounce name
for his camera.

Lemkin coined the term “genocide” even as a new mass murder, the
Holocaust, was unfolding before his eyes. Seventy years ago this
autumn, Lemkin used the word “genocide” for the first time, in his
book “Axis Rule in Occupied Europe.” The 700-page tome chronicled, in
painstaking detail, all the laws and regulations imposed by the Nazis
and their collaborators to facilitate the annihilation of the Jews.

In December 1948, Lemkin’s campaign was crowned with success when the
United Nations adopted the Genocide Convention. It defined genocide as
“acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a
national, ethnical [sic], racial or religious group, as such.”

Obviously, no reasonable person can believe Israel’s actions in Gaza
fit that definition. Then again, the world is filled with unreasonable
people. But the likes of Erdogan, Abbas, and the ANC are not the only
ones who have done Lemkin’s legacy a disservice.

Rafael Medoff

There are government officials who have refused to apply the label for
political reasons. Susan Rice, who today is the president’s national
security adviser, was director of African Affairs for the National
Security Council in 1994, when the genocide in Rwanda began. In one
policy discussion, she argued against calling it “genocide,” because,
as she put it, “If we use the word ‘genocide’ and are seen as doing
nothing, what will be the effect on the November [congressional]
elections?”

And at the other extreme, there are those who casually apply the label
where it doesn’t belong. Prof. Richard Breitman recently claimed that
“American presidents” have “abetted genocidal violence by the
government of Sri Lanka.” Genocide Watch, however, reports that while
both sides in the Sri Lankan civil war “have committed atrocities,”
they fell short of genocide. Other human rights groups have reached
the same conclusion.

For the term “genocide” to have any meaning, it must be used strictly
in situations that indisputably warrant such a determination,
according to the legal definition. Applying it or withholding it based
on political considerations will render the term useless.

Dr. Rafael Medoff is director of The David S. Wyman Institute for
Holocaust Studies,

From: A. Papazian

Armenia’s Issue In Customs Union Suspended By Turkey

Hakob Badalyan, Political Commentator
Comments – 21 July 2014, 17:36

The Russian minister of economy Alexey Ulyukayev announced after the
meeting of G20 ministers of economy that Turkey is interested in the
establishment of a free economic zone. He made this statement after
the meeting with the Turkish minister of economy.

This prospect has been discussed for a long time. First Putin’s
spokesman Peskov spoke about it in 2012 when Putin visited Turkey and
met with the prime minister of that country Erdogan. After the visit
Peskov announced that if Turkey expresses a wish to join the Customs
Union, Russia will welcome it.

One year later, in November 2013, Erdogan visited Russia and after his
meeting with Putin in Saint Petersburg he announced that Turkey is
interested in the prospect of free trade with the Eurasian Union.
Earlier, in October 2013, during the Customs Union summit in Minsk,
the president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev announced about
Turkey’s application. It was the summit during which Armenia was faced
with the stipulation relating to Artsakh.

The issue of membership of Armenia will be protracted for at least a
year. It is already stated that the issue of membership will be
resolved by the end of October. However, this statement is not a
guarantee that it will come true. Not because Hovik Abrahamyan was
saying it. A few days ago the foreign minister of Kazakhstan had
stated the same thing. The problem is that issue of membership of
Armenia has become a secondary matter.

The membership of Armenia is pending on more important issues facing
Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, as well as Turkey and Azerbaijan. The
prospects of relations with Turkey are one of them as they interest
Russia and Kazakhstan in economic and political terms. Apparently,
however, those are mutually excluding interests. In other words,
Agreement with Ankara is important to Moscow to prevent an
Astana-Ankara partnership axist.

The issue of the Armenian-Turkish border becomes interesting. How can
the Turkey-Customs Union free trade come into being if the border with
Armenia is closed? It will turn out that Turkey is involved in free
trade with an organization the border of which is closed. After all,
in case of membership to the Customs Union the Armenian-Turkish border
will be a Turkish-Customs Union Border.

Consequently, it turns out that while the Armenian-Turkish border is
closed, the CU-Turkey cooperation cannot reach a free trade. On the
other hand, can the free trade process lead to the opening of the
Armenian-Turkish border. The situation is getting more complicated
because there is an issue of Artsakh which Baku always puts forth to
Ankara whenever Turkey is trying to pursue any significant agreement
with any center. At the same time, Ankara is readily using the factor
of Baku’s dissatisfaction because the Armenian-Turkish border is
important to Turkey in a package with Artsakh.

In this complicated situation the continuation of protraction of
Armenia’s membership will be an easier solution of the problem to
Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkey for the sake of continuity of the
outlining interest with Turkey. This process has better prospects and
rich, independent from the purpose of establishment of a free trade
regime, at least as a merely political process, a trend that will be
proposed in the geopolitical competition. Iran also responds to this
prospect, intensifying its economic and political statements relating
to Armenia. The regional Russian-Turkish Kazakh trend threatens to
leave Iran in the margin. Therefore, Tehran offers Yerevan to come up
with alternative processes.

However, for the time being, Yerevan is not bold enough to move on
from extreme self-defense to sovereign initiative. For the time being,
all Armenia still can refuse to Russia what will be the end of the
government and state. However, Yerevan does not have the courage or
ability in addressing the issues needed for the development of the
state.

– See more at:

From: A. Papazian

Ambassador speaks on attack on Armenian Church in Georgia

14:10, 21.07.2014

We will send a note to the Georgian MFA…

Armenia’s Ambassador to Georgia Yuri Vardanyan knows the details of
the recent attack on the Armenian church in the Georgian capital city
Tbilisi, but he cannot speak about them at this point.

The newly appointed ambassador told the abovementioned to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

“We [Armenia] will send a note [of protest] to the [Georgian] MFA. We
can say nothing about hooliganism either; the law enforcement agencies
are working [on the matter]. But we’re preparing a document so they
may find out what was the reason for this incomprehensible situation,”
Vardanyan said.

On the evening of July 19, a group comprising around fifty people had
attacked and brutally beaten, at the yard of the Holy Etchmiadzin
Armenian Church in Tbilisi, several members of the Church clergy, and
the officials and faithful of the Diocese of Georgia of the Armenian
Apostolic Church.

Armenia News – NEWS.am

From: A. Papazian

Armenian diocese disagrees with Georgia ministry assessment

17:00, 21.07.2014

The Diocese of Georgia of the Armenian Apostolic Church disagrees with
the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs’ assessment on the incident
that occurred nearby the Holy Etchmiadzin Armenian Church in Tbilisi.

And it will strive to achieve a thorough investigation and an
equivalent qualification of the case, Diocese spokesperson Susanna
Khachatryan stated.

“We don’t not agree that it’s an ordinary hooliganism, and we will
demand an investigation,” the Novosti Gruzia news agency quoted
Khachatryan as saying.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia had stated that the
incident did not have ethnic grounds, it occurred on domestic grounds,
and a criminal case is launched on charges of brawl.

According to Diocese attorney Levon Isakhanyan, five clergy of the
church had suffered injuries as a result of the incident.

“What happened was the first incident of such extent. [But] the
important thing is to do everything so that this kind of thing will
not happen again,” Isakhanyan added.

From: A. Papazian

ICRC Yerevan Office maintains regular contacts with residents of
borderline villages

by Marianna Lazarian

ARMINFO
Monday, July 21, 17:47

The ICRC Yerevan Office maintains regular contacts with the residents
of borderline villages, Zara Amatuni, Head of Communication Programs
at the ICRC Yerevan Office, has told ArmInfo when commenting on the
information that the heads of Movses and Chinari rural communities of
Tavush region have applied to the ICRC over the escalation of tension
on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. The heads of the specified rural
communities say that the tension disturbs the harvesting process.

Amatuni says that the ICRC has always expressed willingness to support
the residents of the borderline villages. “The ICRC is negotiating
with the conflicting parties. If both parties guarantee security, the
ICRC representatives arrive at the villages for the summer work period
and stay there as guarantees until the crops are completely taken”,
she adds.

To note, the heads of Movses and Chinari rural communities have
applied to the International Committee of the Red Cross over the
continued ceasefire violation, which hinders the cropping process.
They have asked the ICRC to provide intermediary services to enable
the farm entities to take the crops.

From: A. Papazian

“UNA CENA ARMENA” AL FESTIVAL DELL’ALTA COSTIERA AMALFITANA

Centro Polifunzionale “Mons. Andrea Gallo” – Agerola (Napoli)

LUNEDI’ 21 LUGLIO 2014, h. 21.00

Alla sua terza edizione, il Festival dell’Alta Costiera Amalfitana
“Sul sentiero degli Dèi”, presenta presso il Centro Polifunzionale
“Mons. Andrea Gallo” di Agerola (Napoli) lo spettacolo di Paola
Ponti Una cena armena, con Danilo Nigrelli e Rosa Diletta Rossi. Lo
spettacolo è ispirato al libro di Sonya Orfalian “La cucina d’Armenia.

Viaggio nella cultura culinaria di un popolo” (ediz. Ponte alle
Grazie).

Può lo sterminio di un popolo non lasciare traccia? Può, una volta
stabilita la veridicita dell’accaduto, non averne il riconoscimento
unanime? Può, un evento simile, essere interiorizzato e perdonato? Una
cena armena è la volonta di affrontare, raccontare e superare una
grande tragedia della portata dei più noti stermini che, purtroppo,
hanno fatto storia, attraverso gli occhi di due generazioni a confronto
e le rispettive tradizioni culinarie.

Una cena armena è una pièce di Paola Ponti nata dall’incontro di
Malbeck Teatro con Sonya Orfalian. Negli anni Settanta, dopo il colpo
di Stato di Gheddafi, la Orfalian ha trovato asilo in Italia, dove
ha coltivato la ricerca attorno alle proprie radici culturali. Qui
ha scritto il testo da cui lo spettacolo attinge e a cui si mescola,
La Cucina d’Armenia, che custodisce, insieme alle oltre centotrenta
ricette, le radici di una intera cultura, offesa e misconosciuta,
ma non per questo meno ricca di tradizioni.

Attraverso gli ingredienti della tradizione, che permettono all’autrice
la ricostruzione della vita quotidiana in terra d’Armenia, prende forma
il passato del padre, armeno palestinese, rifugiato in terra di Libia
e vissuto senza avere mai avuto una cittadinanza, ne un passaporto,
ma solo un lasciapassare verde con la scritta: “Palestinian Refugee
in Libya”.

Così, dando sfogo al ricordo di luoghi, usi, proverbi, leggende e
ricorrenze, si mescola il peso dolce a quello amaro di un’eredita
da onorare. Una cena armena racconta la storia di due generazioni
che hanno la forza di guardarsi in faccia, di affrontarsi e di
passarsi il testimone. La regia è affidata a Danilo Nigrelli che,
insieme con la giovane Rosa Diletta Rossi, ne ha anche interpretato il
testo. Danilo è Aram, Rosa Diletta è Nina, rispettivamente un signore
armeno e una ragazzina italiana, i quali destini si incrociano in
una notte qualunque, al calore dell’ojakh, il focolare, mentre
fuori impazza una tormenta di neve. I due personaggi si muovono
nello spazio come due bestie in gabbia, che lentamente cominciano
ad annusarsi. Entrambi nascondono un mistero, entrambi con lo stesso
profondo bisogno di conoscere le proprie origini. Una cena armena è
una commedia dolorosa e insieme divertente, a tratti comica, a tratti
profondamente commovente. È la summa di due storie, antitetiche e
insieme riflesso l’una dell’altra, che hanno alla fine la forza di
guardarsi, di affrontarsi e di passarsi il testimone, stemperando,
attraverso il cucinare insieme, le oscurita del proprio passato.

Per informazioni:

Segreteria Festival: 081-8791064

From: A. Papazian

LA BARONNE CAROLINE COX A DEMISSIONNE DE LA PRESIDENCE DU GROUPE PARLEMENTAIRE D’AMITIE ARMENO-BRITANNIQUE

DIPLOMATIE

Le journal armenien > (Temps) informe que >. Selon >, le groupe Parlementaire
d’amitie armeno-britannique aurait accepte la demission de Caroline
Cox. Un nouveau president, John Wintingtey aurait ete elu a la place
de Caroline Cox. Rappelons que la baronne Caroline Cox, membre de
la Chambre des lords britanniques s’est rendu a de très nombreuses
reprises au Haut Karabagh. Elle figure sur la liste noire de Bakou
en tant que > en Azerbaïdjan.

Krikor Amirzayan

lundi 21 juillet 2014, Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

From: A. Papazian

ARMENTEL ET SPB LANCENT LE SERVICE DE TELEVISION PAR INTERNET EN ARMENIE

ARMENIE

ArmenTel (connu sous le nom commercial de Beeline) et SPB TV ont
lance un service de television sur IP aujourd’hui en Armenie. Le PDG
d’ArmenTel, Andrei Pyatakhin, a declare que IPTV sera disponible non
seulement a Erevan et les grandes villes, mais dans tout le pays,
où le reseau fixe telephonique Beeline est disponible. Il a souligne
l’importance sociale du service en disant que l’investissement dans des
projets similaires au-dela des grandes villes ne paient pas en retour,
cependant, la societe s’est rendu compte que l’accès a la television
dans les petites collectivites est particulièrement important. Le
PDG de SPB TV Kiril Filippov, a declare que le marche des solutions
mobiles en Armenie est a la hausse incitant l’entreprise a lancer ce
service a la fois pour les grandes villes et les petites communautes
dans les regions eloignees. Il a dit que la solution technique et la
plate-forme ont ete fournies par SPB TV, qui opère dans de nombreux
pays et compte plus de 30 millions d’utilisateurs dans le monde entier
et est efficace pour tous les services de medias mobiles. Il a dit que
le forfait de base comprend 50 chaînes de televisions armeniennes,
russes et etrangères au contenu tout a fait legal pour le prix de
3000 drams mensuels.

La liste des chaînes comprend H1, Armenia TV, Kentron TV, TV ARM RU ,
Euronews Russian, Russia 24 , KP -TV , Euronews English, France 24
English, Deutsche Welle Europe, CNC World English, MIR24 , LifeNews,
MGM, Paramount comedy, ParamountChannel, A Media2 , Real scary TV,
Phoenix Movie , Discovery, Animal Planet, My Planet , Science 2.0 ,
History , English Club TV, Weapons, 24 Techno, TBN Russia , Belarus
24 , WORLD , Nickelodeon, Gulli, TiJi, smile of a Child , Music Box
Russia, Chanson TV , MCM TOP, JuCe TV, Country , TLC, MTV Russia,
CTC International, Cyber-GameTV, Sundress , Amusement Park , Arirang
World, Style TV, World Fashion Channel ENG, World Fashion Channel RU,
Kazakh- TV , France 24 French, Chess TV. –

lundi 21 juillet 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com

From: A. Papazian

LA FOURNITURE DE GAZ RUSSE A L’ARMENIE AUGMENTE DE 7,7 POUR CENT EN TROIS MOIS

ARMENIE

La fourniture de gaz naturel de la Russie a l’Armenie dans le premier
trimestre de cette annee a augmente de 7,7 pour cent par rapport a
l’annee precedente a 719,1 millions de mètres cubes selon Gazprom
Armenie.

La societe russe a declare que les ventes de gaz ont egalement augmente
de 5 pour cent a 674 millions de mètres cubes.

La societe a declare que la consommation de gaz par les installations
de production d’energie a augmente de 30,5% a 212,7 millions de mètres
cubes, la consommation par les stations de gaz liquefie a augmente
de 8% a 105 millions de mètres et la consommation par d’autres
consommateurs a progresse de 2,7% a 85,3 millions de mètres cubes.

Cependant, la consommation par secteur industriel a diminue de 29,4%
a 48,9 millions de mètres cubes et les menages de 3,2% a 222 millions
de mètres cubes.

lundi 21 juillet 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com

From: A. Papazian